YEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAA!!!!

The bone marrow aspirate results came out today. COMPLETE REMISSION!!! (which is great news, btw, if u didn't get that from hello!). The doc wasn't even expecting it from the first session of a relapse. Thank You God! The prayers have been answered. Ramadan Karim!
And guess what, the LP that they performed on me after that felt like a teeeny weeeny pain! Didn't hurt at all, maybe because of all the euphoria. Hamdilla, it's all good!
Right now, I have been paid a vist by none other than "The Count"!!! He brought me 2 units to quench my thirst! yummmmm!!! By the time I gobble them up, It'll be so late at night and I'd be so hyper to sleep, that I think the BMT Unit on the 8th floor at AUH will have a PAAAAARRRTTTTTYY tonight. Come groove with us!
mwah
H

btw, Neda, speaking of yeeeha, every1 here who found out u r in Texas is now making orders for stetsons and cowboy boots! do u ship to Beirut?

Wisso's Keep Walking!!!

Habibi Wissam,

His constant words of inspiration to me, "keep Walking", kinda like Johnnie's, no?! This is the latest illustration to the quote. I love it!!! Enjoy!

Pricks!!!

Needle pricks, of course, what were u thinking??? Let's count them today: blood test prick, IV prick, Central Line prick and bone marrow aspirate prick. Uffffffffffffffffff! Yes, i got a Central Line!!! I feel like the London Underground! What station should I get off at??? A Central line, however, rids me of more pricks, so is on my side! We like the Central Line. The aspirate was a different story. Ouch! But it's good that it hurt, bec it turned out to be wet, which is a very good sign, thank God!
So, chemo starts again tomoro. They couldn't start tonight cuz they need me to pee rivers! so they are hydrating me again and i am visiting the loo every half hour. I guess we're not getting much sleep tonight.

Tomorrow, i go back!

After the weirdest week of experiences, after lead and wax and sand and water and and and... I go back to the second chemo session. Hope it goes as smoothly as the first one. It was very touching the amount of people who tried to send me stuff to eat or drink to become better. Some even melted lead bullets and splashed them in a water bowl on top of my head, yikes! Others did the same with wax, and yet others wanted me to wear a "hijab" around my neck, a collection of prayers in my name, or taste centuries-old sand from Saint Rita or water from Lourdes. No matter what they wanted me to try, it was very touching. i wish it works, though. They all seem to have seen "An Evil Eye!!!" against me. ya sater! Why evil eye? what have i done? Who would want to purposefully hurt anyone like that??? Superstitions??? Dunno!

Yay !!!!!!!!!!!! I'm going home for a week!

September 03

Hallelujahhhh!!!! I finished chemo session one today. After two units of yum yum blood last night, the doc has decided to release me for about a week if all goes well until the next session. that ought to be a nice, but careful change. i miss my house, my bed, my kids (hope they have no cold!) and i have a couple of birthdays to prepare for saturday! the counts are good today, so let's hope they remain so.
September 02

September 04
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair. NOT!!!!
Woke up today with my long hair falling off in strands!!! I realized it was time for that trim. so, off to Dessange i went and Bob ran his magic scissors and cut the whole lot off, well, almost. yalla, baseeta, pretty soon Wiss will have to shave it off for me with his razor. Now comes the fun part of choosing the best headband or matching bandana! yalla, futile, but keeping my mind off the more serious stuff!

i'm going to go up to Broummana to see the girls today. hope i have enough energy for them, habibati. It'll be good to see them and mom and have a nice home-cooked meal.

wish me luck,
mwah
h

Zee opted for the crochet hat!

Poor thing, she freaked out when she first saw me almost "bald", despite mom's preparations and her sisters' encouragements. (Wiss and I had decided to shave it off since it was falling in industrial quantities. but i still have my eyebrows, and a few patches, so it's not that bad yet!)No, really, habibti Zee, she was very brave. soon enough she was hugging and touching my head, preferring the crocheted hat to the bandana... Funny thing kids' emotions! they surpass everything. Loulwa's reaction was, of course, "cool", the teenager that she is. Ammoura was a bit lost, trying to act brave and remembering the last time i had lost my hair and how odd that had made her feel. Thank God, the three girls seem to be ok with it now. i have explained a bit what's going on and have informed them that i would be away more often from home. They understand. They are good girls, habibati. Hope all goes for the best for them.