Hey everyone....guess what....no more chemo...yup, we are done. Well, kinda done...I still need some radiation, but that is not bad at all. It is very local and I will not have all the icky side effects that I have had with chemo. Just a little sun burn and a sore tummy/throat. This is the awesomest thing ever and I am still very much in amazement that it worked out this way. I will start the radiation after the first of the year and since I don't have any more chemo Christmas is going to absolutely rock!!! That's Dr. Mellott...she is obviously my favorite person ever. Thank you everyone for all your prayers, thoughts, well-wishes and all around goodness. You all have no idea how much your strength has given me courage throughout all this mess. I am truly blessed.

Hi everyone....had a great lunch with Sam at Flo. It was yummy, I was so craving tacos and they had great steak tacos! It was excellent! Don't we look cute...well I look tired but what else is new. Stay tuned....we see the doctor on Friday. Love you all!

Hi everyone. This is a picture of me by the PET scan. I get strapped in for one hour. Its actually quite cozy and I always fall asleep. I had my CT scan yesterday too so now we just wait for the results. We meet with the Doctor on Friday. I will let you all know as soon as we know.
Love you all!

Hey everyone! I got chemo #8 today. That's Jill, as most of you know, she took me to chemo today, how cute are we! Everything went great! My port was a little ornery and required a little TLC from Angela to get the blood going but, all is well. I used atomic fireballs this time to mask the taste I get when I get flushed with saline....man are those things spicy. Definitely did the trick! I have scans on Monday so now's the time to start crossing those fingers and keeping them crossed. I'll know the results late next week. I see the doc again one week from today to review the scans. I'll let you all know how it works out. I'm really optimistic about it. I didn't get Starbucks this week, as you will note, even though my lovely friends gave me a Starbucks gift card. I was actually running a little late (I took the final for my grad class this morning) and went to the Corner Bakery instead because it was closer...quite a disappointment though, definitely won't make that mistake again! I bet that's why my port wouldn't work right away...it didn't know it was "go time" without the Starbucks!

Hi everyone....I did have chemo yesterday. Above is a pic of this week's fearless chemo team, my sis and her boyfriend. Her boyfriend was my DD (designated driver)! I saw the doctor and everything is running according to plan. My next treatment is on Dec 7th. A tighter window between treatments but it was a sacrifice that we made in order for me to enjoy Thanksgiving out in LA. I will be scheduling scans after that treatment. Yeah! I am excited. I feel like not knowing is far worse than knowing. My sister and her boyfriend are here until Thurs to help entertain me. Fun! Its nice to have the help when the chemo lands on a Monday like this. I know its harder for everyone else to be around because of work. I'll update you all again soon. I am sleepy and must lay down for my first nap of the day. Love you all.

Well, Thanksgiving in LA was great. The flights were not that bad at all. We did have a 90min delay in Minneapolis, but not too bad considering how awful the weather in Chicago was that day. It was so much fun seeing everyone. The top picture is of us and some good friends we got to catch up with. So great to see them both. The bottom picture is of the Mclarty children and the dreaded Christmas card picture. Yucky...we would have used one from the summer but, I hated all of them and I get veto power! We do look cute, I guess...I tried to vote that we didn't have to do one at all but my mother-in-law insisted. The whole weekend was one big food fest. Scott's grandma even made my fav, manicotti from scratch. Holy cow was it amazing. I don't think my weight will be down for this chemo at all. Chemo #7 tomorrow. My sis and her boyfriend are flying in tonight and are staying through the week. Tons of fun. One month until Christmas, let the countdown begin!

Well, I had a great day. Pic of the ladies from Northwestern Hosp...so much fun catching up! Doyle took me around the new unit! I can't believe how big it is. Hopefully all her cool tricks for remembering where everything is will work! I am very excited to start working a little. Get me out in the world a little bit. It was great to see everyone! I even ate in the new "restaurant" and had hot tea from the argo tea in the lobby. So cool! Thanks Doyle! In other news, Scott and I leave for LA tomorrow to spend the holiday with Scott's fam. Weather permitting! I hope that everyone has a safe and healthy Thanksgiving. Eat lots of yummy food!!!! My next chemo is on the Monday after Thanksgiving. I get to see the doc too so I will update you all on when my scans will be and we can all start crossing our fingers. My sis and her boyfriend are coming to sit with me! So fun. Love you all! Have a great turkey day!

