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Roll Call!!!!!!!!!!! Let's have some fun!


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#41 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:22 PM

Susan,

Wow, so you're one of our pioneers.  So wonderful to know people for whom Gleevec really came in the nick of time.  

I'm a big mystery reader, too.  I usually prefer early 20th century writers, though, like Rex Stout, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, Ngaio Marsh, Agatha Christie, etc.  Their books are much less bloody and violent than a lot of stuff you find today.

I'll bet that woman who made that paleness comment thought twice before she ever made a comment on someone's appearance again!  Good for you, glad you didn't hold back.  She needed a schooling in manners.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#42 Marnie

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:28 PM

You are going to meet up with PhilB!!??!!!  I am so jealous!  Give him a big hug from me. . .even though you don't know me from Adam.  His dry sense of humor sure helped me out when I was first diagnosed.

Marnie



#43 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:31 PM

Girla,

Well, I'm glad you've got insurance and I hope they cover most of your costs.  My dad died of stomach cancer when I was 17, and sitting there watching his decline was very hard, because he was in pain and there was really nothing we could do to make it any better.  I don't have nightmares anymore, but I know what happened to him still impacts me all the time.  It's what drove me to call the doctor when I had that funny bruise.  It's also caused me to do a few other goofy things, like walk into the hospital ER and announce that I think my dd has stomach cancer because she was throwing up just like my dad did.  We all have our scars.

Sounds like you have some great hobbies and lots to keep you busy in retirement.  I'm a little jealous reading it!  Wish I had the time to do some of that - the innertube sounds especially nice.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#44 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:36 PM

Miss Donna,

I live on top of a hill, too, and I often watch the snow melt rushing down the street and into my neighbor's backyard/basement and think how lucky I am!  Hope the waters recede soon so you can get out.

Wow, that was a tough year for you!  Glad to see you're still standing.

That's so nice of you to help others get their GEDs.   You're making a real difference in their lives.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#45 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:42 PM

Heather,

Oh, goodness, but that story does make me laugh!  Love it!

Yeah, I've started pulling the "we do what the cancer patient wants" line.  We're driving to TN for vacation in June, and my dh wants to take his car, I want to take my van.  We put it to a vote with the kids, and didn't really get a resolution.  So I just told them we were doing what *I* wanted, because I'm the one with cancer so we're doing what makes me most comfortable.  Now I gotta figure out how else I can use that!

Thanks for the chuckles,

Traci



#46 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:50 PM

Nat,

I had much the same feeling at the hospital.  It's a teaching hospital, so I had interns trooping in and out of the room asking me the same questions over and over again.  I had so many checking me out, it got to the point where I was asking them, "Hey, you wanna hear my heart murmur, too?"  

Geez, you didn't actually make Thanksgiving dinner, did you?  I would think that would be kinda rough, dealing with the dx, G and all.  I'm taking it easy this next year.  I already informed my mom we're invading her house for Thanksgiving.

So is it tough being a single parent on G?

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#47 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:59 PM

Mark,

Happy Birthday to you!  (Okay, almost birthday.)

Gosh, you do have a lot on your plate with the CML and Hep B.  I'm glad to hear you got some help for the depression and things are on the mend.

I like your answer about the beer.  I may just have to use it sometime.

I got a cramp today in my toe during a meeting at work today.  I kicked my shoe off and sorta started in my chair.  Everyone was giving me looks.  They're lucky they got off that easy.  I usually walk around the room stamping my foot, pinching my lip, and yelling "ow, ow ow!" until it goes away.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#48 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:10 PM

Lori,

You have a great sense of humor!  Did your doc get the reference?

Is there a name for a divorce anniversary? Divorcerversary?

When/how did you pick up quilting?  I have saved my favorites from the girls baby clothes with the intention that I will make them each a baby quilt from them.  But first I have to learn how to quilt!  They're only 10, 8 and 8, so I figure I've got time to learn.  (But, I also realize I'm just as likely to pay someone else to do it for me, no time!  It's the though that counts, right?)

