Day 24

Mom continues to do pretty good. They think they've found out what is causing her to be so nauseous and not like the smell of food - one of the antifungal or antibiotics they are giving her...so they are trying some new combinations and hoping that she is able to eat and keep things down better now. We'll see.
Dick and Marjean went to stay with her today as none of us were able to go. Mom said they had a good time, played cribbage and such...she was very glad to see them and happy that they were able to stay all day with her. Dad goes up tomorrow and Cale's work trip was cancelled so he is going up on Monday, so I'll see her again on Tuesday.

I've been asked a few times about what happens after Mom gets home from the hospital...really we don't know for sure, it depends on how well her body recovers from the chemo treatment but here is some info about the consolidation treatment phase(after she gets home from the hospital), so far all things point to her being in the low risk therapy...

"Even after complete remission is achieved, leukemic cells likely remain in numbers too small to be detected with current diagnostic techniques. If no further postremission or consolidation therapy is given, almost all patients will eventually relapse. Therefore, more therapy is necessary to eliminate non-detectable disease and prevent relapse — that is, to achieve a cure.

The specific type of postremission therapy is individualized based on a patient's prognostic factors and general health. For good-prognosis leukemias, patients will typically undergo an additional 3–5 courses of intensive chemotherapy, known as consolidation chemotherapy. For patients at high risk of relapse, allogeneic stem cell transplantation is usually recommended if the patient is able to tolerate a transplant and has a suitable donor. The best postremission therapy for intermediate-risk AML is less clear and depends on the specific situation, including the age and overall health of the patient, the patient's personal values, and whether a suitable stem cell donor is available.

Relapsed AML

For patients with relapsed AML, the only proven potentially curative therapy is a stem cell transplant, if one has not already been performed. "

Day 23

The long days and sleepless nights are catching up with me, so I thought I'd better write this now before I fall asleep sitting up. :)
I went up to sit with Mom again today. She had a really good day, food stayed down, we walked, played cribbage, talked. She didn't sleep the whole time I was there but she was pretty tired when I left.
The doctor came in while I was there(a new one, they rotate or something)and he is Eastern European and somewhat hard to understand...but he did a nice job of explaining what they are doing to her, and what the next little while is going to be like...basically they are keeping her body going while it recovers, with blood, antibiotics, fluid, platelets, etc...but he thinks she should be recovered in about 10 days and then we'll talk about going home and what will happen in the next stage of treatment - called consolidation therapy(more chemo)...with a break in between.

Day 22

Mom had a better day today. The fever is gone and she seemed to have more energy, sounded a bit more like herself. Still having trouble with keeping down her food, but all in all, was a pretty good day. It looks like we are just in a waiting game for her body to recover from the chemo. No real new news to report, we are just hanging in there.
A friend told me about Costco's collage posters, so I went online and ordered a couple of posters with pics of the kids and us to hang in her room, to make it more homey...and I think the girls are going to work on some art projects for her over the weekend. I'm headed up tomorrow to see her again but then won't be back up there until Monday, too much stuff going on here in town this weekend.
I know she reads all the emails and cards she has been getting, she just doesn't always have the energy to reply to them, but keep them coming, she loves reading them. (one of the staff at the hospital commented on how many cards she gets, which made Mom smile). :)

Day 21

Let's see, what happened today...Well, last night I received the nicest gift! 2 tickets to the opening OSU baseball game for Sunday - just for Kasey and I, as a way to make it up to him for not getting to go see Grandma. Thanks Wayne and Debbie!!! I'm very excited about it! I talked to Dad last night and he had the nicest gift himself - someone came over this weekend and mowed his yard and field (found out this morning it was their neighbor, Marv) so THANK YOU! It still amazes me the kindness and generosity of everyone.

