Here's the latest:

Last Thursday Laura started on IV fluids at home. Before that time, she wasn't able to eat very well and there was some concern about dehydration and energy levels. So, they gave her an IV for home use and she was told to remain on that for a week.

Today she went to the doctor and they said that she was doing well --  in spite of a drop in WBC. They said that sometimes drops happen and they weren't concerned. They decided to keep her on the IV for at least a week or maybe longer because they think it's helping her energy. From what I saw when I was there, that seems to be so.

She's also been eating better. And, I guess that could be due to many factors, but one of the big reasons, I think is 'cause she doesn't have to take those GIGANTIC Amoxicillin pills anymore. The size of those alone would make anybody feel queasy.

Emotionally she's doing pretty well. It helps to have all of her children with her. There are days, however, that are a little more challenging than others when it comes to being cheerful and upbeat. She amazes me, though, in her strength and determination.

Sorry the updates have been spread out. I think it's safe to say, when you don't see an update, that "No news is good news." 

Have a good rest of your week.

Thanks for loving Laura.

(For you, Clif ♥)

Quick post:

Laura had lots of IV fluids yesterday. The home healthcare nurse came today to show Laura and Lisa how to administer the IV fluids at home. She had one bag of fluids (4 hours of drip) today and I can't believe how much better she seems.

She's eaten more. She's taken a walk. She's fussed more (in a  good way). She's had a sense of humor. Her color is better. And, to my knowledge, she's kept all of her food, fluids and meds down today.

What a difference a day makes!

Please pray that things will continue to improve and that she will feel better and BETTER everyday.

Please pray, too, for my cousin, Olivia and her husband. My Aunt Alberta died yesterday. She was the last of my mother's generation and she was very special to all of us. We will all miss her. She was full of life and spunk for a long time and I know that my Uncle Tom and my mother will be happy to see her again.

Love y'all.

Laura had a doctor's appointment today.

Her white blood counts are at 5.8! Which is great! (And, for those of you who might not know, 5.8 is really 5,800)... Her magnesium and potassium were low and she's been having trouble retaining food and liquids and her meds. So, they gave her an infusion to boost her magnesium and potasium and to boost fluids.

And, while she was still exhausted from the day, she climbed six flights of stairs after her appointment to get to the car. Though I don't think she would tell you she felt GOOD today, she definitely felt better today than yesterday.

They sent her home with IV fluids which she will have for the next seven days. I think it's a good thing.

I thought it was enough exercise that she climbed those stairs, but she decided to take a walk with Lisa after supper tonight! Isn't she something?!

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Here are some photos of the IV fluids arrriving and just a glimpse at what all is involved in making Laura feel good again.

Love y'all!

 

Laura had a tough day today... Hard to get out of bed... Headache... Hard to eat and keep things down... Hungry anyway... Walked a little bit, though!

Lisa and Clif are so great. Lisa keeps up with all of Laura's medicines and takes her temp. Helps change her dressing and cleans her port (or whatever the official name of it is). Keeps up with all of Laura's appointments, too. Clif gives her good back rubs and helps take care of household-y things.Both of them check on Laura all day. And Emily calls often (and will be here soon!).  Laura sure does have some sweet children.

She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Praying there will be wisdom shared on how to take the meds and eat enough of the right kinds of foods (and keep them down) so that she can start to feel better. Eating and sleeping and lack of energy are the current hurdles.

Your continued prayers are appreciated.

♥

Laura is very tired. Way more often than she wants to be. Well, I guess Laura never likes to be tired. But, in case anyone is unaware, she recently underwent some intensive chemo which killed all her white blood cells. (White blood cells keep us healthy and give us energy.) And, THEN, her body received some NEW cells which are adjusting to her body. And, THAT is why she's tired. She doesn't like it.

Now, if it were a regular day and Laura got to do what she wanted all day long, I think she'd get up, have a cup of tea, maybe go hang out with her students and inspire them to be the best that they could be. The day might also include talking to her own children and inspiring THEM to be the best that THEY can be. She might go for a long walk. She might go to spinning class. She might work in the yard or do some kind of house project that she's been wanting to do. She might sew some special things either for the house or her children or her nieces or nephews. She'd cook a good dinner and enjoy eating it. Maybe she'd put up some peaches or something like that. She MIGHT even come out to Bellingham to see me or fly to San Francisco to see Emily and then she'd walk all over and soak in every single moment of every single day.

