Alese

Well my friends, Alese passed away today at 1pm. Lets be happy for her that she doesnt have to suffer anymore. Please check out her website for the wonderful words of her family. They are beautiful beautiful people.

HAPPY DAYS

So much good news!! First, my PET scan from two weeks ago was negative!!! That means there is no sign of Hodgkins Disease left in my body! The stem-cell transplant worked!! Its a miracle. I still have one more scan tomorrow but Dr Forman was the first to tell me the good news about the PET. I can't believe that my process is now over. Its so amazing. My hair is growing quickly and I am getting stronger each day. I am almost normal! Thank you so much for all those who thought of me and prayed for me. It obviously worked! I dont even know how to be done with this process, its like I feel good, I have all this time, i dont have anything hanging over my head, its just fabulous.

Second, I had a great time in mexico with my dad. i got to get some sun on my much pale skin and the best part is that I got to surf!! only for a short time because i got pretty tired out there but i caught a few waves. the weather was beautiful and the place we were was great.

Unfortunately, along with good news comes bad. my friend alese, who also has hodgkins, is dying. she is suffering from fungal pnuemonia and he body is just not able to fight it anymore. as of now, the doctors have given her mere hours to live. of course anything is possible and i am hoping for a miracle to come to her. if all of those who read this can hope for that too and spread the word of hope. if nothing else, lets hope that is in no pain, she has suffered a lot lately, and that she goes in peace. i will keep this updated about her, and i encourage all of you to read her blog, www.alesecoco.org, she is an inspiring human being.

love and peace to all
Jenna

Posponed Scan

Well I had my PET scan bright and early Monday morning and I was scheduled to have my CT scan Wednesday afternoon but their machine was down so I rescheduled for after my trip to Mexico. Oh, I am going to mainland mExico with my Dad and some of his friends to stay with his cousin Erick. He has a beautiful house right on the beach right by a great surf spot called Nexpa. I am sooo exicted. It is going to be 85 degrees with 85 degree water! YAY!! And I will get to surf! So, I will have my CT scan the week of May 7th and I'll be sure to post as soon as I know anything. Tomorrow is the Bone Marrow Transplant Party at the COH and it is for the people and families who have gone through that process. I am very excited, there are supposedly 3000 people coming! It is also a "thank you" party for all the nurses and of course for Dr Forman, the star of the show!

ADIOS
Jenna

Doctor Visit

I went to City of Hope yesterday for a barrage of check up tests, Pulmonary Function, Chest X-ray, Blood Work, ect. And I had an appointment with Dr FOrman and Barb. They are the best, first of all. Second of all, they had nothing but good things to tell me! I am off the steroids, finally, so my cheeks should start to deflate within the next couple of weeks. Also, they gave me the OK to go to Mexico in a couple of weeks. I am going with my dad to stay with his cousin at a great surf spot called Nexpa. Before I go though, we are going to repeat my scans and hopefully hopefully they will be all clean and I will not need any radiation.
Still feeling really good, going to work today. Ill keep you posted on the scans...
carpe diem
jenna

Home Again

Well Spain was nothing short of amazing. I have never had a better vacation. It was so amazing. Every minute of every day I was just thinking "I cant believe Im here, Im so lucky to be able to be here." It was beautiful and I just had the best time ever. I celebrated my 21st bday over there so I really to need to celebrate over here as well... I cant wait till my next trip, I love traveling and I cant get enough of it! Thank you all for contuning to read my blog. Please keep my friend Alese in your thoughts, she is struggling with her battle of Hodgkins at UCLA. She is a beautiful young lady.
carpe diem
jenna

spain spain spain!!

i am in spain!! i have been in madrid for the past 5 days and we have been living it up! sophie has been the best hostess ever and kelsey and i had a great time when she was here. we have seen everything that madrid had, all the delicious restaurants, wine bars. tapas, turkish baths, flamenco...so much fun stuff! today we took a 6 hour bus ride from madrid to sevilla, a city in the south of spain. it is ¨semana santa holy week and here in this city it is the biggest easter celebration in europe. we got here this evening and had to walk only about a mile to our hostel but it took us 2 hours because it was sooooo crowded, parades in the street with giant jesus statues and thousands of people. it was so insane. our hostel here is pretty nice, we are sharing a room with 4 boys from canada who are very nice, not too vut eunfortunately.
i have been feeling really good, so much energy. i am so gratelful to be able to be here. my hair is growing like weeds, by the time i get home, i will actually have about half an inch!! yay! and my eyeborws and eyelashes are coming in quite nicely.
we are in sevilla until thursday and then we go to another town called cadiz, on the beach. ill post again when i have access to the internet. love you all and i miss you!

xoxo
carpe diem
jenna

ESPANA

Hi Everyone!!

