Today was the beginning of something new for us. It has gone great so far!
Karly had an appointment at the clinic at 2pm this afternoon to begin her 10th cycle of chemo. She is doing this cycle outpatient. She got in her room in the PATC around 2:30 and once her port was accesses she got started with cycle 10. While at the clinic Karly receive all her premeds and one of the chemo drugs. She was then sent home with a backpack full of fluids, the 2nd chemo drug and Mesna(bladder protector). We were in the car headed home by 4:30. I can't even begin to tell you how great it feels not to be in the hospital! When we got back home, Nanny had cooked supper and Karly said, "this smells SO much better than the hospital."
We received the results from her last PET scan today, and it was good news. The mass still has not decreased in size, but has decreased in intensity and is responding to treatment. Her chest was clear!
Karly will head back to the clinic at 2pm tomorrow.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Good Changes!
Karly went in early this morning for lab work and then she headed to the PET scan. The PET scan takes a total of about 2 hours. We do not know the results of the PET scan, they were not up when we saw Dr. Herzog at 11:00am.
Karly and I have been visiting with one of Dr. Herzog's other patients and she receives her chemo on an outpatient basis and Karly was very interested in doing that. So, today she asked the doc if it was possible, Dr. Herzog said since we are so close to the hospital(1.6 miles)and since we have always been compliant (I didn't know there was a choice) that she was fine with it. So, chemo was delayed until Monday.
The plan is: we will go to the clinic and spend 3-4 hours receiving the chemo drugs and then Karly will come home will a back pack of fluids. We will return to the clinic the following day and continue this for 5 days. We never thought we would be happy about chemo being delayed but we are thrilled that Karly can come home instead of spending so much time in the hospital. When this all first began, Dana was preparing me for all that would take place down here and I remember when she told me they sent Daniel home with a backpack I thought "there is NO WAY I could do that." Now Karly and I are asking, "what ALL can we do at home so we don't have to be here all the time."
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying time with Nanny & Pa. We went to eat and then the girls went shopping. Poor Pa! :)
Now is time for a great big THANK YOU to all the great folk at Westside! We got a HUGE box from them yesterday. Last night, Nanny, Pa and I had the best time watching the girls go through it. It was packed with all kinds of wonderful things. I can never put into words how thankful we are to be a part of such a wonderful church family!
Karly and I have been visiting with one of Dr. Herzog's other patients and she receives her chemo on an outpatient basis and Karly was very interested in doing that. So, today she asked the doc if it was possible, Dr. Herzog said since we are so close to the hospital(1.6 miles)and since we have always been compliant (I didn't know there was a choice) that she was fine with it. So, chemo was delayed until Monday.
The plan is: we will go to the clinic and spend 3-4 hours receiving the chemo drugs and then Karly will come home will a back pack of fluids. We will return to the clinic the following day and continue this for 5 days. We never thought we would be happy about chemo being delayed but we are thrilled that Karly can come home instead of spending so much time in the hospital. When this all first began, Dana was preparing me for all that would take place down here and I remember when she told me they sent Daniel home with a backpack I thought "there is NO WAY I could do that." Now Karly and I are asking, "what ALL can we do at home so we don't have to be here all the time."
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying time with Nanny & Pa. We went to eat and then the girls went shopping. Poor Pa! :)
Now is time for a great big THANK YOU to all the great folk at Westside! We got a HUGE box from them yesterday. Last night, Nanny, Pa and I had the best time watching the girls go through it. It was packed with all kinds of wonderful things. I can never put into words how thankful we are to be a part of such a wonderful church family!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Karly's Post
Hey everyone this is Karly herself =)
I really don't know what to say. Of course I gotta say thank you everyone for the support and prayers. If it wasn't for you guys and my good friends I woulda already went insane. Haha, you guys give me something to read and smile about when I'm sitting on the couch bored.
I don't know if mom said anything about it or not so I'll go ahead and say, Thank you Seminole High School Band =) I got my two shirts the other day, my band shirt and black out shirt. (I must say they are alot better than last year I think haha)
As you prolly know I gotta get more blood I think and cause of that I got banned from Monster and Vemon energy drinks, which isn't that cool, but I guess it's for the best. Haha
We also just got back from Kemah last night and it was really fun! We rode on this boat called the Boardwalk Beast and it tours all the way around the bay. The ride lasted 45 minutes, but it was the slow ride, I told my mom we shoulda rode the fast one where it cut that time into 20 minutes and you'd get soaked. Haha
I really miss all you guys. I feel so outta place without being able to go to school every morning and getting to hang out with my friends on the weekends. It's a huge change from doing all that to suddenly doing nothing but hospital stuff basicly. I'm still adjusting to it. But seriously, I miss the band a WHOLE lot, I'm sure they'll be glad to have me back but I haven't touched my trumpet in forever so I bet they'll be like oh no... Haha
I want everyone to know that my friends are seriously wonderful people. Like ther perfect example of a great friend is my best friend Marcus. Once he found out I'd be stuck in Houston he told me he was getting a job so he could come see me. And in July he came and stayed for a full week. Haha he brought like 300 dollars or something like that for us to spend and I kept telling him that was too much money for a kid to have. But yeah, it ment alot to me that he was willing to work on the weekends just to come see me.
