Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome day today with their families. I know that this Christmas was extra special for me and my family. It was so wonderful to be celebrating CANCER FREE!!! Thank you to each of you who have prayed so hard for me this year as I know God heard each and every one of them! I just wanted to share a few pictures from our family Christmas so you can see just how special it was to me. Thank you again, and please take a few minutes to remember the ONLY reason for the season, Jesus Christ! Merry Christmas to each of you and Happy New Year! May 2009 be extra special to each of you and may God bless you and your families!

Emilee, me (with my wig), Natalie and Rob

Rob and I in front of my parent's Christmas tree

I'm a Southern girl- is this how you are supposed to wear gloves?

Our ENTIRE family on Christmas Eve

from left to right: Emilee (top), Princess, Natalie, Me, Daisy (in my lap), Rob and Cricket (in Rob's lap)

With God, WE DID BEAT THIS!!!

(and will continue the fight for others going through this battle!)

Musical Chairs? Musical Hospital!

Wow, what a whirlwind the past few weeks have been. It started on the 1st with my 7th round of chemo. I know, a Saturday? BUT, my doctor didn't want to wait any longer so she let me have Halloween with the girls and then start chemo the next day. Things went pretty much as normal. I was released within 5 days with the only complication being my blood pressure sky-rocketing again. I was very weak and sick to my stomach. On Saturday, I woke up with EXTREME back pain. After a couple of hours, my mom went to the pharmacy and got my pain pills- thank you mom!! About an hour later, I was able to get out of bed. I even told my mom that I was feeling better and might even be able to do some things around the house as long as I was sitting. We both decided that I should try to eat something before I got too ambitious. I sat down at the table and ate some wonderful red beans and rice. I was finished eating and was sitting there talking to my mom and Rob when the next thing I know I told my mom I got real dizzy all of a sudden. She told me to put my head between my legs and then the next thing that happened, I could hear Rob calling my name, but I couldn't answer him. I was riding a roller coaster and could hear him calling me, but I didn't know what was going on. Finally, I became aware of what was happening. Apparenly when I went to put my head between my legs, I shot straight back in my chair, stiffened up and my eyes rolled back in my head. I was completely unconscious. When I figured out what was going on, I was still sitting at the table, but Rob was holding me up calling my name and my mom was on the phone with 911. I was able to tell Rob to get me to the couch and I felt better once I laid down. Within just a few minutes, the firemen arrived and started to do all the tests on me. I immedietly became nauseaus. I started throwing up a lot. A few minutes later, the ambulance arrived. They got me on the stretcher and waited until I stopped throwing up. I was able to give them all my information. The worst thing about all this happening was the girls were home. Emilee came in, saw me and went back to her room. Natalie was a little helper. She's gonna be our medical person. She got the dogs in the back yard, held the front door open for the EMT's and helped wherever she could. Anyways, the EMT's said it sounded like I had a seizure. Once I got in the ambulance, the nausea subsided. They put an IV in me and gave me some Phenergan on the way to the hospital. I felt better, but to be on the safe side, they gave me more when I got to the ER. The ER doctor decided to do a CT scan to see if there was any brain damage. When it came back, everything was normal. They kept me in the ER for about 4 hours and kept pumping Phenergan in me. Finally, I got up to the floor and got a real room. I kept getting Phenergan throughout the night and the next day, they took me for another CT scan and again it showed nothing. My blood pressure continued to climb every time they took it, but my heartrate did too. I don't know what my number of heartrate is how many beats per second on minute or whatever, but my normal is 100. As soon as I stood, or went to the bathroom, it would climb to anywhere around 150-170. My doctor decided to watch it and put a heart monitor on me. All of my nurses would come running every time I got out of bed. It was kind of funny, not that it was climbing, but to see the nurses running. My doctor then decided to schedule an EEG. I got my EEG on Tuesday, which was an awesome experience, but I'll get to that story in a minute. Anyways, after my EEG, I was discharged. I went home and spent most of the afternoon on the couch. When I went to bed, I took my temperature which is an everynight routine. My temperature was 100.4 which at 100.5 I'm supposed to go immediately to the ER. I was very frustrated. Rob told me to take some Tylenol and wait an hour and see what happened. An hour later, my temperature was 101.1. For some reason, I thought it was supposed to go down when you took Tylenol...silly me! I called the on-call doctor and told him my story. He said he didn't want me to spend the night in the ER, especially since I had just been discharged that day. He told me to watch my temp through the night and call him back if it went up and he would send me to the ER. I took it every 10 minutes for about 2 hours. It slowly went down. I finally relaxed and went to sleep when it got back in the 99's. I called Dr. Lee in the morning and she told me to go to the hospital that I was being admitted...AGAIN!!!!!!!!! The nurses were all laughing when they saw me and told me that if I missed them, I could just come visit without having to get sick. There wasn't a room available, so they put me in the outpatient room with a face mask getting antibiotics. I was in there for around 4 hours. It was miserable. FINALLY, I got a room. I was in until Friday morning. Talk about total craziness. I'm just glad to be home.



Now, about my EEG. I have to say it was one of the most awesome experiences I have had in the hospital. It started normal, my tech came in and introduced himself as Mike. He then asked me how I pronounced Mullins and asked me if I was related to Rich Mullins that wrote the song "Awesome God." I told him yes on my husband's side and we just started to have small conversation. After a few minutes, he asked me if my president won the election. I told him no, he said his didn't either, but then the awesomeness started. He said he was waiting for his King to return. I about fell out of the bed. I told him I was too and the conversation began. I mean, what an awesome way to start a conversation about Jesus. My EEG should have taken around 30 minutes, but it ended up taking closer to an hour and a half. Come to find out, my tech travels around with his brother and another friend playing music and preaching. It was incredible just to have a conversation with someone who has so much passion about sharing the Gospel that it just filled me with joy. Their ministry's name is Cross Hair Vision and I'm glad they are out there spreading the Good News. Thanks Mike!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Light the Night

The Light the Night walk sponsored by the Leukemia and Lymphoma society was held on October 11th here in Tyler. We have been working with the society for several months since I was diagnosed. Unfortunately, I was in the hospital the night of the walk, so I was unable to attend, but my team went and had a blast from what I was told. Rob was recruited by Tara (who is over the walk from LLS) and spent a lot of the day helping out and setting up. He absolutely loves doing that stuff so he was in a great mood all day. Before the walk, my parents, and some of my friends, the Feazel's and my friend Beth and her son came to the hospital to see me. It was so good to see them. The hospital gets so boring and they all came in from Shreveport so it was great to see them since I don't get to travel much anymore.

Thank you to each of you who supported our team in some way- either by donating or by walking! We had 31 participants sign up on our team which is great!! We had one of the larger teams out there! We are still raising funds through November so if you meant to donate and didn't, you still have time. Our team is half way to it's goal of $10,000 and I really want to meet that goal. It is a HUGE goal for a first year team, but I know it can be done- if not this year, then next year. If you would like to donate by online donation, please go to the right side of our blog and click on the link for the Lymphoblasters. Then click on one of our names to the right on that page and it will take you to the donation site. If you would like to donate by cash or check, please mail it to us made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. We cannot do this without you!

Here's a few pics from the walk. Hope more of you can join us next year!!

The Lymphoblasters (our team) - the red balloons are for supporters, the white balloon was supposed to be mine for survivors (my mom carried it for me and Rob carried my survivor t-shirt) and the gold balloons are to represent the memory of someone who lost the fight. We got two gold balloons-Emilee and Natalie carried them in memory of Ethan Powell and Sully Farrar.

The kids had a blast! Here is Emilee with her balloon hat!

And Natalie with hers...

I worked on our banner for three days in the hospital. It kept me busy and was a lot of fun! Our team members signed the bottom to make it complete.

