The winner of the quilt raffle was Lisa Moore. Lisa is a friend of a friend of mine. She doesn't even know Kristine but heard of her illness through my friend, Katora. Katora told Lisa of the quilt raffle and Lisa decided to purchase some tickets along with Katora and Katora's mother.
When Lisa heard she won the raffle, she decided not to keep the quilt herself but to gift it to Kristine. I think this is so generous of Lisa. The quilt has so much significance to Kristine and her family as a reminder that there are so many wonderful people out in the world who care about her journey, family and well being. It is so comforting to know that this quilt will bring her and her family comfort in the years to come.
I want to send out a huge thank you to Angie Ramich for making this beautiful quilt with loads of loving care. Angie, you are one of a kind, my friend!!
I also want to thank all the donors who helped raise over $1200 during this event. Your generosity has been a blessing and will help Dave and Kristine to continue to pay the mounting medical bills.
As for Kristine, she is still not doing much better. She is still in a tremendous amount of pain and has much difficulty eating and drinking. Her spirits are still good, though hard to tell at times, but I know Kristine is strong and believes she will win this battle.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to heal. We need all your prayers!!
Thank you!!
DuFrene Family
Such a beautiful family!
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
November 19, 2011: Update on Kristine's condition and the quilt raffle
Hello Friends and Family,
I know it's been a long time and I apologize for the lack of updates on Kristine's status. Kristine was doing so well through her first 100 days of recovery from the transplant, which we thought was great news... but as it turns out Dr. Paquette wanted Kristine to at least develop a mild case of grant vs host disease (GVHD). The doctor explained that transplant patients who do not develop any cases of GVHD have a higher chance of the cancer relapsing.
About 2 months ago, Kristine started show signs of developing GVHD. It started with a tingling and numbing sensation in her mouth. Soon after, hundreds of tiny sores developed in the mouth and throat. These sores have been very painful. It is difficult for Kristine to eat, drink or even swallow her own saliva. Today, she is still suffering from these sores. She is on two medications for this symptom.
On October 20, Kristine developed another form of GVHD, this time in her eyes. Her eyes bloodshot and extremely dry. They are so dry that they feel like sandpaper against her eyelids. It is also very painful. She has difficulty even opening her eyes some days. She uses drops in her eyes on a regular basis and is being put on Restasis for this symptom.
In addition to the above, Kristine has been suffering from severe body aches, an inflamed liver, dehydration, acid reflux, vomiting, a lack of sleep due to the constant pain she's in and has lost quite a bit of weight. She is now below the weight she was before she became pregnant with Kahlen (under 120 lbs). She is withering away before Dave's eyes and he is completely torn apart, feeling helpless, watching his wife suffer. He naturally wants to help heal her, but the doctor says the GVHD must run its course.
Dr. Paquette has Kristine on several other medications, I believe a total of 8 or 9, for the different issues she's suffering from. Two weeks ago, Kristine lay crying in fetal position due to severe abdominal cramping and was admitted into the UCLA Emergency Room. As it turned out, one of the pain meds Kristine was taking causes constipation. This was unbeknownst to her and with the painful sores in her mouth, eating and drinking were at a bare minimum. Many efforts have been taken to get Kristine's bowels moving, but it has been an extremely slow process and she has been in a tremendous amount of pain since this began on October 31st.
Most recently, Kristine began having lower back pain. In her words, excruciating lower back pain. As it turns out, she also has a urinary tract infection and is being medicated for this issue. She has been on the meds for the UTI since Tuesday with no relief as of yet.
Kristine lives in a world of pain... and there is nothing any of us can do except give her emotional support. She's a bit frustrated with the entire situation as you can imagine. She's always prided herself in being a strong, athletic, active person with a high tolerance for pain; yet her doctor and nurse make her feel as if she's a hypochondriac... so you can imagine her frustration.
Caring for Kahlen and Logan on the days Dave must work and there is no daycare available (which happens occasionally) proves extremely difficult given Kristine's condition. I'd like to thank Deb, Dee, Marly and Elena for lending a hand when needed to help care for the kids. The four of you have been a true blessing and we cannot thank you enough.
Today is Kahlen's 4th birthday. Unfortunately she doesn't get to celebrate it due to a case of the stomach flu. Logan has it too. Dave has his hands full caring for all three of them. My sisters and I wish we could be there to help him. My husband and I will be there to help next month as we spend the Christmas and New Year holiday with Kristine and her family. Next month feels like it just isn't soon enough knowing how much Kristine is suffering and Dave is having to deal with.
Please feel free to lend a helping hand to Dave and give Kristine the emotional support she needs to pull through this. We need our prayer warriors once again to pray for a full recovery for Kristine from this GVHD and for Dave to have the strength to continue to care for his family in the amazing way he has since this nightmare began on February 28th.
Kristine will be back at UCLA on Monday to meet with Dr. Paquette. I'll be sure to post an update on her condition.
As for the quilt raffle, it has been going great! I cannot believe the outpour of generous donations from friends, family and even perfect strangers. It's heartwarming. The raffle was supposed to take place this evening at 7pm, but we had to delay it to 4pm tomorrow. So I will let you all know who the lucky winner is tomorrow. Thank you to all!!!
I know it's been a long time and I apologize for the lack of updates on Kristine's status. Kristine was doing so well through her first 100 days of recovery from the transplant, which we thought was great news... but as it turns out Dr. Paquette wanted Kristine to at least develop a mild case of grant vs host disease (GVHD). The doctor explained that transplant patients who do not develop any cases of GVHD have a higher chance of the cancer relapsing.
About 2 months ago, Kristine started show signs of developing GVHD. It started with a tingling and numbing sensation in her mouth. Soon after, hundreds of tiny sores developed in the mouth and throat. These sores have been very painful. It is difficult for Kristine to eat, drink or even swallow her own saliva. Today, she is still suffering from these sores. She is on two medications for this symptom.
On October 20, Kristine developed another form of GVHD, this time in her eyes. Her eyes bloodshot and extremely dry. They are so dry that they feel like sandpaper against her eyelids. It is also very painful. She has difficulty even opening her eyes some days. She uses drops in her eyes on a regular basis and is being put on Restasis for this symptom.
In addition to the above, Kristine has been suffering from severe body aches, an inflamed liver, dehydration, acid reflux, vomiting, a lack of sleep due to the constant pain she's in and has lost quite a bit of weight. She is now below the weight she was before she became pregnant with Kahlen (under 120 lbs). She is withering away before Dave's eyes and he is completely torn apart, feeling helpless, watching his wife suffer. He naturally wants to help heal her, but the doctor says the GVHD must run its course.
Dr. Paquette has Kristine on several other medications, I believe a total of 8 or 9, for the different issues she's suffering from. Two weeks ago, Kristine lay crying in fetal position due to severe abdominal cramping and was admitted into the UCLA Emergency Room. As it turned out, one of the pain meds Kristine was taking causes constipation. This was unbeknownst to her and with the painful sores in her mouth, eating and drinking were at a bare minimum. Many efforts have been taken to get Kristine's bowels moving, but it has been an extremely slow process and she has been in a tremendous amount of pain since this began on October 31st.
Most recently, Kristine began having lower back pain. In her words, excruciating lower back pain. As it turns out, she also has a urinary tract infection and is being medicated for this issue. She has been on the meds for the UTI since Tuesday with no relief as of yet.
Kristine lives in a world of pain... and there is nothing any of us can do except give her emotional support. She's a bit frustrated with the entire situation as you can imagine. She's always prided herself in being a strong, athletic, active person with a high tolerance for pain; yet her doctor and nurse make her feel as if she's a hypochondriac... so you can imagine her frustration.
Caring for Kahlen and Logan on the days Dave must work and there is no daycare available (which happens occasionally) proves extremely difficult given Kristine's condition. I'd like to thank Deb, Dee, Marly and Elena for lending a hand when needed to help care for the kids. The four of you have been a true blessing and we cannot thank you enough.
Today is Kahlen's 4th birthday. Unfortunately she doesn't get to celebrate it due to a case of the stomach flu. Logan has it too. Dave has his hands full caring for all three of them. My sisters and I wish we could be there to help him. My husband and I will be there to help next month as we spend the Christmas and New Year holiday with Kristine and her family. Next month feels like it just isn't soon enough knowing how much Kristine is suffering and Dave is having to deal with.
Please feel free to lend a helping hand to Dave and give Kristine the emotional support she needs to pull through this. We need our prayer warriors once again to pray for a full recovery for Kristine from this GVHD and for Dave to have the strength to continue to care for his family in the amazing way he has since this nightmare began on February 28th.
Kristine will be back at UCLA on Monday to meet with Dr. Paquette. I'll be sure to post an update on her condition.
As for the quilt raffle, it has been going great! I cannot believe the outpour of generous donations from friends, family and even perfect strangers. It's heartwarming. The raffle was supposed to take place this evening at 7pm, but we had to delay it to 4pm tomorrow. So I will let you all know who the lucky winner is tomorrow. Thank you to all!!!
Friday, September 2, 2011
An update, a possible commercial and two fundraisers
UPDATE ON KRISTINE
Kristine is nearing the end of her first 100 days of recovery since receiving her transplant. Today is Day 93. So far, she hasn't had any major issues... that's a good thing, right??? That's what we thought. Well, at Kristine's last appointment at UCLA, she and Dave were left feeling a little deflated after Dr. Paquette said he would like Kristine to have developed a mild case or two of GVHD (grant vs host disease). He said her chances of having a relapse (the cancer coming back) are greater having not experienced any issues with GVHD. We don't understand why but we hope and pray Kristine will defy the odds and stay cancer free. Being that Dave did not understand why this is so, he contacted one of the nurses at UCLA who debriefed them prior to Kristine being released from the hospital. She said patients who do develop GVHD within the first 100 days of recovery have also been known to have relapses as well. So we are going to keep our thoughts positive and hold onto the hope that she will continue to do well, stay healthy and remain cancer free.
POSSIBLE COMMERCIAL
Orange Coast Memorial asked Dave and Kristine if they would participate in a photo shoot to potentially be included in a commercial for the hospital. They had Kristine hold a sign that said, "Diagnosed with Leukemia at 34," with a sad face. Then she had to turn the sign over and it said, "Cancer free at 35," with a happy face while Dave was kissing her on the cheek. All the guys from Dave's fire station showed up at the hospital to show their support for Kristine who was very nervous over the whole situation. If Dave and Kristine are chosen amongst the numerous patients they photographed, they will be invited to appear at a benefit for the hospital in Newport Beach. As shy as Kristine is, she is nervous about being the "chosen one." See the photo to the right that Dave took while Kristine was being photograghed.
FUNDRAISERS
We currently have two ongoing fundraisers to help with the mounting medical bills from Orange Coast Memorial and UCLA Medical Center. The first is a Quilt Raffle mentioned in a previous post. We are currently selling tickets at $10 for one and $20 for three. If you purchase your tickets by November 1st, you'll receive one extra ticket for free!! 100% of th proceeds raised will go directly to Kristine. Call or email Karen Fondersmith at 707-688-7706 or bbcsmom@gmail.com to order your tickets.
Our second fundraiser is being put on by a friend who is a Pampered Chef Consultant. She felt compelled to help Kristine and her family in some way, so she decided to put together a BINGO NIGHT Pampered Chef Fundraiser. Those of you who live in Solano County or a nearby county are welcome to join in the fun on Friday, September 9th at 6:30pm at Liberty Christian Center, 2641 N. Texas Street, Fairfield, CA 94533. This is a fun filled event with pizza, drinks, raffle prizes, games and Jodie's famous Quartermania, so don't miss out, RSVP today to Karen at bbcsmom@gmail.com. Those of you who live out of the area are welcome to make a purchase and the sale will go towards Kristine's benefit. Just go to www.pamperedchef.com/jodiescookin and be sure to enter my name, Karen Fondersmith, as the host and you will see Kristine's name appear along with mine. If you don't see both our names appear, you are not making a purchase towards this fundraiser. So be sure to follow the above instructions when making a purchase. 100% of the proceeds raised at this event will go directly to Kristine.
Please spread the word regarding these fundraisers. The more people we have participate in these events, the more we are able to help out Dave and Kristine.
Thank you all and please continue to pray for Kristine that she will remain healthy and cancer free!!
Kristine is nearing the end of her first 100 days of recovery since receiving her transplant. Today is Day 93. So far, she hasn't had any major issues... that's a good thing, right??? That's what we thought. Well, at Kristine's last appointment at UCLA, she and Dave were left feeling a little deflated after Dr. Paquette said he would like Kristine to have developed a mild case or two of GVHD (grant vs host disease). He said her chances of having a relapse (the cancer coming back) are greater having not experienced any issues with GVHD. We don't understand why but we hope and pray Kristine will defy the odds and stay cancer free. Being that Dave did not understand why this is so, he contacted one of the nurses at UCLA who debriefed them prior to Kristine being released from the hospital. She said patients who do develop GVHD within the first 100 days of recovery have also been known to have relapses as well. So we are going to keep our thoughts positive and hold onto the hope that she will continue to do well, stay healthy and remain cancer free.
POSSIBLE COMMERCIAL
Orange Coast Memorial asked Dave and Kristine if they would participate in a photo shoot to potentially be included in a commercial for the hospital. They had Kristine hold a sign that said, "Diagnosed with Leukemia at 34," with a sad face. Then she had to turn the sign over and it said, "Cancer free at 35," with a happy face while Dave was kissing her on the cheek. All the guys from Dave's fire station showed up at the hospital to show their support for Kristine who was very nervous over the whole situation. If Dave and Kristine are chosen amongst the numerous patients they photographed, they will be invited to appear at a benefit for the hospital in Newport Beach. As shy as Kristine is, she is nervous about being the "chosen one." See the photo to the right that Dave took while Kristine was being photograghed.
FUNDRAISERS
We currently have two ongoing fundraisers to help with the mounting medical bills from Orange Coast Memorial and UCLA Medical Center. The first is a Quilt Raffle mentioned in a previous post. We are currently selling tickets at $10 for one and $20 for three. If you purchase your tickets by November 1st, you'll receive one extra ticket for free!! 100% of th proceeds raised will go directly to Kristine. Call or email Karen Fondersmith at 707-688-7706 or bbcsmom@gmail.com to order your tickets.
Our second fundraiser is being put on by a friend who is a Pampered Chef Consultant. She felt compelled to help Kristine and her family in some way, so she decided to put together a BINGO NIGHT Pampered Chef Fundraiser. Those of you who live in Solano County or a nearby county are welcome to join in the fun on Friday, September 9th at 6:30pm at Liberty Christian Center, 2641 N. Texas Street, Fairfield, CA 94533. This is a fun filled event with pizza, drinks, raffle prizes, games and Jodie's famous Quartermania, so don't miss out, RSVP today to Karen at bbcsmom@gmail.com. Those of you who live out of the area are welcome to make a purchase and the sale will go towards Kristine's benefit. Just go to www.pamperedchef.com/jodiescookin and be sure to enter my name, Karen Fondersmith, as the host and you will see Kristine's name appear along with mine. If you don't see both our names appear, you are not making a purchase towards this fundraiser. So be sure to follow the above instructions when making a purchase. 100% of the proceeds raised at this event will go directly to Kristine.
Please spread the word regarding these fundraisers. The more people we have participate in these events, the more we are able to help out Dave and Kristine.
Thank you all and please continue to pray for Kristine that she will remain healthy and cancer free!!
Friday, July 15, 2011
HOORAY!!! The quilt is ready to raffle off!!!
With the medical bills rolling in, I'm kicking off a new fundraiser! Thanks to a wonderful friend of mine, Angie Ramich, who made and donated this beautiful quilt (see pictures on the left), I will be raffling it off in an effort to raise thousands of dollars to help alleviate the burden on Dave and Kristine.
This beautiful quilt is valued at over $300!! The tickets will be sold for $10 each. The drawing will be held on Saturday, November 19th. Please join me in helping to sell as many of these tickets as possible.
Please contact me, Karen Fondersmith (Kristine's sister), at (707) 688-7706 for tickets or you can send cash, checks or money orders payable to Kristine DuFrene to the following address:
Karen Fondersmith
2129 Sunhaven Court
Fairfield, CA 94533
Ticket stubs will be emailed (preferred) or mailed to each recipient, depending on each individual's choice.
