Well, I feel much better this afternoon after receiving more platelets and 2 more units of blood.  I was able to do about 6 laps around the nurses station when yesterday I could barely get one lap in.  I am looking forward to getting discharged which may happen in a couple days.  My white cells continue to improve as they are at 970 today.  Don went out and bought me a burrito and some nacho cheese from taco bell and I was able to eat almost half with some milk.  I don’t feel like I have much appetite but I will continue to push myself to hopefully maintain my health and strength.  They are giving me more fluids since I havent had much output lately but after all the lasix I probably just got pretty dried out.  All of my organs seem to be functioning pretty well, with the exception of my tummy and a little bit of lung problems.  They are planning on discharging me with oxygen at this point to help with any difficulty breathing.  I just keep putting one foot in front of the other praying to my dear Lord for guidance and strength.  This is a difficult battle and easy to get discouraged but somehow through the love  and continued support of family and friends I am pulling through yet one more time.  I am very much looking forward to going home to Panama City again and having Christmas with my sister (and her family) from Virginia, and of course the rest of the family who lives in Panama City.  It will not be hard to remember the true meaning of Christmas this year as funds are tight, and energy to shop is minimal to say the least.  I am also very nervous to get out in the crowds for fear of getting sick.  We plan on focusing on the Birth of our dear sweet savior Jesus Christ, and the love of family and friends.  It will be the best Christmas ever!  Continue to pray and I hope during this busy holiday you too will remember and praise God for the gift of his Son. love karen

Don: Today they delivered fresh fruit to Karen for the first time in over 3 weeks. She didn’t eat it but at least it is now available. Tomorrow’s breakfast is going to be yogurt with fruit. Yogurt has also been restricted until Karen got over 500 again. These little things help us to know that she is improving. We love the feeling of security that you get in this environment but the goal has always been to get back to the world and life. We are getting closer. We know that your prayers have helped tremendously in getting this far. Today Karen is feeling very weak. We have not been getting in her daily walks for 3-4 days. We went out this morning and only made one lap around the floor. Prayers for continued growth in WBC and RBC while keeping away any growth in luekemia cells are greatly welcomed. It is also time for her to gain strength and she is no longer on the automatic pain medication so we need prayers for comfort as she starts taking pills to contol the pain. When you start growing cells in the bone marrow it makes you ache, alot. Thank all of you for what you do for her.

Don: We just keep praying and moving forward. They removed the automatic pain medicine delivery. She can still push the button if she needs it. This is really a great step towards being able to be discharged. Her oxygen level is holding pretty good at 2 liters, so we just turned it down to 1 to see how she does. She cannot be on pain pump or oxygen when they release her. She thinks they might be as close as two days away from release. We won’t be able to go back to PC for a little while though. Her counts are at 588 today. WBC and RBC both moved upward slightly. That’s another good thing. More later.

Don: Guess who has counts of 500? That’s right. Karen. White blood cells have been at zero for 3 weeks and started moving up two days ago. First to .1, then .2 and now they are at .5. She is getting platelettes tonight because she was all the way down to 5. The normal range is 150-450. They don’t have to jump too quick usually not gving them until she is under 10. Anyway, we are moving in the right direction. Just have to start getting her off of oxygen and pain pump. We have already been working on that, too. It won’t be long before they discharge her, this keeps up.

She has had two full days of visits from the Fantastic Four. The kids have been just great. All hanging out with their Mom in a crowded hospital room. They brought our Wii from home, another computer of mine and two computers of Heathers. We never had just one kid here at a time, but with all the distractions that were available she still had some one-on-one visiting with each of them.

My kids arrived wednesday evening and we are set up to spend some great time together as well as celebrate Jacobs’ 15th birthday.  I love a nice big thanksgiving dinner, but since I’m not really eating and stuck in the hospital we will come up with a dinner.

