I had some friends who wanted to have lunch last Friday. Lee Ann came by to pick me up and we met at the Rock House in Aledo. It was a delicious lunch with good friends (Dianne, Lee Ann, Gay, Nita). At the end of the meal we were visiting and Dianne reached down and picked up a gift bag. She brought it to me and handed me a card. The card was lovely and then she handed me the gift from the bag. It was a plant identification tag with the name LaDonna's Courage on it. She is a daylily grower and hybridizes them. She has hybridized a new daylily (it took almost three years to do) and has registered it with the American Hemerocallis Society (Daylily) in my name. I was totally blown away. It is a beautiful mauve with a dark purple band above a golden yellow throat. She also gave me four of the plants and a picture of what it looks like. She is now getting ready to produce it for the market. What a legacy to have a flower named after you that will be here for generations to come. A. G. is working on scanning the picture of the daylily and when he has the time, he will get it on the blog site.

People have been so very kind to me. The Amyloidosis Support Group Organization named their first note cards LaDonna's Floral Set. It is overwhelming that I have such a wonderful support group of family and friends. Then the Texas Center for Blood Diseases and Cancer named me the Face of Courage for last year. I may have told you about that but it is all very humbling.

I am going in for blood checks tomorrow after dialysis. I am sure I will have to have transfusions on Tuesday but it has been close to a month since I have received red cells. My hemoglobin has dropped and I can feel I need the transfusions.

We are going to my brother and sister-in-laws’ 50th Anniversary this next weekend so I want to be in great shape. This is an exciting time and as soon as my Friday dialysis session is over, we will be heading that direction. They are very special people to me.

Went in for blood work today the hemoglobin was 9.9 and the platelets were 26,000. The platelets went up another thousand and that is a very good thing. Should keep the hemoglobin at 10.00 or above but felt 9.9 was close enough so will not be getting blood this week. All I have to do is give myself three Neupogen shots because the white blood count was still too low. I am pretty excited anytime I do not have to spend the day in the hospital.

Well the good news continues. I went in for CBC testing today and my hemoglobin was 11.3 and it has been three weeks since I have received blood. My platelets have gone up a little and they are 23,000. So, no hospital visit tomorrow. A day off to do something besides “medical things” is exciting to me. Not sure what this means but I hope the stem cells may become active although the doctors did not feel they would after a year had passed. It has been two and ½ years since the transplant. If not, it is at least good news for today.