Wedding Shoot

Last Sunday one of the girls that works with me daughter was
getting married.  She asked if I would take the pictures and I
was glad to help out. Was a little nervous and always worried
that the camera would stop working, it's not something that
you can do a retake on.  Lucky for me, every thing went well
and the wedding was beautiful.

Bride's daughter. She is so shy, but did great during the wedding.

It was a lovely day for outside wedding.  

Her dress was beautiful.

~ Cheryl ~

Puddles Update

Mr Puddles has a recheck appt yesterday.

First it was blood work and then we saw doctor.
Every thing is going well. The blood count is not getting
worse and some of the cells are up a tad. He's lost 1/2 lb
which is normal, but we hope he does not continue this.

I asked about his hair falling out and she didn't think it
would. When brushing him, I did get out more than normal.

Garry (med giver) can start cutting him back on the steroids
and he's now only one 1 chemo tablet a day.

The chemo med is hard to get, so I called the pharmacy in
Hickory and they were able to give me a refill. Dr Parfitt was
happy to hear this since she was going to have to start calling
in search for some.

Puddles next appt is Oct 22nd and we were glad about that!

~ chery ~

Happy Fall !

I love the Fall season, other than Spring.

The cool mornings and warm days are perfect here in NC.

Also the yellow and orange colors are beautiful.

This week I changed the flowers in my grapevine wreath.
It didn't take 30 mins and I thought it turned out pretty.

I also planted 6 yellow mums.

Some people have such smart ideals.

 ~ Cheryl ~

Beach Time

Every year Mom, Romonia (sister) and I go to the beach.

Last year we didn't wait until school started back and
we leaned our lesson. It was much better this week, not
as loud and crowded.

Mom loves being able to walk in the sand.
Having both knees replaced have been a
blessing for her. Can't slow her down now.

View from hotel.

Already looking forward to our trip next year.
Love me some beach !

~ Cheryl ~

Fun in the Park

I did a little photo shoot of Jayce (great-nephew) at the park.
He's such a darling and has the most energy !

Here are a few pic:

When it was time to leave, a little pouting and tears.

I could not resist taking his pic, bless his heart.

~ Cheryl ~

Puddles Update

We received Puddles chem meds from the Pharmacy.
The price was not to bad, 40 tablets for $100.
Sure $100 is a lot, but it could have been more.

I have been at the beach with mom and sister
so Garry started the pills Saturday. This way
he could watch him all week end.

Every thing has gone well. No sickness and he's
following us around the house.

We have a recheck appt on the 26th with lab
work. Maybe he can come down on the steroids.

~ Cheryl ~

Puddles Medicines

This week we have been talking with Puddles Oncologist
and getting the meds set up to start him on Friday.

The Chemo drug (Chlorambucil) was called into a
compounding pharmacy in Hickory. Since it's a 2 hour
drive to pick it up they are shipping it to us. From
what the Dr. said this compound is hard to get.

Puddles will take 2 capsules orally once daily for 7 days,
then  decrease to 1 daily until his recheck. We also have
to wear gloves when administering this drug.

He will also take Prednisone 1 tablet by mouth once daily . 

Due to these meds Puddles will also take Pepcid AC,
1/2 tablet every 12 hours for his stomach.

We will see Dr Parfitt in 2 weeks and have lab work done.
Will then decide how long Puddles will be on the Prednisone.
As of now, he will be on the chemo drug for 2 years.

Garry and I hope we are making the right decision.
Puddles is acting fine now but Dr Parfitt said in
3 months he will not.

We decided to try it, but if he gets really sick from
all this we will then stop every thing and let him
enjoy his life with us as long as he can. Dr Parfitt
said the side effects are limited and he should be fine.

Please pray for us and our furball baby.

~ Cheryl ~

Little jobs

The weather has been wonderful.

This past weekend Garry repainted the columns
on the front porch. Keep up with the little things
and they will not pile up.

The swing is not broken, he took one side down
so it would not be in his way.

Puddles was not happy with me.

He wanted to stay outside and sniff every thing in the yard.

