Quick Update

Today was pretty average, in the world of hospital/leukemia-ville
Chris started his chemo... they did his spinal tap today... that went well.. he slept a lot while i was at work

Lets see.. they gave him a calendar of chemo and non-chemo days which is new... they never layed it out like that before.. now we know exactly when he will get what

We saw Dr Strair this morning, bright and early... He checked in and will be going to a conference in DC this weekend... He will be talking to colleagues about Chris.. thats a good thing, right? A new crew comes in for November.. that means new residents and fellow and Doc in charge ... Dr Harrison I think.. Strair says he has a good sense of humor.. so that will be nice

Oh, side note... I walked around the parking deck this morning at the hospital.. for like 10 minutes... looking for my car... turns out i originally went to the right level and area but it was hiding behind a big huge SUV... i was so mad... what a way to start a morning...

Ok, so I get to the hospital after work tonight and Chris is sporting his new Hawaiian shirt... he looks well rested and happy...
Thats new new thing... he is gonna try to lighten the mood around here with Hawaiian shirts ... thats Chris! now i have to keep my eye out for them since they are out of season... lol I also brought halloween candy here... he wants to have it out for the nurses..
Aunt Ro and Uncle Les's balloons are still staying up... so its festive in here.. Can you believe its Halloween tomorrow? Ahh... so Chris decides to tell me all casually an hour or more after I got here today that the priest showed up... (FYI Chris was baptized but his mom was not Catholic and his stepdad and siblings are all Catholic... basically Chris never got all his sacraments... but he now considers himself Catholic but not "officially")-- anyways.. the priest came and turns out his grandma Phyllis on his step-dad's side wrote the priest a letter about Chris... the Robert wood hospital priest somehow knows his grandma.. Grandma has always wanted Chris fully in the church,,, she sends her love and prayers weekly these days (via US Mail) Well Chris told the priest he wanted to be fully Catholic and was interested in the process.. and the priest did a confession and then gave him Eucharist and confirmed him... all done.. just like that... big news to tell me all casually... well thats about it.. i think... tomorrow i have to be in trenton by 830am for a college job fair at the college of new jersey... Feel free to call me or text me.. or call chris or text him.. if he isnt napping he is always up for calls and company... I think we are seeing Jeanie and Gina this weekend... so far thats the tentative lineup.. plus my brother is always around every other day or so... love you all xoxox keep the prayers coming

Wednesday Oct 29th Updates- More Chemo

Ok... well...
Dr Strair came to see us yesterday (Tuesday) around 6pm
There is now leukemia in his bone marrow.. it had not been there before ...
He is saying its about in 30% of his bone marrow... calls it a "fair" amount...
We definitely did not want to have this be the case, because if there was none in the marrow, we could be moving into transplant now...
But the good news, all things considered, is that Dr Strair has a plan... I guess the 30% is low enough that they can treat it... They are starting him on a round of chemo. The donor is on hold... he is ready for Chris when we are ready.... whoever this wonderful guy is...
Dr Strair's hope/goal is that this chemo reduces the leukemia in his marrow to 10% or less. If that happens (they will re-do the bone marrow biopsy in about 2 weeks) they will go ahead with the transplant. They will literally call the donor (the database people coordinate that since we dont "know" who the donor is) and get him scheduled. As soon as Chris's counts come up after this chemo, they will move him into transplant...
So, Dr Strair has come through with a plan... this is why he is the MAN...
Let me go back a bit...While we we waiting bone marrow biopsy results yesterday, Chris and I were both quite on edge, emotional, unsettled.. we prayed a lot... Sharon the chaplain came and prayed with us.. (oops I think I told you all this yesterday)
Anyways, my point in telling you this is because when Strair left the room yesterday evening, I felt God's presence.... I have never felt this before... and although I have always believed in God, in miracles, always had faith, etc... I had never ever seen or felt anything this real.... very weird but very calming...
I think God is telling us He hears us and He is with us.... He isnt letting us down... Just giving us, giving Chris another obstacle... I normally would ask WHY WHY WHY... he has been through so much already but Chris says "dont ask why" he says "ask what next?" Chris is amazing ... so strong ... so I go with it when I can...
So... Matt came last night... so did Christine Rapach (see recent blogs on who these people are if you do not know) and my brother.. My brother brought my new cell phone with him...Fed Ex had delivered it (Chris ordered me a new cell phone) its awesome the LG Voyager Titanium
Electronics always make Chris happy... Seeing Matt made Chris very happy
Christine brought Chris pizza.. and Starbucks.. and she brought me dinner too... she always brightens up the place and Chris loves being her shrink (sorry Christine)

