Well, this is what she meant to say. It was quite a thing for her to even get up on that stage, she snuck in and out of there in a flash (and in lots of protective clothing), and she forgot some of this. So I asked her to send it to me, and here it is. As she said, "Simply reading the below it doesn't do justice to what I was feeling throbbing thru my heart.....and my soul. Don't know if it will convey that...."
-----
There's a few things I must say. And.....I....have to say them. They simply can't come from anyone else, they need to be in my voice, from me....from MY heart......
Ya know how we always think THIS happens to “OTHER” people….. Well the truth is….it simply doesn't ! It mostly happens to those you least expect it to…..and it’s utterly devastating when it does. After numerous stumbling blocks, I was unbelievably lucky. Fact is, I'm a generic white chick from Northern Europe. I had a number of “possible” Donor’s. What happens if you are ½ Nepalese and ½ Irish ? Or half German & half Nigerian ? You wait…..and you wait, as long as you can, and every year some die….waiting. Even children. Minorities especially exist in a precarious danger zone. Please donate blood, but please go one step further and do the simple cheek swab…..and maybe save someone’s life. PLEASE.
The Research, Knowledge and Care that go into every aspect of a Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant is awesome thing. Not that long ago, I truly would have been a girl in a bubble. Please…..everyone in the room acknowledge what the people from UW Med Center, Fred Hutch & Seattle Cancer Care Alliance do for a living….because they truly are intragal (sp???) parts of miracles on an every day basis. Cheers to them !
I’m not here for me….. I’m truly here for all of you…to Thank You and Honor you. My friends… and those that I don’t even know… that out of the greatness of their hearts, were involved in anything having to do with helping me. It truly does take a Village…..and you have all built my Universe......... For this I truly honor all of you.
From the beginning…not all of you even knew each other : from far different walks of life, as well as dramatically different parts of MY life. My greatest joy has been witnessing the meetings of voices & e-mail addresses, all for the very first time….. and the now the connections that have been forged.
For those that don’t know me, I hope the sheen from my scalp is not blinding you. All of these bands, all of the musicians, are amazingly gentle and kind souls…..as well as phenomenally talented. They themselves are well worth the evening of entertainment without being graciously attached to my name….. I thank them for choosing to take part in this event. Please enjoy the music…and the collective talent !
Namaskar.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Kristina on KOMO TV in September
Finally got this report loaded on YouTube -- and now we're working on the one from the fundraiser (see next post below).
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Thank Your for a Real Good Time!
There are too many people to thank for the fundraiser last night in Seattle: the folks who put it all together, the bands, the Tractor Tavern, everybody who came ... It was a great night all around, and my guess is that about 100 people came through the doors, maybe more.
Thank you everybody! And if you couldn't make it, why not swing by the donation link right now to give the $20 you would have spent to get in, had you been there?
Kristina even made a brief appearance, and I'll try to get her remarks from her. She had written some stuff but didn't get through all of it. It was a pretty big undertaking just being there.
If anybody has photos they can share, please let me know. Maybe you could post them on a site and send me the link!
In site news, I have updated a couple of links. One is that I have changed the "Days 0-30" link with the "Days 30-100" link, which is called "Early Recovery." I am also working on posting a recent story that KOMO did, but I did get the Seattle PI story from last week up there. I know a few people read that and showed up at the Tractor Tavern Wednesday night, so another round of thanks to them!
On a personal note, I really enjoyed meeting as many people as I did. I'm not much a late-night partier any more, but last night was a pretty magical time.
Thank you everybody! And if you couldn't make it, why not swing by the donation link right now to give the $20 you would have spent to get in, had you been there?
Kristina even made a brief appearance, and I'll try to get her remarks from her. She had written some stuff but didn't get through all of it. It was a pretty big undertaking just being there.
If anybody has photos they can share, please let me know. Maybe you could post them on a site and send me the link!
In site news, I have updated a couple of links. One is that I have changed the "Days 0-30" link with the "Days 30-100" link, which is called "Early Recovery." I am also working on posting a recent story that KOMO did, but I did get the Seattle PI story from last week up there. I know a few people read that and showed up at the Tractor Tavern Wednesday night, so another round of thanks to them!
