Suzie’s carbon dioxide levels, which were 70 (twice the normal level of 35) when first measured, were lowered to 51 yesterday so Suzie was transferred from the critical care unit to a standard hospital room. Regarding the cancer all of her blood work, with the exception of her white blood count, is within the normal ranges. We celebrated our good fortune over lunch today before learning that the CO2 had jumped back up to 59 and that she is not out of the woods. This means that she will remain in the hospital and continue respiratory treatments over the Memorial Day weekend. Her spirits are good and she continues fighting both the COPD and the Cancer as hard as she can. It’s good thing that living with me for 40 years did much to prepare her for these encounters! (Thanks Craig.)

Next test of her CO2 levels is scheduled for tomorrow morning. We’ll use the blog to keep everyone advised of significant changes. This document can be accessed at the following URL:

http://nanisgreatadventure.blogspot.com/

Just when you thought....

Suzie and I have had a marvelous 8-9 month period where she was in remission and we were really able to get out and enjoy life. Most recently, we traveled to Atlanta to visit with Dave and his family and to participate in Gwinnett County's Relay for life. This is a huge fund raiser for the American Cancer Society with Gwinnett County's being the country's largest. (These fundraisers, Rebecca, Cindy, fellow teachers and all the students are phenomenal!) Suzie walked the 'Survivor's' Lap, a very emotional undertaking, and did herself proud. From there, we journeyed to Savannah, Charleston, Parris Island and Beafort and celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with her sister Diana and her husband Jeff.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Suzie managed to acquire a new infection which resulted in an acute COPD event. She was inhaling enough oxygen but her lungs were not ventilating properly and she was not exhaling enough carbon dioxide. This resulted in a loss of strength and energy and made it almost impossible for her to breathe in. Long story short, we went to the emergency room this morning and she was admitted to the critical care unit where she will remain until they can remedy the situation. Please keep her in your prayers!

Mike

We have not been aggressive about posting to this site recently because Suzie is more or less in a state of remission and life for the past eight months has approached normalcy. We're taking advantage of the break and are squeezing as much living as we can into this time period. In April, we hosted a reunion of good friends we made during the short time we lived in Plymouth, got together with our son Dave and his family for Easter and traveled to Boston to visit with our daughter Lisa, her friends, and good friends of ours from our days in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Next week we'll travel to Georgia to walk in the Relay for Life sponsored by Dacula Elementary School, then venture off to Savannah, Charleston and Beaufort to celebrate 40 years of marriage with Suzie's sister and her husband.

Life is good

Suzie and I celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary today and are we happy or what!!!!

:-)*Infinity

Mike

Suzie had a blood draw today and we learned that, for the first time since we discovered she has cancer, with the exception of platelets, all of her blood counts are within the normal range! This is WONDERFUL news! Her cancer may not be gone but God has blessed her because, for the present time, it is under control.

:-)

Mike

We spoke with our nurse at M D Anderson yesterday and learned two things: there are no longer any donor cells in Suzie's blood and the Revlimid she is taking seems to be an effective agent for managing her cancer. Although we are no longer looking forward to the cure that the transplant promised we are thankful that we pursued this course. Suzie is alive, her quality of life is much improved and there is hope that the Revlimid, and other potential treatments, will help her stay this way.

Best to all of you,

Mike

And the beat goes on...

Suzie's strength is holding and her blood work continues to improve--that shot she got last month and the Revlimid she is taking appear to be helping. We're on our way to Houston next week and the testing they do there will tell us if the donor's cells are on the rebound. We should learn the results of these tests by the end of February.

God Bless,

Mike