We have more great news from Mom's appointment today up at Northwestern. They received the full results from the bone marrow biopsy and Joe's male cells were 200 out of the 200 cells they counted. This is great because they wanted to see that his cells took over the bone marrow once again. Now we can know that good healthy cells will be able to fight off anything that tries to attack Mom's body. They are not going to do any stem cell infusions at this time because they're not needed!
Mom's numbers continue to climb in the right direction and Doctor Jessica is VERY happy with all that she sees. Mom will continue her weekly appointments for now.
Thankfully Mom now gets to live her life as she's hoped...
She's planned a visit to Pennsylvania in about a week to help Adam and Bre (and Lane and Graysen!) welcome their new baby girl sometime around June 10th! She's so excited to be out there to meet the new baby and help out however she can. We're SO HAPPY she feels good enough to do this!!
Mom also has a trip to Branson planned with Dad, Amy and her girls, and me and my family at the end of June. We will definitely be celebrating that we can all do that together!
As always, we praise God for this amazing gift He's given us. I hope that you're all counting the blessings in your life as well!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Mom is Cancer Free!!!
About an hour ago Mom found out that she is officially....
CANCER FREE!!!!
Dr. Jessica called about 5:00 to let my mom know that her bone marrow "looked wonderful!" Mom is elated and could not contain her excitement. Amy happened to be with her at the time and Dad and David were both home as well, needless to say there was just a "little" yelling, crying and happiness that there were answers to our prayers! I talked to her shortly thereafter and she was at Suzanne's house yelling and sounding so amazing...hugging on all the grandkids if I had to guess.
Thank you to everyone...family, friends and every single person who was/is praying for Mom, we are all feeling very blessed today. There is still more tests that the hospital is running and that will determine the next steps for Mom. That could range from doing nothing more than just monitoring her or possibly infusing more stem cells from her brother Joe (what a blessing Joe has been in so many ways throughout this entire battle, we are very thankful for his willingness to do whatever is asked of him...even mowing the grass and taking out the garbage over the last 2 months, We Love You Uncle Joe!!)
I can't hold back the tears and I'm sure I can speak for everyone reading this, I just wish I was there to give her a big hug and a kiss! Mom, we love you so much, thank you for fighting and being so courageous in your battle...and most of all thank you for trusting the Lord above, he must still have big plans for you!!! We will continue to update you as we hear more, stay tuned and remember to write on the blog, I'm sure Mom will be checking it often over the next few days.
Much love from the Burgh,
Adam
CANCER FREE!!!!
Dr. Jessica called about 5:00 to let my mom know that her bone marrow "looked wonderful!" Mom is elated and could not contain her excitement. Amy happened to be with her at the time and Dad and David were both home as well, needless to say there was just a "little" yelling, crying and happiness that there were answers to our prayers! I talked to her shortly thereafter and she was at Suzanne's house yelling and sounding so amazing...hugging on all the grandkids if I had to guess.
Thank you to everyone...family, friends and every single person who was/is praying for Mom, we are all feeling very blessed today. There is still more tests that the hospital is running and that will determine the next steps for Mom. That could range from doing nothing more than just monitoring her or possibly infusing more stem cells from her brother Joe (what a blessing Joe has been in so many ways throughout this entire battle, we are very thankful for his willingness to do whatever is asked of him...even mowing the grass and taking out the garbage over the last 2 months, We Love You Uncle Joe!!)
I can't hold back the tears and I'm sure I can speak for everyone reading this, I just wish I was there to give her a big hug and a kiss! Mom, we love you so much, thank you for fighting and being so courageous in your battle...and most of all thank you for trusting the Lord above, he must still have big plans for you!!! We will continue to update you as we hear more, stay tuned and remember to write on the blog, I'm sure Mom will be checking it often over the next few days.
