Almost 7 months without you. I am going to two grief groups and I go to Church Wednesday evenings. I miss you every single day, every single hour, you are always in my head. I wish you could see Romi with her beautiful ginger hair, so much like yours. Her curls are starting. Ohana is so smart and a beautiful kid.
I love you honey, the holidays are coming. I don't want to celebrate them this year but I must because of Vince and the girls. Vince graduates in a few months..oh Eddie is is such a handsome wonderful young man. He misses you deeply, we all do. Banzai died a few days ago. He got so skinny, one day he just couldn't walk anymore. Alastair and I took him to be put to sleep. Alastair will miss his little cat friend. I wish you could come home.
June 12, 2016
It was 3 months ago yesterday, the 11th that I lost you..this has been the hardest 3 months of my life..my darling man I had the privilege of being his wife for 47 years, since 19 years of age. I am struggling very badly without you. Where are you..I look for you everywhere. I miss you and love you.
March 11, 2016
My beautiful husband lost his battle with Multiple Myeloma. The last year of his life was such a struggle for him, it was so heartbreaking to his family to watch him suffer trying to live as long as he could. His struggle is over and mine, without him, is just beginning. I will never be the same without him.
December 18th 2014
Another Christmas almost here. Eddie continues to fight. He has good days and bad days. He was in the hospital Four weeks with C-diff and Cellulitis in his leg. It was a very difficult time for us both, we both just hate it when he has to be in the hospital. Laney is 5 months pregnant with her 2nd baby due in April. Ohana also was born in April. We are so very excited about the new baby. Ohana is 2 and the joy of our life. Vincent turned 15, is 6 ft tall and so handsome, good kid.
November 5th 2013
Ok, so for someone who almost died in the hospital, who was told he wouldn't be here for Christmas, he's doing pretty darn good! Not only did he see last Christmas he is getting ready for this Christmas. He is on a new Chemo which is supposed to knock down his cancer cells as low as they will go, then he will go on a brand new cancer drug, not yet approved by the FDA..he's going into the final phase of the clinical trial. His Dr said this new drug is a miracle for cancer. It is an antibody drug, it builds up your immune system to fight cancer on it's own. No chemo, no radiation, killing only cancer cells not the good cells. We go to San Francisco for the treatment. We start in December.
Vince turned 14 October..Ohana is 17 months and the joy of Ed's life, he is captivated with his granddaughter. The new chemo is tough on him..he goes two days a week back to back days you will find us in the Chemo room Mondays and Tuesdays for 2 hours. Keep him in thoughts and prayers..it's been a long 6 year battle.
April 2013
Been awhile since I updated..we all caught a Spring cold, it turned very bad for Eddie, he ended up in the hospital for 12 days with double pneumonia and a severe blood infection. I finally was able to bring him home April 19th on the condition I would give him IV antibiotics twice a day, so I was trained how to hook him up to a pump, mix his meds and start the IV..this treatment is over May 6th..hopefully after testing the infection will be gone.
Ohana turned 1 on April 25th, her first year went by so very fast..she is such a darling little girl and so happy. Vince is 13 taller than me by several inches, handsome well adjusted kid..Eddie loves these two grandchildren with all his heart. His kidneys have healed nicely..he has to build up his immune system so he can fight off infections better...it is so wonderful having him home! I was not able to visit him in the hospital because I was sick with the same cold he had and his Dr said NO visiting him as long as I was sick! Summer is coming, sunshine and warm weather will make him feel so much better. Thank you for the continued prayers. Oh, and he is up to 150 pounds :)
August 11, 2012
Today is a very special day, our wedding anniversary. I am so happy he is here to celebrate with me..a few months ago I wasn't so sure he would be.
Very good news on his health. His cancer is under control again, he is back on chemo. He has been taken off dialysis and his kidneys are doing so good his kidney Dr has moved him from stage 3 to stage 2 kidney disease and he can be off his renal diet every other day. He can once again enjoy a piece even two of pizza!
The main goal now is to get weight on him. When he came home from the hospital he weighed 115 pounds, as thin as a piece of paper turned sideways..as of his last appt he is up to 125 pounds. YAY..we need to get him up to a nice 155 pounds.
We spent a quiet anniversary just hanging out together, we enjoyed a Mexican take out for dinner and even had a small Margurita...Happy anniversary honey :)
He's back to playing poker on his computer which he loves doing so much.
July 2012
After 2 months of being in the hospital I was able to bring him home. He is off dialysis at the moment, his kidneys are open enough that he doesn't need it..he is at stage 4 chronic kidney disease. He is down to 115 pounds, our main goal is to get him fattened up! Dad, Carolyn, Selena, Mike, Geri, Diane, Barbara Ann and Johnny, Deibert, Nancy, Laney and Cori, thank you for coming to see him. Yesterday he lost his balance went sideways till he reached the bathtub and in he went landing on his back. Oh my God I was so scared for him, thankfully other than being very sore and bruised, nothing is broken..he was insisting he didn't need a walker, after this fall he now knows he does need it! He also suffers from extreme chills, once he gets cold a severe shaking starts and lasts from 5 to 30 minutes..it is agony watching him go through this. He is back on chemo once a week. We take things one day at a time...please keep him in your prayers.
May 2012
Our worst fear has happened. Eddie is in big trouble, he has been in the hospital for almost a month now, complete kidney failure, on dialysis. His cancer has returned. Our life has been turned upside down. I am so frightened for him and myself. I am at the hospital as much as I can possibly be. My heart just breaks for him. He had to meet his new grand daughter in the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers.
