new meds and fluid...

Hey ya'll.  Behind on blogging, once again.  We will do a quick two day recap from Dad...

Yesterday, May, 21, 2012...
     Dr. Barrett just came around and said the reason she wasn't going home today was because her pain levels were up and down, not consistent.  They want her pain to be more evenly controlled, unlike last night.  It spiked agin, just like the night before, about midnight.  Her doctor is also concerned about her Vancomycin levels.  There is going to be a team of infectious disease doctors coming by today to see if they can recommend a different drug to help fight the cellulitis in her arm.  This is also the drug being used to treat her ear.  They might recommend a totally different drug or something to use in addition with the vancomycin.  Dr. Barrett says her sypmtoms are very hard to treat because the symptoms of her blood clot complications are very similar to that of cellulitis, and each can cause or even complicate the other.  He is so concerned because he has another patient on another floor that has the same symptoms that mom does.  He lost the use of his arm for an extended period of time.  That's where his main concern comes from.  He did say he wanted her sitting up more today, as long as the pain was ok.  He wanted me to take her on a "date" so I pushed her in her wheelchair to Subway, inside the cafeteria of the hospital.  Her nurses will be in shortly to help her bathe, and then she is going to try and sit up a little.  Hopefully she will get to come home tomorrow or Wednesday. 


Today, May 22, 2012...
     Mom has gone to get an ultrasound now.  Her doctor came by and spoke to me for about 30 minutes.  He answered a lot of questions I had, but there are some that just can't be answered at this point.  They are still debating on what kind of drugs to send her home on.  If she has fluid shown on the ultrasound, they will remove it either today or tomorrow.  If no fluid, they will release her today for sure. 

Well...they are still there tonight.  Here's hoping that she will get to come home tomorrow.  She is still pretty swolen tonight.  Update again tomorrow.

   

no words...

Really no change with mom today.  Dad said she had just an ok day today.  She sleeps a lot from all the pain medicine that she is on.  She tried getting up to walk a little today, but got sick and had to go back to bed.  Here are some pictures from her stay so far...

That's all from our camp tonight.


I am at a loss for words tonight for my little buddy, Noah.  I met Noah and his sweet mom and dad this past summer on the Lighthouse ministry retreat.  His smile and laugh were infectious.  The love that his mom and dad had for their little boy was contagious.  The huge scar that reached from his forehead to his neck from his brain surgery had NO affect on how much fun he had that week.  You couldn't help but fall in love with him.

I am not a mother just yet, but I like to think that my 18 babies that I teach each year are "mine."  I love each of them as if they were my own.  That's the only thing I have right now that I  imagine to be anything comparable to a mother's love.  Although I can't fully describe a mother's love just yet, I do know what it is like to see someone that you love so much suffer in pain and discomfort.  It is agonizing and tugs at your heart like no other.  However, with that being said, I have no idea the pain that Noah's parents are experiencing at this very moment.  Please lift their family in prayers. Here is the link for Noah's blog.  I hope Jessica's testimony during this nightmare touches you.  She is a true reflection of Christ. 

http://www.prayfornoah.com/

still here...

Hey Ya'll!  Sorry it has been so long.  Mom has been doing the usual since we left off, chemo every Monday.  Life has been pretty regular and rutine until this week. 

In the words of Dad...

     Mom had a new scan on May 7th.  These scans came back negative.  Her cancer is still in remission and the fluid that has been around her lungs seems to be not increasing, and actually decreased by a small amount.  Praise God!!  This is great news and a huge blessing!  Thank you Jesus for her chemo drugs, Tigatuzamab and Abraxane.
     She struggles with the fact that even though she is in remission, she has to continue chemo from now on.  Like indefinitely.  Positive to that is that she is still living and the hope that we find in the advancement of the fight against this horrible nightmare with medication.  The development of these two drugs allow women to have Hope.
     However, she is till having problems with her right ear and left arm.
     Her ear has been diagnosed with MRSA (click here to learn more about MRSA) about two weeks ago.  She has been waiting to see an Infectious Disease doctor since then.  This past Monday, May 14, before her chemo treatment she was finally able to see the doctor.  He seemed to be more concerned with her arm than her ear.  (Her arm has been very red and swollen since last week.)  After chemo that day he decided to put her in the hospital at UAB to do some tests on her ear and arm.  After all, her ear has been hurting her for about 7 or more months.  We were ready to find out what was going on. 
     Yesterday, they did a CT Scan of her head and an ultrasound of her left arm.  The news was not very good about either, but at least maybe now, her doctors can create a game plan going forward.
     First, her ear has an infection in the bone behind her ear.  Her ear has been draining since November and hurting very much.  Doctors have tired tubes, lancing her eardrum, and a series of antibiotics, but nothing seemed to work.  We found out a few weeks ago that it was indeed MRSA, but what the CT scan showed yesterday was that the infection is actually in her skull that is around her right ear.  They will treat this right now with drugs, but at some point in the future, she will have to have surgery to fix this problem.
     Right now, her doctors are more concerned with her right arm.  After many ultrasounds, this has shown a rather large blood clot.  This explains why last Tuesday her arm became swollen, red, and hot.  This is also the arm she has the lymphodema and cellulitis in.  They are giving her drugs to fight the infection and to also try and dissolve the blood clot.  She will be on these drugs for sometime, as she will have IV treatment at home twice a day.
     We have been in the hospital since Monday, and do not know when we will be home.  We are hoping sometime next week.
     Tonight, we are thankful for so much. We are thankful that her doctors found both of these problems.  She has felt so bad these last few months.  We finally have answers as to why now. 
     Thank you for ALL your prayers.  I ask that you continue to lift up our family, and most of all, my wife and best friend.


Now that we are all up-to-date now, I want to thank you for not giving up on us.  This has been such a LONG journey and we are not done yet!  Thank you for being our faithful friends, encouragers, and prayer warriors.  Your kindness and the loving spirit that you have shown our family during these trying months will never be forgotten. 

Here's promising to be a better blogger...xoxo,

c