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!!!