Counts are up and it's finally stopped raining!

Knowing how much you all like to be kept up to date, I'm back for a second try at blogging. Counts continue to rise but medication continues to drop and therein lies a problem. Bev is now experiencing the addicts' dilemma. Your body craves the 'stuff' but you know you have to get off it. Withdrawal gave her a bad night the night before last with much vomiting. Things brightened when we knew this actually had a cause (the withdrawal) and Bev could return to her old friend Zofran. Yesterday saw her doing 6 (count them) laps and drinking many sips and even eating some Weetabix. Today is even better on the drinking front. She often reaches for the cup without parental nagging!! Her pain meds have been taken down to only self-administered 'rescues' today and so far so good. She is sleeping peacefully as I write. Restorative sleep as I like to think of it. Tom has already arrived in Columbus having left last night to sleep at home before travel. He and David shared a cab downtown while I prepared for my second night on the guest bed. Bev and I both slept in between checks for vitals etc. The service here is still first-class and Bev has many 'greeters' who are delighted to see her up when she laps. David wants me to add that we gave him an A+ this morning for the laundry he did at home last night. Normally I don't let him near domestic machines after he wondered once if he could cook a fish in the dishwasher. (Thanks to John and Audrey for trusting him with their machine.) Beverley's departure date not set yet but we'll post it as soon as we have one.

Love Miki

Keep it short and simple

Due to overwhelming public demand Dad has been instructed to drop the transatlantic grammar lessons and focus on the baby steps that Beverley (Sorry folks there are some things I can't do) has been making. Today we focus on 50 millilitres (or milliliters in Ohio) of apple juice mixed with water. Yes folks it may sound dull to you with your bloody Marys and Margharitas but this was Beverley's first momentous cocktail. She drank her first one at 12.30pm today and the greedy Madam glugged another at 3pm. Better still she is gradually allowing the white coats to remove the plastic decorations which drip alien fluids into her system. For example yesterday we said goodbye to Compazine which was her anti nausea drug. It's still available if she needs it, but after todays cocktails she is fine and talking Weetabix !!!!
And so from a dull and drizzly New York City, Miki and I will sign off. (For this weather we could have stayed in England, but each "baby step" makes the trip worth every drop of rain.)

David and Miki

Great Strides (and sips)

Enough of these English writers! I'll now update you in the American vernacular, one raised on the sparseness of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Seuss (Dr.) and Schultz (Charles).

Bev made three full laps of the 8th floor today chased with three solid sips of water. Being upright and walking is great, but its keeping down the liquids that is key to busting out of this joint. The whitecoats would like to see her drinking 2 liters (not litres!) a day before discharge - (before Bev's discharge, not the liters). Bev's counts are good and continue to improve. The pain meds have been reduced and continue to be reduced daily, lessening the vivid and talkative dreams. The pain has largely left, but the mucositis (look it up), fatigue and a bit of achiness persists.

All in all, this still sucks, but it's sucking less and less everyday. No deadlines for release have been set, nor have causes for alarm been perceived and spoken by the doctors. They all agree that Bev may just wake up one morning and feel remarkably better. Let's all pray for that morning.

On to greater strides and larger sips.

Love,
Tom

Mom in the bubble

Hello again to Bev's readership. Just to let everyone know, she's still not up to writing herself but knows you're all thinking of her and anxious for news. This 'adventure' is proving harder than she thought but she does now feel that improvement is slowly occurring. As for a home date, we still don't have one but daily counts continue to rise and all medical opinion seems to be that all is 'normal'. And they should know!! The hope now is that middle or end of next week she'll be the 'homecoming queen' but we'll keep you posted.

Now that Bev is sleeping more peacefully and for longer periods, we whisked Tom away last night for a meal at a nice French bistro nearby for mussels in a mustard sauce and a nice crisp muscadet. (Typing this in the hope it stimulates Bev's appetite.)

We continue to come daily and I even rode the subway for the first time in years today. Those of you familiar with my clautrophobia will know what an achievement this is - however it was directly related to yesterday's two-hour bus ride.

