Comments (1) Krissy will be on EXTRA! tonight at 7:00, channel 4. DON’T miss it! The last time she was on EXTRA! our website and Be The Match got a lot of response! WAY TO GO KRISSY! I realize this is last minute.. so go TIVO and DVR if you have a chance. Otherwise I’ll try and get a copy of it up onto the website somehow.
I wanted to say happy mother’s day to all of those that are moms and read this blog. this day is particularly poignant for me because i think about my own mom and how amazing she is. as most of you know, she is stricken with a degenerative disease that causes loss of motor skills, speech, etc. it’s one of the most devastating things to watch happen to the mother that used to do everything for her kids. she was quite literally a super mom. always involved, prepared, and loving. she still gives me that eye when i am being a brat, but most of all, the best is when i know that she understands when i tell her i love her.
mommy, you are still the best. i love you with all of my heart and know that if things were different, you would be going door to door to register people and finding me a match. fear not, though, i’ve been lucky to have several other moms help fill that role. to those moms (you know who you are… my power trio), thank you for being there for me and stepping into that role.
i love you all…
also, as a reminder, if you haven’t signed the petition that is in honor of Michelle, please do so by clicking on the below link:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/sb1304/
take care…xo,
krissy
Hi Everyone!
well, there’s actually quite a bit to update on!
first and foremost, I had a doctor’s appointment today and, while there is no trend to report yet, my white blood count (specifically the nupogen) is starting to fall. Typically, my range is anywhere between 1500-1900, however, today it was at 400. Apparently, this is the first line of defense of cells that protect against infection, so doctors want to make sure that it doesn’t continue to fall because then you are susceptible to all sorts of infections, yuck! i go back in 3 weeks to check it again and see if this is something to be more concerned about or if it’s just a blip.
enough with business… on to the fun and exciting things! As some of you may remember, I was interviewed on Extra last summer and the response received from that little segment was amazing!!! (2500 people registered because of it). Well, because I am semi-celebrity (ha! jk), they want to do a follow up on me!!! We’re working out the details, but it looks like this will be more in depth this time AND perhaps some recognizable names will be attached! I’ll keep everyone up on the details as I get them. Exciting stuff! Now, if only we can get Mario Lopez to register on air…. hmmm… next stop, Oprah! 
Ok, well, that’s about it for now. I’ll update after my next doctor’s appointment. Hopefully, it’s just a blip!
for now, take care… keep spreading the word.
Together, we’ll make it hapa’n!!
xo,
krissy
Below I’ve posted the link to the Act created in Michelle Maykin’s honor. Please sign the petition. It’s super quick and easy to do online and could really help increase the number of donors we sign up. It provides an incentive for saving a life. Which sometimes is necessary to push people into doing something that may seem really scary to do.
Signing this petition supports SB 1304, the Michelle Maykin Memorial Donation Protection Act, which will provide employees up to 5 days paid leave for the purposes of bone marrow donation.
The Act: http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_1301-1350/sb_1304_bill_20100219_introduced.html
The Petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/sb1304/petition.html
If any of you Hapas out there have felt different or as if you are the only other mixed race out there, well, i’m here to tell you that you are not! Kip Fullbeck is a professor, author, speaker, entertainer, etc. and wrote the “part asian, 100% hapa” book a few years ago. he just followed up that project with “Mixed” which is all about mixed race kids.
The exhibit opened this past weekend at the Japanese American National Museum and showcased a numbr of the kids that were photographed for the project. it was really neat hearing him speak about when he was growing up and the challenges he faced. So much of it I related to! For example, when filling out ethnicity and having to check one box, he said it felt like picking between “mom” and “dad.” it’s funny, but I thought i was the only one who felt like that.
i loved seeing how many different mixes there were in these kids and how beautiful, unique, and amazing they all are. Thank you Kip for bringing a multitude of faces to the “Hapa” name. I feel like I have a group to identify with and am lucky to be a part of it…
now if only some of these young kids can turn 18 tomorrow and get registered!! 
take care for now…
xo,
krissy
I’ve included a page to our blog about how you can support our supporters. We have so many Team Krissy followers and they all have been working on their own projects and fundraisers to support LLS, City of Hope, Team Krissy, A3M, and Be the Match.
Check out this page periodically to find out about the many ways you can support Team Krissy by supporting others with similar events, fundraisers, and causes. We get tons of responses from followers asking how they can help, especially if they aren’t able to physically sign up to be marrow donors (which is always the number one way you can help..) Check out this page and you may find alternative ways that you can help us out.
If you would like your fundraiser, event, or website added to the Share the Support page just leave me a comment or send us an email at teamkrissy@gmail.com
Thanks!
Don’t blame you if you don’t! Apologies again for the lack of writing. I don’t have much excuse other than that fact, that I just simply didn’t have time.
I do now though!!! :) so what’s new with me? well, a couple things. First and foremost, I am doing well. I received the results from my biopsy and things look good, really good! There are no blast cells in my marrow, which means there is no sign of progression to leukemia at this point!! woohoo! My counts are still very low, but staying stable. stable as a rock, as my doctor says to me!
I did have some excitement in the recent weeks though. I think that whoever is up there looking down on me likes testing me to see how far they can push me… A few weeks ago, I was leaving a restaurant on Montana Ave (of course, it was at night and it was raining) heading to my car after dinner, minding my own business. As i was crossing the street (IN THE CROSS WALK!), i suddenly noticed that there were headlights mighty close to me. Yep, I got hit by a car. WHAT?? who gets hit by a car?? well, as you can tell as I’m writing, I’m ok. Only by the grace of God… no broken bones and no internal bleeding. I flew up in the air quite a bit, so i’m thinking that my body is really great at rolling with the punches! :) I’m still a bit sore in the back and hip, but other than that, i’m doing ok. I’m a bit freaked out to cross streets, but i’m on the mend.
