I spoke with Mom tonight for an update on how she's feeling.
She had a blood draw today to check her white and red blood cells.
She heard from her Oncology nurse today and she needs to go back up to Seattle in the morning to get 2 units of blood. She is super fatigued, but no longer dreads the transfusions as she always ends up feeling better afterwards.
Dad is such a trooper. He is a tireless chauffeur and he sits with her for hour after endless boring hour and is happy to do it. Tomorrow they will be making the trek alone as none of us kids can make it, but with Mom able to walk again it is not as critical as before. Thank you Dad for loving our Mom so very well.
Aunt Soli stayed the night last night and hung out with Mom this morning while Dad was gone. Later, Aunt Edna came and she was the one to take Mom for the blood draw.
Thank you Aunties. We love and appreciate you!
I wanted to give you an update on Mathew, my cousin. He is finally out of the hospital. He got the chest tube removed and is staying with Dayla and Brett recovering. We love you Mathew! I am glad you are doing better and we will continue to pray for complete healing.
Love to you all,
Kimberly and family
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Two busy days.
Tuesday Mom and Dad had to travel back up to Seattle for a 5 minute appointment to get her shot. It was a long drive up and back but the shot is an immunity booster, so super important.
When she got home, her good friend Debbie Grose came to stay and visit with her in the afternoon. Debbie and Mom worked together at PCLI and Debbie is also a Co-Chair of Mom's benefit. They had a great afternoon together. Later, Mom's brother Dean came and then Aunt Elaine was able to come after work and they had dinner together and visited. They had a nice time and got to catch up with each other.
Today Maria came and brought the kids to see Mom. They made marshmellow popcorn balls and Mom had a great day watching them play and spending time with Maria.
Carmen was there with them tonight after work and they were having a nice relaxing evening.
A few things you could pray for would be her mouth sores which are back,her fatigue, and a newer symptom which is her fingernails are now peeling off and very tender and sore.
Thank you for your prayers.
Kimberly
When she got home, her good friend Debbie Grose came to stay and visit with her in the afternoon. Debbie and Mom worked together at PCLI and Debbie is also a Co-Chair of Mom's benefit. They had a great afternoon together. Later, Mom's brother Dean came and then Aunt Elaine was able to come after work and they had dinner together and visited. They had a nice time and got to catch up with each other.
Today Maria came and brought the kids to see Mom. They made marshmellow popcorn balls and Mom had a great day watching them play and spending time with Maria.
Carmen was there with them tonight after work and they were having a nice relaxing evening.
A few things you could pray for would be her mouth sores which are back,her fatigue, and a newer symptom which is her fingernails are now peeling off and very tender and sore.
Thank you for your prayers.
Kimberly
Monday, July 28, 2008
She's OUTTA ' THERE!!!
Mom and Dad hit the road for home about noon.
They only gave her 8 hours of post hydration today so that cut their time off by 4 hours. The other thing that got them out was they asked the Dr.'s to write for all her post chemo RX's yesterday, so they were ready. Usually that's a hold up as well.
Mom is extremely fatigued, and was really battling a lot of nausea this morning. But, just before they de-acccessed her port,they gave her some anti nausea med right through the port instead of through an i.v. She said it really got the nausea under control quickly and she was so relieved to get in the car to ride home not feeling lousy.
She has to go back up to Seattle tomorrow for the nuelasta shot as it didn't work out to get care established in Centralia or Lacey before now.
They have all her info and records now, so she will see an Oncology Dr. in Centralia on August 7th and hopefully and future things like shots and radiation will be done closer to home.
Mom has a great case manager that coordinates and gets approval for things she needs and we are grateful to her for her work on making this happen.....eventually. :)
For now, she is back in Lewis County. Thank you for praying for her and Dad through round 4!!! She did it! God was faithful in giving her everything she needed to get through. Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement. It makes such a difference to her and means so much to all of us.
With much love,
Kimberly
They only gave her 8 hours of post hydration today so that cut their time off by 4 hours. The other thing that got them out was they asked the Dr.'s to write for all her post chemo RX's yesterday, so they were ready. Usually that's a hold up as well.
Mom is extremely fatigued, and was really battling a lot of nausea this morning. But, just before they de-acccessed her port,they gave her some anti nausea med right through the port instead of through an i.v. She said it really got the nausea under control quickly and she was so relieved to get in the car to ride home not feeling lousy.
She has to go back up to Seattle tomorrow for the nuelasta shot as it didn't work out to get care established in Centralia or Lacey before now.
They have all her info and records now, so she will see an Oncology Dr. in Centralia on August 7th and hopefully and future things like shots and radiation will be done closer to home.
Mom has a great case manager that coordinates and gets approval for things she needs and we are grateful to her for her work on making this happen.....eventually. :)
For now, she is back in Lewis County. Thank you for praying for her and Dad through round 4!!! She did it! God was faithful in giving her everything she needed to get through. Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement. It makes such a difference to her and means so much to all of us.
With much love,
Kimberly
Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Sabath, a day of rest.
I just spoke with Carmen.
Today has been another very sleepy day for Mom.
The more chemo she gets the sleepier she becomes and she is now on day four.
