Random

Been up since 4 am, cannot sleep in this place very well...just finished  my 5th bag of cytoxin. Today...the "red devil" doxirubison and vinchristine! I hate those two, especially the vinchristine....creates neuropathy in my fingers.  Dr. G came in last night at 11 pm...really? why? He didn't speak two words to me other than hi how are you, i just looked at him, he got on the computer, made a few notes and just walked out...good I didn't really feel like dealing w/ you or your tantrums at 11 pm.  He is not the man that is going "cure" me, God is MY ultimate healer, no one else is going pull me through or take me home but him.  No new news other than I'm thinking he's thinking bone marrow biopsy...very soon, as soon as I clear the very last 0.8 % of the cancer left they can barely detect, then I can start my part of testing (and trust me he is just as ready to get rid of me an my smart family for calling him on all his BS as we are to get rid of him =), consisting of PFT (pulmonary function text, more blood , like they haven't taken enough already, and several other things...ready for my transplant and new birthday! Funny thing, after 5 bags of cytoxin and mesna....my counts haven't dropped one bit, everyone around here just kind of looks baffled....everything seems back words with me....I can guarantee the vinchristine and doxirubison will wipe the counts to where I'm nupogentic.  I'm so excited to see my sister Jenn today!  I hope she comes bearing starbucks!  I'll take a venti iced cafe con leche w/ breve and vanilla kay? lol jk..well no I'm not because once I'm nupogenic they won't allow the "cream" or any dairy....Miss you Kjenn muah! see you in a few hours.  Thank you for all the continued prayers to our Ultimate Healer!  still fighting,
Katie

God Is Good

Today we got the call of a lifetime...well my lifetime anyway lol....They have found a perfect bone marrow match for me!!!! All I know is he is a 23 year old male from somewhere in the WORLD!  To not only have someone so young on a donor list like this is just amazing and I cannot wait for the day I have been transplanted, recovered, then meet my mystery man who saved my life!!!! We were planning for transplant in May or June and now it looks like it will be February! This is possibly my last round of chemo. I'm cool with that....only 3 rounds, no side effects, obviously hair loss but hey GI Jane looked cool right?  Only two spinal taps, and maybe one or two bone marrow biopsies (under anesthesia) I'm good...I can handle the rest!!!!  I'm just that much closer to moving back to Austin, getting back to work at the hospital and having my babies 24/7!!!!!  Ahhh, it's great to look to the future but one man here on my floor just told me..."Live in today, the devil keeps you in the future, he causes worry and despair" (which were my feelings exactly yesterday). So as my future dreams are nice, I'll stay here and keep my head in the game a few months longer!  I feel so great right now! Still fighting!!!!

Katie

About to start Chemo

Well it's almost noon and not much has happened since I go here yesterday around 3pm.  I have a cold so they were debating whether or not I would even start chemo. The doctor wrote the order this morning so starting at 1pm the first poison of choice, Methotrexate, will start.  I've had Methotrexate twice in the spine and once for a regular chemo session so I know I don't have any "major" reactions to it....some people get horrible mouth sores but my Oncology sis Jenn advised me if I drink a ton of water before and with it, I will usually fare pretty well...so far she's been right! Thanks Jenn!  My housekeeper came in and she's one of those that will tell anyone her life story to anyone that will listen. Today she decided to tell me about everyone in her life that she's known that has passed away from cancer, thanks housekeeper.  Christmas was fantastic, love love love being with all my family!  The babies came from Austin. Poor Ryan had the croup but you would never know unless I told you and Rachel is just as sassy as ever. I was sad to let them go back home but Daddy is really doing a great job with them!  Having said that, it's time for me to get back to kicking this cancer out the door and trying to be as strong and healthy as possible! Thanks for all the continued prayers, it is greatly appreciated!

Round 2A

Well, tomorrow I go in for round 2A of chemo....(same as the first 30 day induction round).  It's supposed to be pretty intense from what I understand, but I didn't have any problems the first time so I'm praying for the same this time. I'm not really worried, although I do not really enjoy the unknown. I'm sure all will be fine.  The only major difference this time is I have a port in my chest instead of a PICC line....they do have to stick a 1 inch needle into my chest to access it and I'm definitely not a fan...stick me all day with needles and I don't mind, but this port thing...not fun.  Everyone says I'll get used to it....um, no I won't, I can assure you that right now!  Yeah ,yeah I know all the "benefits" of it but still.  I wonder if my doctor reads this...I would love to blog about him right now, once again, not a big fan!  That's all I'll say about that right now.  So I think I'm way over packing for this gig but I can't stand hospital gowns and all the staff know I wear all my own clothes. I guess I got bored packing for the next 30 days because I'm sitting here blogging...this is probably why I've never had a blog, a) I feel scatterbrained as I keep switching subjects, and b) my life doesn't seem that interesting to myself. But I had a blog to read just days after I was diagnosed by a wonderful man who had the same diagnosis as me, so I was able to know what I was "in for" for the most part and I hope one day I can return that favor for someone who stumbles upon this by pure chance!  Well, I'll keep everyone updated this next month! Still Fighting,

Katie
Diagnosis Date (10/05/10)

Katie decides to Blog!

