The Met Gala 2012

The Costume Institute Gala held at the New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is excessively referred to as "fashion's Oscars." Then night was to celebrate designers Muiccua Prada and the late Elsa Schiaparelli with the new exhibition, " Schiaparelli and Prada : Impossible Conversatoins."  Celebrities takes risks like Anna Wintour and a crowd filled with actors, models and fashion designers. There were some amazing A-List dates such as Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlakde, Hilary Swank and Michael Kors, and Jason Wu with model Karlie Kloss.  Where do I sign up?!  Below you'll find the top gowns I loved and stayed confused about. 

         Giselle Bundchen in Givenchy Haute Couture    Ashley Greene in Donna Karen        

Scarlett Johansson in Dolce & Gabbana

                             Amy Poehler in Fotini                       Amber Heard in Zac Posen

                      Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney         Dianna Agron in Carolina Herrera
                           This dress weighed 22lbs!                            She's such a doll!

                          Jessica Alba in Michael Kors            Nina Broveb in Donna Karen Atelier
                                                                                               One of my favorite gowns!

                                   
                         Katherine McPhee in Elie Saab        Ronney Mara Givenchy

Gwyneth Paltrow in Prada

She looks amazing! Nobody else could have pulled this dress off.

                            Sofia Vergara in Marchesa               Amy Adams in Giambattista Valli Haute Couture 

                                       My favorite!

                         
                            Anna Wintour in Elsa Schiaparelli                Diane Kruger in Prada
                              The lobster is inspired by Prada                   This color is stunning!

Beyonce in Givenchy Haute Couture

   I think I love it, still not sure. She looks great though!

                      

                                             Rihanna in Tom Ford                Jessica Biel in Prada and Justin Timberlake

                                                                                            Can't wait for their wedding!

Sources:

usmagazine.com

vogue.com

stylist.com

fabsugar.com.au

Go Blood!

It's been a while since I have written about how I'm doing. You would think I have time to write but the day flies by! Since I've been home I haven't been out to much. I was still at a small risk of infection and did not want to chance it. So after being home my mom came to visit me! I spent the weekend with her and enjoyed her amazing home cooked meals. When we went grocery shopping I had to stay in the car. To many germs in grocery stores!

While I was in the car I usually had an adorable neighbor! 

The Super Moon view from my rooftop. I was so amazed! It was huge and beautiful!

* I have more pictures but my phone isn't sending them to my email, boo.

After my mom left I had to give myself projects to keep busy. I was at home all day and had to do something. You know all those little things you want to do around the house but never get to? Well I finally had all the time in the world to get it all done. I did a very deep Spring cleaning! It doesn't sound to exciting but weirdly I enjoy organizing and cleaning out what I don't need. :D 

The only time I would really go somewhere was for my weekly blood tests. I couldn't get on the bus so Jonathan had to take me. The follow up appointment with my gastroenterologist after coming out of the hospital was a very informative one. My blood tests results were ok but not to much of a difference. While I was in the hospital they did 3 blood tests through out my stay to see the levels of the medicine. My doctor was expecting to see very high levels of the medicine in my blood. The whole time I was in the hospital all the doctors assumed I had a dangerous level of the medicine in me.Well,  he was shocked to see that the levels in all 3 tests were normal. The only other explanation for my blood counts dropping is that my bone marrow became very sensitive to the medicine. He said it's like my body had an allergic reaction to the medicine but it's not really an allergy. In his 30 years of practicing he had never seen this happen to anybody. I was the first, lucky me! Let's say I have to have chemo, knock on wood, I have to warn the doctors that my bone marrow is very sensitive to Mercaptopurine. This medicine is used on cancer patients by the way. Of course, I will not be put back on Mercaptopurine! My doctor said if we did we're playing with fire. No thank you! 

I'm now only on one medicine which is nice and cheaper! The past couple blood tests finally started to go up. Last week was good improvement but this week was the best. Here's a breakdown of my numbers. 