Thank you for your continued support, thoughts and prayers for Kristine. May she continue to do well in her recovery and stay on the road from complete remission to being cured.
Thank you!!!
~Karen
This beautiful quilt is valued at over $300!! The tickets will be sold for $10 each. The drawing will be held on Saturday, November 19th. Please join me in helping to sell as many of these tickets as possible.
Please contact me, Karen Fondersmith (Kristine's sister), at (707) 688-7706 for tickets or you can send cash, checks or money orders payable to Kristine DuFrene to the following address:
Karen Fondersmith
2129 Sunhaven Court
Fairfield, CA 94533
Ticket stubs will be emailed (preferred) or mailed to each recipient, depending on each individual's choice.
Thank you for your continued support, thoughts and prayers for Kristine. May she continue to do well in her recovery and stay on the road from complete remission to being cured.
Thank you!!!
~Karen
A Big Thank You!!!
We'd like to send a shout out to the following friends and family:
Jodie Williams
Deb Smith
Renee Pena
Tom and Pat Kelly
Lenny & Lisa Arkinstall
Tony & Jenene Acosta
Your cards let Kristine know that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers and she is so appreciative!
Thank you so much!!!
Jodie Williams
Deb Smith
Renee Pena
Tom and Pat Kelly
Lenny & Lisa Arkinstall
Tony & Jenene Acosta
Your cards let Kristine know that you keep her in your thoughts and prayers and she is so appreciative!
Thank you so much!!!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Day 134 - July 11, 2011 (Day 38)
Kristine has been recovering from home since June 21st. She is considered to have an immune system as that of a 5 week old baby. She's been avoiding highly populated places and only goes out into public areas, like the grocery store or a retail store, during non-peak hours. She had a follow up appointment this afternoon and the doctor said all her numbers look great. Her blood levels are normal and her liver and kidney functions are normal. They removed her central venous catheter and she was so happy to finally have it out of her chest.
So Kristine is one-third of the way through her first 100 days of recovery with no issues (knock on wood). She's been doing great for the most part, but does have some occasional headaches and nausea. She still does not have all her strength back (that will take months to regain); other than that, she has been doing remarkably well. She's taking one day at a time and trying to do what she needs to do to stay healthy.
Kristine has had no signs of GVHD (graft vs. host disease), which is a blessing. She takes all the precautions to ward off the potential onset of this disease. As I said earlier, other than occasional headaches and nausea, expected muscle weakness and feeling tired, she is doing wonderfully!
I want to apologize for those of you who have been wondering how Kristine has been doing since being released from UCLA. I've been here with Kristine helping to care for her, Kahlen and Logan as well as my two year old daughter. It is non-stop work with a one year old, two year old and three year old, so I apologize I have had little time to update the blog.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay healthy as I believe these prayers have truly helped Kristine in her journey to wellness.
So Kristine is one-third of the way through her first 100 days of recovery with no issues (knock on wood). She's been doing great for the most part, but does have some occasional headaches and nausea. She still does not have all her strength back (that will take months to regain); other than that, she has been doing remarkably well. She's taking one day at a time and trying to do what she needs to do to stay healthy.
Kristine has had no signs of GVHD (graft vs. host disease), which is a blessing. She takes all the precautions to ward off the potential onset of this disease. As I said earlier, other than occasional headaches and nausea, expected muscle weakness and feeling tired, she is doing wonderfully!
I want to apologize for those of you who have been wondering how Kristine has been doing since being released from UCLA. I've been here with Kristine helping to care for her, Kahlen and Logan as well as my two year old daughter. It is non-stop work with a one year old, two year old and three year old, so I apologize I have had little time to update the blog.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay healthy as I believe these prayers have truly helped Kristine in her journey to wellness.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Day 114 - June 21, 2011
Kristine just left the clinic for her first follow-up appointment and the doctor has decided to let her go home! Wow! He said she is doing incredibly well. Her blood counts are at the low range of normal so he feels confident she will continue to thrive at home instead of at the Tiverton House.
The same guidelines for her care will apply. She will need to take the same precautions and have 24 hour, around the clock care. My sisters, my mom and I will all be helping in caring for Kristine. Kim and I will take on the first month as we can only help out while our children are on summer break. My mom will take the month of August and we don't know what we're going to do for September and October. Between all of us, maybe we can rotate weekly at that point until Kristine surpasses the 100 day mark.
The first 100 days are the most crucial. Hopefully after that point, Kristine will be strong enough to get through a normal day taking care of herself and the children. If not, we'll figure it out along the way. We've been doing it this whole time, I'm sure we can make anything work.
I must get back to work now. Just wanted to spread the good news.
The same guidelines for her care will apply. She will need to take the same precautions and have 24 hour, around the clock care. My sisters, my mom and I will all be helping in caring for Kristine. Kim and I will take on the first month as we can only help out while our children are on summer break. My mom will take the month of August and we don't know what we're going to do for September and October. Between all of us, maybe we can rotate weekly at that point until Kristine surpasses the 100 day mark.
The first 100 days are the most crucial. Hopefully after that point, Kristine will be strong enough to get through a normal day taking care of herself and the children. If not, we'll figure it out along the way. We've been doing it this whole time, I'm sure we can make anything work.
I must get back to work now. Just wanted to spread the good news.
Day 113 - June 20, 2011
Kristine is being discharged from the medical center today and checking into the Tiverton House. She's very excited to be leaving the hospital today. She was going stir crazy!
There was a teaching session this morning on how to care for Kristine and what precautions we need to take, when to know to bring her back into the hospital, what she can and can't eat, where she can and can't go, etc. Basically, we have to care for her as if she is a newborn baby. This is why they called her transplant day her second birthday. Kristine is technically only 17 days old today.
Basically, if we wouldn't do, give, feed, or expose something to a 17 day old baby, then we shouldn't let Kristine do, have, eat or expose her to it. This includes alcohol, OTC meds, direct sunlight with no sunscreen for extended periods of time, crowded (germ infested) areas, playing in the dirt, trips to Disneyland, fast food, soda fountain drinks, swimming, and driving. She is also not allowed to floss her teeth, use a tooth pick, visit the dentist for any cleanings or dental work, and must stay clear of babies and adults who have been vaccinated within the past 4 weeks for with live viruses which include the chicken pox, varicella, rotovirus and the flu mist.
Kristine will have a suppressed immune system for about a year. She must take all her prescribed meds on schedule and not miss any doses. The goal is to get her off all transplant meds from 6 months to a year. She will have regular clinic appointments where she will have her blood drawn and, for now, monthly bone marrow biopsies. We must check her temperature at least twice a day and be cognizant of any symptoms that will require her to be taken back to the hospital. (i.e. fevers, shaking chills, uncontrollable bleeding, vomiting or diarrhea)
We must also be aware of the signs of the dreadful graft vs host disease (GVHD). Sun exposure may cause GVHD which is why she must wear sunscreen on exposed areas of her skin and wide-brimmed hats when outdoors. If Kristine were to develop GVHD or some other type of infection, it is possible she would have to be re-admitted to the hospital, then re-released to the Tiverton House. So our mission is the follow the guidelines which have been presented to ensure Kristine stays healthy.
As Kristine embarks on this next chapter in her life, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Personally, I would like to keep visitors at a minimum until Kristine's immune system is stronger. Even though her blood levels are beginning to reach normal levels, she is on transplant meds which keep her immune system suppressed so as to allow the stem cells to graft. Please feel free to contact her via email, facebook, cell phone, text message or via this blog. Keep in mind Kristine sleeps quite a bit more than most of us, a lot like a newborn baby. She tires easily and therefore may not return calls or messages in a timely manner.
As always... plenty of positive thoughts and prayers are appreciated!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention... Kristine was totally bummed to learn her beautiful, long eyelashes recently fell out. She never looks at herself in the mirror, so she had no idea. Dave kept looking at her wondering what was different about her, then realized her eyelashes were gone. She has also started losing her eyebrows. Nevertheless, be it as it may, as long as she beats this disease she doesn't care. She wants to get home to be with her babies, she wants to get back to her family and friends, she wants to LIVE, hair or no hair, as long as she's healthy.
I personally would like to extend a huge cyberhug to Dick and Teri Shoup, their three girls, Chelsea, Katrina and Nikki, Nikki's boyfriend, Rob, Jon Fondersmith and Julie Gibson for their kind words and donations this past weekend at the annual Fondersmith Family Reunion. Kristine was touched by your warmth and generosity, as was I. I love you all!!
God bless all our prayer warriors out there doing a fantastic job helping Kristine to such a speedy recovery! Our family cannot thank you enough.
There was a teaching session this morning on how to care for Kristine and what precautions we need to take, when to know to bring her back into the hospital, what she can and can't eat, where she can and can't go, etc. Basically, we have to care for her as if she is a newborn baby. This is why they called her transplant day her second birthday. Kristine is technically only 17 days old today.
Basically, if we wouldn't do, give, feed, or expose something to a 17 day old baby, then we shouldn't let Kristine do, have, eat or expose her to it. This includes alcohol, OTC meds, direct sunlight with no sunscreen for extended periods of time, crowded (germ infested) areas, playing in the dirt, trips to Disneyland, fast food, soda fountain drinks, swimming, and driving. She is also not allowed to floss her teeth, use a tooth pick, visit the dentist for any cleanings or dental work, and must stay clear of babies and adults who have been vaccinated within the past 4 weeks for with live viruses which include the chicken pox, varicella, rotovirus and the flu mist.
Kristine will have a suppressed immune system for about a year. She must take all her prescribed meds on schedule and not miss any doses. The goal is to get her off all transplant meds from 6 months to a year. She will have regular clinic appointments where she will have her blood drawn and, for now, monthly bone marrow biopsies. We must check her temperature at least twice a day and be cognizant of any symptoms that will require her to be taken back to the hospital. (i.e. fevers, shaking chills, uncontrollable bleeding, vomiting or diarrhea)
We must also be aware of the signs of the dreadful graft vs host disease (GVHD). Sun exposure may cause GVHD which is why she must wear sunscreen on exposed areas of her skin and wide-brimmed hats when outdoors. If Kristine were to develop GVHD or some other type of infection, it is possible she would have to be re-admitted to the hospital, then re-released to the Tiverton House. So our mission is the follow the guidelines which have been presented to ensure Kristine stays healthy.
As Kristine embarks on this next chapter in her life, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Personally, I would like to keep visitors at a minimum until Kristine's immune system is stronger. Even though her blood levels are beginning to reach normal levels, she is on transplant meds which keep her immune system suppressed so as to allow the stem cells to graft. Please feel free to contact her via email, facebook, cell phone, text message or via this blog. Keep in mind Kristine sleeps quite a bit more than most of us, a lot like a newborn baby. She tires easily and therefore may not return calls or messages in a timely manner.
As always... plenty of positive thoughts and prayers are appreciated!
Oh, I almost forgot to mention... Kristine was totally bummed to learn her beautiful, long eyelashes recently fell out. She never looks at herself in the mirror, so she had no idea. Dave kept looking at her wondering what was different about her, then realized her eyelashes were gone. She has also started losing her eyebrows. Nevertheless, be it as it may, as long as she beats this disease she doesn't care. She wants to get home to be with her babies, she wants to get back to her family and friends, she wants to LIVE, hair or no hair, as long as she's healthy.
I personally would like to extend a huge cyberhug to Dick and Teri Shoup, their three girls, Chelsea, Katrina and Nikki, Nikki's boyfriend, Rob, Jon Fondersmith and Julie Gibson for their kind words and donations this past weekend at the annual Fondersmith Family Reunion. Kristine was touched by your warmth and generosity, as was I. I love you all!!
God bless all our prayer warriors out there doing a fantastic job helping Kristine to such a speedy recovery! Our family cannot thank you enough.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Day 110 - June 17, 2011
Hello Everyone!
My apologies for not being able to finish the information I was providing about Kristine's stem cell transplant a few days ago. However, I have good news today! I received a call from Dave telling me Kristine is going to be released from the hospital on Monday!! The doctor said she is doing so well and her blood counts are coming up so that they feel she is doing well enough to be transferred to Tiverton House.
Tiverton House is similar to a hotel where UCLA sends their transplant patients to complete their recovery. It's located within minutes of the hospital so if Kristine spikes a temperature or shows any signs of an infection, she can be brought right in for immediate medical treatment.
Kristine is so happy at the thought of getting out of the hospital. She has expressed, on numerous occasions lately, that she is so tired of being hospitalized. She longs to feel the sun on her face and the wind blow her bald head. I was able to about to say to feel the wind blow through her hair, but the little hair that had grown out, is now falling out, so she's back to bald. That's okay though, as long as she is healthy again, that is AOK.
Kristine had visitors on the 15th. Dave brought Kahlen and their neighbor, Deb, who has been such a big help with caring for the kids. I've attached some pictures from her visit on the left side.
Well, I'm going to wrap it up for now. Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay infection free and on the fast track to a full recovery.
My apologies for not being able to finish the information I was providing about Kristine's stem cell transplant a few days ago. However, I have good news today! I received a call from Dave telling me Kristine is going to be released from the hospital on Monday!! The doctor said she is doing so well and her blood counts are coming up so that they feel she is doing well enough to be transferred to Tiverton House.
Tiverton House is similar to a hotel where UCLA sends their transplant patients to complete their recovery. It's located within minutes of the hospital so if Kristine spikes a temperature or shows any signs of an infection, she can be brought right in for immediate medical treatment.
Kristine is so happy at the thought of getting out of the hospital. She has expressed, on numerous occasions lately, that she is so tired of being hospitalized. She longs to feel the sun on her face and the wind blow her bald head. I was able to about to say to feel the wind blow through her hair, but the little hair that had grown out, is now falling out, so she's back to bald. That's okay though, as long as she is healthy again, that is AOK.
Kristine had visitors on the 15th. Dave brought Kahlen and their neighbor, Deb, who has been such a big help with caring for the kids. I've attached some pictures from her visit on the left side.
Well, I'm going to wrap it up for now. Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay infection free and on the fast track to a full recovery.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Day 106 - June 13, 2011
My sincerest apologies for not writing a blog entry sooner.
The past week has been dreadful. Kristine has been struggling with those awful mouth and throat sores. Eating and drinking is like trying to swallow a mouthful of razor blades. Yet she continues to push through at least one meal a day to keep something in her stomach with all the medications being administered to her. They were giving her dilaudid but that was causing her to vomit after each dose. The doctor decided to switch her to morphine. He eventually had the nurse give Kristine a "PCA" which stands for patient controlled anesthesia. Now she can give herself a little dose of morphine without having to wait for her nurse to bring her an injection.
In my last blog entry, I stated I would provide detailed info about stem cell transplantation. Here we go...
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside the bones which manufactures the cells of the blood and the immune system: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Each of these different types of cells has a vital role to perform in keeping the body healthy and free of disease. In leukemia, the white blood cells become malignant and multiply constantly. Their overgrowth hinders production of normal blood cells by the bone marrow and leukemia cells invade other tissues. If unchecked these cancer cells can lead to death. Chemotherapy drugs can destroy malignant cells but also destroy the normal bone marrow cells as well. In standard treatments for leukemia, the dosages of chemotherapy drugs must be kept low enough so they are not too poisonous to the normal bone marrow, which must continue to produce blood cells once the malignant cells have been destroyed.
With transplants, very large and more effective doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are administered to eradicate the malignancy. In allogeneic bone marrow transplant, this treatment also suppresses the patient's immune system to prevent the donor marrow from being rejected by the recipient. The transplanted marrow seeks out its place within the bone and begins to produce blood cells from the donor. When the marrow "engrafts" successfully, the leukemia does not recur and the patient has a chance of long-term survival.
Kristine received an allogeneic transplant with donated peripheral blood stem cells from our sister, Kat. I explained that procedure in a previous entry.
The body's immune system consists of white blood cells, which travel throughout the body in constant surveillance against foreign substances, which might be disease agents. These cells react and try to destroy anthing they perceive as foreign. As a result, tissues of one individual will be rejected when transplanted into another person, unless the receipient's immunity is suppressed by drugs or radiation. This is why Kristine was admisistered the high dose chemo treatments immediately before transplantation. In allogeneic transplants, the donor's marrow (Kat's) contains cells of her immune system; they may recognize the transplant recipient (Kristine) as "foreign" and cause an immune reaction against the recipient's tissues producing graft versus host disease (GVHD). To reduce the risk of GVHD after transplantation, Kristine is receiving immunosuppressive drugs.
