Bleeding you dry. Literally.

So anyone that knows either of us well, knows we hate asking for help. We hate guilting people into a cause. Unless that ”cause” involves beer on a patio on a beautiful Fall day! But we are going to put aside our discomfort and ask you to consider donating whole blood at a Carter BloodCare Center (www.carterbloodcare.org). Prior to being a patient, we were regretfully ignorant to the necessity for blood, and moreover, platelets. Our understanding is it is sometimes seasonal, but shortages are felt when you’re the one in need. Sad to say it didn’t occur to us until now, but we (ok, maybe not the blood cancer patient) will be regularly donating whole blood from here on out. And C will be donating in spirit until he‘s able to find his own way to contribute. There have been days that he has needed platelets at 4am (when his levels come back at 6000 - normal is 150,000-450,000) and he has to wait for 12-16 hours bc there is such a shortage in Dallas. It becomes a priority case-by-case decision based on severity of risk. And that seems crazy!! In the heart of Dallas. 2019. So I’m going tomorrow with my mother to donate - it takes about 10 minutes to actually give the blood - about an hour total from arrival to wrap up. We would implore you to give “whole blood” if you are medically able. Different components are separated out for different uses. For someone who isn’t making platelets (ie. our buddy, CCR), things can take a turn quickly. Platelets are critical to clotting. If he were to take a fall, it could be life threatening. It can turn a bruise into severe internal bleeding with anything below a 10,000 count. If there is a shortage in Dallas, there are likely shortages elsewhere. So please consider donating! I am stepping off my soapbox now. 😉

We’ve had a super uplifting last 7 days. Through our mutual friend Ainsley, we were re-acquainted with a friend, Hugh Fagan. He is 10 years post his 2009 AML diagnosis. We hadn’t seen him in probably 20 years so were unaware of his BATTLE, and it was nothing short of a battle. He came to the hospital and visited for almost two hours. Typical of 2 (not 6) degrees of separation in Dallas, he was a senior at Jesuit while my brother was a sophomore and I was a freshman at Ursuline. Ains had raved about him, and deservedly so. He was not only a wealth of information, but his straightforward detailing of setbacks, encouraging and honest take on how brutal this special club initiation can be, his very uplifting and warm temperament, and his survivor story, has made him not only an instant FRIEND, but an important source of inspiration to us in this journey.

We have started to see the beginnings of hair loss. While unnoticeable on C’s head, his Michael Phelps underarms are a different story. Either he’s losing underarm hair, or his deodorant stick is growing it. So gross, I know. 🤷‍♀️ But don’t think y’all are getting by without some visuals! His beard seems to be shedding too. He normally starts growing his beard from short to long at the beginning of November (although with his hair whiter with each passing season, he has been called Santa on more than one occasion 🤭). Personally, I love his winter scruff! It was well on it’s way when we were admitted, but hit a bit of plateau after the first round of chemo. Last week I went to remove some glint of fuzz from his shirt......alas, it was the glint of a white beard. It’s still there, not the fuzz, but I think it’s days are numbered.

On the middle-of-night-insomnia-induced-binge-watching-front, here are some suggestions:

* Fleabag - amazon prime - I’m a little behind on finding this, but it’s a must watch! Loved it. Helpful hint - just not the opening scene if you’re with your opposite gender parent or in-laws

* Catastrophe - amazon prime - I think this was 4 seasons, but in the right setting you can breeze through it in about 5 nights. 😜 such a witty/sarcastic take on relationships

* Generation Wealth (photographer Lauren Greenfield) amazon prime - really interesting documentary on “wealth” over the last 30 years

* HEAL - Netflix - documentary on the powerful connection between the mind and body, and diet. Must watch if you have 2 hours to dedicate your uninterrupted attention, and a belief in the endless possibilities of your thoughts to influence your physical. It really helped both of us, but especially C to fine tune his daily practice of his visualization exercises. He’s on his mental game!

Update - we decided to stop all visits for the time being. He is doing great, walking 3 miles instead of 2, a little more fatigued (but that’s to be expected with these doses), and still working all day. Thinking about cutting back to 2-2.5 miles. You know, really take it easy. With C being fully neutropenic (having neutropenia) at this point (WBC/ANC are zero) the ability to fight infection is difficult. Any other time of the year, we’d happily still want to see as many peeps as possible! But with holiday parties, airline travel, school events, and flu season it simply isn’t worth it to us to risk an infection. So we will have to enjoy......staring at each other?

In closing - I had already written the blog earlier today, but wanted to add another special visit. Hugh Fagan called us this afternoon to say a friend of his was at the hospital and wanted to swing by to introduce himself. He was here for his 100-day checkup from his bone marrow transplant after his AML battle. Same doctors/medical team, same transplant unit. It was great to meet him and see how well he was doing. The nurses were so excited to see him. He shared an abbreviated version of his story and offered his email/phone any time we ever had questions or wanted to talk. I was able to go out to the waiting area and visit with his wonderful wife for about 45 min too. It’s increasingly apparent how willing those who have walked through it are to help guide the path for those just entering. ❤️

*Visitors in the “club” are still allowed. They are extra careful about germs. 😉

Hope this finds you all well,

C&A

I don‘t have any new pictures. So this is C in one of his favorite new hats (SR), begrudgingly taking a pic while watching Ant Man, and learning that the electricity is being shut off in 11 minutes for the next 5 hours. His enthusiasm is apparent.

Managed to get another one! 😊