Sabine's Summer

Some pictures to capture Sabine's "no-chemotherapy" summer!

Our first-ever family "restoration houseboat cruise on the Mississippi River

Tandem cycling on the 400 Trail near Reedsburg.

It took 30 years to get Sabine back on a tandem! She seems to be enjoying it.

Our annual vacation time with sister Barb and hubby Ken (this has been going on for 30 years!)

On the Mississippi -- and lovin' it and her.

Sabine relaxing poolside. I thought when women grew old they wore purple?

Constructing Sabine's bridge at our farm.

A great kayaking summer on the Rock, Pine, Baraboo, Grant and Yahara  rivers.

Thanksgiving!

Yesterday, we returned to the UW Cancer Center after a 12-week hiatus. Earlier, the lab results on Sabine's cancer were encouraging. The numbers were slowly (not exponentially) increasing. That was good news. Dr Sheehan looked at Sabine's labs, checked her out, and said, "I'll see you in 12 weeks." Twelve weeks? That's great. It seems that the last year in Revlimid has significantly slowed down the growth of Sabine's blood cancer.

All I can say is "praise God from whom all blessings flow!" And thanks for your prayers, friendship, and concern.

The battle continues but with a little less desperation (at least on my part!).

False Alarm

Sabine's back tests all proved negative. Whew! (Maybe she pulled a muscle kayaking two days in a row a couple of weeks ago.) Next stop -- Dr Sheehan's office next Wednesday and looking at the blood test results of the cancer activity. Little, I pray.

A Summer (Almost) Without Cancer

The Couper family's "Restoration Cruise" this summer.

This Spring Sabine received a 12 week respite from her daily regimen of chemotherapy. It was a welcome break which enabled us to forget (almost) her cancer this summer. Next week is the 12^th week and time for the blood test and conference with Dr Sheehan that will tell us what the cancer is doing or (hopefully) has not doing.

The respite permitted us to have a more flexible dialysis schedule, take a number of kayak trips, attend plays at the APT, and engage fully in my family’s “restoration cruise” on the Mississippi River last month (see http://christinyouchristinme.blogspot.com).

Sabine with granddaughter Taylor.

So, it has been a good summer. But for me, it always seems that I am looking over my shoulder, warily watching out for the cancer which seems to stalk us. Yes, I worry... but it seems that this summer I have worried less than I have the past two summers. And that’s an improvement.

But last week Sabine had some back pain. Alert! Warning bell! The urinalysis was negative but we have not heard back on the Xrays. Waiting. Worrying.

Sabine continues to exercise daily and reports the pain it not as bad as it was last week. Still back pain (and the complications regarding bone loss with Multiple Myeloma and dialysis) is something I will continue to worry about.

So, it’s back to see Dr Sheehan next week at the UW Cancer Clinic and formulating some next steps depending on what those nasty light chains in Sabine’s blood were up to (or not up to) this summer.

In January, we will enter our 4^th year living with cancer. I know we both are grateful to God for the time we have been given and the family and friends who continue to pour out their love upon us. Yes, life is good! In fact, it is very good!

Six Week Numbers

 Sabine has been now six weeks without chemotherapy. The "cancer numbers," though not zero (as we continue to hope and pray for) have not risen too dramatically. When we stopped the chemo she was at 26 (normal free lambda light chain range is 5.7-26.3).

Now the blood test revealed that it had risen to 42. My prediction is that Dr Sheehan will not take action and wait until the 12 weeks without chemo are completed. The next test in 6 weeks will tell us the rate of the increase and dictate our next steps.

In the meantime, Sabine is enjoying the summer by being active -- exercising for about an hour each day, kayaking, cycling and, after seeing "The Jersey Boys" in Milwaukee this week, humming all those great songs from the Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons -- "C'mon Marianne, Ragdoll, Silence is Golden, Bye Bye Baby, and Can't Take My Eyes Off of You..."