Hey guys, I decided I would "help" Kim out a little as she is so busy with work and her two children to get on here much, so I guess y'all will get to hear some of this from my point of view! Of course while I'm having chemo or sick Kim will tag team with me to keep everyone in the know. This is my first blog ever! The intrathecal chemo I had last week went smoothly. They also tested the fluid around the spine for any cancer cells, negative...for the second time! Yay for that.  I do dread my weekly meetings with my oncologist because I always know he'll have some fun new "activity" for me.  For instance last week he sprung on me the intrathecal chemo with few days to even think it over; today he decides its time for another bone marrow biopsy!  YUCK!  I reminded him that as long as an anesthesiologist was there, I'd see him bright and early!  Let me remind you the first one of these I had was with just lidocain and a scalpel....well there's another instrument that kind of looks like a screw, anyway that will never happen again haha.  He actually had the nerve to ask me " Do you wanna do it in the office or at the hospital" lol funny Doc! Since I had pneumonia (I don't think that was blogged about but that was about two weeks ago when I spent Thanksgiving in the hospital) I've only left my house a few times!  I'm trying to stay well so my babies can come for Christmas and see me out of the hospital!  So, I've learned Wii Fit. I also learned the cycling will make you nauseous after taking Gleevec (a home chemo drug), I've learned lots of patience, so I have now read the entire Twilight series of books in this two weeks, and now that I'm done with that, I guess I'm blogging now. I'll keep y'all updated as much as possible but right now it's pretty boring around here. Still Fighting!
Katie

Intrathecal chemo today

Katie arrived at the hospital at 7 am expecting to start the procedure at 9 am. The doctor apparently did not write the correct orders for the chemo drug or anesthesia for the procedure. Katie finally was taken back to get started at 10 am. She had to do this without any anesthesia just lidocaine. During the procedure the did hit a nerve and it was very painful and sent several shocks down her leg making her leg jump. Kinda like hitting your funny bone. Well they pushed through it and Katie did well. She is in recovery now laying flat for 2 hours. Katie is very ready to leave the hospital now and go eat at Cheddars! I know she is back to normal when she starts talking about food! Lol.

Next round of chemo should start Dec 27th, after the Christmas holidays if she can stay well by then. If anything happens between now and Dec 27th I will try to make a new post. Sorry for the long delay.

Kim

Blood Drive

The blood drive was a great sucess today. We had 35 people donate blood and about 15 more that got turned away because we ran out of time. Even baby Caleb wanted to help out...haha!  Thank you all so much for donating or going to a Carter Blood care center.  If you still want to donate for Katie, you can go to any carter bloodcare and complete the plan designation form.  Her sponsor number is SPON050001. 

Katie started her first round of chemo yesterday.  She is doing well. She is very tired and not getting much sleep in the hospital.  I just pray for minimal side effects from this round of chemo.  Love you Katie!

Round 2 of chemo

Katie went back to Harris hospital this morning to get ready for round 2 of chemo.  Not much has gone on today.  Katie went for a small surgical procedure at 4:30pm to have a mediport placed for all her chemo she is to receive.  She will have a bone marrow biopsy in the morning and then start chemotherapy tomorrow.  She is expected to be in the hospital about 14 days this round.  She is very sad she will not be able to be out for Thanksgiving.  Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as I will try to keep everyone updated.

Love you all!

Bone Marrow Transplant Consultation

Well today we (Mom, Dad, Katie, Jenn and I) met with Dr. Vance at Baylor Dallas to discuss what to expect with the bone marrow transplant.  Dr. Vance was very informative and very nice.  He would like to see Katie complete 4-6 rounds of chemo before transplant.  I don't know how they will decide between 4 & 6 but probably transplant around March.  Today they also tested me to see if I was a match for transplant.  They only wanted to test full siblings today...so that was me.  I guess the test is very specific and anybody other that full siblings have just as much a change as any stranger.  If I am not a match I am sure they will test all other family members while looking at the national registry at the same time.  I am very nervous awaiting the results.  I really hope I am a match!  It will take 7-10 business days to find out.  Please pray I am a match!  I did find it interesting that blood type does not matter at all.  If you find a stranger that is a match, you would take on their blood type.  Also if it is a male donor, Katie would then have male chromosomes.  So if they tested her DNA it would look like she is a male.  Very interesting to me!  This stuff is crazy!

Good times!