Rob and Natalie hanging out before the walk started

They had dinner catered in from Olive Garden. This is my mom and dad enjoying all the great food!

This is my other family- the Feazel clan. They moved in next door to us when I was six years old. Ashley and I (the one in the brown shirt) became best friends and soon sisters by choice. We are all still very close and I consider them an extra set of parents and now I even have two more nephews. Evan is in the stroller and Eli stayed at home since he is only 6 or so weeks old. Thank you to each of you for driving all this way to walk with our team for the society and for me! I love you guys!

This is one of my other friends Beth and her oldest son Lane. We have been friends for about 7 years and I can't imagine going through life without a friend like her. She has been there for me through thick and thin (so have a lot of my other friends!!). I love her bunches and her three sons! Thanks for coming out guys...can't wait until I feel better and we can scrapbook again!

The SCOOP...

Okay, so I know I said I would try and update on a more regular basis, but...well, I'm a procrastinator, so here's the update. While in the hospital, my kidneys started to malfunction. My doctor actually went on vacation so I had another one of the partners treating me. My creatnine level is supposed to be around 0.7 and it was around 3.0. He took me off all my antibiotics and lowered my pain meds to help try and get it back to normal. I was drinking water like it was the last water in the world. I drank around 5 pitchers of water. For those of you who know me, know that this is A LOT for me. I normally will drink around 1- 1 1/2 bottles of water a day. One pitcher is more than that! I also ate two rolls of life savers just to keep my mouth wet. It was quite an interesting few days. I ended up staying in the hospital for 12 days. I missed the Light the Night walk because I was still in the hospital. I was very upset because it is something that Rob and I have worked so hard on and believe so much in. Anyways, back to my kidneys. By the time I left the hospital, my creatnine level had only gone down to 2.3. It was moving so slow. The last round of chemo I had is very hard on the liver and kidneys. Dr. Martins (the partner that treated me) said it would be a difficult decision for Dr. Lee (my doctor) to decide if I should even have my eighth round of chemo because it is the same type of chemo that affects the kidneys. I have now been out of the hospital for almost two weeks and my creatnine level is only down to 1.1. All of my counts are in good range. I am going back into the hospital on Saturday to begin my seventh round of chemo. They are going to decrease it even more and watch my kidneys very closely. Dr. Lee said she is going to have to talk to Dr. Burger down at MD Anderson and figure out about the last round. She doesn't want to do it, but if it is really going to make that much more of a difference in my chance of relapse, then we need to do it. I have put it in God's hands that He will tell Dr. Lee what needs to be done. I don't want to do the last round, seriously, who would? BUT, if it really will help where I won't relapse, then I will go through it. I just want to be done with all of this before all the holidays hit because I want to enjoy something this year. I know there are only two more rounds, and I can see the end of the road, but it still seems so far away. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the time between my rounds is getting longer and longer because it is taking longer for my bone marrow and everything else in my body to rebuild itself. Chemo is absolutely horrible. Oh, and another side effect...my fingernails starting falling out last week...I know...GROSS!! It really is, but it is also the wierdest feeling. I can feel the top of my thumb, because there isn't a nail there. I have also had several days of major headaches. Rob thinks they are all sinus related, but I know that I took pain meds for four days straight and lived in the fog because I was in so much pain. They seem to have left me for now so hopefully it will stay that way.

Okay, well it seems that I have rambled on for quite some time now. Hopefully I gave you all the information. I will try to get better about posting, but I can't promise anything. Thank you all for all your prayers...even still. I still need them just to get through all of the rest of this. Please pray that this next round will not be as bad so I can have a good Thanksgiving with my family. Please pray for wisdom for Dr. Lee and Dr. Burger as they decide about my eighth round. God is so good and I can't wait to see what He has planned for me next!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Back in the Hospital AGAIN!

Hey everyone! Well, I thought this last round wouldn't knock me out as bad because they decreased it by 20%, but here I am back in the hospital. I was feeling pretty good at home, but starting on Sunday, I was getting weaker and weaker. By Tuesday, I couldn't do anything I was so weak. We went to the doctor and my counts were not low enough for any transfusions, but she said it looked like I was trying to get sick, so she sent me to the hospital and has been pumping antibiotics in me to try and catch this thing- whatever it may be- before it hits me. The nurse today gave me my blood counts and they are dropping pretty rapidly except my white blood count. Yesterday: WBC- 0.1, Hemoglobin- 12, and Platelets- 29. Today: WBC- 0.3, Hemoglobin-5, and Platelets- 16. It looks like I will probably need a transfusion tomorrow.

Prayer requests:

Please pray that God would heal me from whatever is knocking me down so I can go home either Thursday or Friday.

Please pray for Christian Leone. I heard this story second hand so if I don't get it all right, I'm sorry. Christian is in high school and sustained an injury during a football game. He went into the surgical center and when they gave him a shot, it went into a vein instead of muscle. It caused his veins to collapse and him to go blind. Last I heard, he has some of his eyesight back, but it is blurry. Please pray for a quick and complete recovery for him. He is the nephew of some of mine and my brother's friends.

Please pray for a lady named SueSue. I met her today in the hospital. She was diagnosed in August with AML Leukemia. She has a good attitude, but she told me she doesn't have any insurance. I told her about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's program that can help. Hopefully they will be able to help her. The type of Leukemia she has apparently doesn't have a very good success rate, so please pray for her to recover from this terrible illness and that her medical bills will be within reason or she receives help.

Thank you all for praying for not only me and my family, but also for these other people. I believe in the power of prayer! It has been proven through me already!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

A Hodge-Podge Post

Hey everyone! Again, sorry for the delay in posts. I promise I will try and get better and try to keep you all informed a little closer together. A lot has happened since my last blog so I'm just going to bunch it all into this one.

I started chemo back on Tuesday, September 2nd. After my five days of chemo, my blood pressure spiked and I ended up having to stay in the hospital a few more days. They have no idea what made it spike, but it was 200 something over 100 something. It was really high. They checked it every 30 minutes during the night so needless to say, I didn't get any sleep that night. I went home on Tuesday, September 9th. I was very weak and never felt quite right. On Thursday, the 11th, I went into the doctor and back to the hospital. I had developed an infection in my gastrointestinal system. It was miserable. I spent another seven days in the hospital getting antibiotics. It was extremely scary because the last time I went into the hospital with a fever, I ended up in ICU. I also had mouth sores (another unpleasant side effect of chemo), so I couldn't eat or talk for five of those wonderful days in the hospital. I did get to watch the Hurricane Ike storm from the top floor of the hospital. It was really a sight to see. Because of these lovely hurricanes we have been having, Rob was sent to do disaster relief with his company. He spent one week in the New Orleans area and three in the Houston area. Thanks so much to my mom for staying for the two weeks I was in the hospital taking care of the girls, and thanks to my mother-in-law for helping out last week. I was supposed to start chemo on the 22nd, but I was still too weak and my counts were not high enough so we delayed it a week. Apparently, my bone marrow is tired of rebuilding itself. Not that I blame it at all, I'm tired of this too, but I just keep telling myself only three more to go.

Well, I started this round of chemo on Monday, September 29th and it hasn't been too bad. They put me in a double room but blocked it off so I wouldn't get a roommate. It is a pretty big room for one person so that is nice. My doctor reduced my chemo by 20% so hopefully that will keep me feeling a little better this time. I have had very bad headaches and my blood pressure has gone up, but not as bad as the last round. Rob came home from Houston on Friday night so that was really nice. My parents came in on Wednesday and are helping out with the girls since Rob has to work late sometimes. As long as my blood pressure stays close to normal, I will get to go home tomorrow afternoon. Please pray for my blood pressure to stay down, my headaches to go away, and for me to feel good when I go home. I do not want to have to come back into the hospital with an infection or anything this week. I don't want to have to delay any more rounds either. Two more to go...

