Tiny update from Gib

I happened to go to a designer showcase at a new house in Burlingame -- almost as swank as Kelly Bligh's fundraiser party. I did what all solo guys do when they are not quite sure what they are doing at a designer showcase -- I headed out to the backyard for a beer then hung out on the fringe of the crowd.

So who did I find? Mike Tonneson, blending about as well as I did, beer in hand. As a neighbor, he had been invited to the party, too.

He was guardedly optimistic about Bonnie. It was a very big deal that she had gotten a "hall pass" and even a "get out of jail free" card to actually go outside the hospital to say goodbye to the girls last week. (If you haven't seen the photos, click here.)

We wandered the house, both laughing about being at a designer showcase, wife-free. I remarked that Bonnie would have liked the tour. Although Mike would like to have Bonnie home, he was glad she wasn't seeing this picture-perfect house, as it would have initiated lots of wonderfully stylish (and expensive) ideas about projects Bonnie would like do on their house. He was happy that it was the neighbor, and not he, that had embarked on a seven year remodel.

Nice day in San Francisco. Jonny Mosely was on the cover of the Chronicle as they set up a ski jump on Lombard Street with 10 tons of snow imported from the high Sierras. Nice article on "Alicia", too, the San Francisco copy editor with cancer -- apparently she got some good news. Here's the link: Alicia's Story.

Tonneson Family Photos from MN

I received the following note from Allison Lipnick who recently visited Bonnie in MN while Michael, Devon and Isabel were there. Here is the note, along with the link to photos from Allison:

Gib:

Most of these photos from the past week in MN are definitely blog-worthy. Bonnie asked that I send them to you. Enjoy!

Allison

The photos are on Snapfish and may require you set up an account with them, but it's free and worth the hassle. Here's the link:

Tonneson Family in MN

If you have any problems with the link, please send me an email by clicking here. (It's hard for me to test the link at the moment.)

Gib

That time again -- 8000 visits

That's right -- a familiar rite of passage:



8,000 visitors who care about Bonnie. I'll check the Magic Eight-Ball to divine Bonnie's counts on Day 28 -- that's the likely day we will see evidence of engraftment from cord #3. Remember, third cord's a charm! Fingers crossed.

Day 9 Update from Michelle Ebersman

Hi Gib,

I spoke briefly to Bonnie this morning. She sounds
great. There is no major medical news right now. She
has told her doctors that she doesn't want to know
anything until there are definitive results. She
doesn't want to go on the roller coaster that she went
on last time with her numbers going up, down, up,
down. She said it just stresses her out too much and
she becomes obsessed with the numbers so she wants no
news until it is good news that is here to stay.

Mike and the girls left yesterday. They had a
fantastic visit. Bonnie was allowed to walk the girls
to the car to say goodbye. It was her first fresh air
since she checked in to the hospital in July. She
said she was weak and wore a mask but it felt great.
The girls will be coming to Minnesota every third week
for a long weekend. The next visit will begin October
12th. She said Mike took many photos so I expect he
will be sending them to you very soon.

Michelle

Bonnie Day 4 Update: From Michelle E.

I just spoke to Bonnie. She sounded really strong and energetic, especially since she called me at 10pm MN time.

Mike and the girls arrived yesterday. They arrived much later than planned because Mike's rental car got towed when he parked it outside their apartment!

Bonnie said they had a great day today. The girls were so happy (as were Bonnie and Mike) and they painted their toenails and played with lipgloss. I believe tomorrow is Playdough day.

There is nothing to report on the medical front. Bonnie's doctor told her the best thing she can do is "keep it boring". Preventing infection is so important right now -- she can't let an infection get in the way of engraftment again.

Bonnie said her entire immune system is on her IV pole right now and she is anxious to have her own immune system sans the pole. She is on Predisone right now and that always makes her feel energetic; she says it gives her a "false sense of strength." She will be on it for 2 more weeks. The good news is her energy level, the bad news is Bonnie has a hard time sleeping when she is on the drug.

Assuming engraftment in the next few weeks, if someone were to test Bonnie's DNA, she would have 3 different types: her original, the cord that may have had some engraftment the first time around, and the new cord. The writers of "Law and Order" should incorporate someone who has had a cord blood transfer into one of their episodes as a criminal- they would never get caught!

