My sister

The day after I was diagnosed my sister was by my side. She left her life in Las Vegas to be with me. I am sure that she felt the same as me and had no choice in being there. From the moment that my mom called her to let her know, poor thing was driving when she found out till she left me in June. Those months were the best we have ever spent together. I couldn't have asked for a better sister and companion. I needed someone to be strong and be there for me. She met that and so much more. Spent several nights with me in the hospital. She had to see me at my worst. She had to change me out of my clothes several times because of the accidents that I would have while I was sleeping. She would help me take showers when I wasn't even strong enough to stand on my own. There is something to be said about unconditional love. It means that you will do ANYTHING for another person and put that person first in time of need. It was easy for me to have her help me. For all of our lives I was the big sister and had taken care of her and now she had to help me in so many ways. When the doctors decided that the best thing for my chances of living was a stem cell transplant we knew that she would be a match. I never doubted that she wasn't going to be a match. We thought it would be a simple test and she would just do it. Oh the things that the doctors don't tell you. It took a couple of weeks to find out that she was going to be a match and that was the best day of our lives. Then came all the testing for both of us. Luckily, we pretty much had the same diseases as kids so she wasn't putting me at risk for catching something else. Both of us showed that we had heart attacks, no really. They had to do several tests on our hearts to make sure that they were going to be strong enough for the transplant. They still can't explain why our hearts show that we have had heart attacks. One day, I can't remember what hospital stay it was the doctor told my sister in front of me that it wasn't going to be her fault if I died. I couldn't believe that the doctor would say something like that. It really hit me hard and I still think about that. Of course, it is true that if I were to die it wouldn't be her fault. While I was at home we would spend most of our time watching the Today show, soaps, and Ellen. I pretty much had something to watch every hour of every day. She would make me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She would have to do all the cleaning because I wasn't allowed to. I am still not allowed to do very much cleaning. She would drive me to all my appointments and never complain about anything. We were living at my moms for a few months and it was a hard adjustment to make. Most of my friends didn't come and visit like they did in the hospital. It made me sad to be all alone. She kept my spirits high and dealt with my mood swings. When it finally came time to donation the stem cells, she was a trooper. She had it alot harder than I did. She had reactions to the medications. She had to have it taken out of her neck because her veins weren't going to be able to handle it. She was saving my life and I am forever greatful for it. I am so blessed to have a sister that has taken such good care of me and put me first for so many months. I hope that one day I can repay her. She also cut her hair short to make me feel better about me losing my hair. It was all these little things that made me feel better. Taking me to the store was huge. It was hard to be "locked up" for so long and not be able to go anywhere. I would reach for something on the shelves and she would slap my hands because I wasn't even supposed to touch the boxes. It was nice to be able to just get out of the hospital and house. Then I was hospitalized again in July and there she was back by my side. Ready to take care of me and help me though things again. Her attitude always was positive, but I guess that is how we were taught to deal with things. In order for things to go well you have to thing positive and believe that they will. Then I was hospitalized again in August, the worst stay of them all. I woke up and was confused at were I was and who was in the room. I remember looking over and see my sister but I didn't know who she was. I couldn't figure out who this woman was looking at me. Finally things started to make sense, kinda. I couldn't believe that I didn't know who my own sister was. In my mind still I remember waking up and still not knowing who she was. I will go into that hospital experience another time. I only wish that she had been there the whole time when I was going through cabin fever. She was the only one that I wanted around to take care of me. But I understood that she had a life and needed to get back to her husband and dogs. I couldn't believe how long she did it for. I have a hard time being away from Ross for a day. She is truely one of the strongest women I know. Then it came to celebrating my 100 days after transplant and we had a trip to the beach planned. I was so excited to get out of town and spend sometime with my family. It was so much fun! Having my sister there to experience everything is so important to me. In less than a month it will be a year since I was diagnosed and I am headed to Vegas to see her and her husband. She is truely the one that I want to spend my time with because without her I might not be alive. Then in May will be my one year since my transplant and we will all be headed to Sasquatch. Again she must be there for all my celebrations! I am so happy to wake up each day and be greatful for the life that I have. It is all the small things that happen to make me who I am. I am so thankful for my sister! I love you Charlene!

