Day + 15

Almost time to go home. It will probably be early next week (like Monday early)! It's bittersweet. I want to be home surrounded by my family, my own things, MY shower, seeing my Mom every day and my sisters more often; but on the other hand I worry about leaving my "bubble" here. I don't want to get an infection and be sent right back (I will still have a "baby" immune system). Although, I will have weekly appointments for a while to continue to check counts and make sure I don't need any transfusions so I guess that makes me feel better. The waiting game is also hard, waiting for all the tests to come back NEGATIVE for leukemia, which will be at least 3-4 more weeks. We've come this far, we can wait a little longer! So with that here are my numbers for today.

WBC's 9.3
HCT 35.2
Platelets 52,000 (my body is now making platelets on their own!)
TP 76%
ANC 7720 !

Day + 13 each day more exciting than the last!

WBC- 7.8
HCT- 32.1
PLT- 47K!
TP- 60%
ANC- 5850!

WOW! is all I have to say today. May thanks and glory be to God, my ultimate healer! Amen.

Love my butterfly Kimmi! Thank You.



-Katie

Day 12- nothing short of a miracle!

WBC's 4.0....NORMAL RANGE!
HCT 31.2...NORMAL RANGE! (NO BLOOD NEEDED)
PLT 15K....(NEED PLATELETS TODAY, BUT PLATELETS ARE THE LAST TO RECOVER)
TP 64%
ANC 2880! NORMAL IS 2000 AND UP! REMEMBER IT WAS 528 YESTERDAY!

My nurse today couldn't believe it, I only had one nupogen shot to help the new cells start producing like this but his immune system proved to be strong enough to go it alone! The severe back and chest pain has been very uncomfortable but well worth it, so worth it they are going to start weaning me off IV meds into pill form to get ready to go HOME!!!! REALLY? HOME? YES REALLY AND IN THE NEXT WEEK!!!! Once again your prayers for me have been heard...Thank you to each and every one of you!

Scripture of today:
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Psalm 118:24

Prayer for today:
Thank you God for the light of hope which shines through the darkness of my fears. Amen!

Day + 11....must read!

I had severe bone pain yesterday completely up and down my spine and in my sternum of my chest, needless to say I was pretty uncomfortable. But I fought it out as the Doctor and nurses kept telling me it's engraftment I kept my eye on the prize and kept telling myself it's good pain...WELL IT WAS!

WBC (white blood cells) from 0.3 or (300) to 1.1 (1,100) today !!!!!! awesome
HCT (Red blood cells) from 32.4 to 31.4 (still no transfusion needed!!!! woo hoo
Platelets from 22k to 18k (still no platelet transfusion needed!!! yay
TP (Total Percentage of wbc's) 48%.....

And THE BIGGIE! ANC (absolute neutrophil count) from 156 to 528!!!! those are some fightin numbers!!!!!!!

Still Fighting, Katie

Happy Birthday; Dr. Vance, Nurse Curtis, Kjenn in the bed, Kimmi, Aunt Sherry

Day + 10

Today is an exciting day! God is good and FAITHFUL! The good news? I HAVE COUNTS!!!! My White Blood Cells have gone from ZERO to 300! Hct or (red blood cells) are 31.4 so no transfusion needed, my platelets have gone from 9K yesterday to 22k today so no platelet transfusion either! My TP went from ZERO to 52% (I believe this is the Total Percent of white cells) and the biggest news is my ANC (absolute Neutrophil Count) went from ZERO TO 156! AND THEY ARE ALL THE DONORS CELLS!!!!! They expect to see numbers other than zero between day 10 and 14...I'm happy starting on day 10, they will only go up from here, this is why my bones were hurting so bad the last two days. The swelling in my hands are gone, the redness is gone, my feet are still a little puffy but not like they were! I continue to thank you all for all your support and prayers.

Scripture for today:
Do not fear for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
Isaiah 43:1b

Prayer for today:
Thank you God for your faithfulness which sustains me each day and your love which refreshes my spirit. Amen.

Love,
Katie

Day +9

Hi, It's Jenn! I am going to try and update you on what has been going on the last few days.

Wednesday afternoon Katie began to swell so bad in her feet and lower legs that her toes started going numb. They gave her lasix (a medicine to make her urinate and decrease the swelling) It didn't work. The reason it didn't work could be because the swelling is from the donor cells starting to find there way to Katie's bone marrow! She was in a lot of pain from her skin being so tight with the extra fluids. Katie also started having blood in her urine. Thankfully both of these things have resolved to some degree.