She slept most of the day and woke around 4:00. The three of them are watching a movie hoping the day will go by faster. She is on the downhill slope of this stay,so just counting the hours until dismissal.
She will be very fatigued for at least a week after getting home and will then deal with the side effects that inevitably come. We would ask that you continue to pray for her stamina and protection as her white and red blood cells plummet.
With love,
Kimberly
Today has been another very sleepy day for Mom.
The more chemo she gets the sleepier she becomes and she is now on day four.
She slept most of the day and woke around 4:00. The three of them are watching a movie hoping the day will go by faster. She is on the downhill slope of this stay,so just counting the hours until dismissal.
She will be very fatigued for at least a week after getting home and will then deal with the side effects that inevitably come. We would ask that you continue to pray for her stamina and protection as her white and red blood cells plummet.
With love,
Kimberly
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Too many cooks in the kitchen!
Mom's i.v. meds come in a few colors. A very vibrant deep blue, for her methylene blue, and one of her chemo meds is a bright deep orange color.
So, when Troy and Maria got there with Sadie(4) and Nate (2), her methylene blue was almost done. Sadie looked at the bags and said "Grandma, what flavors do you have?"
Then, ever diligent, she noticed the "blue" med was almost empty and told Mom she better have the Dr. get her some more because she was almost out. It does look crazy that all those "flavors" are going in.
Mom said Maria had brought them lunch, or "people food", and so they didn't have to dine in the cafeteria for lunch. The nurse had brought the kids some Popsicles and Sadie and Troy were doing a puzzle together. Mom was so content to have them around her and happy to be able to enjoy them. Thanks for the grub Sis! We love ya!
They are precious. She's staying awake today and enjoying the kids, Troy and Maria.
If I could ask you to all pray for Matt Foster, I would appreciate it. Matt is Dayla Foster's 22 year old son.( Dayla is Mom and Dad's Niece, so I guess that makes Matt their great nephew?) Anyhow, he has been working hard on advertising for Mom's benefit, but is in the hospital with a collapsed lung and a chest tube. He's in pain and not able to hold food down. He is expected to stay in the hospital with the tube until in the least, Wednesday. We would appreciate your prayers for him. This is the second time this has happened to him and he may need more procedures in the future to help prevent it.
As always, thank you for your prayer and love,
Kimberly
So, when Troy and Maria got there with Sadie(4) and Nate (2), her methylene blue was almost done. Sadie looked at the bags and said "Grandma, what flavors do you have?"
Then, ever diligent, she noticed the "blue" med was almost empty and told Mom she better have the Dr. get her some more because she was almost out. It does look crazy that all those "flavors" are going in.
Mom said Maria had brought them lunch, or "people food", and so they didn't have to dine in the cafeteria for lunch. The nurse had brought the kids some Popsicles and Sadie and Troy were doing a puzzle together. Mom was so content to have them around her and happy to be able to enjoy them. Thanks for the grub Sis! We love ya!
They are precious. She's staying awake today and enjoying the kids, Troy and Maria.
If I could ask you to all pray for Matt Foster, I would appreciate it. Matt is Dayla Foster's 22 year old son.( Dayla is Mom and Dad's Niece, so I guess that makes Matt their great nephew?) Anyhow, he has been working hard on advertising for Mom's benefit, but is in the hospital with a collapsed lung and a chest tube. He's in pain and not able to hold food down. He is expected to stay in the hospital with the tube until in the least, Wednesday. We would appreciate your prayers for him. This is the second time this has happened to him and he may need more procedures in the future to help prevent it.
As always, thank you for your prayer and love,
Kimberly
Sleepng Beauty
I just spoke with Mom, Friday and today are sleepy days.
Thursday night she was up every hour and so she slept most of the day yesterday.
She was up every hour again last night, so at 11:00 this morning she was sleeping again when I called.
She is having a response to the meds this time that is causing her to be really tired. It frustrates her a bit, but we are thankful it is this side effect and not the nausea, confusion and pain of round one and two. In round 3, she had experienced almost three weeks of feeling good before the chemo. This time she was back in after only about a week of feeling better. I think we just can't have expectations that they will be one way or the other. They are what they are, and we will just pray her through them. Mom says Dad slept well last night and he is making it through the boredom. :)
Troy, Maria, Sadie and Nate are coming to see Grandma and Grandpa today, so Mom is wanting to get the napping out of the way so she can stay awake for the kids.
On an unrelated note, we had the benefit meeting last night.
It went well and we again want to thank everyone who attended and are helping.
Stephanie Floth and Debbie Grose are doing an amazing job, as well as Dayla Foster, Matt Foster and Deb Parnham. We as a family are so blessed by your labor of love in service and support to Mom and Dad.
Many of you have asked what the needs are to this point and honestly this is the best form of communication I have, so I will share it here if you would indulge me.
It looks like donations of procurement items are still a big need. We were told these usually get done over a 9 month period. This is being attacked in a 3+ month period. We heard of some of the donations last night. Some from businesses and services, while others are offering donations, and "theme" baskets, gift certificates and catered dinners, to free consultations and more. If you know of anyone who may know Mom and Dad or be able to donate something, would you consider mentioning this benefit to them? They can log onto the blog and click on the link to the right of the posts at the bottom that says "Email Carmen about the benefit".
