Kate has e-coli and gram positive rod (bacteria) in her line and blood. I was told that we all have different bacterias in our bodies & stomach, including e-coli. Because we have healthy immune systems, and a large white blood cell supply, our bodies can block these bacteria from entering out blood supply. Kate has no white blood cells as of yet, therefore, she has no defence system against these bacteria. They can leave her stomach and pass through her stomach lining very easily. We are waiting to see what these bacteria are sensitive to so we can decrease her antibiotics down to one. If she continues to get positive e-coli tests we will have to remover her line early. So far we have only had one positive test for the gram positive rod, and the e-coli. Let's hope it stays that way! No fevers since early Saturday morning! Yay! At least that antibiotics seem to be doing their job!
Thank you for all the prayers!
XOXO
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Our last hurdle
The little one can't catch a break when it comes to fevers. After every chemo she gets a nasty fever. We've gone two nights with high fevers, reaching nearly 104 at times, chills, rapid breathing, high pulse, and low pulse-ox. It's scary. They're drawing blood cultures every 24 hours, and the first one is growing a bacteria. Gram (negative) rod is what it is called. Apparently this bacteria is in all of our stomach's. Since Katelyn has had c-diff and is neutrapeonic, it is a lot easier for this bacteria to cross the stomach barrier into the blood stream. The doctor said the fevers should start to subside soon. I hope so, it is scary watching her be so sick. Unfortunately she has to be hooked up again, and is getting antibiotics every 8 hours. I don't remember her ever being accessed with this many drugs. She's a trooper though. We are also keeping her in our room as we don't want to risk any new complications that could come from walks in the hall or visitors. Once we get through this bacteria and her counts come up, we will be done! That day can't come soon enough. We are really excited to be done! We aren't too anxious to leave the hospital yet... we want Kate to be 100% before we get excited to get back to "life".
Lots of prayers that Kate's fevers subside, please. Thank you for all the prayers for Zara! She came back Monday and tests showed only 2% blasts! Yay! Instead of going to transplant she can now continue chemo, like Katelyn did. We are all so happy, and her parents are ecstatic! Thank You again!
Lots of prayers that Kate's fevers subside, please. Thank you for all the prayers for Zara! She came back Monday and tests showed only 2% blasts! Yay! Instead of going to transplant she can now continue chemo, like Katelyn did. We are all so happy, and her parents are ecstatic! Thank You again!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Chemo has come to an END!
Halleluia! Kate finished Chemo! Wednesday, April 15, 2009 was Katelyn's last dose of chemo! We are SO very grateful to be done! It doesn't quite feel real yet! Once Kate's immune system comes up, and we get to go home, it will probably feel more real. Nevertheless, we are ecstatic!
The doctors say that once her counts come up we'll do a bone marrow and a spinal tap, just to be sure that we're in the clear. Once those two things come back clear, we will take her hickman out! Yay! Once that is out, she will be able to take a bath, swim, and just get wet! We cannot wait. I think it will be very difficult for her though. She is very used to her hickman, and has adjusted to it being a part of her. I think she will be confused once it is out. Once she gets used to it, I know she will be ecstatic to be able to get wet and not have dressing changes or pins... It will be an amazing feeling to finally feel like she can be a normal kid again!
We are looking forward to so many things! Today we talked about Sea World and the Shamu Show. She wants to pet Shamu! She got really excited when I told her about all the fun stuff we can do at Sea World. We are all very excited!
We're going to have a little party here at the hospital to celebrate with the whole Hem/Onc team that helped our Angel beat cancer! I'll post the details for those of you interested. We will also have a big party for Kate's birthday in July... and that will be a good time had by all and everyone who would like to celebrate with us is invited!
Love & THANKS to everyone! We couldn't have made it through this without all the love and support that you, our friends and family, gave us in our most important time of need. Thank You all VERY much!