So folks, keep those good thoughts and prayers coming and we'll let you know dates as soon as we have them.

PS Hope you had a good time at the spa Jenny.

Greetings from Dad in the bubble

Having slept alone while Miki dozed in the luxurious bed in the bubble feasting on SK room service and endless cups of tea, I feel that the Dad should be allowed to blog. My notes say that although my temperature was normal, my hormone levels were not and that I had a restless night despite a bottle of Gigondas with my two sons and their lovely ladies. The bed was not too comfortable and no attentive nurses waited on me with unending supplies of wonderful drugs and other delicious pain meds. As for my counts - I only had to go to the bathroom once. Men have it rough!

Enough of my troubles- I suspect the audience out here wants to hear something about my youngest daughter. Before I get to that however I send my congratulations to my eldest daughter for attempting her first blog. Beverley was really thrilled to see it. Well done Jennifer! Now all you have to do is to learn to spell "embraced." (Old teaching habits are hard to lose!) How are the house plants by the way Jennifer? Remember the golden house rule - NO PARTIES!

Its a funny old world for a Dad....as I sit here, one son, Matthew, (I am not a "Matt" person you see)is taking care of Mariah Carey's needs downtown at Madison Square Garden; number two son John is 70 floors up on the Rockefeller Centre doing something for MTV and Beverley (I am not a "Bev " person either) is being infused with a drug that I worked on 40 years ago at NYU Med Centre down First Avenue. Oh sorry folks you logged on to hear about Beverley......

Incidentally the family is rather worried today about Beverley's Aunt Kate. We think she has done a 'Thelma and Louise'.The word on the street this morning is that she has taken off for Cape May for a few days without her husband! If you read this Steve get down there fast and let her know who is the boss! Men have it rough !

Oh yes the Beverley news ! Her cell counts have been high enough for long enough to enable the white coats this morning to tell her pick up her bed and walk! In other words they are encouraging her to do a few circuits of the prison yard. Not as easy as it sounds, since she must drag something that is a cross between a line of washing and a beeping bus stop on wheels wherever she goes.

A further good sign is that she is beginning to think 'cocktails.' Perhaps I exaggerate a little--ginger ale is on her mind today a lot. Thats because the ice water she can occasionally sip is beginning to be boring. Thanks to brother Matthew (Remember what I said about name shortening)Beverley (see there it is again)is surrounded by tempting english tit bits from that wonderful New York store Myers of Keswick. Too soon yet for her to enjoy those deep fried Snickers bars, Prince Charles sausages, Blood Pudding biscuits, Salt and Vinegar crisps, Lucozade and pork scratchings, but Tom has already broken into the Hob Nobs !

Speaking of cocktails, she is currently receiving a big one involuntarily! 2000ml of fluid go down the tubes intravenously per day. Because her tongue is still very sore she hasnt yet been able to replace this orally - at the moment she can manage just a few sips. Despite her good counts and general well being. the Governor would rather not let her out until she is really returned to being a heavy drinker again! So keep tempting her with those those messages about exotic cocktails folks!

Finally Sarah your 'kneeds'are something we talk about with Beverley. We all hope you are making a speedy recovery.

The Dad

Greetings from the Mom in the 'bubble'

Sorry for the break in transmission folks, but we've had more important matters to attend to here, like watching those returning cell counts. And yes, the good news is that those little devils are back and doing their thing by increasing daily. Not a total transformation by any means but very good news and progress indeed.The mouth sorenesss is improving slowly but the lizard skin is still red, flakey and itchy. Bev hasn't been blogging because the new pain meds dilate her pupils and make reading difficult. But never mind that they sure do take the edge off!

Matt arrived back in town yesterday with the divine diva (Mariah Carey) for a show at the Garden and came here for several hours, a tonic for all of us.

Tom is away in Conn. for the day on some training so I got to sample the hospitality here at MSKCC overnight. And by the way, I don't know what the complaints are about the bed. I was fine! Sorry Tom.

Bev sends her love to you all and get well soon Sarah.

Miki

A Whole new mouth.