If the new cord is the one that engrafts, she will go back to having A+ blood, her original bloodtype.

Michelle

Note from Mike on 9/21 (Day 3)

Not much to report today (Wed).

Bonnie had transplant #2 (consisting of cord #3) Monday night at about 10:30p. As with the last transplant, the actual procedure was rather uneventful. Took all of 5 minutes.

She is in good spirits. Very bullish on this one. We keep chanting "third cord's a charm". Fevers and rash are largely under control right now. She is in pretty good shape going into this one, simply remarkable shape relative to all she has been through.

It is pretty much "wait and see" for the next 3-4 weeks to see how this one engrafts. Will keep people informed RE any news on that front, but we don't expect there to much to report (by design) until Day 21. (Clock was reset with new transplant, so it is now Day 3).

Isabel, Devon, and I are on a plane to MN as I write this. We'll be there for 6 days, until next Mon. Girls have literally been jumping up and down in excitement. So have Bonnie and I.

Bonnie recently got a "Hall Pass", and is allowed to walk the halls with a mask. Good thing, because she really has been getting stir crazy -- it's now roughly day 55 in the hospital.

Bonnie and I are just so overwhelmed by the event on Fri. A sincere thank you to all who attended or participated from afar. One way or another we will now be getting Bonnie on a private plane home in Dec -- in order to avoid exposure to infection on a commercial flight while she is still immuno-compromised. Special thank you's to Kelly, Alicia, and Charlie for organizing, preparing, MC'ing and hosting. We are humbled and so very grateful to these three amazing women, and to everyone who participated.

Will report back more in coming days from MN.

Best,
Mike

Brian Mott's Team in Training Fundraising

Here is a photo and follow-up note from Brian Mott who recently ran the Pacific Grove Triathlon, raising $3,300 for the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in the process:



Dear Friends of Bonnie,

Last weekend I completed the Pacific Grove triathalon and not only did I actually complete the event without throwing out my back but even tied my previous time!(there's hope for us old geezers yet!)

Thank you all for your very generous support. Together, we raised over $3300 for cancer research! I realize that for many of you this has been the second or third time you've contributed to the Leukemia Society for an event that I've done - the Leukemia Society and I very much appreciate your repeated generosity!

Last Saturday, it was a surprisingly beautiful day since the previous day was cold and overcast. For those of you who care about such things, I completed the "kelp crawl" (a.k.a. the swim) in 36 minutes, the bike in 1 hour, 17 minutes, and the run in 48 minutes. Overall (with transitions) a time of 2 hours, 52 minutes- which put me in about the 31st percentile of finishers.

Thank you all again!

Cheers,

Brian Mott

Bonnie Day Zero Redux

Today is Bonnie's "Third Cord's a Charm" day, with the second introduction of cord blood stem cells via an IV. It's a simple process -- here's the photo of Bonnie from six weeks ago when she had the first and second cord-blood transplant via IV. Go Bonnie!

Photos from our favorite digerati...

Did anyone happen to notice the gentleman with the oversized digital camera last night? Well, that was Rick Friedman, and he took lots of photos for your viewing pleasure. You can see them all by clicking here.
Follow the link and note the button underneath that says, "view without signing in."

New Photos from Bonnie's Fundraiser

If you would like to see photos from Bonnie's "Fly Me" fundraiser from Friday night -- at Kelly Bligh's house in San Mateo -- just click on any of the photos in the right margin of this page. Or, you can click here to see all the most recent photos on Flickr.

Ricky (not Racky!) Friedman was the official photographer, so we'll follow with more photos from him later.

Thank-You to Kelly, Alicia, Hilary and Charlie

Here, they are, our hostesses for last night's fundraiser to fly Bonnie home:



Many thanks to all of them for a fun and successful event. Big thanks, too, to all of the big-givers, both remote and at the party, who probably tallied about twice what anyone would have expected for the evening.

I will follow-up with lots of photos and stories later, but at the moment, I need to make my wife coffee!

PS. Bonnie is well. She spent about an hour on a cell phone being handed from one guest to the next. By her own admission she was on a bit of a steroid high. She had a loud, strong voice and was absolutely tireless despite the fact that it was 11 o'clock MN time. (If anyone still has the cell phone, Kelly would like it back!)

Third Cord's a Charm! (Note from Mike)

Here is an update from "Blogger Mike"...

