back to work

Our Jen had her first day back at work today and loved it. Feet are very sore but to be expected. Had a scare a few days ago with her plattlettes dropping to a mere 12. Got transfused and they are not coming up as quickly as expected but she is feeling good. She'll go back for more blood work tomorrow to make sure we are on the right track. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as we continue this journey, Her hair is staying stuck so we'll have some for the wedding. Yah. Colin and his family have been such a great support through this all. What a great comfort. Thanks to all. The parents

Great News.....

Our girl did end up getting her iv chemo this week as we had hoped. She only had to have it for two days so she is done!!!! Yah. She is feeling tired and not great but is very glad it is over. Now she will still have to have her blood work done 3 times a week and stay on the oral chemo for the next two years. She will also have to have bone marrow biopsies and meet with her doc in Edmonton every so often but the major part of it is over. They are finding no leuckimic cells so we are praying that we got it all. They won't consider her in full remission until after the two years but it is looking great. Jen is looking forward to getting back to work once her numbers come back up and she is feeling good again. It has been such a long journey through all of this but we are so very grateful. Please keep her in your prayers as she gets back to a "normal" day to day life. She can now focus on the wedding!!!! We are soo proud of our girl. The thankful parents!!!!!!!!

Hi again

Good news is that Jen is feeling great. We were hoping she would have her last round of iv chemo this week but her numbers aren't as strong as the doc likes. She had her heart scan today though so she is one step closer. Hopefully by monday she will be strong enough to get the last part over with. She didn't even lose any hair this time. We won't get our hopes up this time but she would look cute with a little fuzz for the wedding. Colin and his family have been great at being there for our girl. She is doing great in her new basement suite but is very anxious to get back to work after her numbers come up again after this final round. Seems like it is taking forever to her but we are so grateful for her to be where she is at. She says she doesn't like Edmonton because she associates it with being so sick. I say I love Edmonton because I associate it with her being cured!!! I guess it's all in the way you look at it. My friends little boy Daniel { he's four} asks daily how our Jen is. I said to him that she is getting better. He says, "that's good cause I pray for her everyday". I said " Thanks Daniel because it really is working." He says, "well it should be because I pray really really hard and really really fast". Priceless. Thanks so much for all the prayers and thoughts we have all felt throughout this journey. The parents and bratgirl.

More than we thought

Found out today that there is actually another round of iv chemo after this one. We thought that this was the last round so we were kind of disappointed. She had a pretty blue color of chemo today. She is already feeling kind of sick this afternoon so this new chemo is affecting her worse than round two. 3 more days of this and then we wait for her numbers to go way down and once they get strong again we can get the fourth and final dose done. It's such a long road but we are hopefully getting to get somewhat back to normal within the next month or so. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers the mom and bratgirl

97 days since diagnosis

Well it seems like we are on the home stretch. Jen had her heart scan today and starts round number3 of iv chemo tomorrow. 4 days of that and then we wait for her numbers to go way down and then back up. The doctor was impressed at how well she made it through round 2. After her numbers are good again she will move back to Camrose where she can get her blood work faxed from there back to the Uof A hospital. She will stay on her oral chemo for the next two years taking them for 2 weeks on and then 2 weeks off. She will get periodic bone marrow biopsies and will still have blood work on a regular basis. If after the 2 years and no more leukimic cells she will be considered in full remission. After 5 years she would be cancer free. Yah!!! She is in good spirits and looking forward to moving into her new basement suite and getting back to work. We so appreciate all the prayers and maybe even the docs that have made this all possible. Happy Easter to all. From the mom and brat daughter

One more to go...

Well our girl has made it through the second round of iv chemo. Felt sick and tired but way better this time around. Her imune system is at nil right now so we have to be sure she isn't around anyone sick or sniffling. It will be back and forth to the hospital for blood work for the next month and then the final round of iv chemo. Hopefully if all goes well it will be just blood work from then on. We can finally see her getting her life back on track within the next couple of months. She is anxious to get back to work and to planning her wedding. Thanks for all the prayers. The mom and daughter

Trying to stay strong

Well we were confident that our girl wouldn't get sick this time but she has finally asked for the trusty puke bowl by her bed. Chemo went fine with the nurse getting her iv on the first shot. They were shocked that she hadn't been sick so far but it's finally catching up tonight. Started out with quite a headache and now she is feeling not great. No fever though so that is a great sign. One more day of chemo tomorrow and then back and forth for blood work for the next month and then some more chemo. Such a brave girl. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. The mom and daughter

