54,000 Boo....

Well the news is not good....my count is down to 54,000....which is just a bit (read a lot) lower than my target goal of 120,000. The doc wasn't in today, I was just in seeing Ellen so we are not sure what the next step is. Ellen is 95% positive that I will start the IV treatment as soon as next week. Of course she couldn't say for sure as the doc has to see my results and then come up with a game plan. But she is basing her decision off of our previous conversations and the fact that she has been working with Dr. Salh for a while.

So the doc will call me either tomorrow or Wednesday with what we are going to do next. I guess it is really good that next week is my Spring Break as I will need some time to recover if in fact we will start next week. I am not exactly sure what all this IV treatment entails because it is not the definite answer yet. As soon as the doc says okay we move to the IV stuff then I have a whole list of questions. I will be sure to try and answer all of your questions as well.

I know a lot of people have been asking me how I "really" feel about all of this. I can honestly say I feel "like bring it on". I have been taking meds, feeling sick, being in fear of the next "bad" day, being tired, for almost 5 years now. I am ready to go at ITP with everything I have. And in the end if I am still taking drugs everyday I am no worse off than I am now. But there is a CHANCE, a chance that I could go into remission, if only for a few months, I could have a few months where my body remembers how to produce platelets, and I am medicine free. I will do whatever the doc thinks is best. I am not afraid of what is coming next, I mean I could have cancer...which I don't. I feel that the Lord has led me up to this point for the past 4 years. I am as ready now as I could be.

Thanks for your prayers and now we just need to pray that the doc uses his wisdom wisely and he makes the correct decision for the next step. I mean I am putting all my eggs in his suggestions (basket)....

A Rainy Sunday

Well I am finally finished with parent-teacher conferences! This week seemed to drag on FOREVER! And then to think I have another week before Spring Break. I am so SO ready for a break! Then there is only 6 weeks of school left for us. Now that is something to look forward too. It is not that I don't LOVE teaching, but teachers but teachers put in close to 12 - 14 hour days, then come home and do more work being it grading or lesson planning for 9 months of the year. I need a break off of all of that work.

We did have quite a bit of excited on Thursday at school. One of our school buses that was carrying 39 of our students caught fire. I am not talking little flames, I am saying 30 seconds after the last student (which happened to be one of mine) got off the bus it BURST into flames. My little guy says he could feel the heat wave and it knocked him over. The bus driver is a huge hero! He got all of those kids off with no major injuries! I had two kids on that bus, and as 5th graders they really stood up and took charge. They helped with all the younger kids, helping calm them and keeping them in a backyard. I am very proud of my students. They are still a little shaken up, but they are troopers and we talked a lot about it on Friday. Helping kids with life events is on of the major reasons I love teaching!

Well on the health front I am down to 20mg. My gums bled yesterday when I brushed my teeth. I am worried that it means that my platelets are under 120,000 but maybe it is just a fluke.....I go back in on Monday for another update. As for a prediction it is a bit harder this time, just because I don't know if I go to 10mg or if I can just be off of the Prednisone. I am sure that I will be taken off and then will tell me to be in the next week and it will be in April that we will find out for sure if my body is creating platelets or if I have to try the IV.

I have been feeling pretty energetic. I tutored a lot last week so not too many walks, just because I wasn't getting home until 7pm. This week should be easier to get in some walks. I want this water weight to go away, and of course the extra pounds in the middle region. I mean Spring is here!

Thanks for visiting!

Good and Bad

Well this morning came with good and bad!

Good: Jacob got to come along for the first time. So he got to check out what all went on.

Bad: I had to wait forever in both waiting rooms only to lose Jacob when he went to the restroom and I went to the final waiting room.

Good: I still feel healthy

Bad: My platelets dropped to 123,000.

Good: Jacob got to meet Ellen (my nurse)

Bad: I have a nasty purple bruise where they took blood today

Okay enough of that. So Madame Amanda was right on with the prediction. I thought I would be in the 130,000's, but alas my body still can surprise me. I have to stay at 120,000 platelets for me to be in remission. After cutting my Prednisone intake in half I dropped more than I thought I would. But we have to look at the bright side, I am still high. So I am down to 20 mg of Prednisone. and I will go in next Monday ( back at 3pm) and we will see if my level still dropped and if so how much. We still have a chance that I will just drop to like 121,000 and then I can still put off the IV (chemo) stuff. So lets just pray for the continue feeling of health. I love having some energy!

