Katrina here...

To paraphrase some ancient wisdom, commencement speeches originate from the belief that one should not send graduates off into the "real world" without duly sedating them first. Irony not withstanding, this very quote was cited by the commencement speaker (who coincidentally was the President of Westchester Medical Center) for the class of 2008 of Mercy College. Despite the (apparently requisite) tedious speech that followed this ever-so-witty opening, the Bauerlein family celebrated the day as only we can, by mocking mom in the car on the way down to the Westchester County Center. What could bring our spirits to such a ridiculously high level?

ELIZABETH GRADUATED WITH HER MASTERS IN EDUCATION!!!!!

(TA-DA!!!)

Perhaps the first commencement speaker didn't hit home, but I think the student speaker kindof hit the nail on the head. He spoke of the challenges so many graduate students face when returning to school to complete their Masters; of all the external commitments and pressures such as jobs, families, and busy lives outside of a 3-hour weeknight seminar. He reminded graduates and families alike of the sacrifices made, the battles fought and the very late nights and group efforts that brought each of them to that day and at that place. And as he spoke, I thought about Elizabeth matriculating in her program in the fall of 2004 and what was to come....

So Elizabeth pretty much rocks & and we're kinda proud of her. She's mostly proud of the colorful hood they give you as part of the Masters robes (which by the way are a rip off--anyone want to buy a slightly used Masters robe for Mercy College?? 1/2 price...) But don't that all that mushy stuff get in the way of some quality blogging material:

Like the creative solutions for afixing a motarboard to one's head when one doesn't have any hair (and no, Elizabeth wouldn't let me try stapling it to her scalp. And no, the stodgy women in the faculty lunch room didn't seem to grasp why the two of us thought that was comedy gold.)

Or perhaps the President of WMC who actually had the nerve to say, and I quote, "It's all about me...," to which Carol, Mom, and I retorted in unison "He obviously hasn't met Elizabeth" as Dad just shook his head in silent resignation (and Elizabeth's godson Matt slept in a vertical position which no human being should be able to maintain while unconscious).

Or the stupid woman who stood up and began fanning herself at precisely the same moment that they called "Elizabeth June Bauerlein," and how I knocked her unconscious with my chair and the paramedics had to administer CPR...okay, okay, so that last one is an exageration but the rest of it is true.

In other good news from yesterday, Elizabeth has heard from Dr. Ahmed's office that she will be able to travel to Italy this summer, even if she's not quite in remission yet. WOO-HOO! Upon return, she will either (1) have another round of VIPER (not quite another round of vino rosso but we'll do what we must) OR (2)she and I will embark our stem cell journey together. But the point is, there is Italy first. Oooo! International blogging!!! More on that in the future...

For now, we are celebrating. As dad mentioned in the car, 4 kids have Masters Degrees, there's just 1 more to go (apparently, when you have 5 children, you become checkmarks on the "to-do" list).

(PSSST!!! Come a little closer......I don't want her to hear...there's one more thing...okay okay that's close enough--we don't need your greasy face juice on the screen....Elizabeth's 30th birthday is coming up....June 11....don't forget to send some love her way....NOT NOW...on JUNE 11!)

And there goes the hair.

I started this entry yesterday, but I never finished. And now, it has a new title. That's right, this morning I woke up with a bald spot and a dead rat. Ok...not really a rat. It was a clump of hair. But that's fine, because it's f*&%ing painfull. You should all remember this from the first ...and second time my hair fell out. It hurts. Like tiny little needles puncturing your scalp. So this morning I dug out a scarf and wrapped up my head. And if the pain keeps up, I will probably get rid of the rest of it tonight.

On to other news.

Guess who's graduating.

ME.

That's right. I have finished my masters in Education. I will be graduating this semester. This doesn't mean I have my certification though. That is still waiting on the two CLEPS. I'm not quite sure when I will take those.

As of last post, we were waiting on my crash. Dr. Ahmed said it was coming, Denise said it was coming, everyone said it was coming. And maybe it did, but I missed it. On monday I left a period early from school to make it down to Westchester for an anticipated transfusion. Which never happened because my counts were already on the rise.

Want to know my secret for bringing up my counts?

It's easy. Plan a ridiculously busy weekend and then never sleep. Doesn't make sense, does it?