March 2012
Eddie has continued to do well, getting stronger everyday. However having said that, he has come down with a bug that he can't seem to shake. He has been very tired, sleeping almost around the clock for a week now. Slowly he is getting more energy. This makes me very nervous, takes me back to the dark days when he was so very sick. Hopefully he'll be back to full strength and energy soon!
December 26, 2011
Another Christmas has come and gone, the year 2011 is almost over. Some good things happened, Eddie had his transplant and continues to do very well, Vince lives with us, he is 5'5 and 120 pounds, just turned 12..he's going to be tall like Ron! Ron is living in the Florida Keyes..he says he loves it there, he's always loved the Ocean. Our Laney and Cori are expecting their baby in April, they don't want to know what the sex is, they want to be surprised...12 years between grandchildren, you have no idea how excited I am about this baby coming. So far, things are ok..keep Eddie in your prayers as he continues to battle to stay well.
September 10, 2011
Here we are almost the middle of September, tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of a horrible day. 9-11
Eddie is doing so wonderful..He looks good, his hair is still as red as can be. So far so good 1 year 5 months since his transplant and so far so good!
June 23, 2011
Here we are at Uncle Joe's funeral, we gathered for lunch, to reconnect with family, catch up on news, to honor Uncle Joe. Eddie is doing so good! He goes all day. His hair after the transplant when it grew back in, is almost all red! ohh my gosh it's just as bright red as the day I met him. He looks good, he feels good and his blood tests look good, everything normal. Thank you for keeping him in your prayers.
March 19, 2011
So here it is March 2011..gas is almost 4.00 a gallon, our troops are still dying in Afghanistan, We haven't left Iraq yet, Libya is on fire, Japan suffered a devastating earthquake, Eddie is doing so good, works like a mule everyday he has good energy, his blood counts look good, only one problem severe leg spasms as he's falling asleep, so bad he yelps and jumps out of bed it takes almost 5 minutes for the cramp to subside, I feel so bad for him. Each time he starts to fall asleep his muscles cramp..once asleep they calm down but it just takes forever for him to fall asleep. So, thats all the news for now...Chris
January 5, 2011
We had a wonderful Christmas and a very low key New Years. Eddie is feeling really good these days, he still needs lots of sleep...but most days he puts in 10 hours working in our business, he is my special hero! I hope we all have a healthy, happy 2011.
December 3rd, 2010
Today is Eddie's birthday, holiday season, last year at this time Eddie was facing his stem cell transplant, it's all behind him now. He is doing wonderful..full head of hair again to..for right now, I have no news to report except good news..yay Merry Christmas!
August 24, 2010
Another big blood test and a bone marrow bio it is official Eddie is in REMISSION! No more chemo (for now) this remission could last 6 months or 10 years, now we live our life and quit worrying. He'll go in for weekly blood checks so we can keep an eye on it, but his Dr said to just live his life..so we shall.........:)
August 8th, 2010
Eddie is doing just wonderful. His hair is long enough to have to brush. He no longer wears his baseball cap when going out, it's coming back in Red! He looks good, he's eating like a horse and so far no chemo! Dr hasn't said he has to go back on it so that's good.. I just thank God he's still here....I'll be back with another update when I have one. For now things are good.
July 19, 2010
Ed has received his biopsy results. The news is good! All his numbers are almost normal. One of the most important numbers is his Free Light Chain number..it was almost 20,000 when he was diagnosed went to 800, then 600, it had to be 400 or less for the transplant. Finally it was 400 and the transplant was done. His free light is now 70, normal is 50ish! This means although his blood is showing a tiny
speck of the cancer, it is miniscule. His Dr is going to tell him at his next appt if he will go on maintenance chemo, which means a tiny bit each day. He would very much like NOT to go back on that nasty chemo, but we don't want this crud growing back..C'mon find a cure already!
Ok your all up to date. He feels good, he looks good and his hair is 2 inches long !!
July 6th, 2010
Today Eddie had a bone marrow biopsy. I'll post the results when they come in. Day 90 of his transplant,transplant done on April 7, 2010. Hair just sprouting little tufts, he is hungry all the time, (yay) Putting almost a full day at work. He looks good. It's been a long hard climb to get here..he is happy to be off Chemo!
April 2010
Eddie spent 3 weeks in San Francisco having his transplant. A mega dose of chemo killed his entire immune system. Many times during this procedure he wanted to give up and just let go, he was so very sick. Blood tests were taken daily, when his white blood cell count came back up he was released to come home. He was on house arrest for 6 weeks, no going around crowds, no eating out, no fresh vegtables, no fast food, no company. Slowly ever so slowly he healed.
2009
Eddie and I spent a week in San Francisco. He underwent a stem cell harvest. It was a grueling ordeal, he had to give himself 3 shots a day, the shots made his bones go into hyper drive making new stem cells. In order to know it was working his bones had to ache and boy did they ever, pain and shots, more pain more shots. Everyday hooked up to a machine somewhat like a dialysis machine. His blood swished through coiled tubes, drops of precious golden stem cells filled a bag to be frozen ready for his transplant. He had enough cells for 2 transplants should he need another one.
December 2008
diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow.
Symptoms
Bleeding problems
Bone or back pain
Increased susceptibility to infection
Symptoms of anemia (such as tiredness, shortness of breath, and fatigue)
Unexplained fractures