Just what I needed, a whole new mouth! The inside of my mouth is getting a brand new coating of cells from the tounge to the sides etc. Everything is sloughing off in prepapration for the new ones, so the good news is that just as you are all slowing down and finding your mouths are often tired and worn out I will be able to talk even more than I can now!!!!

Things are pretty much the same here otherwise, still dealing with the nasty sunburn effects of the radiation boost and Mum and Dad visit each day. They sort laundry and then make it re-appear clean and smelling fresh the next dav (Tom's little miracle).....Anyone who has been in a similar sort of situation to us knows how great it is to have your parents just show up and start helping out. Comforting goes a long way to describing the feeling.

The doctors are all really pleased and if pushed they are talking maybe any day from the 27th og August as being possible release days. Could be sooner but we will know moe early next week. Send all your thougts and prayers that the dog recognises us....

well thats it for today. Hope all is well in all your lives and look forward to cacthing up when I get out of this hole!!!

lots of love
Bev

Day Seven

Days five, six and seven are supposedly the worst days. We're hoping that's true, because we're heading into the dusk of day seven. Had another great visit from Miki and David today and they'll be back tomorrow (with clean laundry!!!!). We'd enjoy the company even without the occasional wash and fold service, but Bev and I are far too smart to turn something as wonderful as that down.

The weather here has been great the past week or so, great for Miki and David and great for riding my bike in Central Park. When Bev and I finally get out of this city, we may occasionally miss things like Central Park and being able to find sushi anywhere, but those moments will quickly pass as we watch our dogs play in the back yard from our big deck (rivaling Jay's Big Deck). Be it in the big city or in the burbs or the countryside, I know Bev can't wait to get out and enjoy the end of summer and start of fall.

As I'm blogging, Bev's sitting by the window dozing as we both listen to a little Lyle Lovett. It'd be a lot nicer in our backyard with a beer. Soon it will be.

Love,
Tom

Family Boost

Bev's parents, Miki and David, arrived safely in NYC and were able to visit us at the Sloan Kettering Spa & Resort for the first time today. Bearing gifts and goodies, they were just in time to witness Bev's reaction to her highest temperature yet (103.8! Way to go hun!!!). The shaking and shivering was dealt with, ice packs and Benydryl for Bev, Walker's Crisps (really good English potato chips) for me. Was great to see Bev's parents and it will be wonderful having them in town for the next month or so. It really was a big bowl of chicken soup for Bev's soul to see her Mum and Dad. David was also pleased to hear that I wasn't kidding when I wrote that I found a place to watch Reading vs. Middlesborough on Saturday.

So long to morphine induced hallucinations, hello to Dilaudid. The docs say its just as effective as morphine, but without the strange dreams and hallucinations. One might wonder why they don't just start with Dilaudid. Everytime Bev and I wonder these things we remind each other that we in fact work in television and couldn't possibly understand the complexities of medicine. But we're pretty sure someone at a health insurance company who never went to medical school has something to do with it.

Hopefully Bev will get some good sleep tonight, last night was rough. Prayers for a restful night's sleep much appreciated.

Love,
Tom

Back in the land of the somewhat living....

First I must thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and postings whilst I have been gone. Tom reads from the blog to me everyday and keeps me up to date. You should all be aware that I m writing this to you through a fairly comfortable morphine haze so will forgive me any spelling errors. They tell me I am taking enough to be hallucinating although my poolside cocktail has yet to materialize. We seem to be on top of the pain which is the good news. I am still not able to eat due to throat pain and Tom continues to toture me with his own nightly orders of sushi.

I don't really know what else to say about Tom except that you should all get yourself one. He knows just when to make me laugh and when to let me cry....ahhh...smooshy....it's the drugs talking! We both enjoy making fun of one vitals night nurse in particular who feels the need to shout out my blood pressure, temperature and heart rate at 4:30am. She wakes Tom every time. For any of you who don't know, the vitals nurse is just about as low on the nursing food chain as it gets. Archie could probably take my vitals.....

Well, sorry have to keep this one short but all being well I should be back tomorrow.

All my love
bev

P.S Peggy, thankyou so much for dropping by and just sorry I was sleeping! We will meet eventually and thanks for all papers etc.

