Day 36

After enjoying 8 wonderful days with her family, Kristine is back at Orange Coast Memorial, back in room 239, back for 5 more days of chemo.  I know some of you are confused by the fact that she must have more chemo.  The way it was explained to us is this:  Kristine had billions and billions of leukemia cells in her body when she was diagnosed.  After her initial chemo treatment, Kristine's body reacted very well but she still has millions of leukemia cells floating around in her body which is why she must undergo more treatment.  She may need to endure chemo treatments every three weeks, depending on how her body is handling the treatments.

Dr. Jacoub did a bone marrow biopsy this afternoon.  He's awaiting the results tomorrow morning before moving forward with the chemo.  So for now, her chemo treatment has been delayed until tomorrow morning.  This means that Kristine will not be able to go home until Sunday.  :(

Other than that, Kristine is in good spirits.  She is scheduled for another appointment at the RRCC next week.  Hopefully we will have more details to share regarding the plan moving forward.

Many people have asked about being tested as a possible bone marrow match to Kristine.  I wanted to let everyone know that it's very easy to become a bone marrow donor and it's not a painful process.  The test is a simple swab inside your mouth and if you happen to be a match to someone, it's as simple as donating blood.  You can look into this at http://www.marrow.org.

On a lighter note, Kristine got to test out a few wigs this afternoon!  We had a few laughs as she tried on each one.  Dani, the wonderful social worker here in the Oncology unit brought in three wigs for Kristine to try out.  Kristine and I had a hard time deciding between two of the three.  Although it is clear that wig #3 looks most like the Kristine we know and love, we couldn't help but to think that wig #2 might look nice if the bangs were cut a little differently.  So Dani told Kristine there was no need to decide and gave both wigs to her.  That was so kind of Dani!  She has been a wonderful help throughout this journey!  Kristine is so appreciative of everything Dani has done to help her battle this disease.

So now for the fun part...  Kristine wants to know what YOU think of the wigs!  Vote for your favorite by clicking on the word comment below.  We know Kristine will rock the bald head, but there may be an occasion or two, where the wig may be appropriate (like a wedding to attend).

As always, please continue to pray for Kristine.  Pray for her body to react well to the chemo and for no tummy discomfort this time around.