Also white count appears to be coming up finally, so as long as there are no luekemia cells this is a good thing.  Not sure when I will be scheduled for another bone marrow biopsy.  Anyway, have a happy thanksgiving and know that we will be too.  love karen

Don: Karen just said a prayer of thanks to God. Her counts finally came up off of zero! She is at 180. Both she and I are afraid to celebrate, for fear that there may be some mistake (already happened once this cycle) but having reviewed all the data more carefully, it appears that this may be real.
What makes us even more happy than having a few white blood cells is that the kids are here! All four of them came together. This is going to really be a great Thanksgiving weekend. We will have 3 days of visits with the kids, they will get to have some sibling bonding time (xbox, wii and two TVs in their room), Lisa M is trying to come by, Lisa S also plans to be here, Karen’s parents are still here with us in Gainesville and then let’s not forget those counts are finally on the rise!! Thank you God for all these blessings and more. Amen.

I am very excited my 4 kids are coming and will be staying at a local hotel for several days.  I miss them so much and can’t wait to see them.  This will definitely not be a traditional thanksgiving for us with me in the hospital and still not really eating much, but just hanging out is going to be great.   They all probably prefer to for go the turkey anyway.  mom and dad are of course still here so they will enjoy some time with the grandkids too.  Jakes birthday is Nov 29, so we will have to have some cake and candles and thank God for my wonderful son while they are here.  Hard to do any birthday shopping in the hospital, but cards and money should suffice for now.  Kids his age are so hard to buy for, and he knows what he wants more than anyone.

Well, I still don’t have any white count, but I have a small rash on my chin, face, chest and neck,  the MD thinks might be GVHD, and I guess this is a good sign.  We shall see…  I just take it one day at a time and do everything I can to stay strong and report any problems I’m having as soon as possible so they can address them.  I need to wear oxygen all the time but this too does not seem to be worsening.  I’m kinda on a plateau and just waiting for white cells.  I receive platelets and red blood cells as needed too.  This round of chemo was really ruff on this body!  But God is good and has given me strength and courage to continue to fight this battle.  I have a lot of peace and just take it one step at a time.  I love you all and thank you for your prayers.  I hope your thanksgiving day will be as good as mine surrounded by family and friends.

Karen

Don: Who knew that we would still be hanging around Shands for over a year? I never noticed that this particular Word Press theme did not have an Archive widget, until I went to review year old messages. It made it just about impossible for our visitors to get back to the begining of the blog. Well, I looked around and read some documentation and have added the monthly archive. If you have been wanting to review some of the older posts, this should help.

Don: For those of you that have followed us through any of our past treatments you know that blood work counts always go down to zero. Under 500 you are neutropenic. That means no immune system and you just have to be extra careful. No sick visitors allowed and no fresh fruits and veggies. We are watching the counts everyday and it is about time for them to start coming back up. I should be any day now. Let’s have a little pep rally and cheer those White Blood Cells back into existence.

Physically Karen is doing very well and we take regular walks. When we take walks they are 30 minutes to 45 minutes long. Considering we are just walking around in a circle, I am real proud of her sticking with it. They are so important. Between prayers, Shands staff and Karen’s efforts, she is moving forward once again. She is uncomfortable but they manage the pain very well so it is tollerable. We will let you know when the counts start up!

Don: The doctor was in. He said the results from Karen’s bone marrow biopsy were that she basically was empty in the bone marrow. There was not enough cancer cells to count. Nothing to count really. That is good news. They got more results from the endoscopy they did a few days ago. They had biopsied a couple of places in her esophogus and stomach. They have determined that she has stage 2 GVHD (graft vs. host desease). That is not a bad thing, though it might sound like it. They are treating both virus and fungus in that same area already and Karen has been responding favorably. What they do not want is to give her any drugs that surpress the graft. They want the graft to figure out that this body is where it belongs. Then they want it to learn that the only thing it should be fighting is Leukemia cells.

I am no doctor so I may have misunderstood a little of this stuff or messed up on my interpretation of what the doctor said. I am sure that Karen will be happy to give us all a better view after her nap! “Thank you God for getting us this far. Please continue to work on Karen’s body and cure her of the cancer. We pray to you day by day, as we follow the instructions of our doctors and nurses, for our need but understand that it is your plan, in your time. Amen.”