Thank you for all your prayers. Please keep them coming. I can feel each one of them!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Light the Night Banquet

On August 26th, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society held the Light the Night Kickoff Banquet at Traditions restaurant in Tyler. It was a time for all the people who have signed up for the walk to come together to get ideas for their fundraising. I think our team had the best showing at the banquet. The food was absolutely wonderful and the evening was a lot of fun. Thanks so much to my friends and family who drove in from Shreveport and Dallas. It meant a lot to me that you were there. I was also honored that I was asked to be the guest speaker at the banquet. I just told a very short version of my story and some facts about blood cancer. This walk means so much to me and this society has been a huge help to me and my family during this difficult time. Please help us make this the best walk ever. If you would like to participate or donate, please go to our team's website- The Lymphoblasters.

Here are just a few facts about blood cancer:

Every five minutes, someone in this country is diagnosed with blood cancer.
Every ten minutes, someone loses the fight.
Leukemia causes more deaths than any other cancer among children.
Lymphomas are the most common blood cancers.
The myeloma survival rate is only 32 percent.

If you have any questions regarding the society or the walk, please contact us. We would love to give you any information or get you in contact with someone at the society who can send you any information you need.

Me and Rebecca- Rebecca is the first person I talked to at the society on the day I was diagnosed. As a survivor herself, she helped me so much and still does more than she will ever know.

Rob and Me

Me giving my speech

Rebecca, Me and Tara (from the society)- they are both over the East Texas walk with Tara focusing on the Tyler walk

Me and my best friend Beth

Even my nephew came to see me speak

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Blood Drive

On August 23rd, we partnered with the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and Carter Bloodcare and held a blood drive at Walmart. We had some issues as Walmart has changed their policy and will not allow anyone to "sell" anything outside their stores anymore. We were only allowed to ask for donations. That didn't stop us. We set up our booth and had our girls and two of their friends asking people as they came out of Walmart to come give blood and help support the society. The blood center told us that a "good" blood drive usually has around 8 donations in the 4 hours they are set up. We put the challenge to our friends and Sunday School class and we had 23 donations that day. They were not prepared and the line got backed up, but fortunately, all our friends hung around and went through the torture of getting stuck, but now there are 23 people out there who have been helped because of our blood drive. On top of that we got lots of donations and Carter bloodcare will donate $25 for every person that donates blood and signs a form. So, we were able to raise quite a bit of money for the society. It was so much fun and a great success! If you are able, please donate blood and help save someone's life. If you are in the Tyler area, please contact us for the form to sign so we can raise more money for the society. We only have 3 more weeks until the walk. Every little bit helps!

Lexi, Natalie, Emilee and Shelby (our helpers)

Me and Tara from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Rob, Emilee, me, Natalie, Shelby and Lexi standing in our booth

A special thanks to Tara and her fiance Bobby for driving in from Dallas to help out with the blood drive. It was so much fun raising money for a great cause and helping Carter save lives.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

MD Anderson and the "R" Word

We went down to MD Anderson about two weeks ago for a checkup. Our morning started out early as my lab appointment was at 7:45am. I went in and they started to pull blood from my PICC line. Before she drew the blood, she stopped and asked if my PICC was put in at MD Anderson. When I told her it was put in at ETMC, she stopped and told me she couldn't touch it unless it had been x-rayed and ok'd by the doctor at MD Anderson, so she had to stick me. Well, my veins are tiny to begin with, but chemo shrinks them too, so they are super tiny. There is only one vein on my right hand that can still work, so she stuck it and got the blood she needed. After lab, it was time for us to WAIT (MD Anderson's favorite thing to make patients do). Finally, we were called back. We spoke to the nurse, then the nurse practitioner, and then about an hour later Dr. Burger came in. He went through his check-up questions and then he said the "R" word- REMISSION. Rob and I looked at each other like we had heard him wrong. He said that I was in remission, but that he wanted to do another bone marrow biopsy to be absolutely sure. I was less than thrilled to hear that part. He said there was a test they could do that ETMC couldn't do that can take a closer look at the cells. It was a week until I got the results, but they came back absolutely clear. I am truly in REMISSION!!! I am so excited. I still have to finish out my treatments, but I know that I am cancer free. Finishing out my treatment will increase the chances that the cancer will not return. It is going to be a rough road again, but I know that I have my prayer warriors behind me and God helping me through this.

Thank you to each of you who have lifted my name up in prayer. I can never express my full appreciation to you.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Chillin' at Home

Hey everyone! It's me again. I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in awhile, but the neuropathy has hindered me from doing several everyday things. I'm now on a medication to help with it. The pain has lessened, but my hands are still completely numb. I'm sure you can imagine how some everyday things could become difficult when you can't feel your hands. My handwriting is absolutely horrible now! Anyways, back to the important stuff. I have been home for a few days now. I want to thank everyone who called, emailed, and came to visit while I was in ICU. Unfortunately/Fortunately, I'm not sure which one, I don't remember majority of my time there. I remember the first 2 days, and not much more. Rob and my mom have tried to fill me in on everyone and I am completely blown away by the amount of people who came and called. I am so touched!! Rob did a good job of keeping everyone informed of what was going on so I won't go through all the details again. I did go to the doctor on Tuesday of this week and my counts were pretty good. My WBC was 14 which is good. It is still a little above normal so I'm glad it's up. My platelets are at 84. They need to get to at least 100 before I can start chemo again, but they have a few weeks to get there. I think they are waiting until around the first week in September to start my chemo again. They want to make sure I am completely recovered before they knock me down again. We are also going to MD Anderson next week for a check up appointment. The doctor there is the one who has been working with my doctor on my chemo regiment. They are already taking away one of the medications from my next round, but he might take away more so that would be great!! Putting off my chemo pushes me to finishing in November instead of October, but to keep my health and have a couple of "good" weeks, I'll take it. Again, I just want to thank each of you who have prayed for me and my family through all of this. I really don't think we could get through all of this without you!

On another note, I have asked you to pray for little Sully Farrar in the past. Sully lost his fight with leukemia last week and went home to be with the Lord. Please remember his family as they go through this rough time.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

We Need Your Help and Participation

Vanessa and I have become very active with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We have signed up to walk during the Light The Night Walk on October 11, 2008. The event is going to be held here in Tyler from 6-8pm. We are looking for team mates, sponsors as well as donations. We have set a team goal of $10,000. We are thinking that if we can get at least ten of our friends to walk with us and each of us raise $1,000, that it is very possible to reach our goal. Vanessa and I will also be guest speakers at the Light the Night kick-off party on August 26th.

There are 3 ways that you can donate. You can mail us cash or check made out to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. You can also go to our team site, Lympho Blasters and click on a team mates name on the right hand side. From that page you can click on a specified amount or select other.

To join our team, you can also click here and click join at the bottom of the page next to our team name. We would love to have each of you here with us that evening. We really NEED your help in making this a successful walk not only for Vanessa and I, but for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. They have been a great support channel for us while Vanessa battles this cancer.

For everyone that has asked us how you can help us, well this is a great way to do that. We want to thank you in advance for your contributions as well as those that are walking with us, it is going to be fun. To learn more about the Light the Night Walk, you can click here



The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Light The Night Walk is an annual event to raise funds for cures. It's the nation's night to pay tribute and bring hope to thousands of patients and their families.Funds raised through Light The Night Walk support the work of hundreds of the world's best and brightest researchers in their search for better therapies and cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma.Anyone can take part—children, adults and seniors are all welcome. This is a casual Walk with no fitness requirements.