I know, two pictures might be a little much but I couldn't resist. The top is my fearless chemo team. They look so intense...I thought it was funny. I guess the drugs make things a little funnier than they probably actually are. At the time, I thought is was hilarious. Chemo #6 was fine. Just about as uneventful as we all want it to be. My counts are doing great, thanks to my shot of Neulasta. So, that's a milestone, we are half of the way there! Thank goodness. We did go to Starbucks before as always and just in case any of you are there next time, remind me not to drink a grande Gingerbread Latte before chemo. Doesn't exactly settle the stomach!!! Live and learn. Thanks for all the thoughts, comments and prayers that I know are coming my way. Two more chemos and my oncologist will start ordering scans to see if everything is clearing up. Time to start crossing our fingers!!!! Can you all imagine the party I am going to throw when this is all over! It is going to be the awesomest awesome party ever. Well, I think that's enough blogging with drugs on board.

I love you all! Have a great weekend.

Hi guys...Sorry its been a bit since I updated the blog. I have been doing stuff, it's just I forgot my camera and a blog without pictures is just no fun. Above is Liz, my friend from work, we went to brunch today at a great brunch place Bongo Room in Wicker Park. It was very yummy!!! Definitely tasted better then my lunch excursion last week...I went to Hooters (I've never been before and I heard they have good wings)...let me be the one to announce this to everyone, the wings are not that great. Lesson learned. I walked all the way to lunch today(about 1.5miles), it was a bit of a walk, but if felt great! Which I take as a good sign of my energy level and (hopefully) means my weeks of being on the couch have not put me into horrible shape. I have chemo on friday, it will be #6. Only 6 more to go! It's crazy to think that when we all started this magical journey through chemoland that I was staring down 12 treatments. It really makes me think that there may be an end to all this fun after all!

Hi everyone...sorry so late to get the news out that last Friday chemo went smoothly. My old college roommates were there to lend a hand for this one. Thanks ladies! So, for those of you who are counting(I know I am) that's 5 down and 7 to go. We are definitely getting there. I also saw the doctor on Friday and got good news...no flu shot for me!!! Just everyone else who wants to have contact with me during flu season...ha, ha, ha! It made me really happy, I dread the flu shot, don't ask me why. So, doctor's orders everyone...go get your flu shots!

Hey everyone! Scott and I had a couple people over to carve pumpkins over the weekend. It was a lot of fun. We ate squash soup, pumpkin bread, and lots of Halloween candy. There are some very talented pumkin carving people out there. I was impressed! I have the next chemo this friday, so I will be spending the week cleaning, doing laundry, and schoolwork in preparation of the start of cycle 3. I can't believe its almost November! How crazy! Have a great day!

Hi everyone!!! Had a great day out today. I went to Dominick's to get my pumpkin!!! So much fun! I can't remember the last time I bought a pumpkin. I met Sam, as you can see, for lunch. We had dessert, isn't it huge! It was as good as it looks, yummy! I also spent some time at one of my favorite stores...Target! Have you ever noticed how overwhelming Target's Halloween area can be? I ended up buying way too much candy...like that's a shocker! FYI, they already have Christmas stuff out! I couldn't believe it either! Although, that does mean that time is marching on and all this fun chemo will be over soon. Yeah!!!!! Have a great weekend. I'll be thinking of all my Prentice ladies with the "big move" tomorrow! May the force be with you!