Gib:

Not a lot new since last week. We have had several roller-coaster days, with the first transplant fooling us into thinking it was achieving engraftment. White counts of 0.1 for a week, then up to 0.3 one day, then back to 0.1 the next, etc. The net of it is that they have concluded that the first transplant did not work.

They started prepping her Wed of this week for the next transplant. ATG is the primary preparatory regimen, which Gib describes wonderfully in his posting two days ago. (Click here to see his post.) Transplant will take place Monday.

She had been feeling a lot better over the last several days, now that the virus has been contained. But, she did have significant water gain last night (8 lbs worth overnight!), but that is an expected side effect of the ATG, and should be temporary.

She seems very positive about Monday. She is in pretty good shape (RE fevers, rashes etc) going into this. Her repeated gleeful mantra is "Third cord's a charm!" That's something we are all chanting around here.

Mike

See you all tonight at Bonnie's fundraiser. Click here for details.

7,000 and counting

Just passed another milestone, hitting



visits to "Bonnie's Blog." Kind of makes me nostalgic for that first 1,000 visit milestone in June!

So, with 7,000 visitors, I expect quite a few donations for Alicia and Charlie's fundraising party tomorrow evening in San Mateo. Read all about it by clicking here. (If you can't make it call Alicia Sanguinetti at 415-350-2464 to make a donation.)

Jogging with Kristen

By now, most of you realize that my wife, Kristen, is a hematologist/oncologist with a lot of expertise with leukemia. We jog together early many mornings, and in order to slow her down, I ask lots of questions which I know will require a long, drawn-out explanation, which forces her to run slower so she can breathe and talk at the same time.

So, this morning I asked her about AGT, which is the immune suppressant Bonnie will be taking for a few days in preparation for her second cord-blood transplant next Monday. It turns out that AGT is basically a horse or rabbit serum designed to trigger a response by Bonnie's remaining t-cells when the serum is injected into Bonnie's system.

Here's how it works: human t-cells are injected into a horse or rabbit which provokes a response by the animal's immune system. Magically, a serum is harvested from the horse or rabbit, and this serum is processed and injected into a patient -- in this case Bonnie. This serum provokes a response by Bonnie's sole remaining t-cells -- the serum is trained to "fight" t-cells. The net effect is that the t-cells are focused on fighting the horse serum, which means the donor stem cells can enter Bonnie's system without as much resistance from Bonnie's t-cells, thus improving the odds of these stem cells finding Bonnie's bone marrow and propagating a new immune system. Bonnie's t-cells have been effectively distracted by the horse serum.

In some cases, the horse or rabbit serum provokes a large allergic reaction, but Bonnie has undergone this treatment before -- in early July -- and she tolerates it well. The AGT treatment continues for a few days, then Monday she should be ready for the second cord-blood transplant.

If you haven't checked it out yet, read "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cord Blood Transplants But Were Afraid to Ask" by clicking here, or be sure to check out details on this Friday's fundraiser for Bonnie by clicking here.

What do normal couples talk about when they jog in the early morning?

New World Record

Happen to be sitting in my cube late at night when the flashing bells and whistles I hooked up to "Bonnie's Blog" suddenly went off. Apparently,



visitors have visited "Bonnie's Blog" today. Boy, that's a lot of emails Mike no longer has to send!

Anyway, I promised Alicia and Charlie I would bump their fundraising effort to the top of the site every so often, so please click here to learn more about the party this Friday evening in sunny San Mateo, CA. If you don't live in CA, follow the link nonetheless as Charlie and Alicia would appreciate donations, which includes cases of wine, et al, so if you can't make it in person, come in "spirit."

Thanks for visiting!

Tiny update from Gib

There are lots of wonderful posts from Alicia, Charlie, and Michelle below, which provide a nice "weekend update." If you are a Cliff Notes person, it is established that Bonnie failed to engraft (e.g. the new stem cells did not "take"). (Bonnie is 1 of 3 people treated in MN with a cord-blood transplant who failed to engraft -- terrible luck.)

She will begin a treatment mid this week. I believe the drug is called AGT and is an immune suppressant designed to suppress any residual t-cells in Bonnie's system. If these lone remaining t-cells are not suppressed, they could "fight" the new stem cells that will arrive via the second cord-blood transplant. No additional radiation or chemotherapy is required as Bonnie currently has no immune system, and the assumption is that the leukemic cells were obliterated with the last round of chemotherapy and radiation five weeks ago.