Much love from the Burgh,
Adam
Tuesday appointment
Mom is still doing well and feeling stronger each day. She had her appointment on Tuesday this week and had a bone marrow biopsy done. We won't get the results of that until tomorrow or early next week. On Tuesday her blood counts were still climbing well and the doctor was still very happy with everything she was seeing. We're hopeful that the biopsy will come back with good news. Until then, we continue to pray and thank God for the mighty work that He's already done in her. Praise Him!
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| Mom & Cartlan (now 7 weeks old) visiting Grandma Emily |
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Great Appointment
Mom just finished up with her appointment at Northwestern today and had great reports! Her levels have continued to climb steadily since she checked out of the hospital and Doctor Jessica couldn't be happier with how everything looks. Jessica is so pleased that home health care (who has been coming every other day to do blood work for Mom) doesn't have to come for this next week.
Mom will go back up to Northwestern to have a bone marrow biopsy on Tuesday. This will give the doctors a closer look at what Mom's cells are doing - although the doctors are expecting to see good things. Jessica's assistant, Donna, will be doing the procedure for the biopsy and Mom is very happy with that. She's had a few done that were very painful but Donna has always done a good job.
Besides her wonderful appointment today Mom has been doing great. We all enjoyed having her home on Mother's Day and enjoyed the beautiful weather sitting outside watching the kids play. Mom has been walking, has made a couple small trips out of her house...to mine and Amy's houses, to Joe's house next door, and even was able to visit her Mom (Grandma Kaufmann) at the nursing home in Ottawa yesterday. Mostly she's been resting and relaxing to let her body heal. We're so thankful that that's what she will continue to do at home.
Praise God for the great report today. We continue to pray for Mom's recovery and ask that you do too. Thank you for all the love.
Mom will go back up to Northwestern to have a bone marrow biopsy on Tuesday. This will give the doctors a closer look at what Mom's cells are doing - although the doctors are expecting to see good things. Jessica's assistant, Donna, will be doing the procedure for the biopsy and Mom is very happy with that. She's had a few done that were very painful but Donna has always done a good job.
Besides her wonderful appointment today Mom has been doing great. We all enjoyed having her home on Mother's Day and enjoyed the beautiful weather sitting outside watching the kids play. Mom has been walking, has made a couple small trips out of her house...to mine and Amy's houses, to Joe's house next door, and even was able to visit her Mom (Grandma Kaufmann) at the nursing home in Ottawa yesterday. Mostly she's been resting and relaxing to let her body heal. We're so thankful that that's what she will continue to do at home.
Praise God for the great report today. We continue to pray for Mom's recovery and ask that you do too. Thank you for all the love.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Mom is home and doing well. She's loving having her grand kids stop by to see her, sleeping in her own bed, and just being in her own environment.
Mom will have a nurse come to her house every other day to draw blood to send up to Northwestern. She will also have weekly Wednesday appointments with her doctor at Northwestern in Chicago. She has not had a bone marrow biopsy done because they have seen good numbers come from her blood draw counts, so they're going to give her body a couple weeks to heal more before they do it.
We are encouraged by what the doctors are telling us and also by seeing Mom grow stronger every day. We don't know if she's in remission at this time, but all the signs are telling us good things. We still ask for your prayers as Mom heals.
Thank you SO much for all the love.
Mom will have a nurse come to her house every other day to draw blood to send up to Northwestern. She will also have weekly Wednesday appointments with her doctor at Northwestern in Chicago. She has not had a bone marrow biopsy done because they have seen good numbers come from her blood draw counts, so they're going to give her body a couple weeks to heal more before they do it.
We are encouraged by what the doctors are telling us and also by seeing Mom grow stronger every day. We don't know if she's in remission at this time, but all the signs are telling us good things. We still ask for your prayers as Mom heals.
Thank you SO much for all the love.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Mom gets to come home tomorrow!
Just heard the word from the Dr.'s this morning that mom will get to come home tomorrow! Best news we have heard in a while. They are happy with her progress over the past few days! My dad will be bringing her home tomorrow sometime! They will do a bone marrow biopsy sometime in the near future. Thank you for the prayers.