Quicker today

Much better day today with us arriving at our appointment for 10:00. Everything went smoothly and our girl is still feeling good. Her hand hurt quite a bit while the chemo was going in so they watched it closely. Apparently it goes in much smoother when going through a pic line but we all agree, doc included that we don't want to chance it again. She will hopefully get a new iv site tomorrow if her veins cooperate and we will be good to go for the next two days. The doc says that the most sensitive tests they can do on her are showing that there are no leukimic cells which he hopes is putting her in full remission. Great news, but in the next sentence he says we are all learning this together as this is quite a rare form. All the prayers are making the difference. Thanks. The mom and daughter

What a Day!!!!!

We,ll we managed to have quite a day. Got to the hospital a 9:oo for blood work. There were like thirty people ahead of us so we went for a coffee at the cafeteria. Went back at 10:30 and there were still 20 people ahead of us, so we went upstairs to have her heart scan. Got in early and they drew the blood for it and told her to wait half an hour for the scan. Went back downstairs to see if we were close to her # for the blood work and they had just passed us. Had to wait for only about 10 mins but while we were in there the heart scan lady came in and told us that she had done her test wrong so we had to go back up so they could do it again and they had such a hard timefinding a vein. They finally did it in her hand through an iv that we asked if we could leave it in for when we got the chemo. After many calls back and forth we were told yes. Finally finished up there around 1;OO and made our way back down to outpatients to get the much anticipated iv chemo. To make a long story short by the time it was mixed and ordered it was 4:15. Our poor Jen was exhausted and sleeping beside me. Just as she was in a deep sleep they of course said it was ready. The anti nausea drug took longer to give to her than the actual chemo did and we are finally back home at 5:30. Hoping things go a little more smoothly tomorrow but we are more than grateful that we have restarted this so we are not complaining. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, The Mom and tired daughter

Finally!!!!!!

Well we finally got word that Jen's iv chemo will start on Monday or Tuesday. We talked directly with the doc and he booked her heart scan for Monday at 11:00. They do a before and after of the heart because this particular chemo is hard on the heart. And good news is that he thinks her blood clot is gone so no more injections starting tomorrow. She will go for the chemo once a day for four days for about twenty minutes. She will have to get admitted if she gets a fever or is too sick but we are hoping to keep her home. After that she will go back and forth to the hopital for the month for blood work and then for another round of iv chemo. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as she goes through this again. The mom

Bed Crunch

Hi again,

Just heard from Jen's doc that there is a serious bed crunch on right now. Our options were to wait for a bed and just continue the way we are with the Attra holding the leukemia at bay. Not a cure but apparently she could go on this way for awhile or to get her iv chemo at outpatients and hope she doesn't get too ill. We opted for the latter because her numbers are good and the doctor has great faith in us to be careful. He is trying to get things set up for tomorrow where she will get her chemo in 15 minute doses through iv 4 times a day for 4 days in a row. The doc assures us that if she is sick that he will hit her hard with heavy duty anti nausea medication and we are close enough to the hospital to get her there quick. He says if that happens she will for sure get a bed in emergency. I am going to keep her wrapped in cotton so this doesn't happen. Ha. We are grateful to get things started and are hopeful that with everyones prayers that things will go smoothly. The mom and daughter

No Bed yet

Hi all,

Went for blood work this morning and found out there isn't a bed available yet. Now we wait for a call. A little discouraging as we were hoping to get it over with. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers this week as we wait for the call please. Will keep you posted. The Mom and daughter

Here we go again

Well we have the date to go back for iv chemo. After blood work on Monday she will be admitted for 8 to 10 days. Hopefully she won't be bumped because the sooner we get it over with the better. Don't want that pesky hair to come in too much. Ha. We save on shampoo this way. Jen's spirits are good and though still tiring easily and some foods making her feel sick she is doing well. Hopefully since we will be starting this chemo with her numbers so much better this time around it won't affect her as badly as the first time. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts. The mom and daughter

Hi again.....