But that's what happened. We had the concert on Saturday. I got up at 8:30, had a nice leasurely breakfast and then Erica and I started to memorize our handbell parts. (That's right, we still had not memorized them. )
Then I worked on some of the music, ran through my solo once and tried not to panic. By 3:30 I was at rehearsal and on my feet for the rest of the day. (OK,...so I sat down once during the concert.)
Then, after the concert, I helped Erica chop up some fruit. (Two pineapples, some Kiwi) Why were we chopping up fruit? Was it just some mad post concert jonesing? Nope. Our nephews confirmation was this Sunday and Erica was to bring a fruit platter for dessert.
I then typed up a quick little talk for church in the morning. I had been asked to say a few words about what it is like working with the youth of Grace. I got up after 6 hours of sleep and spoke at early service. Had a brief sunday school class, and then sang with the choir for late service while Zach and Caitlin (cousin) were confirmed. Not a solo, I sang with the choir.
Then we had a party. I was going to help set up, stay for all of the appropriate photos, then go home for a nap,...but no, Carol insisted that all stay and dance. (There was a DJ. Young...but good)
And then I went to work on Monday. In fact, I have been to work this entire week. It's been working out well so far. I'm learning Italian by being the Italian sub. They review for their final, and I get to learn Italian.
OK, I have to get ready for class, but before I run, you should see the funny hahas that Erica posted. For those of you who haven't seen me recently, I have a giant scar from my biopsy. So Erica sent this.

Top 10 Ways to Respond To Nosy Questions About Scars
10. Never go to Mother's Tattoo Parlor when you're high.
9. You think that's bad, you should see the exit wound.
8. I self-mutilate. Don't you?
7. Those damn flesh-eating bacteria are spreading, slowly but surely.
6. That's where the government put the chip to track my movements.
5. It's the only way to smuggle drugs these days.
4. What scar? What are you talking about? Oh my God! That's HUGE!
3. I had to sell organs to get off the street.
2. I should have listened when Mom said not to scratch that mosquito bite.
1. That's where my Siamese twin was attached.

All right folks...that's all for today.
-Elizabeth

Hello out there.

So, this has been an interesting week. Overall, not much to report. Friday was nice, but I kind of overdid it a bit. I made it through dinner and almost to dessert, before I went lighthead and started to pass out. I had my friend Georgette lead me out of the resteraunt so that I wouldn't trip over anything. Then of course movement made me sick so that wasn't pleasant. And then mom had to calm down the waiter who thought it was the quickest case of food poisoning he had ever seen. So, mom and I left before the dessert and coffee, but I think the evening was still a success.
Saturday was a lazy day and I skipped church on Sunday. We did go up to my cousin Barbara's for Mother's Day, which was very nice. The sisters even went snooping at some of the model homes in Barb's neighborhood to see what they were like. It was kind of amusing. They all brought their drinks, and I don't dring when I do chemo. (I try to limit my types of poison at any given time.) However, when we left the last house, Marta was holding me up on one side and Katrina on the other, while Carol got the door. So, you know that those women working the open house thought I was drunk. We didn't stop to explain.
I played hookie from work both yesterday and today. I took my last Kytrl yesterday, and I wanted to make sure my stomache would hold with out it. The morning wasn't great, but I was mostly fine for the rest of the day.
So, tomorrow it's back to work with a quick stop after to see Dr. Ahmed and have my blood work done. See how the chemo is treating my system. I also have to start memorizing and working on music for this weekend. For those of you who don't know. I am in my church choir....along with quite a few of my family. We are going to sing in Italy this summer. (Don't look at me like that. I know I'll been in the hospital for a month. ...But I AM going to Italy.)
So as a practice run to our Italy concerts we are performing on Saturday. However, I have been more than a little neglectiful in learning the pieces. Most of them I already know, so thats a bit of a relief, but there is one piece that I do need to learn. Oh. and last year I suggested that we bring the handbells with us to Italy. It was a great recruitment measure for those who wanted to go to Italy, but couldn't sing. We now have a very full handbell choir, but our insane director got it into his head that we should memorize the piece. I have yet to do that either. On the plus side I practiced my solo for the first time with him today. It's not bad. I have to breathe a lot more than usual. One of the draw backs of chemo and surgery, but it doesn't suck. So, I think it should be OK.
So here is my gratuitous plug. We need money to pay, not only for the orchestra here, but also for the hired orchestra in Italy. To raise that money, we need to put people in the seats on Saturday. So, if you could.

Saturday May 17th at 7:30pm

Grace Lutheran Church in Yorktown Heights

Admission is $10

It's going to be a blast. And you can come see the last time I will perform with this much hair for at least a year. I think I have had thinning or no hair for every concert for the last 2 years. You can also feel free to point and laugh at the handbells. We won't mind.

Alright. I'm going for an early bed tonight. I have work in the morning.

-Elizabeth

Back in the saddle again....
OR
I remember this feeling. I didn't like it.

So, apparently I have been remiss in my updating. For once, it wasn't because of lack of motivation. I just haven't had the energy. VIPER is not pleasant. On Wednesday night I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I big one....like a semi.
Today I'm down to maybe a small car...a beetle of something.

So, here was/is the run down for the week. On Monday I had 3 hours of rituxan followed by a Velcade push. (The V and R of VIPER) Not pleasant, especially since I got some cramps from the steriod they gave me to prevent the reaction I have Rituxan. You all remember the reaction, right? Tickle in throat becomes hairball becomes unable to breathe? Anyway, no major reaction, but the amount the gave me left me in achy pain.