OK. so today I went to work... I had a job fair so it was not an office day...
Chris called me and told me they are moving him from 5 North to 4 North (the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit) His platelets are low... and they will transfuse him... he is quite emotional because its new news and we are still trying to deal with the fact that he has more chemo coming...
Also he loves 5 North nurses... but we will get to know the bone marrow nurses and love them too I hope... They transfuse him with platelets and i text him from the job fair and he calls me... i am so busy at the job fair that i cannot answer.. I try texting and he is so out of it from the drugs and groggy meds that he cannot find the right keys to text me... poor Chris...
My parents go visit him for a bit.. I go home and crash.. i needed a nap.. so me and Rex napped...
Chris is neutrapenic... He cannot have fresh flowers in the room, cannot have fresh veggies, fruit, cold cuts, etc... If you visit, be clean and wash hands... wear mask if you are sick... blah blah blah..
this is part of why they moved him to the 4th floor
He is in a sterile, HEPA filter environment...
Poor Chris's appetite is all funky... he doesnt know what he wants to eat...
My brother is gonna go see him and get there before me... Chris wants Starbucks and all he feels like eating is Houlihans Potato Soup and he asks me to get it... but I just cannot do it...
I do not want him getting food poisoning at this point... there is always risk of bacteria with take out and who knows how many waiters ladel that soup.. i feel terrible... he is sooo bummed cus thats all he wants
I go to the grocery store... i buy canned soup... I get to hospital with soup and starbucks
The soup isnt yummy :( The nurse finds him a turkey sandwich... he also eats some graham crackers and it does the trick... whewwwww
Chris was informed that this chemo can be as ugly as what he went through in June... but Chris is strong.. he is healthy other than this freakin leukemia... so we will be ok...
Chris is scared.... I am scared.. but I am confident that God is on our side... but we have to keep asking Him for strength and blessings and all that...
So, we still pray... I thank you all for your prayers... and I ask that you all still pray
For those of you who dont pray, please trust me here... God has shown me he is here and Chris needs as much prayers as anyone right now...
Here is the plan... get Chris to that "less than 10%" level so that we move to transplant...
Oh, yesterday, I got a beautiful vase of flowers from Christine, Mike, and Ben to bring me sunshine.. they definitely did.. they are pretty.. thanks guys
Lew is flying up Monday... for a week I think.. and Chris is soo excited.. this will be good to have some more support up here
Matt- if you are reading this, I hope to see you up here more often while Chris is in here... I cannot tell you how happy I know Chris is to see more than just my face around here... :)
Lastly, I got home today, and there was a Fed Ex package for Chris.. I brought it here with the mail and Chris opened it and then gave me the contents.. its a gorgeous ring... He wanted to make things official...
We have been attached at the hip, going through a lot together, functioning like a married couple... and we knew we were soulmates when we first met.. Some nurses assume we are married.. others think we are engaged, etc etc... We are way more than just boyfriend/girlfriend so Chris wanted to put something on my finger to end all the confusion..
Of course, he couldnt get down on one knee.. i think the doctors woulda been a little mad
And, we cant exactly have a party right now...BUT.... we are happy...
When all is better, there will be a party to celebrate everything, including this official engagement... and I know Chris has a plan on re-popping the question when he isnt in the hospital... but for now, this is all that matters...
ok.. well Chris is dosing.. i should get rest..
thank you everyone again for the love and prayers
remember, we welcome visitors... and calls and all that..

love jenn

Updates (Oct 27 & 28) so far

Well... quick update...
Chris had lung and heart tests for pre transplant stuff
(Pulmonary Function and mugascan) Heart is great...

Bone marrow biopsy was yesterday
Those results dictate whether we move forward with bone marrow biopsy asap OR if we can do something in between or what... probably the most stressful days of this whole process

Around mid-day Dr came in to check in and said they still didnt have results on the bone marrow biopsy but that they should be end of afternoon (which is now)

Dr Strair is supposedly coming by after clinicals (which we are anxiously awaiting) its 5pm
So, I could be updating this in an hour...
and we having been praying harder and harder... this is going to tell us if we can proceed with transplant...

Chris had an emotional day.. and our chaplin Sharon who we love love love and have known since June had a long session with us today and prayed with us

Filled with anxiety and still praying...
love you all

Oh, Matt (Chris' brother) is on his way down in about an hour which will be great.. havent seen him since August... And Christine Rapach is stopping by to keep us company too and bring Chris coffee...

thanks to all of you who call and write...
I will update as soon as we get info on next steps .... ughhhhhh

People in Our Life... Some Details.. photos

OK... so I posted some new photos on the main page...