Then there of course is Keaton and Karen. I love those two. Seriously, if it wasn't for them I would have gone crazy, and so would have mom. They have helped us out so much. And I miss them so, and I pray for them to come back safe and doing much better than they were before. They are so smart and strong and I know they can do this. I don't have a doubt in my mind.
I remember at the end of last school year I visited the school one last time to clean out my locker and visit some teachers, and when I went to the choir room I also talked to some friends and they were asking me all sorts of questions. Well we had an exchange student from Japan named Dicekay(We just called him Dice) and he looked so confused and finally someone just told him that I had a tumor and he said, "Ohh... What is a tumor?" Then we explained that to him and then I told him I had cancer. I will never forget this, I laughed so hard. His eyes got real big and his mouth dropped. "Ohh.... What is this cancer??? It sounds really, really bad!" I think they finally got everything explained to him but I thought it was really funny.
Now my mom said the goal is to come home mid novemeber. I pray every night that we get to go home then. I'm so homesick. But I gotta say my favorite holiday is thanksgiving and so there is no way that I'd miss thanksgiving at my Nanny's house! Nu uh! The food is all sooo good... Yumm. So if not I still plan, irregardless, to be home around thanksgiving cause I wouldn't miss that for the world.
I wish there was a way to speed up time and just hurry and get to be home. I can't wait to be able to give everyone of you the hug that you guys deserve. Ya'll are the best support system out there.
And I wanna thank my Nanny and Pa for watching out for our animals. You guys wouldn't believe how much I miss them. I heard they fell in love with our guinea pig, but I could see how. Our guinea pig is so cool you guys. His name is Baby Chip(and I bought that lil guy a couch for his cage the other day haha, he can eat it while he's sittin on it too!) and he's not like other guinea pigs, his fur is all wild, like he seriously has a mohawk! Haha. Then I also heard my nanny and pa loves our cocker spaniel so much that they have her at their house! haha, that's good for all three of them. I remember that dog liked to be with people so much and she is a good older dog so she'll just sit there with you, and that's great for nanny and pa. Plus now they have someone to spoil haha. Then I also heard our cats are even getting the royal treatment from them haha. But of course there is that one animal that is hyper and makes a mess. And that's my dog Chika. Haha, I've heard she's been makin some messes back at home. I of course promised that, that will change when I get home, cause she'll be getting her walks everyday and some training in. But I miss my Chika so much.
And I miss Seminole's weather. The rain here is nice, but wow it's so humid! I'm not crazy about it.
Well, I would write a whole lot more, but mom just finished cooking dinner so I should go eat before it gets cold.
I'll try and post again one day to rant on about random stuffs. =)
I love ya'll!
~ Karly, Herself.
I really don't know what to say. Of course I gotta say thank you everyone for the support and prayers. If it wasn't for you guys and my good friends I woulda already went insane. Haha, you guys give me something to read and smile about when I'm sitting on the couch bored.
I don't know if mom said anything about it or not so I'll go ahead and say, Thank you Seminole High School Band =) I got my two shirts the other day, my band shirt and black out shirt. (I must say they are alot better than last year I think haha)
As you prolly know I gotta get more blood I think and cause of that I got banned from Monster and Vemon energy drinks, which isn't that cool, but I guess it's for the best. Haha
We also just got back from Kemah last night and it was really fun! We rode on this boat called the Boardwalk Beast and it tours all the way around the bay. The ride lasted 45 minutes, but it was the slow ride, I told my mom we shoulda rode the fast one where it cut that time into 20 minutes and you'd get soaked. Haha
I really miss all you guys. I feel so outta place without being able to go to school every morning and getting to hang out with my friends on the weekends. It's a huge change from doing all that to suddenly doing nothing but hospital stuff basicly. I'm still adjusting to it. But seriously, I miss the band a WHOLE lot, I'm sure they'll be glad to have me back but I haven't touched my trumpet in forever so I bet they'll be like oh no... Haha
I want everyone to know that my friends are seriously wonderful people. Like ther perfect example of a great friend is my best friend Marcus. Once he found out I'd be stuck in Houston he told me he was getting a job so he could come see me. And in July he came and stayed for a full week. Haha he brought like 300 dollars or something like that for us to spend and I kept telling him that was too much money for a kid to have. But yeah, it ment alot to me that he was willing to work on the weekends just to come see me.