Lazy Summer (so far)

Here we are at the mid-point. The summer off -- no chemotherapy for Sabine.  Tweleve whole weeks! Now it's at the half-way point and today Sabine goes for a blood test to check and see what the cancer has been doing (or, hopefully, NOT doing!). It has now been six weeks without chemotherapy and this coming week we will know what has been going on in Sabine's blood... and what our next step is...

Nevertheless, it has been a hot, but nice summer. We have been exercising daily, kayaking the Rock River, tandem cycling in Penninsula State Park in Door County and attending the American Players Theater in nearby Spring Gree.

Son Michael came for a few days and went cycling with me. It's been 28 years since we went cycling together. Nostalgia.

And in less than a month, the Couper side of the family is getting together on the Mississippi River at Lansing, IA, to do some serious houseboating!

Carpe diem!

Sabine's Newsletter Submission

(The following is an article Sabine recently submitted for the Wisconsin Dialysis Center Newsletter)

It has been a long time since I have written an article for the newsletter. Some of you may recall that I was diagnosed 3-1/2 years ago with multiple myeloma (a “terminal” blood cancer) which usually carries a prognosis of five years. My cancer first presented itself through acute kidney failure. So, in January, 2008, I not only started chemotherapy to try and control my cancer, but also began dialysis due to my kidney problems (end-stage renal failure).

At first this was extremely overwhelming! I had only retired five years earlier from policing at age 50 and had many plans including visiting our adult children spread across five states. I chose early retirement because my husband, David Couper, who had retired from the Madison Police Department five years earlier, was older than I was and I wanted to be able to spend more time with him. Dialysis, however, complicated everything – or so I thought.

My HMO would only pay for my treatments at the Wisconsin Dialysis Center so it was not feasible for us to consider doing any out-state travel. I was devastated because I knew our children had limited time to get away from their jobs and busy lives. Six months into our thrice-weekly clinic dialysis schedule we were presented with an alternative – home hemodialysis. It would require training, but would permit us to travel. For the past three years we have gone to Florida two weeks during the winter season. Home dialysis permitted us to continue to have a winter vacation in a sunny and warm place. So, two years ago, we purchased a slide-in camper for our pickup truck and drove to Glacier Park, hiked, camped, and dialyzed in, perhaps, some of the most beautiful mountain settings! This year we have two more road trips – house boating on the Mississippi with kids and grandkids and, in the fall, going to Branson, Missouri.

All of this, however, has not been smooth sailing! It took three failed fistulas before we were able to button hole and get rid of the tunnel catheter in my chest. I was fortunate enough to be able to receive a stem cell transplant in the Spring of 2009. This put my cancer under control for a while and I was working toward getting on the kidney transplant list and possible transplant if my cancer behaved itself for 24 months. I didn’t and it returned. I was back on chemotherapy and, again, devastated. I gave myself twenty-four hours to cry, feel sorry for myself, and used word I hadn’t used since our children arrived!

Back on chemotherapy and dialysis, I refused to waste any more of my precious time in such a wasteful, unconstructive way. My husband, David, gave me a great insight recently. He questioned, when something terrible happens to us, how do we know it’s not a blessing? With my original cancer diagnosis, I first assumed it was a disaster. But now looking back at the past 3-1/2 years, I know it was really a blessing. He and I have spent more time together, we choose our travel carefully and deliberately, we both take much better care of our bodies (daily exercise, eating healthy, and regular check-ups) as well as improving our minds and cultivating our spirits. He would have continued full-time work in ministry and I would have continued my part-time work at Lands’ End. This would have resulted in us seeing each other after work (usually tired and drained) or on weekends (doing yard work and other domestic chores). Why? Because we all assume there will be more time to do things together (even to work on our relationship) in the future. We all know that a slower day will never come. All we really have is now.

Each of us has a responsibility to live our lives fully and celebrate our life every day.

Health and happiness,

Sabine