I know people in Chris's world dont know people in my world and people in my world dont know people in Chris's world.. and some know both



I posted some pics of people with captions so you can put a name with a face and understand who I am referring to

I know its hard to know who I am talking about when I am throwing out names.. but I am trying my best


My brother Chris, lives at home with me, mom, dad, and Chris

































Jeanie, Christine Rabbath, Christine Rapach- best friends of mine -- like sisters


Jeanie, lives 5 minutes away, married to Brian with 4 yr old Olivia... been attached at the hip since we were 17
Here are more pics of Jeanie with Brian, and of Olivia


















Christine Rabbath, lives 25 minutes away, married to Mike with 8 month old Ben, her family is my family... went to school together kindergarten thru high school



























Christine Rapach, lives 10 minutes away, single... reuninted when we planned high school reunion last year... always there for me

Lauren, my 20 year old cousin... her dad is my godfather.. she is like my lil sister

























My mom, Loretta, works at a child care center

My dad Vito, works for Budweiser in Newark NJ, standing here in Chris's storage unit when it was still empty

He was my saving grace from june til september end when he was on disability and able to drive chris to appointments



































Brother Lew, Air Force , stationed in Florida, has awesome gf Jen





















Brother Matt (2nd oldest Waxmonsky boy... only Peg separates Chris and Matt in age) lives in North Jersey


































Then there is Grandma Peters, Aunt Cathy, Aunt Ro, Grandma Phyllis, Ronnie, Gary, Jimmy, Jeremy, my friends at work Ann, Roxy, Tash, Paula (who brought us special things from Fatima), Gwen, Jess, Amy, Jeremy W, Cass, Lisa, Cousins Bethann, Leeann, Gina, Jaime, Patti, Shannon, Christine, Meredith, Mike R, Carol, Rebecca, Ann Marie, Mrs R, Mrs C, Kristin, Dana, Adriana, Kathy B, Eileen, mom's coworkers, Melinda P, Jen B, Jen L, Michelle, cousin Jen, etc etc who I will write more about... people who continue to offer prayers, suggest help, tell us they offer prayers at their church, etc etc.. more descriptions and lineage and photos to come

We had visitors today--- and more hospital "stuff"

OK... so Chris is getting lots of Delaudid ( major pain meds through IV) and steroids.. they are trying to work out the right doses and see if his pain gets better....
They did a mugascan yesterday which tests his heart to make sure he is good to go through the transplant... Today, they did a catscan of the head to make sure they can do the spinal tap tomorrow... They always want to check the spine because thats where his original leukemia presented itself.. and because the leg pain could always be indication of spinal cord compression

They did not think his strength, symptoms, etc seem to be spinal compression which is I think why they arent rushing to do an MRI.... Also, they did an MRI 2 weeks ago which only showed 1 lil nodule... and no spinal compression.. but it seems if his pain isnt under control in the next day, they will be scheduling an MRI... with anastesia of course
also, as long as catscan from today of his head was ok, they should be doing spinal tomorrow...
pulmonary (lung)test would be tomorrow too.. thats another pre- bone marrow transplant test...

Aunt Ro and Uncle Les came today!! I got to meet them... Love them love them love them
They brought Halloween balloons and scarecrow plant and snacks and magazines... it stinks they are all the way in Maryland... but it was so great to see them... it made chris so happy, i know...
They are not only great family... but they are some of the smartest people i know... and Aunt Ro is in the infectious diseases industry so she has been very helpful with checking into chris's diagnosis and treatments.. its so reassuring and helpful (forgive me Aunt Ro, if I messed up describing what you do)

Lew and Matt will be up this week.. so thats great...
we do not know how long he will be in the hospital this week.. depends on getting his pain under control and what they determine is really causing the pain... the pain in hips and chest (sternum atra) is an indication stuff is going on on his bone marrow)...
Bone marrow biopsy was supposed to be outpatient Wednesday.. if he is still here, they will do it here

Remember the Doc (fellow) who couldnt handle the spinal and told us her brain doesnt work?? yea, well i requested that she does not do the chemo push during the spinal since she makes Chris uncomfortable... the nurse even told the doc in charge.... and when i talked to the doc, he tried to tell me she wouldnt be alone (the neuroradiologist is there) but Chris doesnt want her there.. so i re-iterated the issue... Hopefully my request will have worked and Dr Naylor will do the spinal .... or someone else... just not the doctor we dont feel comfy with

ok... well i am going to sign off of here... have a good week everyone! we will keep you posted again tomorrow

xoxoxox