Love, Amy
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Good News From 1486
Good Morning Everyone -
This is Mary's son Adam, it's Sunday morning about 11:00 and the room is full of smiles to start the day! The team of doctors was in about 9:00 and told us that her numbers are improving, and I'm going to do my best in trying to explain what her numbers mean.
When I got to her room on Thursday night after my flight from Pittsburgh her WBC (White Blood Cell) count was a .4, and it was building slowly the 4 or 5 days leading up to that. Mom was frustrated when I sat down with her that night, and to be frank she broke down to me because she was so worried that the numbers were not going to come back up. She also expressed to me how different things felt this time around, she wasn't feeling as confident about being able to eliminate the leukemia this time... I could tell she was very scared. We shared lots of tears and emotions that night, but I also knew that it was my time to build her confidence up and thankfully over the next few days the numbers have given me some ammunition!!!
Friday morning the WBC's went to .5, then by Friday night it was at .6, and finally to .7 on Saturday. I got back last night after having dinner with Dad and we still didn't have an updates so we knew we had to wait until this morning. So the team came in today and told us that her WBC's were at .8 (I kept telling her that I wanted them over 1 before I left on Sunday) and they also gave us an update on her Nuetrophils (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutrophil_granulocyte) which is a key component of your immune system and it's ability to fight off infection. Those numbers are between 250 and 300 right now and climbing quickly, and they have to be at 500 or above in order for Mom to GO HOME!! I included a picture below that might look a bit ordinary....but this is a room down the hall from Mom that no one is currently occupying...I want this to be what room 1486 looks like in a few days!!
So we are very thankful for the positive news today, Mom's spirits lifted immediately and all three of us shared some hugs and smiles, and even some happy tears!! Things feel very different today than they did when I arrived on Thursday night. Please continue to pray for Mom's numbers to improve so that she can go home with confidence knowing that she can allow her body to heal in the comfort of her own home and surroundings. Also pray that her stomach can start feeling better...after she eats she is immediately does not feel well but so far there is no medication that is really helping with that.
Just a few other updates from the weekend; Julie turned the big 3-0 on Thursday, which is pretty hard to believe, and all 5 of us and some of our spouses were able to go out and celebrate with her on Friday night.
Mom's brother Jack and his son Jonny were able to come and see her on Saturday afternoon. Amy, Brian and the girls are coming up today to visit Grammy, it's been a few weeks since she has seen Amy's oldest two girls Madi and Tay so she is excited they are all coming up today. I am heading out in a few hours to go back to PA, and hopefully will be visiting Mom at home the next time I come out!! My family won't be able to see her for at least another 2 months or so because Bre is due with our baby girl on June 10, so next time we come out we'll have Grandkid #8 for Grammy to meet. We also heard good news about Cartlan the other day from Suzanne, he gained 3 pounds from his last doctors appointment and continues to do very well!
Someone will update you soon with more results from Mom's bloodwork, and we hear that Dr. Jessica will be talking with the team about what the next few days might look like for Mom in regards to when she can leave and what the next steps of treatment might be. Love to you all, and I have one more favor to ask...if you are reading this blog please take some time to write Mom by posting a comment. She loves checking in on the blog to see who has posted a response and I would really appreciate if everyone would send her some encouraging thoughts over the next few days. Talk to you soon,
Adam
Saturday, May 5, 2012
5/5/12
There is not a whole lot to update you all with since the last post on Thursday..it's a pretty low key weekend around here. Mom is, what we like to call, "doing work" on her white blood cell count. Adam arrived here on Thursday evening, and he insists that by the time he leaves here tomorrow, her counts will be over 1.0..(they started at 0.2/0.3 upon his arrival). They are steadily moving up (last at .7) and we are all happy about that!
We've had some positives:
No fevers.
White blood count steadily moving up.
Adam being here to visit.
Prayers for today would be for emotional strength (Mom is getting pretty bored around here and it's hard to not fear what's ahead so we pray for peace and joy), for the nausea to subside, and for God's provision!
Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help."
We are truly blessed by the love and support we are receiving and feel all of it!
Thank you!
