Don: I am back in Panama City and Karen is with her parents in Gainesville. Yesterday the Dr. gave Karen some platelets because she was down to 16k and they didn’t want to risk her dropping too low on Sunday. The lowest they want before they must give them to her is 10k. She has an appointment Monday morning. This is when we should start to see if she is still going down on her blood counts or starting back up. We may not have the whole picture until the next appointment on Wednesday.

Sunday morning she put on her mask and hat andwe all went to church. We again went to North Central Baptist of Gainesville. I sure do enjoy Pastor Calvin and that church. Then we did a little shopping. We missed Black Friday and Saturday because we need to avoid crowded places where there may be people walking around with colds and worse. Today was pretty sparse in the two stores we visited. We walked around quite a while. Karen is really doing good as far as her energy after just having chemo last week.

Karen should be able to post a message tomorrow morning while at Shands. Thanks for the prayers everyone. We still have months to go so please keep it up.

Hi everyone.  This stint in Gainesville has gone well.  So far the treatments have been okay, and I didn’t have to stay in the hospital as long.   I had a wonderful visit with my family, Gale, Big Randy, Randy, Jacob and Dylan.   Lisa Moates and her Dad, George Burdeshaw, drove here on Wednesday all the way from Panama city.  Thankyou for the beautiful Angels.  It was so nice to see you both.  Also Thanksgiving Dinner at Crystal’s was an answer to prayer.  We felt and ate like family.  what good food.  Everyone has been so good to us.  We are staying nice and cozy in the camper and Don has found a little country store down the way where he can work some.

We come to clinic a couple days a week to get my blood work checked.  Then they can tell if I need blood, or platelets, or electrolytes or fluids or whatever.  They also check my vitals and make sure I’m not having and fevers.  I have a slight rash right now that has been caused by the chemo.  I’m trying not to scratch it and I can take benadryl if necessary.  Luckily the rash came up before they started the antibiotics or research medications (2 more weeks).

Happy early birthday Jacob.  Nov.29!!! Hope you are doing something fun today. I will be thinking about you.  I can’t wait to get home to see everyone.

love Karen

Don: Today Karen, Ken, Madeline and me are going to be together. One of Karen’s friends from Panama City now lives less than an hour from where we are staying. She has invited us to share Thanksgiving with her family and friends. At the time I left the camper to head over to the country store and cafe that will be my new access point to the internet, they were still sleeping. I am not sure if we will be heading over there but it was very nice to get the invitation! No matter where we spend the day we are very thankful this year. We have received a lot of blessing in just the past 3 moths alone.

We hope that all of our friends that check in here at www.KarensDay.com know that we count each and every one of you as a blessing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Don: We didn’t have time to update you last night, but that is a good thing! Karen got her last bag of chemo (for this round) yesterday morning around 8:00 am. I packed up while we waited for the 3 hour treatment. Her parents showed up and Ken and I took a few things down to the car. The excitement was building. Finally we were all done. Then we had to furry up and wait for about two hours. Fortunately one of our favorite people to visit with. She and Karen kept each other (and the rest of us) entertained. Still, I was pretty bored and anxious to get on the road. It seemed to take forever.

Eventually we got out and went to the hotel to check in. We had family meeting us for a visit. Around 7:30 they arrived. Dylan, Jacob, Randy, Big Randy and Ma. We visited until around 11:30 and were up by 7:00. We have the whole day ahead of us as they will spend the night and not leave until tomorrow. Karen and the boys really needed this visit. We are so glad they could all come down. Karen may not get to go back to Panama City for about 17 more days. Well, I better get off the computer. Our activities director, Dylan, is about ready to start our day!

Love your families. Don’t take them for granted. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to reunite with those you care about.

I get chemo at 8 pm for 3 hours and then again at 8 am for 3 hours.  Hopefully my discharge papers will be ready soon after and we will get to go.  I am starting to get really tired again.  Seem to require a daily nap.  The kids are coming tomorrow for a couple of days with Gale and Randy so hopefully I can keep up with them.  Don and I will be spending a few nights in the hotel so we can be close to them.  The camper is just not big enough for everyone, but it works well with mom and dad and Don and I.  My blood cell counts will soon drop so I will be much more tired but hopefully not ill.  Once we get discharged our Internet access will be limited so we may not get to make as many posts.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday and remember what it is all about.  Praise God in everything…

love Karen

Don: We just got back from going to church at North Central Baptist here in Gainesville. We asked for a day pass to leave Shands and because Karen’s numbers are still good they gave us one. We really needed that. The service was great and spoke right to me. The title was Monuments of Victory. Those of you that have known me for a long time might already know that I have not been a long time church visitor. I am really enjoying my exposure though. Pastor Calvin shared the story of a monument made from 12 stones taken from the river Jordan. The story is found in Joshua chapter 4. I won’t mess it up by trying to tell it to you. Pastor Calvin also shared some monuments from his own life and from the church’s long history. One was from 1967 and was just a simple church newsletter. All this led to a question that he asked several times. What monument to God are each of us leaving to our children? It sure made me think!