On a personal note, I really enjoyed meeting as many people as I did. I'm not much a late-night partier any more, but last night was a pretty magical time.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Read about Kristina in the Seattle Paper
The Seattle P-I has done another story about Kristina, dated Dec. 14. Read it here.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Preliminary News is Good
We're still waiting for confirmation when another test comes in (hopefully this afternoon), but the preliminary results from Kristina's bone marrow biopsy read in part, "No abnormal myleoblasts noted."
Again, that's very preliminary, so stay tuned. There's another test to come which will confirm or clarify, and as soon as we have those results, we'll get them out.
Again, that's very preliminary, so stay tuned. There's another test to come which will confirm or clarify, and as soon as we have those results, we'll get them out.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Big Day Today
Okay, folks – it’s time to send big, positive, healing energy. It’s Bone Marrow Biopsy Day.
What is a biopsy? Well, today is the day they will put Kristina under and take a sample from her bone marrow. The purpose is quite simple: to find out if, and how well, the bone marrow transplant worked. It will take a few days, maybe a week, to get all the official results, but there are three basic outcomes:
Best: If there are no “blasts,” that means she’s cured – although the cancer could come back, and on top of that, future forms of cancer are a little more likely due to all the chemo she got. Basically, under this scenario, she continues to recover from all the treatments and keeps an eye out for GVH.
Semi-bad outcome: a few blasts would mean she’s in clinical remission and will still need ongoing maintenance from drugs or chemo.
The worst outcome is a lot of blasts, perhaps even signs that she’s gone all the way to full-blown leukemia, which would require another transplant in the next couple of months.
For updates, like I said, it may be a few days. Also, I will be out of town and away from the Internet until Friday morning. There’s a chance Kristina will log on herself and post something, but she’s trying to figure out how to take things easier.
Speaking of which, she sounds like she’s slowly getting to feel a little better. She had two great caregivers over the weekend, and that went well. She is still a little shaky, gets tired easily, and is being told to take it easier, so she’ll work on that. Her weight and temperature are stable, and her appetite is slowly coming back.
The bummer at this point is that the steroids she is on have altered her blood in such a way as to necessitate insulin shots. She’s quite frustrated by this development, but there is a good chance it’s a temporary situation that will pass when the steroids she’s taking (and the GVH they are fighting) pass.
She continues to tell me that she has run out of words to thank everyone. I encouraged her to log on here directly sometime and post a letter of thanks to all of you.
Meanwhile, there probably won’t be any news here for a few days, so please say a prayer and/or send some energy for the biopsy today.
What is a biopsy? Well, today is the day they will put Kristina under and take a sample from her bone marrow. The purpose is quite simple: to find out if, and how well, the bone marrow transplant worked. It will take a few days, maybe a week, to get all the official results, but there are three basic outcomes:
Best: If there are no “blasts,” that means she’s cured – although the cancer could come back, and on top of that, future forms of cancer are a little more likely due to all the chemo she got. Basically, under this scenario, she continues to recover from all the treatments and keeps an eye out for GVH.
Semi-bad outcome: a few blasts would mean she’s in clinical remission and will still need ongoing maintenance from drugs or chemo.
The worst outcome is a lot of blasts, perhaps even signs that she’s gone all the way to full-blown leukemia, which would require another transplant in the next couple of months.
For updates, like I said, it may be a few days. Also, I will be out of town and away from the Internet until Friday morning. There’s a chance Kristina will log on herself and post something, but she’s trying to figure out how to take things easier.
Speaking of which, she sounds like she’s slowly getting to feel a little better. She had two great caregivers over the weekend, and that went well. She is still a little shaky, gets tired easily, and is being told to take it easier, so she’ll work on that. Her weight and temperature are stable, and her appetite is slowly coming back.
The bummer at this point is that the steroids she is on have altered her blood in such a way as to necessitate insulin shots. She’s quite frustrated by this development, but there is a good chance it’s a temporary situation that will pass when the steroids she’s taking (and the GVH they are fighting) pass.
She continues to tell me that she has run out of words to thank everyone. I encouraged her to log on here directly sometime and post a letter of thanks to all of you.
Meanwhile, there probably won’t be any news here for a few days, so please say a prayer and/or send some energy for the biopsy today.
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