Melissa, thankyou so much for your care package - all good time passing stuff that should come in handy this week. Much appreciated and wanted you to know it had arrived.

More morphine please . . .

This really sucks. Bev's been in a lot of pain the last day and a half, but it seems the increase in morphine has begun to help. Massive throat pain so bad that it hurts to swallow water does not look fun, but she's getting through it. She's a very tough woman, although she does admit she's discovered the one thing that can silence her . . . the aftermath of four days of heavy chemo. She can't talk much right now, but she does want everyone to know that she appreciates all the prayers and that we're gonna get through this just fine.

In other news, I've discovered a good pub nearby. David, you'll be happy to know that we can escape there next Saturday to watch Reading vs. Middlesborough. I escaped there tonight for a burger and a Guinness.

God bless Lisa and Jay by the way. We know they're taking such good care of our dog Archie, we just hope he'll want to come back from the suburbs to the big mean city.



Keep praying.

Love,

Bev & Tom

Day Zero . . .

. . . that's the day you get your stem cells back and that's what today was for Bev. Her stem cells are currently getting reaquainted and figuring out where they have to go and what they have to do. By Day Ten they will have found their way to the bone marrow and will start churning out white blood cells, red blood cells and platlets. All this is to rescue her from the effects the chemo had on her immune system.

The stem cell infusion itself took about a half hour. People in white coats came in, thawed out the stem cells she had harvested a month ago, put the cells in 4 syringes, then put the cells back into Bev. The syringes kind of reminded me of the one in "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" that Dr. Evil's henchman Fat Bastard used to take Austin's mojo. I'm sure you all remember. Anyway, the preservative that keeps the stem cells viable can make people nauseaus and it certainly didn't dissappoint with Bev. This won't be tallied up as one of her fondest memories while at Sloan Kettering. In addition, the preservative smells odd, to counteract the smell, a highly trained medical professional holds a half a lemon under the patient's nose. I'm pretty sure Bev had another idea where the medical professional could stick the lemon.

That's all for today, Bev's very tired and dozing away. Keep the prayers coming.

-Tom

Adios to chemo

Bev's very tired and feeling pretty crappy after four days of chemo so I (Tom) am taking over blog duties today. Hopefully that's the last chemo she'll ever need. Today is a "day of rest" before she gets her stem cells back tomorrow. Those cells will rebuild her immune system lost during chemo. "Day of rest" sounds kind of fun. Sounds like there should be a pool or beach, probably a nice view, maybe someone serving drinks. She doesn't have any of that, but there is someone keeping track of her urine output - which I understand is an added charge at Club Med.

We're both looking forward to Miki and David's (Bev's parents) arrival in the colonies on Monday. Hopefully the recent security alert won't cause too many delays to the safe trip. David, get ready for boring trivia surrounding David McCullough's "1776". Bev's fatigue symptoms seem to increase whenever I bring it up.

If anyone has creative suggestions on how to smuggle a 17 lb. poodle/schnauzer mix into a hospital room, let us know. We both miss the doodle (aka Archie) very much. In addition, if anyone has suggestions about how to sleep on whatever sort of medieval torture device it is they provide husbands to sleep on here, please advise. My back misses it's allignment very much.

I'll leave you with this thought: If you were thinking of getting cancer, don't.

Thank you all for all your prayers and thoughts,

Love Bev & Tom

The following was ghostwritten by Cousin Tim . . .

. . . it's great to have the support of guy's like Tim. Here goes.

Tuesday, August 8th

Dear Lovely Friends and Family,

Today I had a wonderful visit from Cousin Tim. Actually he's my half, second-cousin in-law, but that doesn't matter. He is that lovely chap who crossed the pond for the sole purpose of catching my wedding bouquet, and then didn't. On the threat of serious physical injury, Tim made me admit that the whole thing was rigged and that I planned all along to give it to my stupid old spinster sister. Tim now wants me to reimburse him for the airfare. Whatever.

