Chris Just Left

Dear All,
I hopefully kicked my nausea. I haven't gotten sick since Friday so that is good news. I spent the weekend with Chris. He must be a saint! He watched me sleep more than I could socialize with him! He flies back to San Diego in an hour, and will be back for his birthday on May 13. My Dad is sleeping over a lot with me this week while my Mom stays at the Allerton Hotel. She is recovering from the stomach flu so she couldn't come in the room today. I think she is going to wear a mask and try and stay away at least until tomorrow. Tomorrow is Day 0, or the day that I get my stem cells back. The doctors think that everything is moving along quite nicely. I had the malfalin chemo today that is the one that really wipes out your bone marrow. Within the next 2 days, my counts should be dropping drastically and all of the side effects and symptoms should be coming in. They include mouth sores, nausea, vomiting etc. Please pray that I won't have a bad case of all of that!
Love,
Sherrie

Saturday Morning

I got to spend the night last night with my Dad and Chris. It was actually quite smooth because I had a wonderful nurse named Michelle! Also, I made it through the night without throwing up! I feel so bad for my wonderful Mom though because she has been sick with the stomach flu, so she can't come and see me. Hopefully, she will be better on Monday for the reinfusion. Not that I am so excited about these landmarks but I am so excited that I am on my third to last chemo this morning. I have three hours of chemo tonight, and then 20 minutes tomorrow morning. And then infusion on Monday. By Tuesday, I will have been here for a week so that is one week closer to coming home.
Love,
Sherrie

White Sox Game

Happier Times at the White Sox game with my fabulous siblings, Gary, Lizzie, Katie and my wonderful boyfriend Chris!

Not feeling very well

Hi Everyone,
I'm not feeling very well. Yesterday, I walked two miles in the halls and had PT on my knee from my femur surgery. I had chemo twice yesterday, and fell asleep rapidly last night. At 3:00 am I awoke, and just felt achey and crummy all over. My wonderful Auntie Sherrie spent the night with me last night. I felt so bad because she can't really sleep in foreign places. So we were watching Sex and the City until about 4am. I was woken up again at 6am for my vitals. Now I am unable to fall back asleep and I am already getting my morning 3 hours of chemo. I can't wait until my Mom and Aunt come back to the hospital. I just don't feel very well:( Also, I have gained 10 lbs in fluids in 2 days! Yikes!
Love,
Sherrie

Underway with Lots of Chemo

Dear All,
Thank you for thinking of me. I got settled into my room and decorated. It looks so cute! My Dad was with me all day. At 3:30, I had another Doppler scan to say that I had one blood clot, and not two! I don't know what to think!

Chemo started late last night. I got the first drug called BCU. They gave me so many pre-meds beforehand like Benedryl, Ativan and Hydrocortosone so I slept.

This morning I started my first chemo of the day at 7:00. I have chemo every day, for the next four days from 7-10am, and then 7-10pm. Finally on Day -1, I only have a 20 minute drip of chemo!

It is sunny and bright with this east facing room! Breakfast just came and we all know how I LOVE to food party!
Love,
Sherrie

I'm Here!

Dear All,
I am here in my beautiful hospital room! It actually has wonderful views of Lake Michigan. My Dad and I came down, and my Mom will be down a little later. I decorated the room really cute. I will send some pics later on in the day. Someone at my Dad's office made awesome posters for me of my family and friends. That will be the only color I get since people are not allowed to send flowers or balloons etc. If you feel like chit chatting, my phone number is 312-926-1506 and I am in room #1506 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
Love,
Sherrie

My Guardian Angel

For those of you who don't know him, I want to introduce you to my guardian angel. He is sweet, kind, loving, smart, affectionate and handsome. Alongside my Dad, he is the most wonderful man I have ever known! Chris has been in my life through thick and thin since August. He has held my hand alongside the worst chemo treatments, has made me laugh when all there is to do is cry, and continues to be one of the most loyal best friends a gal could ask for. Thank you for everything! I miss you and I can't wait to see you!

One More Night At Home....

Dear All,
One more night at home before I go to prison! I feel prepared though. Last night, I was able to spend some time having dinner and talking with some close friends and family. It seems so surreal that I feel so well, I don't look sick, yet I am having this big procedure done!