The next step

When the doctor told me that I had leukemia all I could think is that I have the same thing that Colin had? I didn't know that much about leukemia except for that it had taken a life that was so dear to me. From that moment I thought that I am going to fight this and not have the same outcome as Colin. I thought that I am not going to cause that kind of pain of loss to my family, boyfriend and friends. That was me, always worring about how others were going to be effected. The only thing that I could do is think about beating this very scary cancer. I didn't think or care about what the consequences were going to be by making my choices so quickly. I don't regret the choices that I made. I wanted the most direct plan to get me to remission. I immediately wanted to start treatment because I wanted to live my life as a normal woman again. I had no idea that I would still dealing with it a year later. Now I realize that I will never have a "normal life" I will always have to worry about getting GVHD. That there are life long effects from the medications and treatments. My body will never be "normal". I will go through things that most will never understand. I might have just turned 30 but have the body of an 80 year old. Tht getting a standard cold could hospitalize me. My liver, kidneys and lungs have to be monitored closely for the rest of my life. I will have special doctors and will always need insurance. One of the first things that they tell you is that you aren't going to be able to have kids, it was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn't think about bringing a kid into the world when I don't know how my life is going to be. I can't even count how many times I was told that I won't be able to have kids. There was finally a point where I couldn't hear it anymore and just lost it. Losing the choice of being able to have kids was taken from me. When you lose the choice of being able to do something, it doesn't feel fair. I started the chemo right away and it seemed so easy and I thought this is nothing. Well, if the chemo doesn't work then why would there be side effects? When the doctor told me that the first round of chemo didn't work I was devestated. It is so hard to comprehend what they were telling me. Why wasn't the chemo working? I will never know. I had to wait a few days before they started another round of chemo and luckly that took. The side of effects were so bad. The mouth sores caused me not to eat. I remember asking the nurse if I was going to lose my hair and he said yes. Even though you hear what they are saying you don't want to believe what is going to happen. I was in the shower, just pulling out my hair and crying. You don't know something feels until it is happening to you. Your hair defines the way you look. I never had dealt with anyone losing their hair from chemo. I didn't want to look like a cancer patient. I wanted my life back, but I knew that I had a long road head of me. So I accepted what was happening. This was the truth and my life was no in my control. It was in the hands of the doctors and nurses and I had to trust them like I never trusted before. Ross said lets shave it and I was okay with that. I didn't like to lose my hair so getting rid of it all at once was going to be the easiest. Jake was kind enough then to bic my hair and you know what? my attitude changed. I looked good as a bald woman. I was a warrior! That's what the nurses called me, The Pink Warrior! To have my room all done in pink added character to the dull room. I thought every day that I needed to stay strong and let the medication do what it needs to do and I will beat this. I have thought many times of Benjamin Franklin whom I have looked up to for many years. The quote that I have made my motto is "Energy and Persistance conquer all things". It was me to the fullest. I have always put my 100% into everything that I do. The other man that helped me and felt like was always there was my Grandpa Hester. I want to the strong woman that my grandpa would be proud of. I want him to be able to look down and think that I am doing right by him. Several times I was "lucky" that I was at the right place at the right time. I am always listening to my inner self. I felt his presence the whole time that I was in the hospital. Even though I was in the hospital fighting for my life I was still dealing with life. Your bills don't get to be placed on hold while you are in the hospital. I had an amazing support team. My mom and stepdad really steppped up to the plate and helped me keep my credit good. I had been working so hard to get it to be good. I thought that I was going to lose everything. I thought that I was going to have to file bankrupt. All these added stresses are what you want to deal with but it is apart of life. I learned very quickly to take notes because life was going by too fast. Also learning about the cancer that I had and my odds. I remember that the doctor told me what they were but told me that I needed to think that it was 100% chance of living. One thing that I learned very quickly was to think positive. I couldn't think about why this awful cancer had chosen me. That came later when I was stuck at home with too much free time on my hands. I don't really remember that much from the 32 days that I was there. Oh them chemo brain that I am forever going to have. I do remember all the friends that came to see me. I never went a day without seeing someone. Ross was there everyday except one. He is my rock! He really stepped up to the plate and I will always be thankful. My family, mom, dad, sister and step dad were amazing too. I will get to them another day. Like I said before Feb. 18th my life and relationships changed forever. When I went into the hospital I weighed 127 pounds when I left I was 104. I was a cancer patient. Next blog will be about my sister and her role.

