Snow Suits in April?

According to Storm Team 8, the last time we had snow this late in the year was over 50 years ago! I wasn't aware that we needed our snow boots after Spring had sprung, but I guess when you live in the NW, you never know exactly what to expect. Tornados in Clark County, Snow in late March...What's next? A tsunami in Portland?

She Sleeps!

Baby O has been sleeping through the night now well over a solid month (probably closer to two, actually...she's almost 6 months old!!). But I could not, for the life of me, get her to sleep for naps in her crib. She's been "napping" in her swing a couple times a day since she was teeny and the older she gets, the harder it is for her because the noise disturbs her (Or Hunter shares a toy with her and that wakes her up.). The problem still remained that she would not sleep in her crib during the day, no matter what I tried. I tried, rocking her to sleep, to almost asleep, giving a bottle right before, offering a pacifier, I even tried the "cry it out" method a couple times and Baby Girl is strong-willed.

We have blinds on the windows, but they don't keep out the light during the day, so I finally decided to quit waiting until I have time to go find curtians and just hang a dark blanket over her window for now. Yay for me, she just took a 2 hour nap in her crib! I see my days looking up as my last child gets on a similar schedule to her brothers and I can plan my days a little bit better!

Hmmm...

Went in today and my platelets are at 123k. While this is still a great number, it's down 121k since last week, and last week was down about 80k from the week before. My dose of AMG531 was upped to .7 micrograms (yes, I finally figured out what the dose was) from 6 the last 3 weeks and with each increase, the achy feeling in my bones gets worse. Today, I'm actually alternating Doan's with Tylenol to try and alleviate some of the pain, and sadly, it's not working very well! I'm about to head to bed, but I wanted to post a quick update!

Happiness!

Today was a great day as far as platelets go. I have lots! My count was 244k today!! We left the dose of AMG 531 at 6 and if my count stays high and in a range close to what it's been the last two weeks, we get to start talking about injections at home (Or at Marisa's house...she's my personal nurse, I just can't afford to pay her full time yet). This makes me so happy because once I start injecting at home, I only have to go in once a month for lab work and life can start to calm down and return to 'normal' - whatever that looks like with three kids! I just wanted to take a minute and say thank you again to everyone who's been asking about me and praying for me and us during this season. It's been such a long hard road and I know that it would have been so much more difficult without the support of our friends and family and most importantly, the grace of God.

Not Just for Back Pain Anymore

So last week when talking to my Hematologist (who from here on out shall be referred to as "Dr. K") I mentioned the achy feeling/bone pain I have after getting my injections. She commented that it would make absolute sense that my bones were "achy" because we were 'asking my bone marrow to work harder'. Phew! I'm not crazy! (Well, concerning this, anyhow!). Since people with bleeding problems are not supposed to take ibuprofen she recommended I take some Doans pills to relieve the pain that acetaminaphin didn't take care of. The Magnesium Salicylate relieves pain and inflamation like ibuprofin, and in fact, is listed in the same 'class' of drugs as ibuprofin, but is safe to take if you have bleeding/clotting problems. We actually had some at home, so I was able to take some and they worked so well! It's so great to have an alternative to Tylenol (which as far as I'm concerned is a waste of money...it does nothing for me) that actually works and is safe for me to take.

The More You Know (And shooting star...)

Platelets are 312k. More later when I have time to actually tell the story!