Tomorrow I get admitted at 8:00am to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Once I know my room number, and phone number, I will let everyone know!

Today I got a PICC line in my arm for the transplant. Luckily it is a non-invasive line and it doesn't hurt. I ran into a friend from chemo this morning. She is a Greek girl named Morphia. I met her a month ago. She is 33 and a lawyer. Around January she had stomach problems. January 9 she had a CT scan. January 10, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer that had metastisized to her reproductive organs. When I first met her, the thought was she was cancer free. She had lost so much weight, and was going through chemo. Her chemotherapy had side effects that lasted for 10 days or more. I saw her in Interventional Radiology today. She was still tiny and weak from not eating but still had a fighting attitude. This weekend, she was told that she would die before the weekend was over. Apparently, her stomach was filling with fluid that had cancer cells in it. This morning, she is here and still fighting. I have complete and total faith in God that Morphia will be healed. Also, it is so hard to see someone who is so sick compared to me. I have been through so much in the last 10 months, but that pales in comparison to what my friend has experienced in just a few short weeks. Please pray that Morphia will regain her strength and stamina and that she will be able to go home healthy soon. She is number one on my list!

Kind of an interesting evening last night. My best friend Laura and her two sisters Amy and Joy ended up having dinner with my wonderful boyfriend and best buddy Chris, and his great family in San Diego. The group of 9 included Chris, his parents Russ and Peggy, brother Brian, sister Melissa, boyfriend Jason and the 3 Appenzeller girls. They all had cocktails at Chris' awesome condo with a beautiful view and finished off the evening having dinner at Po Pazzo, an awesome Italian steakhouse in Little Italy. Everyone had so much fun I heard! I wish I would have been there!

Talk to you tomorrow!
Love,
Sherrie

Dear All,
Today I had an unexpected surprise! I was asked to go to Northwestern for a "Spiral CT Scan of my Lungs" to make sure that I don't have any blood clots in my lungs. It was really fun. We got to NMH at 2:00 for my appointment. No one saw me until 3:45 and then they said I couldn't leave because I needed to wait for the results. Finally, at 5:00pm, after 3 hours of waiting, my Mom and I decided to ditch the hospital and have a little fun.

We ended up having Tapas and Sangria with two of my wonderful friends, Jenn Theien and Chris Rotunno. We sampled EVERYTHING! from bacon wrapped dates to beef tenderloin with blue cheese. It was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the weather after this long winter! I hope everyone had a good day and I will talk to you soon!

Love,
Sherrie

More News

Dear All,
Also please help me in praying for the Appenzeller family. Laura Appenzeller Frerichs has been my best friend since I was 11 years old. We met in 7th grade while trying to blow off weight training in gym class, and talking about New Kids On The Block! Laura lost her grandmother yesterday. Her grandma and grandpa lived near San Diego, California. In November, Grandpa Appenzeller passed away after three bouts of Lymphoma. He and his wife, Lila, were inseparable. After only 5 short months, Lila Appenzeller also passed away; but this time of a broken heart.

April 18, 2006

Well today was exceptionally fun! I got to have blood work done, a heart MUGA scan, a pulmonary function test and a Doppler test. I found out the lovely news that I have not only 1 blood clot in my surgical leg, but 2!!!!! Hopefully the clot issue won't delay the transplant. On Thursday, I have all of my meetings at Northwestern to prepare for the SCT on Tuesday! Wish me luck! Also, please pray that my good friend Erika's baby is born soon! This baby is stubborn, unwilling to move, and she is due on Monday! Erika is shown in the picture with me from May 2004.

Welcome to my blog site!

Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to my blog! I recieved such great news from Northwestern on Good Friday. Due to the chemotherapy I was receiving (Gemzar, Navalbene and Doxil), I had a wonderful response and the doctors want to admit me for a stem cell transplant on Tuesday, April 25. Although I got great news, the hard journey is not over yet. I still have to endure intense chemotherapy, and side effects while being unable to fight infection and living in the hospital for 3-4 weeks. Check out my blog daily, as I will have posted audio and written messages to all of you, as well as pictures from the hospital. I hope everyone is having a wonderful Spring, and I can't wait to see and talk to all of you soon!
Love,
Sherrie

April 17, 2005