And, that's what I think is buggin' the heck out of her. She truly wants to do all those things...and then some.

What she's able to do now is take baby steps.  I believe that she's had very good days. The doctors think she's right on track. She's walked a mile for the past couple of days. The other day she went with Clif to the bookstore. She paid bills today and we went to the grocery store and to run errands.

For now, we're setting goals for the week and trying to cross those things off. And, they may be seemingly simple things like walk down the street or paying bills. But they are really big accomplishments. I mean it!!

She's got at least 80 more days of this kind of healing... it kind of overwhelms her, but I say she's doing JUST FINE. She's a very good girl who's gone through a huge thing and wants to jump right up and get back to "normal."  This is the new normal, but the old normal will be back before you know it.

Please pray that she will allow herself to heal slowly and surely. Pray that she'll notice what she's ABLE to do and not what she's NOT able to do. And, please pray that all of us will know how to encourage her.

Got here Saturday night and then Sunday just hung out. Robert, Mary Celeste and I went to visit our Aunt Alberta (who we love very much!!) and Laura rested. We all spent Sunday evening together and Laura did really well.

This morning Laura, Lisa and I went to the doctor. Her WBC is 3.8. They say she's doing really well. And, the best news of her day was that she can now have fresh fruits and vegetables! But, her magnesium was low and they thought she needed more fluids so she had a two hour infusion...She was there from 9:00 - 3:00. Long day.

But! She came home and we all went for a walk.

For dinner tonight, we had poached egg with spinach and parmesan cheese on English muffin. ☺

And, now, we're just sittin' around before it's time to lie down and go to sleep.

We love y'all!

The doctors thought that yesterday was a bit too soon to leave the hospital. They wanted to make sure that all was well with her oral meds. (They probably just like havin' Laura around 'cause she's such a great patient!)

So, they kept her overnight again, but the official word is that she gets to leave today by about 1:00.

One of the tasks now is to try to manage her medicine so that she doesn't feel sick when she eats.

Robert gets to Atlanta on Friday and I get there Saturday. I get to stay a week!  It will be so nice to be at Mama's...and I hope the weather allows for sittin' on the porch. Ahhhhhh. The comforts of home. That oughta help the healing!!

Love you all.
GFW!

A brief update from Clif:

Dr. Langston just came in and was very confident that mom will get to go home tomorrow afternoon sometime. She said that mom was her "star patient." We asked if she says that to everyone and she said that she most certainly does not. This just confirms what we knew all along: mom is a badass.

Mom has had a little nausea today but is still taking most everything in pill form. She still has a craving for plain hamburgers from McDonald's so we got her one and she ate the entire thing. Her head is completely bald with the exception of a little peach fuzz that no one will shave off because it's risky.

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Thank you for all the cards you have sent to Laura. There have been so many of them and she has really appreciated your thoughtfulness. Since she will be heading home tomorrow, please direct all correspondence :-) to the house in Atlanta. If you need that address, please leave me a note with your e-mail address and I'll send it to you.

Thanks so much for the love.

GoFightWin!



Yesterday was the beginning of a good week.

It began with a benefit BBQ which was held at Leesburg United Methodist Church ... but it wasn't just the Methodists who showed up. ☺ The volunteers decorated tables, prepared "to-go" boxes, served tables, manned the money box, and cleaned up. And the volunteers in the kitchen got to wear specially made "GoFightWin!" aprons.  And on top of all that, it was a very successful fundraiser!! Those people in Leesburg sure do love my sister...and that makes me feel very good.

Those are the take-out boxes

But wait! There's more good news!

This morning, I received the following e-mail from Lisa (Get ready to be excited!)

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Mom is ENGRAFTING!! Her counts went up to 1.1 today and the doctors said the official word.

AND . . .

She is going to start taking her medicines orally rather than intravenously which is a step toward getting the release to go home. Dr. Langston said she might get to go home on Wednesday!!!!

Her mouth still hurts, but the swelling has gone down and the pain is a little less.

