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.”

Don: Early this morning Karen got a big surprise. They decided to do the biopsy. She had about 10 minutes from that announcement till they showed up with all their goodies and got started. She is very happy that it is over. It did not hurt at all. She takes that as a good sign. The only times it has hurt is when she was full of cancer cells. We think no pain equals no cancer. Sure will be nice to get the official word later tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned and keep praying for a cure! Thanks.

Don: They noticed a little redness around Karen’s central line. (That is the tri-port in her chest that they use for all her infusions.) They checked some blood and found a little infection. They are giving her extra goodies to knock out the bug before they do the biopsy. We will let you know when it happens and the results.

well, it looks like it is just another beautiful day.  I didn’t sleep real good last nite so it may be one of those slo daze I spend catnapping and catching up with friends and family.   The chemo has got me retaining fluid so I know when they bring in the lasics I’ll be running (not really) back and forth to go poty.  All in a days work.

Don: Tomorrow Karen will have her Day 14 bone marrow biopsy to see if she is in remission and the cancer cells are gone again. We will get the results on Tuesday or Wednesday and then maybe they can tell us what the next step will be. We found out from the endoscopy that she has a little something growing in her esophogus. They have given her some liquid medicine to take care of that. She takes it 4 times a day. On top of that we are still waiting for the counts to start coming up, focusing most on the white blood cells. Basically, we are doing what we are supposed to do; hurry up and wait. Thanks for all your notes of support.

Don: Karen has been having pains in the throat and esophagus for quite a while. It got worse with chemo. She had chemo on the 1st-3rd this month. Her pain has increased in the last few days. The doctor said he did not believe that it is just the chemo causing her discomfort. She has gone for an endoscopy and we may have some idea later today what is going on. It will be Monday or Tuesday before we have the full picture.

Don: I sure am glad it is morning. Karen had just a rotten night last night. She was very sleepy but the pain medicine, or more specifically her ability to push the button on the pain pump, was not really working. She has a pump programmed to give her small doses for medicine when she pushes the button and she can push it every ten minutes. If she pushes it before that it won’t work. Between the pain she would feel if she forgot to push the button or fell asleep and the anxiety she was experiencing for being afraid of the pain she might feel if she didn’t get to push the button, she did not get much sleep. We had visitors most of the day which she dearly loves but that means less (or no) naps throughout the day. Add to that, what Karen thought perceived to be, a nurse who hurt her feelings and you have an upset, anxious and in pain Karen.

On the bright side, they have adjusted the pain medicine normal, regular delivery so that she does not have to push the button as much. This gives her longer periods that she can doze and not wake up hurting. So we are expecting a better day and especially a better night. Sometimes our prayers are for something as simple as a peaceful night so she can sleep while her body continues to recover from the chemo.