DAILY NANCY UPDATE #72

Greetings. 

This is the seventy-second in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Today the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess was supposed to be in the hospital beginning a course of preliminary treatments to ramp her up to a bone marrow transplant.

Instead... SHE GOT TO CELEBRATE MOTHER'S DAY!

So here's the scoop.

Since starting a course of steroid drugs last Thursday, Nancy's mystery fevers have completely gone away (HOORAY!). And according to her doctors (after a multitude of other tests over the past 10 days), that means the fevers were more than likely caused by chemo-related inflammation rather than any kind of lingering infection. 

But the bottom line is, we need the fevers to stay gone for a few more days so we know she's in tip-top shape before the team of oncologists at City of Hope will be willing and ready to start subjecting Nancy to the incredibly rigorous radiation and chemotherapies that will ultimately end in the transplant.

For that reason, the entire process has been pushed a week to two weeks later on the calendar.

It's a bit frustrating for her-- and for all of us-- but we also understand how critical it is for her to be in the best health possible before she has to clear the final hurdle.

And the silver lining to all of it-- is that she got the whole weekend off-- including today.

So trust me when I tell you we definitely made the most of it. The boys and I woke her up with a Mother's Day serenade and presents. Then we took her to JUICY LADIES, her favorite juice bar in the Valley, for a yummy, healthy breakfast. After that, we drove out to to the beach in Malibu, so the boys could climb some rocks while we put our toes in the tide. Then we came back home, she hung out with her friend Karen, and finally wrapped up her relaxing day with an amazing massage from Michele, the World's Greatest Masseuse.

All in all, not too bad, considering we were all prepared to spend a long weekend in the hospital.

Stay tuned for further updates on exactly when she will be checking into City of Hope for her upcoming six week transplant odyssey. But in the meantime, we really hope you enjoyed your weekend as much as she did. Especially all you spectacular Mothers out there. We'd be lost without every last one of you.

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #71

Greetings. 

This is the seventy-first in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Welp... it's been a couple of long days for the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess... each one starting with a 5AM drive to City of Hope Hospital in Duarte, California.

Yesterday was for a variety of blood tests and a doctor consult (thanks for driving, Ceci!) in the continuing quest to figure out why she's been running a low grade fever for the past eight days. The continuing suspicion is that she's fighting some type of infection-- but the exact source remains unclear. And it's important that we figure it out so she can be properly treated for it-- otherwise, the persistent fevers may force a delay of her bone marrow transplant, which none of us wants. 

The good news is, her blood work looks pretty normal. But a pulmonologist did spot some kind of light shadow in a CT scan of her lungs. And that's why today was a little more involved. 

After another pre-dawn jaunt (thanks for getting the boys to school, Jay!) Nancy was put under general anesthesia so the pulmonologist could perform a bronchioscopy to get a better look at what's happening in her chest. And the better news is that so far, the results of that procedure have all come back looking normal, too.

So to make a long story longer, we're still searching for the cause of her fevers. If it's not some kind of hidden viral infection... it could also be some kind of lingering INFLAMMATION. Maybe from her latest bone marrow biopsy. Maybe still related to the same lumbar puncture that hospitalized her a few weeks ago. Regardless, if that turns out to be the case, her docs seem confident that another course of steroids should correct the problem.

Meanwhile, I can tell you this.

She's really tired of being tired. Super sick of feeling sick. So we can't wait to get her over this hump, through the transplant, and back to a leukemia free life. 

And did we mention how much we appreciate your continuing good thoughts and prayers?

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #70

Greetings. 

This is the seventieth in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Sorry it's been a minute since I've updated the blog. But it's been kind of a crazy week, between me taking all kinds of meetings, getting through two nights of finals for my USC class, and-- far more importantly-- Nancy making repeated visits to City of Hope.

It all started on Tuesday night, when I returned home from campus to discover that Nancy was running a high enough fever for our doctor to want her to come get checked out again in the COH ER. So off to Duarte we went. And there we stayed until the wee hours of Wednesday morning.

But after running a bunch of blood tests, they finally let her go home-- and we fell into bed around 4:30AM. So by Wednesday night, after I returned once again from USC, we were both pretty burnt. Unfortunately, she was also still running a low grade fever. They didn't ask us to come back that night-- but when her fever persisted Thursday morning, we went back to City of Hope so we could meet directly with our doc and try to figure out what was going on. 

The suspicion is that Nancy has some kind of lingering infection. We're just not sure where. Could be her back (from a bone marrow biopsy). Could be her lungs (possibly related to inflamed tissue around her IV port site). Could be something else entirely. But as of this writing on Saturday night, she's still running a low grade temperature. So she'll be back at COH on Monday for a follow-up. And on Tuesday, she's scheduled to go under general anesthesia so they can run a few tests that would be a bit too painful for her to deal with otherwise.

For now, we're still completely on target for getting her admitted on May 15th to begin radiation and all the other preliminary procedures necessary for ramping Nancy up to her bone marrow transplant date on May 22nd. But we'd really like to get to the bottom of what's causing the fevers before then, so she's as healthy as possible before the real fun begins.

So here's where I'll ask you all a favor. The Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess could use some positive encouragement. 

If you've got her email address and/or cell number-- some happy emails and/or texts would be really helpful over the next few days to keep her spirits up. And of course, you could always post a message here, as well. It's just been kind of a long week for her-- and a steady stream of love bombs could go an awfully long way toward getting her over this latest hurdle.

Thank you so much for your continuing good thoughts and prayers.

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

THE SUNSHINY SUPERWARRIOR GODDESS SPEAKS!