Nice pic of Rose, my mother-in-law, and me at chemo! She came in from California on Thurs. It's always nice to have a mom around to help out and just be around. I always get that "everything's going to be okay" thing when moms are around. She and Scott are going to Costco today!!! Yeah groceries! The blood counts were awesome, so we are staying nicely on schedule! I feel okay today. Just the usual. My friend Beth came over last night...she is an oncology NP. I used to work with her at Loyola. It was so fun, we drank Fanta and Beth ate some of the pie that we got at the Norske Nook over the weekend. Rave reviews on that pie. So, thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes for the counts. I think it worked, along with the fresh Minnesota air and my mom-visit from last weekend. For those of you who are curious, the hair is still kinda there but, kinda not. I'll just shave it soon. I am getting tired of sweeping it up all over the house!

P.S. We do have a starbucks in this pic too. I'm telling you...I'm addicted to that place, its just not chemo without it!

Hi! We got back from Minnesota all in one piece. It was a great trip. We had so much fun with my mom and fam and friends. Above is a pic of our good friends Anne, Donella, and Mickey. We had dinner with them and the cute dogs. Those are Donella's. We went to the Norske Nook Bakery on the drive back. The pie was awesome, definately worth the title of the best pie in the U.S.! The drive was great too...lots of fall colors!!! It was beautiful. I have chemo on friday. This will be #4 and end of cycle 2. It's great to count them off. Only 4 more cycles (8 more chemo treatments) to go! Scott's mom is coming in from California tomorrow. I am picking her up at the airport and then we are off for manicures and pedicures! Fun! In other news, Sam finished her marathon and raised $$ for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Way to go Sam, you are awesome!!!! Love you all! I'll be sure to let you know how the chemo goes.

Hey everyone! Had a great day today. I joined the local library and ate lunch with Kim at a new local place. It's called Crust, a very good all organic pizza-type place. It was yummy. My appetite has been a little slow to come back after this treatment. It's the craziest thing for me to experience, since I have always loved food so much, to go through this period during which I could care less if I eat or not. I did "force" myself have some carrot cake for dessert, it was awesome. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. I sat outside most of the day and read my book...that I got from the local library! In other news, Scott and I are heading for Minnesota this weekend. Scott has a three-day weekend and we are in desperate need of some non-city air. So, have a great one! Love you all!

Hey everyone, sorry for those of you with a weak stomach. We thought it would be cool to have a picture of me before I give myself the shot for my white blood cell count. Scott thinks its hard core. At least its only the one shot this time. The last two times I had to give myself three shots! Yucky. Feeling okay. Just tired and nauseous. Anne, Donella and I took naps this afternoon and watched Who's the Boss season 1. It was a great way to spend the day. Love you all. I'll be in touch. Sorry if this entry grossed you out!

Dearest Readers...

I obviously got chemo today! Yeah! Thank goodness. By the skin of my teeth. My white blood cells showed up for the game...GO WHITE BLOOD CELLS! It was a pretty close call...they were right on the line! Anne and Donella were with me. We had a great time! Scott surprised us by showing up too. I think he was worried about Anne driving me home! Just kidding! So, all is well. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers! Have a great weekend! Now its time to watch chick flicks and eat ice cream!

Well, Anne and Donella made in on the night bus from Minneapolis this am. Its great having them. We got manicures and pedicures this morning in true girl fashion. Then we went to the new Dominicks grocery store for dinner...lots of samples. Tomorrow is the grand opening. We are so excited about the grocery store...its only a couple blocks away. Thats a pic of Scott, Anne and Donella enjoying one of the many samples we had. Then...we went to see a free screening of the new movie The Kingdom. Needless to say...a very busy day! Tomorrow is chemo. Hopefully my counts will be good. I'll let ya all know. Love you!!!

Well, we have had a great friday and saturday already!!!! The pic above is of Scott at a downtown hotel that a friend got for us for the night! It was awesome...we ordered food in and slept! The dogs stayed at their fav daycare and even had baths in the morning. I tell ya...it was like christmas! Only bad news...I woke up with a sinus infection. I won't tell you what color my snot was because I'm sure you can imagine. Dr. Mellott put me on Z-pak right away. I have been back on my shots (neupogen) for the white cells, to hopefully keep them up for my chemo on friday! The bone pain is a little more intense this time. Yuck! Vicodin works though. My blood test was okay last week... we will see what it is for chemo! I also got to see Lindsay S. and Avery on Friday. I totally forgot to take a pic in my excitement over the cheesecake we had for dessert! Avery is the cutest, you'll have to take my word for it. Enjoy the weather...love you all!