Given Bonnie has no immune system, she will have constant infections which her doctors will fight via anti-biotics targetted towards whatever infection she has at the moment. Four weeks after the second cord-blood transplant is administered via I.V., she should have a new immune system which is capable of fighting infection itself. Cross your fingers.

If you are struggling with medical concepts or "what's really going on..", it might be a good time to read, or re-read Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Cord-Blood Transplants... (but were afraid to ask).

Fundraiser in CA September 16th for Bonnie

Gib's note: This is a re-post of a post from last week. If you are interested in making a donation, call Charlie Hays at (650) 342-0123. If you are interested in attending a function this Friday night at 6p.m. in San Mateo, CA please call Alicia at 415-350-2464. Details follow:

To All Friends of Bonnie:

The following is an invitation to a fundraising party in honor of Bonnie Tonneson. If you or someone you know has a fabulous item to donate to the silent auction, or would like to donate food or beverages, please contact Charlie Hays at (650)342-0123.

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A FABULOUS EVENING OF COCKTAILS AND APPETIZERS IN A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN SETTING HONORING OUR GOOD FRIEND, BONNIE TONNESON!

6:00 p.m. Friday, September 16, 2005
165 Warren Road, San Mateo
650-401-5686

DEAR FRIENDS,
As you all know, Bonnie is in Minnesota for a cord blood transplant fighting to beat leukemia. She continues to stay positive as she battles this disease and she remains an inspiration to all of us. As a result of all of this medical treatment and associated costs, we would like to help the Tonneson family.

Our goal is to be able to raise enough money so Bonnie and Mike can fly home on a private plane and thus, not take any unnecessary health risks on a commercial airline. Please understand this is not a luxury, but a necessity.

Please help us make this happen for Bonnie. We thank you so much for continuing to help the Tonneson Family. We are asking for a minimum donation of $100 per person. Thank you in advance for ALL your support. WE WILL BE HAVING AN INCREDIBLE SILENT AUCTION, SO PLEASE BRING YOUR CHECKBOOKS.

If you would kindly RSVP for the party by September 10th and please make checks payable to the Tonneson Family. You can send them c/o Kelly Bligh at 165 Warren Rd, SM, CA 94401.

If you have any questions regarding this event, please call Alicia Sanguinetti at 415-350-2464.

Alicia

Weekend update from Charlie

Here is a note from numero dos of the three amigos, Charlene Hays:

Hi Gib-

Just a quick update on our girlfriend Bonnie. Alicia, Kelly, and I spent the weekend with her and had a great visit. She is in great spirits, looks as beautiful as ever, and is so thankful to have another chance at engraftment. They are hoping to do the third cord Friday or perhaps Monday, and Mike will join Bonnie in Minnesota for that event.

We spent all day Saturday sharing gossip and laughing hysterically- basically making all the nurses and other patients wonder what was going on in there. Bonnie's Uncle Mark arrived in the late afternoon for a short visit, so we took a break and when we came back, Bonnie was being treated for a fever, believed to be a reaction to some platelets she received that day. Her doctor was not concerned about this and chalked it up to "bad luck".

Sunday morning, Kelly awoke feeling sick, and thus was not allowed on the floor for fear of bringing any new virus. She flew home early, and Bonnie, Alicia, and I spent some time working on our knitting projects, reveiwing RSVP's for the party on Friday, and planning various fun things to do next year when Bonnie is stronger.

Bonnie sends her love to all her friends and family- she misses everyone and is eager for any news of life on the outside.

Looking forward to meeting you Friday!! Bonnie says you're a stud (referring, I believe, to your athletic performance and blogging prowess!).

Charlie

Thanks, Charlie, for the update. First time my blogging skills have been referred to as stud-like, but I appreciate it. (I will put a bag over my head this Friday night to maintain my anonymity.

Tiny update from Michelle

Here is a quick update from Michelle Ebersman:

hi Gib,

I spoke to Bonnie briefly today. They are definitely going to go ahead with the 3rd cord transplant. I saw Mike at pre-school pick-up (today was Devon's first day!) and he told me that the prep time is 5 days, not 1-2 as they had thought. So they will begin prepping Bonnie on Wednesday for a transplant next Monday.