Mom developed a fever over night last night, the nurses say 99% of patients develop one, so its not necessarily something to worry about, but it is an automatic trip to the xray room to peek at her lungs. As far as I know, everything came back normal. She is having a really hard time keeping down the oral meds so I think she may have to go back on IV drip for awhile until they get the fever under control.
As for the spinal test and the biopsy, I don't really have much to report. The doctors came in after Dad left tonight and Mom was pretty sedated and I was having a hard time understanding her. She said they told her everything was normal and doing what its supposed to be doing. They did mention that she MAY be able to come home in 10-14 days but it really is a day by day process, just have to wait to see if anything else develops. I'm going to call up to the nurses and see if I can get a little more info from them.

Day Twenty

So wow - 20 days into this thing...hard to believe how much life changes in the blink of an eye and how fast the days go by. A month ago Kam and I were considering moving to Montana, getting ready to head out on Amtrak to begin a new adventure. Start over and begin again. Now, Montana seems like a lifetime ago.
Now we have a new journey and new direction and new worries and new stresses to go along with all the rest. It can be overwhelming to think about, so I have found that I just have to take one thing at a time and worry about the next thing when its time comes. My mind wanders alot and I find that I can't remember things or see things that are right next to me(I yelled down the hall for Kasey last night and he was sitting on the other end of the couch). I'm glad I have this blog to get down my thoughts each night before I forget them.

I drove up to see Mom this morning. She is looking more pensive now, ready to go home. The days are running together to her. She said she really doesn't remember the first 3 or 4 days she was there. We played a card game for awhile and watched a movie(well I watched it while she slept) and we walked 4 laps...
Her nurse today was able to get her IV stopped during the days, so she only has to be hooked up to fluids at night while she sleeps now, as long as she continues to eat and drink...which is her biggest struggle right now. Nothing tastes good, smells good, sounds good - so getting her to order her food takes awhile. A dietitian came in today to go over what she has been eating and what they can do to help her eat more. Her protein and fat intake is too low and they won't let her go home until she can stabilize her weight, she's lost 10lbs so far. They are going to automatically send her snacks and diet supplements 2x a day, I think if its there she'll at least try to eat.
They say they'll have all the test results in tomorrow afternoon but the initial results "look good". No word on what that means for her continued treatment and stay in the hospital though.
Her hair is coming out now. Although she still looks like she's got most of it, if you run your fingers through it they come out covered in hair. I'm going shopping tomorrow to find her some more short sleeve, button down pj tops so she can quit wearing the hospital gowns, eww! At least she'll look cute in her hats and pj's. :0)

Day Nineteen

For some reason today was an emotional day for me. Some days are easier than others and today just wasn't easy. I didn't get to go up and see Mom, they had scheduled the biopsy for 1 o'clock and the kids' appts didn't get done until 11:30 so I would barely have made it if at all...darn long drive!
Cale was up there for her so I did talk to him after and he said it went ok. She said it hurt worse this time and they think maybe she has built up a little tolerance for the pain meds so she felt more this time. She pretty much slept the whole afternoon. I didn't call up there tonight so she could sleep.
I'm headed up in the morning for the day. Maybe we'll have the lumbar puncture results back, maybe not...this waiting to find out what's next is killing me. I hate not having a plan.

Lesson on blood

So as things progress with Mom and I think more about how this whole process works I have questions. Luckily we have a wonderful childhood friend of Kam's who is an oncology nurse at Providence in Ptld who is willing to answer my questions(even at 11 at night)...so here is my latest realization and question...

Mom has been receiving blood on a pretty regular basis. I hadn't thought about it, but she RECEIVES the blood but none is being removed...so how does that work and why do they do it? The obvious answer is she needs more healthy blood but where has the "bad" blood gone?

The more accurate answer is that even in healthy people blood dies pretty quickly and needs to be replaced. It is continuously made by the body to remain healthy. In Mom's case, her body was making blood but it was not developing fully and instead was creating immature cells(called leukemia cells). Prior to the chemo, her body could not create enough healthy cells, the leukemia cells were taking over which is what is making her sick. The chemo treatments kills ALL blood cells, both good and bad and her body cannot keep up with the creation of new blood. So she NEEDS blood infusions; the dead bad blood and now the new dead good blood is expelled the same way a healthy person removes dead blood (the way all things are expelled).

