Cancer Bloggers Reunion: Debby Greer-Costello

Debby Greer-Costello lives in San Antonio, Texas, with her daughter Zoe, 8, but she is spending the summer with the Debu__sweetie, Tim, who lives in a Seattle suburb.

Debby is a two-year leukemia survivor (she had a transplant at M.D. Anderson in Texas) and blogs as Debutaunt.

"I'm a long time blogger (over five years)," she writes, "but have only blogged about my cancer/treatment since October 2005.

"Before I had cancer, I used to write about Internet dating weirdos, working, the commute from hell, and of course, Zoe. I'm glad now that I blog because it's really nice to have a reminder of dates and events."

Debby was an Air Force brat and moved all around the country until 1980 where the family landed in Texas. Debs has a B.A. in humanities with a major in English writing and a minor in art.

"When I was diagnosed I was an editor for an environmental remediation firm," she says. "I am divorced, but now am dating Tim, who lives in Seattle. I hope to move there once we are married because I absolutely fell in love with the city as well. After I finished my treatment, I moved to San Antonio and now live with my parents. I haven't been able to get back to work yet, as I take immunosuppresents and am susceptible to infections."

Her Cancer
Debby writes about her cancer:
"I went to the ER with a terrible headache in October 2005. Turns out the headache was a severe sinus infection, but was admitted for an unusually high white count. Normal counts should be below 11,000, and mine was 117,000. I knew that I most likely had leukemia; Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia to be exact.

"They then immediately transferred me to M.D. Anderson in Houston and I started chemo three days later. I did five rounds of chemo between October and February 2006 and then had a stem cell transplant on February 27, 2006, with my brother James as my donor. I am now 27 months in complete remission, but still have some residual side effects from graft vs. host disease."

Life After Cancer
Debby and her daughter Zoe raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society at www.teamzoe.net.

[Skip that latte today and send Zoe the $3. Just a suggestion.]

Debby also volunteers with them and does the Light the Night walk each year. "This year we have teams in Houston, San Antonio, Austin, and Seattle," Debby says. "Zoe's goal is $30,000 this year. We have raised about $12,000 to date."

She also volunteers as a patient ambassador for the National Marrow Donor Program through the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, writes articles about stem cell transplants, and does some public speaking as well. "Although it makes me nervous," she says.

"But my favorite thing is just to hang out with my daughter and play soccer mom."

Contest Winner
Debby was also the winner of the 2007 How LOW Will Komen GO? contest, and gets to drive my red Corvair while she is in Seattle.

Read Debutaunt's entry about the contest: Jingle Jugs

Go to: Debutaunt

Be sure to read this post if you are doing your end of life planning: Into the Hole ... A little humor at a funeral? Always a good idea.

For more on the Cancer Bloggers Reunion, including profiles of the other bloggers who are coming, go to this link and scroll down: Cancer Bloggers Reunion

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.