Happy Turkey Day

Mom (Pat) had a good Thanksgiving with all of us. My family (Hope), Jame's family, and dad (Joel) all went up and spent time with mom on Thanksgiving day. We spent around 4 hours with her and she was sitting up and talking with all the kids and us. She has been moved out of ICU and back into a regular room, so we all got to spend a lot of time with her. We all went in and out of her room and kept her company until she starting trying not to fall asleep on us. I think we wore her out pretty good lots of people coming and going, and little ones talking to her all the time. But I think she had a great time and enjoyed every minute. She is doing better and is talking about how she can not wait to get out of there. She is still on dialysis but she has pee a little bit on her own, not enough to be too excited, but it is a start. She is not in the clear yet but we at least heading in the right direction again. So as I had a great Thanksgiving and know I have a great Deal to be thankful for I hope all of you did as well. I want to take this time to THANK all of you for your continued support and love. Have a great day.

Hope

not so sad

The information that we got today from the doctor was not great news but not the worst news ever so here is what we know. Mom (Pat) is not doing great but that she can turn around and do better but it is going to take 2 to 3 weeks to see the results of the treatments. So currently she is on dialysis due to the graft vs host disease. Her cancer is damaging her liver and all of this is causing her kidneys and bowels not to work correctly. So for the first time ever we are all hoping and praying she pees ,a lot, all on her own. When she does then we will know that things are starting to turn around for her and heading in the right direction. This is all we know for now and we are waiting for the next two weeks to see how things improve. It has been a really hard day but in the end I think we are heading in a positive direction. Please keep the prayers coming and thank you all for your love and support.

Love

Hope

Sad

I am sitting here trying to figure out the best way to say this and there just is not one. So I am sorry to have to write this but Mom (Pat) was moved to the ICU yesterday. The doctors are concerned because the cancer is being so aggressive again. Her kidneys are being attacked and she was but on dialysis today (11/19/10). The doctors say there is still a good chance of recovery, but she needs to turn around quick and can not have much else go wrong. It has been a hard couple of days but we are still fighting hard and working to get things moving in the right direction again.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support.

Hope

Slowly getting Better

I will do my best to get everyone up to date on what is/has been going on with my mom (Pat). The tumor they found in her arm was cancer and no surprise to the doctors (surprise to us). Her liver was not working well thus was because of either the GvH (which is what the doctor thinks) or from the cancer. They started her on treatment for the GvH for a couple of days and then started her on treatment for the cancer as well. Then she got some blood clots in her arm where they did the surgery, so she had surgery again on the same arm. (ouch). That is the recap for now.

Now for the update:

I call and talk with mom the last couple of days and have gotten good news two days in a row. Her liver counts are down and her liver is improving daily, her GvH is getting better which means her stomach has quieted down and she is able to eat again with out too many problems, her arm is healing well and her blusters are getting better and healing over (blusters on her arm from skin being so thin). So all in all good news. She is getting small amounts of chemo again to help fight the cancer and is on pain medication for her arm, so if you call and talk with her, she will sound drunk and repeat the same stories. She has never been able to hold her liquor. (hehe) Anyway good news for now and things are slowly improving, but at least she is improving.

Thank you all for your continued love and support.

Hope

Donors needed.

Please donate Blood and Plasma. My mom (Pat) needs blood and Plasma twice a day right now and so if anyone has time to spare please head to City of Hope and donate. They give out great prizes for those who give, however they only place that you can give blood to go to my mom is City of Hope they do not get blood products from anywhere else. You can go to City of Hope's website list on side of this blog and find out all the information need to make appointment and to donate. Again if you have time it is needed. Thank you.

Update

Mom (Pat) is doing okay at this point. She had surgery on Saturday which we were told about on Friday night about 5:34pm. She needed to have blood clots removed from her arm, this was due to her arm not healing correctly from the previous surgery. The surgeon said this surgery went well and that he was able to remove the clots and clean out her arm, however she has some skin blisters because her skin is so thin and sensitive. The doctor told her today (Monday 11-8-10) that her liver counts were down, which is good news. Her stomach problems are getting better and she is eating full meals again. We were all hoping that she would be home for Thanksgiving but it looks she will be in the hospital again this year, but as long as we are all together it does not matter. She is improving but it is slow. She needs to recovery from the most recent surgery and have the GVH and cancer more under control, we are closer but still have a long way to go.
As always thank you all for your love and support.

Hope