Hi all,

Haven't had to much to report lately. Back and forth to the hospital where Jen's numbers flucuate day to day but so far have managed to stay reasonably normal. We are now waiting for a phone call from the hospital saying that they have a bed available for her next 1v chemo. The doc says there is a bit of a bed crunch right now so we just wait. We were hoping to do it on a outpatient basis but the doc wants to see how she reacts this time so it will be 8 to 10 days on the ward. It's a long road but the right direction so we are very thankful for that. Jen's hair just started to come back in. Not curly or red yet so we'll make her lose it and try again. Ha. Other than tiring very easily and some foods making her feel sick she is in good spirits. Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts. They really help us to get through this time one day at a time. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as well. The wife and daughter

Good #s

Jen's #s are good again. If we can now keep them at this level the docs will be happy. They had to take 5 vials of blood today and after 3 it is a slow go. She no longer has her pic line so her hands look like pin cushions. She still tires easily but is in good spirits and enjoys hearing from all of you. David and I celebrate our 25th anniversary today. We never thought 25 years ago we would celebrate it like this but there is no place I'd rather be. Thanks for the prayers. The wife and daughter

Lower #'s

Hi all,
Jen's numbers were lower today for some reason. Apparently not a concern yet but the doc will keep an eye on them. Still no go ahead as to when the iv chemo will be but they said they will let us kno,. Jen tires very easily so we are not doing too much during our days. Please keep praying for our girl as she battles through this. Our thoughts and prayers are with you all as well. The wife and daughter

Good Numbers

Another good day of numbers. Waiting for the docs approval to go ahead with the iv chemo. It seems weird that we are waiting for her to get sick again but the sooner we do it the sooner we can get her better. Our girl tires very easily but we always forget that her Attra is a chemo too and takes its toll. Her hair is starting to come in just in time to fall out again!!! Who cares as she is cute with or without it. A few back aches but we will also attribute that to the wonderful Attra. It's working so we love it!!!! I get a little queazy when I give her her injections but she says it doesn't hurt too much. Braver than I that's for sure. Not a day goes by when we are not thankful for all your thoughts, prayers, and concerns. Give David a call at home for any questions or just to say hi. We miss you all and him too!!! The wife and daughter xoxoxox

It's All in the Numbers

Blood work today and the numbers are great. It looks like we'll be able to make her sick sooner than later with her iv chemo because her #'s are looking so strong. Her plattlettes are so high that she should be the one donating them. We'll talk to her doctor on wednesday about getting started on the chemo again. Prayers really do work!! Hope all is well with all of you and will keep you updated later in the week. David is going home tomorrow and back to work so you can call him at home if you have any questions. Thanks for all the thoughts, and prayers, the very happy parents and Jen

HAIRLESS but HAPPY days

Hi all

We have had a good weekend. We are preparing for the week ahead with more blood work {Hopefully good} and then we'll have to knock her down with more iv chemo. Depending on how our girl copes with this we hope to keep her out of the hospital. If she doesn't tolerate it as well as we hope she will go back to hospital for a couple of weeks. We know what to expect this time so hopefully it won't be so scary for us all. Her injections have been going okay with Colin and I sharing duty on this. We've only managed to hurt her a couple of times. David doesn't want to have a turn at it, even though I assure him that it doesn't hurt us a bit. She is very brave. Let's pray that her blood work is good this week and we'll keep you all posted. Lots of love the happy parents

Normal Night Date Night

We had a great night at home. Up early and dragged our girl out to superstore to have her actually feel like doing something normal. Relaxed and enjoyed her for the rest of the day. Colin came over in the afternoon and we all had a nice dinner together with me cooking, David going out for ice cream and Jen and Colin doing the dishes. Hard as it is to let her out of our sight we let Colin take her to his dad's to watch a movie. Colin assures us he will have her back before she tires, and will phone us to let us know they got there safely. Over protective parents that we are it is hard to let her go. We are so glad that she is able to though. Praying and hoping that this is the turnaround and that we have a lot more good days than bad. Can't ever express the help everyones prayers thoughts and comments have helped. Please continue. Her very grateful bald parents!!!!

Barber at work

Well we are back at the apartment and Toni wanted to get rid of her grey hairs so Jen is shaving them off. Jen said it would come back curly and dark.

Love Jen and The Parents

REMISSION???????????????????

