The gift of life

Hello Team Tod fans. We don't yet have specific numbers to report from the November 30 blood donor clinic, but Canadian Blood Services says it was very successful.

With Team Tod's help, Canadian Blood Services booked that clinic at 105%! While a blizzard scared some donors away, CBS was appreciative of how many People Who Love Sara came out regardless of the blowing snow and freezing temperatures!

A few quick facts from the CBS:
1 in 2 Canadians is eligible to give blood
1 in 60 actually donates.

Not everyone who signed up to donate with Team Tod was actually allowed to give blood that day, so the "guest book" kept at the cookies and juice station is short several names. If you came and didn't sign the book, do let Sara and Kevin know you were there! They will also get a list of the individuals who couldn't attend that clinic because it was so well-subscribed, and a list of people who couldn't give that night because they regularly give at other places and weren't yet "due" to voluntarily lose another 500 ml of blood.

And now, for the competition most donors did not even know they were in... (drum roll) the winner of the Team Tod Fastest Donation is ringette Coach Scott Wolsey at 5:12.

Coach Kathy Leonard's Fastest Time Donation (7:34) fell within minutes of her exuberant celebration at the juice and cookie station. Leonard's time was easily trounced by Coaches Terry Shydlowski (5:20) and Kim Zizakovic (5:42). All three of these women played ringette within three hours of their donation (against the advice of medical personnel AND those operating the juice and cookie station). Oh yes, and Zizakovic reports scoring a HAT TRICK! Three goals and a blood donation in one day! (A modest Zizakovic reports that the only thing better than the hat trick was knowing she beat Kathy's time.)

The Foothills Alliance Church hosts a blood donor clinic in early December. For more information and to learn if you can donate, call 1-888-2-DONATE.

Information on the Stem Cell Transplant program operated by Canadian Blood Services can be found at: www.onematch.ca. If you are aged 17 to 50, healthy and willing to donate, please check out this site.

Interesting facts about stem cell transplants:
- Your blood group is of NO importance to matching a donor and patient.
- Stem cells are placed in a donor bag and taken by medical courier to patients all over the world (so sorry, you won't get to travel).
- Donors from all ethnic communities are needed to develop a data base with a broad ethnic representation.
** Sara's quest for a stem cell match greatly benefits from the fact that she comes from an ethnic donor group with the largest percentage of potential donors.

Overdue Updates - Grey Cup Edition

It has become increasingly apparent that my fair name and technological savvy have come under attack in a campaign of slander launched by my darling daughters and their co-conspirators Joy and Heather, the BM's. ( Blog Mistresses ) I have, therefore , taken it upon myself to assume editorial control of this blog to stem the flow of unflattering remarks about my capabilities or lack thereof. I will continue my rant against the injustices heaped upon me by my ungrateful offspring later but a few of you may be interested in news about Sara.

Sara has completed her second round of chemotherapy and is into her second week of the post-chemo recovery phase. She has been able to stay home overnight for most of the phase, returning to the hospital daily to check her blood counts and receive blood transfusions. She has been feeling good throughout most of this second round of treatment. She has been taking advantage of November's terrific weather to go for short walks around the neighborhood with her mask, scarf and one of her growing collection of hats. She is often quite fatigued in the afternoon but seems to perk up when dinner is delivered !

Presently, the chemo has wiped out most of Sara's white blood cells making her very susceptible to bacterial infection. My Uncles from Saskatchewan have been very concerned about Sara developing an infection. They have been doing research on the internet into " Hairborne Bacteria " . Their research reveals that hair is a big source of potential infection. To protect Sara from this ominous threat they generously sent the girls and me :

" Saskatchewan Super Heavy Duty Hair Disinfecting Helmets "

These helmets are reputed to have potent antibacterial activity as a result of having been soaked in vodka for a week. The Uncles have insisted that anyone with hair in close proximity to Sara be required to wear one of these helmets. ( Erin and Ali told me that I still " sort of have hair " so I would need to wear one too ) Since Sara is sporting a little less hair these days the Uncles sent her a toque embroidered with a large " S ". ( they told her that it stands for " Super Sara " ).

My Uncles aren't actually medical professionals. They are farmers, curlers and drinkers whom we suspect may have ulterior motives with the timing of these gifts of head wear. To check on the legitimacy of this form of infection control I consulted my esteemed colleagues Dr.s Dave M., Rick E., Bruce Y., and Rob B., to see if they had any experience with this technique. They all assured me that they had been involved in some of the early research projects on disinfecting helmets during their years at University in Saskatoon and that they were universally accepted as the treatment of choice to control hairborne bacteria in Saskatchewan.