She is forwarding all information to the appropriate Team Leader in each category.
We also have a huge need for non refrigerated desserts to be donated for the benefit. Pies, cakes etc. The health department won't allow any refrigerated items such as cheesecake and pudding pies etc. If you are able to help in this area at all, again please email Carmen at the link to the right of the blog and Carmen will forward it to the Team Leader in charge of desserts. This will help her track what we have and what may be coming in.
The benefit is scheduled for September 13 and our next meeting is Friday August 22nd at 7:00pm.
We appreciate you and thank you for your love and support of Mom and Dad.
With love,
Kimberly
Thursday night she was up every hour and so she slept most of the day yesterday.
She was up every hour again last night, so at 11:00 this morning she was sleeping again when I called.
She is having a response to the meds this time that is causing her to be really tired. It frustrates her a bit, but we are thankful it is this side effect and not the nausea, confusion and pain of round one and two. In round 3, she had experienced almost three weeks of feeling good before the chemo. This time she was back in after only about a week of feeling better. I think we just can't have expectations that they will be one way or the other. They are what they are, and we will just pray her through them. Mom says Dad slept well last night and he is making it through the boredom. :)
Troy, Maria, Sadie and Nate are coming to see Grandma and Grandpa today, so Mom is wanting to get the napping out of the way so she can stay awake for the kids.
On an unrelated note, we had the benefit meeting last night.
It went well and we again want to thank everyone who attended and are helping.
Stephanie Floth and Debbie Grose are doing an amazing job, as well as Dayla Foster, Matt Foster and Deb Parnham. We as a family are so blessed by your labor of love in service and support to Mom and Dad.
Many of you have asked what the needs are to this point and honestly this is the best form of communication I have, so I will share it here if you would indulge me.
It looks like donations of procurement items are still a big need. We were told these usually get done over a 9 month period. This is being attacked in a 3+ month period. We heard of some of the donations last night. Some from businesses and services, while others are offering donations, and "theme" baskets, gift certificates and catered dinners, to free consultations and more. If you know of anyone who may know Mom and Dad or be able to donate something, would you consider mentioning this benefit to them? They can log onto the blog and click on the link to the right of the posts at the bottom that says "Email Carmen about the benefit".
She is forwarding all information to the appropriate Team Leader in each category.
We also have a huge need for non refrigerated desserts to be donated for the benefit. Pies, cakes etc. The health department won't allow any refrigerated items such as cheesecake and pudding pies etc. If you are able to help in this area at all, again please email Carmen at the link to the right of the blog and Carmen will forward it to the Team Leader in charge of desserts. This will help her track what we have and what may be coming in.
The benefit is scheduled for September 13 and our next meeting is Friday August 22nd at 7:00pm.
We appreciate you and thank you for your love and support of Mom and Dad.
With love,
Kimberly
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Healing quilt.
Yesterday was a good day.
When I got there Mom was reading a book, Dad was reading a magazine. The first question ai ask when I get there is "Who is your nurese today"? Mom had Jennifer. Mom has had Jenn every time she has been on the 6th floor because Jennifer always requests her. It's nice to see a familiar face each time,and in round 4 there are many. She is a sweet lady and it added another blessing to the day.
We ate a picnic lunch and went outside to sit on the patio for several hours. Then we went upstairs for some med additions to her iv pole and then back outside for several hours. It sure makes the day go by nicer when you can sit outside and pretend you aren't really at the hospital with four walls around you 24/7.
We had a late picnic dinner and I took some pictures of Mom with her "healing quilt" on her. For some of you that don't know about the healing quilt, it is a quilt Aunt Donna had finished by a friend of hers. It was just a quilt top that Mom's mother had made 46 years ago. It had floated from one family member to the next. Each had an intention of getting something done with it, but a few were told it was too old and it really couldn't be bound and made into a quilt. Aunt Donna's friend surprised her and did finish it. She hand stitched everything on it to match the quilt top. Donna received it back on Valentines Day of this year. She said she didn't feel like she should keep it to herself and so asked the Lord to tell her what to do with it.She felt the Lord tell her that it should be a "healing quilt". A quilt that went to the sibling that needed it the most at the time,and was sick. Just as their Mom had covered them in love and prayer, the quilt would be a symbol of the same love being covered over each person that needed it. So, I have taken a picture of that quilt to share with you.
I took this picture last night before I left,and Mom has it over her whenever she is in bed. Thank you Aunt Donna for sharing it.
Mom's afternoon/night nurse is a HUGE quilt enthusiast. She went to the National quilting Expose in ?Kentucky or Tennessee this year. She wanted to hear all about it.She loved the quilt and the story behind it. It was fun to share about the family history and Mom's brothers and sisters.
I won't be there today. Mom is doing so well and tonight is the next benefit meeting in Centralia. (Shameless pug here: ALL ARE WELCOME!)
Thanks again for the posts and calls and cards. They keep them going. She has her computer and reads the blog daily.
Love,
Kimberly
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