Sep 30, 2001
Today's Blood Counts:
WBC - 1140
HCT/PCV - 25.2
PLT - 24
Morning Information (7:00am):
I had a fairly good day yesterday, Sara brought the kids in to see me in the morning, and beth and howard stopped by with some great cookies. John and Sharon Klock came in from York in the afternoon for a nice visit. Later that evening, I started to feel a little bit run down in the early evening, and was hoping that I would get an infusion of platelets. They had dropped below 20, and the doctor, during his morning rounds, said I would be getting some. I asked the nurse about it, and she said that the doctors had a conference with the "platelets" doctor and decided my target was 10 and decided to hold off. Since I was feeling run down, and verified via my journal that at Fairfax we were infusing at 20, I didn't feel confident with this and asked to speak with the doctor on charge, she contacted the "platelets" doctor on duty and explanied the 10 target but said they would give me platelets anyway and I could discuss the target numbers with my doctor in the morning. So I got some platelets late last night and had a good night sleep. I woke up on the early side and sill feel a bit run down. I think this is the beginning of the slide where I won't be feeling as great for a few days.

Last night, a lot of people walked in the Leukemia walk in Reston on my behalf. Sara called, several times through out the walk to say how excited she was by the turn out. Everyone wore red, and had they had a big banner that said, Viener's Volunteers. Mort tooks some digital pictures! Click here to check them out! We appreciate everyone's support very much!

I also heard yesterday that Andrew Pegalis, a good friend of mine from Virginia, has decided to get off the couch and start training to run in a marathon for Leukemia in New Orleans in February. He he going to attempt to raise $3,400 dollars and has commited to donate the amount personally if he can't raise it. Running a marathon duing Mardi Gras in New Orleans will be quite a feat, especially for Andrew. Thanks Andrew! To contact Andrew, email him at: APegalis@AHTINS.com

Sep 29, 2001
Today's Blood Counts:
WBC - 1700
HCT/PCV - 28.7
PLT - 19
Morning Information (9:00am):
Yesterday I finished my last dose of Chemo, hopefully forever! I still feel very well, and am hoping to stay feeling strong as my blood counts continue to fall. At this point it is just a waiting game to see how long it takes my white blood cells to fall and come back up before I can go home. My aunt Sue & Uncle Al stopped by last night on their way to hilton head, and Mort & his uncle Jimmy stopped by on their way to a business dinner in baltimore. I am looking forward to another booring day today. :-)

Sep 27, 2001
Morning Information (9:00am):
I had a dose of chemo yesterday and will be getting some more today. This is the one that drips over 6 hours. Two bottles at 3 hours each. I felt good yesterday and still feel good this morning. I get two more days worth of this chemo, today and tomorrow. I hope I continue to feel as good, but expect that all this chemo will start to take it's toll on my body and will start feeling a lot worse. I am looking forward to Tony & Lisa's visit tonight, there are going to come in this evening and we are going to watch the premier of Friends. It has been great to have such good support from friends and family and Tony and Lisa have been with me just about every weekend since I started going through this, our friends in Virginia continue to bring meals to our family at home, and so many have either signed up to walk or contibute to this weekends walk for Leukemia. It has truly been great, and I and can't begin to express how much we appreciate all of our friends and family.

Sep 26, 2001
Morning Information (8:30am):
Another good day yesterday. Still feeling strong. Today we start the next round of chemo. We have had an ongoing discussion with the doctors over the past few days over the PICC line verses a Hickman line. They wanted to replace my IV with the Hickman because it has more flow and less chance of problems than the PICC line that was origionally put in. This would require a 1-2 hour procedure at this point and their feeling is if we are going to have to do it we should do it now before I get weak. Since this is my last round of chemo, we would like to get through it with the existing line unless we know there is going to be a problem. They did a test of the line yesterday to insure the line can take the upcoming chemo that goes in on a timed interval typically faster than they have been pusing through the line. The test went fine, so it looks like we will move forward with the PICC today. Hope all goes well.

