Chemo #4 - What a bore!

Hi Everyone,

I've missed you all and apologize for the delay in updating the blog. It was not due to writer's block but more due to Bonnie's "cancer brain". I mean seriously - how long is she gonna use that excuse?! It's hard to believe kids are back at school, fall is in the Santa Ana winds, and Christmas is only a couple of months away. Where does the time go when you're having chemo treatments:)

September brought Bonnie's 4th chemo treatment and the reality of the end being near.

It was a fairly slow day in the chemo lounge. Thankfully Bonnie didn't have too much of a chance to annoy, I mean charm, people with her incessant pop culture filled chatter. After all, how long can you carry on a conversation about the Kardashians? Ok seriously - can you believe Lamar aka Lammie? What happened to him? And it really isn't a surprise that Kris and Bruce broke up. He's been living at the beach away from that insane asylum all summer. What did she think would happen.  Oooops, I digress.....

The one drawback during this round was that Bonnie did get a rash which resulted in her being placed on steroids. No, she did not gain a fabulous muscular body, grow facial hair or other things. Oh no, instead she became an insane woman with boundless amounts of energy. Another reason to not drink Monster or other highly caffeinated drinks that have a similar result. I'm sure she ran around the neighborhood offering to single handidly paint your entire house for free - in one day! Sorry for those of you that came into contact with her during that time. My husband does take insurance should you need therapy for the trauma this induced.

We give thanks for the lack of fever after this round. Although I do have to admit, I miss the sleepovers with my sister at the Scripps Spa and Resort.  And by sleepovers I mean no sleep while the nurses poke and prod her every half hour. They are all wonderful and very skilled people but happy we didn't have to see them this time around!

The girls are doing great! They have wonderful attitudes about this ordeal and are enjoying busy social lives outside of their busy school schedules. Below is a picture of Natalie, Brenna and my daughter Callie. Isn't she a beauty? Why yes, she does look like me:)

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone for your patience! I promise to keep up the blog for you, even if I have to take drastic measures and make stuff up!

Stay tuned for more,
Heather Gregory

Chemo Number 3

Hi Everyone,

As some of you know, Bonnie had her 3rd chemo treatment yesterday. This was about a week later than originally planned, due in part to her recent stay at the Scripps Spa and Resort. Dr Banerji thought it would be a good idea to delay the treatment by a week, in order to give Bonnie more time to heal and increase her white blood cell count. Oh ya, he was also in Hawaii on vacation:)

Since Bonnie was released from the "spa" she has spent time resting and recovering along with the normal routine of getting the girls ready for school, raising dear Charlie (little terror) and keeping the house running. Geez - doesn't sound like any rest time to me. I'm tired just typing this!

Now that the recovery phase has started, let's keep the prayers going so she has a fighting chance of avoiding another infection and landing back in the spa. This is something to avoid at all costs, so we also want to remember to avoid her kids and the house altogether if you or your kids have been exposed to any illnesses, etc. 

As the summer winds down and the kids get in their last dose of sunshine and fun, we can officially turn our thoughts to Christmas. What??!! Is she crazy??!! I thought that too when I went to Costco 2 weeks ago and saw Christmas decorations up. I'm a huge Christmas fan , but come on. Really? It's August and hot as you know what outside! 

Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Heather
  

Home Sweet Home.....again

Hi Everyone,

Today brings good news! Bonnie is finally home after a long and "luxurious" stay at the Scripps Memorial Hospital (aka: spa and resort).  Since last Sunday night, Bonnie has been confined to her "suite" and tied to her dance partner (aka: IV drip holder), while being injected day and night with numerous bags of various cocktails of antibiotics and God only knows what else. After staying with her for a couple of nights, she no longer had any overnight parties due to her condition having taken a turn for the worse (see previous post).

On Thursday, things really started to look up as her white blood cell count greatly improved, she was no longer neutropenic and did not have to be subjected to a restrained diet.  Once the doctors decided on her post-release protocol, they were able to comfortably release her yesterday.

Before she left I was able to at least get Natalie up there for a quick visit. It was nice to see her with her mom, as both of the girls have not been able to visit much at the hospital. This is a strong family and the girls are hanging tough! Thanks to all the family friends who help the girls stay occupied and stick to their schedules.

Tom also did a great job in getting the house disinfected and prepared for her return.  Good Job Tom!!

Now that kids are returning to school, and are exposed to more germs (as are we adults) we all need to be extra cautious when considering a visit to her. If you have been exposed at all to anyone with a cold or any type of illness, let's delay the visit.

All joking aside, Scripps Memorial and the staff there have been phenomenal. Every time I have been there with Bonnie, I was so relieved to see that she was getting care from some very special people who genuinely love what they do and who they care for. I know she feels the same way.  Needless to say, there all enjoyed her company!

Now, that Bonnie is home, she is committed to resting and recovery. For this reason, we are still limiting the amount of visitors to ensure maximum rest time. This has been an exhausting ordeal and incredibly taxing on her body. Her oncologist has rightly postponed her next chemo treatment by one week in the hopes that her body will recover more and she will be in a stronger place to handle the chemo.

