And the results are in

The reason Dr. Jeong did the bone marrow test was because Mom's numbers kept dropping. Her last chemo was June 23, so her body has had time to react and start getting it out of her system. However, her blood numbers had been dropping instead of getting better. Dr. Jeong was concerned with this. And you can tell he was concerned. You can tell his thoughts not only by what he says, but the expressions and the "pause of thought" he makes when trying to answer your questions. He never said he was concerned or worried that the leukemia had come back, but we knew he was in deep thought about it.

The test showed her bone marrow is still affected by the chemo. It is trying to recover, but that chemo is strong stuff. There are NO cancer cells. Whoo-hoo! We all did a sigh of relief. Dr. Jeong admitted he was "very concerned" with how her blood was doing. He looked at the report Friday morning when it came in and said he was "very happy, very relieved" at what he saw. Well, we are too!

So, her bone marrow is still recovering and it may take it awhile. Dr. Jeong is going to give it more time to heal and then talk about the maintenance chemo. The blood clot in her leg is going away. She will have to be on blood thinner for about 3-6 months (it's a pill - not those shots!) - that's how long it takes the blood clot to completely go away.

Excuse me while I hit the floor...

Today Mom went in for another bone marrow test. What exactly goes on when they take this sample? Well, we wondered the same thing, so Mom asked Dr. Jeong if I could stay and "watch." I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to watch, but curiosity won out! So, please, enjoy this bone marrow aspiration from my point of view. (Don't worry, nothing shown will make you queezy - I would have hit the floor if I saw anything like that! ...and Mom only moon's Dr. Jeong, not the camera)

These are the slides that Dr. Jeong will put the samples on.

The prep: the kit on the right is full of all the tools Dr. Jeong will use. See that big blue handle - that's the  needle that goes into the bone. Dr. Jeong pushed and twisted with all his mite to get that sucker in.

They put Mom in twilight. She had an IV (and a sore hand...the nurse blew the vein the 1st try) instead of using the port. Once the nurse started the medicine, Mom just talked and talked. Apparently her mouth  didn't want to go into twilight!

Dr. Jeong was getting all his tools in order, and Mom just kept talking.

"How many bone marrow's are you doing today?"

"Did you have a good visit with your family?"

"How was your dad, did you have a nice visit?"

"Is your mother still living?"

"Will they ever come to America?"

"How many bone marrow's do you have today?"

Dr. Jeong finally stopped answering the questions, but she kept on asking them. At one point the nurse told her to relax and take a little rest. Mom's answer to that was "If I'm still talkin, don't poke me!"

It was pretty comical. Mom doesn't remember any of this. She doesn't remember asking any of those questions - and can't believe she was asking such personal questions. Dr. Jeong had just returned from Korea where he had been visiting his mother and father, so I guess Mom wanted to make sure he had a good trip.

He never did say how many bone marrow tests he was doing today.

Eventually the room got quiet and Dr. Jeong did his thing. He pushed and got that needle through the bone. Then he pulled out the needle and stuck several smaller needles in and took out some blood. Above he is squirting the sample on the slides and then putting a smaller sample on each of the remaining slides. This is the part where I excused myself before I hit the floor. That was a big needle and lots of blood! 

Here are the finished samples on the slides.

These little cups had their own experiment going on. It is testing to see how fast the blood clots. See the chunks floating around... those are blood clots. Mom has been on a blood thinner for almost 3 weeks to get rid of the blood clot in her leg, so they wanted to see how quick her blood would actually clot.

Rise and shine! It's time to go home. This is nurse Kevin. He has been with us for all the other bone marrow tests and the Power Port. We're getting to know Kevin pretty well!

That's it. Then they kicked us out. 

I hope you enjoyed this step-by-step bone marrow aspiration. It's not exactly like what you'd find in the medical books, but it's close! We should have the results on Friday.

Baby, it's HOT outside!

Today Hadley and Haden got to spend some time at grandma's house. 

Hadley and Mom got some quality crocheting time in. Mom has been crocheting lap blankets for the Veterans (she's using camouflage yarn - they are pretty neat!) and Hadley is making a practice blanket in hopes to graduate to a big afghan someday. You'd never guess it was 98 degrees outside the way these two crank out the blankets!

Haden asked Mom to make a leash for his stuffed cat, so Mom crocheted him one. It has a handle on one end and a loop on the other. Pretty fancy for a stuffed cat!

Thank goodness for the fat!

What's worse than this photo of a shot you have to stick in your belly?

How about a refill on shots to stick in your belly! That darn blood clot just doesn't want to say goodbye. Mom's belly is black & blue and purple, too.

Peach Fuzz. That's the best I can do!

Even though the last chemo treatment was only 1 round, it was packed with punch! Over the last 2 weeks it has really done a number on Mom's skin. There's the usual dry mouth, but this time her skin has decided it doesn't like chemo and has produced an itchy, dry, bright pink rash on her arms and legs. Her arms are the worst. They area a red/pinky color. Remember when ET (the Extra Terrestrial) was lost in the woods and they finally found him by the river-- he was a weird, pinky color. That's the color of Mom's arms (Mom would rather be compared to the color of a fruit or a flower, not a being from outer space).

Friday we went to the Cancer Center for blood work and to see Dr. Jeong. They had trouble getting blood from her Power Port. The nurse kept stabbing and stabbing but she couldn't get it. She thinks the port may have tipped on it's side. That's no good! Finally, she was able to get it. Now, I have done well with all this needle and blood mayhem over the last 4 months, but all that stabbing and blood oozing finally made me queasy. Mom didn't look too hot, either!

Her right leg has been swollen for 2 weeks (it has gotten a lot worse this last week). Dr. Jeong sent her to the hospital for a sonogram to see if they can find a blood clot. The problem is, her platelet count is still low from the chemo, so he doesn't know if he can give her any blood thinner to get rid of the clot.

Sure enough, it's a blood clot. Dr. J decided to go ahead with the blood thinner. That means 2 shots in the belly everyday. And they are "self-administered." Yikes!

Although Mom doesn't remember all the trials and tribulations of the 1982 Extra Terrestrial, in the end, he was ok. He phoned home, had some Reese's Pieces and finally got rescued. Surely this chemo will rescue Mom from cancer!

...and there is a fruit comparison I can make: Mom's got some hair growing in her head. It did not fall out this round, so it's been growing since the end of round 3. It looks like peach fuzz on a Georgia peach!