Sorry for not posting lately, I have been feeling so good that I havent been thinking about it! The steriods (prednisone) have worked miracles for my lungs and I am breathing completely normal now. Trying to build up my wind so I can surf again. My walking distance has increased and I have even added a bit of jogging in the mix! My energy level is almost too high because of the steriods...I can barely sleep at night. And most exciting...I am going to Spain on Tuesday!! I am going to visit my very good friend Sophie who is studying abroad in Madrid, so I promise I will post a few blogs when Im over there. And if anyone emails me (jennanewburn@gmail.com) their address I would love to send you a postcard!

ADIOS
xoxo

getting better

Well I have been on the steroids now for about a week and they are working fabulously to increase my lung capacity...and my appetite. I have been eating more and getting a lot of my strength back. I have been walking a few miles a day and doing lots of yoga. I am so happy to be feeling better. Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers.
xox
Jenna

Lungs

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, nothing exciting has been happening. About a week ago, I was having some shortness of breath, I didnt think much of it until it started getting so bad that I couldnt walk to the kitchen without being out of breath. I had a doctors app yesterday and I was so scared that I had pneumonia, I was freaking out. LUCKILY, I do NOT have pnemonia!! YAY! One of the drugs I recieved from chemo, bleomyecyin, damages your lungs. It downsizes the capacity of your lungs. So basically, my lungs have shrunk. Dr Forman didnt seem worried, he said he's seen this many time. The only bummer about this is the treatment is Prendisone, a very powerful steriod which I have been on before. It makes your face and belly very swollen and puffy. I know, I know, a small price to pay for taking a deep breath, but who wants a puffy face AND a bald head?!?! I have to be on them for about a month and hopefully by then it will have stretched out my lungs enough to breath normally.
Other than that though, I am doing well. Very bored at home, I can't do much. I am looking forward to my upcoming trip to Spain to visit my friend. I love to travel and by then I will be feeling much better. I am enjoying the beautiful weather and of course my brother's company. He is home from boot camp until mid march!! He is so great, I missed him a lot.
Thank you all for keeping up with my blog, I will post more often, I promise!!
Carpe Diem. Take Deep Breaths!
Jenna

3205 Gibson Place

Its never looked so good! I have been home for about a week now and I am loving it. Even though I dont do much more than watch TV, our TV is alot better than the one in the hospital. I havent been feeling very well, very tired, no energy, no appetite. I was at the doc today for a re-check and Dr Forman told me that that is completely normal. He also said my counts were all very high which he was very proud of. He said it takes about 2 days for every one day I was in bed. So I cant get frustrated I just need to let my body recover. I am anxious though. I really want to get back to normal activity, especially surfing!
Thank you all so much for all your thoughts and prayers, I think they worked!! I love you all.

xoxo
Jenna

homeward bound

Today is the day. Its 9:30am and I am patiently waiting for the doctor to come and discharge me. I also am getting the hickmann catheter taken out of my chest today, what a relief, i have had it for more the 5 months. I probably wont be out of here until this afternoon but thats ok. I am feeling ok today. still a bit queasy, they switched all my antibiotics to pill form and they are kind of harsh on your belly especially since i have no food in there. i still have no appetite but im hoping my moms home cookin will snap me out of it.
my doctor isnt sure yet if i will need radiation, i will have scans in about a month and then doctor forman will re-evaluate my case and since i responded so well to the first transplant, i might NOT need radiaiton. that would be so amazing. that would mean that this is my last treatment, ever!! but ill have to cross that bridge when i come to it. the thing about having cancer (or just being sick) is that you really have to take it day by day, you cant get too far ahead of yourself because then you can be let down if it doesnt work out your way. so i am going to take this month off, get my strength back, hopefully visit with all of those who read my blog :) and really concentrate on growing some hair, haha.
i love you all, see you soon!!
carpe diem

coming home!

