Light the Night Kickoff Event - July 21st

FUN for EVERYONE and  FREE to join!

·         Guest appearance from a Seattle Sounders player!  Meet and take your picture for unforgettable memory!

·         Free to attend for everyone - team members, family, friends, and coworkers

·         Carnival games, festivities, and prizes

·         Complimentary food and refreshments

·         Meet your local Honored Heroes

·        Learn fundraising tips from your LLS staff and past teams

Win a Light The Night/Sounders FC Scarf!
       Raise $100 by our Kickoff date AND attend our Kickoff to receive a special Light The Night/Sounders scarf*! 

*must be present to win/while supplies last.

When & Where?
     Saturday July 21st, 2:00pm - 4:00pm
      REI Flagship Store - 222 Yale Ave. North, Seattle, 98109

RSVP today!  Email LightTheNight_WAS@lls.org or call Lauren at 206.957.4592

Golf Memories

Just a quick heads up...  Scott (Tyler's father) is organizing a golf tournament in Tyler's memory.  He has the complete details, but the date is Thursday, August 11th for those of you that want to participate.  Call Scott to reserve your spot.  If you need Scott's phone number, feel free to e-mail me or comment on the blog.

I hope that some of you can go swing a club in the tournament.

Smiles out of my Camera

I wanted to download some pictures from my camera onto my computer today and was pleasantly surprised to find some of Tyler from our trips to Houston.  Since they made me smile, I thought I would share with you too.  He was a wonderful goofy man that filled my days with laughter, despite the tough circumstances he faced!

Attacking his breakfast in the cafeteria at MD Anderson in Houston.

 Notice the 2010 Light the Night t-shirt that he is wearing...  We were in Houston the week before and week after LTN last year, trying to get on the trial.  He finally made it on the week after the walk.  Maybe that is why he is smiling in this photo?

Tyler had a great deal of sensitivity to bright lights after his bout with shingles last summer, so he wore all sorts of hideous sunglasses to protect his eyes.  Here he is showing on his beverages at a mexican restaurant we went to in Houston. I actually think it might have been our last day there, but this picture really makes me remember how great his attitude was and how much fun we had together!

Fabulous Friends and Finally Getting Away

One of the things that I had to put on hold while Tyler was sick was the ability to travel for fun.  This weekend I got to take a step forward again in my travels.  It was just a short road trip, but I truly enjoyed the opportunity to get away to the other side of the state to visit my friends, Andy and Amy, for the weekend.

As an added bonus to the great company I kept, this weekend was Spring Release in Walla Walla.  That means that I had the opportunity to taste some very good wines on Friday and Saturday.

Many thanks to Andy and Amy for letting me spend the weekend with them and get my traveling bug a little more active again.  I'm already looking forward to my next visit out to see them and their lovely little girl!

Team in Training Cardmaking Fundraiser

My friend Pam has joined Team in Training, through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, to raise funds to fight cancer while pursuing her goal of riding in a century bike ride. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research and providing education and patient services. They have invested more than $680 million in research since 1949 - over $69 million in 2009 - specifically targeting leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.

Please join us in a Create-a-Card fundraiser to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Team in Training. Each participant will be able to make 6 cards, in 3 different designs for only $15. I will also donate 20% of any sales at the event (my earnings) to Pam's Team in Training efforts.

If you can't make it to the event, you can still donate directly to Pam by clicking on her name above, but I hope to see you there!

Thanks for helping us raise money for this worthy cause!


When: Sunday, April 25, 2010 2:00 PM
Price: $15.00 per person

Where:
Lakewood Seward Park Community Center
4916 S Angeline St
Seattle, WA 98118

From the great Lee Ann Womack

I Hope You Dance

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted,
GOD forbid love ever leave you empty handed,

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',

Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider,
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

I hope you dance....I hope you dance.
I hope you dance....I hope you dance.

(Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along,Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone.)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Love this song!


Ty

Old Guys Rule

Tyler celebrated his 43rd birthday yesterday, although he insists it is the first of many.  He's actually planning to celebrate his Dad's birthday (in honor of his donated marrow) and his transplant date as birthdays as well.  I'm thinking that I might go broke with that many birthdays, but Tyler certainly deserves some fun this year.

Actually, he decided to spend his day golfing with his brother (a round of golf is an outstanding gift idea for Tyler!) and then we had a movie night. Tyler had chosen some classic movies to watch for his birthday, so we enjoyed The Way We Were (although a week early because it arrived before his birthday and he didn't want to wait), Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.

