Long time ...

On September 9th of this year, my husband will be marking his 2 year anniversary post Bone Marrow Transplant.  It has been a long battle over the last 4 years, since he was first diagnosed in 2009 with AML - Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  We have been through chemotherapy, remission, relapse, more chemotherapy, transplant and recovery.   Are there still issues?  Yes. GVHD still pops up, sun allergies, meds, and such, but all in all, life is back to "normal" or at least the new normal.  So to all those who have visited in the past, I am happy to give you this update, and hope it is encouraging to anyone out there facing what we have been through the past few years.

Besides all that, I am redoing the site a bit and adding all the scrapbook kits to the front page, and also I am going to be adding in some recyceld craft projects here and there as well.

Thanks for visiting, and keep on checking in!

Day +170 just an update....

It seems my reports have gone by the wayside since we have been home. But I thought an update was in order for any who are still following to let you know we are all alive and kicking. We have made 1 return visit for a checkup to Karmanos so far, and actually were scheduled to leave tomorrow for the next, but we post-poned it for the beginning or March due to some testing Frank will be doing this week and next on his liver. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with the leukemia or transplant, but during the rounds of genetic testing, it was discovered he carries a very uncommon gene hemachromatosis, in other words, his liver stores excessive amounts of iron. This led to a round of phlebotomies back in 2010 while he was in remission, but was left on the wayside after the relapse. However, the gene is doing it's thing again, and some more tests and phlebotomies are on the agenda. Just another "little" thing. The only good part is so far, everything can be done here in Laurium, so no excessive travel is required. Other than that, everything has been going well. Fatigue is still an issue, and Frank's hair has just now returned to a state where you wouldn't know it had been gone, although indeed it is a completely different texture than before. Miles is also doing well, and has been enjoying all our beloved snow activities, shoveling, snowshoeing, sledding, and our wonderful neighbors gave him a child's set of x-country ski's they had from ther own children. We have been out once with them, but have not had another opportunity yet as he has been a bit under the weather with a cold. Luckily, Frank nor I have picked it up, but he has been indoors all week, and is just about ready to bust a seam. So all is good for now, and that is all we can ask for :)
Happy President's Day everyone!

Day +92 Home!!!

We arrived home on Wednesday! It is great to be back home, we left Tuesday after Frank's clinic visit, and spent the night in Muninsing. Once we crossed the Mackinac Bridge, we knew we were "home", what a difference from one side to the other. Frank held up very well over the trip, and we have been settling back in, getting our stuff unpacked, some Christmas decorations up, and just enjoying being home! Frank will see our oncologist up here in 2 weeks, and then it will be back to Detroit the second week of January for the first check-up, but so far so good. One feels so much better being just being here.

We have seen a few of our friends and neighbors so far, and wil get to everyone eventually. But the lights are back on in the Ryan household, shining again on Tamarack Street!