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard; And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity, It asked a crumb of me.
---Emily Dickinson
Thank you Barb, Gina, and Pat for reminding me...Love you all.

Hey guys...Well as you can see my white blood cells rallied! Thank goodness. The first pic is of my chemo nurse and friend Angela giving me Adriamycin, the first of four chemos total. Its red...oooohhh! The second picture is of me when Benedryl and etc kick in. I know I look drugged. Jill certainly thought I was a little funny...I guess I started to slur at one point. I'm feeling okay now. Just a little sick to my tummy. Talk to ya kids later. I gotta lay down.

Hey everyone...Happy Sunday. I couldn't go to church obviously. I think God forgives you if the doctor says you can't go! That's my friend Jen...everyone is trying to make sure I don't go crazy with boredom and loneliness. We are making funfetti halloween cupcakes. They are the coolest! I have had a huge sweet tooth lately. So, cupcakes rock!! Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow! Go white blood cells, go!!!!

That's my friend Heather...she and Ann came over to hang out with me since I am a shut-in for the weekend. I successfully gave myself my first shot. Scott yelled during it, he acted like I was giving him the shot! Such a baby...he also called me Rocky which I think means it reminds him of athletes shooting up steriods, weird. Anyways, us girls watched a lot of fun TV and ate ice cream. All in all a good day. We also worked on New York Times crosswords. Heather is really good at them!

Bad news for those of you keeping track...my chemo was held today. My bone marrow decided that it was not up for the challenge and did not produce the adequate amount of white blood cells to make chemo safe to receive. My neutrophils are 500! Yikes. For you non-medical folk that is major danger. Now I have to take my temp every day, I can't eat any thing that is not cooked, I can't leave my house and I get fun shots. I'm tellin' you...this is just getting more fun by the day. To make matters even more exciting my hemoglobin has continued to drop as well. I guess that explains why I was so tired the other day! The new plan is to give me shots over the weekend and try again on Monday. Scott is at the drug store right now...I think he might be a little nervous about me getting sick because he's buying every anti-bacterial item he can find! Oh well, adventures in chemo land continue...

Hey everyone. What an awesome day I had. I saw so many people at work! It was so nice to see everyone. I forgot how much I missed you guys! Then I met Sam and we went to see Amanda at the hospital. We saw Steph there and then met up with Kim, Teresa, Monica at Pompeii around the corner for some lunch. I am definately worn out but, I had a blast! Now I am going to eat the dinner which Sam so nicely provided. I think there is enough soup for at least 4 meals! Thanks Sam!!! Have a great night everyone. Enjoy these last few days of good weather! It's absolutely beautiful outside! Love you all!

Thought it was time for a pic of Scott since he works so hard to take care of me. This is a pic of him making me yet another healthy dinner...yummy green beans. He's also got eggplant parmesean in the oven. My weight is still down from the last chemo...not that I'm complaining. To me the weight loss is the silver lining of this whole thing! I feel awesome today! Thanks for all the comments, cards, letters, and emails. It really makes my day! Have an awesome day!

Love you all!!!

Picture of me getting my blood test on this last Friday. My counts were okay. My red blood cells seem to be the ones a little harder hit. I went from 14.3 on the start day to 12.4 in one week. This, of course, prompted my mother and Scott to start talking about different high iron foods. The problem is I don't like liver or blood sausage...such problems. Ha, Ha! Don't worry, I'm eating all the other high iron foods instead. Feeling great today! I am starting my list of things to get done in the next 5-6days for the next chemo! Can't tell you how much I am looking forward to it!