So nice for you to have so many grandkids and the time to enjoy them.  I hope they are close by.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#49 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:16 PM

Matt,

LOL - "House arrest"!  I'm glad to see you have a sense of humor about it all.

So can you do any working out, or playing sports, etc., now?  Or are you too tired with the neutropenia?  Sounds like it will be a tough few months at least for you, so I hope it all goes well with the SCT.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#50 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:23 PM

Moe,

Okay, I gotta ask - You aren't playing hockey in Oman, are you?  I guess their rich enough there they can afford to refrigerate an ice rink, but it just seems weird to play hockey in a desert.  Or do you just mean you watch it on TV?

Congrats on the blessed baby girl!  How does your wife like being pg in the desert?  Talk about hot flashes!

Speaking of epic gas, my dh once had one that was so bad that to this day, we refer to it as Ground Zero.  I got as far away from him as I could in our apartment, and I could still smell it!

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#51 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:29 PM

Philip,

So what kind of fabric art do you two make?  Wall hangings?  Post a pic sometime.  Might be kinda neat to see.  My MIL had a spinning wheel for awhile, but gave it up when the grandkids arrived.  Too busy babysitting and spoiling them.

Man, I am ever so impressed you went on a job interview after your BMB!  Were you still drugged up?  Can't imagine sitting there answering questions as the drug wore off.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#52 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:34 PM

Linda,

Wowser, having leukemia strike the family twice!  Man, life just isn't fair sometimes.  Glad to know your son is okay, though.

I hope the SSD ruling is in your favor.

Your avatar - is that Hello Kitty?  It certainly looks like her.  Then again, you're a mom of boys, so maybe you don't know HK like I do.  It just a little weird because she usually wears clothes.  So, if this is HK, she's nekked!

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#53 jjg

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:43 PM

1)  Josie

2)  Melbourne, Australia

3)  Lecturer

4)  38

5)  Married (3 months tmr), we really want to have kids but.....not giving up yet. Before diagnosis we had planned to start trying for a pregnancy in Jan 2011.

6)  Running, cycling, anything with my hubby, fixing the backyard

7)  Diagnosed just before christmas 2010 (with only marginally high WBCs) only a few weeks after my Dad was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. My Mum lost two of her brothers to acute childhood leukemia. My diagnosis didn't seem real or significant. We did 2 IVF cycles to preserve youngish embryos. The day we made our one and only frosty my husband asked me to marry him. Dad was starting to decline so we planned to get married quickly while he was still reasonably well but he died at home 8 days later. We were married at home 3 days after the funeral. I never told my Dad about CML, it was the hardest thing I've ever not done.

I'm taking 600mg Glivec which caused a few side effects in the first months which have now gone away - rash, pins and needles and bad eye swelling (now just average swelling). I have fatigue which I mostly manage ok. I have less hair than I used to but more than my hubby. I'm scared of becoming sun sensitive - we have some serious sun in summer down here and I like being outside. I have my first post-G PCR Monday.

8)  I got some really good drugs for my BMB. It was a "this is why people do drugs moment". Totally worth the slight soreness after.


Dx Dec 2010 @37

2x IVF egg collection

Glivec 600 & 800mg

PCRU March 2012

Unsuccessful pregnancy attempt - relapsed, 3 months interferon (intron A), bad side effects from interferon

Nilotinib 600mg Oct 2012

PCRU April 2013, 2 years MR4.5 mostly PCRU with a few blips

April 2015 stopped again for pregnancy attempt (donor egg), pregnant first transfer, 0.110 at 10wks, 2.1 at 14wks, 4.2 at 16wks, started interferon, slow dose increase to 25MIU per wk, at full dose PCR< 1 for remainder of pregnancy

Healthy baby girl Jan 2016, breastfed one month

Nilotinib 600mg Feb 2016

MMR May 2016

PCRU Feb 2017


#54 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:46 PM

Janice,

Good point on accepting help.  I have had many offers of help, which I just don't need yet, but I probably should take some up on it here and there.  One of my neighbors offered to watch the girls after school if needed.  Might be useful on a day I have to see the onc.  Thanks for that, good advice.

