With Your Help I Did It!!!

Smily Face on My Hospital Wrist Band Today

Today marked Day 28 from when one hundred million new T cells entered my body. Today, the trial team did their first assessment since the one prior to starting the trial. I have to thank everyone of you who sent me prayers and healing thoughts. I slept through the night. When I woke up, I felt so much more energy than I had in days.

I got prepared for my first appointment at 11:00 am, first with Dr Piquet and her assistant Sadie. Dr Piquet evaluated me, then said, "Your legs muscles feel much looser, but your lower back muscles are still quite hard and stiff. This is going to take some time, but so far, this is a great improvement."

After that, I had my two walking tests with my PT Darth (Rob). The 25 foot speed test didn't worry me. The goal was to walk 25 feet with no form of assistance as fast as I could. On one of the first walks before the trial started, all I could do was shuffle. I couldn't even pick my feet up off the floor. This morning I felt more like I could walk, not just shuffle.

Next came the dreaded six-minute walk. This test measures the distance I can walk in six minutes. I could use my cane and rest standing still if I needed to. No sitting in a chair or leaning against a wall. Darth walked along slightly behind me and counted the minutes. I stood as tall as I could, looked down the long hallway, took deep breaths, didn't let my heart beat too hard. After three minutes, I took a break for about 10 seconds to catch my breath and calm myself. Finally, Darth started the fifteen second countdown to six minutes. I knew because of all the energy you were sending me, I could finish, and I did.

I'm not sure how much farther I walked than when I did my base line test when I couldn't even walk for six minutes. The team and Monica congratulated me for my efforts. I gave Darth a big hug and a new name - Obi-Wan Kenobi. I gave the team a large box of Salt Water Taffy sent to me by the team from my primary care provider's office. Rob loved the taffy and ate so many pieces that I changed his name again to Obi-Taffy.

Mid afternoon I had my last appointment with the bone marrow cell therapy team, where they draw my blood. Since this was my last visit with them, of course, they had to tie the record number of vials previously drawn at one time - 23. My cumulative number of vials of blood drawn now stands at 266.

It's been a great day, but I am exhausted. I just wanted all of you to know how it went. I'll write more in a day or two.

Thank you all so much!!!

Love, Brenda