Today was a great day!  Katie is feeling well so we took to shopping.  We spent a lot of time at Kohl's looking for her some jeans and sweaters.  Katie also got some new boots for the winter.  I on the other hand did not buy anything...boo.

After shopping we went to On the Border for dinner and went to see a movie "Due Date".  Due Date is the funniest movie I have seen in a long time.  I laughed out loud on multiple occasions.  It was nice to see Katie laugh too!  Katie...Do you have glaucoma? haha... You must go see the movie!  Thank you so much April for watching my kiddos so I could spend some quality time with my sis! 

Well big day tomorrow...we meet with the transplant team!

October 6, 2010

Wednesday, Oct 6^th, Katie is receiving blood transfusions and waiting to hear the type of leukemia she has so we can start chemotherapy.  We learned at 10:30am she had tdt positive cd 20 positive b cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).  We could now get the chemo regimen for this specific type of leukemia. She will be receiving Rituxan and Hyper CVAD.  After doing research we knew that ALL in adults did not have a good prognosis but there was one thing pending that had an even worse prognosis. That was, if she was Philadelphia Chromosome positive.  We would not get that result for 4-5 days.  At 1pm, Katie was being transferred to another hospital, Harris HEB Hospital, which had an oncology unit and was familiar with the type of chemo she was to receive. By 5pm we were starting our first round of chemo. 

October 5, 2010

Tuesday, October 5^th, was the day my life was turned upside down.  I was working out at the gym and for the first time I did not have my phone on me.  I get in my car at about 10:30am to find I have about 5 missed calls starting at about 9:30 in the morning from my sister, my mom and my dad (who lives in Austin).  I knew something wasn’t right.  The first voice mail I listened to was from Katie.  All I could hear was her crying and I couldn’t make out anything she was saying.  The next voicemail was from my mom and all it said was “Kim, call me immediately.”  As you can imagine I did not even get to the third and fourth voice mails and I called my mom right away.   My mom was with my sister (Katie) at this time and Katie got on the phone and told me she received a call from the doctor she saw on Monday and he said “you need to get to the nearest hospital immediately, within the next hour.”  I guess he had just received her CBC results.  He told her that her platelets were dangerously low (11) and her white blood cell count was high (25). She told me right now she is at North Hills Hospital waiting to be direct admitted. From here it is a whirlwind.  I know by noon we knew her platelet count was <10 and her WBC count was 55.  Around 1pm the hematologist came in and told us by looking at a blood smear he is confident she has leukemia.  He was unsure at this point what kind of leukemia it was but that he wanted to proceed with a bone marrow biopsy immediately and that we needed to start chemo soon.  By late afternoon her platelets remained below 10 and her WBC count was 110.  So this was a fast moving cancer.  Out of 110 white blood cells, 106 were blastocytes (cancer).  So 96% of her white blood cells were cancer as I understood it.  At around 2pm we were doing the bone marrow biopsy in her room.  This was done with no sedation, only lidocaine to numb the skin and deep tissue.  I was holding her hand the whole time and coaching her through it.  It was the hardest thing for me to watch my own sister have to go through that much pain and nothing I could do for her.  Well, we did get through that although Katie says she will never have that done again.  She did receive blood this evening.

October 4, 2010

Well it’s Monday Oct. 4^th and she did find a doctor to see her this morning at 9am.  With the bruising, I reminded her to make sure the doctor draws a CBC.  If there was something abnormal going on I knew it would have to do with her platelets.  She said ok.  She went to her 9am appointment then came to my house to watch my kids because I had somewhere to go.  She had even more bruises on her body today and she had petechiae all over her body.  She said the Doctor drew a CBC but said he was really unsure of the cause.  He said there was a possibility that this could have been caused by taking too much Motrin.  My sister had recently had a root canal done and was on antibiotics, pain medicine and Motrin.  I thought this was a very unlikely cause because I knew she was not taking an abnormal amount of Motrin.  Although I still had no idea what was causing her bruising, I will say I wasn’t too worried at the time.

October 3, 2010 Katie's story from my eyes...

My sister Katie Waggoner, age 28, is suffering from a relatively rare form of Blood Cancer (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Philadelphia Positive - ALL PH+) and undergoing treatment in a local hospital.

This is my sister’s story from my eyes… by: Kim Cason. 

It was Sunday night, Oct 3^rd, and I went to visit my sister when I got off work.  We were just hanging out at her house for about an hour.  As I was about to leave she said she wanted to show me some bruises she had on her body in random places.  She said the bruises did not hurt but she didn’t remember doing anything to cause them.  I had no idea what could have caused the bruises.  Well anyone that knows Katie knows she is a worry wart.  So she told me that she is going to make an appointment to see a doctor in the morning.  I said ok, well be sure they draw a CBC (a blood test) when you go, fully knowing I was thinking to myself she should just wait and see if the bruises go away on their own.