Alpine Sage together again!

We started band up again this week. We figured we might as well, since I'm feeling great. I might end up with a stem cell transplant in the future, but we have no idea when. My WBC was 14.86 yesterday and my platelets were 12. Holding steady. I start back on my cancer pill today, after a week off. It is 3 weeks on and one week off. Hopefully, we'll see some improvement soon.

In the meantime, don't I look like Sinead O'Connor?

Getting ready for Halloween

We went to two Halloween activites with Brittany and the girls on Monday. One was at Provo Beach, which has tons of activities for kids and adults. Mabel and Brittany were witches and Clementine was a monkey.

Afterwards we stopped at the Bean Museum, where we saw the animals and got our pictures taken again!

 On Tuesday we made Jack-O-Lanterns.

Mabel and Clementine were good helpers.

They were very scary!

In other scary news, I had my nodules irradiated the same day. It might take a while before they go away, but hopefully, it will help me get closer to remission!

We stopped by Mom's house and watched them demolish her old garage. It is amazing that you can do that in a half a day!

We took mom to lunch with us at Sizzler, and when we came back they were all finished with the demolition! Hopefully, they'll start the new one soon!

Biking, Labs, Podcast Show

Friday we biked the Jordan River Trail with Barbara and Kent. We made them very jealous of our electric bikes!

We stopped to enjoy the view at a very pretty pond, and right at that moment Molly (our nurse) called with my lab results. My white blood count had gone down to 11.54! We were so grateful that we all got up and did a happy dance! Unfortunately, my platelets were also 11. If they go below 10 I have to get a transfusion tomorrow. The good news is, I still feel great. I told the nurse we were out biking. She was not pleased, as an accident would be bad with my low platelets. Fortunately, I had no accident!

Barbara made us a celebratory chilli luncheon at her house after our rather chilly ride.

In the evening we met the Zippi's at the Market Street Grill for dinner. Afterwards we went to the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, where we saw a taping of our favorite podcast, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me."  It is a weekly news quiz that is very funny and has a variety of panelists, as well as people calling in on the phone.

Tricia had gone a few years ago when they were in town and I told her we wished we had gone. It was so nice of her to get us tickets, despite me being in the middle of cancer treatments and being somewhat unpredictable.

The panelists on Friday were Bobcat Goldthwaite, Amy Dickinson and Adam Burke. The special guest was Alex Boye, who was every bit as funny as the panelists.

It was a good day all around!

Murdock trail and Herb Garden

Ed and I took our bikes out three times last week. We give them an A+. You must pedal them, including when you want the electric boost, but pedaling is much easier uphill. We tried not to you the assist too much, as we wanted exercise, but it was a great way to catch up with Ed when I needed to, as well as a great way to come out of a tunnel and get up the hill!

On Tuesday we biked 14 miles up and back on the Murdock trail, starting at Lone Peak High School and turning around just short of the I-15 freeway entrance.

In the evening I went to Relief Society at the Butterfield barn, where we made herb gardens. I still had a very tall basil that has lasted me over a year, but we added some chives, rosemary and a little more basil. I haven't had good luck with anything but basil in the past. Let's see if this time is magic!

New Electric Bikes

We've been eyeing electric bikes for a couple of years now. Up till now we had been waiting for my cancer treatments to be done to buy them.

I've been feeling good lately, and on Saturday we decided to get ourselves new e-bikes as an early anniversary present. (one month early). Hopefully, we can work in a few rides before winter sets in.

We got Vado 3.0 bikes by Specialized. They have three levels of assist. When you put them on the highest level you don't even know you're pedaling uphill. It is pretty amazing!

Hike to Donut Falls while waiting for Lab results

Friday after my lab draw we met Barbara and Kent to go hiking to Donut Falls in Big Cottonwood Canyon. When Ed woke up and saw the snow in the mountains he almost cancelled. I said, "Don't worry, it will be fine." and, surprisingly, it was fine!