So there we go...I had all the pieces to this puzzle but wasn't able to put it all together to make sense until now. Thanks Nicole!

Day Eighteen

So not really much to report tonight. Mom is really feeling tired more every day. Tomorrow is the big day, bone marrow biopsy again! We may have the results of the lumbar puncture tomorrow too, maybe not until Tuesday though. Crossing our fingers and praying for good results for both!

The kids have an ortho appt in the morning but I want to go up to be with her during the biopsy since my brother is a wimp and won't stay in the room with her...so far most of her procedures have been in the afternoons so hopefully I can get up there soon enough.

Day Seventeen

Today's update is brought to you by Jessika and Rachel!!! We got up at 6 o'clock today to go see grandma! We were super excited to get there and were antsy on the way up. She was super duper excited to see us. Tim and Char treated her to a surprise visit this morning, but Tim wasn't a fan of the yellow gowns we are required to wear in the room, hehe. We rode the tram; Rachel thought it was scary and so did I. It's really high in the air and, on the way up, it rocks back and forth (personally, I'm not so fond of the heights). We thought it was fun anyway and we got stickers that say "I Rode The Tram." Grandma was really tired today. We didn't take any walks, but she sat in her chair most of the time. I painted her nails and we played dimes (it's one of our favorite card games) while Grandpa took a little nap. Unfortunately, she is starting to lose her hair a bit. Rachel combed her hair for her and she could pull out strands.. I think she will start losing it more drastically in a few days or so. She already has 5 hats, and they are super cute. By the time this is done, she'll have hats coming out of her ears!!! We took a few pictures of her view (which is incredible) and of us so be sure to watch the new slide show! It felt really good to see her because the last time we saw her was at one of Rachel's basketball games on the 3rd and that's a long time for us. We usually see her once or twice a week. We have missed her so much and were very very happy to finally talk to her in person again.

Day Sixteen

Got to go see Mom again today. When I got there I was suiting up outside the room and could hear giggling...I knocked and opened the door to find Mom sitting in the chair playing cribbage with Dave Olson...they were having a blast. Mom really enjoyed it, got her to laughing and forgetting for awhile. xoxo Dave!

Mom had a pretty good day today, her breakfast and lunch both stayed down, we went on a walk around the unit and sat and chatted most of the afternoon away. I took up the video from the girls' choir concert from last night so we watched that. About 4 o'clock she was about falling asleep in the bed, so I decided it was time to go.

She received 2 units of blood today but otherwise she is just kinda hanging out wishing she could be outside enjoying all this February sunshine. Biopsy is still scheduled for Monday; the results of yesterday's lumbar puncture should be back Monday or Tuesday.

Days Fourteen and Fifteen

Finally! I went up to see Mom today. She is looking pretty good, still full of bruises and pale. But she still has energy and looks like Mom. She's been off and on feeling good and feeling kinda lousy, but overall better than we expected. She received a bag of platelets while I was there today but her numbers are right on the edge of ok, so they don't think they'll have to give her more for awhile now. After I left they were going to do a lumbar puncture(take a sample of spinal fluid) to see if the leukemia has gotten into her spinal column, she said they would have to give her some chemo while they are doing that to help prevent the cells from forming into leukemia cells. They told her she would need to lie flat for 2 hours after to help prevent a spinal headache, which I guess can be pretty intense and last a long time.

Mom cannot use anything that she could accidentally cut herself with, including razors to shave with(and a toothbrush so she has a little sponge to use), so I bought her an electric razor and took it up to her today. We asked the nurse just to make sure that what I bought was ok...she said yep, but reminded us that hair may not be a problem pretty soon. So far no signs of hair loss, but the nurse seems to think it'll be gone by early next week. She said once it starts it comes out pretty fast and can be kind of annoying, especially when sleeping. She also said its pretty shocking to take a shower and have half your hair in the drain when you get out. They keep a set of clippers on hand if a patient chooses to shave it off before it can come out on its own. I don't think Mom is quite ready for that yet, she's pretty nervous about being bald. I wish I was the kinda daughter to shave my head in support, but I'm not that good. :-)

Dad is taking the girls up to see her on Saturday. They are going to ride the tram, go see Grandma and grab a bite to eat and then come home. Kasey was pretty upset that "he can't go see his GRANDMA who has CANCER but they can, no fair???" but Papa has promised to make it up to him by taking him to get Grandma to bring her home from the hospital.