Preliminary reports are saying our girl has 5% or less leukemia cells. We won't get the complete report for a few days but her counts are looking good. We got to bring Jen home (the apartment) today. Yah!!!!!! We will return to the same routine of blood work 3 times a week and I will have to give her two injections {with a real needle} two times a day. David won't even let me practise on him. First sign of a fever we of course have to bring her back but we are praying her immune system will kick in and finally start fighting any infection she may get. The doc says he wants to give her a week to get stronger before starting the iv chemo again and she may have to stay in the hospital depending on how she reacts to it. She is back on the Attra and seems to be tolerating it better this time. She will be on it for 2 years so we are hoping her body is getting used to it and not fighting it anymore. We are so grateful to have our girl home but nervous at the same time because of last time. The docs assure us that they won't wait until she is so sick next time before doing something. Please continue praying for our girl and phone calls, emails and comments to this blog and visits if you are healthy are most welcome at this time. Love and thanks from the parents

Our Brave Biopsy Girl

Well she managed to squeak in her bone marrow biopsy today. Almost had to postpone because they forgot and gave her her blood thinner. The pathologist looked at her blood work for the day and said it looked high enough to go ahead. She was so brave and it was done before we knew it. {I didn't even cry this time}. We gave credit to the pathologist for being so gentle but he assured us that it was the morphine. We should have some sort of preliminary report by late today or tomorrow. If her leukemia cells are less than 5% she will be considered to be in remission. We are praying and hoping for the best but are preparing either way. She will still have months of chemo ahead of her either way. Jen is in good spirits and welcomes all of your thoughts and comments as either her dad or I report them back to her nightly. All of Jen's numbers except for her nuetrfils {which are apparently the most important ones, go figure} are all increasing. Her nuetrfills are only down slightly today so we hope they will recover tomorrow. Jen says hi. Please continue to keep her in your prayers. Love the parents

Attra Girl Here We Go

Good day today as Jen's numbers are up and still no fever. The docs have postponed her bone marrow biopsy till tomorrow to make sure her counts are still up and she is stronger. They've decided to put her back on the Attra today and we are praying that that is not what has caused the problems. We will no within 3 days and they assure us that they will not let her get as sick before taking her off it again if that seems to be the problem. It is the best possible chemo for this type of cancer so us along with the docs are hoping that she had a viral infection that was cleared up with the heavy duty antibiotics. I took her for a short walk on our floor and though it seems like a slow go I think she is getting stronger. They gave her the ok to finally shave her legs so she sat while I shaved them. It took us to shave a whole leg before we both realized that the cover was still on the razor. Had a great laugh over that one. David has postponed his trip home until she is out of the hospital and stronger so we are very grateful for that. Jen will not start her next round of iv chemo until we see what her biopsy shows and her numbers continues to go up. The clot in Jen's arm was so large that she will have to have blood thinning shots in her tummy twice a day for at least three months. It seems that when she was first admitted to the hospital they couldn't thicken her blood now they have to thin it. They do keep telling us that it will get way worse before it gets better. We are all learning patience and how to live one day at a time. Please keep up the prayers as they sure are working.
The grateful Parents

Sunday Good Day

Low numbers still, but no fever so far. Went for an ultra sound for her swelling & no clotting, so hopefully its only fluid. Still the Dr.s are trying to decide if it's the Atra, Ibuprophen, or the Antibiotics keeping things at bay. They will post pone the bone marrow biopsy till later this week when her numbers hopefully recover a bit.One of her great Dr.s (and there have been many) is leaving tomorrow, but will let the new Dr. know of her plan: Wait for #'s to recover, stop Ibuprophen & Antibiotics, then start Atra hopefully with more success. She should be starting her I V chemo this week sometime & we are hoping she will tolerate it better this time.
Heres to hopeful thinking & lots of prayers.

The Parents

Swell day (Not Quite)

We had a good nights sleep (No temp Yeh! ) but when our Jen woke up her hands ,feet and face were swollen.We are hoping it was because she was lying in a flat position. It has continued through the day so her Dr. is ordering an ultra sound.Her Nutrafils are down again slightly to .4 which is concerning , but her other numbers are up. We'll concentrate on that !. Kind of a yucky feeling day knowing it's been a month and not a great plan in effect but we assure her tomorrow will be better. Your prayers are a big help.

The Parents

Better today than yesterday........