~ Cheryl ~

Friends

Yesterday our friends, Rick and Janice, celebrated
their wedding anniversary of 38 years with us.

We had a great dinner at Logan's, a little shopping
then to finish off the night with some ice cream.
Brusters have the best ice cream!

Me with my mouth full and Janice grinning like a possum.

We have been best friends for over 25 years.

Happy Anniversary !

 

Love you both, Garry / Cheryl

 

Puddles ~ Leukemia

Garry took Puddles Friday to his Oncology appointment.
Puddles saw Dr. Parfitt and Garry really liked her,
said she spoke where he could understand her.

Puddles has B-cell lymphocytic leukemia which can be treated.
Since Puddles has been acting great, Garry asked if we can delay
starting him on any meds (didn't want to make him sick).
Dr Parfitt said if we didn't start him on meds now that in
3 months he would be much worse.  She wants to start him on
Prednisone (3 mth) and Chlorambucil (cancer drug) for 2 years.

Once Puddles starts on the meds he will have lab work once a
month and then see Dr Parfitt in 3 months.

We will start Puddles on the meds, but if he gets really
sick they will be stopped. Not going to let him suffer !

I have confidence in the doctors and the office is really high tech,
they even have a MRI machine (truck) out back like the
human hospitals have.

Dr Parfitt emailed us her discharge summary (2 pages),
which is really nice. Below are her recommendations.

      ****************************

Recommendations:  (copied from her email)

 

Puddles has been diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This is a cancer that

originates from an expansion of malignant lymphocytes (white blood cells). These cells can
circulate anywhere within the body. This disease tends to be slowly progressive and determining
at what point treatment should be started remains controversial. It is generally accepted that when
the lymphocyte count exceeds 60,000, when lymph nodes or internal organs or enlarged, or when
patients have cytopenias (low red cells or platelets), that treatment should be instituted. Puddles is
anemic and therefore I am recommending that treatment be started. Left untreated, this cancer
can cause damage to the normal bone marrow cells resulting in anemia (weakness, lethargy),
thrombocytopenia (bleeding), or leukopenia (infection). CLL is considered a highly treatable
disease, however most patients will require long-term treatment. The treatment of choice for this
disease is the combination of the steroid Prednisone and the oral chemotherapy drug
Chlorambucil. This chemo protocol is generally very well tolerated - side effects such as vomiting
and diarrhea are quite uncommon. Long-term the Chlorambucil can affect the bone marrow and
for this reason regular bloodwork monitoring is important. Because this disease tends to be slowly
progressive, reported survival times for patients treated for this disease range from 1-3 years.
We will call in prescriptions for Puddles's medications and they can be started next week. As we discussed today, the Chlorambucil is currently on limited availability, so we may have to make some changes to the pharmacy from where it is prescribed and there may be some changes in the cost for the drug (could range from $30-150 per month depending on the pharmacy). The Prednisone is a very inexpensive drug.


~ Cheryl ~

Puddles / Lab Work

As many of you know Puddles is our fur baby for sure.

He's one spoiled little guy!

Over 2 months ago he had lab work that came back bad.
His white and red blood cells were not good.

Our vet put him on antibiotics for a month and did more
lab work. Once again the results were bad and the numbers
were higher.

We were referred to Carolina Vet Specialist to see an internist.
(same office that did his knee surgery years ago)

Last Tuesday Puddles saw Dr Reed and more lab work was done.
One set of labs were sent to the Colorado University for testing.

Today we received the sad call from Dr Reed, Puddles has
B Cell Leukemia.  We knew things may go this way since
all the other test were coming back normal.

Dr Reed said they could put him on a chemotherapy pill that
could extended his life 2 years.  Dr Reed can't give us these
meds so Puddles will now have to see an Oncologists.

Friday Garry will take Puddles to see Dr Prafitt, Oncologist at
the same office.  I don't want Puddles to have radiation or
chemo due to making him sick so I hope the pills will work.

Please pray for our little guy.
Right now he's doing great and playing around.

I was going to post the $$ spent for visits and
labs so far, but decided again it.      
He's worth it!

~ Cheryl ~