As I am typing this I got a little notice that an update was posted to our friend Matt's page(he has been fighting brain cancer since September). Praise to God! He had an MRI this past week and it shows NO SIGNS of new growth and the area where he had the tumor removed is shrinking and healing properly. He has a long road to full recovery and many more months of treatment, but what a great day it is - HE IS HEALING! Cancer sucks, but it can be beaten!

Day Thirteen

Hard to believe its been almost 2 weeks already. I went to the doctor today - I have a sinus infection and am now on antibiotics. I can go see Mom on Thursday! Today seemed to fly by and it was after 6 before I got a chance to call Mom today. She said she had one visitor and she enjoyed the visit, although she was glad for the down time without other visitors. She is still walking around the unit, 5 times today, and spent much time in the chair by the window looking out at the sunshine. The nausea is pretty awful, she said it comes up out of nowhere and it's watch out cuz its not waiting for anything. The doctors are basically just waiting for her body to recover now, so we just wait and pray that the chemo did its job.

I know I keep saying this but THANK YOU, I truly mean it when I say that every call, email, card and all the other wonderful things that people have done and have offered to do are important to us and so appreciated. We are blessed!

A Hat Party for 3 Special Ladies of GSLC

THANK YOU TO FLORENCE ALLEN FOR PUTTING THIS TOGETHER!!!

Karen, Jennifer and Silvia will need some hats to get them through the Spring and Summer seasons until their hair grows back in so let’s get together and have a Hat Party! They won’t be able to attend, so the hats will be delivered after the party. Bring one or two nice soft, warm, fuzzy caps for cooler weather and for sleeping in, or brimmed hats for the summer sun, which they’ll be avoiding for a bit. If anyone would like to bring a favorite “chocolate” dessert or candy to share, we’ll have a great time trying on hats and tasting chocolate! What could be more fun?

Date: Saturday March 20^th 2010

Time: 1:00pm

Place: Good Shepherd Community Room

Bring: Hat(s)

Hat sources:

For those of you who knit or crochet: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/patterns.htm

www.headcovers.com

Sibling Revelry (Corvallis)

If you need other sources I can contact Florence and ask about some...

ps...

Mom wanted me to clear up something I posted earlier. The hospital is not requiring her to walk 5 miles before leaving...that is HER goal. Either I misunderstood Dad or he misunderstood Mom. :0)

Day Twelve

Today is the big day - chemo is over and now the waiting is here again. I talked with Mom again today and she is not feeling good now. Hopefully only a couple more days of yuckiness before she starts to feel better again. She had several visitors again today, including Florence - an AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) cancer survivor. Mom said it was very helpful and encouraging to talk with her - so THANK YOU FLORENCE. It really helped her to see how great you are doing now.
Mom has received a couple of hats and a prayer shawl, and she is so appreciative of ALL the gifts from everyone.

This has been an emotional day for me. I found out yesterday that one of my friends has breast cancer(got to see her and hug her today) and that several of our other church members may be going through cancer treatments soon too. So much sadness and weight to carry right now. Mom is aware of these too and it weighs heavy on her heart, but she needs to concentrate on making herself better right now.
Its been tough the past few days to continue on with a "normal" day when I all I want to do is go and be with my mom. I've been fighting some sort of chest/nose thing and I have to go to the doctor tomorrow to find out if its a sinus infection or allergies or a cold, I can't go see Mom again until I figure this out...and its been too long since I went up there as it is.

Its hard to talk about any of this cause I start crying again, and its easier not to deal with it than it is to break down every 20 minutes...so I type here and cry and get it out so I can move on to the next task.
Love you all and thanks for being there.

