Just Got "THE CALL" from Tulane Cancer Center....

Well, gang... I'm pleased to post that last week's Bone Marrow Biopsy confirmed that Dominic is in

COMPLETE REMISSION !!!!!!!

Things just keep getting better and better. Happy Friday!

Bone Marrow Biopsy to Confirm CR

Hello gang.

Had a LONG day at Tulane yesterday. But, a GOOD long day.

First, Dom had his infusion of Zometa.

Here are his latest numbers:

HCT: 32.0
WBC: 4.9
ANC: 3,000
PLATELET: 179

Next, we met with Dr. Safah's nurse Susan and her physician's assistant, Tori. We simply adore both of these gals.

They were very pleased with his numbers. Gave us 2 good pieces of news. Firstly, we don't need to come back for a doctor's visit for THREE MONTHS. Secondly, Zometa infusions are now every FOUR weeks instead of three.

We discussed "REMISSION", and the different types of it. Thought I'd pass this along to you guys:

There is an international response criteria for Multiple Myeloma. Including these multiple sub categories:

CR (Complete Response)
sCR (Stringent Complete Response)
VGPR (Very Good Partial Response)
PR (Partial Response)
SD (Stable Disease)
PD (Progressive Disease)

More can be read about these categories here:

http://www.mw-delhi09.com/spargoDocs/Consensuspanelone.pdf (See TABLE 1 at the end of the doc)

Dom's recent blood test leads them to believe that Dom is in the FIRST CATEGORY.... COMPLETE Response/Remission!

Dr. Safah came in to chat and we decided to stick around and have a bone marrow biopsy done to confirm this great news. Within 30 minutes, they had approval from our insurance company and Tori was drilling into his back... honestly..... Tulane is out of this world. I can't say enough about the place!

We'll have the preliminary news by Tuesday, then the final report 2 days later.

Sooooooo.... all is going WONDERFULLY here. 2010 is shaping up to be a helluva great year!

Traditional Chinese Dinner

On our way to Panama City Beach last week, we stopped in Pensacola to spend the night with Joe and his fiancée, Ping.

She cooked us a traditional Chinese meal. It was as tasty as it was eye-catching. We each had a separate bowl of rice, used chopsticks and just reached across the table to grab a bite. She had a whole fish with ginger, brocolli, green beans, chicken and mushrooms, bok choy, celery and carrots, and cold beer.

Pretty neat. Alot of work for her and greatly appreciated.

After dinner, we were joined by Joe's sister, Sherry. The 5 of us went into town to have a beer at an Irish joint, then a couple drinks at the Seville Quarters courtyard, and ended up at a FUN local joint about a mile from Joe's house. Guess where we'll be walking during our next visit?

Anyway, wanted to share some pics...

Obama Sickens Me

WE'VE FIGURED HIM OUT! By Ben Stein Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed? Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths: The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. Pig in a poke means: an offering or deal that is foolishly accepted without being examined first. A poke means sack. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith. They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.. They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator. The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar. Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, the American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way helped all Americans. The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never can be -- "a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society." Either the costs go up or the free society goes away... a historical truth. These are perilous times.. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us "from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man." Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.. There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America . Ben Stein is a writer, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu He writes "Ben Stein's Diary" for every issue of The American Spectator.. You must, as an American, FORWARD this, or you will wake up one morning and your freedoms are GONE..... no longer there.

A Few Multiple Myeloma Links

Here's some pretty good reading:

http://www.everydayhealth.com/multiple-myeloma/all-articles.aspx

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/health/13brod.html

http://consults.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/readers-ask-multiple-myeloma/

http://msmart.org/

Dom and Nan's Most Excellent Adventure

Hi gang....

We had a very exciting week. Headed to Florida for 5 nights, met with a realtor on Monday, looked at probably 30 properties and bought a new beachfront condo on Thursday. (Will be closing on 4/26).