Now in it's 10th year, Light The Night is celebrating a Decade of Difference. During this time:Nearly half a million patients and their caretakers have called the LLS Information Resource Center and received critical information about blood cancers, therapy options and issues surrounding treatment and survival. Nearly $40 million was disbursed to patients through the LLS Patient Assistance program to help them get the treatment they needed to fight their cancer. Over 100,000 patients and family members found comfort and hope through LLS First Connection and Family Support Groups.

LLS granted $425 million to more than 400 scientists searching for cures and improved treatments for patients. LLS funding contributed to the development of a host of new drugs that are affecting patient survival and quality of life. LLS-funded researchers began working in novel areas that hold great promise for finding cures and better treatments including new, less toxic stem cell transplants, immunotherapies and other targeted therapies. Our Advocacy Network has successfully supported pro-patient legislation that will: Help advance blood cancer research Extend Medicare coverage to include oral anti-cancer drugs Help fund efforts to reach underserved blood cancer patients

Please bring help and hope to thousands of people battling cancer.

Click here to learn more about the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

With God, We Will Beat This!!

A NEW ROOM!!!

Vanessa has now been in her "new" room for about 23 hours. This morning they removed her catheter and her IV. They are wanting her to move around a little bit at a time. Her physical therapist arrived this morning and took Vanessa down the hall slowly walking. She gave her some exercises to do to help build strength up. She is very alert, talking laughing and being herself, "smart elic"...lol

She wants me to express her sincere thanks to each and every single one of you that prayed for her, visited her from many different states, and reached out to myself and her family with all types of assistance. There was overwhelming love, prayer and support for us during this trying moment. We are forever grateful to each and every single one of you.

She has approximately 2 weeks to recoup and get her immune system back up before her fifth round of chemo starts. Let's pray that she has a great 2 weeks and recovers well for a fresh start. We love you all and God Bless you.

With God, We Will Beat This!!

ICU Update 7/30/2008

Well Vanessa was not able to move up to the 6th floor today. Not because she wasnt physically able to but because logistically she wasn't. Unfortunately, all of the rooms on the 6th floor were full. She gets to sepnd another night in ICU. I have requested that they begin to work with her and get her up and walking some. She needs to start building her strength back up. She got fiesty with me when I told her, but I told her its for her own good - she needs to get tough with it.

I spoke to Dr. Lee tonight and she informed me that it was indeed pneumonia in her right lung. It appears that the antibiotics and antifungal meds are working. She will not be getting chemo next week. The next chemo has been delayed atleast 2 weeks. We were hoping we could avoid that, but we also know we need her to recover from this last incident and allow her blood counts to get wehre they need to be.

Please continue, as you all have been diligently, praying for Vanessa. We need her strength to come back, blood counts, neuropathy to go away and continued healing from the pneumonia. I also received an email from Tracy Herrin. She has requested that we add a friend's sister to our prayer list and I have pasted her email below.

"Please add Carolyn Graham to your Prayer Warrior List. She is the sister of a co worker of mine. They found out today, that her whole body is eaten up with cancer. Things do not look good. But we know how the power of prayer can work! Thank you so much! And Praise God for all that He does!"

It was AWESOME to see our old Sunday School teachers from Summer Grove Baptist Church in Shreveport. Steve and Debbie Wilson are unbelievable teachers, mentors, couple and love God more than anyone I could possibly know. If you have never been to one of their marriage seminars, I highly recommend you do so. Vanessa and I went to one of their marriage retreats before we got married and that seminar helped us lay a foundation for the marriage we had planned few months later. If you want to hear a different perspective on marriage, an eye and heart opening experience, sign up for one when they come to town. AMAZING!!

We love you all and God Bless. He is an Awesome healing God.

With God, We Will Beat This!!

ICU Update 7/28/2008

We received encouraging news today from her pulmonary doctor. He said that the things he has observed encouraged him. He stated she is still not in the clear and has a ways to go but he was encouraged.

Vanessa has not needed to use her pain meds in a few hours as she states her pain is not as bad. She still has a temp over 100. Her oxygen is holding above 95%. Her blood counts are .1 white bloodcells, platelets are 26 and hemoglobin is 12.7.

Preliminary reports are possibly showing early stages of pneumonia. Her pulmonary doctory didn't want to officially claim it because her x-rays weren't conclusive. He stated whether its pneumonia or somethings else, they are treating it with antibiotics.

We are excited to see Gods work with the news we received this morning. Thank you for your love and support. I know the prayers haven't stopped, but keep them coming. She is not out of the clear but we know we serve the great physician.

With God, We Will Beat This!!

Late ICU Update (Email)

We finally got to see Vanessa tonight after many delays. They did not take her away to put in her new PICC line until 5 when we were originally told 1. Those are 2 of our visitation times. Visitation is very limited to us and we lost 2 of them today. However, after 5 sticks, they were able to get a new line in her left arm. We have received preliminary results from her scope that was done lat night. It appears she may have yeast on her lungs. We hope to get the final results when we go and visit her tomorrow morning. We are still waiting results from her old picc line to see if that may have been causing an infection as well.

Her blood counts are beginning to improve. Her hemoglobin was 12.7, which is normal. Her white blood counts are still.1 and her platelet count had gone up to 50. I was told to not concentrate too much on the white blood count until they get this infection resolved. Once we have the infection under control, her white blood counts should begin to go back up. Her temperature before we left the hospital was a 99.6. Praise God. Her temperature finally got below 100 and has so far maintained. We need to get it at normal and keep it normal for 24 hours before she can be released from ICU.

I am not sure if I mentioned her chest x-ray in any earlier emails, but it came back normal.

We had many sweet dear friends come from Shreveport and showed alot of love and care as they sat and spoke to myself and Vanessa's parents. Some went in and visited Vanessa, some just came to support us in the waiting area. We had some from our Sunday School class. This is BEST class. They have supported us,loved on us, provided meals for us, monetary means have been provided and a bunch of small things that has added up to make life a bit easier. We are so excited God brought this Sunday School class to us from Green Acres Baptist Church here in Tyler.

I want to send out a special THANK YOU to Jeff and Suzanne Hogg. We love you guys and appreciate you keeping Emilee for us and getting her to the church this morning at 6:30 am and seeing her off to her first youth group trip to Houston. Your love and kindness has shown God to us through you. You guys help make our Sunday School class what it is.

There has been so much love and outpouring support to us during this trying time. All of you who have emailed, called, text messaged, prayed, cried, laughed, sat, stood and anything else that I haven't mentioned has been an awesome expression of God's love for his children. I cannot say THANK YOU enough.

God Bless and have a great night or an even better week this week and may God be with you all.

With God, We Will Beat This!!

ICU Update (email)

We were able to go see Vanessa at the last visitation at 9pm tonight. Her mom, dad my mom and myself went in there. Vanessa's temperature had gotten up to 103. They have so far gotten it down to 102.9. They were able to get her platelets up above 50. They were able to perform the gastropothy (sp?). They said that the scoping went well and were able to gain the cultures needed. They scope her lungs, stomach, liver and kidneys. We hope to hear results within 24 hours as they have to send some off to an outside agency to test. They are going to remove her PICC line in her right arm and cut the ends of it off and send it to the lab for examination. This is one possibility that could be causing her infection. They are going to reinsert the PICC line sometime tomorrow morning (Sunday) in her left arm. She is still receiving morphine through her IV for pain. She has also received a catheter. She is expected to remain in ICU for a minimum of 72 hours. The next 48 hours are still very critical. We need to get her temperature waaayyyyy down. She is still unable to fight the infection because she does not have any white blood cells to fight with. They are continuously giving her antibiotics through her IV as well. As you can see there are many things going on right now. I want to express a huge thank you to my mom, dad, my other mom and dad (Vanessa's parents), Jimmy, and Darlene Feazel, Ashley Stewart, Michele Morgan, Shannon and Betsy, for coming and spending time with myself and Vanessa, as well as the awesome prayers that we had inside the ICU waiting room. I also want to thank literally the hundreds of you who have called or email your wishes and prayers for Vanessa. You guys are awesome, wonderful friends. What a awesome family of God we all belong too.