Kristine will remain in the hospital for 2-4 weeks after transplant day (June 3rd), waiting for the marrow to engraft and to recover blood counts. She will be discharged when she has met certain criteria, which includes when the blood counts have recovered, she is able to eat adequately and is free of infections. Upon discharge, she'll still be at risk for infections and complications, and will need to be monitored frequently by the doctors. This is why she will then transfer to the Tiverton House which is within walking distance of the UCLA Medical Center. She will need frequent blood tests, some intravenous medications and may also need more blood transfusions. She is expected to be at the Tiverton House for at least 4 weeks.
Kristine is expected to need a full year to recover physically and psychologically after transplant. It is not unusual to require another hospitalization during this time. It may be necessary to take medications indefinately.
I'm exhausted, so I'm going to wrap it up for now and continue in the morning.
Sending lots of love and hugs to all our prayer warriors out there. Please continue to pray for Kristine and send your positive thoughts her way.
The past week has been dreadful. Kristine has been struggling with those awful mouth and throat sores. Eating and drinking is like trying to swallow a mouthful of razor blades. Yet she continues to push through at least one meal a day to keep something in her stomach with all the medications being administered to her. They were giving her dilaudid but that was causing her to vomit after each dose. The doctor decided to switch her to morphine. He eventually had the nurse give Kristine a "PCA" which stands for patient controlled anesthesia. Now she can give herself a little dose of morphine without having to wait for her nurse to bring her an injection.
In my last blog entry, I stated I would provide detailed info about stem cell transplantation. Here we go...
Bone marrow is the spongy tissue inside the bones which manufactures the cells of the blood and the immune system: white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets. Each of these different types of cells has a vital role to perform in keeping the body healthy and free of disease. In leukemia, the white blood cells become malignant and multiply constantly. Their overgrowth hinders production of normal blood cells by the bone marrow and leukemia cells invade other tissues. If unchecked these cancer cells can lead to death. Chemotherapy drugs can destroy malignant cells but also destroy the normal bone marrow cells as well. In standard treatments for leukemia, the dosages of chemotherapy drugs must be kept low enough so they are not too poisonous to the normal bone marrow, which must continue to produce blood cells once the malignant cells have been destroyed.
With transplants, very large and more effective doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are administered to eradicate the malignancy. In allogeneic bone marrow transplant, this treatment also suppresses the patient's immune system to prevent the donor marrow from being rejected by the recipient. The transplanted marrow seeks out its place within the bone and begins to produce blood cells from the donor. When the marrow "engrafts" successfully, the leukemia does not recur and the patient has a chance of long-term survival.
Kristine received an allogeneic transplant with donated peripheral blood stem cells from our sister, Kat. I explained that procedure in a previous entry.
The body's immune system consists of white blood cells, which travel throughout the body in constant surveillance against foreign substances, which might be disease agents. These cells react and try to destroy anthing they perceive as foreign. As a result, tissues of one individual will be rejected when transplanted into another person, unless the receipient's immunity is suppressed by drugs or radiation. This is why Kristine was admisistered the high dose chemo treatments immediately before transplantation. In allogeneic transplants, the donor's marrow (Kat's) contains cells of her immune system; they may recognize the transplant recipient (Kristine) as "foreign" and cause an immune reaction against the recipient's tissues producing graft versus host disease (GVHD). To reduce the risk of GVHD after transplantation, Kristine is receiving immunosuppressive drugs.
Kristine will remain in the hospital for 2-4 weeks after transplant day (June 3rd), waiting for the marrow to engraft and to recover blood counts. She will be discharged when she has met certain criteria, which includes when the blood counts have recovered, she is able to eat adequately and is free of infections. Upon discharge, she'll still be at risk for infections and complications, and will need to be monitored frequently by the doctors. This is why she will then transfer to the Tiverton House which is within walking distance of the UCLA Medical Center. She will need frequent blood tests, some intravenous medications and may also need more blood transfusions. She is expected to be at the Tiverton House for at least 4 weeks.
Kristine is expected to need a full year to recover physically and psychologically after transplant. It is not unusual to require another hospitalization during this time. It may be necessary to take medications indefinately.
I'm exhausted, so I'm going to wrap it up for now and continue in the morning.
Sending lots of love and hugs to all our prayer warriors out there. Please continue to pray for Kristine and send your positive thoughts her way.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Day 101 - June 8, 2011
Sorry for the delay in getting the pictures posted from transplant day. I was having PC issues.
We're 5 days post transplant now. Kristine was feeling pretty good yesterday and the day before other than a little nausea, annoying headache, some body aches and stiff neck. However, she was able to get out and walk almost a mile each day (not all at once, she walks 2-3 times a day). The doctors like her to walk as much as possible to reduce muscle atrophy and body aches from lying in bed all day.
Yesterday, Kristine and I were having a discussion about those ever dreadful mouth sores. We were wondering if maybe she bypassed getting them. We were sad to learn that most patients develop them about two weeks post chemo or once their WBC (white blood count) reaches zero or near zero. We also learned that those sores develop inside the throat as well AND that's when the real nausea and tummy issues kick in.
While I was visiting her this past weekend, the doctor said it is quite common for transplant patients to stop eating completely for about two weeks due to the nausea and mouth sores.
This morning Kristine was in terrific spirits. All smiles. However, that didn't last long. Around 9:30AM, Kristine informed me that she thinks the mouth/throat sores are coming. It is beginning to hurt when she swallows fluids or eats. She said the inside of her mouth feels raw and bumpy (from the skin cells shedding). She has also been feeling more nauseaed than before.
She's been sleeping most of the afternoon. Many of you may find this amusing or even silly, but Kristine and I stay on Skype most of the day. From about 8am until one of us falls asleep at night. LOL!! She HATES being alone in the hospital. She has begun feeling a bit depressed over it. I've been trying to keep her spirits up, but maybe some of you can send Kristine some well wishes via this blog, email, text message, facebook, or even drop a card in the mail to her. She really misses Kahlen and Logan and wants nothing more for this journey to be over. The next couple of weeks are going to be very rough, both physically and emotionally, so well wishes and prayers would be appreciated.
Thank you Deb, for the nice card you sent. I put it up in her room.
Tomorrow I will share some info (about stem cell transplantation) with you that I received from Dave and Kristine while I was there. There's just not enough time for me to add that info today.
As always, please continue to pray and send positive thoughts Kristine's way. She really needs all her Prayer Warriors out there routing for her. Much love, thanks and blessings to you all!
We're 5 days post transplant now. Kristine was feeling pretty good yesterday and the day before other than a little nausea, annoying headache, some body aches and stiff neck. However, she was able to get out and walk almost a mile each day (not all at once, she walks 2-3 times a day). The doctors like her to walk as much as possible to reduce muscle atrophy and body aches from lying in bed all day.
Yesterday, Kristine and I were having a discussion about those ever dreadful mouth sores. We were wondering if maybe she bypassed getting them. We were sad to learn that most patients develop them about two weeks post chemo or once their WBC (white blood count) reaches zero or near zero. We also learned that those sores develop inside the throat as well AND that's when the real nausea and tummy issues kick in.
While I was visiting her this past weekend, the doctor said it is quite common for transplant patients to stop eating completely for about two weeks due to the nausea and mouth sores.
This morning Kristine was in terrific spirits. All smiles. However, that didn't last long. Around 9:30AM, Kristine informed me that she thinks the mouth/throat sores are coming. It is beginning to hurt when she swallows fluids or eats. She said the inside of her mouth feels raw and bumpy (from the skin cells shedding). She has also been feeling more nauseaed than before.
She's been sleeping most of the afternoon. Many of you may find this amusing or even silly, but Kristine and I stay on Skype most of the day. From about 8am until one of us falls asleep at night. LOL!! She HATES being alone in the hospital. She has begun feeling a bit depressed over it. I've been trying to keep her spirits up, but maybe some of you can send Kristine some well wishes via this blog, email, text message, facebook, or even drop a card in the mail to her. She really misses Kahlen and Logan and wants nothing more for this journey to be over. The next couple of weeks are going to be very rough, both physically and emotionally, so well wishes and prayers would be appreciated.
Thank you Deb, for the nice card you sent. I put it up in her room.
Tomorrow I will share some info (about stem cell transplantation) with you that I received from Dave and Kristine while I was there. There's just not enough time for me to add that info today.
As always, please continue to pray and send positive thoughts Kristine's way. She really needs all her Prayer Warriors out there routing for her. Much love, thanks and blessings to you all!
Friday, June 3, 2011
Happy Birthday!!! Day 96 - June 3, 2011
Happy Birthday to Kristine!!!
Kristine received her stem cell transplant today @ 11:10am. It was a quick procedure. First, they had to thaw the stem cells from their frozen state to about 34 degrees. Then immediately transfuse them into Kristine within 10 minutes time as the preservatives added to the stem cells prior to freezing them begin to damage the cells after about 15 minutes. However, once they're in the body, they are fine.
She had two bags of stem cells transfused into her... Over 3 million cells! She began coughing within a couple minutes then stated she was having trouble breathing. She was already suffering from nausea & vomiting right before the procedure, the transplant only made her feel worse.
It's been about 8.5 hours since the transplant took place and Kristine is feeling "weird" as she put it. She's still suffering from a little nausea but is at least starting to eat. The doctors want her to walk 15 laps a day around the transplantation ward... She was able to get in 4 laps this evening. I'm just glad she was even up to going for a walk. She made me nervous tripping over her own feet every so often. I was afraid she was going to fall. I kept telling her, "High knees, high knees!" so she would pick her feet up with each step. LOL!!!
So the next 90 days is when most BMT (bone marrow transplant) patients are at high risk of infection. It can take as long as a year, possibly longer, for a BMT patient's infection-fighting immune system to function normally. Kristine will be closely monitored for fevers and any signs of bacterial, viral and fungal infections. As well as something called GVHD (graft-versus-host disease) which is where the donor's immune cells (the graft) attack the patient's healthy tissue (the host). GVHD is a serious and sometimes fatal complication of allogenic stem cell transplantation. However, being that Kat was such a close match, it reduces the possibility and severity of GVHD in the event that it develops.
Kristine's immune system will be much like that of a newborn baby. It is going to be very important for her to exercise caution when choosing to go out in public. Friends and family members are going to need to use the same caution. No one should come around her If they have been ill, are currently ill or have a family member in their household that is ill or has recently been ill. No one can take any chances and risk giving Kristine any type of infection or illness. So please keep this in mind once she is released and goes home.
Please keep your prayer circles going strong. Kristine is not out of the woods yet! Pray that her body "accepts" the donor cells and that she is free from infection and does not encounter any complications.
Thank you!!!
Kristine received her stem cell transplant today @ 11:10am. It was a quick procedure. First, they had to thaw the stem cells from their frozen state to about 34 degrees. Then immediately transfuse them into Kristine within 10 minutes time as the preservatives added to the stem cells prior to freezing them begin to damage the cells after about 15 minutes. However, once they're in the body, they are fine.
She had two bags of stem cells transfused into her... Over 3 million cells! She began coughing within a couple minutes then stated she was having trouble breathing. She was already suffering from nausea & vomiting right before the procedure, the transplant only made her feel worse.
It's been about 8.5 hours since the transplant took place and Kristine is feeling "weird" as she put it. She's still suffering from a little nausea but is at least starting to eat. The doctors want her to walk 15 laps a day around the transplantation ward... She was able to get in 4 laps this evening. I'm just glad she was even up to going for a walk. She made me nervous tripping over her own feet every so often. I was afraid she was going to fall. I kept telling her, "High knees, high knees!" so she would pick her feet up with each step. LOL!!!
So the next 90 days is when most BMT (bone marrow transplant) patients are at high risk of infection. It can take as long as a year, possibly longer, for a BMT patient's infection-fighting immune system to function normally. Kristine will be closely monitored for fevers and any signs of bacterial, viral and fungal infections. As well as something called GVHD (graft-versus-host disease) which is where the donor's immune cells (the graft) attack the patient's healthy tissue (the host). GVHD is a serious and sometimes fatal complication of allogenic stem cell transplantation. However, being that Kat was such a close match, it reduces the possibility and severity of GVHD in the event that it develops.
Kristine's immune system will be much like that of a newborn baby. It is going to be very important for her to exercise caution when choosing to go out in public. Friends and family members are going to need to use the same caution. No one should come around her If they have been ill, are currently ill or have a family member in their household that is ill or has recently been ill. No one can take any chances and risk giving Kristine any type of infection or illness. So please keep this in mind once she is released and goes home.
Please keep your prayer circles going strong. Kristine is not out of the woods yet! Pray that her body "accepts" the donor cells and that she is free from infection and does not encounter any complications.
Thank you!!!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Fundraising
First of all, a big shout out to Hayato Yuuki for all his efforts to help raise funds for Dave and Kristine.
The funds raised are truly a blessing and will help pay for the mounting medical bills. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this cause. Your generosity is most appreciated.
With that said, I'd like to tell you all about a new fundraiser that I will help facilitate. A good friend of mine, Angie Ramich -- who is a wonderful seamstress, is almost finished making a beautiful quilt which she is donating to me to raffle off. I will post pictures of the quilt upon completion. I will be selling raffle tickets for $10 each and would love it if all of you would spread the word and help sell tickets. Please call or email me if you're interested. I can be reached at 707-688-7706 or bbcsmom@gmail.com.
Thank you for continuing to support Kristine by keeping up to date on her condition by reading this blog and for all your wonderful prayers.
The funds raised are truly a blessing and will help pay for the mounting medical bills. Thank you to all those who have contributed to this cause. Your generosity is most appreciated.
With that said, I'd like to tell you all about a new fundraiser that I will help facilitate. A good friend of mine, Angie Ramich -- who is a wonderful seamstress, is almost finished making a beautiful quilt which she is donating to me to raffle off. I will post pictures of the quilt upon completion. I will be selling raffle tickets for $10 each and would love it if all of you would spread the word and help sell tickets. Please call or email me if you're interested. I can be reached at 707-688-7706 or bbcsmom@gmail.com.
Thank you for continuing to support Kristine by keeping up to date on her condition by reading this blog and for all your wonderful prayers.
Day 95 - June 2, 2011
The past few days have been so emotional for me as I've tried to keep Kristine company by being there for her via Skype as she suffers through the side effects of the chemo she received the past 6 days. The chemicals contained in the last two days of chemo caused a burning sensation in her mouth, nose and all over her head. It was very painful. Kristine said it felt like eating a hot chili pepper and the intense burning sensation lasting hours. Nothing helped alleviate that pain and she had to tough it out. Many times she said she thought she was going to die. I couldn't help but cry along with her during those moments.
Both chemo treatments have been wreaking havoc on her digestive system. She hasn't eaten in 3 days because she can't keep anything down. The nausea has been non-stop as well. We're hoping the nausea subsides by tomorrow before her transplant.
Today I arrived at UCLA to surprise Kristine and help care for her and keep her company. Our sister, Kimberlie, who just arrived from Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base in England, joined me in the surprise. Kristine was in a great deal of pain when we arrived and when she saw us, she broke down in tears. Tears of elation, knowing she had us here to help her through this.
We want to be here for the big day tomorrow -- Transplant Day! AKA Kristine's 2nd birthday! The transplant is scheduled to take place around 11am. It will take a few hours to transfuse the stem cells into Kristine. Please continue to pray for Kristine, we still need all your prayers and positive thoughts.
Thank you all so much!!!
Both chemo treatments have been wreaking havoc on her digestive system. She hasn't eaten in 3 days because she can't keep anything down. The nausea has been non-stop as well. We're hoping the nausea subsides by tomorrow before her transplant.
Today I arrived at UCLA to surprise Kristine and help care for her and keep her company. Our sister, Kimberlie, who just arrived from Lakenheath Royal Air Force Base in England, joined me in the surprise. Kristine was in a great deal of pain when we arrived and when she saw us, she broke down in tears. Tears of elation, knowing she had us here to help her through this.
