DAILY NANCY UPDATE #124

Greetings. 

This is the one hundred and twenty-fourth in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I have posted-- now celebrating the fact that even though her post bone marrow transplant and brain seizure recovery continues... the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in remission and we have kicked her leukemia on its ass. 

If you'd like to be automatically notified of updates to this blog-- just enter your email address in the window on the right beneath Nancy's picture, click SUBMIT, and follow the prompts!

FRIDAY REPORT

We've had two weeks off from going to City of Hope-- and her next routine appointment for blood work and a doctor's consult isn't until next Monday. So what have we been up to? Well, I've been working more and more (since in addition to sucking, cancer is also expensive) and I also took a quick trip out to visit our daughter at college in Maine for Parents Weekend. And while I was gone-- Nancy had all kinds of fun with her girlfriends. 

The Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess went to the Broad Museum in Los Angeles (as perfectly pictured above). She did some shopping. She went to movies and restaurants. And most of all, she got to enjoy herself in the company of people who love her very much.

One thing that's also made a big positive difference in our daily lives is an electronic medication dispenser that allows me to pre-load all of her many daily meds into a motorized disc which automatically dispenses pills at the right times, lighting up and sounding an alarm in the process. So between that, and setting alerts on her computer and phone-- she's gotten into a much more comfortable rhythm with her meds, which has made life much easier for both of us.

While she's slowly but surely improving, short term memory issues continue to frustrate Nancy. But one of her Monday appointments is with a psychoneurologist to get the results of an exhaustive cognitive assessment she was subjected to a couple of weeks ago. So hopefully those results will help us pinpoint some of the specific areas of her brain which are still being affected-- and then help us customize some ways to pursue appropriate methods of healing them.

I know the blogposts have been less and less frequent. But please know that's just reflective of us trying to regain our lives and find our footing while she continues to recover. And as always, know this...

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

A VERY SPECIAL DAY

Today marks 100 DAYS since Nancy's bone marrow transplant on June 6th-- or her "new birthday" as they like to call it at City of Hope. The day she was empowered by the cells of an anonymous Israeli male with a genetic profile nearly identical to hers from the International Bone Marrow Donor Registry. And the day she rechristened herself...

NANCY NEWCELL CALLAWAY

We all know it hasn't exactly been an easy ride since then... but there's still one thing we can't lose sight of.

IT WORKED!

She has now officially gotten past the traditional 100 day window of recovery with no traces of acute lymphoblastic leukemia in her system after three complete BCR-ABL tests. 

So if you have a moment... please reach out to Nancy directly to congratulate her yourself. Email her, text her, call her, or leave a message on the blog page to tell her how incredibly proud we all are of how hard she has fought to not only beat cancer-- but also recover from a brain seizure.

She's still got some ground to cover. But so far, the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess has cleared every single hurdle that's been put in her way. I've simply never known a stronger woman in my life. 

And if the past 100 days have been any indication-- 100 days from now she'll be better than ever-- a new and improved version of someone who was unstoppable to begin with.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continuing and humbling kindness and support.  

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #123

Greetings. 

This is the one hundred and twenty-third in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I have posted-- now celebrating the fact that even though her post bone marrow transplant and brain seizure recovery continues... the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in remission and we have kicked her leukemia on its ass. 

If you'd like to be automatically notified of updates to this blog-- just enter your email address in the window on the right beneath Nancy's picture, click SUBMIT, and follow the prompts!

SATURDAY REPORT

This is a picture of my beloved childhood friend Thad Westhusing-- who today, swam two miles in the chilly open waters of Seattle as part of SWIM ACROSS AMERICA, a charity devoted to raising funds for cancer research and clinical trials. 

And look who he dedicated all of that exhausting effort to...

We love you, Thad. 

And you've given us the perfect opportunity to express our heartfelt love and appreciation to everyone else who has done so much for the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess and our entire family.

Honestly, there are too many of you to name. But you know who you are. And we will never forget you.

Because of your extraordinary kindness...

• Multitudes of lives may be saved through The International Bone Marrow Donor Registry.
• Congregations of all faiths across the country have included Nancy on their prayer lists.
• Candles have been lit from St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City to Notre Dame in Paris.
• Prayers have been hand carried and placed between the stones of the wailing wall in Jerusalem.
• Healing talismans - stones, shells, crosses, crystals - have been sent from around the world.
• Trees have been planted. And wishes have been tied to trees.
• Prayer shawls have been painstakingly knitted.
• Meditation recordings were specially made and daily played for Nancy.
• Fuzzy socks, and warm blankets, t-shirts, and stuffed animals were sent by the dozens.  
• Signs and banners and cards were received by the hundreds.
• Dear friends have driven mile after mile, to spend day after day, and night after night with Nancy-- at three different hospitals and here in our home.
• And almost every single night since January 4th... another unbelievably generous friend or family has fed us dinner through the Meal Train. Some of you, multiple times.

And all of that's only the half of it.

I mean, look... we all know I'm a sap... but I'm weeping all over again just writing this. 

Because it's not just humbling. Your outpouring of love for us has literally redefined love-- in the same way Nancy's strength has redefined what it means to be strong.

So thank you. All of you. Again, and again, and again.

She continues to improve, little by little, every single day.

Her outpatient clinic visits at City of Hope have now been reduced to only once a week. Two of her three anti-seizure meds have been eliminated, along with a few other meds related to her transplant. During our last visit, her immune system numbers were higher than ever. Her last EEG showed completely normal brain activity. And this Monday, Nancy's undergoing a detailed, four hour cognitive assessment in the hopes of pinpointing specific memory centers affected by the seizure-- so her doctors can gather more insight about how best to help get her amazing brain fully back to fighting form.

She has not been defeated. Neither have the rest of us. And thanks to all your incredible support-- we never will.

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!