I had my one hour moment at home this afternoon where I had to cry, sink my head and my pillow and do more crying out to God for healing upon Vanessa. I am doing ok right now emotionally, but still, as we all are, concerned, deeply concerned. However, Vanessa and I are still keeping our strong faith in the Lord and we know that he is in control. We are still believing that With God, We Will Beat This!!

p.s Sunday morning, I am going to be going to our Sunday school class at Green Acres Baptist Church here in Tyler. If you are able to, around 945-10:00 I am going to have our Sunday school class lay hands on me and reach out and pray for Vanessa. If you can join me at this time and say a silent pray or wherever your at, stop and pray for her at that time, I would greatly appreciate it. We love you guys and God Bless.

p.s.s. I will send another update after our first visitation at 10:45 tomorrow morning.

ICU

Vanessa has gone into ICU. She is urrently in critical but stable condition. She will be getting an x-ray to see if there is any fluid near her lungs. She will also be getting scoped so that they do cultures on her kidneys and her stomach. Her doctor said this could go either wany and that this is something we have been trying to avoid. Her oxygen is at 91%. They would like it to be above 95%. She will be getting more platelets tonight. They are pumping her full of IV fluid and have just put a catheter in her. We need your prayers. I am scared right now, but I am believing an trusting that God does have a plan for us (Jeremiah 29:11) and that he is in control. We serve an amazing God and an miraculous healing God. I will update via email and if I get the chance I will update here. We love you all and God Bless.

With God, We Will Beat This!!

Update on Vanessa

Here is a copy of the email I sent out to everyone our our email list. Vanessa has been unable to update her blog because it hurts her hands. The neuropathy has caused her to loose feeling in her fingertips and she states when she tries to type it hurts. Hopefully she will be able to update soon. They will be stopping one of the chemicals that causes the neuropathy on the next treatment period

Vanessa had a great weekend. Unfortunately, this week she has began to feel bad again. Wednesday, she began to run a low grade fever. We were able to contain it and get it down to normal. Today (Thursday), her fever came back and this time it rose to 100.9. My mom worked hard at trying to get the fever to go down. Vanessa ate pop ice's, drank lots of water and sprite. The temperature would not go down past 100.1

We called her doctor and her doctor informed us to get her to her office immediately. We arrived and of course they took blood for labs. Dr. Lee observed Vanessa and immediately admitted her to the hospital. Vanessa is currently at the ETMC in Tyler in room 6624. She is expected to remain in the hospital until Saturday, if not Sunday. She is currently receiving IV fluid as well as anti-biotics intravenously.

Later tonight, she will be receiving 2 pints of whole blood and 1 pint of platelets. Please pray for her battle with this infection, whatever it may be. Her spirits are still doing pretty good, and she feels every prayer each of you are saying for her. We thank you as always and appreciate you all. God Bless!!

With God, We Will Beat This!!

Here we go again...

Well, the last round was not an easy one to say the least. I was sick pretty much the entire time and never really had a "great" day. I'm back in the hospital for my fourth round, which is half way done. I know I should be excited, but I'm really not. I'm so ready for this to be over. It's totally miserable. This round is worse while in the hospital, but not as bad when at home.

I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time writing this blog. Here are some specific prayer requests for right now: I have developed neuropathy in my hands which is a numbing sensation, so as you can probably guess, it is pretty hard to do a lot of things because I can't feel my finger tips or palm of my hands. Please pray this goes away. Also, I have had some bleeding which is very dangerous because it can cause my counts to drop too fast. Please pray for my abdominal pain. It has gotten better, but has not disappeared yet.

Thank you so much for all your prayers and support. I will try and update again tomorrow when I feel a little better. Just wanted to get an update to all of you!!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

ETMC in Tyler

Here is a picture of Emilee, Natalie and Walker (our nephew). After the 4th of July celebration/counsins party at the lake house mom and dad drove them up to Monroe to see Vanessa. They had to wear masks and gloves prior to entering Vanessa's room. Here is a picture that was taken after they came out of the room. You can tell Walker loves having his picture taken.



Another update from gold ole me because Vanessa is currently unable to do it. We arrived back in Tyler yesterday evening and went straight to the ER. There were about 50 people waiting to be seen. I informed the nurse that she was neutropenic and they took her straight back and started treating her. She was given some demoral and then shorlty taken away to get a CT Scan. About an hour or so later she was admitted in to the hospital for over night observation. We made our trip up to the 6th floor and we got to see all of our wonderful nursing staff. What a relief it was to see them after our experience in Monroe.


This morning, Vanessa had to eat some radioactive Frosted Flakes. They then put her into some type of machine and minitored her stomach for about an hour to see how it reacted to food. During the day, she remained in an intense amount of pain. They continued giving her demoral and phenegran. We are still awaiting all of the results from the tests and hopefully we will have them all in the morning. We need to find out why she is in so much pain in her abdominal area and back.

We believe and trust that God has his hand over her and guiding Dr. Lee and the treatment. Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers, comments, gifts, food and so many other things that have definately not gone unnoticed. We love you all and God Bless

With God, We Will Beat This

St Francis Med Ctr in Monroe, La

Just a quick update for those that do not receive our emails. This weekend we attempted to go have a great relaxing time at the lake house with Vanessa's family. On Friday, Vanessa had a really tough time and couldn't get out of bed for a long period of time. She was able to watch fireworks for about 10-15 minutes and we had to take her back to the house.

When she woke up on Saturday, she was feeling worst. I took her to the closest hospital and we ended up here at St Francis in Monroe, La. The ER staff was wonderful. They quickly got to her and started treating her immediately. They informed us that she would need to stay in the hospital overnight for observation, fluids and antibiotics. We were then sent to the 6th floor. Things up on that floor weren't so inviting. We had numerous issues with the staff and their procedures. We spoke to the hospital reps and informed them of our concerns. She agreed that we had legit concerns and they needed to be addressed. We filed a formal grievance with the hospital. Since then, the staff has been immaculate. They have done things according to their policy and protocol.

This morning, Vanessa woke up with some enduring pain in her back, sides and stomach. The GI doctor came in and visited her and told us he would not be able to scope her due to her blood counts being so low. He stated he may be able to do a CT scan but it wouldn't take place until tomorrow (Monday). Meanwhile, we are currently waiting for a platelet transfusion because her platelets dropped from a 18 to an 8 overnight. So here we are sitting and waiting, and lots of praying.

It sounds like the kids had a blast tubing, jet skiing and playing in the lake the last 2 days. I want to thank Aunt Flora and Uncle Bobby for providing the kids a wonderful weekend and the hard work they put into the planning of all of the events they did with them. We love you guys. I also want to thank Vanessa's mom and dad for keeping the kids at the lake house with them while we took Vanessa to the hospital. Doug (dad) thanks for the jet ski tubing rides you took the kids on. I hope they didn't wear you out.

Please continue praying for Vanessa. She will make it through this and

With God, We Will Beat This!!

Yuckiness!

I first need to apologize for not updating when I got the results from my bone marrow biopsy. This week has been seriously yucky to put it lightly. Anyways, my bone marrow came back 100% clear!!! This is such an awesome answer to prayers. I will have to do a minimum of one more biopsy at the end just to make sure, but just to know now that God has cleared my bone marrow is so great. My week started yucky in the hospital just being stuck in that little room. Also, my bed didn't work properly. They are supposed to air up and down to help with pain and bed sores. Mine never worked and they didn't change it out until Thursday night. Needless to say, I was in pain a lot. I tried to get up and walk around, but between the chemo, blood transfusions, and lumbar puncture, we had to time it just right.