Great service, great message and a really great bunch of people. We had received a suggestion from some other patients that it was a good church. We totally agree and really appreciate their suggestion. We have joined their email list and asked that they put us on their prayer list. We look forward to returning for further inspiration and messages.

good morning everyone,

It is raining here in Gainsville…looks pretty coming down out there.  We are trying to get a pass to go visit a church this morning.  Not sure when the Doc’s will get here but church doesn’t start until 930am so we will see.  I was a little nauseous last night so they brought me some ativan.  It helped and I slept pretty good.  I am looking forward to getting discharged on Monday and a visit with my kids.  We are still working out details, but it will be great.  Also Lori and Buffy, still looking forward to seeing you two today.  My email is down right now so I can’t get to your phone numbers.  

 Thanks for all the comments and visits to this site.  I appreciate each and everyone of you.  This is most definitely the hardest thing I have ever been through.  I am having to make major life changes…and I am not able to be with my kids which is really the hardest part.  The fear of the unknown, and the inability to make plans….Jacob turns 14 on Nov. 29.  Happy birthday my son.  I wish I could be there.  I am very thankful that my treatments are working and I am in remission.  It is hard to not want a quick fix…but this is something that will take some time.  Not for big babies.  Stay in touch….and keep praying for continued healing and strength for both  me and my little family.

thanks, Karen

Tonight we get the second round of chemo.  Not looking forward to it, but everything has gone well so far.  I am hoping for a good nite.  I am pretty tired from the day so surely I will sleep through most of it.  Wish me luck… One thing for sure, if the chemo keeps me awake, I start praying pretty hard.  That’s the good thing.  Love you all.  Karen

Hi everyone,

We took Leila’s advice and asked for a day pass to leave the hospital for the day.  It was wonderful.  Don had some work to do (computer stuff) so he had to meet up with us later.  Mom and Dad and I went to a western boot store, and then met Don at the Oaks Mall.  We got a bite to eat and enjoyed some walking around.  I’m exhausted but it was great to leave the hospital.  I have been feeling pretty good.  I have not been nauseous, just a little tired.  I’m having some discomfort in my upper lung area on the right just under my central line but all here are aware.  It’s probably just muscular since Don and I shared this twin sized futon last night. 

I really enjoy going over to the clinic side in the mornings down on the 7th floor.  I have met some really great people and we sit and visit on the couches and chairs while they wait on their blood work or tests or whatever.  Its a great time to share and motivate each other to keep up the good fight.  Alot of them have already been through the bone marrow transplant and are outpatient.  It’s rewarding to see the people that are doing so good.  Don and I also go and visit the 7th floor  patients there too.  My friend Natalie is doing really good now, but she had a ruff go for a while there.  I’ve spent alot of time praying for them as I know they do for me. 

love you guys,karen

Don: We have been here a little over 30 hours. Karen got her first dose of chemo last night and the second this morning. There will be no dose tonight or tomorrow morning. Then 2 more doses, a day off and then 2 more doses. After that we get discharged. While Karen is getting her dose her body feels heavy but that goes away pretty quickly. Overall she is doing absolutely great! We still have a long way to go. We know that there will be some low days ahead. In fact we have to wish for them because that is why you take the chemo. You have to get worse from treatment before you can get better. That is the only way to get rid of the AML.

We have had an almost boring day. At least we both felt that way. Now looking back on the day I don’t know why we felt like that. Karen’s parents showed up a little before noon. We were about to go on a walk. So we visited, did laundry, heard a volunteer singing down the hallway so went and got her to come to Karen’s room, went on a long walk, watched a few songs we recorded on www.SingSnap.com, Karen got a shower, went back to visit friends on the hospital floor she was on last month and in-between all that Karen visits with her nurses. She makes friends every place, even from a hospital bed. We are going to watch some DVDs as soon as she gets off the phone. Maybe I should say “if” she ever gets off the phone. Later, Don