Sep 25, 2001
Morning Information (8:30am):
Yesterday was a good boring day, I am feeling good, and they have my itching mostly under control with medication. Sara was here and we played cards most of the morning and took a long walk. Sue Guben brought me some great chicken noodle soup to help me get buy when the meals are not so hot and the Gubens took Sara out for dinner, a great break that I think she needed.

Sep 24, 2001
Afternoon Information (1:30pm):
Yesterday at lunch they started to allow me to eat real food, and I was feeling very well. I had also started to develop a rash yesterday that the doctors said might get worse and last for a while. It did spread, and the itching made it hard to sleep last night, they gave me some anti-itching medication as well as some medication to help me sleep. For some reason, my IV kept beeping last night, so with the itching and beeping, it made it a very tough night for sleep. Sara brought her mother and the kids up yesterday for a visit, and it was great to see the kids. It was a big sunday for visitors, and it was fun to see everyone.

Sep 23, 2001
Morning Information (9:30am):
Yesterday was a good day, my nasuea wasn't quite as bad. I tought my mother and father how to play rummy 500 and they picked it up rather quickly. I had a nice visit with Beth & Howard Mortnam. This morning I woke up with a rash and we are waiting for the doctors to determine what we should do about it. Sara and the kids are coming in this afternoon and I am really excited to see them.

Sep 22, 2001
Morning Information (7:30am):
Sorry I haven't had a chance to keep up with the updates. I have now had my first 3 days of Chemo, the last of the Ara-c (the chemo that drips in 24hrs per day via the IV) will finish today at 3. I think they have already started to take their toll on my body, I am feeling sluggish, and nausous. Apparently the Ara-c can have a big effect on your stomach, so they have had me on a liquid diet since I arrived. The problem is their standard liquid diet has mostly milk and cream based products that dont go well with my lactose intolorance, so I have been living on chicken broth for the past few days, yuck. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to get on a normal diet. After my first 3 days of chemo, I will have 5 days off, and then another 3 days chemo.s

Sep 19, 2001
Noon Information (12:00pm):
Well I am checked in and getting comfortable in my new hospital room. There is not as much space as Fairfax, but it should work out fine. Yesterday they did a bone marrow biopsy, and the initial results look clear. That is good news. They are going to start my Chemo this afternoon. They have me on a liquid diet, so my breakfast was a bowl of grits. I guess this chemo can mess with your stomach, so they are being careful. The schedule is to have 3 days of Chemo (I think on a continuous drip through the IV) then 5 days off, and then another 3 days of a different kind of Chemo.

It was hard not knowing exactly when I would be coming in. They said Tuesday, but not to be surprised if it turned into Wednesday, Thursday or even Friday. So when we got the call on Tuesday when we came home from services, it was a bit of a shock, and we had to move quickly.

Sep 18, 2001
Morning Information (11:00am):
We got the call from Hopkins and are going in today, more info to come later.

Sep 15, 2001
Morning Information (9:00am):
Wow, I can hardly believe the events of the past few days. Everyone in the extended Viener family and friends that we know of are safe and sound, and I hope that everyone you know is safe as well. Sara has been working on the logistics and child coverage for our upcoming hospitalization at Hopkins and we are getting ready to go sometime next week. I spent a good part of the day yesterday going though all these medical bills. You would think that there would be an easier way for this stuff.

Sep 12, 2001
Noon Information (12:00pm):
We spoke with Dr. Felice this morning, and we have decided to have treatment at Johns Hopkins. His feeling gut feeling was that if you are going to have a relapse that it would probably happen if you went with the Hopkins' protocol or the older protocols that he would follow, and that having one more intense round at Hopkins would remove some of the risk you take each time you have Chemo of getting an infection or bleeding. He said that if he were in my shoes he would enter the trial at Hopkins. So we have decided to go to Hopkins for the next round of treatment.