No fever today!!!! But now the Doc's don't know if it is because they have stopped the Atra, if it is the Antibiotics working or if it is the Ibeprophen they are giving her. The plan right now is to get her stonger and her numbers up again( they dropped very low today) and then restart the Atra.The Atra Chemo is such an important part of Jens recovery that we are praying that we can sucessfully restart it. All her numerous tests are coming out negative which sounds like a real good thing but doesn't let us know what the problem is so they can treat this properly.The main thing is that her breathing is improving and no high temperatures today. Lets all pray for more of the same tomorrow. Jen says she so appreciates everyones concerns.

The Parents

Back to 5F4.............

We've managed to make it back to our original floor (different room # ). Still haven't figured out the source of the infection.Still can't get rid of the fever. had the infectious disease people in to try to figure it out to no avail. Had a stomache CT, blood cultures ,blood gasses & so many blood tests we have lost count.She is being very brave and trying to take everything in stride.We are so very proud of her. Lets hope for a better day tomorrow!
Thanks for your prayers.

The Parents

Confusion all around................

Apparently Jen does have a blood clot in her upper left arm. They will continue on blood thinner and she will go for abdominal C T scan and an x-ray to see if there is any hidden infection causing the ever persistant fever. The Dr came in yesterday and said that he just doesn't know what is causing it. She had lots of shallow breathing last night but sounds better this morning. She is like a little pin cushion as they continue to take blood cultures 4 times now that they have removed the picc line so the needles have to go into her hand and arm.OUCH. Hope fully we will have some answers today.
UPDATE
Dr. just came in and said her white blood count is not good.He will start her on the heavy duty antibiotics and he has called the Infectious disease Drs. to talk to us. If they can get her blood pressure up they will still take her for the scan.
Please keep praying and we will keep you posted.

Love from The Parents & Jen

Hotttt....we go again

Well we still can't figure out the high temperature.The Doc came in and said "I just don't know"Jen went through the gauntlet today with an ultra sound(which said she had clots),an echo of her heart which was clear and a C T scan which said she had no clots. Her Temp. rose to 39.9 which is scary.The Doc finally said if she continues to go (downhill and get fevers) that he will put her on big gun antibiotics and call her fever unknown. We are still down stairs in the emergency waiting for a bed and are feeling all your prayers. Please keep us in your thoughts and we are going one day at a time.We will get through this.

Love from the Parents and JEN

back to the hospital we go.............

Well it's been another long night with our Jen spiking a fever off and on all night. We finally took her back to emerg at 4:00 this morning and went through the whole routine again. They can't seem to find what is really causing the infection so they are admitting her and putting her through a slew of tests. Poor girl is very exhausted but still manages a sense of humour and laughs at our crummy jokes (or my singing). I put off my job interview until next week. I thought she would be happy to get me out of her non-hair for awhile but not quite yet. She started crying when I said I would not go yesterday and thanked me for staying with her. She is such a sweet girl. I will play the job thing by ear. The plan is that David will fly home on the 30th and go back to work and I'll stay out here as long as needed. She has her next bone biopsy on the 29th and we are praying for the best. Her next round of iv chemo starts the beginning of Feb but she will stay on the oral chemo for the next two years. I think her body is slowly getting used to it but it is very hard on her. Her doctor assures us that she will slowly start to feel better before she gets knocked down with her next iv chemo. We are hopeful that she can do this on an outpatient basis but we will have to see how she reacts. We all appreciate all the thoughts and prayers we are getting. Will keep you posted.
love from the parents!

Our Jen

Hi All
I just figured out how to make this blog.To let you all know how Jen is doing.She had an up and down weekend with 9hrs in the hospital on Friday .Her auntie Pam came out for the weekend and helped while we were back and forth to the hospital. Her auntie Trudy came and visited
and gave an up date on things back . Her friend Angela came out from Vacouver and before she left ,shet let Jen shave her hair off. Ashley and Sam showed up for a visit on Sunday.
Shortly after every one left Jen's temperature spiked to 39.2 so off to the hospital we went.
They took blood samples and some scans and more blood over the next6 hrs and back to beig hooked up to more I Vs.She has some sort of infection that they can't find. She' back on antibiotics hoping to control the virus. Today is one of her daily visits and they are giving her blood so she will have anther long day in the hospital. Toni is with her and waitng to find out all about what happened on the week end. Visiting will be kept to a minimum till we find out the results. I will keep you all posted

Thanks from the Parents