Love,
Todd, Krystal, Katelyn & Kiera
The doctors say that once her counts come up we'll do a bone marrow and a spinal tap, just to be sure that we're in the clear. Once those two things come back clear, we will take her hickman out! Yay! Once that is out, she will be able to take a bath, swim, and just get wet! We cannot wait. I think it will be very difficult for her though. She is very used to her hickman, and has adjusted to it being a part of her. I think she will be confused once it is out. Once she gets used to it, I know she will be ecstatic to be able to get wet and not have dressing changes or pins... It will be an amazing feeling to finally feel like she can be a normal kid again!
We are looking forward to so many things! Today we talked about Sea World and the Shamu Show. She wants to pet Shamu! She got really excited when I told her about all the fun stuff we can do at Sea World. We are all very excited!
We're going to have a little party here at the hospital to celebrate with the whole Hem/Onc team that helped our Angel beat cancer! I'll post the details for those of you interested. We will also have a big party for Kate's birthday in July... and that will be a good time had by all and everyone who would like to celebrate with us is invited!
Love & THANKS to everyone! We couldn't have made it through this without all the love and support that you, our friends and family, gave us in our most important time of need. Thank You all VERY much!
Love,
Todd, Krystal, Katelyn & Kiera
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Prayers Please
We have great news! Kate had a CT last week to check for those two lung nodules that appeared when she was sick last month... They were gone! Yay! We are really excited! Thank you for all the prayers!!!
Kate started her last stint of chemo last night. We are so grateful to finally be coming to an end of chemo! Kate is such a strong little girl! We hope that she gets through this chemo without a hitch, and we pray that she never have to go through any of this again!
Please pray for our little friend Zara! She is 2.5 years old, also battling AML, and had her bone marrow test on Saturday. They found 5%-6% blasts in her bone marrow. If she had less than 5% blasts they could continue chemo and hopefully avoid a bone marrow transplant. They are going home for a week and will return for another bone marrow test next week. We pray that there is less than 5% blasts. If there is more, then they will have to have the bone marrow transplant. Please pray for Zara and her family!
Thank You!
Love,
Krystal
Kate started her last stint of chemo last night. We are so grateful to finally be coming to an end of chemo! Kate is such a strong little girl! We hope that she gets through this chemo without a hitch, and we pray that she never have to go through any of this again!
Please pray for our little friend Zara! She is 2.5 years old, also battling AML, and had her bone marrow test on Saturday. They found 5%-6% blasts in her bone marrow. If she had less than 5% blasts they could continue chemo and hopefully avoid a bone marrow transplant. They are going home for a week and will return for another bone marrow test next week. We pray that there is less than 5% blasts. If there is more, then they will have to have the bone marrow transplant. Please pray for Zara and her family!
Thank You!
Love,
Krystal
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Katelyn's 5th Round of Chemo
Katelyn started chemo on Monday night. It is high dose Ara-C. It runs through her IV over three hours. The schedule is different that I originally thought... She received 4 rounds of the Ara-C (every 12 hours), and after the 4th round she received a "Peg in the leg". The Peg is actually L-Asparaginase, and is a nasty shot injected in her leg. There are different forms of the Peg & fortunately the Peg she had is one of the less crazy. The shot Kate got is still scary because there is a 1/10 chance of her getting an allergic reaction. Fortunately, we are going on hour two with no signs of a reaction. We will have to continually monitor her throughout the day to make sure. There are other forms of the Peg that are time released. We have a friend who received a time released Peg, she had an allergic reaction, and about every 6 hours she broke out in horrible hives. Once the shot is given there is no stopping it, so you just have to treat the symptoms. So far so good, but prayers are appreciated. She has a 5 day break and will recieve the same 4 doses of high dose Ara-C, and another Peg.
This round of chemo has been tough on Kate. Fortunately, the around the clock anti-nausea meds we have her on are working pretty well for her. She hasn't been sick and can stomach some food. She's a big fan of oatmeal these days! The Ara-C causes flu like symptoms and Kate is definitely feeling it. She's spending a lot of time lounging and sleeping. I hope the after effects aren't as rough as the current effects!