Days Ten and Eleven

The effects of the chemo are beginning to show. Mom is feeling really tired and fighting back nausea and no appetite. They keep trying new types of anti-nausea meds to keep it at bay, including today a patch behind her ear. She had another round of platelets yesterday and tonight about midnight is her last bag of chemo. Her seven days will be done tomorrow. Then we wait until the 22nd when they do the next biopsy to see if the chemo worked. Mom is holding in there but she's definitely not sounding as good as she was. Sleeping much more and not wanting as much company now.
A social worker came in yesterday to talk with her and is helping get paperwork turned in to the insurance company, which is nice. So many things to think about and worry about.

So yesterday morning we set out to go to Hoodoo with Kasey's scouts pack. On the way there we realized we were more than half way to Bend, "why don't we call up our friends Jesse and Amy and see if they are busy tonight?" So we ended up staying with them, celebrating their son's 2nd birthday and enjoying some much needed time out. So that's why no update last night. :0)

I did talk to Mom yesterday but I'll wait until later and update yesterday and today...
What I really have on my mind right now, and thought about most of the way home this morning is this:

I realized that I have been a selfish, self-centered person...after the last two weeks I've realized that I haven't done enough to reach out and help others. I haven't taken the extra step to put myself in their shoes or to call someone up out of the blue and ask how they are doing or offer to help. I haven't paid it forward.
So to everyone that I haven't called and offered my time and talents and shoulder to lean on, I'm so sorry.

THANK YOU to every person I've talked to, emailed with, received cards from, for being the person I haven't been. I'm a changed person because of you.

Day Nine

The days are starting to become routine, although I know they won't stay that way long. Mom had a pretty good day today. She said she started off queasy/pukey but it went away fairly quickly. She had several visitors today - Pastor Randy, Vikki and Dick and Marjean. Marjean called me on their way home this evening. She said they laughed alot and talked alot and walked a little. They backed off some of the fluids(not the chemo) they have been giving her and Mom is glad about that.

As for us, we are headed to the mountains to go play in the snow tomorrow. We had promised the kids a month ago that we would go with Kasey's scout pack, so off we go. Should be fun, haven't taken the kids sledding in a long time.

We continue to wait and see how things will progress - 4 days down, 3 more to go and then we'll do another bone marrow biopsy.

Day Eight

Mom had a pretty rough morning this morning. She was pretty nauseous and vomited. Dad said it was pretty intense for awhile. They finally got her some more anti-nausea pills and things have seemed to calm down some. She said she slept most of the day away. When I talked with her this afternoon she was looking out at Mt Hood and said she was comfortable. She was excited to see some surprise visitors last night and Marjean is headed up there tomorrow to sit with her.

The church family has been so supportive and they are now planning a fundraiser dinner for her soon. Don't know any details yet but as soon as I do I'll post it here. Got a couple other things in the works too, but don't know much about them yet, so I'll wait to see how they come together.

Since the kids don't have school tomorrow we have a house full of kids(7 total)...Jessika and her friends sang her a couple songs from their upcoming 70's themed choir concert...Lean on Me, I Will Survive and We are Family - was awesome! She's pretty disappointed she doesn't get to go to the concert so was glad the girls were able to sing to her.

I took a couple pictures when I was up there on Tuesday, going to post them next.
Take care!
Love, Amie

Give Blood!

Monday, Feb 15th at the Albany Boys & Girls Club from 9 to 2. You can go to redcrossblood.org and search for our zip...then you can schedule a time to give blood.

Day Seven

Things are progressing as expected. She received another unit of platelets this morning and is on day three of chemo. She got her last dose of the 3-day chemo today and is now off one antibiotic. She is still feeling pretty good. Walked 8 rounds around the unit today with Dad. She is supposed to do 65 rounds in one day before they will release her. That's about 5 miles.

It is unbelievable how much love and support we are feeling. From phone calls, to surprise cookies for the kids, to books, to emails, to gift cards and cash, to prayers and words of encouragement, we appreciate them all. I talked to Mom tonight and she is overwhelmed that so many people want to help her. I said, "Mom, people love you"...she said, "I don't understand, I'm not that lovable." I told her sometimes you just have to sit back and allow people to help, that you can't always do it on your own.