Bonnie said that Alicia, Kelly Bligh, and Charlie had a great visit with her over the weekend so I am sure you will get some great emails from them very soon.

Michelle

Thanks, Michelle, as ever.

Weekend update from Alicia

I just wanted to give you an update regarding our weekend visit to Bonnie.

Kelly and I had planned on leaving last Friday evening on the redeye to head to Minnesota. While getting ready that evening, I got a surprise call from Charlie stating that her hubby had come home early from a business trip and now was able to come with us. As Kelly picked me up that evening in a cab to head to the airport, I had Charlie first surprise her… it was a great way to start our trip! We all headed to Minnesota that night and arrived at 5am, found our way to the apartment the Tonneson’s have rented for their guests, and took a little nap. We rested up and after getting all the “plane germs off our bods” (a serious must) with showers, etc., we arrived at the University of Minnesota around 1030am. (Bonnie still had no idea that Charlie was with Kelly and me.) We went up to her floor and knocked on our buddy’s hospital room door and after a few screams, laughs and smiles, we gave Bonnie another good reason to smile.. Charlie made a grand entrance!! We were all so happy to see our friend, Bonnie… there were tears of joy… and I might add, that it was torture not to be able to hug her immediately….we blew her lots of kisses from afar and took our seats and began lots of hours of story-telling and laughing. I might add that, despite the hell she is going through and feeling horrible, looked beautiful and had such a great attitude.

After quickly getting caught up, we learned that the Doctor had just been in that morning and they confirmed that they are definitely going to use the third cord that they have reserved for her. I think that the transplant is going to happen sometime at the end of the week…we all need to keep her in our prayers.

We had the most wonderful day together…We literally just sat like the three amigos about four feet from her bed and told stories and laughed all day. It was a priceless day. We were sorry to say good bye that evening, but after many hours of quality time, Kelly, Charlie and I left our friend to rest… she had her Aunt Lia and Uncle Mark in town, so we changed shifts with them and headed out.

The next morning we went back to see our gal-pal, but unfortunately Kelly wasn’t feeling 100% so they wouldn’t let her on the floor… they are very strict, as to be expected. IT was a bummer for Kel, as she had to say goodbye on the phone to Bonnie and fly home early. L Thank goodness we all had such a great visit the day before. Kelly left L and Charlie and I visited all day with Bonnie. It was a nice relaxing day.. we knitted, chatted, etc… it was just PLAIN GOOD to hang out with Bonnie.

We blessed her with Holy water that my step daughter had brought back from Lourdes, France… We had an incredible few minutes of prayers together, Bonnie finishing her prayers with, “Please God, I want to live.” It was quite emotional… it was a very powerful. Once again, the day came to an end and we had to leave for the airport…we did sneak a hug in on our girl… we just kissed the top of her head… J

Bonnie continues to stay strong and positive…she is so inspirational. It was so great for Kelly, Charlie and I to see her… it was such a wonderful weekend… we can’t wait to go back and see her when she is out of the hospital after this next transplant is a success.

Love, Alicia

Good day for Bonnie -- from Michelle

I have been speaking to Bonnie on an almost daily basis lately. Sometimes her frustrations and suffering can be so clearly heard over the phone just from the sound of her voice. On those days, I struggle to keep it together after we speak. But today was not like that. Bonnie sounded strong and was laughing a lot.

The only medical news is that she has had a fever for the past 2 days (it reached 102 at one point) and a CT scan of her lungs this morning showed that she does not have pneumonia and her lungs are clear. Tomorrow is the next all-telling bone marrow biopsy. With a little luck, she will have the results tomorrow afternoon.

On a lighter note, Bonnie shared with me a call she got from Mike last night: he called her from his car at 8pm as he and the girls were on their way to Costco. When Bonnie is home, those girls are in bed with lights out by 7:30. But Mike had promised Isabel that he would take her to buy potstickers and a promise is a promise. When the cat is away,...

Michelle

Over 6,000 visits

Time to add a little color and life as we hit 6,000 visits -- that's 6,000 visitors who care about Bonnie! Let's give her a big "Go Bon!"







Thanks, all, for being there and for your tireless support of Bonnie.

