A Month Off

We had a really good visit with the Dr. this morning. Ray has definitely said "No" to another round of chemo, and the Dr. is O.K. with that. He feels he has a good chance of staying in remission without doing any more chemo. For the next few months, Ray will go in for monthly lab work. From those results the Dr. will be able to see whether or not the leukemia is still in remission. The next time we'll see the Dr. is Jan. 9, '09.

Ray was definitely walking a little taller and with a little dance in his step leaving the Dr.'s office. His blood counts were much improved today, so his energy level should also improve soon. He's great at doing some "honey dos" when he has the energy. So I've had him doing some "Santa honey dos" these past couple days. Believe me, this Santa is glad to have a helper.

Andy's graduation is Sat. morning, so our kids and grandkids will all be home Fri. evening. We are so excited to have them all here.

Thank you all so much, again for all your prayers, love and concern. You'll continue to be in our daily prayers. I probably won't be posting again for a few days. May you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Love you all,
Kim

Secret Confession

O.K. I had to 'fess up today and tell Ray about the previous post. However, I didn't take all the blame. As soon as he saw it, he knew who my "partner in crime" is.

We had a horribly cold, windy, snowy day, today. In spite of it all, we braved the elements and made a trip to Naz to see my Mom. With the north wind at our backs we flew down there, and then bucked the wind all the way back to Amarillo. It was a good trip.

Ray's energy is still very low; but is slowly improving. He will be going back to the Dr. tomorrow morning.

Love you all,
Kim

A Little Shaken Up?

"Chemo had me a little shaken up, but I'm fine now."

Home!!

After receiving another unit of platelets late this afternoon, Ray was discharged around 5:30 this evening. It's great to have him home! He feels good, just very fatigued but that will get better as his blood counts are starting to improve. He goes in to see the Dr. on Wed. It will be interesting to see what he says about where we go from here.

As I'm posting, Ray is sitting in the recliner making his list of "things to do" for tomorrow. Thank you, Lord!

Love you all,
Kim

Persevering

Just a quick post to say things are about the same as yesterday. Thankfully, there has been no more fever. His blood counts are not improving like we'd like to see them do, particularly the platelets. Possibly, he'll have another unit before he's dismissed from the hospital.

We took a couple of short walks today. I hope I can get him to walk farther tomorrow. He's still very weak, but his appetite is good, so I feel certain he'll be feeling stronger soon.

He says to tell everyone thanks for their prayers and concern and that we are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends.

Love you all,
Kim

98.6

There was no fever at all today, so one of the antibiotics must be taking care of the infection. I did not get to talk to the Dr. today, he came in early this morning while Ray was still sleeping. He woke Ray up, but he wasn't thinking clearly enough to ask him questions.

I understand Ray did not sleep well last night due to a horrific headache. Around 3 a.m. the nurses had to call the Dr. to order a pain killer. By this afternoon he was feeling much better.

No word yet on when he'll be coming home, I'm hoping in a couple of days though. That will make him feel much better.

Love you all,
Kim

Monday Morning

The fever finally became manageable around 10:30 Sun. night, so more transfusions were started. He was given a total of 4 units of packed red blood cells plus the one of platelets he received in the ER. He still continues with a low grade fever, but the Dr. feels progress is being made. Exactly what type of infection he has is still unknown. Currently, he is on four broad spectrum antibiotics which we're hoping will take care of the infection. Results for blood cultures take awhile.

Yesterday was a really tough day. Everything imaginable was being done to try to lower his temp. His I.V. tubing was iced down, different meds given, and we were soaking wash clothes in tubs of ice water and placing them on his body. My hands were frozen of course, so then I could warm 'em up (at least get the blood flowing again) by touching his feverish arms. It was a relief when his temp finally lowered.

Please keep him in your prayers. At this point he is saying he is finished with chemo. He does not want to go that route again. Even the Dr. today is saying that he is not sure we should go for another round. It's going to be a tough call.

"Life is hard some of the time, but God is good all the time."

Love you all,
Kim