Hi Everyone,  I love hearing from all of you.   It lets me know I am not alone in this.  Well, I know I’m not alone, but the communication is very helpful.  Dennis, I love the Dylan poems.  He is such an amazing child.  I can’t wait to see him and Jacob when we come home for a few days.  I really hope they let me go tomorrow but chances are better for Monday.  We shall see.  Don will come home on Sunday most likely for work purposes and Mom and Dad will bring me home Monday if I don’t get released Sunday.  We are all hoping for the best.  I miss my home so much…my kids, my pets, my home.  My nice hot bathtub.   I need a few days at home.  We have to be back here for blood work on Thursday.  Then maybe back home again.  They have the plan, and its all based on test results, which makes it very difficult to plan anything.  So there is no plan.  whatever they say, we will do.  Don’t forget to praise our Heavenly Father.  I love you all, Karen

Don: I have just buzzed my hair even shorter and Karen is a little smoother also. We are taking things one day at a time but starting to get a little anxious about the possibility of getting out of the hospital and even being able to spend a little time in Panama City. Then it will be back in for a week. It is impossible to plan any further ahead than that and it might change at any moment anyway.

I cried alot today. Don has been very busy today on the computer, so I had to entertain myself without a computer or him.  Mom and Dad were out running errands so they did not get by until 2 pm.  I think I am just really sick of being sick.  Even though I have so much to be happy for…It still gets hard. 

On the bright side, the music people showed up again today and we had a nice little sing along.  We sang Don’s favorite “Rainbow Connection” from the Kermit the frog Movie, “Amazing Grace”, “Hallelujah” from the Shrek movie, “Somewhere out there” from an American tale, and some other more folky type songs.

Don has been tremendous through all of this.  He is so attentive and hardly leaves my side.  I am so thankful and blessed to have him.  I would like to thank  the folks at Don’s work who have allowed him to stay here with me.  I am so much stronger knowing he is with me, and don’t think I could do it with out him.  I know that God would make a way, but I need my Don.  We have become so much stronger as a couple through this. I love all you guys, and am so thankful for the prayers and comments.  Keep it coming… Praise and thanks to God.

We have a tentative discharge planned for This Coming Monday, if all goes well.  We plan to drive home and then come back on wednesday night for thursday am blood test.  We will then know if we can come back home or stay a little longer.  We are waiting on my blood counts to fully recover then a week later (see why there is so much confusion) I must have a bone marrow biopsy to confirm that I am in fact truly in remission.  At this point all signs point in that direction.  This is  a very long process and will require many trips to Gainesville and many Bone Marrow Biopsies, as well as lots of labs.  I will be required to wear a mask in all public places and anytime I am outside.  My inside pets are considered okay as long as they are clean, not up in my face, and I do not scoop any poop.  It will be nice to come home even for a day, but trying to live without proper immunity is a scary prospect.  I know we can do it, but I have finally gotten comfortable with the “bubble world”.

Hi everyone, I am still hanging in there.  I keep hoping I’m going to have my last bad day.  My skin kept  feels very chilled and hot at the same time.  I can’t tell if I am cold and need more blankets or hot and need to take off some layers.  I bundle up like an Eskimo. 

I am no longer in pain so have not needed any pain medicine.  I have had 5 bm’s today.  None that would be called Diarrhea.  Sorry for any of you with weak stomachs, but this seems to go with the territory.  Nothing goes out of your body here with out inspection so at one point they were so short staffed that I was having to stack “hats of poo” so they could weigh them or what ever they do.  How humiliating.  And I am still peeing quite a bit from yesterday, I had a dose of lasix.  I have been so swollen and large in my stomach and legs, but most of that is gone now.  My weight is back to normal or lower but I was actually way over my normal weight by maybe even 10 lbs.  luckily I’m wearing stretch pajamas.   This has been somewhat miserable.  I am still grateful though, I am doing so much better than some others around here.  I don’t know if it is an easier time of things or better prognosis…. just better.  I feel so bad for some of them…

We have sent notices to a larger group of friends and family that might like to follow Karen’s progress here at Shands. This is just a reminder that the blog will always have the newest posts at the top. If you are just getting here for the first time you can go back to the beginning by clicking here. Remember to read from the bottom up if you want to read the messages in the order they were first posted.

hi everyone,  the biopsy went wonderful.  I was so scared I couldn’t quit talking.  It was done by a PA named Aaron, and I have really come to trust her.  I can’t believe it.  I had zero pain.  This is not normal which makes it a miracle!!  I love God.  results in about 2-3 days.   saw the sunrise yesterday.  I ‘ve seen better but it was pretty good to see.  love everyone, Karen

Hi everyone.  I am doing so much better.  They put me on a pain pump yesterday that also has a continuous drip of pain medicine.  It is perfect.  The pain is still in my stomach and esophagus,  but with this pain medication going, I hardly even hurt at all.    I’m not really able to eat because I feel so bloated and I am having a lot of fluid in my legs and abdomen. My allergic rash is almost gone.  I still have the petechiae rash from low platelets.   The doctor says this is normal after chemo until your counts get better.  I think my blood counts are probably fixing to start coming back up.

Don and I have been walking around exploring the new floor.  He holds my hand real tight and pushes my IV pole.  I have to wear a mask if I leave my room.  I get a little short of breath but the views are amazing.

I will be getting my bone marrow biopsy tomorrow.  Mixed emotions about this one.  The last time it hurt so bad.  I will be heavily medicated this time!!  I won’t have results for a couple of days, but then we will know what the next step is…  Pray that the bone marrow is clean and cancer free!!!! Also that it doesn’t hurt!!!!

love karen

We just found out that the address at the new hospital is:

Karen Cornelius
Shands at University of Florida
BMTU #7144
1515 SW Archer Road
Gainesville, FL 32608

No flowers, please. They might call her down to the nurses station to get a quick look but then they are taken away. Flowers are not allowed for these patients.

Don: Since Karen finished up two years of nursing courses and then got a job at Bay Medical about two years ago, she and I have been around hospitals and their staff, Doctors and nurses quite a bit. I really like what I have seen and the people I have met. I for sure wouldn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings back home but I think Shand’s is great. They have quality everywhere you look. The absolute best thing they have going for them in the areas we have been at this hospital is their people. We are obviously here on very serious business and it is so comforting when you get the feeling that the doctors and nurses have no doubt in themselves and the procedures they perform on a daily basis. Not that they are cocky, just confident that they know what to do and how to do it. Then you top off each one of those knowledgable people with true caring for the patients situation as well as the family that always accompanies the patient. They treat eveyone through the door as a valued customer and you quickly get the feeling that you are more than a customer, you are a friend. May God bless the lives of each and every person at Shands for the love and care they have shown.