We've been threatening to buy in Panama City Beach for many, many years. Now that Dom's been through a successful Stem Cell Transplant and has been declared as "in remission", we took the leap.... we realize now that life can be too short to say, "SOMEDAY". Seize the moment!

This is a one bedroom condo at the Majestic Beach Resort. 22nd floor. Also a Queen Sized Sofa Bed in the living room....best view in the joint!  Fully furnished. Loaded with appliances, kitchen ware, decorations, etc. The balcony measures a spacious 7 x 17 with sweeping views. (Not for the squeamish). It was built in '05. Dominic couldn't find a single thing "wrong" with it...as much as he tried.

Many pools (2 Indoor, 3 Outdoor), hot tubs, exercise room, saunas, steam rooms, Starbucks, tennis courts, parking garage, 250 seat theater, pool-side restaurant/bar.... oodles of stuff. A true "destination" resort.

Symbols of Gang Activity.... urban and rural

City thugs like to throw tennis shoes over power lines, marking their territory. Those gangs have nothing on us! Thought you'd like to see how WE do it. That's just the way we roll, gang!

Hello there, gang....

Hope that this posting finds everyone well. Our patient felt "off" the last couple of days. His stomach was feeling funny and he felt a little light-headed. Today he's feeling great. Go figure!

Easter Sunday was very pleasant here. As neither of us got to eat a turkey over Christmas, we decided to do one for Easter dinner..... Martha Stewart style- covered in cheesecloth and basted with melted butter and white wine. We've been doing them like that for over 10 years now. Love it. And talk about a decadent gravy! Also made my niece Jennifer's corn souffle, balsamic brussels sprouts, lima beans and a cornbread/black cherry/sausage/walnut stuffing. Oh yeah... for breakfast we had our annual creamed hard-boiled eggs and asparagus over English Muffins. (Too fattening and decadent to have more often than Easter Sunday mornings!) So..... can you tell that Dominic's appetite has come back? And that food is a big part of our lives? *grinning*

We had a very fun surprise on Tuesday. Dom's cousin, Joe, (who I dearly love) stopped over with his wife-to-be, Ping. She's a Chinese gal. They were able to obtain a 3 month marriage visa for her after much red tape. She flew into LA about 10 days ago. Joe drove out there to pick her up, then toured on the way home....Vegas, Grand Canyon, Frisco, San Antonio, New Orleans. Ping was overwhelmed.... had never been out of China and barely speaks English. The main reason for their visit here is that she wanted to shoot a gun for the first time in her life. Dom let her shoot a .22 She hit the target! Joe posed her with the gun underneath our American Flag. She's going to send the pic to China. Hope it doesn't cause an international incident! (Should have put a cigarette in her mouth and a bottle of bourbon in her other hand!)

As you can see from the pictures, this is a lovely time of year in the Deep South. My Wisterias are exploding, as our blueberry bushes, tongue oil trees and dogwoods. Love this weather. Love you guys!

My little Jada got her first birdie!

Found my not so innocent kitten surrounded by bird feathers recently.... gave us a real chuckle.

Some GREAT Numbers Yesterday!

Ahhhh.... Good Friday. It IS a good Friday for us!

Dom had his infusion of Zometa at Tulane yesterday. I asked them for a print out of his CBC numbers.

THESE ARE HIS NUMBERS FROM YESTERDAY.... more than 8 Months after Transplant:

HCT: 32.5 (LOW)
WBC: 5.2 (NORMAL)
ANC: 2,900 (NORMAL)
Platelets: 164 (NORMAL)

I told the nurse that I was a bit concerned about his HCT levels being "low". Much to our delight, she said, "Are you kidding??? 32.5 is WONDERFUL for one of Dr. Safah's patients! This is great!".

(I'm assuming that she means a MM victim post Stem Cell Transplant). Anyway, this was music to our ears. Things just keep getting better and better here.

Have a delightful Easter, friends and family!

Love,

Nan and Dom