In early June, after a few days of much pain, DeAnn went to the Kaiser ER. After a lot of testing, poking and prodding, misdiagnosis and lot's of opinions, it was determined and diagnosed that DeAnn has aggressive Lymphoma.
DeAnn was finally able to come home on July 1st and has been receiving daily radiation treatments. Her final radiation treatment will be on July 11th, following she will undergo immuno-supression therapy. Since being hospitalized, DeAnn has been with her family everyday and many friends have also sent cards and come to visit. Especially helpful has been DeeDee's little brother, Dr. Mike Huntington retired radiation oncologist. He has been to visit twice, talks with her physicians regularly and checks-in with DeeDee daily.
On the second day of being home the Gradina Choir came and sang to her. We've had fun on this journey and all have had a good sense of humor and have a new appreciation of what life has to offer. For instance, the time DeeDee woke up and called Dave in a frantic voice, "Dave, I'm swimming..." DeeDee thought she had wet the bed, when in fact, she just fell asleep with a mug of water....this has taught us, sippy-cups are advantageous.
DeeDee is being well taken care of by her "crew", Joli and Brad, Mike, Dave, Jared and Annya. At certain times, friends and family have come to visit and help to transport her to appointments and to ensure DeeDee is well fed and well rested. A highlight of being home was taking her first walk in the neighborhood to show off her new radiation hair wig. It was a Fourth of July the neighborhood will not soon forget.
As we share DeeDee's story, we are listening to accordion music, laughing at the aftermath of bean jokes, and enjoying the wonderful weather and time with family.
We hope to update this site often, please feel free to send messages to DeeDee here. Because it's difficult to answer every phone call, please bookmark this page to keep up on DeeDee's progress. We appreciate the support, love, and prayers and are grateful for every day we have to share with each other.
How can you help? We request you to continue to send good thoughts and prayers. Cards are also well received. If you'd like to visit DeeDee, we'd ask you leave a message on this site and we'll be in touch with you to schedule a visit. Right now, DeeDee's days are a bit of a roller coaster, so we ask for your patience as we do our best to manage her comfort and care.
