Monday, August 31, 2009

I thought I would just take some time and update everyone as to where Karly is at in her treatment plan.

Karly has completed 9 of 14 cycles of chemo. Looking at my calendar she should receive her 14th cycle of chemo on November 5. That is if everything goes perfectly and chemo is never delayed. She will have her 2nd PET scan on Tuesday, September 6. After the repeat PET scan Dr. Herzog and Dr. Mahajan will get together and decide when to start radiation. Radiation will be 5 days a week for 6 weeks.

Thank you for all the continued support. Your prayers get us through each day!

And remember to DONATE BLOOD! :)

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Well...I bragged to Karen and Keaton yesterday evening about Karly not having to go back to the clinic until Thursday. After I finished typing that post, I went to checked on Karly and she was VERY warm. I took her temperature and she had a fever of 104.1. This is the first time she has had a fever! She kept telling me she was fine, but a fever of 104.1 is NOT fine when you have a good immune system much less when you have been going through chemo! I called the pediatric impatient unit and talked to the charge nurse, she then relayed everything to the doctors on call and called me back and told us to go to the ER.

We get to the ER and finally the nursing assistant comes to take Karly back for vital signs and when she comes back the the waiting room the pedi doctor is with her and says we are going to a room. So Lexie and I get up and start heading that way, well the nursing assistant decided she needed to act like she was the boss and starting throwing a fit because I had Lexie with me. I told her that I guess she had forgot that MD Anderson was a "family centered" treatment facility and if she wanted to sit in the waiting room and watch Lexie she was more than welcome to. Needless to say, she shut up and never came back around. Come to find out she had just got her butt chewed out by the pedi doctor because Karly's vitals had not even been taken and we had been there over 30 minutes and there was not anyone else waiting.

Karly's fever had dropped to 101.8 by the time they took it at the ER so that was some better. She had no other symptoms, just the fever. The ER nurse was GREAT, she started an IV and drew blood. A second set of lab work was ordered which meant more blood but this nurse was great. Karly's lab work came back ok. Her white count was low and had dropped from the labs that were drawn before she was discharged on Friday, but that is to be expected after chemo and she had not started her neupogen injections yet. They gave her Tylenol and we were discharged about 3am. Karly has continued to run a low fever today, but feels fine. I will call Dr. Herzog first thing in the morning and see what she wants to do.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Tuesday morning Karly had to go back to the clinic and receive blood. We got in early and both girls slept the entire time. Karly was exhausted and went to bed at 3 that afternoon and slept until 7:30am Wednesday morning.

Yesterday, we had to be at the clinic at 8:30am. We saw Dr. Herzog and were in a room by 1pm! Karly did really well with this round of chemo. She was awake more than usually and did not experience any nausea. Of course, they give her anti-nausea drugs to prevent nausea, but they do not always work. Last night was movie night on the pediatric floor; Karly enjoyed watching a movie in the teen hangout while Lexie and I watched one in the pedidome.

Monday, August 24, 2009

We hope everyone had a GREAT 1st day back at school today.

Karly is enrolled at Bellaire High School and will do the home bound program until we get back home to Seminole. Miss Lexie is not going to school until next year. I had already made that decision before any of this happened with Karly.

Karly went in this morning for blood work. Both her hemoglobin and platelet levels are low so we go back in at 7:30 in the morning. She will receive blood and probably platelets. The 5 days of chemo seem to be hard for her body to recover from. She will have 1 day of chemo on Thursday.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Karly got out of the hospital around 4:30 Monday afternoon. She was able to do her last dose of Mesna at home again, which kept us from staying until the 6pm dose. Apparently, not many people take the Mesna orally. The hospital did not have enough pills for her to do both her 3pm and 6pm dose at home. The nurses have told us several times that it has a terrible taste but Karly says she doesn't taste anything. But, after 5 days in the hospital she might say anything to get to go home!

We had a great night Monday night! Christopher, Kade, Kory & Crystal came to the apartment, the kids swam, we ordered pizza, the kids swam some more. Karly even felt up to going out and watching the kids swim. It was wonderful family time. Tuesday before they headed home Karly had to take them to eat at Lupe's, of course. :)

Karly went in for an echocardiogram and blood work this morning. Her appointment was at 8am and she did not go back for the echo until 9:30. Anyhow, the reason for the echo is to make sure her heart is ok because of one of the chemo drugs, Doxorubicin(AKA "the red devil"). Possible side effects of it include interference with heart function.

She goes back Monday for blood work and next Thursday for 1 day chemo.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Karly finished up day 4 today. She has had a fairly easy time this round. She has been able to rest and has experienced very little nausea. She will start chemo in the morning around 8am and we should be out of here sometime tomorrow(Monday) evening.

