Snail and Chipmunk Weekend

What a wonderful relaxing weekend!

Thursday:
I barely arrived early in the morning in the craziest storm San Diego has seen in, well I think, ever! We had a really scary flight and then Southwest canceled flights until the late afternoon. I was so grateful to get there safe and not be delayed to see the Snail!
The rainy weather makes for a sleepy Snail so we relaxed and talked pretty much all of Thursday. It was so nice to have some time together without a hospital in between us.
She looks amazing by the way! Her hair looks about like it did when she was a baby, little dandelion girl. It is coming in fast and it really light blonde and soft. I swear it grew when I was there! Her skin is recovering from the rash nicely considering how horrible it was. The rash is still there but much better and she has lots of new baby skin that seriously looks just like an infants. She is using lots of lotion and fell in love with Amlavi's body butter that I had brought with me. Good thing the Mile High girl brings Amlavi everywhere, even if it is a billion percent humidity!
Friday:
Infusion center appointment went great first thing in the morning. Her numbers looked wonderful and she did not need anything so as quick as a Snail can, we hurried out of there. Valerie has returned to her love of cooking and is taking on baking as well!
We spent a lot of our day baking and then resting. She is amazing at gluten free bread, muffins, cookies and the most amazing part is she is making them from scratch, converting regular recipes. If you have never baked gf you have no idea how hard that is but trust me, I just don't even attempt. She has always wanted to open a restaurant so I am hoping that this gives her a little push. She is making regular or "glutenous" recipes too so if you are in the area, give her a call. Yummy treats might have just come out of the oven!
Saturday:
I spent the morning running errands for her and luckily the rain finally stopped so I was not completely soaked. I got her some new baking pans and pretty soaps from Bath and Body Works, etc. Valerie's best friend Lara was in town to visit her and run a 1/2 marathon with Kristy (sure, me too) so Melissa, Kristy, Lara, Valerie and I had some good old fashion girl time. (Brent left the second he heard the numbers, 90210) It was so much fun to laugh and listen to music and have a "normal" afternoon.
Sunday:
Make a big breakfast for the Snail & Doodle- check
Finish the big sister to do list- check
Introduce Snail to Netflicks- check
Order Snail a fabulous apron on Etsy.com- check
Because as Valerie says, "It is ok to visit the 1950's as long as you don't live there."Matching "house" for the amazing KitchenAid Brent got her for Christmas
Sassy Apron is fabulous!
Drive on the beach- checkTake a 4 block walk!!!!- check
Promise I will be back in one month- check

Swirly Snail or Soggy Snail

I am headed into the storm tomorrow to visit our little snail! The weather in California has been insane with rain so heavy Valerie cannot see across the street, snow in feet expected tomorrow in the mountains and yes, even a tornado in Newport Beach and a tornado warning in San Diego. It sounds more like Denver than San Diego! Cannot wait to give you a full report after my trip. Stay safe and dry!

Rash, Rash Go Away. Don't Come Again Another Day!

Unfortunately Valerie's rash went from horrible to ridiculous to "out of control" per the doctors. The details of the rash are not important but it reached a point that it was keeping her from sleeping and starting to really mess with her mental state. Towards the end of the week the doctors increased her steriods and anti-rejection drugs to try to combat the rash. The skin biopsy results came back but they were not really clear so it is possible the rash is a small amount of GVH or antibiotic reaction or both so, they are treating it accordingly. Finally on Friday night the rash calmed down a bit and Valerie slept for 10 hours! Please keep praying for this nasty side effect to go away.
Some praises!!!
The little bit of GVH they are seeing is actually a good thing. A tiny bit means that Vanessa's cells were different enough some how that Valerie's system knows they are there. A lot of GVH is horrible but we will take the tiny bit.
Valerie sounds more like herself and is gaining a bit of strength every day!
She took a walk around the whole block (with Brent's supervision of course)
She can make herself breakfast and lunch.
She has made my to-do list for when I come to visit on Thursday.

Amlavi loves Snail

Our dear friends Dayn and John have a AMAZING company called Amlavi. They have a boutique in Denver that is like walking into a little bit of heaven. Pampering, relaxation, fabulous products and coffee of course. The product line is unlike any other ranging from lotions, shampoo, tea and my favorite sunscreen. The truly wonderful part about this is that the company is run with the highest of ethics toward the environment, ingredients and humanity. The ingredients are so pure and work so well even my Dad endorses them (if you know my Dad you know that is a miracle!)

Amlavi meaning Love, Laughter and Life would like to spread a bit of their Love to Team Snail! Either stop by the boutique or take a peek online, any member of Team Snail will receive 10% off their order and 10% of their total will be donated to Valerie. Please remember to put the discount code "Snail" in the online order form or when you stop in!

Trust me, a little bit and you will be hooked!

www.amlavi.com or 2240 Clay Street, Denver CO 80211 303-999-0609

Snail on Steroids

I am sort of kidding of course. The doctors have given Valerie a steroid for her rash that is helping slowly but what can you expect from a snail. Her health continues to improve and she is gaining bits of strength every day. I spoke with her today and she said she is so grateful to be doing so well and to have stayed out of the hospital since her transplant. The doctor told her that she could even take a walk around the block (with Brent's help of course)! For our outside girl that has been cooped up for months, this is a tiny light at the end of a very long tunnel!

Great Snaily News!

Fabulous Snail News today! Valerie's biopsy results came back and there was no leukemia and good bone marrow growth! This means that there was no bad leukemic cells and that the transplant is working because she is making new bone marrow from Vanessa's fabulous hot pink stiletto's. The next biopsy will probably be at the 100 day mark. You can keep track with the snail ticker on the front top right of the blog. This is what I felt like when I heard the news!

They also decided she could go to 2 days a week for her outpatient visits. This is great news because it will give her less exposure and more time to rest.
Please pray for Valerie's rash and feet. They did the tests today to figure out what is causing it but it will take 2 weeks to get the results and that will be a full month of this agony.
I am proud to say that this is my 100th post and what a amazing thing to report to all of Team Snail! Valerie is in remission!

Mom is home!

After 4 long months our Mom has made the long journey back to the arctic we call Colorado. It was horribly hard for her to leave our little Snail but time to come home. Greg flew out to SD to spend Christmas with Valerie and Mom and then drove Mom home. Yeah Greg! Mom is spending this week resting, unpacking and getting used to being a Mile High again!