Sara will continue to be monitored in and out of the hospital during this recovery phase for another two or three weeks. She will require another round of chemo that may commence just before or just after Christmas. Recent meetings with the Medical team have given us some further insight into the Stem Cell Transplant process. The planning and scheduling of the transplant is quite involved. A suitable donor has not yet been identified but this is not a surprise as we only started the search process a few of weeks ago and it often takes two to six months to find a good match. Once a donor is found it often takes a couple of months to co-ordinate the appointments and treatments required for both the donor and the recipient. The earliest that a transplant could take place would be some time in late February.

Sara has commented that as time passes in this process she is exceedingly grateful not only for the exceptional medical care she has been receiving but also for the support of our friends, family and even casual acquaintances. We couldn't imagine how much more difficult this journey would be without all of the tremendous support and positive energy that we have all been receiving. ( our house has never had Christmas lights up this early, our cars have never been this well maintained and with Mom around I have never had such a selection of well ironed shirts to choose from ! )

We do have a couple of requests to extend to anyone following this blog as the Christmas Season approaches. The holidays are traditionally a time for visiting friends and neighbours and while we would love to catch up with all those that we haven't been able to see for the past couple of months Sara doesn't have the stamina to greet a parade of visitors and well wishers. She seems to be able to communicate to me quite clearly when my company is fatiguing or vexing her but she is too polite to let others know when she is too tired to visit. For that reason we ask that anyone wishing to pass on Season's Greetings do so by mail or e-mail ( kjtod@shaw.ca ) . We are even worse at answering e-mail than we are at updating this blog so please don't be surprised or offended if you don't receive a reply.

The second request relates to Christmas baking. We seem to have an inordinate number of master chefs and bakers amongst our circle of friends and acquaintances. While we all love baking we are running out of freezer space and despite my best efforts to eat my weight in muffins, cookies and cakes on a daily basis we are falling behind the pace of the baked gifts that are being dropped off at the house. ( If Erin and Ali were writing this note they would simply have said " Please refrain from bringing baking by the house because Dad has the willpower and self restraint of a hog at a slop bucket and he is starting to blow the buttons off all those shirts that Grandma ironed ! " )

We encourage people to make any donations of extra baking that they might have to any of the many agencies and programs that provide for those who are not as fortunate as us in the strength and depth of their support groups.

I will close this update with a promise that we will keep you abreast of any developments that arise in the search for a stem cell donor.

Take care , enjoy the Grey Cup and consume watermelon responsibly.

Kevin ( for Sara, Grandma and the Melonheads )

Friends of Sara Blood Donor Clinc

Canadian Blood Services says the Nov. 30 clinic at the North West Family Church in Royal Oak is 96% full! Joy has been hearing from a lot of people in the Tod's ringette family and is pleased to report the volunteers for that night also come from this wonderful bunch of people!

If you would like to donate blood at that clinic, which runs from 3-8 p.m., please call 1-888-2-DONATE.

NOTE: Canadian Blood Service uses a call centre approach to customer service. This means you could be talking to someone who is not familiar with Calgary. (Some of them also do not appear to be all that familiar with the CBS web site, but that's another story!).

Please be patient with them -- and do persevere. They will find this clinic if you give them time, and keep telling them you KNOW it's there!

If you cannot make the Nov. 30 clinic, but want to make sure Unit 57 at the Foothills Hospital always has enough blood products for people like Sara, fear not!

The CBS hosts blood donor clinics in Calgary every day.

The next one in North-West Calgary will be held:
Foothills Alliance Church
333 Edgepark Blvd
Saturday December 5th
9:30 am to 2:30 pm

Call 1-888-2-DONATE

Salutations from Sara

                                                               

Sara and the Wild Things                                              

I am now a month into this journey and things have gone well. I found out last week that I am considered to be in “remission”, which was the goal of the first round of chemotherapy. I had another bone marrow aspirate and after analysis of that, the doctors determined that I still had 2% leukemic cells, but less than 5% is considered to be remission (when I started, 70% of my white blood cells were leukemic). This remission is good news and means that I can proceed with the next step, which is more chemo. This will start on Friday the 13th! It’s a hard thing to look forward to… but I realize that it takes me a step closer to the long term goal.

We also received the blood typing results for Chris, my brother, this week. He unfortunately is not a stem cell transplant donor match for me. As there was only a 25% chance that he would be a match, we weren’t surprised by this news. The good news about my HLA (human leukocyte antigen) is that I have common antigens so the doctors expect that I should be able to find a stem cell transplant match from the donor registry. This process usually takes 2-6 months. The transplant team has initiated the next steps in the matching process.