We want to be here for the big day tomorrow -- Transplant Day! AKA Kristine's 2nd birthday! The transplant is scheduled to take place around 11am. It will take a few hours to transfuse the stem cells into Kristine. Please continue to pray for Kristine, we still need all your prayers and positive thoughts.
Thank you all so much!!!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Day 93 - May 31, 2011
Kristine is trying to hang tough. She is feeling really, really, really sick today. She's not taking any calls or texts. Yesterday was her last day of the first chemo treatment. Today and tomorrow she is receiving her second chemo treatment. Thursday she will rest, no chemo. Friday is transplant day. :)
Kristine and Dave asked me to give a BIG shout out to thank P'Shawna (sorry if I misspelled your name) and her mom for taking the time to visit her in the hospital while in town for Memorial Day weekend. That was so thoughtful of the both of you! Kristine really enjoyed your visit and you came at the right time... before the effects of chemo set in.
They have another BIG shout out they want to give to Dee, Deb, Marly and Lacey for helping take care of the kids while Dave is at work. They realize it is a huge undertaking and are comforted in knowing you are providing loving care in their absence.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to feel better soon and to stay strong and positive. She needs all our love, support and prayers.
Thank you!
Kristine and Dave asked me to give a BIG shout out to thank P'Shawna (sorry if I misspelled your name) and her mom for taking the time to visit her in the hospital while in town for Memorial Day weekend. That was so thoughtful of the both of you! Kristine really enjoyed your visit and you came at the right time... before the effects of chemo set in.
They have another BIG shout out they want to give to Dee, Deb, Marly and Lacey for helping take care of the kids while Dave is at work. They realize it is a huge undertaking and are comforted in knowing you are providing loving care in their absence.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to feel better soon and to stay strong and positive. She needs all our love, support and prayers.
Thank you!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Day 92 - May 30, 2011
The chemo is starting to wreak havoc on Kristine's digestive system. She has been feeling horrible since yesterday afternoon. Hasn't been able to eat anything. It's mainly nausea and vomiting that is affecting her. She asked that anyone wanting to visit, if they would hold off until she is feeling better. So please call Dave to see if Kristine is up to having any phone calls or visitors beforehand. Thank you!
Oh, I forgot to mention, if you would like to send Kristine a card, you can mail it to:
Kristine DuFrene
c/o Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
6th Floor, Room 6121
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Please continue to send prayers and positive thoughts to Kristine. Only 2.5 more days of chemo left. She is trying to be strong and push through what we hope is her last chemo treatment EVER!
Oh, I forgot to mention, if you would like to send Kristine a card, you can mail it to:
Kristine DuFrene
c/o Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
6th Floor, Room 6121
757 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Please continue to send prayers and positive thoughts to Kristine. Only 2.5 more days of chemo left. She is trying to be strong and push through what we hope is her last chemo treatment EVER!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Day 88 - May 26, 2011
UCLA was able to get at least 3 million stem cells from Kat yesterday. She was very happy to be Kristine's donor and that they now have her stem cells ready to transplant into Kristine. Kat returned home late last night and is already back at work this morning!
Kristine is being admitted into UCLA this morning. They will start a new pick line to administer what we hope will be her last chemo treatment. This chemo treatment will be very intense. It will be 10 times more potent than the other treatments she has received thus far. She will receive one treatment for 4 days, then another for two days. She will rest on the seventh day (June 2nd). The purpose of these high dose chemo treatments is to kill off Kristine's bone marrow and deplete her immune system prior to the transplant in order to "trick" her body into accepting Kathy's stem cells. A stem cell transplant is no different than an organ transplant. Kristine's body will try to reject the stem cells which is why her immune system must be supressed so that it can't fight back.
Kristine is scheduled to receive her transplant on Friday, June 3rd. This is considered Kristine's 2nd birthday. She will be getting a new lease on life! We are very excited for Kristine and trying to help keep her positive about this next chapter that is unfolding. Kristine is dreading the chemo treatment and is trying not to think about the awful side effects that she was forewarned about. It may be inevitable that she will develop the painful mouth sores that she has heard about. She is also very sad that she will be away from Kahlen and Logan for two months.
Kristine will spend a month at UCLA, then once her blood levels have come up to normal, she will check into a facility (much like a hotel) where she will need to stay for another month. She must remain near UCLA during this part of her recovery just in case she develops any infections or other issues arise. She must also have someone with her 24 hours a day to watch over her. My family and I are working out a schedule to ensure we have someone with her at all times.
Please continue to pray for Kristine. Send all your positive thoughts and energy her way. She needs it all!
Thank you!!!
Kristine is being admitted into UCLA this morning. They will start a new pick line to administer what we hope will be her last chemo treatment. This chemo treatment will be very intense. It will be 10 times more potent than the other treatments she has received thus far. She will receive one treatment for 4 days, then another for two days. She will rest on the seventh day (June 2nd). The purpose of these high dose chemo treatments is to kill off Kristine's bone marrow and deplete her immune system prior to the transplant in order to "trick" her body into accepting Kathy's stem cells. A stem cell transplant is no different than an organ transplant. Kristine's body will try to reject the stem cells which is why her immune system must be supressed so that it can't fight back.
Kristine is scheduled to receive her transplant on Friday, June 3rd. This is considered Kristine's 2nd birthday. She will be getting a new lease on life! We are very excited for Kristine and trying to help keep her positive about this next chapter that is unfolding. Kristine is dreading the chemo treatment and is trying not to think about the awful side effects that she was forewarned about. It may be inevitable that she will develop the painful mouth sores that she has heard about. She is also very sad that she will be away from Kahlen and Logan for two months.
Kristine will spend a month at UCLA, then once her blood levels have come up to normal, she will check into a facility (much like a hotel) where she will need to stay for another month. She must remain near UCLA during this part of her recovery just in case she develops any infections or other issues arise. She must also have someone with her 24 hours a day to watch over her. My family and I are working out a schedule to ensure we have someone with her at all times.
Please continue to pray for Kristine. Send all your positive thoughts and energy her way. She needs it all!
Thank you!!!
Day 87 - May 25, 2011
Kat is at UCLA right now donating 3 million stem cells. Hopefully they can get all 3 million in this one visit so that she won't have to go back on Friday for another donation. The procedure will take 3 to 4 hours. Dave and Kristine are out cruising Westwood (LA) while they wait for Kat.
Kristine will be admitted into UCLA tomorrow and start her chemo on Friday. She will be administered two different types of chemo treatments. One will be for 4 days, the other for 2 days. These treatments will be 10 times stronger than the other treatments she's received. It's going to be a very rough road over the next month.
Please pray for Kristine to continue to be strong and positive. More details to come tomorrow.
Kristine will be admitted into UCLA tomorrow and start her chemo on Friday. She will be administered two different types of chemo treatments. One will be for 4 days, the other for 2 days. These treatments will be 10 times stronger than the other treatments she's received. It's going to be a very rough road over the next month.
Please pray for Kristine to continue to be strong and positive. More details to come tomorrow.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Message from Dave sent via email to friends and family
Family and Friends,
I would like to update everybody on Kristine's current condition. On Tuesday May 17th, Kristine went in for a routine blood check with Dr. Jack Jacoub (google his name) and everything came back positive. She is in a very good remission (cancer free) stage. Kathy (Kristine's sister) who is a match for a bone marrow transplant flew into town Tuesday for her physical at UCLA. Wednesday May18th, Kristine and I took Kathy up to UCLA for her consultation and detailed bone marrow doner physical. Today, I received a call from Sara Gaby (UCLA bone marrow coordinator) and was told Kathy passed the physical. Not that we were worried about the results, but finding a bone marrow match is one thing--having a sibling as a match is phenomenal! Kristine's gene makeup of Japanese and Caucasian would be difficult to find in the general bone marrow registry. The next phase for Kathy is Neupogen shots twice a day for four days. Neupogen helps stimulate the growth of white blood cells in your body. On Wednesday May 25th, Kathy will go up to UCLA where she will give blood to be harvested and stored for Kristine at a later date. The procedure for Kathy will take about three to four hours were her blood will go into a leukapheresis machine, which extract out the white blood/stem cells used for Kristine's bone marrow transplant and then Kathy's blood will be returned back into her body. This is a non-evasive procedure without any side effects. Medical science has come a long way. Bone marrow transplants used to be painful for the doner and recipient. UCLA needs to collect three million stem cells from Kathy which might take two blood donations. If needed, the second one is on Friday May 27th. Kathy is so proud to be able the give Kristine a second chance on life. Those of you that know Kathy know her as outgoing, talkative and always on the go. Will Kristine take on some of those characteristics???
Kristine is scheduled for a bone marrow biopsy on Monday May 23rd at UCLA with Dr. Ronald Paquette (google his name). Kristine is very fortunate to be getting some of the best cancer treatment available. Dr. Jacoub, her Oncologist, and Dr. Paquette, the transplant specialist, have been very compassionate and positive about a successful outcome for Kristine. If Kristine's bone marrow biopsy comes back good (less than 5% leukemia cells) then she is scheduled to be admitted to UCLA on Thursday, May 26th or Friday, May 27th. Once admitted, Kristine will go through a dose of three to four days of chemotherapy to wipe out the bone marrow of leukemia cells before the transplant can take place. Kristine's bone marrow transplant will only take one day. UCLA calls it her new birth date. She will stay in the hospital for one month due to a suppressed immune system and to prevent any complications or infections. Once discharged, Kristine will spend another month at a local hotel close to UCLA for routine blood work and checkups. Visitors are welcomed but only when cleared from doctor. All the support Kristine received from family and friends has helped her stay positive.
I would like to share with everybody how strong and positive Kristine has been through this ordeal. She has been through hell and back during the chemotherapy treatment. And if not sick, Kristine would have a smile on her face and always happy to see family and friends. Kahlen and Logan keep her positive and a willingess to beat this disease. As for me, I don't always show my emotions. This ordeal has sucked my soul out, but the support from family and friends has helped alot. It is a surreal feeling and I keep thinking I am going to wake up from a bad dream...
This is a great forum for me to express my gratitude for all that have helped, called, sent cards, emails and prayed for Kristine and the family.
Karen, your blog has taken the stress off of me having to update family and friends of Kristine's condition. Kyoko, thank you for spending two months at our home caring for the kids, cleaning, cooking and visiting Kristine at the hospital so I could return to work. Pat, your support and picking up the slack at home so Kyoko could spend time at our home is much appreciated. Rick, I know you have your hands full with kids and sports, but with Karen able to come down and help means alot. Dad, Sean and Dea, I dump alot on you guys from last minute babysitting to emotions, thank you. Mom and Gary, you both have always been there for us and thank you for the love and support. Bonnie and Dennis, thank you for the phone calls and I know if you were closer you would be here. Kimberlie and Andy, if you didn't live in England, I know you would be here all the time. Vicki and Joe, you are always there when needed, thank you. Daryl, Trista, Scott, Mariann, Dan, Carissa Tony, Janene, Jeff, Yelena and Deanna you are our closest friends from day one and thanks for helping out when needed. Devin, you inspire Kristine and myself, being a cancer survivor and supporting us from the beginning. Deb, Dee, Ed and Bryce, Dana, Jason, Renee, James, Maria, Christina, Mark thank you for taking care of the kids and supporting us. To the family on the East Coast-- Sharon, Bob, Kelly, Maureen, Billy, John, Kumi, Timmy and family, your phone calls and cards keep Kristine smiling hope to see you all soon.
And last to my Anaheim Fire Family it makes me proud to be part of such a great organization.
I want to add a shout out and special thanks to our friend, Hayato Yuuki, for all his efforts in fundraising money to help pay for Kristine's medical expenses and additional daycare costs. He spearheaded the Kristine DuFrene Leukemia Awareness Wristbands, helped organize the OC Marathon group who ran in Kristine's honor and has just been so supportive of us during this trying time. I can't thank him enough for everything he has done.
I want to add a shout out and special thanks to our friend, Hayato Yuuki, for all his efforts in fundraising money to help pay for Kristine's medical expenses and additional daycare costs. He spearheaded the Kristine DuFrene Leukemia Awareness Wristbands, helped organize the OC Marathon group who ran in Kristine's honor and has just been so supportive of us during this trying time. I can't thank him enough for everything he has done.
Keep the prayers coming,
Dave
Monday, May 16, 2011
Day 78 - May 16, 2011
I just wanted to clear up a misconception. While Kristine IS currently in remission and we are absolutely thrilled about that; she is still very much in need of a bone marrow transplant. She must remain in remission for at least two weeks before UCLA will allow her to receive the transplant.
Kat, Kristine's match, leaves tomorrow to head to UCLA RRCC to start her second round of tests to ensure she is able to donate her bone marrow (stem cells) to Kristine. The following week, she will begin her Neupogen injections to stimulate stem cell production in her marrow. After approximately 4 days, there will be a blood draw, assuming at least a pint, and the stem cells will be separated from the blood and the blood transfused back into Kat. The stem cells will then be frozen until they are ready to do the transplant.
From what we've been told, Kristine will undergo the transplant sometime in June. We're hoping it happens in the first week of June as we do not want to waste time and potentially face a relapse. We're not being impatient, we just want our sister healthy again!
Kristine has been feeling good but becomes tired and sore more often than she thought she would. On the days Dave has to work, she takes the kids to daycare. On the days Dave is off, they keep the children with them. Kristine is enjoying every minute with her babies as she knows she will soon be away from them for about 8 weeks when she heads to UCLA for the transplant.
That's all for now. Will post another update next week after we find out the results of Kat's tests.
Kat, Kristine's match, leaves tomorrow to head to UCLA RRCC to start her second round of tests to ensure she is able to donate her bone marrow (stem cells) to Kristine. The following week, she will begin her Neupogen injections to stimulate stem cell production in her marrow. After approximately 4 days, there will be a blood draw, assuming at least a pint, and the stem cells will be separated from the blood and the blood transfused back into Kat. The stem cells will then be frozen until they are ready to do the transplant.
From what we've been told, Kristine will undergo the transplant sometime in June. We're hoping it happens in the first week of June as we do not want to waste time and potentially face a relapse. We're not being impatient, we just want our sister healthy again!
Kristine has been feeling good but becomes tired and sore more often than she thought she would. On the days Dave has to work, she takes the kids to daycare. On the days Dave is off, they keep the children with them. Kristine is enjoying every minute with her babies as she knows she will soon be away from them for about 8 weeks when she heads to UCLA for the transplant.
That's all for now. Will post another update next week after we find out the results of Kat's tests.
Biopsy Results
This is the text message I just received from Dave: She is in a complete remission. It actually couldn't look any better.
Thank you Lord!! Thank you to all our Prayer Warriors!! Thank you to Kristine for being such a fighter!! Thank you to our Mom and Dave for taking such great care of Kristine!!
Now we just need Kristine to stay in remission so she can get her transplant. Fingers crossed!
Thank you Lord!! Thank you to all our Prayer Warriors!! Thank you to Kristine for being such a fighter!! Thank you to our Mom and Dave for taking such great care of Kristine!!
Now we just need Kristine to stay in remission so she can get her transplant. Fingers crossed!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Day 73 - May 11, 2011
I was hoping to report the results of Kristine's bone marrow biopsy by now, but we do not have them yet. As soon as we are notified, I will update the blog.
Meanwhile, Kristine is doing okay. She is tired a lot, her back has been sore since the biopsy and her legs are sore -- I assume from going up and down the stairs in her home. My mom left yesterday to go back to her home in Pennsylvania temporarily. She has been sick the past week or so with a chest cold. She'll return in a few weeks but this will give her some time to recooperate and get healthy again. Kristine is going to need her help when it comes time for the transplant.
I'll provide an update, hopefully soon, as soon as I find out what the biopsy results are.
Meanwhile, Kristine is doing okay. She is tired a lot, her back has been sore since the biopsy and her legs are sore -- I assume from going up and down the stairs in her home. My mom left yesterday to go back to her home in Pennsylvania temporarily. She has been sick the past week or so with a chest cold. She'll return in a few weeks but this will give her some time to recooperate and get healthy again. Kristine is going to need her help when it comes time for the transplant.
I'll provide an update, hopefully soon, as soon as I find out what the biopsy results are.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Prayer Request
OK, I just found out that Kristine is going in for a bone marrow biopsy tomorrow afternoon (Friday). We need our prayer warriors to pray for results of a cell count of less than 5%. Kristine does NOT want to be re-admitted for more chemo. She is really hoping for good results so she can stay home and only have to endure the high dose chemo right before her transplant. So please join me in praying for good results!! We should know by Monday what the results are. I will update the blog when I find out.
