A bag of this, syringe of that, pill for this, rinse for that...

Meet one of our "drug" pushers. Just when you get to know your "dealer", their shift ends. Nan pictured here can do it all. She will even taste test the mouthwash. One of the side effects could be mouth sores, so they encourage mouth rinsing daily. Carla said the standard issue in a clear body labeled Sodium Chloride irrigation did not have the making of a good tasting wash...she was right. She told Nan it was nasty. Bam! A different bottle showed up with the suggestion that it might be better. Carla said you try it to Nan. She did, and said it wasn't bad, then we all tried it. Watered down Scope flavor, not bad. She respectfully denied the sampling of the other meds. :)

We got bags for chemo, anti fungals, antibiotics, antinausea, potasium, water, etc, syringes for clotting, more chemo, pills for appetite, blood stuff, anti virals, multi vitamins, etc. a drug pushers dream, so many drugs, too short of a shift. Let's just say the RNs and CNAs on the 8th floor are amazing. No matter how she feels, they are accomodating, comforting, and darn right special. Go 8th floor Girls!! (haven't seen any dudes)

Status: We have started 3 day of chemotherapy. Yesterday she felt great, remained very active, no napping, very alert so that she could have a more restful sleep. Didn't help. The body is so unpredictable. So today she getting some naps and fighting the nausea monster. Just go with the flow.
Kids are spending the day with their Uncle Jason. Going to Old Navy to spend the Xmas gift card, Smash Burger lunch and home to watch Despicable Me on Blu-Ray. I guess Blu-Ray is big. Still have not seen a Blu-Ray movie. As for me, I spend as much time with her as possible..."take your pills" is my daily line to her. Love you all, keep the positive thoughts and well wishes coming.

Make sure you stop by the house and get your picture taken with the Leg Lamp!

Let's get this party started!

Let me tell you, I truly expected a bit more fanfare with the commencement of Carla's first chemotherapy treatment...maybe an announcement to the 8th floor, a countdown clock, a soft drumroll which builds to a frenzy, then an all of sudden door bursting moment with the doctor entering, yelling "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLE!" Nope, not at all. We were visiting with Carla's parents, her aunt Sandy, and our friend Jay, when our nurse, Nan, entered with her normal cordialness and let us continue to visit. In a break of the conversation, she simply mentions that she is going to start the chemotherapy, a 15 minute push of Idarubicin and the Cytorabine drip. Uh, ok. I was astonished, no dancing ladies, no loud horns, just a bit of silence as we watched her start. And just like that, Carla started her Induction phase of chemotherapy today at 2:10pm. I stared, marveling in her bravery, unflinching acceptance of what was happening before us. The road to recovery had just begun, and she's meeting it head on. I love her.

Status: Carla’s day began a bit like it ended yesterday, food not agreeing with her, little sleep, constant interruption. Visits from dietician, radiologist, nurses, doctors, housekeeping and me, all before 10am. She actually had her first chemotherapy treatment with the spinal fluid check procedure, which they did around 1pm, before the main juice was introduced. Carla got her appetite back and was getting back to her normal self. She got some rest, walked around, visited with the physical therapist and PA, then rested for a bit before I woke her to have some dinner before it got too late. She’s a champ! Oh yeah, I think we found out she’s allergic to the glue on the surgical tape, ARRGH! Our funny number is "400", maybe she will tell you what it means. :)

Thank you for all the support. Some people may not realize they need support until they accept the support, experience the relief, and feel the love that comes with it. Thank you Sue for feeding my family tonight, I truly feel the love.

Jason shuttled the kids to thier friends today, while I was at the hospital. The kids then went to the zoo with Carla's parents, and came home for some normalcy. I will bring them up to the hospital for a visit in the morning before the storm is supposed to hit.