Just a few words from the Hills of Woodland. My Home Sweet Home.

Is it wrong that I constantly want to drop down on my knees and thank my incredible kids, my amazing friends and my heroic husband for getting me through the past two weeks? It was a Herculean effort. And that effort, combined with the constant assistance of the nurses and doctors at City of Hope Hospital have gotten me through a very scary time. 

But ‘tis Trey who really deserves a second, third, fourth, and millionth round for all he has managed to do when I was literally so far out on the brink that four entire days have disappeared from my world.

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of amnesia, although to be honest, it felt like a great gimmick for a movie. Just not very plausible in real life. Clearly, based on my experiences last week in the hospital, I now stand corrected. Amnesia is real. And I’m its new Ambassador.

Now, just to add a little comedy to the drama, here’s a smattering of some dialogue that you missed from last week’s theatrics. After three days of Trey being told that I was “confused and combative,” I finally regained consciousness, whereupon I was paid a visit from Psychiatric Services to make sure my faculties were indeed coming back online. The conversation went like this:

PSYCHIATRIST: Can you tell me where you are?

ME: Yes, of course. City of Hospital.

PSYCHIATRIST: And you’re sure of that?

ME: Yes, City of Hospital.

PSYCHIATRIST: You wanna try again?

ME: (REALIZING) Oh, G-d. Right. City of Hope.

PSYCHIATRIST: And what is the date?

ME: Well, I’m not sure how long I’ve been here. I guess a few weeks. And I came in, when… uh… in March?

PSYCHIATRIST: No.

ME: April?

PSYCHIATRIST: That’s correct.

ME: So it’s still April?

PSYCHIATRIST: That’s correct.

What have I learned? That the three words my mother used to say are words to live by.

“Expect the unexpected.“

Because the minute you think you’ve got it all figured out, is the same minute everything changes. And these three words are equally important:

"Love is everything."

These two are pretty fantastic as well:

"Think positive."

And one more not-so-known bit of information. There is something magical about hospital tuna-fish sandwiches.

But nothing is as magical as coming home from the hospital!

Until next time.

XO

Nancy

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #69

Greetings. 

This is the sixty-ninth in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Just a quick update for anyone who's worried by the radio silence. Nancy's doing great-- feeling stronger by the day after last week's unexpected "bump" in the road. And everybody else is feeling much better, too. Right Zingo?

What's more, after a couple of days of meetings with her doctors at City of Hope (thanks again for taking her, Karen!), it looks like they've zeroed in on a date for her impending bone marrow transplant. Assuming all continues to go well, Nancy should be checking into the hospital around May 14th... receiving her transplant around the 22nd... and then staying at COH for approximately 6 weeks, while her body (hopefully) gets fully accustomed to its new, completely leukemia-free blood and marrow.

Please stay tuned here for further details as they're available-- but believe me when I tell you that right now, no news is good news. Of course, I do realize the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess has many loving friends and family all over the world who are constantly thinking of her-- so I promise to keep all of you updated as often as possible.

Meanwhile, please keep her in your good thoughts and prayers, okay?

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #68

Greetings. 

This is the sixty-eighth in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

Our seven day odyssey is over. City of Hope released Nancy today to return home after an unexpected battle against a dangerous infection that was caused by her last intrathecal spinal chemo.

All tests are normal.

All three of our kids are home.

And for the next two days before Clem goes back to college, we're gonna do nothing but celebrate the triumphant return of the Sunshiny Superwarrior Goddess!

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

HEADLINES

Please visit the link below for more information on how you can help in the search for a bone marrow transplant donor. Remember, even if you're not a match for Nancy-- sooner or later, you'll be a match for someone. And you might just save that person's life.

HOW TO HELP NANCY FIND A BONE MARROW DONOR

Or, if you just feel like keeping your fluids to yourself and sending us some food instead, that's fine, too.

Meal Train For The Callaways

DAILY NANCY UPDATE #67

Greetings. 

This is the sixty-seventh in a series of DAILY NANCY UPDATES I will be posting until the amazing Nancy Neufeld Callaway is in full 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 and follow the prompts!

BREAKING NEWS

See this pretty picture of lantana flowers?

Guess who took it?

That's right. She's feeling so much better, that today... NANCY GOT OUT OF BED AND TOOK A WALK with our sweet friend Karen. Around the hospital. And right out the front door to enjoy a beautiful day at the City of Hope. 

Why? 

Because the doctors here are very pleased with her recovery-- and are not only paring back and eliminating the mind-blowing (literally) assortment of pharmaceuticals she's been on over the past six days to control her spinal infection-- but they're openly encouraging her to flex her tired muscles as much as possible. 

Oh, and also because SHE'S THE DAMN SUNSHINY SUPERWARRIOR GODDESS!

We're hoping she finally blows this popsicle stand by tomorrow or Saturday, at the latest. Stay tuned for further details. But meanwhile, thank you so much for all of your sweet calls, messages, emails, texts, thoughts, and prayers during this whole unexpected and difficult ordeal-- AKA "bump in the road" to her recovery.

WE LOVE NANCY, and... 

ALL IS WELL!

HEADLINES

Please visit the link below for more information on how you can help in the search for a bone marrow transplant donor. Remember, even if you're not a match for Nancy-- sooner or later, you'll be a match for someone. And you might just save that person's life.

HOW TO HELP NANCY FIND A BONE MARROW DONOR

Or, if you just feel like keeping your fluids to yourself and sending us some food instead, that's fine, too.

Meal Train For The Callaways