Stranded in Vacaville


My apologies for not updating the blog sooner. My access to the Internet has been scare this past while. That being said, here a re-cap of our latest adventures. Kristin had a wonderful week at home. It was just what the doctor ordered. She was relaxed, content, and rejuvenated. We left for Children's last Wednesday just as Cody and Wyatt were coming down with bad colds. Consequently, that is why we have been in Vacaville until the coast is clear at home. On January 17, Kristin had another bone marrow biopsy and lunbar puncture with interthecal chemo.. the labs on both of these draws came back "clean. " Yippee! This is very good news so now she is ready to move onto the consolidation phase of treatment. This is another phase of the two and a half years of treatment she will undergo. While we have been here, we had to go back to Children's for labs and some severe stomach pains. After an x-ray, we discovered why she was in so much agony. To spare her further embarrassment, lets just say we love Senekot and Milk of Magnesia.

We have been fitted for a beautiful new head of hair. These wigs are free for children under 18 and are made from real hair. They are beautiful. She can get anything length, up to four highlights and it will attached to her head for up to 4 weeks. She was worried about it falling off. She will get a new one every 4 months. This is a great service this company provides. We hope it will get here soon!

I have enjoyed spending time with family. My parents have been good to us and we are lucky to have them so close.

We go back to Oakland tomorrow and are suppose to be admitted over night for more chemo. She will be receiving some new drugs that I still need to read up on. I hope they are kind to her. This has been a rough week for her. We are away from home, she is losing so much hair,missing school and friends and the stomach pain was horrible for her. She has gotten rather thin and hates it. I hear her soft cries in the night and it breaks my heart. We have been sharing a room and I am so glad. These are precious days, the good and the not so good. I love each one of them.

About the t-shirts.... Wonderful Amy Erger and Kristin Van Sitters have put this together to benefit Kristin. I will update this with the info for anyone who wishes to purchase one from them.

I cannot express my thanks enough for the out pouring of compassion, help, and love we have been blessed with. Our lives have been so humbled. It is hard to find the right words to say. We love you all, friends and family!

Warmly, Leslie

Comments

susieq said…
Kristin,

Sorry you can't come home yet! It is no fun to feel like you are in limbo! We pray for you to be well enough to endure the treatments you need. Don't worry about how you look! You are such an amazing young woman! So many people look up to you of all ages. Some you may not even realize! Don't lose heart!

Here's something funny Katie (our almost 8 year old said). I was going to a broadcast and kept telling the kids to be good for dad while I was gone. As I was walking out the door I said,"I'll see you after the Broadcast".
Katie says,"Broadcast? I thought you said you were going to the frog test!"

I laughed so hard!! I could barely concentrate on the "frog test" when I got there!!

We all love you!

Take care,

Sue Lee
January 24, 2008 at 2:11 PM
Becky said…
Hey Kristin,
It was good to catch up, and since today is Saturday, hope you may be close to coming home again.

We are home from our vacation and facing reality. It was a great escape. Like you, we have learned the hard way to be flexible when health issues are concerned. We had changed the tickets three times due to health. When things finally work out (and they will) it is that much sweeter. Learning to be patient may have been our biggest challenge. We kept telling each other that taking the time to get well, even with the ups and downs, was an investment in our future.

Boy, don't some of those tests stink. Sorry you have to put up with them. Craig still isn't loving them either. Hang in there.

We keep you in our hearts and prayers and hope your counts keep improving. They finally took Craig off steriods yesterday and now he's hoping his chipmunk cheeks will go down.

We appreciate your blog and your great example and faith. Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with us.
Love, Becky and Craig
January 26, 2008 at 1:57 PM
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