So Rachel had a basketball game on Monday night. Before the game she told Grandma that she was going to win the game for her...get a basket just for Grandma. Well, she didn't get to play a whole lot of the game, no basket and they lost by 2 points. As soon as the game ended she burst out in tears...
Tonight she had another game, and this time there were only 7 players, so she played most of the game. She got 3 baskets and 1 foul(her first ever, if you know Rach you know aggressive is the last word that comes to mind)...plus assisted on several baskets and had about 15 jump balls. They won 34-19 and boy was she excited. Had to call Grandma as soon as we walked out of the Boys & Girls Club. Wish I had remembered to take the video camera so Grandma could have seen it.

Day Six

Left the house about 815 to head up to Portland. Talked with my friend Tania on the way there(don't worry I used my hands free device) who was making ham & beans for dinner tonight and wondered if Dad would want any...only one of his favorite dinners - OF COURSE he would want some, when we talked to him this afternoon he was looking forward to dinner time. :-)

Got up there about 10 after a couple stops in town. After weaving my way through the halls at OHSU and up to the top floor, I called for permission to enter the unit and then washed my hands for a minute at the sinks just inside the doors. Stopped at the nurses desk to sign that I am not sick, haven't been sick and show no signs of becoming sick. Then I walked down the hall to her room where I stopped and put on a gown, mask and gloves(after I used some waterless antiseptic) and entered her room. She was sitting in the chair looking at the beautiful sunny morning. She smiled and said she was glad I was there.

They got the chemo drip started about 930 last night and she hasn't seen any side effects yet.(they told us later in the day that it's usually not until after the drip stops that the side effects start) She is on 2 types of chemo right now, one for just 3 days and one for 7. She's still having trouble taking big breaths and they haven't been able to pinpoint why, so she's got this little device that helps her practice...

She has now had 7 units of blood and one unit of platelets. She has A- blood which is one of the more rare types (7% of caucasians).
We would love to ask you to take a minute and go to: http://www.redcross.org/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/?vgnextoid=d0061a53f1c37110VgnVCM1000003481a10aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default
to see where you could donate blood. (You can even call and ask about a directed donation in Mom's name if you are also A-)

The doctors and nurses that she has had taking care of her so far have been wonderful. She is well cared for there, which is a big load off our minds since we can't be with her 24/7. Dad is headed up in the morning to stay with her tomorrow and Thursday. So far work has been very understanding and allowing him to work only part time.

I took the laptop up today and hooked up the webcam, when the kids got home from school we did a video conference and they seemed to really enjoy that. So did Mom! Got her all set up so hopefully she can check her emails and facebook page on her own.

So far, so good...the doctors say she is responding perfectly, everything is going as planned.

Day Five - Part Two

The girls and I called Mom while on our way to Rachel's game tonight. She sounded good, but a little apprehensive about starting the chemo. They were supposed to be in between 6 and 8 to start the drip. Dad said he talked to her about 6 and they had just given her some nausea meds and a sedative. She had to have an ultrasound on her liver, so they can have a comparison for after the chemo. Said it looks good right now, lets hope it stays that way.
Stopped by and talked to Dad after the game, he seemed in a little better spirits. Said the doctor yesterday was smiling when he came out of her room, she's responding perfectly and she is in good physical condition(minus the leukemia of course) - and Cale said today that the doctors were very optimistic.
Dad and the girls are thinking about where to find hats for her...anyone crochet or knit or whatever it is you do to make a hat? She likes blue, if you were so inclined to make her one. ;-)

Love to all!

Day Five

Thank you again to everyone who has offered their support! A donation account has been set up in my mom's name at Red Canoe Credit Union 810 Burkhart St. SE, Albany, OR , 97322(by Wells Fargo and in the same lot as Napa) Just go to the credit union and let them know you'd like to add to the Karen Wetzel donation account. (or give to one of us and we'll deposit for you).