I've kinda given up on the housework part.  I can only do so much, and something's gotta give.  I've been pushing more off to my dh, who I must admit has been absolutely amazing handling it all.  He's always helped out around the house, but then he had to shoulder my normal duties, too, for the last month or so.  He admitted last week that when I sent him to the grocery store with a list, he was walking around picking up stuff and it hit him that if I died, he'd have to do this every week  We all have things we enjoy doing,and things we hate doing.  He hates grocery shopping and cooking.

Do you have a fancy digital lens for your camera?  What is that, an SLR??  I'd like to get better at taking pics, but think I need a good class on composition, then one on using those digital cameras.  I hate how slow they are.  By the time the picture is snapped, I've missed the smile, or someone blinks.  I used to work for Kodak when I was in college, and I got free film as a benefit.  I never had that problem with blinking, etc., with silver halide photography.

Thanks,

Traci



#55 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:51 PM

Steve,

What a nice story!  I'm glad you and the author kept up the correspondence.

Do you still celebrate your birthdays with such joie de vivre?  Maybe I will have to celebrate mine a little bit more this year, too.  Usually, I pretty much ignore them, but maybe I should pay more attention to it from here on out.

Do you play tournament level billiards?  For big $$ or just big fun??

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#56 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 07:55 PM

Bob,

Weather is a hobby, huh? You should meet my husband.  He's into it, too.

So I take it TKIs work for CEL, too, huh?  Glad to see you're doing well.

What are the symptoms of CEL?  Did you experience more allergy effects or something?  Aren't eosinophils involved in allergy response?

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#57 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 08:03 PM

granny d,

Love that name, feel like you should be rapping a song.  Hey, maybe you can join your son on stage one night? 

So great you've been married so happily for so long.  I wonder if my dh and I will make it to 39 yrs?  We're only at 15, so this Gleevec has got to work a long time for me to get there!

Y'know, granny, maybe this site is one of the hidden "blessings" of CML?  The good Lord has provided us all with this outlet to help us deal with this disease.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#58 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 08:16 PM

Chris,

LOL, "Leonard"!

Egads, you make me feel like a slug - 2-3 mi a day??  I used to walk that much, but don't think I can do that just yet.  I never could do the running, killed my hips and knees.  Probably because I tried to play the Bionic Woman and jumped off the garage roof as a kid.  I felt for sure I could clear the cement porch and reach the grass, but I dropped like a stone!  I heard an audible crunch when I hit the cement, and felt my whole spine compress.  Needless to say, I gave up on being the Bionic Woman.  Although I did try to be an International Spy once, and climbed out my window in the middle of the night and attempted to rappel down on a rope.  I thought I was close to the ground, so let go, and probably fell a good 6-8 ft. the rest of the way.

Were you a planning a marriage anyway, so just moved it up?  Or was it all last minute and super fast?  Hey, I just realized, you haven't even had your 1st anniversary yet!  Well,I hope it's a very happy one.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#59 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 08:21 PM

Troy,

So you have me beat by one girl.  You've been through the teenager phase.  Is it really that awful?  I don't remember it being that bad with my sisters and me, but from a parent perspective, I'm sure it looked totally different.

Are you moving to MT for your job? Or moving because of your dh's job?  Since you were put on medical leave, I'm a bit confused.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci



#60 Happycat

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 08:28 PM

Stephen,

You know, I think I feel more relaxed when I talk to the techs ahead of time, too.  Makes them seem more human and less clinical.

Funny how events half a world away can impact our lives.  Interesting to see you had the bruising, too.

We also have 2 cats.  One is Cleo, who is as friendly as can be (and my avatar).  The other is Breenie, who is a scaredy cat if there ever was one!  We hardly ever see her.  The name Happycat, is what we used to call our now deceased cat, Gus.  He was the best cat ever.  I still miss him.  If I can get off my butt and scan a good photo of him (predigital days), I'll use that as my avatar.  I've got a funny one of him where I put a wig on him.

Thanks for sharing,

Traci






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