Don: I worked late Friday. In fact I worked until a little after 10:00pm. Then I headed for Gainseville. Well, I tried to head to Gainesville. I had to mess around trying to make sure my tires were aired up. The first place I went let more out than it put in. I ended turning around and going back a little ways to get air. It was about 11:00 (12:00 Gainseville time) when I was at Hwy 20 and Hwy 231. I got in 4 hours later. Karen was very happy to see me. She had told me I shouldn’t come down since I had to work Monday morning. She wasn’t any happier to see me than I was to she her! I was missing her. The weekend is over and I just got in. Itis 1:30 and I have to get up at 6:00am so I guess you all get lucky and I am keeping this one short!

We went to North Central Baptist again this week. Met more people. It really is a nice church. Pastor Calvin didn’t preach today. The visitor made a good presentation but I look forward hearing Pastor Calvin in a couple weeks. We will both be in PC next weekend. Not sure which church we will visit but I am sure we will go somewhere! Then we did a little shopping and ate dinner tonight at Pizza Hut.

Almost forgot. We moved from Payne’s Prairie today. The new place is technically a little farther down the road but is about the same driving time because of how slow and far it was from the old campsite to Hwy 441. We think we will like it here even better and we really liked Payne’s Prairie.

Karen will be home by Thursday and gone again the following Tuesday. Should be feeling well and counts up. I am sure she will spend most of her time with the kids and doing a little visiting during the day while they are in school. Plus has a stack of mail to go through!!

Hi everyone,  I am feeling better today.  My stomach seems to be settling down some and it helps having enough blood to walk and breathe.  My white count is still probably low but hopefully recovering.  I almost ran a temperature last night so we spent alot of time praying.  Praise God it never went over 100.1f and our orders were to call at 100.5.  Keep praying that I will stay well and get to come home soon.

I got a call from Johnny Dukes this morning.  He is taking care of my horse “Elvis”.  He is one of my favorite people in the whole world and can definitely take a girls mind off her problems.  We talked about horses and when we get to work together again.

Also Don showed up in the middle of the night 4 am.  And I was so glad to see him.  He can only stay for the weekend but I really need him.  Any time I can get is a blessing.  He helps me stay more positive.  Poor Mom and Dad,  I get so mopey at times.  They have been so good to me.  We have had to be at the hospital almost everyday this week.  We get there at 8 am and don’t usually get to leave before 2pm.  And I have been so tired and sick in between.  glad we are nearing the end of this treatment. 

I love you guys,  thanks for keeping in touch,

Karen

Don: I know that most of you would rather see a post from Karen when you come here. Thanks for understanding that some times you are just going to get another dose of Don. I talked with Karen a few times today (Friday). It was a long morning at the hospital and that is good news. That means it wasn’t a long DAY at Shands. The lab work yesterday let them know that Karen needed some platelets and some blood. So they got her cocktails ready and gave them to her this morning. This should keep her all fixed up for the whole weekend. She won’t have to go to Shands until Monday morning for more labs.

If it seems like most of these messages say the same thing it is because that is the nature of the beast. They watch her close and check her blood levels. If she needs some things they give them to her. She will reach a point that her body starts taking care of itself and they will not have to give her anything. Then after the 28 day cycle ends we go do it again. We are a little past the halfway point of this round. For those keeping track she had one month of the induction round and this is the first consolidation round. Today is day 17.

So the normal consolidation is: hospital for 6 days, getting chemo for two hours twice a day on day one, day 3 and day 5. Released on day 6. Her labs stay up for a few days and then go down around day 10-14 and then go up after about a week. They do labs about every other day and give her what she needs, when she need it. She needs to be at Shands on day 21 and 22 for procedures and exams due to the research program she is participating in. By then she should have good ‘counts’ and we can go to Panama City for about a week. I hope that helps clear up what is normal.

If you are still following me then you probably understand that we are at the bottom of the monthly cycle. Karen doesn’t feel very well today. Her parents are with her this week. She misses the kids and me. She is a little sad. About now I expect that one or two of you might have looked at the Subject of this message and are asking, “How in the world are -Things going really well?” It’s all relative. You know the cycle that we are on with these treatments. Well Karen and her body is reacting exactly the way you would expect for anyone in this program. To us that is a blessing and we count it as such.