She will also have to continue her antibiotic therapy and most likely with a daily visit to the doctors office to administer the drug. Those nasty bugs she caught are tough ones to kill off.

In the end, after all is said and done, she is still very fortunate to have caught this cancer early and to be able to receive great, quality care.  It's no longer the cancer we are concerned about, it's the overall process that's proving to be the most challenging. You all know Bonnie - she's a soldier and she will soldier on like always. Going thru it with a smile big enough to cause you not to notice the missing hair, the port in her chest and the exhaustion behind her eyes.

Thanks for tuning in and continuing to support and pray for bonnie. I and the family thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

XO, Heather Gregory

Scripps Memorial "Spa and Resort"

Hi Everyone,

Well, the last few days have been pretty eventful - and not in a good way:(

Sunday brought a new and more intense fever to Bonnie's ever growing list of side effects of this nasty illness. Around the middle of the day she started to feel really poorly and was directed to the emergency room by Dr. Banerji. She arrived there around 6pm and continued to feel worse by the minute. By the time I got there at 9:30pm, she was still in the emergency room and they were looking to get her on some fluids and admit her. After a much too lengthy stay in the ER, we were moved to her room (aka: Suite) at around 1:30am. She was in a lot of pain from the fever, which was really difficult for her on top of everything else. They immediately put her on a heavy dose of antibiotics and gave her some pain meds. Long story short - it was a really rough night.

The next morning (Monday) brought sunshine and an early morning visit from Dr. McDreamy. Luckily I got ZERO sleep the night before so my hair and makeup from Sunday still looked great! Oh - back to Bonnie. After weighing the options and seeing her condition, it was mutually agreed that he would remove the expanders later that afternoon. This is was very wise decision and one that I personally wish had been made the last time she got a fever. But.....so once I got back to the "spa" last night at around 7pm, she was just coming out of recovery and was looking pretty good.

The night went on to be pretty uneventful, with the exception of the excitement caused by Dez getting engaged to Chris on the Bachelorette. Boy, didn't see that coming! The pain had subsided, thanks to the meds keeping her stoned out of her mind. Bonnie was able to sleep and dreamt of french fries and a pass to go home today.

Unfortunately, we woke to some bad news. Her white blood cell count was just short of void. Almost without any to speak of. This meant that she is highly, highly susceptible to infection. She actually had become "neutropinc". She had contracted two types of bacteria - one that usually comes from hospitals (go figure) and has been a problem from the beginning (maybe from the expanders) and one that your body makes but wasn't as harmful as the other one. They called in an infectious disease doctor who has changed her antibiotics and is now restricting her to her "suite" and keeping her there until possibly Friday.

Because of the severity of the risk, there will be no visitors at the hospital and possibly the same for when she comes home. She can't have any plants or flowers around (they can carry bacteria) and she can't eat any foods that are not cooked and no leftovers more than 1 day old.
Despite this setback, she still is marching on and entertaining the hospital staff and anyone else that will listen to her.

I know this all sounds scary, but the good news is, the expanders are out and white blood cells can regenerate quickly. Let's hope she's out of her suite by Friday!

All of this is too reminicent of when my daughter was in ICU fighting for her life with bacterial meningitis. Having to wear a full haz mat suit with goggles and all, and "oh by the way, her skin is too sensitive and painful to touch", was something beyond comprehension. As my Callie made it through, so too shall Bonnie. We Manson girls are tough cookies and it'll take more than stupid Cancer to knock her down. Stupid cancer....

Stay tuned for more!

XO, Heather

The Brave, The Bald and the Beautiful

Good Morning Everyone,

As our summer continues with backyard BBQ's, vacations and just plain fun, there is one thing that remains the same for the Chapman household: cancer still sucks. Ok - the good news: Bonnie continues to fight the fight by participating in Bug's Girlscout events, running errands, cooking meals that could put Wolfgang Puck to shame (you don't really believe that one, do you??!!). Although her calendar looks more like a war plan, filled with procedure strategies and doctor appointments, she keeps her strong chin up and her smile is ever present.

This Friday she will have a procedure done with McDreamy, where he will "clean up" the affected area and remove any dead skin that is handing around. Neither one of us knows exactly how he will do this, and I have to say "ignorance is bliss". It sounds gross and scary. While this is being done, the rest of the Chapman's will be off to Big Bear (another trip Bonnie gets to miss out on), now that B is out of summer school. That is one hard working student and they all deserve a little R & R. I will be ready to take on my "Nurse Ratchit" persona again. I'm just disappointed I can't take her to the appointment. I miss McDreamy with his long legs, 2 day beard and olive skin....oh, where was I?

As the effects of chemo keep appearing in various forms, the latest has been the hair issue. Over the weekend, it started to fall out so Tom had to do an emergency hair cutting. You will notice that there are no pictures of her with his haircut:)  You did good Tom! So, Tuesday night we held a "Head Shaving" party in Bonnie's honor. The smile on her face is authentic and she was very relieved to have this done. She looks great and imagine how much time this will cut off her morning routine! I thought I would let the pictures do the talking...