Thank you to all our prayer warriors out there!!!
Thank you to all our prayer warriors out there!!!
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Day 67 - May 5, 2011
Kristine is enjoying her time at home with the kids and my mom is there helping her. My mom will soon have to leave temporarily and will return when Kristine goes in for her transplant. So when Dave is away at work, Kristine will need to have the kids go to daycare on the days that she is feeling weak and unable to care for the kids all by herself.
Another bone marrow biopsy will be taken this week. Hopefully Kristine is still in remission. If she relapses again, she will have to undergo more chemo. If she can stay in remission until UCLA is ready to perform her transplant, she will undergo 3 days of high dose chemo, one day of "rest" then they'll do the transplant the following day.
Kat, our sister who is Kristine's match, is still waiting to hear from UCLA to notify her they are ready to have her come down for additional testing that must be performed to make sure she is definitely an eligible donor for Kristine. After this is done, Kat will come home and wait again to hear from UCLA to let her know they are ready to begin her Neupogen injections which will occur about the same time Kristine undergoes the 3 days of high dose chemo. Kat will have daily injections for approximately 4 days, then they will do the blood draw for the stem cells which will be transplanted to Kristine.
No other news at this time. So far, Kristine is feeling great and has a healthy immune system. We still want her to be very cautious as we don't want to "test" her immune system with any type of infection. Please continue to include Kristine and her family in your daily prayers.
Oh, by the way, the medical bills are starting to roll in... YIKES!!... you wouldn't believe how much the total charge was for those first 28 days!!! Anyone interested in making a donation for the Leukemia Awareness wristbands, please contact Hayato Yuuki at 714-924-5268. We have plenty to "sell" to help raise more much needed funds.
Thank you!!
Another bone marrow biopsy will be taken this week. Hopefully Kristine is still in remission. If she relapses again, she will have to undergo more chemo. If she can stay in remission until UCLA is ready to perform her transplant, she will undergo 3 days of high dose chemo, one day of "rest" then they'll do the transplant the following day.
Kat, our sister who is Kristine's match, is still waiting to hear from UCLA to notify her they are ready to have her come down for additional testing that must be performed to make sure she is definitely an eligible donor for Kristine. After this is done, Kat will come home and wait again to hear from UCLA to let her know they are ready to begin her Neupogen injections which will occur about the same time Kristine undergoes the 3 days of high dose chemo. Kat will have daily injections for approximately 4 days, then they will do the blood draw for the stem cells which will be transplanted to Kristine.
No other news at this time. So far, Kristine is feeling great and has a healthy immune system. We still want her to be very cautious as we don't want to "test" her immune system with any type of infection. Please continue to include Kristine and her family in your daily prayers.
Oh, by the way, the medical bills are starting to roll in... YIKES!!... you wouldn't believe how much the total charge was for those first 28 days!!! Anyone interested in making a donation for the Leukemia Awareness wristbands, please contact Hayato Yuuki at 714-924-5268. We have plenty to "sell" to help raise more much needed funds.
Thank you!!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Day 63 - May 1, 2011
Kristine was finally released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Yay, thank goodness!! I think she would have planned an escape had they not released her when they did. LOL!!!
Today, a group of Dave and Kristine's friends ran the OC Marathon in honor of Kristine's fight against leukemia. A big shout out to Stacey and Dave Baker, Renee and Greg Plumlee and their friend Sheralyn McVeigh, Hayato Yuuki, Chad Overn, Jared and Shelley Blomberg for running the marathon. You are all such wonderful people!
I'd also like to send out a big thank you to the Anaheim Fire Department for their continued support of Dave and Kristine. You have been more helpful than you could ever imagine. Dave and Kristine don't know how they could ever thank you enough for all that you have done and continue to do.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay healthy and in remission while she awaits her transplant. We don't want her to have to endure another round of chemo and another month in the hospital. So please pray, pray, pray!
Thank you!
Today, a group of Dave and Kristine's friends ran the OC Marathon in honor of Kristine's fight against leukemia. A big shout out to Stacey and Dave Baker, Renee and Greg Plumlee and their friend Sheralyn McVeigh, Hayato Yuuki, Chad Overn, Jared and Shelley Blomberg for running the marathon. You are all such wonderful people!
I'd also like to send out a big thank you to the Anaheim Fire Department for their continued support of Dave and Kristine. You have been more helpful than you could ever imagine. Dave and Kristine don't know how they could ever thank you enough for all that you have done and continue to do.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay healthy and in remission while she awaits her transplant. We don't want her to have to endure another round of chemo and another month in the hospital. So please pray, pray, pray!
Thank you!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Day 60 - April 28, 2011
Kristine is about to lose her mind being cooped up in that hospital. I feel really bad for her. She had to spend her 35th birthday in that room. Although I must say, some terrific people went out of their way to make this birthday a little more special. Thank you to Dee, Yuuki, Rene, Jeff, Nora, Sean and Dana for stopping by the hospital to visit with Kristine. Thank you to the nursing staff who took a moment out of their busy schedules to sing Happy Birthday to Kristine. Thank you to Vicki who sang Kristine her unique version of Happy Birthday (which my sister, Kimberlie, and I were so lucky to see and hear Kristine receive via skype). Thank you to Deb for helping my mom bring Kahlen and Logan to visit with their mom on her special day. Thank you to all the wonderful friends and family who sent cards and called to wish Kristine a Happy Birthday. Dave even had a little surprise of his own. He was out of town working (Dave has taken on a second job to help with additional expenses) and was not expected to be back in town for a few days, but he surprised Kristine by coming back in time to help her celebrate! It really helped brighten Kristine spirits. She has been down in the dumps lately and it was nice to see her shine again.
In an effort to keep Kristine's spirits up, she and I skype everyday for hours at a time. I try to keep her company as much as possible, toting my laptop from one room to another taking her with me as I do household chores, change my little one's diapers and straighten my hair. It's funny, my little Chloe will ask, "Skype Auntie Noonie?" Or if we're about to go into another room of the house, she'll say, "Take Auntie?" This is how I entertain Kristine throughout the day. My husband says he has to be careful what he walks around the house wearing because he's never sure when Kristine is "watching." LOL!!!
Today Kristine's white cell count was up to 1.6! At this rate, she may reach normal levels (4.0-4.5) by Sunday or Monday which means she will be released from the hospital. That would be wonderful because it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch Kristine (on skype) view the video clips of the kids Dave sends her on the cell phone. She watches them over and over again. She even shares them with me and Chloe by putting her cell phone up to the webcam. :) She realizes how many moments she's missing out on being stuck in that hospital room, that's why I said it's heartbreaking. :( Dr. Jacoub has some tests he wants to run before she leaves, one of which will be another bone marrow biopsy. Hopefully, he will be the one performing the extraction as the entry site from the last biopsy gave Kristine much discomfort for over a week.
Dave spoke with the patient coordinator at UCLA today to get some idea of what the next few weeks holds in store. Now that we know Kathy is a match, we've all been wanting to know when Kristine will receive her bone marrow transplant. First of all, we must wait for UCLA to receive approval from the insurance company for the transplant procedure. Second, before they will finish Kristine and Kathy's pre-testing for the transplant, Kristine must remain in remission for at least two weeks before they will proceed. So as soon as her levels reach normal, she will have a bone marrow biopsy which must come back clean, then have another biopsy two weeks later which must also be clean. When I say clean, I mean clear of cancer cells. Kathy must undergo some additional blood tests and a pulmonary test. Once cleared, she will receive the same Neupogen injections that Kristine was receiving in order to increase her stem cell production. She will receive these shots for approximately 4-5 days, then they will draw her blood, similar to that of a normal blood donation. The stem cells will be separated from her blood for donation and the remaining blood will be transfused back into Kathy. Kristine only needs the stem cells, not all of the blood contents. One last thing, Dr. Paquette already has approximately 35 other patients awaiting transplants, so this doesn't help expedite the process. Uggggghhhhhhhh!
I hope what and how I've explained everything makes sense. I apologize if I'm not explaining it in a clear, concise manner. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave comments and I will try to elaborate.
Basically, we are looking at approximately 6-8 weeks before Kristine will receive her transplant assuming that she stays in remission. So we need our prayer warriors to pray for Kristine to stay in remission and for Kathy to clear all tests so that she is an eligible donor.
We are still awaiting the results of Kimberlie's test kit. Kimberlie and Kathy are both the same blood type as Kristine, so we're hoping Kimberlie will also be a match! :) You never know if Kristine may need another transplant down the line sometime. I was very upset to learn recently that even if this transplant is a success, Kristine will always be battling this disease for the rest of her life. She will need to take very good care of herself, eat right, get plenty of rest every night, exercise and get tested regularly. We can all take a lesson from this and do our part in taking care of ourselves!
In an effort to keep Kristine's spirits up, she and I skype everyday for hours at a time. I try to keep her company as much as possible, toting my laptop from one room to another taking her with me as I do household chores, change my little one's diapers and straighten my hair. It's funny, my little Chloe will ask, "Skype Auntie Noonie?" Or if we're about to go into another room of the house, she'll say, "Take Auntie?" This is how I entertain Kristine throughout the day. My husband says he has to be careful what he walks around the house wearing because he's never sure when Kristine is "watching." LOL!!!
Today Kristine's white cell count was up to 1.6! At this rate, she may reach normal levels (4.0-4.5) by Sunday or Monday which means she will be released from the hospital. That would be wonderful because it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch Kristine (on skype) view the video clips of the kids Dave sends her on the cell phone. She watches them over and over again. She even shares them with me and Chloe by putting her cell phone up to the webcam. :) She realizes how many moments she's missing out on being stuck in that hospital room, that's why I said it's heartbreaking. :( Dr. Jacoub has some tests he wants to run before she leaves, one of which will be another bone marrow biopsy. Hopefully, he will be the one performing the extraction as the entry site from the last biopsy gave Kristine much discomfort for over a week.
Dave spoke with the patient coordinator at UCLA today to get some idea of what the next few weeks holds in store. Now that we know Kathy is a match, we've all been wanting to know when Kristine will receive her bone marrow transplant. First of all, we must wait for UCLA to receive approval from the insurance company for the transplant procedure. Second, before they will finish Kristine and Kathy's pre-testing for the transplant, Kristine must remain in remission for at least two weeks before they will proceed. So as soon as her levels reach normal, she will have a bone marrow biopsy which must come back clean, then have another biopsy two weeks later which must also be clean. When I say clean, I mean clear of cancer cells. Kathy must undergo some additional blood tests and a pulmonary test. Once cleared, she will receive the same Neupogen injections that Kristine was receiving in order to increase her stem cell production. She will receive these shots for approximately 4-5 days, then they will draw her blood, similar to that of a normal blood donation. The stem cells will be separated from her blood for donation and the remaining blood will be transfused back into Kathy. Kristine only needs the stem cells, not all of the blood contents. One last thing, Dr. Paquette already has approximately 35 other patients awaiting transplants, so this doesn't help expedite the process. Uggggghhhhhhhh!
I hope what and how I've explained everything makes sense. I apologize if I'm not explaining it in a clear, concise manner. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave comments and I will try to elaborate.
Basically, we are looking at approximately 6-8 weeks before Kristine will receive her transplant assuming that she stays in remission. So we need our prayer warriors to pray for Kristine to stay in remission and for Kathy to clear all tests so that she is an eligible donor.
We are still awaiting the results of Kimberlie's test kit. Kimberlie and Kathy are both the same blood type as Kristine, so we're hoping Kimberlie will also be a match! :) You never know if Kristine may need another transplant down the line sometime. I was very upset to learn recently that even if this transplant is a success, Kristine will always be battling this disease for the rest of her life. She will need to take very good care of herself, eat right, get plenty of rest every night, exercise and get tested regularly. We can all take a lesson from this and do our part in taking care of ourselves!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Day 58 - April 26, 2011
First of all, Happy Birthday to Kristine!! Second, we have a match!!! Our sister, Kathy, is a 100% match!! We're still awaiting the results of Kimberlie's test kit.
Kristine's white cell count is at .5 today. Normal level is 4, so she has a ways to go, but hopefully by the end of the week, she will be there and be able to go home by Sunday or Monday.
At this point, we're trying to find out what the next step is. All we know right now is that Kathy will need to go through some additional tests at UCLA over the next 4 weeks or so. So Kristine won't be receiving her transplant for at least a month or so.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay in remission. She must stay in remission or she will have to undergo more chemo. We really don't want to see her go through any more of that.
I want to thank all of our prayer warriors out there! Thank you so very much!!!
Kristine's white cell count is at .5 today. Normal level is 4, so she has a ways to go, but hopefully by the end of the week, she will be there and be able to go home by Sunday or Monday.
At this point, we're trying to find out what the next step is. All we know right now is that Kathy will need to go through some additional tests at UCLA over the next 4 weeks or so. So Kristine won't be receiving her transplant for at least a month or so.
Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay in remission. She must stay in remission or she will have to undergo more chemo. We really don't want to see her go through any more of that.
I want to thank all of our prayer warriors out there! Thank you so very much!!!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Day 54 - April 22, 2011
There's no new news to report yet. When the doctor came by to see Kristine yesterday, she had visitors so he didn't have an opportunity to discuss anything with her. He respects patient confidentiality and will surely have an indepth conversation with her when they can have a private conversation.
Dr. Jacoub did tell Kristine that she would be in the hospital for at least another week. This means Kristine will be spending her 35th birthday in the hospital. That stinks! She was hoping to be home by then. However, this is for her own safety. She still has a near zero white cell count, which means no immune system, so we feel it is best that she remains in the hospital as well.
Today Kristiine isn't feeling well. Her body hurts all over and that awful pain in back in her abdomen. She was running a fever of 101 earlier this morning which is frightening. Thankfully, her temperature has gone back down. Please remember to be cautious when visiting Kristine and use the sanitizer upon entering her room. No hugs please, just bump elbows if you feel the need to make physical contact. (Thanks for that idea Sean!!)
Kristine will not be administered the Neupogen injections this time around. The doctor wants her marrow to work alone in trying to produce new blood cells. Although, she will be receiving a platelets transfusion today.
No news yet on whether any of us sisters are a match. So please continue your prayer circles for that specific prayer to be answered. Also, as always, continue to pray for Kristine to feel well, for her blood levels to reach normal, for her to stay in remission and for her to be cured! Thank you all!!
Dr. Jacoub did tell Kristine that she would be in the hospital for at least another week. This means Kristine will be spending her 35th birthday in the hospital. That stinks! She was hoping to be home by then. However, this is for her own safety. She still has a near zero white cell count, which means no immune system, so we feel it is best that she remains in the hospital as well.
Today Kristiine isn't feeling well. Her body hurts all over and that awful pain in back in her abdomen. She was running a fever of 101 earlier this morning which is frightening. Thankfully, her temperature has gone back down. Please remember to be cautious when visiting Kristine and use the sanitizer upon entering her room. No hugs please, just bump elbows if you feel the need to make physical contact. (Thanks for that idea Sean!!)
Kristine will not be administered the Neupogen injections this time around. The doctor wants her marrow to work alone in trying to produce new blood cells. Although, she will be receiving a platelets transfusion today.
No news yet on whether any of us sisters are a match. So please continue your prayer circles for that specific prayer to be answered. Also, as always, continue to pray for Kristine to feel well, for her blood levels to reach normal, for her to stay in remission and for her to be cured! Thank you all!!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Day 52 - April 20, 2011
Good news! Kristine's bone marrow results were good. How good? We don't know yet. The only info we received was that the results were "good" and that the doctor would stop by in the morning to talk to Kristine about it more and what the next step will be.
Other than that, there is not much new to share. Kristine is feeling much better and has taken herself off the liquid diet. She was too hungry to wait for the official "okay" from the doctor. It must be okay because he stopped in and saw her eating and didn't say anything. LOL!!
We should know as early as Friday or possibly early next week as to whether or not Kat and I are a match for Kristine. We should know if Kimberlie is a match by the end of next week. We are all very anxious to find out this news.
That's all for now. Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay in remission and pray for a match!! Thank you!!!