Many people have asked about how they can register with the stem cell donor bank. That information is available at: http://www.onematch.ca/  or http://www.bloodservices.ca/

                                                                     

Team Tod comb-over

While people that I know may not be a match for me, they may be a match for someone else in circumstances similar to mine.

I’ve been able to have this past week “off” from the hospital. It is a big treat to stay home and not have to rush back for the evening curfew. I’ve been feeling very well over the past week and sometimes forget that I’m sick. I do, however, seem to be overcome by a wave of fatigue whenever there are meals to organize or dishes to be done (No one has caught on yet …).

While Kevin, Erin and Ali were away at a ringette tournament in Saskatoon last week-end, I had a girls’ week-end here – including bubbly – Perrier – almost like old times.

Thanks again for all of the ongoing help and support. We have enjoyed some great meals. Kevin and the girls are getting spoiled. We will try and let people know about the matching process.
 

 Thanks, Sara , Kevin , Erin and Ali

                                              

              It's definetly working better for Mom than it is for Dad

Overdue Update

We are a little slow in updating everyone on Mom’s progress but here is a short report on:
“ Life on Unit 57 ”

For the past three weeks Mom has been living on Unit 57 at the Special Services Wing of the Foothills Hospital. She used to work on this unit so she knows many of the staff. It is a very busy place. Mom has never been very good at sitting still. She was never bored on this floor as a nurse but as a patient she doesn’t have much to do so - she came up with an official sounding title for herself. She is now, the self-appointed “ Line Dance Instructor “ for Unit 57. There isn’t a big demand for line dancing on a floor where everyone is getting chemotherapy and is attached to an IV pole, so Erin and I seem to have been volunteered as her only students.

Mom claims that she has been confined to her room because of a mild case of the sniffles and the staff don’t want to take a chance of it spreading to other patients. We think that is was because she was caught IV pole racing in the hallways. She was seen cutting off an elderly gentleman and running him into a food cart. (No charges were laid because the elderly gentleman turned out to be Dad).

Mom is feeling much better now that some of the side effects of the chemotherapy have decreased. She has been able to come home for a couple hours around suppertime the last few days. She has commented on how nice the yard is looking since the neighbors have cleaned it up. We’ve all been enjoying the great meals that friends have delivered to help us out. (For someone who is sick, Mom seems to have been eating more than her share! ) She usually rests on the couch after dinner. When she starts making comments about how messy Erin’s room is, we have her escorted back to the hospital.

We still don’t know if my Uncle Chris is a good match for a stem cell donation. It takes at least three weeks to analyze the blood for matching. He had his blood test on Oct 16th so it will be a couple more weeks before we know. Mom will likely be in hospital for another week before they do another bone marrow biopsy. If her blood counts look good, she may be able to come home for a few days before the next round of chemo.

Positive messages help!
All of the cards and emails have been greatly appreciated. In the evenings at the hospital when she is tired, Mom has really enjoyed having us read all of the positive notes of support and encouragement to her. She is grateful for the help of everyone who has helped drive us around to all of our activities and ringette games. Erin and I are also very thankful because the people who have taken over the driving seem to go to the wrong rink a lot less often than Dad does!

The gift of life
One of the things that take up a big part of Mom’s day is all of the blood transfusions that she needs. She has had 12 transfusions of blood and platelets in the past week and a half. Many people have asked us what they can do to help. People can help Mom and all of the other patients with blood diseases in the hospital by taking the time to donate blood. Mom is feeling better each day, but it is the blood transfusions that she depends on until her body can start to produce its own blood cells again.

Visitors still limited

Mom’s immune system is weak and while she is on isolation, visitors are still very limited. Her hair was starting to fall out from the chemo so she arranged to have it cut on Sunday. She said that her head felt better, but it was a little cold. Dad generously offered to share his collection of hats but she hasn’t jumped at that offer. It is never a good idea to start looking too much like Dad.

Since she has finished the first round of chemo things have been going quite well, but it seems like a long time. We miss having her at home. We are all trying to remember to take things one day at a time.

Thanks for all of your support

Ali (for Mom, Erin, Grandma and Dad )

Friends of Sara are invited to donate the gift of life!

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) is hosting a whole blood clinic Nov. 30 from 3-8 p.m. at Northwest Family Church, 10307 Eamon Road, NW. (North on Rocky Ridge Road off Crowchild) and we're trying to pack it with Friends of Sara.

Walk ins are welcome, but CBS prefers appointments.
Please call 1-888 - 2- DONATE.

Not sure if you can give? Call and ask! An RN will answer your questions.
Want to give blood but can't attend that clinic, call 1-888-2-DONATE and they'll help you find a clinic that works.

