1 Year Later 
On June 3, 2015 I found out I had relapsed Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  It’s interesting to think about everything that was going on 1 year ago.  Friday morning I was reliving the timeline of going to see Dr. Cripe, finding out I had relapsed, contacting work, calling family and preparing to be admitted on the 4th.  Last year for dinner on June 3rd we ate at Chicago’s pizza (one of our fav spots) knowing that the next morning I was going to be admitted for chemo and had a battle ahead.  This year for dinner on June 3rd we once again headed to Chicago’s pizza but this time to celebrate.  There would be no waking up to chemo on June 4th this year.  There would be sleeping in and plenty of play time with the kids.

A relapsiversary isn’t something you celebrate because of the cancer that caused it to be necessary.  However you do celebrate a relapsiversary because it is a sign you’ve survived for another year.  Here’s to no more relapses, but plenty of more relapsiversaries in my life.

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Closer to Normal 
Last summer I wrote about how I missed my Monday routine.  Taking the kids to the sitter’s, going to work, picking the kids back up, spending time with them and putting them to bed.  All while Lindsey worked.  While I’m not quite back to that normal yet, things are most definitely progressing in the right direction.

On Monday I began to work in the hc1 office again.  I’m not officially full time yet, but I am planning on being so in June.  It’s great to get back to meaningful work and to exercise my mind.  It’s also wonderful to be around a smart and dedicated group of people (and Brian and Corry too).  I feel like a new employee all over again, but I plan to get up to speed quickly.  As my time at work begins to wind up, Lindsey’s need to work part-time and carry benefits will wind down.  Yes, we are most definitely making progress towards normal.

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Same ‘ol Same ‘ol 
The past 6 weeks can really be summed up as the same old thing.  Go to the doctor. Adjust the meds.  Deal with the bad days.  Be thankful for the good days. Not too much exciting has happened, which is good.  Here are updates on the key points.

Scratch That Itch
One of the side effects that has gotten a little worse since I’ve written last is my skin rash.  Skin is a common place for GVH to show.  As a recap, GVH is graft vs host disease.  This is where the donor cells attack my cells since my cells are foreign to the donor’s cells.  I’ve been told that in severe cases, skin can actually sluff off the body when touched.  Thankfully my issues are mostly dry flaky skin (mostly on my face) and a reddish itchy rash on my body.  We were able to take care of the itching with a prescription strength anti-histamine. Thankfully it doesn’t put me to sleep, although since it is also used to treat high anxiety, I feel quite relaxed all the time.

The dry skin is just there.  No lotion really helps because the skin cells themselves are getting killed.  When I look down at the floor and scratch my forehead, all the skin flakes falling off makes it look like it’s snowing.  I am a bit self conscious about it at times, but at the same time I also forget about the issue since I can’t see my own forehead most of the time.

Continue reading Where’s Robdo