I talked with her a couple of hours ago and they have the biopsy report back. It is definitely Acute Myeloid Leukemia. But it is the best of the worst in terms of leukemia. So that is good news! They are planning to start her on a continuous drip of chemo this afternoon. She'll be on that for 7 days. 14 days from now they'll do another bone marrow biopsy to see if the chemo is working, the game plan from there depends on how its going. Looks like earliest she could be home is March 11th. Just in time for Kasey's birthday the 14th!

Thank you to Pastor Wally who has offered to let us borrow his unused laptop while she is in the hospital! Thank you to Jen for helping me clean their house this morning and for cooking Dad some spaghetti tonight!

Day Four

So I got up about 7 this morning with a bit of a stuffy nose and thought, oh great just what I need. But I'm pretty sure its just from crying, I have a bunch of swollen tissue, not a cold. No other symptoms and I don't feel bad. In fact, once I was up and about my nose was better too. Thank God!

Mom had a pretty rough night last night. She had a lot of pain in her stomach so they ended up giving her some morphine. This morning they took her off her saline drip and still off chemo. She is on antibiotics for the slight fever she has had and thats it for now. When I talked with her this morning she said they told her she could have more blood today, but might wait until tomorrow, depended on how she felt.

Dad called about 315 this afternoon and said that "we" now have a room with a view. They changed her to a room in the other hall that has a view of Mt Hood, the river and the tram, she can even see the sub at OMSI. Her new # is 503-346-1411

Then I talked to Mom and she seemed so much better. More energy in her voice and she said her spirits were higher with the change in scenery. We also found out that she has wireless internet in her room, so I'm going to take up the laptop on Tuesday and do a webcam with the kids after school.
So - now you can email her with a note if you'd like and I'll help her read through them when I'm there. We are even looking into buying her a laptop to keep with her up there. Kam's mom is helping us find a cheap one. Mom's email is bkwetzel1972@yahoo.com or you can email me at amie663@yahoo.com.

I can't begin to describe the warmth and love I feel from each email and phone call I've received over the past few days. THANK YOU! I can't wait to read through the emails with Mom on Tuesday - to tell her about all the people who care so much! She has appreciated all the phone calls too, so keep them coming!

Thank you too for all the offers to help wherever needed. We'll definitely call as things come up, but for now, we're doing ok. Just keep talking with Mom and keep sending up prayers!

Day Three

I got a better night's sleep last night, but I think was partly because I went to bed at 1am. Talked to Mom this morning about 10:30, she sounded ok. Dad got up there about 9something...they gave her more blood last night and the platelets. She said we won't have the biopsy reports until Monday afternoon so now it looks like it may be Tuesday before the "real" chemo starts. The girls both talked to her this morning, Jessika had a really hard time, broke down...she would walk through the house this morning and burst out in tears.
So many people have called and emailed to offer their support and help - its so hard to know what is to come, so I don't know what we need...did mention money or gas cards so we can all get up there as often as possible, that seems to be the most immediate need.

Reading my FB page, just burst out in tears...Jessika and Rachel were both in the room with me so we had a giant hug in the middle of the living room. Every time I talk to someone or read and email I'm a mess all over again.(don't stop calling or emailing though, I can deal) Just have to hold it together when I'm with Mom.

Finally talked to Dad about 6:30 I think and got an update on Mom's day. She didn't have a very good day. They were just getting ready to give her another batch of red blood when he left and he thinks they will give her another one tonight or in the morning. She just had the one batch of platelets and that seems to have stopped the nose bleeds she's been having, so thats good. They took a mucus sample, which she said was NOT pleasant, not sure what they are looking for though. She developed a low grade fever and they think her chest cavity is filling with fluid, so they stopped her chemo for the day and put her on antibiotics. The took a chest x-ray to see whats going on for sure, not sure what they found out yet. Sounds like they are worried about her white blood count going back up without the chemo so I hope she can get back on it fast.

Dad is headed back up there in the morning for the day. He has to work Monday and Tuesday. Cale is going up for Monday and I'm headed up on Tuesday...Dad thinks he can go up on Wednesday and then we'll have to take another look at the rest of the week.

