From Snow to Spring

Can you believe this weather??? Oh yes we live in Northwest Arkansas, this is normal for us. It sounds like we are going to have a couple of really nice days before it gets cold again. I am so ready for spring to be here or even summer, I miss getting to set out on my back porch but it is way too cold to do that.

I am at HOG right now doing my weekly treatment, my counts are still not really where they need to be but oh well. I can't believe it is almost February, that means the April wedding is getting very close. Excitement is in the air.

Enjoy the nice days coming up, we are going to have Jonah on Saturday so we can probably be outside just a little bit.

Snow or No Snow

I am scheduled to go to Highland tomorrow for my Chemo, but it sounds like the weather could be bad tomorrow. I tried to change it to today but there weren't any openings, so I guess I will just wait and see what tomorrow brings and go from there. The treatments are going pretty well, they make me a little tired but they haven't made me sick. I am still having issues with my WBC staying low, I have been trying to stay away from crowds of people since it is the flu season. My kidney numbers aren't really where they need to be either, so they are trying to get a handle on that.

Andrew was off today so we met for lunch, it's always good to see him, since he lives in Rogers I don't see him very often. They have a lot going on right now, not just the wedding but they are building a house as well. Andrew is really enjoying being at the Rogers Police Department.

It's a New Year

Well the Holidays are over and things are getting back to the norm now. We are thinking on to other things now, weddings to speak of. It will be a busy year with two weddings coming up. April will be here before you know it, that will be the first wedding of the year. Andrew and Kara will get married April 23rd and then Kara and Shelby are getting married August 20th. So needless to say it will be an exciting year for the Woody family.

I am taking my treatment right now at Highland, thought I should do something useful with my time here. Things are going pretty well with my treatment, it seems to make me a little on the tired side but it hasn't made me sick. They told me today that I need to be real careful about being around people, my WBC is real low again this week. My platelet count is way down again as well, you never really know what causes these things to happen.

Christmas Time

I can't believe Christmas has already came and gone, this year seemed to have gone by so fast. It has been a busy month trying to finish up shopping, doing some baking and just being ready for Christmas. I really enjoyed Christmas this year, I felt so much better than I did at this time last year, it was a nice change. We enjoyed Jonah so much this year, he hasn't quite got the hang of opening the packages yet but he liked what he got. Look out next year because I'm sure he will be ready to go, and really get into it by then. Another reason I think the year has gone by fast is that Jonah will be two next month, it just doesn't seem possible that our baby can be two already.

As far as my health, I am doing pretty good these days, I am taking chemo once a week at Highland Oncology in Fayetteville. It hasn't been too bad so far, it makes me a little tired but hasn't made me sick. I don't like this cold weather that's for sure, I just can't hardly bare the cold especially the wind, it just cuts through me.

Happy Holidays to you all and I hope the New Year will bring health and happiness to all.

More Testing

On Tuesday, November 23rd, Candes and I headed out early for Little Rock for more testing. I was scheduled for bloodwork, MRI's and a bone marrow biopsy, we were there the whole day. We felt like we got in and out of each test fairly quick but it just takes time. Everything seemed to go ok, there was a little issue with the bone marrow biopsy this time, I had some bleeding but it was probably due to the fact that my platelets were so low. I needed to be at 50, 000 before they could do it and I was at the lucky number of 57,000. So I was just barely where I needed to be. I had a really sore back but we headed back home after eating at the Olive Garden in Little Rock.

On Tuesday, November 30th, Clay and I made our way back to Little Rock for doctor appointments. We met with Dr. Barlogie first thing to determine what the next step would be. He told us that I needed to be back on treatment, so I was given my orders and prescriptions to get started back on maintenance therapy. I will start my treatment later this week. I was hoping to wait until after Christmas but that didn't happen, he did lower the dosage and also changed the chemo drug that I take at home so maybe it won't be too bad, one can only hope.

I am looking forward to Christmas, I am getting close to having my shopping done but I am not there yet. I feel better than I did last Christmas so that gives me alot to look forward to. Clay bought us a live tree again this year and Kara and I decorated it last week, I had mentioned that we were going to change it up this year, we did and I love it. Clay is not sure about the teal and brown, he kinda likes red, green and gold, it will grow on him though.

Counts Down

Since my last trip to Little Rock my platelets have been gradually going down, for what reason we don't know at this point. With the bloodwork I had done on Monday it had started creeping back up so this is a good thing, but you still have to wonder why. My platelet count hasn't been an issue for quite some time now. When the lab at HOG gave me my report they had me to go upstairs to talk to a nurse, this time it wasn't my platelet count it was my WBC. It was down to 1.75 again this raises the question why. I have just been at home this week staying warm by the fire, I am not suppose to be around alot of people, I can't take my chances on catching something while my counts are so low. I go back to Little Rock on Tuesday for tests, MRI, bloodwork and a bone marrow biopsy. There was the concern of my platelets with the biopsy because I have to be at 50 at least before I can have it done. They ordered platelets for me if I need them before the biopsy. Even though I don't enjoy the biopsy in the least I have to have it to find out what's going on right now. The nurses say it could be a number of things, it could be the thyroid surgery, the radiation, being off treatment for awhile or the myeloma trying to come back. The later would be my fear, I can't imagine having to start over again so we just pray that it is some minor thing and it will adjust itself. I look forward to Thanksgiving this year but I can't wait until Christmas, I think I can enjoy the holiday season much more this year. I can't wait to put up the tree, Kara helped me pick out decorations for the tree, I wanted to change it out this year. I'm like a little kid but my excitement is for the decorations not so much opening the presents.

New Week

Last week Clay and I made the trip to Little Rock for doctor visits. We saw Dr. Barlogie on Tuesday, all my MRI's and other test had came back good so far. I have still been off chemo, just waiting for his signal to go back on, I just knew that the news would be to start back NOW, but my platelet count was down so he wants me to wait another 3 weeks. At that time I will be going back down to Little Rock for more testing before starting back on chemo. I am scheduled for more MRI's, bloodwork and a bone marrow biopsy (in which I dread already) but I haven't had to have one in quite a while so I guess it is about time.

The next day I had an appointment with my thyroid doctor, Dr. Bodenner, he felt like everything was fine after my surgery and radiation. The body scan came back negative, so that was good news. He ran an ultrasound and said it all looked good, nothing seemed to be showing with my lymph nodes, so he was pleased. I had to have bloodwork done for him as we were leaving, if something is off they will call me if not I will continue taking the 112 synthroid.

It had been a long couple of days waiting to see doctors, nurses and lab people but it was now over and we were heading home. We stopped at Olive Garden in Little Rock to have a very late lunch before hitting the road. I will head back down a couple of days before Thanksgiving for my testing, then I can enjoy Thanksgiving and go back down to see the doctor a few days after.

On the most part I have been feeling pretty good, just tire out quickly and have alot of aches and pains, part of that may just be my age.