We've had some positives:
No fevers.
White blood count steadily moving up.
Adam being here to visit.
Prayers for today would be for emotional strength (Mom is getting pretty bored around here and it's hard to not fear what's ahead so we pray for peace and joy), for the nausea to subside, and for God's provision!
Hebrews 4:16 "Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help."
We are truly blessed by the love and support we are receiving and feel all of it!
Thank you!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thursday
Hi there. Thanks so much for checking in on our Mom.
I'm currently up in Chicago visiting Mom today. Mom is rocking Cartlan to sleep right now :) Julie is here, too, and is celebrating her 30th birthday!
Mom's blood counts have shown a tiny bit of movement today and we're happy to hear that. Her fevers are also getting less frequent and are lower grade. Most often her temperature is normal range which helps her to feel much better throughout the day. She feels okay right now, just doesn't have much of an appetite which makes her have less energy. She looks good and is smiling as we catch up. It's great to see her and always makes me feel better.
A doctor from the team came in this afternoon to talk with us about what's next. They do not have a definite course of action at this point because they need her counts to come back stronger in order to tell what's going on in her blood. He discussed a few options they may take once they can tell if the cancer is gone or is still present. I won't go into the details of those plans because there's a lot to explain. It's possible that Mom will be able to come home sometime next week once her counts come back up and she's healthy enough.
For now we ask that you would continue to pray for her blood counts to come back healthy and that she gets rid of the fevers for good. We are trusting God in this journey and will praise Him for carrying each one of us through.
Dad shared his "verse of the day"...Romans 12:12-
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." We pray each one of you is encouraged today by this verse.
I'm currently up in Chicago visiting Mom today. Mom is rocking Cartlan to sleep right now :) Julie is here, too, and is celebrating her 30th birthday!
Mom's blood counts have shown a tiny bit of movement today and we're happy to hear that. Her fevers are also getting less frequent and are lower grade. Most often her temperature is normal range which helps her to feel much better throughout the day. She feels okay right now, just doesn't have much of an appetite which makes her have less energy. She looks good and is smiling as we catch up. It's great to see her and always makes me feel better.
A doctor from the team came in this afternoon to talk with us about what's next. They do not have a definite course of action at this point because they need her counts to come back stronger in order to tell what's going on in her blood. He discussed a few options they may take once they can tell if the cancer is gone or is still present. I won't go into the details of those plans because there's a lot to explain. It's possible that Mom will be able to come home sometime next week once her counts come back up and she's healthy enough.
For now we ask that you would continue to pray for her blood counts to come back healthy and that she gets rid of the fevers for good. We are trusting God in this journey and will praise Him for carrying each one of us through.
Dad shared his "verse of the day"...Romans 12:12-
"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." We pray each one of you is encouraged today by this verse.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Update
Nothing new is going on yet this week. We're still waiting on Mom's counts to come back up and she's still battling low-grade fevers. We're thankful that the doctors figured out what is causing them and she's on a specific antibiotic to treat them. She feels okay- not good and not miserable.
Mom doesn't spend much time alone. Between Dad, her kids, her sister Sue, and other visitors, we have someone staying with her every night and other visitors during the day and weekends. Having someone with her seems to help keep her spirits up and passes the time.
We're definitely missing Mom being home these days. We pray that some day soon she'll be able to get out of the hospital, but we can't know when that will be, unfortunately. For now we're thankful for visits with her and also for FaceTime (we video chat most days).
Please continue to pray for Mom's health to improve and for the cancer to be gone for good.
Mom doesn't spend much time alone. Between Dad, her kids, her sister Sue, and other visitors, we have someone staying with her every night and other visitors during the day and weekends. Having someone with her seems to help keep her spirits up and passes the time.
We're definitely missing Mom being home these days. We pray that some day soon she'll be able to get out of the hospital, but we can't know when that will be, unfortunately. For now we're thankful for visits with her and also for FaceTime (we video chat most days).
Please continue to pray for Mom's health to improve and for the cancer to be gone for good.
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