Surrealism meets Reality

Our conscious dreamscape has ended. Today, Carla was admitted into the hospital. If the 4th breast biopsy in the last 17 days wasn’t enough (we think a Guinness World Record), the discussion of the lumbar puncture procedure was enough reality to make “The Situation” lose half a six pack. Actually watching my wife sign the treatment consent form was my reality. She has given consent to allow her body to be filled with things called Idarubicin and Cytosine Arabinoside, with an understanding that the treatment is not guaranteed to be successful and could cause her demise. That is reality looking at me.

“Why is this happening to me? What am I supposed to learn from this?” The answers to these questions will shape Carla’s future and each of us involved in her life. However, right now fear is winning the day. Any motherly fear you can imagine creeps into your soul, questions your worth. Fear will not win. Fear is just another reality check to show you what is important and why your inner resolve and strength will prevail.

Status: Overall a busy day for Carla. Breast biopsy this morning to gather additional leukemia cells to help determine the sub type of the AML. Admitted into hospital, met staff, and had discussion with doctors. Then had the tri-lineal port implanted in her upper right chest to allow fluids from 3 different ports directly into the main vein. All these procedures put off food until after 5pm, she was starving, and the anesthesia meds didn’t make eating much fun. Although tomorrow is a spinal fluid test and the beginning of chemotherapy, her meal plan will now be more regular.

You can drop off any type of correspondence at our house for us to delivery to Carla, you can send directly to LDS Hospital or leave a message on the blog to her. Everyone loves to get real mail.

LDS Hospital
8th Floor – Bone Marrow Transplant
Room E806 - Carla Hennessy
8th Avenue & C Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84143

Learn more about Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and it subtypes at www.lls.org

With all our love,
Carla and family

This post created by Jeff.

Merry Christmas!

I was so thankful to be home for Christmas. I would have been so upset if I wasn’t able to watch the girls open their presents and see the excitement in their eyes. With everything going on we made it an extra special day. Hope all of you had a fantastic holiday too.

We loved having Grandma Rose spend the day with us.
(a utensil holder I found for her)

Olive Garden dressing....McCall's favorite! :)

A gag gift for Jeff. (a UTES Snuggie)

Cancer Sucks!!

I got this button the first day I met with my oncologist. I think it says it all. Most of you know about my cancer diagnosis so I am going to start to blog about my new lifestyle and how it is about to change. I think this will help me not only get the word out to everyone so I am not answering the phone so much but help me cope with the thousands of emotions going through my brain.

Thanks to all of you who have stepped up to lend a hand wherever we need it. You never really know how much you are loved until something like this takes over your whole world. I am truly blessed for all the outpour of love from everyone we know. I love you all and appreciate the cards, kind words, treats, dinners and hugs!


I found a lump in my breast a few weeks ago. After a few mammograms, ultrasounds and a biopsy it was discovered that I have AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) which is a hard mass tumor with leukemia cells. We have been floored by the news and completely blindsided by the results. I have stumped the whole oncology department because I am so healthy and showing no symptoms of the cancer. The bone marrow biopsy, MRI, and blood work all came back clean. However the CT scan did show another small tumor in my liver and on a small lymphoid on my chest.

No more worrying about carpools, work schedules, laundry (that will be nice), dinners to prepare or paying the bills. Now I will be thinking better thoughts of counting down days of chemotherapy treatments and getting my blood counts back to normal. I am looking at 6 months of treatments.

Right now I am feeling healthy and strong and glad to be home for Christmas. I will be staying at the Bone Marrow Transplant wing at LDS hospital starting Monday. I am hoping for only a 2 weeks stay but it may be longer. (Please remember I can not have live flowers or latex balloons.) I will be highly sensitive to germs so no small children or anyone with a sniffle, cough or cold.

I am ready to fight and get my life back on track!!

Angel's on top of the tree. :)

From my cute friend Megan....I had to share! :)

When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, ‘Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn’t this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?’
And thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
Not very many people know this.

POOLTABLE!!

After a few weeks Jeff finally found the pool table he wanted.

I love the red felt rather than the traditional

green most people have.

We are excited to play some games and

enjoy it with family and friends.