Other than that, not much else. HA! pretty eventful, wouldn’t you say?
On a happy note, my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their second daughter to the world. Caroline Anne is the beautiful, precious new addition to our family. Her big sister, my niece Aidan, is doing pretty well with it. Aside from suggesting that we take the baby back to the hospital she’s being a very good big sister.
So, there are lots of things to be thankful for in this first bit of 2010. I can only hope and think that it will get better from here on out (not sure how it could get worse after starting off by getting hit by a car)
TeamKrissy is still powering through. We’ve made a new-ish connection with Athena’s new group, Mixed Marrow. This is a great organization that is just getting started, so look for big things to come from them and TK together.
i’m going to start writing more and more so stay tuned… it won’t be another 3 months till you hear from me again, i promise. as always, thank you for all the continued support and love.
take care… xo,
krissy
Come out on April 24th, between 1 pm and 5 pm, to our Team Krissy Spring Boutique Fundraiser and Marrow Drive.
We will be signing people up to be donors at this event. SOOOO.. if you haven’t signed up yet, this would be a great opportunity for you to come out and meet the family, check out the beautiful boutique sale, and save a life!
Here’s the flyer I made
Hi All!
Happy New Year! I hope that the holidays were filled with friends, family and love. My holiday was very nice (especially since I had a nice break from my crazy, hectic work schedule). Work over the past couple months has been even busier than expected, which has kept me from being able to blog- sorry about that.
In any case, I wanted to share a bit of good news that I received from my bone marrow biopsy in early December. I AM STABLE!!! well, truth be told, my doctor said that all was “neutral,” but hey! I’m taking that as a GOOD thing! The blast cells are not multiplying from when I was diagnosed and that is the most important thing. So the good news is that for now, I am staying stable and the MDS is not progressing to AML!!
I can’t tell you what a relief that was to hear after everything that happened in 2009 and I am now VERY dedicated to really spreading awareness for the need for donors. I want to be able to make a difference while I have the energy, good spirit, and positive outlook. I think that 2010 is going to be a big year.
There are several things that are going to be happening with TeamKrissy and I am very excited. I’m not yet going to divulge everything until we have more details, but do know that we are excited for this year so please continue to stay tuned!
Again, thank you all for all of the constant support, please keep it coming as we head into this new year. I will update again later this month after I have another check up with my doctor.
take care… xo,
krissy
I met Stacy Walker about a year ago or so through several different contacts. I believe it was her that reached out to me first to introduce herself and let me know that she, too, was battling MDS. She had been diagnosed a bit before me and I had a bunch of questions for her. It was nice to speak with someone that also shared the same disease as me and we could talk about the similarities, especially since we were the same age. As we emailed back and forth, I felt an instant connection. Not only was Stacy also mixed race, had MDS, was my age, but we also had the same doctor at City of Hope! Dr. O’Donnell is the MDS specialist and was treating both Stacy and I.
It was funny when we figured out that we shared the same doctor… it was fitting, really, since it felt like we were in this together. Over this past year, Stacy’s disease had begun to progress. First still in the MDS phase, she was starting to have a lot of fatigue and wasn’t feeling so well. Lots of trial drugs later, Stacy let me know that by late June her MDS had progressed into AML (acute myeloid leukemia). This was devastating. I hadn’t heard from her all summer and by this time it was late fall. I felt horrible that I hadn’t checked in earlier in the summer. My fear for her progression was rooted in what had happened with Michelle and Nick this summer. I was simply praying that Stacy would respond well to the chemo and that the cord blood transplant would work. The last email we exchanged was in late October, about a month ago. Things seemed to be going well with the latest chemo treatment and I told her that i would check in after her biopsy in a couple of weeks.
Those weeks passed and I went to Dr. O’Donnell for my check up. I asked how Stacy was doing. She said she was struggling, but that she was hoping that the last round of chemo did the trick. i guess looking back, i could see it in her face that it was not going well. i finished my appointment with dr. o’donnell and went on with life.
this past weekend, my family and i had a meeting at A3M and i was talking about Stacy. it was then that they let me know that Stacy had passed away a couple of weeks ago. it was literally like the air went out of the room. i didn’t know how to respond. i tried my hardest to fight away the tears and keep the meeting going. finally, when the meeting was over and i was by myself, i couldn’t hold them back any more. it was hard enough learning about Michelle and Nick this summer, but now Stacy was gone. She was my buddy, my compadre fighting this weird disease. i didn’t even get a chance to say good bye. to be honest, part of the tears came from the deep seeded fear that this could happen to me too. more than anything, though, i am saddened by the loss of my friend.
even though we never met face to face, we were friends and i know that she is now at peace, not feeling sick or tired or discouraged any more. my love and prayers go out to her family. I’m going to continue fighting and raising awareness for donors in honor of Stacy and Michelle and Nick. I know Stacy would want me to keep doing all that i was doing- running, drives, speeches, etc.
For you my friend, I will do my best to get as many people as I know registered. I’m going to miss emailing with you. It was always a highlight to see your email in my inbox. I’ll keep on truckin, just for you.
xo,
krissy
ps- as an update on me: my platelets are a bit lower and therefore, i’ll be going in for a bone marrow biopsy on the 7th. i’m feeling fine though… i’ll send another update after the biopsy. Continue to spread the word… we will get everyone registered.
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