Today Katie has a fever of 102.9, she is hurting all over and is nauseated. The Dr. thinks the fever and the pain are from the donor cells starting to engraft. They have decided to not give her the neupogen (shot that helps increase the white cells) and start steroids twice a day to help with graft vs host (where the donor cells attack katie's cells).

All in all, Katie's body is doing what we expect it to at this point. Her counts are still zero today and she will need to get a unit of platelets. We are expecting her to start having white counts again somewhere between Day 10 and 14.

Katie's spirits have been down the last two days (who could blame her) but she still is

fighting with the little energy she has.

Please pray for her body to accept the donor cells and for her spirits to stay positive.


Love,
Jenn

Day +7 =)

Hey guys it's KATIE! I've been up since 4am and just couldn't go back to sleep. It's 7am now so I decided I would blog. Yesterday my sister Kim came to visit as well as Aunt Sherry! I guess I should back up an hour before they came. My counts made it to ZERO which is what we've been waiting for! Well, as expected I needed platelets again... so I was having a little anxiety about having a reaction again. They pre-medicated me with more stuff this time to prevent any kind of reaction but guess what, not 5 minutes into the transfusion the rash started! Luckily my doctor just so happened to be on the floor and came in and had the nurses stop it immediately. They drew my blood to type and cross match just to be sure there wasn't some kind of mix up. Here's an interesting fact I learned yesterday, unlike getting a blood transfusion platelets are comprised of many different people, so any of those people could have allergies I'm allergic to. Now enter Kim and Sherry, yay! I was so glad they would be there for the platelet transfusion. Ultimately the lab found me a bag of just one donor instead of many, all went well, before I knew it, it was done and I didn't have any reactions, thank you Jesus! Kim and Sherry decided to go look at the new building and get some food from the new cafeteria and on the way they found the new gift shop too haha. Kim found me a beautiful orange butterfly! Love love love it, Kim and Jenn know me too well! Kim had to go pick Haley up from school so Sherry and I were left to our own devices. Sherry indeed brought pictures and we managed to do one scrapbook page haha that's good for us, we get side tracked a lot. I just wrote this long blog and realized I'm going to have to get back on later and tell you all my new counts....hopefully Mr. Donor has started engrafting (although I may be jumping the gun a few days) it's nice to dream lol! Mom is coming for lunch! I can't wait. Still Fighting Katie

P.S. Counts are as follows

WBC (white blood cells) <0.1 HCT 24.9 (will probably get a unit of blood today) PLT (platelets) 29 (woo hoo don't need any today) TP 0 ANC 0 We're only on day 7 and in reality we won't see counts go up until day 10-14 so we're still okay. I can't find a good picture for today, I can't get Kim's butterfly to upload so I may just put an oldie but goodie! Okay not an oldie but a goodie! Congrats Kim and Sherry, you made the blog!

Day +5

It's Jenn again!

Overall today has been a better day for Katie! Her mouth pain has been better controlled since starting on the Dilaudid PCA and she/the nurses has figured out a regimen of 3 different mouth rinses/medicine to enable her to eat (select foods). Katie had more energy today, but says she feels the fatigue set in faster when she tries to walk or exert herself too much. Her face is still very swollen from the mucositis and her feet are starting to swell again.

On another note, her blood culture came back positive today from her central line. It will be at least another 24 hours before we know the exact location (the peripheral culture has not come back yet) or species. The Dr. said if he had to guess it is staph (it lives on your skin and has many openings to enter with her mouth sores). The good news is that Katie has not had a fever since yesterday so one of the 6 medications they started "just in case" is working on the infection! Hallelujah!!!!

Katie remains in great spirits despite the small setbacks she has had to endure. Keep praying!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers!

Love,
KJenn (a nickname we came up with a long time ago combining our names :-)

Day +4

This is Jenn again! I am at the hospital visiting Katie and wanted to give everyone a quick update.

The last 24 hours have been very trying for Katie. Mucositis (sores and inflammation in mouth and digestive tract) has started which is very painful and will get worse before it gets better. She looks like a chipmunk with the swelling in her cheeks and is having problems eating and talking. They have started several medications to help including a PCA (patient controlled pain pump) of Dilaudid. She also got her first temperature of this round so along with that came lots of blood tests and new medications to help with possible bacterial, fungal, and viral infection. It is too risky with transplant patients to wait until the blood cultures come back to start treatment, so they start everything to be on the safe side.

