Happy Anniversary - NOT!

In a couple of weeks it will be my ONE YEAR anniversary with the AF Huntsman Cancer Center satellite office. Yes, one year! I have been going there EVERY week for ONE YEAR getting my arm stabbed and my blood sucked.



Why you ask? Low Platelets. What the heck are platelets you ask? I've learned a lot - I can help with that question. Platelets are created in the bone marrow. Platelets clot your blood so you don't bleed to death. Each of us damage our bodies every day by merely leaning on a table but because we have 100s of thousands of platelets which rush to our rescue we are free from harm. My problem is that my autoimmune system seems to think that my platelets are the bad guys....so it started to destroy them. This has been happening since 1993 - yep! But 2009 became the true year of the platelets.


(2 platelets - purple next to red blood cells)

To cure me... I've had two WinRho IVs - which is a 10 minute "push" or injection into your arm. The astounding cost of this procedure was $19,000 x 2. Oh.. this didn't work. Then I had (after Rusty's wedding when my count was 4) One 3 day IV of gamma which lasted 5 hours each day... AND I got very sick the third day. Cost - $17,000. This too, did not work. I was then put back on high doses of prednizone... didn't work. And what was suppose to be THE LAST resort... removing of the spleen - Cost $9,000 - did not work either. One month after this surgery my count dropped once again to 1 and I was told that I could "spontanteously bleed to death". 120mg of prednizone were given to get me through the holidays. We're done with the holidays and my count has crashed again. I went from an all time high of 256 two weeks ago to 29 today. All I've got from prednizone is a jolly round face and belly with 10 new pounds.

I've done some research and not to be morbid or anything BUT... hey no surprise here.. people DIE when they can't clot. I'm starting to have this claustrophobic desperate feeling. There are no answers out there and no one knows what to do.

PARTY ANYONE?

We Will Miss Him~

Austin was 19 when he found out he had bone cancer. 19 is so young. A 19 year old still isn't sure what he wants to do with his life. Austin had to decide which types of chemo treatments to try - whether to work or apply for disability and worry about the high costs of his treatment. He had to fight nausea that was brought on by the "red devil" that was pumped into his veins. It was almost "funny" watching him take a hand full of HUGE pills at the hospital because when he was younger he had me crush any pill before he would swallow them. He had to use a walker and then later a cane as he had no strength in his legs. He lost his hair - twice - each time it came back in darker. He and his girlfriend spent much of their time together in hospitals with their dog. Austin had to give up riding his motorcycle and his skateboard - things he truly loved to do. It seems so harsh and unfair for him to have had to deal with these things.

Austin fought hard - he wanted to ride again. But one day he was told there were no more treatments left to try so he decided to stop and live a lifetime in a few months. He went on a cruise, he went camping and yes, even riding a little. Austin passed away at the young age of 21 on January 1, 2010. Rick and I were able to say goodbye just a couple days earlier. I know he knew we were there. I've cried a lot this week for him but we - my family and I - have good memories to share. There was a reason he was a part of our lives. We will remember him forever. Love you Aust!