On tuesday, I had an hour of premeds, 2 hours of I-fex, (I in VIPER), 2 hours of VP-16 (the E in VIPER...don't ask) and 1 hour of Cisplatin (the P in VIPER...I told you not to ask.)

Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday, and Thursday was a repeat of Wednesday. Except I got another Velcade push.

So that brings us to today. I feel hung over, wrung out, fuzzy and shakey...at best. But I'm at work and attempting to not let on how much a nap would do me good right now. When work is done, I will run down to Dr. Ahmed's for my Neulasta shot. For those of you who don't recall this is the shot to regrow my bone marrow. Keep up my immune system. Which we expect to crash any day now.

Then later on tonight. I'm going out with the Women's Group for dinner. We cancelled our original plan. It was supposed to be a progressive dinner. Appetizers at one house, dinner at another and dessert at a third. Excellent concept...except dinner was supposed to be at my house. Not really feeling it. Anyway, we are headed out to a resteraunt instead to have other people wait on us. It's like having minions. You just have to tip them.

Other than the above, I have had a very blah kind of week. Mom was with me for most of the chemos. Katrina came tuesday afternoon to spell her for a little while. Amy sat with me most of the day on Thursday. A big thanks to both Amy and Lynn for the meals. Dad does appreciate being fed.

There is probably more stuff to let you all know about, but I need to get ready for my next class. I really hope the kids don't figure out how tired I am. They can sense fear you know.

I'll update more later. I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still here and kicking.
-Elizabeth

Here comes the story of the hurricane....

As some of you may have noticed, we have made some revisions to the site. Music has been added, as well as a new contributing writer. So combine all of this together, and you have a huge clue as to my perfect, 10 point donor match.

Hurricane Katrina is coming to town. It's about time her name started having a positive conotation. I still want to speak to my doctor's about some things, and I will have that opportunity tomorrow, so in the meantime. Katrina is a perfect match...Erica sadly is not. And Georgette will let you all know who and how much you won. Wish me luck on day 1 of chemo tomorrow.
-Elizabeth

Hmm....where am I? What am I doing here?

Hellloooo??? Is anyone out there?

Elizabeth...???

So as not to cause worry....

I have the results of the sibling donor matching.....But I'm not going to tell.

Suffice it to say, it's good news.

So, the game still remains. However, I am eliminating the "neither" option. You can bet on Katrina, Erica or both. Here is a recap of the rules.

It's $10 a bet. Either Katrina, Erica or both. $30 will cover the spread.If you are interested in playing, checks can be made out to either me or my mom, and the game will be run by my friend Georgette Muller. This is her email. gmuller5@gmail.comIf you drop her an email, to let her know the check is coming, she will add you to the list, and let you know where to send the check. The game is run as a 50/50. I keep half (hey...I won't be able to work soon) and the other half will be divided up amongst the winners. Bet's can be taken as late as Sunday morning the 4th, but I will be posting the results of the donor matching Sunday night.A few things to keep in mind. 1. Erica says the way the testing probably work, is they will put both blood samples (mine and theirs) into a test tube and see if they fight. This would seem to knock Katrina out of the running.2. On the other hand, this is Katrina. If anyone could find a genetic edge it would be her.

If you want to know the results sooner than Sunday, I am waiting for at least a response of 25 people. (tee hee I'm evil)

So, on to the update.

On tuesday, Mom, Dad, Katrina, Erica and myself all met with an oncologist at Dana Farber in Boston. (This is where Erica works.) This was a second opionion sort of thing. I think it went well. It left us with some questions, but it put our mind at ease about others. They would have done exactly the same things as Dr. Ahmed up to this point. Nothing would have been different. They also agree with the next step of this plan.

The next step involves throwing salvage chemo at it until it goes away. I have two rounds of a chemo, then a PET scan to see what's going on. If I'm in complete remission, I move on to a stem cell transplant. If not, we throw more chemo at it. Dana Farber has recommend that when it comes time for the transplant, we give them a call to set up a consulatation with one of their transplant specialists.
As you all know, this time we will not be using my stem cells for the transplant. Either Katrina or Erica ....or both, will be donating stem cells to me. This is an allogenic transplant. Bit more tricky than donating to yourself, but my cells don't seem to be doing the job.
So here is something fun. The chemo I will be using is called VIPER. (You can imagine the hand signals we have already come up with to indicate viper.) It is a newer protocal and I think it's out of Sloan, although there is a study currently with it out of Columbia. So, there is your visualization. VIPER attacking Fred. Got it?

In other news, I am still trying to graduate this sememster. I will be taking my comprehensive exam tomorrow. It's a 7 hour exam...(6 essays) and I havn't study for it. I anticipated it going well. .... that was sarcastic.
Anyway, wish me luck. More to come later. Keep the bets coming!
-Elizabeth