Anyway, he's just the nicest guy. He always brings me trashy tabloids and we talk dirty. (For you Queer Eye peeps, Tim is incredibly handsome, very intelligent and I hear he's sitting on an absolute ton of money. Not that I would ever suggest or anything.)

(Bev, you may insert minimal medical update news here.)

That's all for now. Have to get back to Tim's witty conversations and sparkling repartee. (He's such a hunk. If I weren't hooked up to all these tubes and wires, I just don't know what I would do.)

Will blog y'all tomorrow.

xx/oo

-Bev

Thoughts of Home

I was awake at 6am this morning while they drew blood and generally messed around with my tubing and I found my thoughts turning to home and how much I would like to go home. I was imagining what it will be like to get out of here when I am done and I could clearly see myself lounging on my couch drinking tea, (hopefully interspersed with the odd glass of wine or bottle of beer), and spending time with my family. All pretty much my favorite things to do. I won't say I was feeling exactly sorry for myself cause we all know that's not my style but it was 6am and I couldn't sleep and I'm sure we've all been there with thoughts in our head that won't go away.

Then I got to thinkng about people in other parts of the world and in particular Lebanon and Israel and I realized that their concept of home has been radically changed over the last 4 weeks. Many of them are fleeing homes with no time to even take belongings with them and also fearful that their homes will be rubble by the time they are able to return.

This sudden loss of home and what is familiar to me is hard even for just the 4 weeks I am facing it for and I cannot imagine living with the kind of uncertainty refugees and displaced persons face all over the world today. Needless to say I did eventually fall asleep after deciding to ask you all today who read this blog to send out your good thoughts or prayers whatever your persuasion, to displaced persons across the globe in the hope that they too may find their way home soon.

lots of love
b

Good Day

Today has been a pretty good day so I'm going with the flow for now. Tom brought me packaged miso soup which went down rather well. Strangely restorative stuff I must admit and yummy too! He has gone off in search of dinner for himself and to get some fresh air on what I am told is rather a lovely day. He's also in search of any kinds of pre packaged tasty foods which I am allowed to eat and can eat with the soreness in my throat. Bless him.. We have watched more "Weeds" episodes whilst Tom shared my bed and snored....A pretty average Sunday all round. I have two days left of chemo and then Wednesday is my so called 'day of rest' followed by getting my stem cells back on Thursday. I am told this is uneventful but smelly due to the preservative they use to store the stem cells in. Garlic being the predominant smell. Apparantly they give you lemons to help counteract it. Can't wait..... Then begins the long haul back to health as we wait for my 'ninja' stem cells to do their thing and repopulate my bone marrow. Anyhoo, that's it for now my hubbie has returned from his hunting and gathering and it looks like there are icecream dove bar miniatures in my future!!!

lots of love to you all
b

Morphine Heaven.....

Ahhh..... the power of morphine....Now as you all know I like the 'occasional' tipple but generally have stayed away from the hard stuff in my time, however, I might have to make an exception for morphine delivered via my very own 'PPP' (that's 'personal pain pump') for the unitiated amongst you. Started having some fairly bad throat pain last night which is to be expected due to all the radiation I've been getting to the neck and chest. If you've ever gotten a really large ice cube stuck sideways in your throat that's pretty much what it feels like except it doesn't go away. They tell me it's like sunburn of the throat - Great! And I didn't even get the vacation to go with it!! Anyhoo, this morning they finally hooked up my PPP and things have been better since. I'm still not really eating anything much but I'm guessing that sudden drastic weight loss is probably the least of my worries right now.....

Currently have Father of the Bride movie playing in the background, what is it about that movie, I could watch it again and again... maybe that's the morphine talking. Tom and I also watched the first season of "Weeds" on DVD last night and I can't recommend it enough. So good. Tom is busy tonight hanging out with Don and seeing the new Will Ferrell Movie, 'Talladega Nights'.Thank god I got to play the cancer card with that one!! Phew... He also has a slight sore throat and we thought it better if he stay away until tomorrow and see how he's feeling. It can get a bit much for him as he sleeps on a pull out chair but there are so many interruptions during the night and he gets none of the lovely sleepy drugs that I get.....mmmmm.....