This is Bonnie's "selfie" as a "before"  picture:

 

And this is all from the party:

Yep, Tom did it! He looks really great too. It's interesting to see how different one can look without hair and all that prepping and primping that goes with it. No- I didn't feel tempted. I choose to support my sister in every other way (that's code for "I'm too vain").

This was a positive step for all and one more hurdle the family overcame. It was great to be a part of this night and a BIG Thank You to Lisa for her head shaving skills.

I will update again over the weekend after I get a good idea on Bonnie's progress from her procedure on Friday.

Stay healthy everyone!  Heather Gregory

"If you don’t do what’s best for your body, you're the one who comes up on the short end.” ~ Julius Erving"

 

 

 

Lipstick and chemo

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in updating all of you.  Our little sister came into town from Ventura with her husband and baby and it's been a whirl wind of fun and little sleep. Makes me so happy that SHE is the one with a baby and I have a 20 year old that loves to sleep in:)

As most of you know, Bonnie had her first chemo treatment on Tuesday, July 9th. Although you know something like this is coming, it stares you in the face every time you look at the calendar, it's still a challenge to wrap your brain around it. The unknown can be very intimidating. This, along with having her "port" put in the day before (of course, had issues with that and didn't get the type of port she was looking for), resulted in minimal sleep the night before the treatment. However, we all know Bonnie - you would never had know she was running on empty, as her spirits were up and she was talking to EVERYONE. Can someone please make it stop?!

Luckily, we planned for a long afternoon. Along with plenty of snacks for me (most importantly), we were armed with magazines, lavender oil (to cover the smell of the stinky chairs) and a beautiful prayer quilt (see picture). During the 4 hours we were there, Bonnie managed to meet a gentleman who had a relative she knows in Scripps Ranch, met another woman there for treatment with her husband, hand out more of my sleep supplements and ensure to everyone there that she would return for her next treatment loaded with home baked goods.

The staff at Ximed are the best! I can't forget to mention them. Pam and Vicki are two hard working ladies! The room was bustling with chemo patients coming and going and all in various stages of treatment. It's an odd place to be with my sister. She looks really good in her red lipstick and new haircut- so why are we here? It's just another reminder of how fragile our health is and how cancer is non-discriminating. There were young and old, male and female patients, straight and gays. Yep - all in one day. A scary sign of the times!

So far, the only side affects of the nastiness that I saw dripping into my sister's body is an upset stomach (hers, not mine). Her energy is a little low, but I suppose that is to be expected with all of the stress resting on her as well. We will continue to monitor her and watch for more side effects, as she continues on this path. Bonnie is to receive treatments every 3 weeks, with her next one TBD. 

Bonnie, Tom and the girls (and myself) continue to be grateful for all of the support and the meals being delivered to the house. It's such a relief for all of them to know that's one less thing to worry about. The meals are delicious and really appreciated.



I promise to update again after Bonnie's next hurdle. In the meantime, I send my love and thanks to you all. Enjoy your summer!

Heather

Lotsa Helping Hands link

Hi Everyone,

Happy almost 4th of July! I hope you are all able to enjoy this day of independence, watch a parade, eat junk food (Bonnie's words - not mine!) and enjoy some good ole fashioned fire works.

 

 

In anticipation of Bonnie's chemo treatments starting Tuesday, July 9th, Gina Mathew was kind enough to take the lead on setting up a social calendar for meal plans. This is something that some of you have asked about and have wanted to help out the family, so we thought this would be the best way to keep the meal deliveries organized. Please know that this is strictly voluntary and very, very appreciated. This meal train comes with deliveries on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only. This will provide plenty of food for the family. As I will be finishing my 21 day cleanse around the time her chemo starts, I too will be very excited to taste the delicious meals!

 

 

In addition, we thought it best to restrict the meal deliveries to Scripps Ranch folks. This will help avoid any of you "San Diegans" having to fight traffic, etc. For those of you that still want to support the family in some manner, you are welcome to send Gift Cards (Islands, Chilie Peppers, Luna Grill, Sammy's, Daphne's, Rubios). Please remember: the cards, flowers, Edible Arrangements, have been more than enough and Bonnie is really appreciative (as well as the kids). Please don't feel obligated!

 

The link to the Lots Helping Hands is: https://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/704777/

 

Once you get to the site, please register so that you can be accepted into the "community". When you receive your confirmation email, you can then log onto the site to pick a day to deliver your meal. Once in the site, go to the bottom of the main page to "Help with a specific activity". Click on Bonnie's name and it will take you to the shared calendar. Click on the day you would like and it will open a page for you to register for that delivery day. You are off and running! 

 

Any questions on how to use the website, please see Gina's contact information on the Welcome Page (gmathew@san.rr.com).

 

 

Thanks again and have a safe 4th of July!

Heather