Other than that, there is not much new to share. Kristine is feeling much better and has taken herself off the liquid diet. She was too hungry to wait for the official "okay" from the doctor. It must be okay because he stopped in and saw her eating and didn't say anything. LOL!!
We should know as early as Friday or possibly early next week as to whether or not Kat and I are a match for Kristine. We should know if Kimberlie is a match by the end of next week. We are all very anxious to find out this news.
That's all for now. Please continue to pray for Kristine to stay in remission and pray for a match!! Thank you!!!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Day 51 - April 19, 2011
Kristine just had her bone marrow biopsy. This is the first time I've seen her cry since this whole nightmare began. Oh, how I wish I were there with her now! Dr. Jacoub, who has a wonderful, non-painful technique when extracting the marrow, was not available to do Kristine's biopsy this morning so another doctor had to do it. It's the same doctor that did her very first biopsy when she was admitted into the hospital and she remembered how painful that one was. This time it was even MORE painful. I told her, with everything she has been through, to see if she can request Dr. Jacoub do any future biopsies. She's been through enough pain and suffering, there's no need for more if it can be avoided, right? I'm sure Dave will talk to Dr. Jacoub and make the request.
On a different note, Kristine's heartburn is gone for now. However, the chest pains are back. They gave her a Percoset for the pain and it has helped. She's still on the liquid diet, but really has an appetite today. She'd really like to try eating solid food. She's waiting for Dr. Nassir (Internal Medicine) to make his rounds to find out if she can go ahead and go back on solids. Other than the chest pains, Kristine seems to be in better spirits now. We've been skyping the entire time I've been writing today's blog. Kristine and I skype all the time. It's nice, feels like I'm there with her.
Kristine asked me if I could post the website once again for those wishing to become a bone marrow donor. Any of us could potentially be a match for someone in this nation suffering from leukemia or lymphoma. Won't you please consider joining the registry and becoming a donor? If so, please go to http://www.marrow.org/.
So now we wait... I'll keep ya'll posted.
On a different note, Kristine's heartburn is gone for now. However, the chest pains are back. They gave her a Percoset for the pain and it has helped. She's still on the liquid diet, but really has an appetite today. She'd really like to try eating solid food. She's waiting for Dr. Nassir (Internal Medicine) to make his rounds to find out if she can go ahead and go back on solids. Other than the chest pains, Kristine seems to be in better spirits now. We've been skyping the entire time I've been writing today's blog. Kristine and I skype all the time. It's nice, feels like I'm there with her.
Kristine asked me if I could post the website once again for those wishing to become a bone marrow donor. Any of us could potentially be a match for someone in this nation suffering from leukemia or lymphoma. Won't you please consider joining the registry and becoming a donor? If so, please go to http://www.marrow.org/.
So now we wait... I'll keep ya'll posted.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Day 50 - April 18, 2011
The past three days have been so uncomfortable for Kristine. She's been suffering from severe chest pains which she thinks is acid reflux. The doctor ordered a CT scan of her abdominal area to check things out. He was thinking it might be her pancreas that was inflamed due to all the meds she's been taking. The scan didn't reveal much other than an enlarged colon which he feels is probably due to inflammation as well. So Kristine has been put on a liquid diet. At least until her tummy issues pass.
Tonight, the nurse gave Kristine Mylanta to try to help ease her pain. Kristine HATES Mylanta. She typically vomits when she tries to take this med. The nurse and I were able to convince Kristine to have positive thoughts that the meds would relieve her pain. It worked! She sipped the Mylanta with her nose plugged and chased each sip with a bit of grape juice and was able to keep it down!! Hallelujah!! Within minutes the pain was subsiding. Thank goodness!!
Tomorrow Kristine will have another bone marrow biopsy. We need all our prayer warriors praying for a cell count of less than 5%. We should also know by the end of this week whether or not Kathy or I are a match for Kristine. We also need your prayers for this! We're still waiting for our sister Kimberlie to receive her test kit. Kimberlie is stationed overseas in England. We hope her kit will arrive by the end of this week.
I'll provide updates on the bone marrow results and the test kit results as soon as I have the info. Until then, PRAY FOR KRISTINE!! Thank you!!
Tonight, the nurse gave Kristine Mylanta to try to help ease her pain. Kristine HATES Mylanta. She typically vomits when she tries to take this med. The nurse and I were able to convince Kristine to have positive thoughts that the meds would relieve her pain. It worked! She sipped the Mylanta with her nose plugged and chased each sip with a bit of grape juice and was able to keep it down!! Hallelujah!! Within minutes the pain was subsiding. Thank goodness!!
Tomorrow Kristine will have another bone marrow biopsy. We need all our prayer warriors praying for a cell count of less than 5%. We should also know by the end of this week whether or not Kathy or I are a match for Kristine. We also need your prayers for this! We're still waiting for our sister Kimberlie to receive her test kit. Kimberlie is stationed overseas in England. We hope her kit will arrive by the end of this week.
I'll provide updates on the bone marrow results and the test kit results as soon as I have the info. Until then, PRAY FOR KRISTINE!! Thank you!!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Day 47 - April 15, 2011
Kristine was re-admitted to the hospital yesterday. It's just precautionary since her white cell count was so low and is now likely at zero. Although it is more comfortable for her to be at home, in her own bed, it is safer for her to be in the hospital right now until her blood levels return to normal and she is no longer neutropenic.
Yesterday also marked Kristine's last day of taking the Sorafenib "chemo" pill. The side effects of this treatment were difficult for Kristine. She is elated that this phase of her treatment is complete and looks forward to great results from her upcoming bone marrow biopsy in about a week or so.
Let's all pray for results of a (leukemia) cell count of less than 5% and that she remains in remission indefinitely so she is able to get her bone marrow transplant. Let's also pray the test results from us sisters come back with at least one match!
Thank you!!
Yesterday also marked Kristine's last day of taking the Sorafenib "chemo" pill. The side effects of this treatment were difficult for Kristine. She is elated that this phase of her treatment is complete and looks forward to great results from her upcoming bone marrow biopsy in about a week or so.
Let's all pray for results of a (leukemia) cell count of less than 5% and that she remains in remission indefinitely so she is able to get her bone marrow transplant. Let's also pray the test results from us sisters come back with at least one match!
Thank you!!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Day 45 - April 13, 2011
Good news... Kat and I received our test kits today!! Thank you prayer warriors!!! We both already had our blood drawn and FedEx'd back to UCLA for processing. Our other sister, Kimberlie, is still awaiting receipt of her kit in England. Please pray one of us is a match!!
Kristine had her appointment at UCLA this morning. Just some informalities she had to take care of and some blood tests.
Dave and my mom are cooking up a sipping broth which Dave is calling Kristine's Cancer Witches Brew. He found the recipe in a book given to Kristine by our sister Kathy. A very kind co-worker of Kathy's, Betsy Hollander, ordered the book for Kristine as she thought she might find it helpful. That was so thoughful and generous of you Betsy, thank you!!! Both my husband and I perused the book while we were down in Irvine visiting Kristine. Great book!!
That's all the news I have for now. Kristine is very tired and weak today. She had a sample of the broth and said it was okay. LOL!! We all know how picky Kristine is!! I told her to just think of all the good it's doing for her body. :) She agreed and will sip away with a smile!! I'll have to get a photo of that. ;)
Kristine had her appointment at UCLA this morning. Just some informalities she had to take care of and some blood tests.
Dave and my mom are cooking up a sipping broth which Dave is calling Kristine's Cancer Witches Brew. He found the recipe in a book given to Kristine by our sister Kathy. A very kind co-worker of Kathy's, Betsy Hollander, ordered the book for Kristine as she thought she might find it helpful. That was so thoughful and generous of you Betsy, thank you!!! Both my husband and I perused the book while we were down in Irvine visiting Kristine. Great book!!
That's all the news I have for now. Kristine is very tired and weak today. She had a sample of the broth and said it was okay. LOL!! We all know how picky Kristine is!! I told her to just think of all the good it's doing for her body. :) She agreed and will sip away with a smile!! I'll have to get a photo of that. ;)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Day 44 - April 12, 2011
Wow! Our wonderful prayer warriors did an amazing job... Kristine was all smiles today. The rash is going away on most of her body, her head isn't burning anymore, her body isn't as achy, and the biggest surprise of all... her doctor released her from the hospital earlier this evening. Though we are very concerned about the possibility of Kristine developing an infection, we are glad she will make it to her appointment at UCLA tomorrow morning. Plus I know she is going to be extra cautious and wear her mask and gloves. I believe that is the reason her doctor released her early. Until Kristine's admission into the UCLA RRCC is approved and completed, the testing kits will not be approved by the insurance company. This is such a frustrating process!!!
On one hand, we're being told it is urgent that my sisters and I are tested to see if we are a match so Kristine can get her transplant as soon as possible; but on the other hand, the darn insurance company won't issue the approval to UCLA for them to send out the testing kits to us. Apparently it costs approximately $2K per kit to run the tests, so they want insurance approval. Yet, an uninsured illegal immigrant can walk into an emergency room with a life threatening wound and receive medical care?!?!! This is urgent, a life is at stake, why can't they mail out the darn kits and bill the insurance company afterwards?!?!! Maybe I'm being naive; actually, I'm just scared. I'm scared that my sister will go back in to remission only to relapse again while we wait around for the darn insurance company's approval. We really don't want to see Kristine go through more chemo.
Though some of Kristine's side effects have subsided, some still remain. She still has a rash and blisters on her hands, in fact, it has become a little worse. Her mouth is tingly and somewhat numb which makes her not want to bother to eat. She also still has some nausea... but she's still smiling for me tonight! :)
Like I've been saying over and over again, we must pray, pray, pray that Kristine does not get any type of infection. We must pray that UCLA approves Kristine for admission and completes the process ASAP. We must pray that Anthem Blue Cross issues the approval for the test kits so that UCLA can get them sent out. We must pray that one of the sisters is a match. I have more prayers to ask of you, but I will wait for these prayers to be answered first. Thank you so much for keeping Kristine in your hearts, thoughts and prayers. Keep sending Kristine your positive vibes!!
On one hand, we're being told it is urgent that my sisters and I are tested to see if we are a match so Kristine can get her transplant as soon as possible; but on the other hand, the darn insurance company won't issue the approval to UCLA for them to send out the testing kits to us. Apparently it costs approximately $2K per kit to run the tests, so they want insurance approval. Yet, an uninsured illegal immigrant can walk into an emergency room with a life threatening wound and receive medical care?!?!! This is urgent, a life is at stake, why can't they mail out the darn kits and bill the insurance company afterwards?!?!! Maybe I'm being naive; actually, I'm just scared. I'm scared that my sister will go back in to remission only to relapse again while we wait around for the darn insurance company's approval. We really don't want to see Kristine go through more chemo.
Though some of Kristine's side effects have subsided, some still remain. She still has a rash and blisters on her hands, in fact, it has become a little worse. Her mouth is tingly and somewhat numb which makes her not want to bother to eat. She also still has some nausea... but she's still smiling for me tonight! :)
Like I've been saying over and over again, we must pray, pray, pray that Kristine does not get any type of infection. We must pray that UCLA approves Kristine for admission and completes the process ASAP. We must pray that Anthem Blue Cross issues the approval for the test kits so that UCLA can get them sent out. We must pray that one of the sisters is a match. I have more prayers to ask of you, but I will wait for these prayers to be answered first. Thank you so much for keeping Kristine in your hearts, thoughts and prayers. Keep sending Kristine your positive vibes!!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Day 43 - April 11, 2011
12:00PM - Kristine has finished her IV chemo treatment, but is not being released from the hospital today as she had hoped. The doctor would like to continue to monitor her as she completes her last 3 days of the Sorafenib "chemo" pill. It's not actually an oral chemotherapy treatment as we had thought. It's an experimental drug that is not yet approved for AML, but is being used to help keep the cancer cells from spreading while Kristine awaits a transplant. She is experiencing some side effects that need to be closely monitored. Her blood pressure is high, she has redness on her head, face and hands, her head is very tender, and she has some blisters on her hands. Her mouth is also becoming sore. We hope that it's not the mouth sores we've heard about which are extremely painful. So painful that patients are not able to even drink water. Please pray that Kristine does not develop these mouth sores.
My sisters and I are still awaiting receipt of our kits to get tested to see if any of us are a match for Kristine. According to UCLA, the kits cost about $2000 each, so they won't FedEx them out until they receive approval from Kristine's insurance company. It's frustrating to say the least. We really want to get tested ASAP so that we know if one of us is a match. Then Kristine can be admitted to UCLA for the transplant as soon as she is back in remission. However, let me back track, we are still waiting to hear from UCLA to see if the board approved her case. Maybe we'll get some answers tomorrow.
9:00PM - I just spoke with Kristine again via Skype. The rash has spread to the rest of her body and she aches all over. Her head and face are swollen. The nurse has been instructed to give her something for the rash, so hopefully her side effects will subside.
That's all for today. Please continue to pray for Kristine's well being and send her your positive thoughts. I haven't seen her smile for two days now. :(
My sisters and I are still awaiting receipt of our kits to get tested to see if any of us are a match for Kristine. According to UCLA, the kits cost about $2000 each, so they won't FedEx them out until they receive approval from Kristine's insurance company. It's frustrating to say the least. We really want to get tested ASAP so that we know if one of us is a match. Then Kristine can be admitted to UCLA for the transplant as soon as she is back in remission. However, let me back track, we are still waiting to hear from UCLA to see if the board approved her case. Maybe we'll get some answers tomorrow.
9:00PM - I just spoke with Kristine again via Skype. The rash has spread to the rest of her body and she aches all over. Her head and face are swollen. The nurse has been instructed to give her something for the rash, so hopefully her side effects will subside.
That's all for today. Please continue to pray for Kristine's well being and send her your positive thoughts. I haven't seen her smile for two days now. :(
Day 42 - April 10, 2011
Today Kristine had to receive a blood transfusion. Her hemoglobin and potassium were low. Whenever she receives a blood transfusion, she is given Benadryl just in case she has any type of allergic reaction. As with most people, Benadryl knocks Kristine out. So she had a good nap only to wake up feeling awful. The chemo is really starting to effect her. My sister, Kathy, and I were talking with her via Skype tonight. It is really difficult to see someone you love suffering so much. My heart just breaks when I see her like this. Her smile is gone. Her lips and face are pale. Her spirit seems dampened. My only reprieve is that I know this is temporary. I know she has the strength to push through this, but these moments of suffering are unbearable to witness.
On a lighter note, our mom is not leaving Thursday, thank goodness! I think the fact that I got sick and am unable to take over for her made her realize she cannot leave just yet. So she is going to stay until Kristine recovers from her chemo. I feel bad that I am not able to help out as planned. I know our mom is stressed out and has been working so hard caring for Kristine and helping Dave care for the kids along with Dave's dad and brother. Like Kristine, our mom is such a strong person but under these difficult circumstances, even the strongest show signs of vulnerability. I think it is even more difficult for our mom to see her youngest daughter suffering through her chemo treatment. I hope to fully recover quickly so I can at least allow our mom to get some much needed rest.
I'd like to ask all our prayer warriors to say a few prayers for Kristine. Pray the ugly side effects of chemo steer clear of Kristine or at least be less severe than last time. Pray that Kristine feels well enough to attend her scheduled meeting with Dr. Paquette at UCLA RRCC on Wednesday morning. Pray that the chemo does its job and kills the leukemia cells! And please say a little prayer for our mom to stay strong and healthy, Kristine needs her. Thank you!
On a lighter note, our mom is not leaving Thursday, thank goodness! I think the fact that I got sick and am unable to take over for her made her realize she cannot leave just yet. So she is going to stay until Kristine recovers from her chemo. I feel bad that I am not able to help out as planned. I know our mom is stressed out and has been working so hard caring for Kristine and helping Dave care for the kids along with Dave's dad and brother. Like Kristine, our mom is such a strong person but under these difficult circumstances, even the strongest show signs of vulnerability. I think it is even more difficult for our mom to see her youngest daughter suffering through her chemo treatment. I hope to fully recover quickly so I can at least allow our mom to get some much needed rest.
