A Caregiver's Inspirational Journey Through Cancer
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Johnson & Johnson, Misc, Multiple Myeloma, Tecvayli (teclistamab-cqvy) on Nov 11th, 2022
“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr. I won’t lie to you…this is the kind of post I hate doing. In addition to our disappointment, I feel the frustration of all who care about us and are traveling this journey alongside us. Dave went out of remission almost […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Aug 3rd, 2022
“Stronger together facing illness” This group is worldwide and making inroads in the USA. I agreed to do an interview with them. I have found that there are many online resources and places for us to connect. They offer different things for different folks. Don’t be afraid to explore. 0
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Feb 22nd, 2022
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill Wow, what a wild ride we keep having. Good stuff, challenging stuff, crazy stuff, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME STUFF! Every once in a while, I say, “Can we just go back to Little Rock?” 1
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 27th, 2021
“The purpose of life is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson It’s hard to believe that we are winding down our journey here in Little Rock at UAMS, Myeloma Institute! From all appearances in our […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 26th, 2021
“Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.” – Roy T. Bennett What a lovely and yet another unexpected gift as we are here for such a long Arkansas stay! We had a Thanksgiving invite to Memphis with friends of my family I hadn’t seen in over three decades. But […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 24th, 2021
“There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.”- Anonymous We had a very long day today. Starting very early in the morning. A bone marrow biopsy and then off to get a PET Scan. Neither thing allowed Dave to eat past midnight last night, so I came home and made him a sandwich […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 19th, 2021
“Lymphodepletion before CAR T-cell therapy effectively prolongs the persistence of infused cells and increases the effectiveness of the treatment of tumors. Fludarabine is a critical component of a lymphodepletion regimen and greatly contributes to the efficacy of the procedure.”… Ok, today is a little technical stuff for those of you interested and perhaps considering Car […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 17th, 2021
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard Looking back is an interesting mental exercise in being liberated and going forward with more understanding, purpose, and confidence. At least that’s been my experience. Being STUCK in the past is nowhere I want to be. Second-guessing decisions is not […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 16th, 2021
“I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.” —Booker T. Washington What an unexpected day we had today as we got our labs and waited to meet with […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 12th, 2021
Grit, /grit/ noun, strength of character; perseverance, and passion for long-term goals. Dave didn’t need any support today. Everything is recovering nicely. But nothing was sweeter than getting this lab result today! The handwritten number is what they did before we headed into the Abecma Car T. We are on Day 11 post T Cell […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 12th, 2021
“Looking at our old friends is all the therapy that we need in tiredness.” Unknown Popping around in Infusion B the other day, meeting up with the other two Car T patients, I spotted Jean Ann the same time she spotted me, getting her husband Bart settled into a room. We met at our new […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 10th, 2021
“Be strong enough to face the world each day. Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.” – Author Unknown It’s so much EASIER when you share an arduous journey with others who are in your boat. I’ve often written about the whole “misery loves company” saying. What does it mean exactly? I […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma, Our Life on Nov 8th, 2021
“We feel free when we escape – even if it be but from the frying pan to the fire.” – Eric Offer Well, not precisely to the fire, but a new routine that will feel arduous over time. It feels good to be OUT of the hospital and back at our Goodness Village Home Away […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 7th, 2021
“Strive for continuous improvement, instead of perfection.” – Kim Collins It is common in the Myeloma community to say “It’s a marathon, not a sprint!” This is so true. Changing Dave’s antibiotic did the trick to stopping the cough and getting a STELLAR night’s sleep for both of us. I barely woke up when the […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 6th, 2021
“Progress is rarely a straight line. There are always bumps in the road, but you can make the choice to keep looking ahead. – Kara Groucher” The day before yesterday, Dave started to have a dry hacking cough. Then yesterday it became worse, and last night almost unbearable. After eliminating some important things, we decided […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 4th, 2021
“The voyage was uneventful.” – W.E. Bowman, Author And when a person has both knowledge and a heart full of love and an ear ready to listen and a hand willing to help others, it is a genuinely GOLDEN experience! A shout out to our two Car T nurses on Floor 7 in the F […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 2nd, 2021
“Begin with the end in mind.” – Steven Covey Well, yesterday was T-Day! Four tiny little bags that seemed as if there was nothing in them at all! Each bag took about 10 minutes to dispense, and the cell lab expert was waiting with them in a frozen cooler. As each bag was dispensed, she […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Oct 26th, 2021
“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” – John Wayne We went in today for labs and a check-in with our team. Quick in and out early this morning. We did not expect the rest that came, but it was all outstanding—meeting with the Bristol Meyers liason at UAMS, who does an […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Kids, Misc, Multiple Myeloma, Our Life on Oct 20th, 2021
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.” –Vince Lombardi Dave continues to improve daily with his femur fracture. His PT person is pushing him within reason and chats about the why and what of it. She’s very encouraging. Today she said when he said he wasn’t doing 30 of each exercise, “If you were doing […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Caregiver Tips, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Oct 15th, 2021
“The greatest wealth is Health.” – Unknown One of many challenges we face in any cancer journey is how to better our odds to overcome the disease, survive the toxic chemos needed to push the cancer into remission or cure it. And then, how do you restore your schnockered immune system. Many myeloma cancer patients […]