Well Father of the Bride is almost done and I'm pretty weary right now so I will say goodnight and talk to you all tomorrow!
lots of love
b


P.S.
Sheila, can you forward this blog to Peggy, I think I lost her email address
Leah, glad we finally connected as I had sent a couple of emails to that address.
Matt, good luck with the tour I hope it's going well and remember however bad it gets it could be worse, you could have cancer.......;-)
John and Audrey, hope the weekend is a blast and remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, Molly's ears are too young!!

Pooch Heaven!

Just in case any of you thought the dog was being neglected in any way during this process this picture should help allay any concerns! Today is the final day of radiation so that's a huge relief. It has left me pretty exhausted so I'll be glad to not have to go there twice a day anymore. Next up we start the chemo tomorrow and with it being a higher dose than before who knows how I will react. All I know is that time marches on and slowly but surely we will be out the other side of this and I will feel well again. Can't wait to be sitting on my own couch watching a movie and ordering pizza!!! Thanks so much for all your well wishes and keep posting your comments, reading them is part of my daily routine. Mum and Dad are arriving on the 14th of August so it will be great to see them, they'll be just in time to see me at my worst but what are parents for if not that!!!

Melissa I'll let Tom know he should call Don about the Talladega Nights movie, that would so get me off the hook!! You have no idea. Well, gotta go as it's time for a tubing change which only happens every 4 days but allows you a window of time to shower without being hooked up to the machine and the pole etc. Its the little things you know.....

lots of love
b

Still hot outside.....

Well thank goodness the nausea is finally somewhat under control. I am sleeping a lot and not really eating much but all the docs tell me this is normal. Yoghurts and some pretty tasty Tropicana ice pops Tom brought me are about what I can handle for now. Oh, yes, and Weetabix for breakfast, which might not mean anything to you american folk but the english chaps will know what I'm talking about.

Watched Mrs Henderson Presents last night, cute but definitely a rental. On the topic of movies I am glad to say that hospital does have its advantages in that I will not be forced by Tom to see the new Will Ferrell movie which comes out on Friday!! I'm finally playing the cancer card myself with that one.........Phew...

I miss the pooch but Tom's sisters gives us regular updates and he writes from summer camp when he can. You all know how we feel about the doodle!!!

In terms of treatment I have one more day of radiation and then we can tick that off as completed. I will have done twice a day for two weeks at that point so will be glad to see the back of it. Next up on Saturday they start the High Dose Chemo and I do that for 4 days followed by a day of rest (ha ha)! and then I get my stem cells back and we wait for my own immune system to do its thing. For any of your interested in googling - I'm having whats called an Autologus Stem Cell Transplant - amazing process that will hoepfully be my final treatment. Before embarking on this all my scans looked great so this should finally kick that cancer back to cancer land or good.

Thats it for today, time for lie down. Love to you all and Sara I am thinking of you and your knee injury and sending all good thoughts your way for a speedy recovery.

lots of love
b

It's Hot Outside.....

Well, it looks like I picked the right month to be inside as the temps in NYC crawl towards 100 degrees this week. Tom has now spent two nights here with me in hospital and has also experienced the broken nights and endless taking of vitals. However, he did benefit from the nurses sympathy on Monday night after riding his back here from Brooklyn and getting knocked off by a giant SUV which didn't even stop! Adding insult to injury the driver ran over his foot as he drove away. It was a bedraggled Tom that arrived at the hospital but the nurses rallied around him and thankfully there seems to be no lasting damage....A lesson learned and just another reason why SUV's should be banned!

Had a difficult day yesterday with pretty much constant nausea that they tried to get on top of with various medications none of which really hit the spot. Sometimes you just have bad days. Feeling much better today and able to be up and writing, checking email etc. My radiation treatments twice a day are going well although very boring they will all be done by Friday. For any of you folk that want to send cards etc it's best to send them to the apartment and Tom will bring them into me here. As most of you already know, flowers and anything living are a 'no no' here.

Other than that it's just another day in paradise here so feel free to keep posting and emailing me.

lot of love
b

476 12th Street
Apt #1L
Brooklyn
NY 11215