We are currently scheuled to go in next tuesday, which makes me happy since I have an extra weekend with my family before going in. Dr. Smith said that at Hopkins a tuesday appointment might turn into wednesday or thursday, but sometime next week we will go to Hopkins, have a bone marrow biopsy, and begin the next round of treatment.

Sep 10, 2001
Evening Information (7:00pm):
We went to Johns Hopkins this morning to see Dr. Douglas Smith, he presented an option which we need to sit down with our doctor and consider. Apparently Hopkins has a 2 year old trial going on where they are treating APL patients with only 1 round of consolidation after the preliminary chemo induction round. This round is a little longer than the standard treatments and uses an initial dosage of chem and then a second one 10 days after the first dose. They have 21 patients in the study and 20 of them have been in remission for 2 years, and 1 had a relapse and had to have a bone marrow transplant. The treatment would have to be done at Hopkins in Baltimore. There are obviously some risks involved, and some pros and cons on either side, so we are going to discuss the options with Dr. Felice and then make a decission. Either way, I will be having a bone marrow biopsy this week and then be admited to a hospital.

Sep 9, 2001
Evening Information (6:00pm):
Had a good day with Johanna, Helen, Tony & Lisa. We are getting ready for the hopkins visit and then for next weeks trip to the hospital. All is well.

Sep 8, 2001
Afternoon Information (2:30pm):
Having a good last weekend before next week's hospitalization. I spent the better part of last week making sure all the bills are paid and catching up on my list of projects. I need to start a list of what I need to bring to the hospital. Sara's cousins, Helen and Johanna, are in town this weekend and we are having fun with them. We have our first official house showing this afternoon. We have had several realtos preview the house without clients in the past few days. The kids are doing well, and Riley continues to say and do new things every day. He is changing and learning so much these days that it is hard to imagine all the things he will be doing when I get out of the hospital this time around. I am really going to miss being with them everyday. Sara and I really appreciate all the support everyone has given us and everyone who has checked into the website. In August this page had 1015 hits!

Sep 6, 2001
Morning Information (10:00am):
Today is Sara and My 9th annivasary! We are going to go out for a nice dinner tonight to celebrate. Our house went on the market on tuesday, so we have had some realtors previewing our house for their clients. It's going to be tricky trying to keep the house clean for showing with everything going on. I think the medicine that the doctor perscribed is clearing up my head a bit, last night I took the antibiotics, the decongestant, and my normal ATRA pills around the same time, and my stomach hurt. Today I am trying to space them out a bit. Well, I have a list of projects I need to accomplish before I hit the hospital next week, so I better get to it.

Sep 5, 2001
Afternoon Information (3:30pm):
We went to look at some homes and townhouses this morning and then at 1pm we went to the doctor's to make sure everything was ok. My blood counts looked normal, and the doctor perscribed some medicine to treat my head cold. He thinks that may be causing the additional sluggishness. Looks like I will go back into the hospital on wednesday of next week after my monday morning appointment at John Hopkins.

Sep 2, 2001
Evening Information (5:00pm):
I am feeling a little bit more tied than usual today and am not sure if it is the head cold that I have, or something else. The current plan was not to see my doctor again until after the hopkins visit on the 10th, but I think we will give him a call in the morning just to update him on the change and make sure we are still on track. The weekend with my brother's family didn't work out so well, Ruby (the oldest daughter) had a fever and some stomach pains, and Cara started to get sick as well and they had to go home. :-(

We were all diasapointed, but nobody more than Addison who was looking forward to 3 days with his cousin Jack.

Sep 1, 2001
Yesterday's Blood Counts:
WBC - 7.4
HCT - 30.5
PLT - 212
Afternoon Information (12:30pm):
Yesterday's doctor's appointment went well, my counts look fairly normal, and everything else seems ok. I will be heading back to the hospital for my next round of chemo shortly after my appointment at John Hopkins on September 10th. I guess it will be sometime that week. I hope everyone has a great labor day weekend!

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