Family Day:

Advice for Husbands

If your wife tends to think that your sense of humor is a little lame to start with - don’t expect her to think that you are a whole lot funnier after:

A) she has been cooped up in a hospital room being treated to a steady diet of chemo drugs, steroids, anti-nausea agents, narcotics and immunosuppressant medications

and

B) you are her primary source of “entertainment” for a prolonged period of time

I am tending to blame Sara’s lack of appreciation for my sense of humor over the past few days on all of the medications she is receiving - but Erin and Ali have graciously pointed out that they also think that my humor is lame - and they aren’t taking any medications.

My Advice – have sons!

Sara’s Progress

Sara’s condition is progressing as expected. The next couple of weeks will likely be the roughest part of the treatment to date. She will experience the combined side effects of the radiation and chemo drugs and her blood counts will drop significantly before the new stem cells can establish themselves. The negative side effects will continue over the next 2 weeks before her blood counts start to recover. There is going to be a lot of ‘waiting and seeing’ in the next few months. Graft vs Host disease will likely start to develop to some degree after her counts start to return. It is around the three month post transplant point that she will have another bone marrow aspirate done to reexamine the new marrow and determine the success of the transplant in eliminating the production of cancerous cells.

Eating is not an activity that is going to have much appeal for a while and the laps around the hallways of Unit 57, which she has been doing regularly, will likely be a little slower and less frequent.

This part of the program isn’t exactly a picnic but Sara considers herself fortunate to have the opportunity to undertake this transplant therapy because in most parts of the world it isn’t even available. Without it, the probability for long term success in treating this type of leukemia is limited.

One of the factors that make this treatment possible is the availability of blood products and transfusions to support Sara, and others like her, during the critical period when they are not producing enough blood cells to sustain themselves independently. Sara has begun receiving transfusions to replace the platelets that have been destroyed by this last round of chemo.

With that in mind, Joy ( seen below volunteering with Erin at Nov. blood donor clinic) has put together the following information regarding opportunities to help ensure that blood is in good supply, whether it is required for use in leukemia patients, motor vehicle accident victims or friends and neighbors requiring a host of other medical treatments.

Blood donor clinic Feb. 20

Did you know that Canadians can give blood every 56 days?

Did you know that one of every two Canadians is eligible to give blood?

People Who Love Sara helped pack a blood donor clinic in north-west Calgary back in November.

Those people are eligible to give again at a Canadian Blood Services clinic to be held this Saturday, Feb. 20 at Foothills Alliance Church, 333 Edgepark Boulevard, N.W.

While the clinic can accommodate some walk-in donors, organizers prefer donations-by-appointment.

To make an appointment, please call 1-888- 2-Donate.

If that clinic doesn’t work for you, check out the Canadian Blood Services website at www.blood.ca.

Click on “CLINICS”, enter your address and a time frame when you could give and you will find a list of clinics planned for Calgary.

Other dates and places include:

Feb. 25 – G. Diefenbaker High School

March 4 – Deerfoot S Atrium

March 11 – SAIT

March 13 – Cardel Place

These are clinics planned for the northwest. Others are held throughout Calgary EVERY DAY.

Thanks for your e-mails, thoughts and prayers.

Kevin