Although we had to interrupt the movies for trick or treaters, we really enjoyed a chance to get back to one of our favorite things.  One of our very first dates was a movie night, so we always enjoy a chance to relive that!

Happy Halloween!

Fiesta in Chelan

My side of the family held a week long reunion at Lake Chelan, thanks to my grandparents' generosity. I wish I could have spent more time with my family, but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute that I could steal away!

One family brought mustaches for us to wear during Mexican Fiesta night and Tyler and I are proudly modeling ours in the photo. I'm thinking we should both grow real mustaches after seeing how dashing we look with our taped on version. Actually, you can't see how much hair Tyler has grown over the past few months, but he is looking pretty sharp again.

There were 4 babies born into our family in the last year and it was a beautiful thing to get to see them becoming more like little kids and less like little babies. All of the kids (including the older Mia, Abbie, and James) inject so much life into family gatherings... I hadn't realized how boring I had gotten as an adult until I got to start playing with kids again.

Several months ago I posted a picture of me feeding my cousin's daughter, Audrie. You can see the original photo here.

Audrie today looks like this:



Isn't she adorable?? She was a charming little girl, filled with smiles! I think she could steal Tyler away from me, if she was just a year or two older!

As you can see from the lack of posts, life is incredibly good for us these days! Tyler is starting to do more exercise without his foot brace and notices increased movement in his foot. The photosensitivity in his eyes is much improved, so he finds it easier to be outside on sunny days again. He looks FANTASTIC and we are just so very thankful that we have come through this journey with his health coming back. Many thanks for traveling this road with us!!

Strike Out Leukemia!

Strike Out Leukemia Night
Angels vs. Mariners
Wednesday, September 2, 2009 - 3:40 p.m.

Enjoy a summer afternoon at Safeco Field while supporting a great cause! Catch the Mariners at a discounted price, exclusive to you through this online offer. A portion of the proceeds from tickets purchased through this special offer will benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Tickets can be purchased online and credited towards our Team Firefly fundraising for Light the Night!


DEADLINE TO PURCHASE: Monday, August 31 at 5:00 p.m.

Game Date:
• Wednesday, September 2 vs. Los Angeles Angels - 3:40 p.m.

Pricing:
• $15 View Reserved (normally $20)
• $32 Field Level Seating (normally $40)
• $7 from each ticket sold benefits The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society!


***Special Note for our Friends and Family***
In order to credit Team Firefly's fundraising efforts, you must send an email with the subject: MARINERS NIGHT to wilma.comenat@lls.org with the following information:

1. Ticket purchaser name
2. Number of tickets purchased
3. Participant name you want credited (Mandy Bledsoe or your name if you are participating)
4. Light the Night: Team Firefly

Tyler's Real Thoughts

Tyler snapped this photo when we went golfing in Sequim. I think it might show his true thoughts about my skills as a caddy.

Need I say more?

Tyler's Good Luck Strikes Again!

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society hosted a kick off party on Thursday, June 9th for the Light the Night walk this fall. Tyler and I were pleased to be able to attend the party and the Mariner's game as part of that group. We were also pleased to run into several of Tyler's coworkers from Children's Hospital who were there with another walk team.

The kick off party included an inspirational talk by another blood cancer patient, named Ken Sheets, emphasizing the many important programs that the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society helps to fund. I was very moved by his descriptions of his own battle and his philosophy of being "Never2Old" to fight cancer, to embrace life, and to make a difference.

After the party, we found our seats for the ball game and prepared to watch the Mariners against the Texas Rangers. My cousin, Bethanie, and two of her lovely kids joined us for the game part of the evening. I was pleased that Tyler was able to bring his good luck to the Mariners (and not just the Sounders), and they won 3-1 with a homerun in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was an outstanding pitcher's duel, made all the more exciting by the fact that Felix was also pitching for Tyler's fantasy team that day. :)

We would love to have you join us in supporting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society this year. We will be walking around Greenlake on September 26th and are hoping to have friends and family around us to celebrate how far we have come in the last year. If you are interested in joining us, please go to http://pages.lightthenight.org/wa/SeattleL09/TeamFirefly and click "Join" at the bottom of the page.

Go M's!

Imagine our Surprise

While on the ferry to Sequim for Independence Day, we looked over at the car next to us and saw a very interesting driver. For some reason, we were a little bit nervous to drive off next to him...