Oh and Spring Break is only 2 weeks away. My in-laws are coming down for 4 days and then my friend Stacy from Western is coming down because she is moving here this summer! Oh my gosh so many things to be thankful for and to stay healthy for! Earl is chewing on the mouse cord so I better go.....

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter! I hope everyone had a wonderful afternoon! Jacob and I did nothing out of the ordinary, (he had a weekend day off...I know shocker!). I even tutored a math student today. We had parking team at church so we went to the 6pm service. It of course rocked! Like every Sunday!

On the health front...I can't tell everyone how much I have changed in just a week. I am on half of the dosage I was on and I can already feel the difference. I have done 3 miles of exercising for the past three days! I can tell a difference in my attitude...everything. That drug did terrible things to me, and now just weening off half has already proven to me, that #1 I feel better off drugs and #2 I might feel better because my blood is producing what it is suppose to. HMMM...shocker...at least for me. I haven't had this much energy at 9:30 at night (without taking a nap) for....well before Christmas that is for sure. So life is good.

I go again tomorrow morning at 8:00am for some blood draw and then we will decide what to do. Since I am getting so good at this, let me predict what the doc will say. My blood levels will be down just a bit, but still really high. They will say lets take you down to 20 mg of Prednisone for a week and then come back and we will take some more blood.

Tune in tomorrow to see if Ms. Amanda's predictions are correct! Oh and thanks for the prayers, I mean God is having me go through this for a reason ( I am sure to make me stronger) and your prayers help me get through it! ROCK ON Internet family!

In Anticipation

I just know so many of you checked this last night and to your dismay there were no new posts. To that I say thank you Internet. Ours was malfunctioning last night, so I could not log on.

Yet here I am after a day of teaching and then after school conferences; I am here to update y'all.

I am so good that if you read my post before this one, I predicted exactly what would happen. The doc took my blood and my platelets are at....get ready! 146,000!!! That is HUGE! They haven't been that high since before I had ITP! So rejoice! Well now I am being weened off of the Prednisone I am down to 40 mg a day for a week. Next Monday I will go in and get my blood taken again. At that time we will see if my body is creating the platelets (that means I could be in remission) or if it was the meds. If it was Prednisone we at least found a drug that in a pinch could help me get better, if I ever had a low count. If it was the meds than we will have to talk about options. The options will really depend on how low my platelets are when left alone. If my counts don't change that means I could be in remission. I think I have to be completely off the meds for a good 2 weeks (so that will mean we are still about a month out) to be declared in remission. That would mean for the first time in almost 5 years I will not have to worry about blood thinners, or take medication on a daily basis! I can not even dream of such a day at this time.

So prayers are working. My counts are at least up, now our prayers are that my body is producing these wonderful "clotters" on its own.

The doc did okay me to do some light (read walking the dog) exercise. No kickboxing or spinning yet. The water weight should also start to fade, which is what I am most happy about. I started the 40 mg today and have not felt my body having withdrawals yet....so I am should be okay.

Thanks so much for the prayers and thoughts. I was beginning to get in a slump not feeling like this was working, but boy do I have NO IDEA about what my body can do! I have more platelets than I probably know what to do with!

Back from Michigan

Hello All!

I know it has been a while, and I am sorry. Last week I was so tired I would come right home from school and fall asleep on the couch. The same on health front for the most part. Extremely tired, nausea, heartburn, sweating spells, excessive hunger. Blah Blah Blah.

Jacob and I left for MI early Friday morning, we made it into Detroit by 9am. My Grandfather's service was really, really nice. All of the grand kids where able to make it, so it was nice to have time with family. Keep my Grandmother in your prayers, as she has held strong so far, but the last of the family will leave tomorrow, and I can only imagine what an empty house may feel like.

Jacob and I heard that ATL got hit with tornados, but up here by us just a bit of wind damage, ands some scared kitties. Lola was at a friends house and she was fine and well cared for. I don't think the cats were too happy to ride out the storm, but they are fine. We have not even attempted to see downtown, we hear it is all shut down. But just so everyone knows we are all good here! Sad we missed a huge storm, as Jacob and I love storms, but happy nothing to serious happened.

I see the Dr. tomorrow at 3pm. Here is what I think he will tell me: "Well your platelets are up, so lets ween you off of the Prednisone." I will have to go back in a week or two to get my counts done again, and then he will be able to tell if it was just the meds or if I am in remission. I do not think we will get an answer if I am cured, or if I have to do IV or if I can take a smaller dose of this stuff. I don't think we will know by tomorrow. Of course I could be thrown for a loop, but honestly.....I am getting pretty good at predicting what the doc will say. Still of course a little nervous, but so much more ready to be off these meds, and be able to work out again!

