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!!!