She will be lots happier tomorrow. We have 2 or 3 surprises lined up for her. One of them is me. I can let you know because she can’t get to the internet tonight so when I get there it will still be a surprise to her! Please say a prayer for Karen’s continued spiritual, mental and physical well being and leave a comment now and then. Your support, prayers and just knowing you are coming by to visit go a very long way in Karen’s recovery. We love and appreciate you all for being here.

back at the hospital.  My counts were pretty low yesterday so I needed platelets again.  It made for a really long day.  We went back to the camper and I slept the rest of the day.  I have been so weak and tired and it  feels like my heart is racing.  The Doc wanted me back in today instead of waiting till friday just in case I needed something else.  It feels like I have enough blood to lay down or sit, but not quite enough for walking…Otherwise I am doing great.  no fevers.

They will probably have me come back here for my 2nd consolidation treatment by Mid December.  This means Christmas will be completely up in the air.  Not sure when to shop, put up a tree? who knows.  I wish we could somehow squeak out a normal Christmas with the kids…o’well, this is just for now.  It is difficult to be here.  I miss my family and old life so much.  God is in control.  And I thank him for my remission.  Keep us in your prayers.  I hope to come home soon.

love karen

Don: We have stayed at Payne’s Prairie for about as long as they can let us be there. It is a state park and they do have rules. They have extended our stay twice already. This means that we are looking for a place to park the large 5th wheel camper and truck. We may be able to go back to the state park for a period of time after we have been gone for a little while. We would like to find a place to put the camper for 5-6 months so that we would not have to worry about moving it again.

So here is the favor. Do you have or do you know someone who has a parking space? We are open to suggestions and are willing to be next to a barn, in someone’s yard or another RV park. Those of you that know Karen know that next to a barn is probably her top choice! At a minimum we need water and electricity. Septic/sewer hook up is a plus. Maybe you know someone in Gainesville who has an appartment near Shands or not near Shands? Perhaps a little Mother-in-law place over the garage?

We might be able to get into the Hope Lodge at some point but we have friends who just got in after being on the list for 7 weeks. We definitely must do something quicker than that. We are only just starting our search and I couldn’t think of a better way to start than to ask the people who know and love Karen if they could help. We look forward to hearing your suggestions! If you would like to email us with your thoughts and don’t already have our email address it is Karen <at> KarensDay.com. Sorry I can’t post it for you as a clickable link but you know those bad robot programs would scoop it up and use it to spend us spam.

Don: Karen had an OK day at her Shands appointment. It was another long day. We talked a few times today but never long enough and we both wish she was in Panama City. I spent another long day at work. I just got home after not leaving the office until 10:00. I never seem to get caught up when I get to come home. The worst part is that even though I am in town I don’t get home in time to even see Jacob and Dylan, much less spend any time with them.

Karen and I spend much of our time on the phone talking about the boys and looking forward to spending time with them soon. It is impossible to make any real plans as each trip to the Dr. is another change in what we thought might be the plan for the next few days or a week. We just keep on going to the Dr. and waiting for them to tell us what they think might be on the agenda. Bottom line again today is that we are waiting for Karen’s numbers to start going up. She has not bottomed out yet from this round of treatment. We might be about there though. Today is day 15. We have a totally unofficial goal of her coming home after appointments on day 21 and 22. It might be for almost a week but we aren’t sure and aren’t counting on that happening.

Keep Karen and our family in your prayers and send her comments if you have time. She loves hearing from all of you, often!

Good morning everyone, 

we are here at Shands early today,  hoping for a shorter day.  We were here until 4pm on Monday, waiting on labs and then of course more platelets.  I have been very weak Monday and Tuesday, but feel better today.  I am hoping that my labs are all much better today and I can come home soon.  They should have the new plan for December today…. we shall see.  It is so nice to read all your comments.  I love hearing from you guys.  I will have more updates soon.

love karen

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!