Well my WBC are way high, about 5000. I still havent eaten any real food, a few bites of crackers and cereal but nothing substantial. Nonetheless, Dr Forman is releasing me on friday!! as in this friday!! i am so happy. these last few days have been so long, i just really want to go home. i am feeling ok, today i walked outside for the first time in a long time, it was nice. even though i had to basically wear a gas mask, it was still nice to feel the sun on my skin and get a breath of cool, fresh air. i am starting to go crazy just sitting here so it was nice to be outside. i got so many cards today for valentines day, thakn you!!! i hope all of you are having a romantic lovely valenties day. maybe next year ill have a real date, haha, and some real hair.
i love you all and i will see you soon, so soon!!!
xoxo

WBC 1000

YAY!!! My wbc counts were at 1000 today, so good! i have to have counts of 1500, eat regular food, and get rid of various infections that call for antibiotics before i can go home. so were looking towards the end of the week for my big release. i am so anxious. i had a popsicle about a half an hour ago and it has stayed down so far...so far...the soup from my previous post didnt work out so well. so ive waited a few days and trying the popsicle today.
ill write tomorrow, update and begin the official countdown to get me OUT OF HERE!!!!! AHHHHHH

xoxo

DAY +8

Ok, this is getting old. Real old. Still zero, zero!! Hopefully tomorrow or monday the counts will come back up. I want to go home like nobodys business. this second half has definately been worse than the first half in december. but i am going to try to eat some soup today (the first thing ive will be eating in about 11 days). we'll see how it goes...if i eat for a few days then they will take me off the yellow bag of nutrition that drips into m veins and i will be one step closer to getting the heck out of here. im sorry my posts have been so repetitive, but thats life in the hospital, repeat repeat repeat.
i got such a huge mail call the other day!!! thank you all so much who sent cards to me up here, i was soooo exicted.
my favorite piece of mail was from my little cousin Nate Newburn describing what he thought about me, he is so sweet. i love little kids, they are so genuine and caring.
anyways, thats all for today...ill write more later....

love and kisses....

ps i still need a valentine...any takers? (you have to like bald girls)

DAY +6

Neupagen neupogen neupogen. damn neupogen. my counts are still zero. they probably wont come up until monday so i guess that means that im not going to get to come home monday. im going insane in here!! AHHHH!!!! think good thoughts...

carpe diem

DAY +4

Its early morning here at COH, Dr. Forman just came in to check up on me. He always comes in so early! I had a terrible night's sleep, i think i am becoming immune to the ativan they give me, because i didnt sleep a wink last night. My counts are still at zero, which is expected. He said the soonest i could be out ofhere will be next monday, the 12th. so that is what im shooting for. ill start getting nuepogen injections tomorrow which help boost the wbc count quickly, so you never know, i could be going home this week...haha. i have been feeling really good so far today and all day yesterday, which is great. i also have no mouth sores, well very very minor mouth "irrataions" as i like to call them. all in all it has been a smooth ride, a few bumps but now is basically just a waiting game to see when those counts come up. ill keep you "posted"

xoxo
jenna

WBC 0

MY WBC count is 0, as expected. So it will take about 10 days for it to come back up. So that means that i have 10 more days. or so, of agonizing boredom and un-comfortableness in coh. im not feeling too great right now, so ill try to post again later. but just know that everything is going as planned and we are on schedule...
xoxo

DAY ZERO

I got my stem cells back today! Three whole bags full! On Wednesday I had my last day of chemo (ever) and I must say, it was tough. The roughest drug Ive had so far. I was so so so sick all day wed/thurs. Man oh man was I sick. Geting my stem cells back was another ordeal in itself. I had an adverse reaction, ie i was vomiting, shaking, cramping, all kinds of fun stuff. They said it was normal, that I shouldnt worry. I was just annoyed. I want to feel better!! I have been asleep most all the days, so thats why there is a lack of posts. I will try to post more, of if im asleep, ill have my mom or dad do it,

love you all and miss you!!

xoxo

dragging on

Well, Ive had four days of chemo, and today is an off day, no chemo today. I have been feeling really bad today and yesterday, lots of vomiting. So Wednesday will be my last day of chemo, then thursday rest, and friday ill get my stem cells back. then begins the long road to recovery...probably 2-3 weeks. ouch. but i must admit that knowing this is my last major form of treatment, it makes it less hard. i know that i can do it, and i will do it. no one said it was going to be easy, and im not expecting it to be.
i love you all so much, thank you so much for thinking of me
xoxo
carpe diem

