Update from Kara

Hi all.  Wanted to give a quick update.  Jo had her post-chemo doctor's appointment today.  Platlet counts are low, but always are after chemo.  She'll go back to check again Thursday, but we're probably looking at a platlet transfusion later this week (again, normal MO for her the week after chemo).  Mom has been super sick (got a ferociously bad cold while she was at the hospital with Jo last week) so it's been pretty quiet at the house.  Lots of sleeping (though I hear homemade vegetable soup and bread was part of the menu this weekend)...  She's back on the Fentenol (msp???) but on the lowest possible dose.  Getting back to pain med levels of pain is a bit worrisome (remember all the crazies we had with too much pain med??) but necessary where she's at right now.  We'll do tests next week to see our progress (shooting for the 10th) and she has an appointment the morning of the 14th to discuss those results and the next plan of action.  It's been thrown around doing another round of the 1st type of chemo (not our favorite plan), another type of chemo or revisiting Barnes to see about what options they might have.  But again, not much to go on without the test results.

Anyway, that's the scoop as of now... peace...

It's Mom ... came home from hospital last night. Went by Cancer Clinic after hospital discharge and got her Neulasta shot (it always hurts her b/c it's the one that goes in the upper underarm, which even a baby's pinch hurts ... and it's the one that makes all of her bones ache in a few days; but, it's also the one that helps rebuild her counts). I contracted a grievous cold while in the hospital and I'm not sure there's any way she isn't going to get it. Although we attempt to stay sterile, sometimes I think just breathing the same air in a house can pass it around. But God is good and fully in charge, so it will be okay. She's resting today; still has an appetite, which is a good sign. Says she feels "puky", but she still gets hungry, so again, a good sign. We don't know what the next step is going to be since she has now had all of this drug that is considered "safe" for a lifetime (it deteriotes the heart). We have a dr's appt on Monday to see where we go from here.

Thanks to all for everything ... we thank God for you. I have a little book from Honor Books Publishing (Cook Communications Ministries) which doesn't give me authors to reveal, but it has Letters from God (based on scripture), which I am thoroughly enjoying. This is the one on health and healing:

"My Daughter,

My desire is for you to live in health all the days of your life. Bring Me your pain, sorrow and grief and I will give you joy and health. Hold on to Me because I am your strength. I want you to live out all the days of your life and fulfill every plan I have set before you. I am the Lord who heals you.

God"

Scriptures:

Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me. He forgives all my sins. He heals me. -- Psalm 103:2-3 TLB

O Lord my God, I called out to you for help and you healed me. -- Psalm 30:2 NIV

"I will restore you to health and I will heal you of your wounds", declares the Lord. -- Jeremiah 30:17 NASB

I am the Lord who heals you. -- Exodus 15:26 NIV

You who fear my name, the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. -- Malachi 4:2 TLB

Praise the Lord! In Everything ... Give Thanks. God Bless ...

Chemo week

Jo and mom are at the hospital for chemo week number... I don't remember.  Just another chemo week that is her life...  The orders had some medication frequencies that she didn't like (would pretty much make her sleep or be out of it the whole time and we don't like that.  Too much potential for craziness to come back that way... and she's in the middle of a book series and says she has to catch the serial killer :) ).  Anyway, we expect her to be in through Wednesday at least.  We'll be updating as we can.  Love to all :)

It's Mom -- Jo had her dr's appt on Thursday and her counts were good; we're scheduled for an echogram tomorrow afternoon and another dr's appt on Thursday. If all looks good with the echogram (the doxirubicin can affect the heart so we're trying to watch it closely), and, if her counts are still up on Thursday, we will start another round of doxirubicin on Monday morning (2-21). We'll be in the hospital at least three days (but, as most of you know, it's a toss-up on how long for sure). Jo is feeling tired a lot and gets frustrated at not having enough energy to do things she'd like to do, but her cold is better and we're hopeful she'll be out of the house some this week, weather permitting. With the warm weather melting the snow, our driveway and yard is like a mud pit (it's almost as slick as the ice we had) so we have to be careful to not pull in the yard or we may be stuck there (which makes it interesting getting to the car!)

