THE LONG, LONG WEEK


Kristin's week began with another of her favorite procedures, the infamous L.P. with more chemo. Although I do not think she has a spinal headache; like last week, she seems to be plaqued by the same headache she had in Oakland when she had so many L.P.'s there. At that time we noticed that her platelets had dropped since last week. By Wednesday I noticed petechiae appearing on her legs and knew she needed a platelet transfusion. These are tiny, localized hemorrhages from small blood vessels just beneath the surface of the skin. She also received more i.v. fluids as she has vomited all week long and has not been able to keep much down.

Valentines brought roses from her Dad, balloons from Danny Hames, cookies from the Footes, and a heart attack on our front door from we do not know who????? We loved it!

The Hair Club for Kids found a wig that Kristin could use until hers came in. It is so long, black and has some pink highlights.....yes, pink! she wanted it so bad, so we went down and tried to have it fitted but she was just too sick to stay sitting that long. We went back on Friday for another go at it. They first shaved her head and actually she has the cutest bald head ever. It is perfect and I thought "hey, you look pretty good bald." But, I am not seventeen either. She was feeling awful at this point and had to lay down several times. They tried to hurry, but she ended up throwing up in their bathroom. We ended up with half a hair cut and made plans to come back and finish the job when she felt more able. Meanwhile, she was having nightmares about being calling wig-girl and Miss Wig! We cried......

It has been a hard week, missing friends, nausea, wigs, chemo.....so, her good friend Kyle Karrasch is coming over tonight to watch movies with her. I am so grateful and know that this is good medicine for her. Thanks Kyle!

thanks to you all for all your prayers,
Leslie and Darren

p.s. keep purchasing the t-shirts,they will be coming in youth sizes as Hunsberger would like to sell them also. any questions?, just call.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Beginning

Image
Hello to all from Children's Hospital Oakland, California To it still difficult to grasp that we are actually here...hearing this news...living in this new world. Kristin's official diagnosis is ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA precursor b. This is very treatable form of cancer. She is enrolled in a cutting edge program for treating A.L.L.. All of us here are very optimistic. She is under the care of amazing Doctors and the recipient of the miracles of modern medicine. It will be a very rough 2 years or so, but she will survive. Thus far, we have been on the fast track. This is an amazing institution and we are very, very fortunate to be here. Nothing short of kindness and compassion have been shown to us from the very beginning. Upon our arrival on Monday, she has undergone a bone marrow biopsy, 2 lunbar punctures, echo cardiogram, chest x-ray, broviac cath . placement, and numerous pokes and prods. She received her first chemo treatment; injected into the spinal fluid, Wednes...
Read more

GO GO SPECIAL K!

Our last bone marrow biopsy went great! It showed no leukemia cells. This shows that she is having a positive early response to the chemo which is a very, very good thing! All of her labs are coming back "smashing!" We are dealing with secondary complications such as situational diabetes. This is only tempoary and should resolve once we are off the strong steroids. Consequently she has to have blood sugars checked often, insulin injections, and follow a carb controlled diet. not fun! In trying to be supportive, I am counting carbs along with her. It is hard when someone has a birthday up here every other day and wants to share their cake. Keep the dang cake to yourselves! Kristin is getting very tired more often and is noticing that she can pull out clumps of hair....I am sad. Although I knew this was coming, I was taken back by the situation and caught off guard. Baldness goes hand in hand with leukemia and every parent up here would rather have a beautifully healthy, shini...
Read more

UPDATE

Kristin is currenly in room 5330 getting two units of PRBC's. Her counts are on the way down and I am hoping that this is all the drama we will see. It has been a long, difficult...two months.....seems like forever.... especially as we approach the one year mark. Our daily excursions to Berkley have been uneventful. (I decided that if I had another life, I would like it to be in Berkley. I love this area!) We are going to Alta Bates Hospital. I am taken by the compassion, charity, and warmth that the patients are treated with here. It is the same spirit you feel when you walk onto the 5th floor here at CHO. Wonderful people who truly and compassionately love what they do. Back to her radiation.....Her radiation takes all of two minutes. I call it a "lick." Thankfully she is getting a very low dose so the side effects are pretty much nil. Kristin really looks forward to returning to school on a more regular basis. I cannot begin to tell you of the hardships Kristin has ...
Read more