It turned out to be a magical hike. The snow was so beautiful on the trees. Much of the path was clear, with occasional patches of snow. We didn't go to the top of the waterfall, as it was slippery and we are not limber. Again, maybe we'll have to return in the summer.

We stopped for lunch at the Porcupine Grill at the base of the canyon. They had an Octoberfest menu, which we really enjoyed. We even finished up with German Chocolate Cake. Sadly our 1.5 mile hike didn't burn enough calories to make up for this decadent dessert!

Friday's WBC was slightly elevated at 17.68. Platelets were down to 26! We'll hope Monday's are a little better!

Battle Creek Falls

On Thursday we hiked up to Battle Creek Falls in Pleasant Grove. It was a beautiful day. Brittany came prepared with her baby carrier, but both Mabel and Clementine walked the entire way (1 mile round trip).

It's a very pretty walk, and we enjoyed the stream next to it.

The flowers were out of season, and it really made me want to come back in the summer and see what they look like. This clematis was still pretty with it's fall puffballs.

The falls are nice, and we enjoyed taking pictures there. I was surprised to see Mabel get crazy in the photos. It makes me laugh.

I'm feeling good still and happy to be out. I was also happy to have the kids for an excuse to only hike one mile!

The Other Side of the Mountain

Ed and I have been exploring Utah this week. On Wednesday we drove over Butterfield pass to the other side of the Oquirhh (Pronounced Oaker) Mountains. They look the same from the west as they do from the east.

It was a pretty ride on a narrow road. The leaves are still pretty in some spots, but the best of fall is behind us. When we got back to town we got my lab results. WBC was about the same at 15.32. Platelets are slipping, but I am increasing the Promacta, which should help with that

Jordan River Walk and Lab resutls

Ed and I stopped off at Barbara and Kent's house yesterday after labs. They live right off the Jordan River trail, so we enjoyed a walk along the path. It was nice and flat and felt more like a stroll.

The reeds along the riverbank were thick and luscious. Apparently, they are invasive and choke out other plants, but we couldn't help enjoying them.

It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed catching up on the Stevens' house landscaping and their trip to England.

This Jordan River is about the same size as the one in Israel. We wondered how it could have been so hard for the Israelites to cross, unless it was a lot bigger three thousand years ago!

My labs were great yesterday! My WBC continued to go back down, and was 15.02. Platelets stayed low at 49, but overall, we are hopeful the Ibrance is working! I've been on it about 10 days now and it seems to be helping! We are cautiously optimistic! Also happy that I have very few side effects and feel good!

Happy Birthday Brittany

We celebrated Brittany's birthday on Saturday. It is amazing how old she is. I have to admit it makes us feel older than we want!

We picked up cupcakes from Cravings and the girls had a great time picking out their favorite Halloween creations. We all had a great time sharing them!

Saturday afternoon we rode the Heber Valley Railroad Pumpkin Train. It included a visit from Michael Jackson performing to Thriller, and a witch who gave all the kids pumpkin clickers. They clicked along with the Addams Family theme song.

And to top it off, we all got to pick out a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch afterwards. We've ridden the train 2 times at Christmas, and enjoyed the fact that i wasn't freezing outside this time!

Good day for Coda and Judy

Coda and I both had good results from the doctor today. Coda had an abscess drained underneath her neck. It was gigantic like a goiter. The doctor said she might have had a bur or grass enter her neck. They cleaned her out and she is looking like the old Coda again. She even ate dinner when she got home from the vet. She hadn't eaten for three days.

The dog was a nervous wreck at the vet yesterday. Just like me when I get my labs taken. Happily my labs today were positive and my WBC went down a little. It was 19.88 today. We are hopeful this new pill is working. My next labs are on Monday.

Luckily for me, I did not have to have my neck shaved and come home with a giant hole under my chin.  Coda will be draining for the next couple of days. We are following her around with a blanket and a paper towel. We're hoping she doesn't decide to drip blood on our white couch!