Keep sending positive thoughts.

GFW,

~Lisa

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To all of you who check this blog and pray for Laura and have fundraising BBQ's, and do practical things to help her like bringing meals and checking on her house and running errands and sending cards and cooking for her and just plain loving Laura:
our family (Clif, Emily, Lisa, Robert, Mary Celeste, and I -- along with our extended family) says:
THANK YOU!!! What a GREAT BIG BLESSING you are to all of us.

Thank you for your continued prayers.
We love you.

More specifics from Lisa:

Well, even though mom's birthday was a really hard day (maybe the worst day she's had), today she is much better. Her White Blood Count went up from 0.3 to 0.5. And when Dr. Langston came in today she said "I feel pretty confident that this is an indication that engraftment is starting." Although they can't say 100% that the new cells are engrafting, those words were really encouraging.

There is, however, something that is a bit of a concern. She has a case of mucositis in her mouth. It's not anything they are extremely concerned about, however, it is the source of a lot of pain and the lack of appetite for mom. They are taking her off one of her medicines that is suppressing her immune system, so the hope is that it will alleviate the pain and get rid of the infection.

We also were told by our nurse today that if engraftment really is taking place and we continue to see her WBC go up, there is a big possiblity of her getting to go home at the end of the week!!!!! (home meaning the house in Atlanta)

We still have a long road ahead of us, but she's taking it one step at a time and right now she is on the right path. :)

Also, some people are asking what exactly engraftment means. The definition as given by Emory: "Engraftment is a term the doctors use to describe the point when the stem cells start doing their job and blood cell counts start to come up." Hopefully that helps.

I received a text message this morning from Lisa telling me that Laura's WBC is now at .5!!!! Doctors still are not ready to say engraftment is taking place, but it's a very good sign.

Laura is still in pain, but I KNOW she's feeling better than yesterday because (1) she was on Facebook this morning and (2) she forwarded me a photo from the barbeque that her church is having for her. Yesterday, she didn't even really want to talk on the phone. How active she is on the phone or the computer is a sign of how she feels...at least, that's my theory.

I have received a few photos of what's happening at the barbeque (will post photos of that later). Looks like so much fun. And, I saw some ladies in the kitchen gettin' ready to serve and they were wearing some very cute aprons! (GFW!)

Yesterday was a pretty tough day, but today is better and I think THAT is a sign that her new year has begun!

Happy birthday to you!

♥

Happy birthday to you!

♥ 

Happy birthday, dear Laura!
♥
 
Happy birthday to you!


So far this morning, it's been a pretty rough birthday. She aches all over and she's been vomitting. She's taking a nap right now and we're hoping she wakes up feeling better!

THIS JUST IN!

Laura's platelet count went up! The doctors have not confirmed that it absolutely means that engraftment is taking place, but they did say it's a good sign.

Her body JUST  might give her a very good birthday present tomorrow!!

Prayn'. Prayin'. Prayin'!

Being in the hospital has many drawbacks... Being in the hospital with cancer and mouthsores, and backaches, and stomach issues is even LESS fun.

But, one of the perks for Laura is the view she gets from her window. Check out the sunsets!

The past couple of days have definitely been better than Saturday and Sunday. She is, however, feeling weak and shaky and her white blood count is the lowest it's ever been. That's expected, though.

But...her spirits are good and she sounds good when I talk to her.

Don't know yet exactly when she'll be able to go home from the hospital, but they're aiming for next week.

Thank you for your continued prayers for recovery and complete healing.

You people are SUMPTHIN' else!!  ♥

Laura woke up this morning with a bad back ache. They don't know what's causing it, but they have given her something to ease the pain.

She doesn't like the idea of loading up on medicine, but has decided that when she feels really bad, she's gonna take it anyway.

She sounded pretty good when I spoke with her this morning, but I know she's not feeling great.

But! Check out her pillowcase... Her church had it made for her and they all signed it. 

And, the pillowcase isn't all her church has done for her! They're gonna have a benefit barbeque for her. She told me yesterday that another church in town has already sold 122 tickets. That's not even the tickets sold at the church she goes to...  People really are so good. Thank y'all!

Continuing to pray that the worst is over and it's gonna get easier and easier as the days go by.