Anyways, I was released on Friday around noon. They had to speed up my last bag of chemo to get me out of there, but by that point, I didn't care what they had to do...just get me out of there. I've been very weak, but determined to get up and try because we are wanting to go out of town this weekend for the Fourth of July so I can get out of these walls and I can see some of my extended family which I haven't seen since our wedding. Well, it hasn't been easy. I felt very weak and kind of icky most of the weekend and it has been VERY emotional for me...and depressing. There just really isn't any other word for it. I have had a very hard time expressing why I am depressed other than the fact that I truly feel that God has healed me completely and I feel as though I am doing my body more harm by pumping all these drugs in it. This is just me and I am not going to refuse treatment. Please don't get me wrong. I am trying to get through this. I spoke to my doctor about it and apparently, this depression is normal and she even made the statement that she was wondering when I was going to hit it. Hopefully this weekend will help.

Saturday night, or early Sunday morning, I woke up and was having difficulty breathing. It took about an hour for me to catch my breath. This also happened in the hospital and I believe it is just extra fluid built up in my body. I was finally able to relax again, but Sunday and Monday night, the insomnia hit again. It is amazing all the things you can learn from infomercials in the middle of the night. I now know how to have the perfect skin, if that doesn't work, I know what make-up will make it look like I have perfect skin, the perfect hair, I can get the perfect body by learning and doing the newest and greatest dance moves and in my spare time, I can order the perfect cookware, and can become a master chef. Aren't you all jealous?!?! I'm so glad we pay for satellite tv where there are 600 channels so I can always have something to watch. Well, not sleeping did not help much with my weakness and pain, so my legs and back were cramping like crazy again. Even hydrocodone did nothing for me.

On Tuesday, I had to go in for my lumbar puncture. They doped me up pretty good and she went to work. Unfortunately, after having 5 of these, scar tissue has built up on my spinal column, so it is difficult for her to get through. After a few tries, she decided to send me to the hospital so the radiologist could do it with his magic machine that shows him exactly where to go. I didn't think this would be a big deal until we hit admissions. The admit clerk kept calling around telling everyone I was there for a shot. She wouldn't read the orders and wouldn't listen to us. Finally, about an hour later, they figured out where I was supposed to go and I was all slumped over in a wheelchair (remember, I was drugged!). A nurse found me and let me lay down. I pretty much slept all that medicine off. I layed there for so long before they finally took me back. Before they did, they gave me vicodine. The procedure itself wasn't too bad because of his little magic machine. I slept for about 2 1/2 hours afterwards. I'm supposed to be flat on my back for 4 hours afterwards, but they were ready to get out of there. They made me drink a coke and go to the bathroom and off I went. I hadn't eaten anything all day except two crackers. I got home and we had dinner delivered from our Sunday School class and it was delicious (the first thing that tasted good all week!). I layed on the couch for a little while and then it hit. The ICKY feeling. I made it to the bedroom and needless to say, I got to taste my wonderful dinner again. I threw up all night long. I am pretty sure this is from not laying flat for 4 hours. My doctor said it was one of the side effects, so I promise it had nothing to do with the great dinner!! My dear sweet mother-in-law to the rescue. She was there at first...well, you know. She had a wet washcloth on my neck and face the entire time and she checked on me all night. Thank you so much for being there. Whenever you are sick, you always want your momma, I'm glad I have two wonderful ones to be there for me!

Wednesday (today), I went in to the doctor for a little chemo. It was about 30 minutes long. She gave me some nausea medicine to help with the after effects of last night and it kind of helped. Rob got up first thing this morning and got me a coke icee to help too. For lunch today, we went to Catfish King since I have been craving fish for quite some time. I've been scared to eat it because I didn't know what it would taste like, but it was delicious. I was so excited I think I over ate. The rest of the day has been good, just weak. I get worn out very easily.

Thank you for all the prayers and patience in reading my long blog. I just want everyone to know what I am going through. For a specific prayer for me, please pray that my platelet count stays up so I won't have to travel 2 hours while on vacation to get a platelet transfusion. I have a few more prayer requests for all of my prayer warriors. As bad as I feel it is for me, I'm not the only one going through rough times:

Laura- a sweet friend of mine had an ectopic pregnancy and lost the baby. Laura, I love you and am praying for you and your family!!

Jessica- a daughter of a prayer warrior and friend of the family miscarried her twins. I can not imagine losing a child. You and your family are in our prayers.

Ashley- my little "sister"- she is in the hospital on bed rest in preterm labor. Please pray her contractions stop as it is too early for little Eli to come and join us. I also want her to be able to go home and not have to spend the rest of her pregnancy in the hospital. I love you Ashley and your whole family. Please pray for her mom & dad as they help take care of her, her sweet husband Tim and her other son Evan as I am sure he is trying to figure out where mommy is spending all her time.

Grandma- (see last blog). This is actually Ashley's grandma, so this is added to her family. She is in rehab and from what I understand, doing well. She still has a ways to go. If I got that wrong, I am sorry, but God knows what Grandma needs so please lift her up!

Sully Farrar- a little boy with Leukemia that I have grown to love. He is back in St. Jude's and needs our prayers. http://www.sullivanfarrar.com/

Angie- my former Sunday School teacher. She had her procedure and is in the laying still mode. She has said she has felt some relief, but she still has a ways to go. Please continue to lift her up.

I know this is a lot, but I have been blessed with so many friends and family as my prayer warriors, that I can not just sit by with these prayer requests here and so many of you out there willing to pray. Again, Rob and I are so excited to see where God uses this obstacle in our lives. We have already been blessed by all of you and others who happen upon our blog or hear about us through friends of friends. Each one of you are so special!!! Always remember...

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Stuck in these four walls...

Well, here I am stuck in these four little walls. They had a suite open up, but to move me, it would cost us a minimum of $1000 to move me down there even though my insurance will pay for that room. We opted to be claustrophobic for the week.

Yesterday was a great day considering I am in the hospital getting chemo. It started off with my brother and sister-in-law coming to visit and then the visitors kept piling in. Each one of you lifted my spirits more than you could possibly know! It was really surprising how many people came by because we haven't told anyone other than family what room I was in since I was supposed to be moving, so you know I was surprised to see Angie (my former Sunday School teacher) pop through the door. She is so sweet. I also had my friend Julie and one of the attorney's I work for, Jill come by. We had great conversations. Even mom commented on how my entire spirit changed, so if you are in the neighborhood and want to stop by, please email, call or text me or Rob and we'll let you know what room I'm in. If you aren't in the neighborhood, email and texting me are also spirit boosters.

While in town, my brother and sister-in-law went to the blood center to give blood in my name. It was so sweet of them! We have had several people ask about giving blood in my name, so if you would like to, you can give in the Dallas area, Tyler area and Shreveport Bossier for sure. Please just email us at wewillbeatthis@gmail.com and we will send you the personal info you need on me to give. If you aren't in any of these areas, just contact your local blood center and find out what info you need and we will be glad to do that for you. Please make sure they know you are just making a donation in my name and not a direct donation into my account. There is too much testing that has to be done and we would have to have direct orders for that from the Doctor. If you don't feel like giving in my name, I would just like to encourage you to give. All the blood banks are low and you never know who's life you are going to save. Rob got a call the other day that his pint he gave went to save a 5 year old boy's life who had been in a go-kart accident and had severed his liver. You just never know who needs a little help.

My beautiful sister-in-law, Kay

My awesome big brother (they had to stick him 3 times!!) Love ya bunches!!!

Both of them filling up the bags...