We hope you needed a laugh today!

Tyler Turns the Sounders Season Around

Just over a year ago, Tyler and I purchased season tickets to the new Seattle Sounders team. With the need to protect Tyler's health, he hasn't been able to use his ticket. I'm thrilled to say that Tyler attended his first Sounders game this weekend. And, after watching the team tie several games and then lose the last game, Tyler's mere presence at the game was enough to inspire the Sounders towards victory. In addition, I was shocked to see that Tyler's presence was enough to keep the Sounders from getting yet another Red Card.

The biggest risk to Tyler's health is the sheer volume of people at the stadium. Since we can't control the environment in any way, we are unable to avoid sick people and bacteria. We evaluated the risks and did the best we could to mitigate them. We've gotten pretty good at carrying Antibacterial lotions, so we are constantly cleaning our hands.



And we kept Tyler away from people as much as we can. But... It was great fun to enjoy a Sounders game with Tyler. We've got great seats, which you can see in the picture below. The orange figure you see is our fearless goalie and an outstanding player, Kasey Keller. The yellow figure is the line judge, so you can ignore him.

Tyler Sighting

For a few lucky individuals, there was another Tyler sighting on Saturday evening. After so many months of hibernation, we enjoy these new opportunities to see a few friends and family, so Tyler and I drove to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma to help celebrate at my cousin's wedding. While we are still trying to be careful about exposing Tyler to health dangers (like pets, bacteria, viruses, etc), it was very important to us to help welcome Heather into the family.



Aaron and Heather had a beautiful ceremony and we enjoyed the opportunity to wish them well. As they have been dating for seveal years, we have been able to get to know Heather a little bit and I can honestly say that she is lovely both inside and out! And Aaron is one of the good guys, so it was lovely to see them become husband and wife.

Tyler and I also enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with family members that he hasn't seen in months. So many people in our families have been praying for us and encouraging us, that it was good to be able to thank them. Plus... it is amazing to see Tyler looking so good these days! He's growing hair again and looking stronger every day.

Life is GOOD!!!
.

Memorial Day Weekend

As a sign of how much better he feels, Tyler is on a small road trip this weekend. He headed over the Sequim to spend the long weekend (with an extra day on each side) with his Mom and her husband, and just get away from home for a few days. I wasn't able to join them, as I had to work both Friday and Tuesday, but will take advantage of the opportunity to go visit my sister and baby niece.

Although it has been a few weeks since we last posted, life has been moving along well for both of us. I've been working full time, playing a little bit of soccer, and enjoying the sight of a happy husband. Tyler has been eating nonstop, knocking a few golf balls around, and getting stronger with increased activity and physical therapy.

Appointments with Dr. McGee have been good, as Tyler's blood counts continue to stay in normal ranges. Tyler is headed to the doctor about once a week initially, but will be dropping down after a month or so of good blood tests.

Tyler still is not showing signs of GVHD, and is continuing to decrease the amount of Tacrolimus that he takes each day. He's currently at 3.5mg per day, which is down from a regular dose of 5.0mg per day back in April. He actually was much higher when he was first released from his final hospital stay (in January), but the level of Tacrolimus in his blood was tested twice a week for the first 100 days and his dosing adjusted accordingly. I'm hopeful that he will continue to be strong and healthy as the drug is lowered further.

He is also continuing to take Tasigna, the leukemia attacker that he was on before the transplant. They estimate that Tyler will continue on this drug for at least 1 year to reduce the risk of a relapse. At the 1 year mark, they will let us know about continuing with the Tasigna or not. I kind of hope that he gets to stop that drug as well, but also don't want to risk a recurrence of the leukemia.

If things continue to go well, then Tyler may be able to resume his regular activities gradually between the 6 month to 1 year mark. We had purchased season tickets to the Sounders last spring, and Tyler has been unable to attend any of the games because of the risk of infection in large crowds and the fact that we stand for the entire game in most of the stadium. He's currently in training for the standing thing, but we are going to evaluate whether or not he can go to the June soccer games.

CML Lunch

We were invited to lunch with some other CML'ers just over a week ago. Sadly, 3 of the 7 people couldn't make it at the last minute due to illness. Happily, the other couple that made it to lunch was Hans and Cynthia! We met little Alex (their baby son) for the first time and got to catch up with some of our dearest friends at a favorite restaurant. We couldn't have asked for a better meeting!

