A Caregiver's Inspirational Journey Through Cancer
Posted in Abecma Car T, Multiple Myeloma on Feb 22nd, 2022
The media we did for UAMS/MIRT on the CAR-T. Click the link to take you to the story. First Myeloma Center Patient Receives Revolutionary New Therapy, Responds Well 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, Misc, Multiple Myeloma on Nov 20th, 2021
“The article discusses infection risk for the hematological malignancies for all the illnesses listed in the first paragraph but, somewhat unfortunately, to a lesser extent for MM considering the very limited patient experiences with the anti-BCMA products. Still, a number of observations and conclusions are very relevant for us, myeloma patients.”… A topical article over […]
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 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, 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, Kids, Our Life on Oct 13th, 2021
“…every gift is exactly that, a gift.” – Maya Angelou What a lovely weekend and then extended two days with our daughter and her new husband here in Little Rock! Just what the caregiver ordered for Dave (and me!). I was so heartened when I called her and just casually said, “Hey! Any chance you […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Kids, Multiple Myeloma, Our Life on Oct 7th, 2021
“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln Another stellar day here in Little Rock yesterday. We managed to get the car registered, and so now we are 100% legal! One of my fellow apartment dwellers gave me the “better” Motor […]
Posted in Abecma Car T, Caregiver Thoughts, Multiple Myeloma on Oct 5th, 2021
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” – Dali Llama Every day here, I’m meeting and interacting with people in a profound and fun way. It’s like I’m in one giant neighborhood as I meander around from venue to venue. Often, I’m chatting with them while making a purchase or […]