~ Hemoglobin is now 9.5, yay! My cheeks are rosy and my legs have color. They're not pale anymore! (Red Blood Cells is also anemia level)

~Platelets is now 181, normal is 150 (this helps my blood clot if I get cut)

~Absolute Neutrophil Count is 2200, normal is 800. This one made the biggest jump because last week it was 1100. (the white blood cell that fights infection)

~White Blood Cell Count is 4.2, normal is 4.0 (also fights infection)

After hearing these new numbers on Friday it made me so happy! I am officially getting better and quickly! I'm finally going back to work next week. Home was cool for the first week or two but this last week I don't really know what to do any more. I can now go back to the YMCA and take my classes. I need to start moving again! I am so aware of germs now! You don't really think about it but we live in a dirty world. Purell and Lysol wipes have become my close friends. 

After all of this I realize that I am very lucky to be ok. I could have easily caught an infection and my body wouldn't have been able to fight it. Makes me realize how special life is. I just want to have happiness, health and love in my life. Everybody should! Everything can change in a moment, life is crazy. 

I'll occasionally write here about my health but focus a little more on fashion posts. Thank you everybody who contacted me , visited me and wished me well. I love you all!

I'm better! Have a lovely day!

Day 12

As many of you already know I was discharged yesterday and now I'm home! It was a lot sooner than I expected. In the morning the doctors came in and told me my white blood cells went up to 3.7! Then they started mentioning I could probably go home. I was a little nervous about coming home because my numbers were higher but not high enough for normal. All the doctors agreed including my Gastroenterologist that I can go home. Before I left they gave me one last platelet transfusion because the number did drop. Towards the end of the transfusion I start to get so itchy! I end up breaking out in rashes all over my body, it felt like I had the chicken pox! They gave me Benadryl through my IV and it worked pretty quickly. Soon enough I knocked out and when I woke up my rashes were gone.

My last platelet transfusion! 

I was given papers for future blood tests, appointments, medicine and I was out of there! When I went outside it felt so good. I was a little warm because I was used to just a hospital gown and pj pants. Now I had on a sweater, pants, top and it made me feel a little warm. The breeze outside felt good and cooled me down. We walked to the park that was always in my view but didn't go to far up. I became tired so we headed back to the car to finally go home. I was still a little drowsy from the Benadryl and I took a nap. While I was napping I could hear Jonathan cleaning EVERYTHING with the Lysol wipes and spray. He's so awesome. I finished off my night with a lovely salmon dinner and went to sleep in my own bed! My sheets felt so good and comfortable, I missed it. I have to admit I do miss the bed at the hospital. I loved that I can just push a button and it went up and down. Well, I'm home and it feels good. I still have a lot of appointments and blood tests to do. I'll still be updating this blog with what is happening.

I had to take one last look at this wonderful view. It's so much better in person!

Thank you everybody for checking on me, praying for , sending good vibes to me and supporting me. I couldn't have done it without everybody and a huge thank you to my lovely Jonathan. It's not over though, I still have ways to go until I'm completely okay.

Day 11

After posting yesterday I had a nurse and come in and tell me they were changing my room! I was okay with it at first until they showed me my new room. It is double in size but its in a quiet little corner, a little to quiet. I wasn't to happy at first because I had all new nurses and Patient Care Assistants and I was away from all the nurses and most patients. I was liking all the familiar faces! It's good I'm away from the patients because I don't need the germs but I do like a little noise and people viewing.  I also lost my view of the Golden Gate Bridge and now I have more of a city shot. It's still a nice view! Later in the day my two of my previous nurses came to visit me. She said she missed me, gave me a hug and even brought the recliner chair into my new room. They made me feel better by coming by.

Ok, time for number updates for today! All my number have gone up! Not to much but up is better than down. My white blood cells went from 2.3 to 2.9, hemoglobin is about the same and platelets went up one point. I'm glad they went up because they were dropping pretty fast. One of my doctors even gave me a smile and a thumbs up! haha loved that! The doctors said I would probably be out in a couple days. It's hard to say though since the numbers are going up slowly.

Well, here's a look at my new room!

 The view is still amazing! See that big park in the center? When I'm discharged I'm going to walk there, climb to the top, find a bench and just sit and breath in some good fresh air.

 My new room is double the space!

Stop! In the name of germs! hahaha

 I'm the only patient that has this "Stop" sign outside my door. Everybody that comes in can't be sick and must sanitize hands. 

Hopefully tomorrow is just another day of higher numbers ! Go blood!