Katie also needed a platelet transfusion today. She developed a rash from head to toe that was red and itchy despite getting benadryl before hand to help with possible reactions. They gave her some iv hydrocortisone and that stopped the rash. It isn't completely gone yet, but it is not getting worse!

On a good note, Katie is in good spirits and is determined to win this battle! I am very proud of her! She continues to have a lot of support from family and friends which she says has kept her in the fight and makes her more determined every day to get through this. On that note, we continue to thank you for all your prayers and support. Katie (and family) couldn't get through this without each of you. Thank you!

Love,
Jenn

Transplant plus 3 days

Mucositis is the painful inflammation and ulceration of the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract, usually as an adverse effect of chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for cancer.[1] Mucositis can occur anywhere along the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but oral mucositis refers to the particular inflammation and ulceration that occurs in the mouth. Oral mucositis is a common and often debilitating complication of cancer treatment.

So this is what I've dealt with today. Ouch! The next few days are supposed to be the worst, but we must press on! I'm guilty, I didn't get out of bed and walk today but then again I had to get two units of blood so I couldn't really go far anyhow! Tomorrow will be better and bring new beginnings! Fight, Fight, Fight,

Katie

New Birthday! (Day 0 or Transplant Day)

This is Jenn, Katie's sister, I wanted to share with you how today went.

Yesterday a 23 year old male somewhere in Europe was generous enough to donate stem cells for Katie, a complete stranger. What a blessing! Then the cells were hand carried to Katie in Dallas. Her transplant started around 2:30 and finished around 4:00 pm. She did very well throughout the transplant! Katie was surrounded by family today...Mom, Kim, me, Adam, Dad, Linda, and Sherry.

Now the waiting game begins. Katie will probably start having side effects next week from the chemotherapy used for conditioning. From experience, we know that this is a rough time for her. We should start seeing the new cells engraft in 10-14 days. They predict Katie will be in the hospital 4-8 weeks.

I can't thank you all enough for your prayers, thoughts, email, texts, cards, and gifts for Katie and our family. We are truely blessed to have each of you in our life.

Love,
Jenn

T -6 (Six Days Until Transplant)

Today started early, like 4 or 5 early!  I just couldn't sleep last night. I actually wasn't too anxious, I think I was a little uncomfortable from this picc line in my jugular vein.  It's much better today.  Chemo started promptly at 8 am (Etoposide) a chemo I haven't had yet. It runs for 24 hours. It's almost 9 pm now and it's been tolerated fairly well.  They run this chemo with tons of fluid and between that and me drinking 4 bottles of water and Gatorade I went to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes (drinking that water KJenn! hear that!)  The main side effect are those awful mouth sores so I've been swishing my mouth with whatever solution they kept bringing me today.  Trust me, I will do anything to avoid the mouth sores, had them one time and I never want one again =(  I had so many people in and out of my room today.  Physical Therapists, Doctors, Nurses, the head of the department, my WONDERFULLY AMAZING MOTHER for lunch, social workers and trust the list goes on.  So I'm pretty exhausted right now.  Tomorrow will be two chemo's (Etoposide and Cytoxan) and with the cytoxan they give that with 5 or 6 bags of IV fluid and the bathroom breaks will be even more frequent...how annoying but that's okay, we're going to make it!!!!!!  Still Fighting!  Katie

March 9th

Well, today I was admitted to the Baylor transplant floor.  It's been a little overwhelming to say the least.  I feel a little better than I have the last two days (full of anxiety), after having a full tour of the transplant center and meeting quite a few nurses and the head of cardiac surgeons (who just so happened to be the guy to place my triple arrow lumen in my jugular vein)! OUCH but it had to be done and I'm so glad it was him, he did a wonderful job on talking me through it and getting it on the first try.  Other than settling in, signing lots of paperwork, having this JPICC put in, it's very quiet around here.  They will start my prehydration fluids at 10pm then Chemo (Etoposide) at 1 am.  I will fight, and I will never give up!  Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of you supporting me and your continuous prayers, I cannot express my gratitude enough! It is this time right now that I need the most support and prayers, prayers not only for me but for my Doctors and also my donor who chose at such a young age to want to be the miracle in someones life....MINE!  I will continue to update (hopefully on a daily basis now leading up to transplant) depending on how I feel after chemo and radiation. I truly love you all!  STILL FIGHTING......Katie