We found out the results of Kiera's cord blood and unfortunately it is not a match for Katelyn. We still have a few 6/6 cord matches set aside for Kate and we will not release them. We hoped that they were a match, but we have faith that Kate will not relapse.
Thank you for your continued prayers!
Love & Thanks,
Krystal
This round of chemo has been tough on Kate. Fortunately, the around the clock anti-nausea meds we have her on are working pretty well for her. She hasn't been sick and can stomach some food. She's a big fan of oatmeal these days! The Ara-C causes flu like symptoms and Kate is definitely feeling it. She's spending a lot of time lounging and sleeping. I hope the after effects aren't as rough as the current effects!
We found out the results of Kiera's cord blood and unfortunately it is not a match for Katelyn. We still have a few 6/6 cord matches set aside for Kate and we will not release them. We hoped that they were a match, but we have faith that Kate will not relapse.
Thank you for your continued prayers!
Love & Thanks,
Krystal
Monday, April 6, 2009
We're Back!
After two wonderful weeks at home, we checked back into the hospital today. We had a wonderful time at home. We were out and about a lot, but tried to stay low key. We did take a few fun day trips. We went to the beach and saw Sea Lions, and Kate loved all the Sea Gull's flying around. We also had lunch in Mission Beach and walked the boradwalk. Kate had a few playdates and was finally able to play with kids and have a good time. All in all, we had a great time at home!
We've been telling Kate that we were coming to the hospital and we're going to get a room and see the Nurses. Once again, she was 100% okay with it and was excited to see the nurses. She said "bye bye" to the house this morning, and we were on our way. We've checked in, and are getting settled. Kate & Kiera are both asleep in the crib, it is so peaceful! We hope to get a bigger room soon, and one that is a little more private. This one is nice because it has a private bathroom! I hope our next room has a private bathroom too! Unfortunately Kate has c-diff again. This is the fifth time! She's on lockdown in the room until she has three negative stool samples. It is a rough way to start this stay, but we will manage. Lets pray for negative stool so she isn't confined!
We start chemo tomorrow. She is getting two types... One of them is a leg shot ( I can't remember the name right now) and the other is high dose Ara-C. She's had Ara-C during every round, but this dose is much stronger than the previous doses. Before each of the other rounds Kate also had Ara-C injected into her spinal fluid, but this round of Ara-C is so strong that they don't even do that. The Ara-C is so strong that it will make it's way into her spinal fluid. I hope the anti-nausea meds work for her this time around.
We expect to be here for another 6-8 weeks while Kate recovers from this round of chemo. We then pray that all will be clear and we never have to put our little Angel through this again.
Her Second Birthday is July 8th.... expect a big Birthday/ End of Treatment Party!
Love & Thanks to All!
Love,
Krystal
We've been telling Kate that we were coming to the hospital and we're going to get a room and see the Nurses. Once again, she was 100% okay with it and was excited to see the nurses. She said "bye bye" to the house this morning, and we were on our way. We've checked in, and are getting settled. Kate & Kiera are both asleep in the crib, it is so peaceful! We hope to get a bigger room soon, and one that is a little more private. This one is nice because it has a private bathroom! I hope our next room has a private bathroom too! Unfortunately Kate has c-diff again. This is the fifth time! She's on lockdown in the room until she has three negative stool samples. It is a rough way to start this stay, but we will manage. Lets pray for negative stool so she isn't confined!
We start chemo tomorrow. She is getting two types... One of them is a leg shot ( I can't remember the name right now) and the other is high dose Ara-C. She's had Ara-C during every round, but this dose is much stronger than the previous doses. Before each of the other rounds Kate also had Ara-C injected into her spinal fluid, but this round of Ara-C is so strong that they don't even do that. The Ara-C is so strong that it will make it's way into her spinal fluid. I hope the anti-nausea meds work for her this time around.
We expect to be here for another 6-8 weeks while Kate recovers from this round of chemo. We then pray that all will be clear and we never have to put our little Angel through this again.
Her Second Birthday is July 8th.... expect a big Birthday/ End of Treatment Party!
Love & Thanks to All!
Love,
Krystal
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