A Snail Month in Review

Today marks 6 months since Valerie's transplant and I know the thoughts that go through your head. Shouldn't she be ok by now? Logically it seems that after the transplant, after the leukemia is gone, the person should just bounce back. Valerie is the toughest, bravest person I know and I am so proud of her. If I could make all of the side effects and rebuilding her body must do just go away I would. Nothing is harder than watching her suffer. Since she was a baby we have joked that she was little but mighty, she has shown us that in bundles this time. Please don't forget to send a card, stop by or give her a call. It has been almost 9 months since she has been away from her life and that would be hard on anyone.

It has been a one step forward two steps back kind of month for our little snail. Have you ever really listened to all of the side effects that different medicines have listed on their commercials? Well that is basically what she has been dealing with. The steroids she was on actually turned off her adrenal gland so she has very, very little energy. They put her on another steroid that will turn it back on and so far she has reacted ok to it. She was put on high blood pressure meds a couple months ago and they think that is why she is having EXTREME swelling in her feet and legs. Between no energy and her poor feet Snail has returned to resting a lot and needing more help with things than she would like. Please pray for her swelling to go down and for her energy level to come up. The real prayer is for continued progress so we can get her off of all of these meds and rebuild her strength and health naturally.

On the upside she is finally allowed to drive again and has gained a little bit more independence with this new adventure. However, due to the symptoms she is having she has not driven in a couple of weeks.
The baby hummingbirds have hatched! The hummingbird family in Valerie's courtyard bring her such joy and the babies have brightened her days.

The Proud Mama

If anyone is in the area give Snail a call and see if you can stop by. She is accepting visitors as long as you or people around you have not been sick. She loves to entertain more than ever and friends and family stopping by break up the day for her. Who knows maybe you will get lucky and have her make a little treat for you?!

Breaking Snail News!

Valerie had her routine doctors appointment and the doctor told her she could go down to once a week lab appointments!!!! There's more, she can eat whatever fruits and vegetables she wants as long as she prepares them and preferably things that can be peeled. But wait there's more... she can go out to Starbucks (friends that is a hint), the grocery store and even a movie at non peak times!!! This was so unexpected and truly raised her spirits. Dad took her to Bristol Farms to pick out her own groceries and she got tons of produce!
Congratulations Valerie, another mountain you have made it over!

Happy Easter!

Valerie and Vanessa went to baking for Easter and Spring celebrations!

Cookies for the staff at the doctors offices and hospitals.
Dad delivers them for Valerie. Just a little tiny way to say thank you.

Happy Birthday Snail!

Happy miracle 28th Birthday to our little Snail! Since this birthday was even more special than usual our Dad hatched a plan to surprise Valerie with a few of her favorite things.

As you know Valerie is still on a neutropenic diet which restricts a lot of things including Valerie's favorite frozen yogurt from Bogart Yogurt. Practically torture for a small Snail not to have her favorite treat but Dad's planning skills went into overdrive. After contacting the owner, he found out that Bogart Yogurt tastes amazing because they use high quality ingredients and they CLEAN their machines every day! This might seem obvious but it is not the norm in yogurt world and this is what causes the scare for people with low immune systems. Valerie's doctors approved the treat from this sanitary heaven and the owner told my Dad that she would be happy to open early just for Valerie and Vanessa to come in for their birthday. Then she went one step further and made Valerie's favorite flavor as an extra treat. Strawberry frozen yogurt for all at 10:30am! Thank you, Thank you Bogart Yogurt, you will always be a Team Snail and family tradition!

