Our First Anniversary!!

This weekend marked our first anniversary and we spent the weekend with each other to celebrate. After a year of marriage, I can truly say that I love this man more than I did on our wedding day. It's such a treat to have a partner to take care of me when I need it and to accept my care when he needs it!

On Friday night we went to watch the Sonics as they embarrassed the Portland Trailblazers. On Saturday we spent the day watching movies and talking and being together. Both of us made a commitment to avoid any other activities -- we just spent time together. It was one of the best weekends that I've had -- no outside responsibilities and lots of time to relax!

Thanks to those who remembered our special day!

Blood Test Only

Tyler had a blood test only this week, but the numbers were as follows:

WBC: 4.0
HCT: 33.8
PLT: 156

I'm hoping his WBC stays steady, but everything else looks really, really good!

A Very Happy Valentines Day to You!

This week, Tyler's counts were as follows:



WBC: 3.1

HCT: 31.3

PLT: 1532



The doctor said he would initiate the tissue typing process so that we are prepatred



We wish you a very Happy Valentines Day! We celebrated by going to a movie together. We watched a lovely little romantic comedy called 27 Dresses. It was about a woman who had been a bridesmaid 27 times, but never made time for her own life. It would have been a wonderful experience, except for the snorting man next to me. We still enjoyed the movie and the evening together and we're thankful to be happy and in love!



Wishing you the the same joy!



Mandy

More good news

I'm so happy to share that we have more good news this week from Tyler's doctor appointment. His spleen was scanned and, although we don't have the official read from Dr M, the ultrasound technician said it looked the same this week as it did when they scanned it months ago to let him come back to soccer.

On top of that he had good blood counts across the board. I think he is liking the 90mg dosage much better than his higher versions. His counts this week were:

• White Blood Cells (WBC) = 2.9
• Hematocrit (HCT) (part of red blood) = 30.2
• Platelets (PLT) = 151

With those great numbers, a good spleen scan, and hopefully another week of good CBC results, we might even risk asking about when soccer could re-enter his life. Now that he is working part time, I think soccer is the biggest loss he has experienced since he moved to AML in December.

Thanks for checking in -- we'll update again after the doctor visit this week. :)

Mandy

Moving on to the Spleen

Tyler's doctor's visit this week went really well. It was interesting that the doctor told us during our visit that he had actually been thinking about Tyler for two days before, wondering if the new dosage would turn out to be the right one. It seems like it must have been a good start, because everything the doctor looked at this week looked positive.

His WBC were 3.0, his HCT was 28.7, and his platelets were 138. Dr. M said his liver enzymes were down (I assume that means less toxicity from the medication) and everything was as he would wish. He even had Tyler schedule a spleen scan for next week. Many of you will remember that Tyler's last spleen scan allowed him to return to soccer. We're trying not to pester the doctor every week about when Tyler can return to the pitch, but I can't help but be hopeful.

The only downside of the visit was that the doctor said Tyler will need to be on light duty at work through the month of February. Ty does have the freedom to monitor his own work schedule, but was hoping that his body would repaid quickly enough for him to return to work full time. The last time he worked his regular schedule was the first week of December, so it has been a bit odd.

I know he has been happy to be back to work part time and has been careful not to overdo it in his daily chores. As he rebuilds his lost strength, I think we will have an easier time each day.

This weekend is Julie's birthday, so we are off to a family celebration now. It's so great to have an excuse to party!

Mandy