Giving blood is so important, especially since I have learned about so much more about cancer and chemo. When you hear about someone going through chemo, you don't hear much about the blood transfusions and platelet transfusions very often. I thought this would be a rare thing, but in my case, the week after my first round, I had to have a blood transfusion and had 2 pints put in, the second round, I had a platelet transfusion, and as I type this, I am having another blood transfusion of 3 pints of blood. They did one bag, had to start my 3rd round of chemo, and then I will get my other 2 pints. Thank you so much to each of you who have already donated in my name!!!

I didn't sleep too well last night. It seemed every time I would doze off my IV pump would go off or a helicopter would take off. Hopefully tonight will be better. It couldn't be as bad as my mom though. Since we are in this lovely little room all they have to sleep in was one of those fold out chairs instead of the fold out couch like in the suites. She made it through the night, but she MIGHT end up in one of the girl's beds tonight and I wouldn't blame her one bit!! I also had another lumbar puncture this morning. I had a headache around 3:30am this morning and so they gave me some hydrocodone to tame it before the LP. They also gave me Phenergran to help with it along with my normal meds. So needless to say, I slept for quite awhile after the procedure. The spinal fluid came out clear...good news!! After that, she went ahead and stitched back in my PICC line. It wasn't too bad, just the numbing shots and a few seconds later it was done.

That's really all that is happening here in my four walls. Thank you again to each of you who have been praying for me and supporting me and my family. I want to thank those of you who lifted up our friend James. As of right now, everything in benign which is wonderful. They will recheck him again in 90 days. BUT, I have another prayer request. My good friend's grandmother had brain surgery a couple of weeks ago and has been in ICU and is now in rehab. There are only 7 documented cases of her brain condition. Please pray for her. I just call her grandma, so if you pray for grandma, God will know who you are talking about. Also, pray for her family as they help take care of her and make decisions in her care. Her husband is also concerned, so pray for him too. Also, our sweet friend Angie is having a procedure tomorrow for her 3 leaking disc in her back. She is a lot of pain and needs all our prayers. This is a new procedure and she will need all the prayers she can get. And last but not least, no news on the bone marrow biopsy. Keep praying!! Each and everyone of you are awesome! We love you!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Bring on the Suite!

Well, I am back in the hospital. We had to get up very early this morning and get the kids sent off to church camp, so we made it to the hospital bright and early. Rob and I are both dragging, but it was worth it to see the girls excited about camp. Well, we got here a little after 7 am and they didn't have a room ready for me. When they finally had one open up, it isn't a suite like I've had for all my treatments and transfusions. They don't have any available today. I don't want to sound spoiled, but I AM!! I think the nurse said it properly when she said coming from down there to a regular room is a shock to the system. I think if they were to paint the room bright colors and maybe let some kids put their handprints on the wall or something cute like that, it would lift the spirits of the people who have to stay here. Who says a hospital HAS TO BE white?? BUT....if a suite opens up, I am supposed to be moving. Let's hope it does soon.

So now for the treatment. This one will be just like my first treatment. Please pray that it goes smoothly and I don't get as sick as I did the first go round. They have taken my blood to the lab to make sure I am good to go, hooked me up to the IV pump with fluids and brought me 21 pills to take. Yes, you read that right...21!! By the end of the day, I think it comes to around 35 pills I have to take. Unfortunately, both of the stitches holding my PICC line in popped and so they can't start the chemo until they get the okay from the doctor or the orders to restitch it. So...we wait.

On Thursday, I had another bone marrow biopsy. They totally knocked me out for that one. It was a different type "knock out" than for surgery or something. I was only out for about 30 minutes (if that) and I didn't feel all groggy afterwards. I just felt like I had taken a nap. I thought surely this was the way to go. I later found out that it wasn't a walk in the park like I thought. The soreness was about 10 times worse than when they did the biopsy when I was awake. It hurt to roll over, sit up, stand up, walk, sit down, lay down...etc. I don't know why it was worse though. I don't know if the numbing medicine they put in when I am awake helps with the soreness or if they had to dig or go in multiple times when they knocked me out. The doctor was gone when I woke up so I haven't had a chance to ask her. I don't have the results yet, but hopefully in the next day or two I will.

Again, we cannot thank each of you enough for all your prayers and support. Every thought, prayer, e-mail and comment mean so much to us! We are still very excited to see what God has in store for us! For specific prayers right now, pray that I will get through this round smoothly, that next week won't be so bad so I can enjoy the 4th of July with my family, and that the girls have a great week at camp learning more about Jesus. PLEASE PLEASE also remember our friend James. He had his lymph node removed on Thursday and should be finding out the results of the biopsy this week. Please pray it is nothing!!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Bone Marrow and Blood Counts

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday for a check-up. My blood counts shot up from last time. My white blood count went from 0.1 on Friday to 24 on Tuesday. That is actually about double normal amount, but considering everything, my doctor was very excited with this. My platelet count went from 18 to 118. This is good because I am on track to start chemo on Monday which means I can stay on schedule which is so important to me. My hemoglobin actually went down 2 points, but my doctor said that was okay.

Now for the bone marrow, it was time for them to do another bone marrow aspirate. I was so nervous. The first time they did one, I took a Xanax before we went, so I was nervous but not like I was yesterday. My doctor promised to HEAVILY medicate me when I got there so I didn't bother with the Xanax. Well, the nurse came in and had Ativan and Demerol, which is the same medication they give me for the lumbar punctures. I told him that the doctor promised me "HEAVILY" medication. He went and talked to her and came back with some phenegran. I was pretty loopy after that. Well, they started the procedure and it still hurt like crazy. They couldn't get any marrow to come out, so they had to try again and do another puncture. This was fun! Well, they still couldn't get any marrow out. Apparently, my bone marrow clotted when my white blood count went up. I'm not a "medical" person, so this may be wrong, but from what I understand, that could cause it. Well, they decided not to hurt me anymore, so tomorrow (Thursday), I go in at 7:00am and they will completely knock me out and do the procedure until they get some bone marrow. Please pray they get it pretty early in the procedure because it does leave me sore. Also, please pray that there is no problem with the anesthesia. I have never had any issues with it, but just in case.

Thank you all for all the emails we have received recently and for all the prayers. We appreciate each and everyone of you!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

My Weak Week

Sorry I haven't updated this week, but it has been kind of tough for me. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. Like I said in my last blog, we were supposed to be at Disney World this week and obviously we didn't get to go. It did help to know that it stormed all week in Orlando. For the first part of the week, I was nauseated pretty much all day every day. It wasn't fun. It wasn't as bad as the last round of chemo, but it still gets on your nerves. The only time I felt okay was when I was laying in the bed, so that's how I spent most of the week. I would get up as much as I could, but after about 30 minutes, I would have to go lay down again. Even the medicine didn't help.

On Sunday, I was able to make it to Sunday School, but I was pretty tired after that. I came home and we ate dinner and then I took a short nap. My parents, Patsy, my brother, sister-in-law and nephews came in yesterday for Father's Day. It was really nice to see everyone and get to have a "normal" day. Today, I am just kind of in a daze. It is called chemo brain. I've been exhausted all day, but not sleepy.

Tomorrow morning at 9am, I go to the doctor where I am supposed to get another bone marrow aspirate. I know, so thrilling!! I just can't wait!! They are going to be checking to see how much my bone marrow has cleared. They did the last test through my blood, but they don't know for sure until they get bone marrow. My counts have to be up to do it, but I'm not sure what they have to be.

I'll let y'all know what the doctor says. Thanks for the prayers!!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Hello Home...Good-bye Tastebuds

Well, I've been home for almost two days now and I guess it is going ok. These first four or five days are supposed to be my worst, so I guess in that sense, I am doing good. I don't feel great and sometimes, I don't even feel good, but I am making it through. Today has been kind of rough. We are supposed to be flying to Disney World today for our family vacation and instead, I'm bald, weak and just hoping to feel better. I know God has a reason for this, but it's times like this that I wish it was evident to me.

