Good News

After mom was discharged, we arranged to attend a lecture given by her doctor and his wife who both work at PMH. Dr. Mark Minden spoke about the science of mom’s condition covering everything from cytogenics to chromosome abnormalities. Despite the complexity of his work, he was able to draw up some interesting metaphors to help us ordinary brains understand. When one former patient asked what blasts were, a common term for Leukemia cells, Dr. Minden took a moment to consider an explanation. "Blasts are kind of like guys in leather jackets," he said with a smile, "If you see one or two walking down the street its no big deal, but if you see a couple of hundred, then you know something’s up."

Following Dr. Minden’s lecture, his wife Dr. Mary Elliot, a PMH psychiatrist, took the podium to speak about the emotional impact of Leukemia on Families. As she spoke about the importance of moral support and living in the moment, she told a profound story that stayed with me. On a warm summer day she went for a walk with her son and after some time in the park they began walking home. During the walk he took some dandelions he had just collected and placed them in a Starbucks cup, which he then gave to his mother. An epiphany then came to her when she realized that these are the moments that we need to appreciate. Happiness is ultimately an accumulation of small experiences like these that we share with the people we care about. I suppose why I found this story so profound was that I knew that my family and I have really known this all along. It has always been the simplest moments that we have shared that have been the best.

It was a tense period of waiting to hear about the success of mom's treatment but the news is in. Mom is officially in remission. While we are happy with this new development we recognize that this battle is not over. Mom now resumes what is called consolidation chemotherapy where doctors attempt to kill any remaining leukemia cells. Then comes a stem cell transplant where mom receives donor cells, which will help start a new supply of red cells, white cells and platelets. Unfortunately my mother’s two brothers Victor and Javier were not stem cell matches, which means that we now look to an international registry for a donor. The good news is that we have discovered that the famous Spanish tenor Jose Carreras has been instrumental in developing the bone marrow registry in Spain. We have been told that the chances of finding a match increase when searching among people of the same ethnic background. After surviving Leukemia following a stem cell transplant in the late 1980’s Carreras has since devoted his life to helping people battling the disease. Leave it to mom to find a connection to Spain and a Spanish celebrity even when she is battling Leukemia.

We remain grateful for all of the support friends and family have given us. I have adopted a mantra I heard from an AML survivor that I regularly say to my mom. "The strength behind you is greater than the challenge ahead of you."

On a practical note, mom is trying to slowly connect with all of you by phone or email. Don’t hesitate to continue sending her emails. Thank you again for all of your support.

Sebastian

The Many Faces of Lupe post PMH

So here is the tranformation of Lupe after her chemo treatment at PMH. First is Dr. Rodriguez, Professor of Feminist Studies, second is Lupe Blavatski, the Fortune Teller, and finally we meet Perky Lupe. While my mom has enjoyed the blog, she felt that it was in need of some visuals. I couldn't agree more. Thus, she commissioned my brother Liam to be her designated photographer. Little did Liam know that this would be the most demanding, most arduous job of his life. Move over Cindy Sherman, Lupe has discovered the magical world of wigs, scarves, and staged photography.