Now on to the main event! When Valerie was a tiny little girl she loved nothing more than to go fast! Times have not changed and this lady loves beautiful crazy fast Italian cars! In La Jolla there is the most amazing showroom with the best cars in the world including a Bugatti which is about a million dollars and has 1001 horsepower. Every time we past this dealership Valerie strains her neck to see the cars in the window so again Dad had an idea. Symbolic Motor Car Company is San Diego County’s only factory authorized sales dealership and service center for Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Lotus, and Rolls Royce automobiles. A La Jolla institution since 1985, Symbolic Motor Car Company is a worldwide sales leader in legendary classic, historic, and competition race cars. Where else would you go for our little Snail! Dad contacted Ryan Dohogne the General Manager who was more than gracious to have Valerie and Vanessa come in for their birthday. When they got there Ryan greeted them and had made arrangements for Rick Ahumada, Director of Marketing, to spend some time with the girls. Rick gave them the complete tour including the Bentley's, Bugatti, the previously owned collections including a Ferrari, Porsche Carrera GT and a Ford GT among other fabulous cars. Rick spent the most and the greatest time with Valerie in the Lamborghini area, her favorite cars. Valerie and Vanessa were invited to sit in various cars and were taught all sorts of details that even a car fanatic like Valerie did not know about. This showroom has amazing cars and quite frankly, they are works of art, if you are ever in the market for a car like this we would highly recommend them. However, the cars are not the only thing that makes them special, Rick spent over an hour and a half with Valerie and Vanessa on the last day of the month! For anyone who has been in sales you know what that means and yet Rick went through each car in great detail and made our Team Snail feel as though they were the most important people in the world on that very special day. Valerie told me it was the most fun she can remember having and called it "The Other Happiest Place On Earth". It is always an emotional experience when Valerie can do something new or more than before but for this day, these people made it a wonderful day she will never ever forget.

The Bugatti

Valerie said her favorites of the day were the red and the orange one.
(she knew I had no idea of the names)

The favorite!

Vanessa in the favorite car

Ford GT and the new "Eleanor" from Gone in 60 Seconds. My Dad was DROOLING!

Valerie's new hat that Rick and Ryan gave her.After all the excitement they went for a picnic complete with a great view, spring flowers and yes, their hummingbird friend that always seems to meet them.

Valerie made Vanessa a Peep birthday cake

A Salad for Snail!

It has been a long couple of weeks since I have updated Team Snail, first of all Valerie is doing great and progressing towards her full recovery every day. Her doctors are thrilled with her progress and even let her have a salad last week! As you can see I did not post a picture of a snail with a salad, you don't even want to Google that! For anyone who knows how Valerie ate before you know that the almost vegetarian has had a hard time on a neutropenic diet with no fresh produce allowed. This leafy treat certainly lifted her spirits!

A short time ago I reported the great news that our little Snail was able to walk 4 blocks and then 1/2 a mile and now... 2 hours straight! Valerie is regaining her strength and soon will be bike riding again as soon as we are sure her balance is up to snuff!
In less than 3 weeks Valerie will be off of the steroids she was put on for her body's outspoken opinion about the other trillion drugs she was on and then finally the anti-rejection drugs will start to be tapered off.
Vanessa will be traveling to see Valerie for their 28th Birthday on Wednesday! The girls have never spent their birthday apart and this year will be no exception since obviously this birthday is even more special than usual!

Vanessa and I have been to see Valerie at least once in recent weeks sometimes for a visit and unfortunately this last time for our paternal Grandmother's memorial service. Valerie was given permission to go to the service and I am so grateful that we were all there. Our Uncle Wes wrote a beautiful summary of her life and delivered a similar version at the service. He did a wonderful job and we are grateful for his many gifts, only one of which is public speaking. In a strange way it was good to see family and old friends and we are looking forward to spending more time with our cousins next month when we spend a few days celebrating the life our grandparents made with photographs and souvenirs that have been so careful preserved for us.

Congratulations Snail!!!!

Congratulations to our little Snail for surviving the first 100 days after a stem cell transplant! It is only up from here!
We have received the results of Valerie's 100 day bone marrow biopsy and .... drum roll please...
the results are "FABULOUS!!!!"
There is NO sign of leukemia and significant bone marrow growth!
I know I don't have to tell Team Snail how amazing these results are! Of course we are guessing that the growth is Vanessa's hot pink stilettos since it is identical it is hard to tell but all signs point to that. Valerie has not had any transfusions, complications or hospital stays since she left the hospital in December and that alone is a huge miracle!
The next step will be to continue tapering off the steroids and as soon as that is complete we can taper off the anti-rejection meds.
Slow and steady wins the race, especially for a Snail!

Congratulations and Thank You to Valerie's dear friend, Danielle who won the Sassy Apron auction! Thank you to Sassy Apron for the extremely generous donation of her artwork!

Almost 100 days!!!

Team Snail we have almost made it to the 100 day birthday for our Valerie! Valerie had her 100 day bone marrow biopsy last week and we should have the results by her 100th day. This biopsy is one of the most important. It tells us how well the transplant is working, how many good cells and double checks that there are no bad cells. News as soon as we hear....

Don't forget that her 100th birthday is also the end of our Sassy Apron auction! Click here