Kory and his family made it late Friday night. Lexie just about drove us nuts asking every 10 minutes, "when is Kory Neil going to be here." Saturday morning, Kory, Crystal, Christopher and Kade came to the hospital and got to spend some time with Karly. Then they took Lexie with them. Lexie has had a blast with them the past 2 days. Yesterday, they went to the Downtown Aquarium and today they BRAVED the Children's Museum. Lexie and I went to dinner with the boys while Crystal stayed with Karly at the hospital. I think Crystal probably enjoyed a little bit of peace and quiet after having 3 kids in Houston for 2 days.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Karly is back in the hospital for chemo cycle #8. We arrived at the clinic yesterday around 10:15 for lab work. At 11:00 we saw Dr. Herzog. She confirmed that we would do another PET scan after cycle #9 and then begin radiation. We are very comfortable with the radiation treatment plan, radiation has advanced a great deal from what it used to be. All of Karly's lab work came back good and we were in a room before 3pm!

Between the doctor visit and be admitted to a room, we got Karly registered for school. She is going to go ahead and enroll in a school here and do the home bound program. This will work better than her trying to complete all the work she misses from home.

Karly's chemo started last night at 10pm. YES, we were in a room 7 hours before they began chemo! Very frustrating but at least we were in a room. She is about to start day 2 of chemo and has been able to rest all day.

Thank you again for all the prayers, cards, calls and gifts!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sunday night we had dinner with Victoria, Tamera and Elisabeth. We really enjoyed spending time with them.

Monday Karly's blood levels were finally where they needed to be. She is scheduled to go in Thursday for chemo cycle #8.

We are so excited that Kory, Crystal and my 2 GREAT nephews Christopher & Kade will be here at the end of the week! Lexie is driving us crazy wanting to know when they will be here. :)

We also want to share some great news about Keaton. His sister, Katie posted an update on his caringbridge this evening. Keaton & Karen have made it safely to the Philippines and Keaton has already started treatments.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

We hope everyone is having a great weekend. It is King George Mania around here today. George Strait is at the Reliant Stadium today, which is across the street from us. I could probably sell my parking spot at the apartment for a good chunk of change today! Our apartment is closer than where some of the people are having to park.

Karly went back in yesterday for lab work and her platelet level had dropped even more so she received platelets yesterday afternoon. Her white count has also dropped so I will continue to give her the injections. She goes back in on Monday for another round of blood work.

Our dear friends, Keaton and Karen will be leaving for the Philippines on Sunday. We got to see them for a few minutes yesterday between Keaton's scans yesterday. Keaton is traveling to the Philippines to try an experiment treatment which has shown to be effective in several different cancers. We pray this is the treatment that will stop Keaton's disease! We are so excited that Keaton has this chance. We will miss them terribly because they have become such great friends, but we can't wait to hear all the great things that they learn about this new treatment. Please keep them in your prayers as they make this journey.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Can you believe it is already August and school is just around the corner? We sure can't! Karly will stay enrolled in Seminole High School and she will complete her work through the school at MD Anderson.

Tuesday evening, we had a night out at the ballpark. We had a wonderful time. The Astros did not have a good night but we stayed until the very last out. I will post some pictures from the game.

Yesterday, we had lunch with Dana and Daniel Quisenberry. They were here in Houston for their check ups and they both got great reports. They are such a great inspiration to us. Dana is so full of knowledge and support for me and Daniel KNOWS exactly what Karly is going through and it is so great to see him now, so healthy! We loved Karly's radiation doctor the first day we met her, but we love her even more now that we found out she was also Dana's! Dana is proof they she is a GREAT doctor!

Karly went in today for regular blood work. She has had an irritating cough for the past few days, so the doctor listened to her to make sure her lungs were clear and she didn't need a chest xray. Her lungs sounded fine and she is taking some cough syrup. Her platelet level dropped 1/3 of what it was on Monday so we have to go back in tomorrow for more blood work and I expect her to receive platelets. Monday her level was 150,000, today it was 46,000 and it needs to be 150,000 or higher. Her white count has not increased much either even with me still giving her the injections. So, as they say "she will have her tank topped off" tomorrow.

Thank you for all the continued support.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Happy Birthday Nona!

Happy Birthday to Nona! Thanks for taking care of my dog, Harvest!

Today has been an easy day. Karly went in for lab work at 10am and we were out of there by 10:20! Her hemoglobin and platelet levels were good, but her white blood cell count was just ok. I will continue giving her shots at least until she has lab work on Thursday.

We are very excited about tomorrow. Thursday, we were given tickets to the Astros game for tomorrow night. The seats are AMAZING, they are in the Diamond Club area right behind home plate. Of course, me being a Dagley...I LOVE baseball.