Hi everyone! That's my mom. She came in for the first chemo to hang out and clean! It's been great having the help. I think I definately over-estimated how much I would be able to do after chemo. I'm just used to having soooo much energy that the lack of it seemed impossible to me. I'm here to tell you...chemo definately makes you tired. I feel much better today. My mom and I have been going to Target a lot. It's amazing that you can go there day after day and still have more to buy. I have a blood test tomorrow to see how low my counts went. Then it will be time to start preparing for the next round. Thanks again everyone for all the love!
love ya...Hope Q.
P.S. Jill's mom makes the best oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies in the entire world!

The new me! I like it. He did such an awesome job and I'll enjoy it while it lasts. I haven't had my hair this short since the 2nd grade. Otherwise, I am doing okay. They aren't kidding about the nausea though. I keep looking forward to the day it passes. I have such great support though. Thank you everyone! Thanks Jill for giving me such a cool new do. Scott is doing great too. He was at Ikea with my mom while I got my hair hacked. I don't think he would have been as brave as I was and I had Ativan! For you non-medical people, Ativan is a very strong anti-anxiety med used for chemo-induced nausea; it's also a nice muscle relaxer!

The before shot. Wow I have a lot of hair. Andre rocks! He was so helpful considering I was a little nauseous...he used a really nice peppermint oil to smell. I felt like one of those girls on America's Next Top model...I kept pretending like I was one of those girls that freaks out when they get a new haircut.

First day of chemo. I was a little nervous to have the port accessed. As you can see it is still a little bruised from the surgery and thus a little tender. It actually did not hurt that bad at all. Once its in I don't even feel it anymore. You can barely see it in this picture because its blending in with my bruise. Much better than peripheral IV's. After chemo felt fine for a couple hours, I was even thinking, "Well, if this is all it is I can definately work." Now I'm not feeling the hottest, and probably coming to terms with the fact that I can't work. I guess to be expected. The view from my chemo chair is the lake. Pretty awesome! Please keep commenting. I love seeing all you guys have to say, and it makes me laugh.

Sorry, had to add one more. He's just so darn cute and in this picture it looks like he's smiling. I promise no more dog pics. Couldn't you just cuddle him to death though!

I know that you all wanted to see a pic of my new puppy, Cody. He's the cutest! This is one of his rare moments of calm. He follows me around all day. I just love having him. Chemo #1 tomorrow. How exciting! I think I'm just ready to get this going. My mom is coming on Saturday and I will probably get my cool new short haircut on Tuesday. Keep watching, I'll be sure to post lots of pics. I love seeing everyones' comments so keep 'em coming. Have a great holiday everyone!!! Be safe! Love you all!

Hi! I got my port. She's a beauty. When it heals you won't even know it's there. Everything went great. For all you Labor and Delivery people I had it done in IR. Crazy! It doesn't even hurt that much. Especially compared with last surgery I had. Now I am definately ready for chemo to kill Bruce. Have a great day!

This is a picture of different kinds of port-a-caths. The one on the left of this picture, the single one on the chest, is the one I will be getting. It's under the skin and get accessed for chemo/bld tests/scans with a special needle. It's a great invention.

I've done a lot of cleaning today. I get my port-a-cath tomorrow at 8am and I imagine I will not feel like cleaning for a couple of days after that. Not that I ever really feel like cleaning! I'll let you all know how it goes. Have a great Monday everyone!

Vote below

Hey everyone...check out the survey below...vote!

Welcome!

Hi everyone!
I decided to start this blog to help me to let all of you know minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day details. My Hogdkin's, or as I like to call him...Bruce, has been staged at IIa. This is great news. I start chemo on Aug 31st. My chemo is called ABVD. I will receive 6 cycles, my oncologist feels that Bruce will be dead after 4 cycles. The additional 2 cycles will be to put the nail in the coffin. Each cycle lasts about a month. I will receive 2 treatments for each. It is interesting to be on this side of the cancer coin after spending 4 years as a nurse on the other side of things. It really makes me realize on a more concrete level what they all go through.

I am sending a big shout out to Sam!!! She works with me at Northwestern as many of you know and she is running a marathon and raising $$ for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. I put a link to her page with all the info on this blog.