Lots going on!

Well, it's only been a couple of days since my lost post but it seems like a lot has happened since then - maybe it was just a lot happening today.

Let's start with what everyone wants to know - Elizabeth is doing extremely well so far with this regimen. The staff at West Clinic has kept her feeling well with the right anti-nausea meds. The cisplatin was supposed to be really hard on her in terms of nausea but so far, so good. Today she was given her cytarabine and that drug is supposed to make her really fatigued - but we'll see. She has been a trooper so far so I expect that it will be less than most who have to go through this. Annnddd....the best news of the day? She got to leave her bag of cisplatin at the clinic and not have to drag it around any more. Ha.

I wasn't able to go to the clinic with her today so my sister, Grace, stepped in. She saw Dr. Pallera this morning and he seemed to be much more upbeat than last week. Maybe he was just down because he hates to see his patients have something like this happen to them. I can understand that. I'd feel the same way. It has to be a little depressing to see someone sail through treatment and then relapse so quickly - especially someone that is only 30 years old. He told Elizabeth that he really thinks that her odds of a cure are much higher than normal because she has so many good things going for her (I think he knows how awesome she is so he's making an adjustment!!!). Interestingly, he seemed upset at the thought of her having her stem cell transplant at Baptist so he asked if we could see about getting it done somewhere else - somewhere that was covered by our insurance. So this is where the fun began today. Whew. It was like a whirlwind of things all happening this afternoon.

Yesterday, I sent Elizabeth's records to Tulane so that the oncology department could review them. When Dr. Pallera heard this news he seemed excited about the possibility of her doing her transplant there. So I called my aunt Danita (who for those that don't know, is the Chief Nursing Officer at Tulane Hospital). I asked her if she could see if our insurance would be accepted there. She made the calls and got back to me with some great news...we would be fully covered to do the transplant at Tulane. It never hurts to know people! Haha. We are excited because not only will she be close to family but since she is the niece of an executive then we will be well-taken care of - and I am NOT suggesting that Tulane treats anyone with less than wonderful service - it just never hurts to have a family member there taking care of you. Grace also works at Tulane so I know Elizabeth will be WELL-taken care of while down there. Dr. Safah at Tulane wants to see her next week. She said that she would be available for a appointment on Wednesday so we plan on seeing her in New Orleans on Wednesday morning. Seem like a lot? I agree. One minute, the transplant was going to be done in Memphis - the next minute we are headed "home" to see a new doctor - a fantastic doctor and set-up her stem cell transplant. It's been quite a day.

Other good news - Elizabeth will have a scan done on May 28th to see how the ESHAP regimen did on it's first attempt! If all goes well with the scan, she will start her second round the next week. She also gets to go on her girls' beach trip as scheduled - something she is VERY excited about. I'm so pumped that Dr. Pallera gave her the "ok" to go on the trip. She deserves it!

So all in all - a hectic but exciting day! We are thrilled about how well she has done so far and we know that this is a winnable battle. Well, we always knew that - after all, we are dealing with Elizabeth! She's got this!

I know that I've said it before but I want to repeat it - hug and kiss your loved ones. Don't let the trivial things in life get you upset because in the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter all that much. Family and friends mean everything and we are so blessed to have wonderful people in both categories! And never forget that with God, all things are possible! Keep those prayers comin' peeps!

One last thing....GEAUX GRIZZ! Game 7 baby!

Love y'all,

Scott