Then there of course is Keaton and Karen. I love those two. Seriously, if it wasn't for them I would have gone crazy, and so would have mom. They have helped us out so much. And I miss them so, and I pray for them to come back safe and doing much better than they were before. They are so smart and strong and I know they can do this. I don't have a doubt in my mind.
I remember at the end of last school year I visited the school one last time to clean out my locker and visit some teachers, and when I went to the choir room I also talked to some friends and they were asking me all sorts of questions. Well we had an exchange student from Japan named Dicekay(We just called him Dice) and he looked so confused and finally someone just told him that I had a tumor and he said, "Ohh... What is a tumor?" Then we explained that to him and then I told him I had cancer. I will never forget this, I laughed so hard. His eyes got real big and his mouth dropped. "Ohh.... What is this cancer??? It sounds really, really bad!" I think they finally got everything explained to him but I thought it was really funny.
Now my mom said the goal is to come home mid novemeber. I pray every night that we get to go home then. I'm so homesick. But I gotta say my favorite holiday is thanksgiving and so there is no way that I'd miss thanksgiving at my Nanny's house! Nu uh! The food is all sooo good... Yumm. So if not I still plan, irregardless, to be home around thanksgiving cause I wouldn't miss that for the world.
I wish there was a way to speed up time and just hurry and get to be home. I can't wait to be able to give everyone of you the hug that you guys deserve. Ya'll are the best support system out there.
And I wanna thank my Nanny and Pa for watching out for our animals. You guys wouldn't believe how much I miss them. I heard they fell in love with our guinea pig, but I could see how. Our guinea pig is so cool you guys. His name is Baby Chip(and I bought that lil guy a couch for his cage the other day haha, he can eat it while he's sittin on it too!) and he's not like other guinea pigs, his fur is all wild, like he seriously has a mohawk! Haha. Then I also heard my nanny and pa loves our cocker spaniel so much that they have her at their house! haha, that's good for all three of them. I remember that dog liked to be with people so much and she is a good older dog so she'll just sit there with you, and that's great for nanny and pa. Plus now they have someone to spoil haha. Then I also heard our cats are even getting the royal treatment from them haha. But of course there is that one animal that is hyper and makes a mess. And that's my dog Chika. Haha, I've heard she's been makin some messes back at home. I of course promised that, that will change when I get home, cause she'll be getting her walks everyday and some training in. But I miss my Chika so much.
And I miss Seminole's weather. The rain here is nice, but wow it's so humid! I'm not crazy about it.
Well, I would write a whole lot more, but mom just finished cooking dinner so I should go eat before it gets cold.
I'll try and post again one day to rant on about random stuffs. =)
I love ya'll!
~ Karly, Herself.
Karly went in this morning for blood work and her hemoglobin levels were low again. If I could get her to eat some liver that might help. HaHa....I would not eat it myself. The nurse that was covering for the regular nurse called and said for Karly to be there at 9am for repeat labs and possible blood transfusion in the morning. An hour later, Beatriz, the PA, called and said Dr. Herzog said we could wait until Thursday as long as Karly was not symptomatic. So, we will head to the clinic at 7:30 Thursday morning for labs and then on to the PET scan.
Nanny and Pa will be here tomorrow! Lexie will sure be glad when she doesn't have to get up so early on Thursday.
Thank you for all the continued support! And Karen & Keaton also say "thank you."
Nanny and Pa will be here tomorrow! Lexie will sure be glad when she doesn't have to get up so early on Thursday.
Thank you for all the continued support! And Karen & Keaton also say "thank you."
Monday, September 7, 2009
Labor Day 2009
50 years ago today and on Labor Day my big brother was born! Happy Birthday Bubba!
Last Thursday, Karly went in for blood work and her counts were low. On Friday, she had repeat lab work done and had to receive platelets. The outpatient side of the clinic was packed Friday and Karly was the easy patient. Her nurse told us all the other patients that received a transfusion had a reaction. We were sure glad Karly didn't follow suit.
We will head back in tomorrow morning for blood work. Her PET scan was rescheduled for Thursday because it had not been pre approved by insurance as of Friday afternoon. She will also be admitted for 5 days of chemo on Thursday.
Last Thursday, Karly went in for blood work and her counts were low. On Friday, she had repeat lab work done and had to receive platelets. The outpatient side of the clinic was packed Friday and Karly was the easy patient. Her nurse told us all the other patients that received a transfusion had a reaction. We were sure glad Karly didn't follow suit.
We will head back in tomorrow morning for blood work. Her PET scan was rescheduled for Thursday because it had not been pre approved by insurance as of Friday afternoon. She will also be admitted for 5 days of chemo on Thursday.
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