Day -6

2 days of chemo down and still I have no nausea, or any other side effects. YAY. But as the saying goes, nothing gold can stay. I would love to have visitors but I sleep the whole day beacause of the pre-meds they give me. Ill keep everyone posted on how I feel in a few days, maybe then I could have visitors.
Again, not much exicting going on in DUARTE...lots of TV watching.

xoxo

Day -8

Well Day -8 is down. I was postponed to come in until thursday, there was a shortage of beds. But i am here now and thats all that counts. I am finishing up my first chemo for the day, only about a half hour left. I dont feel any side effects, yet. Boredom hasnt set in either. But I am counting down the minutes that I have to be here. Now Dr Forman is saying i might need 4 weeks here!!! aahhh!! i dont think i will need that much time, i will lose my mind before i stay here for 28 days. no way jose.

nothing too exciting today. if you are the praying type, or if youre not, send good thoughts towards a friend of mine, alese coco, who is feeling pretty sick with her hodgkins. thank you.

xoxo

carpe diem

I just got home from COH for my pre-admission check up. I saw Dr Formans "right hand woman," Barb, she is so awesome. She told me that i looked good, I told her I felt good, and I was on my way. I'll be admited tomorrow sometime, they are going to call me when a bed opens up, sometime in the afternoon. I am so anxious to start this and get it over with. I have been asking questions that I havent ever asked before, "when will my hair grow back" "how soon after im released until I can get back in the water" "when will i be declared cancer free?" I am finally allowing myself to look to the future and me being healthy. its so exciting!! all of my sentences start with "when i get out of the hospital..." its awesome. I know without a shadow of a doubt that i am going to beat this and never have to do it again.

Ill miss everyone for three weeks, but when i see you again, ill be HEALTHY!!!!

carpe diem

jenna

Well, I saw Dr Forman today, and it was great news!! He said the
Malforan (the chemo I had during the first stem cell transplant)
worked way better than he expected. He said I am basically in
remission. So, he moved up my second transplant to next week. I'll be
admitted on Wednesday, my mom's bday. He wants to move up the date
because he doesn't want to give the disease a chance to grow back, he
wants to hit it while its down and that will increase my overall
chances. I am so exited, finally some good news!! So I will be
admitted on Jan 24 and will be there for about 3 weeks. I am so bummed
about having to go back but the next few days i'll be able to prepare
myself mentally, which i think is the most important part about all of
this. After I get out in Feb, i'll have more scans to detemine whether
or not i'll need radiation. so it's a waiting game for that.

on another note, we got our first letter from jack today!! he said
that he's loving it and misses everyone from home. he also mentioned
that he can do 60 pushups "no problem" haha.

thank you to all those who are thinking of me.

carpe diem

SCANS

Well, we saw Jack off with quite the going away party. We miss him terribly!! My mom has already painted, rearranged and scoured his room, we also sold his car...so he beter not get kicked out of boot camp :)

I have been feeling SO good the past week and a half, its unbelieveable! I have been walking every day, almost four miles and have had a lot of energy. I am so happy that I get to enjoy this time in between my transplants. I've gained back some weight from when I was in the hospital, thanks to my mom's fantastic cooking. And I am planning of going to Big Bear next week, if my doc OK's it.

I had a PET scan today, a CT and echo tomorrow and then on Thursday I meet with Doctor Forman for him to tell me my progress thus far and give me a date to start the next (AND LAST!!!!) phase of treatment. I think I will be admitted around the beginning of Feb

I will post again on thurs, after we get home..

thank you all for your thoughts and prayers

carpe diem

My litle bro

real quick, if you havent heard, my little brother jack is going to the coast guard on sunday. we are having a huge huge going away party at our house on friday night. come for dinner, drinks, and to give jack a few words of wisdom...

all are welcome, spread the word!!

adios!!!

I am outta here!! so stoked. i am just waiting for the doctor to come and write me some rXs that i will need at home.

i hope everyone had a great new years eve, mine was spectacular...haha.

anyways, i am feeling so-so today, excited to eat some real food from my moms kitchen as opposed to what they call food here.

if anyone wants to stop by the house, feel free, just please dont come if you have a cold or are not feeling 100% because my immune system is still shot and i can get sick real easily.

thank you so much for all your support, you are so awesome.

carpe diem