One of my x-IRW gals sent me a link to look at - an AML survivor's story. Much of what they said is almost word for word what is happening to Mom...good to know we're not alone, sad to know that so many people have to go through this.

Day Two

So Cale and I went up to Portland to see Mom in the hospital. Left around noon, stopped for a bite to eat in Salem and then were up to OHSU by about 1:30. Dad was still there along with Pastor Wally. Mom looked good, just tired.
She has been hiding more bruises than I would have thought, her body is covered in them. Some new, some old...she seems to still be in denial that they are a part of this, says she can tell you where she got 99% of them - well, yes but you shouldn't get a bruise the size of a tennis ball on your back just by leaning against a counter.

When I walked in the door today Dad says "well we got some good news about noon" and Mom had a big smile on her face...oh thank god, they were wrong! I thought.
Actually, they were excited because her white and red cell count were more stable. I guess for now we'll take what we can get.

Dad left to come home and Cale and I stayed until about 4:30. They removed some bone marrow from her hip for biopsy. Not sure how long it will take to get the results since its now a weekend. They are also not sure when they'll start her on stronger chemo. The doctor said there's no hurry - I beg to differ! Anyway, could be this weekend or maybe Monday.
I watched the procedure. Can't say it was fun but if I detached myself from the fact that it was my mom, it was very interesting to watch. They stick a big thing that looks like an ice pick in her hip and wiggle it around until it breaks through the bone. Then they pull out the liquid bone marrow. Then they take that out and do it again with a different "needle" that looks about the same but has an open end...this one they use to pull out the solid bone marrow(the inside of the hard part of the bone). Mom was a trooper, said it hurt but she did really good.

She has been having nose bleeds all day today, so they are concerned about that and were going to do a platelet transfusion right after we left.
I haven't talked to her tonight...Dad is heading up there in the morning. She will be in the hospital for at least 4 weeks...one week of chemo and 3 more monitoring her blood counts. Then we'll see.

Talked to a ton of people on the phone today. Was hard, every time I told someone new I had to cry with them...and there are still so many people that don't know yet...
Kam and I told the girls tonight - Jessika basically guessed, she's a smart cookie. It was so awful, so much for them to digest. Kasey is gone for the weekend with a friend, so we'll tell him when he gets home on Sunday. A condensed version that he'll understand. I sit here writing and I can hear the girls crying in the bedroom...so much to be sad about, so hard to understand why.
Kam is in there consoling them, he's been so good with me and now with them.

Friends are offering to help, I just don't know what I need help with yet. Its so hard to think ahead. Just have to get through today.

Day One

I never thought I'd be writing a blog like this...
Mom has been feeling a bit tired and not like herself for a month or so. She also was bruising alot, and they were big, ugly bruises. Then I guess she started either coughing blood or at least there was sign of blood in her throat. She went to the doctor on Tuesday and they decided to run blood tests and get her in for a CT Scan next week. The blood tests came back a day later(yesterday) and showed she has leukemia.

Now, what I knew was that they thought she might have a thyroid problem and was scheduled for a CT Scan...that's all she told me at the time. She called me yesterday at about 1:45 and told me that she was headed for Portland, that she has leukemia and she had to start chemo immediately.
Kam and I rushed over to her house where she was getting her clothes together. Cale wasn't answering his phone so we called Rheanna, who said she'd try but he was in meetings all day. He called about 15 minutes later...she cried and cried when she talked to him. I've been crying all night. One of the last things she said was she was going to see my kids graduate and now thats all I can think about.

Finally talked to Dad about 9:30 last night. They gave her a first dose of chemo(pill) at 9pm and they were preparing for a blood transfusion within the hour. When I talked to him this morning he said they are giving her four "general" chemo pills every 6 hrs for now. They took blood again this morning to see if she needs another transfusion. They are also looking at doing a bone marrow biopsy today. This will help determine what type of leukemia it is(we know it is acute but there are several subtypes) and what kind of treatments to do going forward. She may need a bone marrow transplant...

Cale and I are headed up to see her this afternoon. They had told us she will probably stay in Portland at the hospital for 2 weeks and then more outpatient chemo after that.