Information about stem cell transplants will be available at the November 30 clinic.
You can also visit: www. onematch.ca

If you know you can't donate, but want to help, email joygregory@shaw.ca
(She's a lifetime CBS reject -- so she will be there handing out juice and cookies, but needs help!)

With an appointment, CBS will get you through the process in 60 minutes!
(From check-in-to-cookies in one hour!)

Hi everyone.

We are finally getting organized enough to send an update on Mom’s progress.

Forgive us if this is a little wordy, but we want to address some of the many questions that we have been asked over the past few weeks.

The facts. Mom was diagnosed with AML (Acute Myelogenous Leukemia) on Thursday, Oct. 8.

It was discovered on a routine blood test with her annual physical.

She had no outward symptoms – and had worked out at the gym the two previous days.
She was admitted to Foothills Hospital on Friday, Oct. 9 and started chemotherapy Oct. 10.
The objective. The chemo is meant to destroy the cancerous white blood cells being produced in her bone marrow. As the chemo kills the cancer cells and the normal blood cells, Mom will now spend the next 2-to-4 weeks in the hospital to recuperate and rebuild her immune system.

Progress. The therapy is going very well. Mom is tired and has had numerous blood transfusions to attempt to elevate her hemoglobin. Despite her fatigue, Mom manages to do several ‘laps’ of the ward each day (13 laps = 1 km). She makes her rounds with her IV pole, nicknamed Charlie, in tow.

She has little appetite, so Dad has done his part to make sure your tax dollars are not going to waste. (That’s right. He eats her food.)

Looking ahead. The ideal long-term treatment for this type of leukemia eventually involves a stem cell transplant from a compatible donor. That would happen right after an especially-intensive round of chemotherapy. If all goes well, Mom will be ready for that transplant early in the new year.

Her older brother, Chris, had blood tests done on Oct. 16. His blood samples will be analyzed over the next few weeks to determine if he is an eligible donor. The chances of him being a match are roughly 1 in 4.

If he is not a match, then a search will begin with people already registered as stem cell donors.

If you want more information about how to get onto that registered list of stem cell donors, please go to www.onematch.ca Some friends are also trying to set up a blood donor clinic, where information on the stem cell registry will also be available.

No visitors. Mom’s immunity is very low, leaving her very susceptible to infection. We are not even allowed to hug her or shake her hand. Our family has adapted by setting up the Wenis Rubbers Club. (Your wenis is the loose skin overlying your elbow. No kidding! Google it!) When we greet or say goodbye, we rub elbows rather than embracing.

Our family really appreciates the show of support and concern and know that many people would like to come and see Mom. Unfortunately, a full week of chemotherapy has left her very tired. She’s also experiencing some of the ugly side effects of the treatment. Her mouth, for example, has a number of sores that make it painful to talk. (Mind you, she does seem to be able to rally herself to tune Dad in every once in awhile.)

For the next few weeks, it is best to send Mom messages via email or the blog. She can take a look at them when she’s not too tired—and can rest without interruption when she feels the need.

How strict are they? The policies around hygiene are so strict Mom is not even allowed fresh flowers. A friend’s flowers were confiscated by staff! But don’t worry! Dad bartered those flowers for some really good potatoes that one of the nursing aides brought in for a staff Thanksgiving brunch.

Thank you! Thank you! Again, we want to thank the legions of family, friends, acquaintances and even total strangers who have organized a community of support we liken to a communal “Barn Raising.” Grandma has moved in to help with the day-to-day business of running a family . There are efforts underway to co-ordinate all of the offers of food from friends and neighbors and to organize those donations so that the food is there when we need it. We also appreciate all of the help we’ve received to transport Ali and I to school, appointments and ringette commitments.
(Mom says she’s relieved to know our welfare is not totally dependent on Dad. He’s a nice guy, but the assistance of some, umm, more qualified individuals, is really great!)

We will attempt to provide updates on Mom’s progress in a more timely and efficient fashion through the TeamTod blog that has been set up to help keep everyone in the know.

The doctors have repeatedly told us that this journey will be a year out of our lives. Many people are anxious to help out and visit right away. We will need the support of all of our friends at different times over the year and we will call upon everyone at some point. We will communicate our needs for help through the TeamTod blog and ask that you be patient with us as we are somewhat technologically challenged as a family. (Dad just got his first cell phone and it has taken us a week to teach him how to turn it on!)

We appreciate all of the support, positive energies and prayers that are being sent our way. Please keep them coming and we will all get Mom through this together

Thanks
Erin ( on behalf of Mom, Ali , Grandma and Dad )

Demo of Entry Level Wenis Rub Technique

Double One Footed Wenis Rub ..... this is an advanced greeting technique that should not be attempted before mastering the entry level maneuver