I'd like to ask all our prayer warriors to say a few prayers for Kristine. Pray the ugly side effects of chemo steer clear of Kristine or at least be less severe than last time. Pray that Kristine feels well enough to attend her scheduled meeting with Dr. Paquette at UCLA RRCC on Wednesday morning. Pray that the chemo does its job and kills the leukemia cells! And please say a little prayer for our mom to stay strong and healthy, Kristine needs her. Thank you!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Day 41 - April 9, 2011
Kristine is currently undergoing a 4 day IV chemo treatment and a 7 day oral chemo pill treatment. This is day 3 of chemo for each treatment. She is hanging tough. Yesterday was a little rough on her with a lot of nausea, but today she's been doing great!
There's a chance the doctor will release her Monday after she completes her IV chemo treatment. She will be allowed to take the remainder of the chemo pills from home. However, in order to be released from the hospital, she has to have someone at home to help take care of her and help with the kids. The plan was for me to go back Thursday after my mom leaves, but I have come down with the flu and a cold. I must be healthy in order to care for Kristine as she will not have an immune system and will be susceptible to infection. And as you all know, Kristine CANNOT get an infection!
We've been receiving calls from friends and family stating they have been spreading the word about joining the National Marrow Donor Registry Program. This is so wonderful to hear! We were told that Orange Coast Memorial held a bone marrow drive last year and 180 people signed up. From the 180 registrants, three lives were saved! What a wonderful gift to give... the gift of life! Keep spreading the word and don't forget to join yourself!
There's a chance the doctor will release her Monday after she completes her IV chemo treatment. She will be allowed to take the remainder of the chemo pills from home. However, in order to be released from the hospital, she has to have someone at home to help take care of her and help with the kids. The plan was for me to go back Thursday after my mom leaves, but I have come down with the flu and a cold. I must be healthy in order to care for Kristine as she will not have an immune system and will be susceptible to infection. And as you all know, Kristine CANNOT get an infection!
We've been receiving calls from friends and family stating they have been spreading the word about joining the National Marrow Donor Registry Program. This is so wonderful to hear! We were told that Orange Coast Memorial held a bone marrow drive last year and 180 people signed up. From the 180 registrants, three lives were saved! What a wonderful gift to give... the gift of life! Keep spreading the word and don't forget to join yourself!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Day 39 - Please become a donor!
Kristine finally started her chemo late last night after receiving some news from Dr. Jacoub. The doctor wanted to hold off on her chemo until he had the results of her bone marrow biopsy. The test results showed she had more than 15% leukemia cells present in her marrow. This, of course, was very upsetting to us all. So Kristine is undergoing a seven day chemo regimen.
In the meantime, the doctor wants us sisters tested immediately. He said as soon as Kristine is back in remission, they want to get her transplant done as soon as possible. So test kits are being Fedex'd out to each sister so that they can get those processed right away.
If for some unfortunate reason my sisters and I are not a match for Kristine, she will need to go to the National Donor Registry. We learned yesterday that Kristine's best chance for a match from the National Donor Registry is from someone of the same ethnic background. So we are asking all of our friends and family who are half-Japanese/half-caucasian or if they know anyone who is of this same ethnic make-up, to go get themselves registered as donors at http://www.marrow.org/ ASAP. Even if you're not of the same ethnic background, please consider becoming a donor anyway. There are so many people who don't realize how easy it is to become a blood stem cell and bone marrow donor. Medical technology has come a long way and it's a simple blood donation, not a painful bone marrow extraction as once practiced.
Kristine will be hospitalized for 7-8 days and will likely be released from the hospital next Friday. She will need to be especially careful as her immune system will be compromised. She will need to exercise extreme caution with what she eats and who/what she's exposed to. Plus she will be battling all the side effects of her chemo. The doctor said it is imperative that Kristine NOT get any type of infection.
Once again, thank you for all the love, support and prayers for our sister. We truly appreciate everything everyone has done for our sister and continues to do for her.
A big shout out to Sharla, Sugar & Viv for the care packages Kristine received in the mail!! Kristine says thank you so much!!
Please consider becoming a marrow donor and continue to pray for Kristine.
In the meantime, the doctor wants us sisters tested immediately. He said as soon as Kristine is back in remission, they want to get her transplant done as soon as possible. So test kits are being Fedex'd out to each sister so that they can get those processed right away.
If for some unfortunate reason my sisters and I are not a match for Kristine, she will need to go to the National Donor Registry. We learned yesterday that Kristine's best chance for a match from the National Donor Registry is from someone of the same ethnic background. So we are asking all of our friends and family who are half-Japanese/half-caucasian or if they know anyone who is of this same ethnic make-up, to go get themselves registered as donors at http://www.marrow.org/ ASAP. Even if you're not of the same ethnic background, please consider becoming a donor anyway. There are so many people who don't realize how easy it is to become a blood stem cell and bone marrow donor. Medical technology has come a long way and it's a simple blood donation, not a painful bone marrow extraction as once practiced.
Kristine will be hospitalized for 7-8 days and will likely be released from the hospital next Friday. She will need to be especially careful as her immune system will be compromised. She will need to exercise extreme caution with what she eats and who/what she's exposed to. Plus she will be battling all the side effects of her chemo. The doctor said it is imperative that Kristine NOT get any type of infection.
Once again, thank you for all the love, support and prayers for our sister. We truly appreciate everything everyone has done for our sister and continues to do for her.
A big shout out to Sharla, Sugar & Viv for the care packages Kristine received in the mail!! Kristine says thank you so much!!
Please consider becoming a marrow donor and continue to pray for Kristine.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Day 36
After enjoying 8 wonderful days with her family, Kristine is back at Orange Coast Memorial, back in room 239, back for 5 more days of chemo. I know some of you are confused by the fact that she must have more chemo. The way it was explained to us is this: Kristine had billions and billions of leukemia cells in her body when she was diagnosed. After her initial chemo treatment, Kristine's body reacted very well but she still has millions of leukemia cells floating around in her body which is why she must undergo more treatment. She may need to endure chemo treatments every three weeks, depending on how her body is handling the treatments.
Dr. Jacoub did a bone marrow biopsy this afternoon. He's awaiting the results tomorrow morning before moving forward with the chemo. So for now, her chemo treatment has been delayed until tomorrow morning. This means that Kristine will not be able to go home until Sunday. :(
Other than that, Kristine is in good spirits. She is scheduled for another appointment at the RRCC next week. Hopefully we will have more details to share regarding the plan moving forward.
Many people have asked about being tested as a possible bone marrow match to Kristine. I wanted to let everyone know that it's very easy to become a bone marrow donor and it's not a painful process. The test is a simple swab inside your mouth and if you happen to be a match to someone, it's as simple as donating blood. You can look into this at http://www.marrow.org.
On a lighter note, Kristine got to test out a few wigs this afternoon! We had a few laughs as she tried on each one. Dani, the wonderful social worker here in the Oncology unit brought in three wigs for Kristine to try out. Kristine and I had a hard time deciding between two of the three. Although it is clear that wig #3 looks most like the Kristine we know and love, we couldn't help but to think that wig #2 might look nice if the bangs were cut a little differently. So Dani told Kristine there was no need to decide and gave both wigs to her. That was so kind of Dani! She has been a wonderful help throughout this journey! Kristine is so appreciative of everything Dani has done to help her battle this disease.
So now for the fun part... Kristine wants to know what YOU think of the wigs! Vote for your favorite by clicking on the word comment below. We know Kristine will rock the bald head, but there may be an occasion or two, where the wig may be appropriate (like a wedding to attend).
As always, please continue to pray for Kristine. Pray for her body to react well to the chemo and for no tummy discomfort this time around.
Dr. Jacoub did a bone marrow biopsy this afternoon. He's awaiting the results tomorrow morning before moving forward with the chemo. So for now, her chemo treatment has been delayed until tomorrow morning. This means that Kristine will not be able to go home until Sunday. :(
Other than that, Kristine is in good spirits. She is scheduled for another appointment at the RRCC next week. Hopefully we will have more details to share regarding the plan moving forward.
Many people have asked about being tested as a possible bone marrow match to Kristine. I wanted to let everyone know that it's very easy to become a bone marrow donor and it's not a painful process. The test is a simple swab inside your mouth and if you happen to be a match to someone, it's as simple as donating blood. You can look into this at http://www.marrow.org.
On a lighter note, Kristine got to test out a few wigs this afternoon! We had a few laughs as she tried on each one. Dani, the wonderful social worker here in the Oncology unit brought in three wigs for Kristine to try out. Kristine and I had a hard time deciding between two of the three. Although it is clear that wig #3 looks most like the Kristine we know and love, we couldn't help but to think that wig #2 might look nice if the bangs were cut a little differently. So Dani told Kristine there was no need to decide and gave both wigs to her. That was so kind of Dani! She has been a wonderful help throughout this journey! Kristine is so appreciative of everything Dani has done to help her battle this disease.
So now for the fun part... Kristine wants to know what YOU think of the wigs! Vote for your favorite by clicking on the word comment below. We know Kristine will rock the bald head, but there may be an occasion or two, where the wig may be appropriate (like a wedding to attend).
As always, please continue to pray for Kristine. Pray for her body to react well to the chemo and for no tummy discomfort this time around.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Day 34
Kristine had a consultation with the RRCC earlier this week. Her options were discussed, questions asked and I'm still getting details here and there so forgive me if the info I share appears sketchy.
Kristine is to decide whether she wants to undergo consolidated chemo in hopes of reaching a cure or trying to get a bone marrow transplant. Her best option is the transplant and that is the route she is taking. With Kristine's insurance due to expire in less than 5 months, she is trying to get this transplant done as soon as possible. They said she has a 75% chance of finding an exact match in one of us sisters. My sisters and I have not been tested yet. We are awaiting details on the who, what, when and where of this. While Kristine awaits a transplant, she has to undergo more chemo. She will be back in the hospital Monday for 5 days of chemo. She should be released Friday or Saturday upon completion.
In order for her to be accepted as a patient at the RRCC, Kristine must agree to stay within 30 minutes driving time of the center. She was told to expect to be there approximately 8 weeks. This means she will need to stay in a nearby hotel or find a furnished apartment to live in. She will have to have a family member with her at all times. At this time, we are still working out the details, but more than likely, my mom will be staying with her.
Kristine has been at home almost a week now. She is enjoying her time there with Dave, the kids, our mom and a nephew that came to visit her and help care for the kids. She has to remember to take it easy though. She did a little too much Wednesday and ended up exhausted and slept most of yesterday.
Well, that's all for now. I will post updates as necessary moving forward. Remember, if you ever have any specific questions, you can always email me at bbcsmom@gmail.com or give Dave or Kristine a call. :)
Please continue with all your prayer circles, we need them!! Thank you!!
Kristine is to decide whether she wants to undergo consolidated chemo in hopes of reaching a cure or trying to get a bone marrow transplant. Her best option is the transplant and that is the route she is taking. With Kristine's insurance due to expire in less than 5 months, she is trying to get this transplant done as soon as possible. They said she has a 75% chance of finding an exact match in one of us sisters. My sisters and I have not been tested yet. We are awaiting details on the who, what, when and where of this. While Kristine awaits a transplant, she has to undergo more chemo. She will be back in the hospital Monday for 5 days of chemo. She should be released Friday or Saturday upon completion.
In order for her to be accepted as a patient at the RRCC, Kristine must agree to stay within 30 minutes driving time of the center. She was told to expect to be there approximately 8 weeks. This means she will need to stay in a nearby hotel or find a furnished apartment to live in. She will have to have a family member with her at all times. At this time, we are still working out the details, but more than likely, my mom will be staying with her.
Kristine has been at home almost a week now. She is enjoying her time there with Dave, the kids, our mom and a nephew that came to visit her and help care for the kids. She has to remember to take it easy though. She did a little too much Wednesday and ended up exhausted and slept most of yesterday.
Well, that's all for now. I will post updates as necessary moving forward. Remember, if you ever have any specific questions, you can always email me at bbcsmom@gmail.com or give Dave or Kristine a call. :)
Please continue with all your prayer circles, we need them!! Thank you!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Day 28
They released Kristine from the hospital earlier today! Her neutrophils were up high enough to allow her to complete this phase of her treatment from home. She learned how to give herself the neupogen injections and is hopefully resting comfortably in her own bed right now. :)
Dave has been busy prepping their home for her return. He and my mom cleaned their house and Dave had the carpets cleaned. He also added a bit of color to the house by doing a little painting. I haven't heard what he did yet, but I believe he possibly painted an accent wall in one or two of the rooms. It was a sweet gesture to help make their home feel a little bit cozier since Kristine last been there almost a month ago.
Next week Kristine has an appointment scheduled with Dr. Paquette at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center which I will now refer to as the RRMC for short. My sisters and I will soon be tested to see if any of us are a match for Kristine's much needed transplant. Please join me in praying that one of us is a match for her.
We are hoping to complete this next phase of her journey ASAP as we recently learned Kristine's medical insurance will cease in 5 months if she does not go back to work before then. Kristine used her PPO insurance through her union at Albertson's as the primary and Dave's as a secondary. Dave's insurance was declined as a secondary. It's a load of BS and is adding undue stress on them. They are trying to figure out a way to make sure Kristine is insured throughout her treatment. I'm sure they would appreciate any advice in this matter.
Obviously, this is of great concern to us and we would love for you to also pray for a resolution to this matter as well. Thank you and God bless.
Dave has been busy prepping their home for her return. He and my mom cleaned their house and Dave had the carpets cleaned. He also added a bit of color to the house by doing a little painting. I haven't heard what he did yet, but I believe he possibly painted an accent wall in one or two of the rooms. It was a sweet gesture to help make their home feel a little bit cozier since Kristine last been there almost a month ago.
Next week Kristine has an appointment scheduled with Dr. Paquette at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center which I will now refer to as the RRMC for short. My sisters and I will soon be tested to see if any of us are a match for Kristine's much needed transplant. Please join me in praying that one of us is a match for her.
We are hoping to complete this next phase of her journey ASAP as we recently learned Kristine's medical insurance will cease in 5 months if she does not go back to work before then. Kristine used her PPO insurance through her union at Albertson's as the primary and Dave's as a secondary. Dave's insurance was declined as a secondary. It's a load of BS and is adding undue stress on them. They are trying to figure out a way to make sure Kristine is insured throughout her treatment. I'm sure they would appreciate any advice in this matter.
Obviously, this is of great concern to us and we would love for you to also pray for a resolution to this matter as well. Thank you and God bless.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Day 27
My apologies to all the friends and family following this blog for my delay in getting any messages out to you for the past few days. Although... no news is good news. Kristine neutrophils are way up! In fact, they are at 1500!! Wahoo!! However, the PA said Kristine is still neutropenic - meaning she still doesn't quite have enough white blood cells to be considered non-immunocompromised.
With the improvements Kristine's blood counts have made over the last few days, Dr. Jacoub says he may release her as early as Monday to go home and continue treatment at home! This is very exciting news!! She will still have to go back to the hospital twice a week for her blood to be tested and she will be required to give herself neupogen injections which she learned how to do yesterday. The neupogen injections are the shots been receiving since March 15th to help her marrow make new blood cells.
Dr. Jacoub has talked with Dr. Paquette at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center and Kristine will be meeting with him as early as next week or the week after. This meeting will be Kristine's first evaluation for a possible bone marrow transplant. We are so excited for this appointment!!
I wanted to insert a couple more photos to share. The first is titled Yuuki's class. Hayato Yuuki is a friend of Dave and Kristine's who has been so emotionally supportive to not only Dave and Kristine but to my sisters as I as well. He spearheaded the fundraising efforts with the Kristine DuFrene Leukemia Awareness wristbands. His students asked to purchase wristbands in support of Kristine and the photo shows his class wearing their wristbands while standing infront of the whiteboard with messages written to Kristine. What a great group of kids!!
The other new photo I inserted is of Dave showing his support of Kristine's beautiful bald head. He and his friend Yuuki shaved their heads the other day along with some members of Station 3 where Dave works. My son said he would like to do the same and my husband is going to join him in this gesture of support when we arrive for out next visit with Kristine.
Once again, thank you to all the friends and family who have been praying for Kristine. She is doing fabulous and we want to keep her on this path of healing so keep praying!! Thank you!
