Day of Prayer

Hi everyone, it's Bre! I am grateful to be back with Mary again. It is a blessing.

Today has been a fairly uneventful day. When Mary woke up this morning, her mouth was swollen and sore due to a side affect of the chemo called mucositis. The team was quick to get pain mediciation in her PICC line, which gave her immediate relief. They also got a pump installed so that she could push the button to initiate any additional meds herself. Due to the meds, she slept most of the day, the swelling has gone down, and no sores as of yet. Praise God! We were even able to take a walk this afternoon and I am hoping to get her to eat a little here this evening. Please pray as we want to stop the side affects in their tracks. Thank you! Until tomorrow...

Still doing good.......

Besides a little boredom, Mom is doing good! No side effects yet. She is on Day 5.........and the goal is to be going home by Day 14-20. Hopefully only a week and a half to two weeks left.....

Continue to pray for no side effects, and for the stem cells to engraft in the bone marrow without mom's body putting up to much of a fight........

Thanks for the prayers...........love ya all!

Prayer Requests!

Everything is still pretty quiet around the hospital for now. My mom is still feeling okay, taking walks, eating her delicious (okay, maybe not) hospital meals, and enjoying her visitors. Jenni, Mary's niece, stayed with her last night and is there now. Jenni text me saying that they had a good night with the exception of beeping machines. She said this morning mom was chatting with the lady in the next room over who's going through the same thing. The lady is a few days ahead of my mom and is having some really rough days now. The nurse told my mom it'll feel like she was hit by a semi in the next few days.

Jenni asked me to call all of our prayer warriors! Mom needs God's strength to get through the days ahead and to conquer this thing once and for all! Please be praying for my mom over the next week! We'll keep you updated on specific needs as the days go on.

Stem Cell Transplant

Good evening everyone!

The transplant was a success! They started everything at 4 o'clock today and finished a little before 5. Her official "time of birth" (when the stem cells started going into her blood stream) was 4:18. The medicine made mom pretty sleepy, so she rested for a while after it was done. I just called and talked with her and she sounds like she's doing well. She feels the same as she did before the transplant, just has some nausea, but fine otherwise. She said she just ate a sandwich for dinner and is talking with her visitors. David (Mary's son) stayed the night last night and was there all day today through the transplant. Our dad was also there for everything along with Sue (Mary's sister), Joe (Mary's brother/the donor), and Eddie (Mary's brother).

Mom said the phones have been ringing all evening. This is obviously a huge day for mom and all of us who love her! We've come so far since the beginning of this journey!

I'd love to say we're all done, but we still have the recovery to go. Mom will probably be in the hospital for a couple more weeks. The nurse told her today that the next 5 days should be pretty normal for her, then the 5 days after that will get a bit harder. This is when she'll feel the affects of everything that's going on inside of her.

We're in the home stretch! Please continue your encouraging words and prayers. We love you all!

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day...the stem cell transplant. Mom is doing well so far. Her stomach is upset from the chemo in her system, but so far no side effects that are really hard on her. Usually those come about a week after the chemo, so maybe over the weekend...please be praying for those.

Most importantly, please be praying for the transplant that will happen tomorrow at 4. The doctors will give mom medicine that will allow her body to relax, and she may not even remember the transplant. The transplant consists of Joe's (Mary's brother) stem cells being put into our mom's blood stream via her picc line. She had her new picc line successfully inserted into her left arm this afternoon. The stem cell transplant will take about a half hour to an hour. Once that's done and the medicine wears off a bit, mom should be up walking around that night.

Like Adam said, we've seen many people in the hospital who have gone through the same transplant. We feel like God has us in the right hospital with the right doctors, and that He loves our mom more than all of us put together. We believe this is her way to a better, healthy life, and we're trusting God every step along the way.

Thank you so much for your prayers over the next 24 hours for our mom. We love you all.

All Quiet On The "Southern" Front

Hello everyone, just wanted to give you all an update in regards to Mom's last couple days. It's "all quiet" for the most part, Mom has been resting very well since arriving here a few days ago. I arrived on Wednesday afternoon and relieved Amy, and it was a pretty uneventful day. We watched a few chick-flicks and spent most of the night catching up. She's been getting chemo the last three days as well as several other antibiotics/fluids, and up until today she had not been feeling any side effects.

Thanksgiving Day was very quiet as well, it was just Dad and I with her all day. We spent the morning watching the Macy's parade, which is the one and only time I hope to do experience that, but Mom enjoyed it so that's all that mattered! She did get to eat a turkey dinner (hospital-style) but was so full that she could not get excited about the pumpkin pie!! (And no, I didn't eat it!) We've been consistent with taking walks a few times a day and Mom still feels very strong both mentally and physically. There is a lady next door to her that has the same diagnosis as Mom and just completed her stem cell transplant, so they are starting to get to know each other and it's been good for her to talk to someone else going through a very similar process. It definitely wasn't a "typical" Thanksgiving Day, but she knows that everyday she's here is one day closer to getting out of here, so she didn't complain or get upset one time.

Suzanne, Amy, and Dad arrived this morning to spend the day up here. Mom is a lot sleepier today and she's just now starting to feel some of the side effects of the chemo. Her stomach is upset and the nausea is starting to kick in a little bit, but the staff is so amazing here and they are dealing with her issues as well as possible. Doctor Altman was here this morning to check in, and they are still calling Mom the "low maintenance" patient because she's still doing so well. Please keep her in your prayers, mainly that these side effects stay at bay and she can continue to rest comfortably.

It's tough seeing Mom back in the hospital after such a nice time at home, but we know that she'll be home very soon and back to a "normal" life again"!! Thanks again for all your prayers and calls, keep em coming!! Love you all,

Adam

Back at Northwestern

Well, were back in Chicago..............Same hospital new room........#1587.

Arrived at Northwestern at 8 this morning. Had only one procedure today. Spinal tap was performed to check spinal fluid for any abnormal leukemic cells. A couple hours later the Dr. called from the pathology lab and said that her spinal fluid was clean. They saw no abnormal cells. Praise God! Now she is clear to start Chemo tomorrow morning.

Spent the day resting and walking.

Now we ask for continued prayer as she starts the chemo. Pray for strength, peace, and minimal side effects.

We know that Jesus will be with her every step of this journey!

Thanks,
Amy