Tiny update from Gib (and medical editor Kristen)

I did have the benefit of a long car drive with our medical editor, Kristen Hege. She basically said that it was good that they managed to diagnose the HSV6 -- it was probably something that Bonnie had colonized but never knew about when she had an active immune system. This definitely wasn't something Bonnie picked up from kids "booting" on her hospital room floor about a week ago.

It's a matter of time to see if there is engraftment that was delayed by the HSV6. If she doesn't show signs of engraftment, then they will likely give Bonnie the third cord-blood donation and look to see if that works. Kristen's recollection is that MN has a 5-10% failure rate for cord-blood transplant, so she is hopeful the first graft will take.

Trying the third cord-blood transplant isn't particularly controversial. No more induction or chemotherapy is required as Bonnie currently has no immune system and, in concept, all of the leukemia cells have already been obliterated. So, doing a second transplant is as straightforward as hooking her up to an I.V. The scary thing is that Bonnie has been more than a month without an immune system -- she is neutropenic -- and this leaves her highly susceptible to ordinary fevers and infections that a normal immune system can handle easily -- but that are dangerous for her. A second transplant would mean more than two months without an immune system, which is scary.

Let's cross our fingers and hope for the stem cell counts to come up.

Posting from Charlene Hays

Here is a posting from Charlie, who spoke with Bonnie on Labor Day.

I spoke to Bonnie briefly this evening- her aunt is with her, and she is glad to have company to pass the time with. Her voice sounded strong, and she is upbeat, though she has had a fever all day today. I keep trying to think positive thoughts and visualize her new cells multiplying- perhaps if we all do this, along with Bonnie's daily mantra (see Alicia's email), we can generate some positive energy for our girl.

Charlie

Thanks, Charlie, for keeping us posted.

Bonnie and Alicia delGrande phone recap

Here is a note from Alicia delGrande who spoke to Bonnie, today (Saturday).

Gib,

I just spoke to my hero, Bonnie. I was talking to her about how brave she is.. she is so amazing..… I asked her how she does it…. She told me of the mantra that she says over and over inside her head:

- Peace
- Accept the hurtles
- Tackle the hurdles….
- FIGHT to win and FIGHT to live

I thought I would share this with everyone… I sure hope it is okay with Bonnie that I am doing so…. I didn’t even ask her….. I was hoping that everyone would say these powerful words….. thank you.

Alicia

Thanks, Alicia, for sharing your words and post.

Update on Bonnie's tests via Michelle E.

Michelle Ebersman spoke to Bonnie and got an update on Bonnie's results. As always, it's a wait and see situation. Michelle describes it pretty clearly in her post below:

I spoke to Bonnie and here are her results. Basically:

- There are no stem cells, as yet. That in itself is bad as we would expect some engraftment at this point, BUT...

- Bonnie has Herpes Simplex 6 (that horrible rash she told me about a few days ago which is notorious for delaying engraftment. So she is holding on to hope that the Herpes is what has prevented engraftement.

But, the stem cells have a shelf life which varies with each patient and the question is whether they caught the herpes too late. She was laughing as she said, "I can't believe that I am happy to have Herpes".

On an added note, there is a third cord-blood unit available which they have held in reserve. Bonnie's physicians will do another bone marrow biopsy next Thursday. If there aren't stem cells then there is some discussion that they will do a transplant with the third cord at some point in the future.

Kristen and Bonnie will be talking shortly. I will try to post a carefully edited version of what is happening with Bonnie, as well as her options, sometime over the weekend.

Bonnie's new phone: (612) 273-0212

Michelle Ebersman just provided this update after talking with Bonnie:

Bonnie just called and asked me to get her new contact info on the blog. She moved across the hall. Her new phone is 612.273.0212 and her room number is 4B-229. After 30 days they need to give each room a major cleaning to get rid of all the germs so she had to move across the hall. The good news is that the new room is four times as large as her first one. She says she "doesn't know what to do with herself in all the space." For starters she will re-decorate with all of her cards on the walls.

She was waiting for the doctors to come in to tell her the results of yesterday's bone marrow biopsy and if there are any new stem cells present. She sounded understandably nervous. She said she will call me with the results as she knows there are a whole lot of us who are anxiously awaiting the news. Rest assured, I will drop what I am doing and email you as soon as I hear anything.

Mike and the girls are on their way back to California today. They will be back on September 21st.

Thanks,
Michelle

Thanks, Michelle, as ever for the update -- keep us posted on the results once you have them!