With the improvements Kristine's blood counts have made over the last few days, Dr. Jacoub says he may release her as early as Monday to go home and continue treatment at home! This is very exciting news!! She will still have to go back to the hospital twice a week for her blood to be tested and she will be required to give herself neupogen injections which she learned how to do yesterday. The neupogen injections are the shots been receiving since March 15th to help her marrow make new blood cells.
Dr. Jacoub has talked with Dr. Paquette at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center and Kristine will be meeting with him as early as next week or the week after. This meeting will be Kristine's first evaluation for a possible bone marrow transplant. We are so excited for this appointment!!
I wanted to insert a couple more photos to share. The first is titled Yuuki's class. Hayato Yuuki is a friend of Dave and Kristine's who has been so emotionally supportive to not only Dave and Kristine but to my sisters as I as well. He spearheaded the fundraising efforts with the Kristine DuFrene Leukemia Awareness wristbands. His students asked to purchase wristbands in support of Kristine and the photo shows his class wearing their wristbands while standing infront of the whiteboard with messages written to Kristine. What a great group of kids!!
The other new photo I inserted is of Dave showing his support of Kristine's beautiful bald head. He and his friend Yuuki shaved their heads the other day along with some members of Station 3 where Dave works. My son said he would like to do the same and my husband is going to join him in this gesture of support when we arrive for out next visit with Kristine.
Once again, thank you to all the friends and family who have been praying for Kristine. She is doing fabulous and we want to keep her on this path of healing so keep praying!! Thank you!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
FAQs
There are certain questions that have come up time and time again, so I thought I would address those here.
1.) How did Kristine get leukemia?
Answer: No one knows. There is no indication as to how Kristine's cancer developed in her bone marrow. The doctors have been baffled by this. Kristine has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (subtype still unknown at this time). AML is most common amongst the elderly ages 60 and over and is rare in persons under the age of 40. With that said, one of the nurses had a discussion with Kristine stating they have recently seen an increase of patients aged 18-40 diagnosed with AML. Specifically how recent is unknown.
2.) Does Kristine need a bone marrow transplant?
Answer: Yes.
3.) Should friends and family be tested to see if they are a match?
Answer: No, not at this time. Kristine must first be evaluated at the next facility she will be treated at -- Ronald Reagan Cancer Center or City of Hope Medical Center. Her best chance at a match will be with one of her three sisters. If none of them are a match, the doctors will then look to the National Donor Registry for Bone Marrow for a possible match.
4.) Do you need to have marrow extracted to be tested to see if you are a match for Kristine?
Answer: No, the test is a simple swab of the inner cheek. In fact, a bone marrow donor doesn't even have to have marrow extracted from the hip as most have thought. Blood is simply drawn and the stem cells are extracted from the blood. Now that all of you know this, go out and get tested to be a potential bone marrow donor! There are plenty of people in the world who may need your help.
5.) How is Kristine REALLY feeling and handling everything?
Answer: Honestly, exactly as I've documented in this blog.
If anyone has any specific questions they would like answered, please don't be shy, ASK. You can call Dave or email me at karenk@lendscape.com and I promise we will do the best we can to get your questions answered.
1.) How did Kristine get leukemia?
Answer: No one knows. There is no indication as to how Kristine's cancer developed in her bone marrow. The doctors have been baffled by this. Kristine has Acute Myeloid Leukemia (subtype still unknown at this time). AML is most common amongst the elderly ages 60 and over and is rare in persons under the age of 40. With that said, one of the nurses had a discussion with Kristine stating they have recently seen an increase of patients aged 18-40 diagnosed with AML. Specifically how recent is unknown.
2.) Does Kristine need a bone marrow transplant?
Answer: Yes.
3.) Should friends and family be tested to see if they are a match?
Answer: No, not at this time. Kristine must first be evaluated at the next facility she will be treated at -- Ronald Reagan Cancer Center or City of Hope Medical Center. Her best chance at a match will be with one of her three sisters. If none of them are a match, the doctors will then look to the National Donor Registry for Bone Marrow for a possible match.
4.) Do you need to have marrow extracted to be tested to see if you are a match for Kristine?
Answer: No, the test is a simple swab of the inner cheek. In fact, a bone marrow donor doesn't even have to have marrow extracted from the hip as most have thought. Blood is simply drawn and the stem cells are extracted from the blood. Now that all of you know this, go out and get tested to be a potential bone marrow donor! There are plenty of people in the world who may need your help.
5.) How is Kristine REALLY feeling and handling everything?
Answer: Honestly, exactly as I've documented in this blog.
If anyone has any specific questions they would like answered, please don't be shy, ASK. You can call Dave or email me at karenk@lendscape.com and I promise we will do the best we can to get your questions answered.
Day 24 - Good news!!
We received some good news this morning! Kristine blood levels are starting to show signs of increasing. Up until this point, her levels would only increase by .1 each day. However, today the PA informed Dave and Kristine that her levels went from .7 to 1.1 and that each day we should continue to see larger and larger jumps in her levels. Hooray! If this continues and she remains cancer free, Kristine might be allowed to rest at home starting as early as a week from now. She would be allowed to stay at home until the next phase of her treatment which is her evaluation for a potential bone marrow transplant at either the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center or City of Hope Medical Center.
Another thing the PA mentioned today is how her doctors and nurses have all been touched by Kristine's spirit. She said Kristine has been such an inspiration and has maintained such a positive attitude throughout her diagnosis and treatment. Never once has Kristine whined or asked, "Why me?" She also said other patients tend to complain about every little thing; while Kristine just smiles and takes everything in stride without grievance. She takes one day at time and doesn't ask a lot of questions so she can remain focused on the here and now. I cannot tell you how proud my sisters and I are of Kristine. I truly believe her strength and positivism has paved the way for all of us to take a similar approach to the tribulations and obstacles each of may face in our lives.
Go Kristine! Keep fighting the fight and keep smiling! You have an unbelievable number of cheerleaders and prayer warriors supporting you. We love you!!
Another thing the PA mentioned today is how her doctors and nurses have all been touched by Kristine's spirit. She said Kristine has been such an inspiration and has maintained such a positive attitude throughout her diagnosis and treatment. Never once has Kristine whined or asked, "Why me?" She also said other patients tend to complain about every little thing; while Kristine just smiles and takes everything in stride without grievance. She takes one day at time and doesn't ask a lot of questions so she can remain focused on the here and now. I cannot tell you how proud my sisters and I are of Kristine. I truly believe her strength and positivism has paved the way for all of us to take a similar approach to the tribulations and obstacles each of may face in our lives.
Go Kristine! Keep fighting the fight and keep smiling! You have an unbelievable number of cheerleaders and prayer warriors supporting you. We love you!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Day 22 & 23
Day 22: Yesterday was a fairly good day for Kristine. The achiness in her bones has gone away for now. It has also been two days of no headaches. Thank goodness!
Since more and more of her hair kept falling out and leaving a mess behind in her bed, Kristine decided to have another hair cut. The hospital has a professional who volunteers her time to come to the Oncology unit to do just that for the chemo patients. So, as you can see from the Day 22 photo, Kristine is donning what Dave calls, the G.I. Jane look. She said it's a little cold not having any hair, but she likes not having to worry about more hair falling out or getting caught down her back and making her itchy.
Kristine said Dave was caught by surprise with her new look. I think he's taking it harder than she is. In fact, she isn't taking it hard at all. She proudly showed off her bald head to Kathy and I during a video call via Skype. I want you all to know, Kristine has a very nice shaped head!
This whole ordeal has been so emotionally difficult for Dave and the rest of the family as well. Kristine remains solid in her strength and belief that she will overcome this and we must follow her example by continuing to support her with prayer and positive thoughts!
Day 23: Today Kristine is extremely tired. Her blood pressure and hemoglobin were really low, I believe she said her BP was 80/40, so she is getting two units of blood transfused today. She said she had a busy night last night, problems with her IV machine which causes it to incessantly beep until the nurse comes in to fix it. Needless to day, she didn't sleep much.
So Kristine is trying to rest this afternoon. Let's give her a break from the phone calls and text messages until later this evening (after 7pm) or better yet, tomorrow. Thanks everyone!
P.S. Don't forget to pray for her blood levels to come up!
Since more and more of her hair kept falling out and leaving a mess behind in her bed, Kristine decided to have another hair cut. The hospital has a professional who volunteers her time to come to the Oncology unit to do just that for the chemo patients. So, as you can see from the Day 22 photo, Kristine is donning what Dave calls, the G.I. Jane look. She said it's a little cold not having any hair, but she likes not having to worry about more hair falling out or getting caught down her back and making her itchy.
Kristine said Dave was caught by surprise with her new look. I think he's taking it harder than she is. In fact, she isn't taking it hard at all. She proudly showed off her bald head to Kathy and I during a video call via Skype. I want you all to know, Kristine has a very nice shaped head!
This whole ordeal has been so emotionally difficult for Dave and the rest of the family as well. Kristine remains solid in her strength and belief that she will overcome this and we must follow her example by continuing to support her with prayer and positive thoughts!
Day 23: Today Kristine is extremely tired. Her blood pressure and hemoglobin were really low, I believe she said her BP was 80/40, so she is getting two units of blood transfused today. She said she had a busy night last night, problems with her IV machine which causes it to incessantly beep until the nurse comes in to fix it. Needless to day, she didn't sleep much.
So Kristine is trying to rest this afternoon. Let's give her a break from the phone calls and text messages until later this evening (after 7pm) or better yet, tomorrow. Thanks everyone!
P.S. Don't forget to pray for her blood levels to come up!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Day 20 & 21
Sorry about not posting a blog message yesterday, I had to leave Orange County and make the long drive home to Northern Cal. It was so hard leaving Kristine, but I know she is in good hands with my parents still there, the oncology nurses and of course, Dave at her side.
The neupogen injections Kristine has been receiving are starting to make her bones ache. Dr. Jacoub informed her this was likely and would be uncomfortable. The fighter Kristine is, she takes it all in stride in hopes that she will defeat her leukemia. Overall, Kristine is feeling pretty good and is in good spirits.
I think the most difficult aspect of what Kristine has been enduring throughout this ordeal has been missing her babies. Nevermind the tummy issues, the headaches, the hairloss -- the heartache from being without her children is almost unbearable.
Thankfully, Kristine was able to have a quick visit with Kahlen today and had a visit with Logan a few days ago. Although, it is torture not to be able to touch or hold them, she is grateful she is at least able to see them in person. Saying bye to Mommy is very difficult for Kahlen though. It bring tears to my eyes just trying to type this as I've witnessed her kicking and screaming saying, "No, no, no!"
OK, I've pulled it together... as you can see from the new photos, Kristine's hair just keeps falling out. So she's requested my mom shear off what's left. Her head is tender from the hairloss, which is normal, so hopefully once it is all gone, it won't be as sensitive and uncomfortable.
Kristine and Dave are researching the potential medical facilities that Kristine will eventually transfer to for evaluation and hopefully treatment for a bone marrow transplant. They are looking at the City of Hope Medical Center and the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center. If anyone has any referrals they'd like to provide, please do so by making a comment below.
Well, that's all I have for now. Please keep praying for Kristine!
The neupogen injections Kristine has been receiving are starting to make her bones ache. Dr. Jacoub informed her this was likely and would be uncomfortable. The fighter Kristine is, she takes it all in stride in hopes that she will defeat her leukemia. Overall, Kristine is feeling pretty good and is in good spirits.
I think the most difficult aspect of what Kristine has been enduring throughout this ordeal has been missing her babies. Nevermind the tummy issues, the headaches, the hairloss -- the heartache from being without her children is almost unbearable.
Thankfully, Kristine was able to have a quick visit with Kahlen today and had a visit with Logan a few days ago. Although, it is torture not to be able to touch or hold them, she is grateful she is at least able to see them in person. Saying bye to Mommy is very difficult for Kahlen though. It bring tears to my eyes just trying to type this as I've witnessed her kicking and screaming saying, "No, no, no!"
OK, I've pulled it together... as you can see from the new photos, Kristine's hair just keeps falling out. So she's requested my mom shear off what's left. Her head is tender from the hairloss, which is normal, so hopefully once it is all gone, it won't be as sensitive and uncomfortable.
Kristine and Dave are researching the potential medical facilities that Kristine will eventually transfer to for evaluation and hopefully treatment for a bone marrow transplant. They are looking at the City of Hope Medical Center and the UCLA Ronald Reagan Cancer Center. If anyone has any referrals they'd like to provide, please do so by making a comment below.
Well, that's all I have for now. Please keep praying for Kristine!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Day 18 & 19
I apologize for not blogging Thursday.
Yesterday was a pretty good day for Kristine. She seems to be overcoming most of her tummy issues and we think we've figured out what is causing those debilitating headaches Kristine keeps having 3 times a day. Dr. Vu (one of Dr. Jacoub's colleagues) believes the headaches are a result of her lumbar puncture from when they did the spinal fluid test. The headaches began that day and appear to come about when Kristine sits upright. If Kristine remains lying down, she is able to keep the headaches away. We hope this will soon pass.
As most of you know, chemo has some pretty significant side effects. One of which is hair loss. Every patient is different and some are not affected by this side effect. After Kristine washed her hair yesterday, it was obvious she wasn't going to be spared. Being the awesome Rock Star that Kristine is, she simply said, "I think I'm going to need some more scarves" and she had me cut off her long wavy hair. As you can see, she is now rockin' a very cool Hello Kitty bandana (See Day 18 photo)!
This morning Kristine enjoyed some of our mom's tasty french toast for the fourth day in a row! It's so nice to see her eating more than just a couple bites of food. Her appetite is definitely making a comeback! Watch out Deb, you and Kristine will soon be enjoying your favorite Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate ice cream sooner than you expected. :)
The treatment Kristine is currently undergoing is to help her body start making her own blood cells. Today, Dr. Vu told us that most of her levels ARE starting to show signs of increasing, slowly but surely. She still has no signs of neutrophils (white blood cells) yet, so she is still at high risk of infection, which means we still must limit her visitors to immediate family only. Assuming Kristine continues in the right direction, she should reach normal blood levels within the next 7-10 days. At that time, she will be able to have more visitors. However, please feel free to give Kristine a call or send her a text message.
I wanted to say thank you to all of Kristine & Dave's friends and family who have been so thoughtful during this difficult time. I wish I had the time to describe each special thing all of you have done to lift Kristine's spirits and bring a smile to her face. Please know that she is most appreciative and extremely touched by each and every one of you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Yesterday was a pretty good day for Kristine. She seems to be overcoming most of her tummy issues and we think we've figured out what is causing those debilitating headaches Kristine keeps having 3 times a day. Dr. Vu (one of Dr. Jacoub's colleagues) believes the headaches are a result of her lumbar puncture from when they did the spinal fluid test. The headaches began that day and appear to come about when Kristine sits upright. If Kristine remains lying down, she is able to keep the headaches away. We hope this will soon pass.
As most of you know, chemo has some pretty significant side effects. One of which is hair loss. Every patient is different and some are not affected by this side effect. After Kristine washed her hair yesterday, it was obvious she wasn't going to be spared. Being the awesome Rock Star that Kristine is, she simply said, "I think I'm going to need some more scarves" and she had me cut off her long wavy hair. As you can see, she is now rockin' a very cool Hello Kitty bandana (See Day 18 photo)!
This morning Kristine enjoyed some of our mom's tasty french toast for the fourth day in a row! It's so nice to see her eating more than just a couple bites of food. Her appetite is definitely making a comeback! Watch out Deb, you and Kristine will soon be enjoying your favorite Baskin Robbins World Class Chocolate ice cream sooner than you expected. :)
The treatment Kristine is currently undergoing is to help her body start making her own blood cells. Today, Dr. Vu told us that most of her levels ARE starting to show signs of increasing, slowly but surely. She still has no signs of neutrophils (white blood cells) yet, so she is still at high risk of infection, which means we still must limit her visitors to immediate family only. Assuming Kristine continues in the right direction, she should reach normal blood levels within the next 7-10 days. At that time, she will be able to have more visitors. However, please feel free to give Kristine a call or send her a text message.
I wanted to say thank you to all of Kristine & Dave's friends and family who have been so thoughtful during this difficult time. I wish I had the time to describe each special thing all of you have done to lift Kristine's spirits and bring a smile to her face. Please know that she is most appreciative and extremely touched by each and every one of you.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
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