Addams Family and Gnomes

We've been enjoying our season tickets to the Hale Centre Theater with Barbara and Kent. Yesterday we saw the Addams Family. It had some fun singing and dancing and we loved Uncle Fester. We also enjoyed the 2nd row where you could see the actors' faces. Gomez did a great job, too. I forgot how much we loved his Spanishness!

Yesterday morning we went for a 3 mile hike in Lambert Park. We enjoyed hunting for the gnomes someone had placed along High Bench trail. We only found two of them. I wonder if there are more. Has anyone found more? I hope they don't get blown away in our cold front that is currently cooling us off. Thank heavens were're not predicted to get snow like Denver did today!

Cravings with the Evans' and a new doctor

Annette and Kent were up from St. George this weekend, so we were happy we were able to have dinner with them Monday night. We introduced them to Alicia's cupcakes at Cravings in Pleasant Grove.

Alicia and her cupcakes have helped me pump up my weight in anticipation of a stem cell transplant. I have achieved my goal now, but am having a hard time giving up my new, bad habits! The caramel apple cupcake was great!

In an effort to stay calm, Ed and I went over to Ashton Gardens to walk and wait for my lab results on Monday. My white blood count is slowly climbing up. We're trying not to panic. It was up to 24k on Wednesday. We hope Friday it will be lower. I've been on the new medicine for a week now. It might take a week or two to take effect.

We've also had visits to the radiation Doctor this week and will be having my hip nodules treated soon. Turns out I have one on both sides of my torso. The left one is deeper and we didn't realize it was there. The doctors in Radiation were very nice and said a low dose of radiation will clean these right up. They may or may not come back. It feels like wack-a-mole!

Birds and Ski Lift

On Friday we took Mabel and Clementine over to the Elder Aviary in Alpine. It takes a little finger dexterity to feed the birds chips, but they really enjoyed it once they got the hang of it.

Clementine had to really work hard to get a tiny piece of chip through the fence, but was determined to feed the birds along with the rest of us!

On Saturday we rode the ski lift at Sundance to celebrate Brittany and John's anniversary. They've ridden the lift every year since they got married. Mabel mixed it up and rode with us for part of the way.

She also rode with Marti and Ellis, who joined us for the day.

Brittany had the girls all bundled up in snowsuits, but happily it wasn't as windy as it has been in past years. The views and fall colors were spectacular.

After our ride we went over to the Foundry Grill at Sundance and had lunch. It warmed up so nicely, that we even enjoyed sitting outside by the firepit afterwards.

This was the first activity to celebrate Brittany's Happy Birthday Month. She likes to plan something every weekend in October. I was happy I felt good and was able to be a part of it!

Pills and Biopsies

Ed and I picked up a new drug yesterday at the Huntsman Pharmacy. It is called Palbociclib or Ibrance (trade name). The second name is much easier! Dr. Halwani wants to try it on me, as I have some markers that it is targeted for. This drug is approved for breast cancer patients with that same marker, but not for patients with BPLL (my special malady). They are petitioning the insurance company to pay for it, but as it is off-label, they will probably deny our second and third appeals. In an effort to get started with treatment again, Ed said, "let's just pay for it out of pocket." The doctor was surprised but happy to find a good solution. We said it is just about the same price as the vacations we've missed over the past year, since we've had to cancel them all! Hopefully, it will be approved and paid for eventually, as it is pretty pricy! The markers in my bone marrow were found by a new test called Next Generation Sequencing. It has only been out a couple of years. I'm probably the only BPLL person this drug has been tried on. However, there are other blood cancers that are also experimenting with the same drug.

The nodule on my hip has suddenly become large again. It was biopsied on Tuesday. The doctor was afraid it was full of new cancer cells. But it could also be just an inflamed irritation around the mass. We'll find out soon. Either way, we can have it irradiated/

I also had another bone marrow biopsy yesterday (ouch) to get a baseline before I start the new medication. We stopped at Mom's house after our doctor visit, then went to the Spaghetti Factory afterwards to wait for traffic to die down. We read the instructions for my new chemo pill while we were there.

Happily, my platelets have also come up to 55! Not great, but enough to start this less invasive treatment than the one I was on before.