Celebrations!

Deborah, Jenny, Gary, Diane and Alana admiring the cupcakes

Cousin Jenny spent part of her day celebrating her milestone 30th birthday with myself, Alana, Diane and Gary, and Beau, here in my room. In the morning, Diane braved 100+ F temperatures to secure a beautiful selection of cupcakes from the "Cupcakery" here in the Central West End.

We started the celebration with a round of "Happy Birthday" with Daniel, Stephen, and Grandma Georgina via Skype. We all sang again when Alana arrived from school and then proceeded to sample the beautiful cupcakes.

This morning my mouth sores were so decreased that I was certain I could venture a taste of the special birthday treats. I started off wisely with a piece of vanilla with vanilla frosting but realized I could not really taste anything - although the "crumb" of the cupcake was superb. Gary discovered the coffeecake cupcake which he determined to be his favorite.  I followed suit and was so pleasantly surprised that I could actually taste the sweet cinnamon flavor that I am so fond of and was thrilled to know that my first "treat" coincided with Jenny's special day!

To add to the entire festive day, I also enjoyed a visit from Gene Robinson  and Barbara Bair today! What a party day!

Just before Jenny's party started, I found out that my day 21 bone marrow biopsy showed that I do not need a second induction chemotherapy treatment at this time. So, the plan is to let my counts recover and then do another bone marrow biopsy to see what will be next. How long this will be I am not sure - but I am here and happy to be moving along in this direction.