Almost 30

I have decided that I am going to start blogging on a regular basis. I want to share my first year in my 30th with everyone. But first I must go back and share the past year. This time last year wasn't all that great for me. It all started with the Ducks losing, then the Saints and the Patriots. I know that it seems small but I was feeling like my luck had run out. I was the person that you went shopping with so that we could have a close parking spot. But for some reason I felt like my life wasn't going that well. My relationship was on the rocks and headed for failure. I was getting these bruises on my legs and arms. I wasn't too concerned because I have always bruised easily. Finally, my co-workers told me to call my doctor and then doctor told me that I needed to go to ER. At this point in my life I was just recently diagnosed with anxiety and hoping that the pain in my neck and back would go away soon. Little did I know what was going to happen to me. For my 29th birthday I wanted to do two things, get a tattoo and get my ears pierced. The tattoo went fine but when I got my ear pierced they wouldn't stop bleeding. At the time I wasn't sure why, but what was happening was my blood wasn't clotting. There were all these signs that you don't realize until way after something has happened. So back to where I was. I was at Good Sam in the ER but it wasn't the regular ER it was like a doctors office. I don't think that they realized what was going to take place for the 4 hours. I thought it was going to be nothing. Then all the doctors kept coming in. There was my mom, Ross, Jayme, nurses and doctors all in one room. They said that they are going to admit me. I didn't think anything of it until they took me up to the cancer floor. Like really? Are you serious, you aren't going to tell me anything but you are going to put me on the cancer floor. They had a specialist come in to tell me that I have acute lymphocytic leukemia and that I need to go to OHSU. Just like that my life changed forever. Most of the story you already know but from Ross' perspective. So I will start my journey by blogging. All my feelings for everyone to see.

Update from Dec. 17th

It has been a month since my last update. I have returned to work almost full time and so happy to be there. About two weeks ago I can down with GVHD of the skin. That means that I have a rash on about half of my body. I put a medicated lotion that didn't work so I went back to the doctors and he gave me some new medications. In one night I could notice the rash going down. I was so happy! :-) Two weeks ago I also went in, got my six month bone marrow biospy and came back perfect. In the same day I got my neo-star taken out. I have a very busy month. Hopefully there won't be too many bumps in the road. I am looking forward to next year and all the fun things that Ross and I have planned.

I am the happiest I have been in a long time. Christmas is next weekend and we are all prepared. We are starting new traditions this year. Bought out first tree together and it looks great with all the presents underneath. Finally made it to Peacock lane, first time in the three years that we have been together. We only live 5 blocks away. It looked great, it wasn't too cold and the street was closed to cars that night.

I will keep updating, try to give good news more often.

We still have bracelets to sell. Contact Ross at rossyoungman@gmail.com

I am having my 30th birthday party on January 14th at the Belmont Inn starting at 7pm. Everyone is more than welcome to come.

Hugs and kisses!
Jenene

Update from November 16th

It is me Jenene....

Great news!!!
I have been released to start driving again with limits. Also, have been released to go back to work again but only working a few hours a week. I have really missed driving and working. Looking forward to getting my life back.

For the real news I have 2 more lumbar punctures with chemo left. Those will be done at the end of the month. I also will have a bone marrow biospy at the end of the month marking my 6 months since transplant to make sure that I am still in remission.

I am getting around really well and feeling great. My hair is coming back. I would love to hear from everyone. I still have plenty of time on my hands.

You can email me at jmphilips503@hotmail.com or reach me at 503.341.3498

Hugs and kisses!

After 2 rounds of chemo

Hello,

I want to thank you again for all your love and support. I have now had two rounds of chemo. The first one didn't go so well. I had a headache for the next three days. The chemo that I recieved yesterday went beautifully. I felt great yesterday and today. I have four more weeks and then I will be done.

I found out that I am going to be reducing my medications and will be done with one of them two days before Thanksgiving. At that time my diet will change once again. I am hoping to find out in the next couple of days if I will be able to drive again. Oh how I have missed it. :-(

In a couple of weeks I will be getting a dog that I love already. I can't wait to get her.

I have so much to look forward to!

Thank you again,
Jenene

Starting chemo again

It's me Jenene!
actually writing...

Today I start chemo that will go directly to my brain. It is going to kill any leukemia that the stem cells didn't get. We are pretty positive that there isn't any there but it is better safe than sorry. This was told to us back in March but like most things I forgot about it. I will not be staying in the hospital for the treatment, but doing it as an outpatient treatment.

Lately I haven't been feeling well and was getting sick everyday once day at least for the last week. I think that we finally figured it out. We had recently bought bottled water. I have stopped drinking and started feeling great again. :-)

I have found a lot of new people to connect with that are young like me and have survived some sort of blood cancer. I hope no one has to go through what I have but it is nice to have people to talk to that know what you have gone through. On that note if anyone is interest in watching a documentary about ALL, let me know. It is about a guy that was diagnosed with the same leukemia as me and is still living.

Recently I lost a friend that was diagnosed with leukemia at the same time as me and didn't have her stem cell transplant until August, that is when I met her. We would walk the halls and talk forever. She was a fighter just like me. I think she was more positive than I was. Always had a smile on her face. I was heartbroken when I found out that she had pass. It really sent me into be scared of dying. Life goes on as I have learned and have to keep positive!

If you are ever wondering how I am doing you can reach me by phone: 503.341.3498, jmphilips503@hotmail.com and message me on facebook.

With love,
Jenene