I also lost my taste buds this week. I've heard that everything will taste like metal or sawdust, but for me, that isn't the case. Everything tastes like it has a coating of Vaseline over it. It is absolutely disgusting. I can still tastes some hints of flavor in some things, but hamburgers and french fries are done! I've been able to eat some toast and crackers and then tonight an egg sandwich, but who knows how long it will be before that tastes bad to me too. Rob bought me some Ensure to help get my nutrients, but those things are bad to begin with, at least I'm trying.

I know this blog isn't upbeat, but I'm not upbeat right now. Remember, I want you to experience what I am going through. Thank you for your prayers. They are holding me up right now. For some specific prayers, please pray that I will get stronger instead of weaker these next few days and will stay that way through this round. Pray that I will keep some of my taste buds so I can get some nutrients. Pray for my sanity to get through this and for God to give me the strength to get through this.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

One more day...

Yesterday went pretty good. They started me on another chemo and I found out that this is the one that was supposed to make me feel unsteady and light headed. I've had two of my four rounds that I will have before I go home and so far so good. I will get another round here in about 2 hours and then my last round about 11:30 tonight. Each one is about 2 hours and so as long as everything stays on schedule (like my blood levels and my pH levels) I will get to go home in the morning!! I'm so excited. There is just nothing like being in your own bed...and of course I miss my crazy puppies! The girls came in to see me yesterday and so that helped brighten my day and last night my sister-in-law and my nephews stopped in. They were so cute. My 18 month old nephew, Wyatt, was amazed at the helicopters taking off and he liked to go down to the nutrition center and swipe the little orange juice cups. He was so cute. Walker, my 4 year old nephew was also amused with the helicopters and he just kind of ran around here and kept my spirits up. They were so cute. When they were getting ready to leave, Kay looked at Walker and told him to say "bye-bye Nessa" and instead, Wyatt said it. It was like medicine to my heart. It was so sweet.

Last night my stomach felt a little ugh, and I got really cold, but my temperature was never above normal. I finally just ended up going to bed and slept most of the night. At least as much as you can when you are in the hospital.

Thank you to each of you who have been praying specifically for me not to be unsteady or light-headed. Your prayers have definitely been answered. Please keep them up. The doctor told me this morning that this weekend and early next week should be my rough time again, so if you can add that to your list, please do so. All of you are great and have kept me fighting this fight. Thank you so much!!

WITH GOD, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Lumbar Puncture and Lettuce

Well, it has been a good day- mostly. My EARLY morning started around 3am when I woke up with Acid Reflux. I ordered up some tums, raised the head of my bed and drifted in and out until 3:30 when they brought me my tums and came in to get some blood. After all that was said and done, I was pretty awake, but was still able to go back to sleep until about 6:30. The nurse came in with my sedative (Ativan) and pain killer (Demerol). I was kind of woozy for a few minutes. Dr. Lee came in around 7:15 and we got started on the lumbar puncture. It took her 3 different places to finally get into my spine. It was not fun, but once she got in, it only took about 10 minutes. My CSF was clear again...YEAH!! I then had to lay on my back for 4 hours again. I stayed about 4 hours and 20 minutes just to make sure, but that was as long as my body was going to let me stay there. I mean, they have 2 bags of fluid, 1 bag of chemo and 1 bag of fluid and Zofran (nausea medicine) pumping into me constantly. You wouldn't be able to lay there any longer either.

Right after that, they brought in lunch. I had specially ordered a ham and cheese sandwich. Since my counts are so high right now, I am not neutropenic for the time being so I was able to have lettuce, tomatoes and pickles on my sandwich. It was so good! I know it might only be for a little while, but I'm enjoying it! Last night with dinner, I was served a small salad. Granted, it was only lettuce and ranch dressing, but it was one of the best salads I have ever had (next to Olive Garden of course). It's amazing what you miss when you can't have it.

For the rest of the day, mom and I took a walk around the oncology floor and then we sat on the couch and watched TV. Once my bag of chemo was done around 5pm, they came in and had to get a blood sample from me. Again, they couldn't take it from my PICC line, so I had to get stuck. Yuck! But the good news was, I was going to be unhooked for a few minutes so I was able to take a shower...yipee! Again, the simple things...

Well, I still feel good. I haven't had the unsteadiness and light-headedness that they said I would, so that is all of your prayers. Thank you so much!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Round 2

Well, I am back in the hospital again. This time I am getting a different chemo so I am not sure how it is going to affect me. Right now they are pumping me full of fluids and nausea medicine. Before they can begin the chemo, my pH level has to be at 7 and it is at 6.7 right now, so they are trying to raise it. They will test me again in about 30 minutes. From what I understand, I should be done with my first medicine by tomorrow, and then they will give me another one over the next 22 hours. The second medicine is supposed to help with the side effects of the chemo. I will also be getting another lumbar puncture tomorrow morning where they will inject the chemo into my spine. I know, you are all jealous!!

My mom came in to stay in the hospital with me and she brought me a gift from one of her neighbors. It is a prayer quilt. There are sets of string sewn into the blanket, and when someone says a prayer for me, they tie a knot. It's just a visual reminder of people praying for me. It's really cool. Also, housekeeping just came in and she asked if she could say a prayer for me. It was really nice. Through this process, it is amazing how people have offered up prayers for me without even knowing me. It is so awesome!

Thank you to each of you for all of your prayers and support!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

Our God is an AWESOME God!

We got GREAT news from the doctor yesterday. I went in for my normal check up and to see if my platelet count was either at 100 or close to it so I could begin chemo on Monday. Well, when the doctor came in, she said she had to look at my results several times, check the name on them and make sure they were from that day before she could believe it. My white blood count (WBC) went from 1.2 on Tuesday to 8.7 on Friday. That is in normal range! When I went to MD Anderson, my WBC was 2.4, so this was a HUGE jump. Also, I know you have been praying for my platelets. On Tuesday, they were at 65. On Friday, they were at 256!!! My doctor looked at me and said it was unbelieveable. My response to her was "prayer works."

I am so thankful to each of you who prayed for my counts to go up. God is the Great Physician and He is so awesome. I could not make it through all of this without Him.

I will be entering the hospital on Monday morning for my next round. I believe this round is only 3 days, but it is supposed to make me dizzy and unsteady on my feet. I will try my best to update, but we will just have to see how the chemo makes me feel. If I can't, then Rob will be updating.

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

It's a NO hair day!

Well, my original plan was to go on Friday and get my head shaved. Well, after my hair started falling out, I realized it was happening faster than I thought and more than likely, I would not have any hair left by Friday, so we bumped up the date. Here are a few pics from the evening:

Rob and I before we left to go. I'm wearing a hat because the top of my head had several bald spots already. It was really not pretty.

Me and my sweet friend Crystal. She shaved her head with me to help me get through the experience.

This is my friend and hairdresser Sharon.

Crystal went first. Her first expression was shock.

About half way through we started laughing

Then it was my turn- Do you like my fake smile?

Even though I knew it was coming off, I was still nervous.

The pile of hair

And here we are...

Thank you so much Crystal for doing this with me. The laughter (mostly coming from our husbands) made it a fun experience!

Now for a health update: I went to the doctor on Tuesday and everything looked good. All my blood counts were up...even my white blood count. My platelets are going up as well. They have to reach 100 before they can start my next round of chemo. They were at 65. Please pray they will reach 100 so we can start on schedule next Monday.

I have been feeling very good lately. Saturday was the last day that I had to lay around most of the day. Sunday morning, I was able to go to Sunday School which was so special to me. I was pretty lazy the rest of the day because it kind of wore me out, but I still was so glad I got to go. On Monday, I was able to be up the whole day and sit with the family and some friends. Each day I get a little stronger. Thank you so much for each of your prayers. I know it is because of them that I am getting stronger.

WITH GOD, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!