Day 10

This is a blog that I use to talk about fashion related topics, some events in my life and anything I fancy.  I thought I would use this as my journal while I'm in the hospital to keep family and friends in the loop.
Also, excuse the poor quality of my photos. I'm a little behind technology and don't have a smart phone ;)

Today is day 10 of me being in the hospital and you know it hasn't been that bad.  It's good that I'm the kind of person that likes to hang out at home, watch tv and be on my laptop. I haven't driven myself crazy here and that can easily happen because I'm not allowed to go outside. I can only stay in my room and the floor I'm staying on. I'm able to take walks whenever I like and there are two different beautiful views of the city that I can go and look at.

The view from my room is the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge! I couldn't ask for a better view! oh!  and Claudette's building is the tallest white one towards the back, if your interested :)

This view is of Twin Peaks, USF church and Fillmore area. 

My family and friends know that I'm in here because my white blood cell count is down. Let me explain what exactly happened and why I'm here.

In January I was started on a new medicine called mercaptopurine or 6mp to keep me in remission for a long time. I had to do monthly blood tests every month to make sure my blood, pancreas, and liver were not being affected. This medicine has serious side effects and the doctors wanted to monitor my liver the most because it could become toxified. I did a routine blood test in the beginning of April and in a couple hours I was called by my nurse and doctor that I needed to go to emergency right away. All my blood counts were extremely low. Jonathan took me to emergency and I was immediately admitted to the hospital. My hemoglobin (delivers oxygen to my body tissue also my anemia number), platelets (helps the blood clot) and white blood cells (helps fight body infections) were affected by my medicine. I've had two blood transfusions and one platelet transfusion to bring my numbers up to a safe level. Until the medicine is out of my body the numbers are going to bounce up and down. We're all just waiting to see a steady climb up for my blood. Until then its to risky to let me go home because I could easily catch an infection or bleed spontaneously if I hit myself. One big waiting game!

 My IV line for my transfusions. That one is now out and its on my left arm now. The only time I'm hooked up to that is for my transfusions otherwise I'm free! 

 Blood Transfusion

Platelet transfusion

I had no idea it was yellow! They pull the platelet's out of the blood and that's what they look like.

Since I've been here so long the nurses are starting to know me and ask how I'm doing. It's nice to get to know the nurses, doctors and patient care assistants because right now they're my little community of people. Everybody has been so wonderful in taking care of me and I couldn't be in better hands. Another person who has been here with me since day 1 is Jonathan. Day and night he's been here with me talking to nurses, doctors and making sure I'm taken care of. One night he went home to do homework and everybody asked where he was and said he was so sweet for staying with me. I'm one lucky girl!

My patient board that is updated everyday. One day I had a Patient Care Assistant named Fernando!

A day for me starts at 5 am to have blood drawn every morning but of course I fall back asleep. I wake up at 7:30 am and wash up for the day. The doctors start to come in around 8 am until 11 am. I'm in a teaching hospital so I have 3 different residents come in and update me on my blood counts. I get to order all my meals and its all brought to me. I'm kind of loving that! Everyday at 2 pm I'm given a shot to help produce white blood cells. After that its just another day of hanging out with Jonathan watching some TV, napping and maybe having a blood transfusion. I've had Fernando and Claudette visit me here. They brought me great magazines, books and snacks to keep me busy. It means a lot to me that they came by! 

Now let me give you a little tour of my temporary lily pad!

I have some books, gossip magazines and fashion magazines courtesy of Fernando and Claudette. Thank you so much lovelies!

My closet is way smaller than my walk in at home! I have my gowns, towels, pj pants and my regular clothes at the bottom for when I leave. 

My salmon dinner with mash potatoes, and green beans. It's actually not that bad!

Me! I'm all good, well almost! My spirits are up :)

One of the many sunsets I've been seeing everyday. Every sunset is so beautiful and the backdrop makes it even more amazing. We need to stop once in a while and just look up. 

I'll be updating this blog everyday or as much as I can. Tomorrow is an important day for me because if the white blood cells are up again that means my body is starting to function properly on its own, yay! So cross your fingers, pray, send me good vibes, I'll take anything for everything to keep going up. Thank you to everybody who has wished me well and has sent thoughts and prayers my way. Until tomorrow!