Helenintdad's Page - My Crazy Sexy Life

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About Me:: I'm 41 years old and I have a husband and 3 beautiful children who are 12, 10 and 4. I am from the Caribbean but am in Florida getting treatment for acute lymphocytic leukemia. I was diagnosed in October last year. I'm in remission at the moment but I need a bone marrow transplant to stay in remission. I'm having trouble finding a matching donor because I am of mixed blood.

At 6:29pm on March 15, 2008, Rhonda said…: Hey, yeah, the sister's keeper is now way too close to home for me too. I read it maybe a year ago or so. My sister is a hospice nurse in another state. I got worried when she jumped in her car and drove over to see me during the first phase of the diagnosis. No one really wants hospice nurses at their door right? My sis is a stitch and lots of fun so it's cool. I'm about a foot taller than her, but she's about 16 years older so we're kinda even yeah?

More book and Leuk talk soon. Peace, R

At 1:17pm on March 15, 2008, Rhonda said…: Hi,
Your smile is amazing and your daughter is beautiful too! Trinidad sounds great about now, but AML... not so much.
I have CML, with a funky deletion. I'm approved for a BMT, and they have found two potential donors (no one in my family is a match). I don't know where the donors are located and if they are still willing, so who knows. I know I'm lucky to have two finds in the database, but I'm nervous about the whole BMT idea. It's all still new. I was dx in Nov of last year. I think I'm moving toward remission, but I'm not sure... still waiting on Bone marrow biopsy results from three month marker.

Please do keep in touch. My daughter is 15 and really wants to talk with people who have parents with canser. She started a discussion on this site but so far no comments... boo hoo.

Hope you have a great time at home! Praying for great matches.

At 8:56pm on March 14, 2008, Helenintdad said…: Hi everyone. It's great to hear from you. I'm from Trinidad and Tobago, and it is my daughter in the picture with me. She's 10. At some point I'll post pictures of my other two as well.

What brought me to Australia as a child? My parents just wanted to travel to some place far and picked Australia. We lived in Sydney for 5 years until I was 7 years old. We went by ship and came back by ship. It took us a month to get there. I really liked it but when we came back home, I was like a little foreigner - complete with Australian accent, and I couldn't remember anything about Trinidad because I was so small when we left. It took me a while to get back into the groove here.

I so hope you're right about the donor Meg. Today I got a call the hospital to say that they found an 8/10 match for me, which isn't a very good match. They are still trying to see if they find a better one. Many of my cousins have registered as donors, so hopefully one of them will be a better match. But I won't know for at least a month.

Take care everyone!

At 2:46am on March 14, 2008, Mikey said…: I'm so happy to hear that you're in remission as well. Doctors debated for 2 months whether or not I should undergo a BMT, but ultimately decided against it. My sister wasn't a match anyway. What brought you to Australia as a child? I love it here, but the Caribbean doesn't sound to shabby either. :)

At 12:05am on March 14, 2008, Punk Rock Grrl said…: I would LOVE to add you as a friend! ;-) Which island are you from? (I'm from Puerto Rico)... and who's the lovely young lady in the photo with you?? Is she your daughter? You are truly blessed... she's beautiful!

At 7:58pm on March 13, 2008, Meg said…: Of course! I would LOVE to share! : ) Congrats on being in remission right now.....I am sure the donor will come out of the blue when you least expect it. Things always have a way of working out and I am positive things will come through for you. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Nice to meet you !

At 6:12pm on March 13, 2008, Lina Byrne said…: Hi Helenintdad!! I know, it's very encouraging isn't it?? Good luck on your quest to eat more raw veggies, let me know if you need any yummy raw recipes!!

At 5:30pm on March 13, 2008, Helenintdad said…: Thanks girls. I did find Debbie's page - it's great. Adventure Grrl, that's a really good idea. Thank for letting me borrow your friends! I'm back at home for 3 weeks and just enjoying being with my family. Sometimes I actually forget about this dumb disease for a while. But then I pass a mirror and see my bald head and lack of eyelashes.

How I wish my hair would grow back. I didn't mind being bald at first but I'm rapidly getting fed up with it. I visited a wig shop on Tuesday and hated all the wigs. I looked like a freak in them. My head is small and I've always worn my hair very very short. I was hoping to get a wig which would make me look like me, but that's not as easy as I thought it would be. They are supposed to be ordering a wig for me.

At 9:13am on March 13, 2008, Dharma said…: mornin, I didn't know if you found laughing,debbie in the blue sweater yet LOL !! but go check out her page here or her link debbiedoesraw.blogspot.com, she just had some kick-ass great bloodwork !! she really is livin her life like she means it ! try to go bathe in her healing rays ! sending you good thoughts, tina

At 4:17pm on March 12, 2008, Adventure Grrl said…: I am so proud of you for starting your own group! I find the best thing too, is to make a lot of friends, then you can hit one button to email them all and say "I'm having a bad day" or "tell me an inspirational story." If you are overwhelmed by the amount of people here, go to my page, you can request all my friends, they are amazing.