Jo and I wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day (and a special happy birthday wish to a special guy!) As usual, our thanks to all for your continued support; we are very appreciative and couldn't make it without your prayers and best wishes. Take care and God bless ...

1John 4:10-11 "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another."

It's Mom ... Johnna has a cold; we'll have to watch closely for fevers, per dr. She stayed in bed all day Saturday (watched the extended version of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and was up only a little on Sunday. She did not watch the Super Bowl or go to her dad's for his birthday, so that tells you how she was feeling. We had a dr appt yesterday; her platelet count was up and the rest of her counts were okay. We have to flush her two pic lines every day (they were still having trouble drawing blood from them) and we have to watch for fevers due to her cold; as Kara said earlier, her activities are restricted to no more than two hours at one time. Her chest is still hurting some, but now we can't tell if it's the cold or something else; therefore, again, we're watching. Today, she's still in bed and watching various DVDs (currently 'Transformers') ... We have another dr appt on Thurs at which time they will again run blood tests and we will discuss with Dr. Godwin the chemo plan (as far as we know at this time, it will be doxirubicin again.)

Thanks to all for your continued support. God bless ...
Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (KJV)

Chemo Pushed off until the 21st

Well Jo and mom went in to the doctor today.  Her platlets were down so she's in the hospital now to get a transfusion.  Her counts won't be back up high enough to do chemo as scheduled on the 14th so she'll now be doing it on the 21st.  She's also in a lot of pain today.  Apparently, she tried too much yesterday.  She was out of the house for a few hours to grab some food and run by the store (which incidently took much longer than it probably would have without all the snow, but...).  She's now restricted ot activities and being out only if it will take less than 2 hours.  THAT's a bummer.  We'll have to see what that means for superbowl sunday/dad's birthday...

Anyway, that's the update I have.  Have a good weekend, everyone :)

Jo is having good/bad/good/bad, which is usual for after chemo. We had a dr's appt today, but due to the weather forecast, we changed it to yesterday (which was a good thing since our drive-way is currently a sheet of ice covered with snow). Her counts were good yesterday; she was actually feeling good when we were at the dr's. Dr. Godwin made comment as he came in the door that she was certainly looking good for just having chemo last week. Today, she felt pretty good when she got up, but after she ate, she started feeling poorly again and has been in bed ever since. She had her neulasta shot on Friday afternoon; that's supposed to help her immune system, but since it goes into the bone marrow somehow, it always makes all of her bones hurt (usually 2-5 days after the shot). One of her friends brought her a wonderful home-made lasagna meal on Sunday. It was wonderful! Jo ate a really good portion of the salad, bread and lasagna. It was really, really good ... thanks again, Allison!

Dan has come over twice since we came home; she so enjoys visiting with him. They get to talking about twelve different topics at the same time, always keeping the thread going on each of them, often with opposite opinions on the subjects, and almost always things about which I know nothing ;o), e.g., computers, music, politics, etc. He and Chass have so much going on (both in school; the 4-yr old and 1-yr old, etc.), he doesn't get to see her as much as she'd like, but they make up for lost time when they can. He's good medicine for her and he always makes all of us laugh; he could have been a stand-up comic. It's good for Jo to talk to someone other than me (she already knows everything I know; she needs new food for thought.)

We have another dr's appt on Friday. They'll check her counts again then. (Good thing the appt isn't before then 'cause I don't think I would get her there; we're currently having a white-out up here on the hill.) If all goes well with counts, we will see the dr again on the following Thursday with the next chemo probably starting on Monday, Feb. 14th.

Thanks again to all for everything: prayers, thoughts, cards, food, etc. Just knowing there are so many people out there who are praying and keeping the faith helps us to keep ours. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. According to Mark 9:23 (NIV): "Everything is possible for him who believes." No wonder "keep the faith" is such a popular phrase. It may be a cliche, but that's what we need and are asking you to do ... keep the faith.