They look fantastic and seem to be juggling the demands of a 2nd child as easily as they do everything else. I'm always amazed by how much they accomplish in their free moments! I'm much more inclined to sit and do nothing during my spare time. ;)

We spent a considerable amount of time with Hans and Cynthia while dating and it was fun to recapture some fo the good times that we have enjoyed with them over the last several years. I'm thinking that I can't let that many months go between visits with them!

Later that evening, Tyler came out to watch the Coed soccer team play an early game at Marymoor. I think every member of the Coed team mentioned to me how great it was to see Tyler there. I had to agree. I caught myself grinning like a fool every time I caught sight of Tyler on the sidelines.

In case we haven't said it enough, Tyler and I are both thankful for good times and great friends!!

Dinner and a Movie

My husband talked me into a date night last night. I can't believe that we are finally able to get back to normal things, like going out to dinner and a movie. We were so excited to get out and spend time with each other!

Now that he is past his 100 day mark, Tyler is feeling more comfortable being out in public. We still have to avoid large crowds and sick people in general, but we have more freedom to ge back into our regular life.

We also had our first appointment with Dr. McGee yesterday afternoon and it went extremely well. We have a great deal of confidence in the staff at Dr McGee's office, so we were happy to be under their care again. Tyler will be going in for weekly appointments initially, but we are hoping to taper off as time passes and he continues to be doing well.

No obvious signs of GVHD and Tyler continues to pack in the food, so he seems to be feeling good again!

Day 96 - Our Many Blessings

Today I attended a lovely bridal shower to welcome my cousin's fiance into the family. I was a little bit surprised at how many of the friends and family members there shared their excitement with me over Tyler's recent progress. It was an amazing thing to be blessed by so many others unexpectedly. Many of these ladies have been praying for Tyler's recovery over the last several months and it brought home to me that Tyler and I don't really know who out there is reading our blog. We thank you, both known and unknown, for sharing a few steps on this journey with us.

We have been incredibly blessed to be surrounded with love at every turn in the road and we hope to repay the many favors we have been granted as we get our feet back under us again. I wish everyone had the opportunity to be touched by so many others, without actually having to live through this illness stuff.

As an added bonus, I got to hold my niece, Rachel for part of the afternoon. Although I'm far from a pro, she was willing to suffer through the experience and "bond" with Aunt Mandy a little bit. She's just celebrated her 1 month birthday and I didn't feel those extra 2 pounds she's gained over the last month at all. Until I let her mother reclaim her, that is. Rachel was the 4th of the babies born into the Keith family over the last year, and three of them were actually at the shower today. It was a baby fest!

No News is Good News

Sorry for my slowness in posting, but we've had lots to keep up with recently.

First, some good news that is completely unrelated to CML... My sister, Bonnie, gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Rachel. Bonnie and Joe (her husband) are going to be outstanding parents, so I am excited to see them blessed with a cherished daughter.

Secondly, I'm pleased to report that Tyler's counts have improved. His potassium is back down into normal ranges (4.6 with a normal range of 3.7-5.0), so we are allowed to have mid range potassium foods again. When we got the first list of High, Medium, and Low Potassium food choices, the only protein options on the low potassium list were eggs and pecans. That doesn't really give us many options for healthy or interesting meals.

They have since expanded the list a little bit and, with the addition of the medium postassium proteins, I'm able to start cooking again. I must admit that this probably makes me more happy than Tyler, as I'm a little more passionate about food than he is.

Test Results from Monday:

WBC: 5.68 (3.7-10.0)
HCT: 28% (38-50)
PLT: 74 (150-400)

A Great Honor

Our friends, Hans and Cynthia, welcomed their second son into the world on March 2nd. To our surprise and great honor, they named him Alexander Tyler Loland. Tyler and I were both moved to tears by their e-mail about the reasons they chose that as Alex's middle name. They say that the name was not inspired by Hans and Tyler's shared battle against CML, but rather the life we share beyond cancer. It's a good reminder for us that fighting cancer is not the only important part of our life. We hope to meet young Alex soon, but haven't been able to connect yet. I did, however, finally dig up a picture of our newest soccer teammate.

Getting back the shared battle against CML, we are pleased to report that Hans appears to be doing really well on Gleevec. He just had an appointment at the beginning of March. While his BCR_ABL results got mixed up, his blood counts looked good. He's continuing with only monthly doctor appointments for now.