Thanks for the love!

5th Grade Musical

Well a pretty uneventful week to say the most. I guess that is a good thing. We had our 5th grade musical so that required the 5th grade teachers to stay at school until after 8:30pm for 4 nights of the week. I am telling you anyone who says teachers are paid too much does not know a teacher. I stopped getting paid at 2:45 pm all week....yet I put in 14 hours at school for 4 days straight. Maybe that is why it felt uneventful I was at school the entire week.

Because of the musical I didn't do any tutoring which was a nice break. The energy from this Prednisone has yet to come, and Jacob found me asleep on the couch at 6pm yesterday. BLAH!

The nausea is still bad, and the hunger is getting really annoying. I can ignore it, but when your stomach is just growling like a crazy monster it has become just more embarrassing than anything else. I have woken up with heartburn every morning...that is a major pain. I am so ready for the 17th I am just praying that it worked and I can be done at least for a little while.

I am tutoring this afternoon (I did yesterday too, had great kids!), and then it is off to church. Jacob and I found this amazing recipe yesterday it was ravioli pizza! It only takes like 20 minutes and most of the ingredients we had in the house. It was amazing. Now I have to find something just as good for tonight.

Like Big Brother

Well a kinda rough weekend. My grandfather passed away on Sunday. He was 84 and lived a very full life. As hard as it is to lose someone, I know Grandpa is happier in Heaven than he would have been in a hospital bed. He went peacefully and my grandma seems okay for the most part. I would ask that you pray for the family in general. We will be having a memorial service on the 15th.

Then I get word that my boss Dan, from my high school job at Franks, died of unknown causes in FL. He had a boat that he would go to off of Miami. I am in shock with that too. I was part of this small town diner family for almost 6 years. I know the family so well, and of course Franks is a long standing establishment in good 'ol Zeeland. Because of the issue that he died in FL and there are a lot of unanswered questions. I just ask that again for prayers for the "Franks" family.

As on the health front....pretty normal. Hungry all the time, nausa, and tiredness. Jacob and I were able to walk about 3 miles on Sunday. I had to come home and take a nap. I am going to try to walk again tomorrow. Today it was in the 70's and I wanted to go for a walk, but I finished up the last training at Hunington Learning Center. I can now tutor all students 3 years old - advanced Trig. YIPPIE! I am at least done with all of the training possible. That is a good feeling.

I will end with some pics of the cats. Simon is getting bigger everyday, and LOVES copying his big brother. They are so cute when they want to be!

A Special Night!!

Nothing too crazy happened this week. I never found the energy to work out, which really makes me sad. I am hoping today after tutoring I can walk Lola our three miles.

Jacob and I attended my school's foundations auction. It is a HUGE big deal. I mean tickets alone are $85.00. The parents in my class took up a "fund" and raised enough for both mine and Jacob's ticket. That was amazing in itself! I have such great parents! Well the auction was called Leap-a-Palooza, and it was held at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead (a really big deal)! So Jacob and I got all dressed up. Jacob was in a suit and tie (he looked so good) and then I still could fit into one of my black dresses, so we were all good there.

It was a nice night. Jacob was nervous but he did amazing!! It is always a bit awkward down here in the South. It is always a culture shock when parents are buying you drinks, and you are just there "hanging" with the parents of your students. It was something I had to get used to.

When I go to these events it is always hard because the "Buck-ites" as Jacob and I call them, really are big on buying drinks, like as a thank you for doing a great job with my kid. Well I can't drink, and I don't want my parents seeing me as a "sick" person. So it worked out, with Jacob there, as I could just hand things over to him. HAHAHA!

So we sucked up, walked around looking like we belonged. Jacob and I were by far the youngest there by a good 6 - 7 years, and I don't think people even know. That is the hardest part for us. We are only 24 years old living in a life that most of the people we are with are late 20's early 30's, so they are at different points in their lives. Jacob and I have to take a step back and say.....we are ONLY 24, most 24 year olds are not where we are, and we need to acknowledge that.

Looking at the pictures makes me realize that I am just retaining water, and putting on the lbs they warned me about. I am not happy with the pics, but I know my family will like to see some pics....so there they are. My face looks the worst....it may be that I have to get up at 5:15 am and then the auction went until 11pm. I will use that as an excuse....

Thanks for your love!