My Birthday at HUP...

Attached are a few pictures of our little party in my mom’s hospital room on Friday. The kids were thrilled to see my mom and their visit definitely lifted her spirits and made her a little more determined to fight. During her visit, Cadence took every chance to feed my mom. The attached picture shows her giving my mom cheetos, these were followed by Whoppers and Peeps. There were no candles allowed on the birthday cake but it was a Black Tie Mousse Cake from the Olive Garden so it doesn’t really need much advertising, now does it?! Cadence told me later that ours was the best party in town.

My mom walked down the 20 foot hallway outside her room in the Rhoads building assisted by 2 physical therapists. This is the first time she has tried to walk in 4 weeks. She did great and definitely enjoyed the view from the hall window, mostly students running to class in the rain, but better than the side of the building she sees from her bed.

All of the tests run on my mom’s immune system came back with great results. Her T cells were a bit low but her doctor believes that is nothing to worry about. They started an infusion treatment of gamma globulin (no idea) in hopes of pumping up her immune system. Her oncologist is also contacting an expert in the treatment of PML who was recommended by a friend of ours from Biogen Idec and is looking forward to discussing my mom’s case with him.

I was not able to make it to the hospital to see her this weekend for fear of infecting her with this horrible cold I caught, I miss her dearly and will be relieved to see her again. Before my mom became ill it was rare for me or the kids to go 2 days without seeing her so this has been difficult to say the least. Dana said she continues to ask for me and that today her speech was much clearer and she is starting to ask questions about topics we last discussed before she was readmitted to the hospital last week.

She told us that she is planning on coming home this week and I feel extreme sympathy for the doctor who tells her that is not possible, but not enough to volunteer...I’ll be damned if I am doing it!

Our family continues to hope.