Dearest friends & familia,
Forgive me for not posting an update sooner! Mama Pamela is still at home and enjoying every moment. She has to take daily "field trips" to OHSU to get blood work done as well as to receive blood and/or platelet transfusions if needed. Lately they have been needed because her body started reaping the effects of her second round of chemo. She has had to receive numerous platelet transfusions because her counts plummeted all the way to ONE.
If only I could get permission to post a pic of my darling mother now, you would be in for a treat. We all know that she is gorgeous, that's obvious, but have you ever seen sweet Pammy Sue with a couple nice shiners?? Her low platelet count caused her eyes to swell up and turn black and blue. My faithful father must gets some scowls from strangers as they pass by, I am sure. Needless to say, she's rockin' some cute shades until this passes. As soon as I'm able to see her, I will snap a pic of her cute wig (as previously promised) and shades for your visual pleasure.
It's been a rough couple weeks as I haven't been able to see mom due to myself being under the weather. A week ago I got diagnosed with shingles and mono. You may ask, "Aren't shingles something adults over 50 get?" Well, you are right, my friends. I defy the odds at the ripe age of 26. At least it was comforting that my doctor told me sometimes shingles in young adults like myself either means I have Multiple Sclerosis or am HIV Positive. Hmmm....comforting. Thanks doc. I never thought I would be so thankful & relieved to receive a mono diagnosis (and by the way, my shingles are a VERY minor case....nothing like the horrid pictures I saw on web MD!). The doctor said that if my mom were to catch either one of my viruses it could kill her (due to her practically non-existent white blood counts). So, needless to say, I have been steering clear from my little comrade. It's been hard!
What's next? Well, mom will continue to visit OHSU for testings until the end of May when they are scheduling her bone marrow transplant. Will inform you as soon as we know the exact date. Until then, she will stay at home as long as she is feeling well. I'm sure she would love to hear from you! She is able to have visitors ... as long as you are healthy and well!
Love to you all!
Lindsay
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Home Again Flanagan!
Mom finished her consolidation chemotherapy Monday night and got to come home Tuesday morn. She is so excited! She is feeling great and hasn't felt much sickness at all from the treatment. So, the doctors said that since she was doing so well she could go home and just come into the outpatient clinic 2-3 times a week to get blood work done.
If all goes well, she will get to stay home for a month until she receives the bone marrow transplant. So, that is all for now - it's fun reporting good news on here! Thanks to all of you for your sweet friendship and love for my mom and our entire family.
Much Love,
Lindsay
If all goes well, she will get to stay home for a month until she receives the bone marrow transplant. So, that is all for now - it's fun reporting good news on here! Thanks to all of you for your sweet friendship and love for my mom and our entire family.
Much Love,
Lindsay
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Quick Update...
Hello All!
The test results to mom's bone marrow biopsy came back negative - still no leukemia! Hallelujah! She is still spiking fevers (an average of 2 a day) but the team of doctors & nurses don't seem terribly concerned (they say that fevers are not abnormal when ones' counts are so low).
You all would have been so proud of our little exerciser today. I walked with her to the end of the hall and she hopped on the exercise bike ... and then she did some strengthening moves with the thera-band....and then she started doing wind sprints back and forth down the hallway. Okay, I'm kidding about the wind sprints but it offers a funny visual.
The doctors didn't want to wait any longer to start her consolidation treatment so they started today. We were all kind of surprised that they didn't wait until the fevers subsided but I guess they know best, right? She receives the same type of chemo that she had during her induction treatment (the drug is called Cytarabine) but in much smaller doses. Instead of a constant drip for seven days she just receives an hour of chemo a day for six days. So, here we go again! Pray for strength for her weary yet precious bones - pray for protection against depression, discouragement & loneliness - and pray that her heart & mind would be filled with the joy, hope & peace that comes from our good God.
I just finished reading to my mom all of the latest blog comments you all have posted. She wanted me to write (on her behalf) how encouraging and overwhelming your support has been & continues to be. If she could write back to each one of you she would. She said, "The care that has been poured out towards me is overwhelming. Words can't even describe it."
Love to you all - we will keep you posted on how her treatment progresses!
Bless you!
The test results to mom's bone marrow biopsy came back negative - still no leukemia! Hallelujah! She is still spiking fevers (an average of 2 a day) but the team of doctors & nurses don't seem terribly concerned (they say that fevers are not abnormal when ones' counts are so low).
You all would have been so proud of our little exerciser today. I walked with her to the end of the hall and she hopped on the exercise bike ... and then she did some strengthening moves with the thera-band....and then she started doing wind sprints back and forth down the hallway. Okay, I'm kidding about the wind sprints but it offers a funny visual.
The doctors didn't want to wait any longer to start her consolidation treatment so they started today. We were all kind of surprised that they didn't wait until the fevers subsided but I guess they know best, right? She receives the same type of chemo that she had during her induction treatment (the drug is called Cytarabine) but in much smaller doses. Instead of a constant drip for seven days she just receives an hour of chemo a day for six days. So, here we go again! Pray for strength for her weary yet precious bones - pray for protection against depression, discouragement & loneliness - and pray that her heart & mind would be filled with the joy, hope & peace that comes from our good God.
I just finished reading to my mom all of the latest blog comments you all have posted. She wanted me to write (on her behalf) how encouraging and overwhelming your support has been & continues to be. If she could write back to each one of you she would. She said, "The care that has been poured out towards me is overwhelming. Words can't even describe it."
Love to you all - we will keep you posted on how her treatment progresses!
Bless you!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN...
Hello dear friends,
Well, this post has been long-awaited. I keep postponing writing in hope of hearing more news from the doctors so I can better inform you all but then that just keeps you wondering and waiting. Sorry!
On Thursday, April 3rd, my mom was at home and felt a fever coming on. She called her doctor and they admitted her into the hospital ER shortly after. A small thing like a fever for you and me isn't a big deal but for my mom it's serious (due to her white counts still being severely low). It's Tuesday, April 8th, and she's still in the hospital. Her fever continues to spike (as high as 104!) and then drop back to normal multiple times a day. This means that she has some sort of infection in her body but they cannot figure out where it is coming from. They have done countless blood and urine tests but to no avail. She got a CT scan done 2 days ago and the results came back normal. That is great news, for sure! They performed her fourth bone marrow biopsy yesterday and we are awaiting those results today. I think the worst is not knowing. She has had the same symptoms for six days now and as of yet, they have no idea how to treat it. They even sent an Infectious Disease Specialist to look at her. Still no answers....frustrating.
She's a trooper though! She was supposed to start her consolidation round of chemotherapy on Monday (yesterday) but due to this infection they have had to postpone everything. Yesterday I told the nurses to send in a Physical Therapy team to give her a Thera-band and some exercises for her to do so she doesn't just waste away in her bed. Today I had them teach her "fun" exercises that she can do in bed to keep her muscles active. I put "fun" in quotation marks because she doesn't think it's very fun. ;) She kept flashing me her "annoyed eyes" as the physical therapist and I were teaching her exercises and writing up a workout regime. But hey, I guess it's my turn for revenge after all those years she forced me to practice the piano, right? What goes around comes around, Pammy Sue! ;)
We will hopefully hear the results of the bone marrow biopsy later today so I will post the results as soon as I know. In the meantime, please be praying that the doctors will be able to find out what is causing these fevers so that they can treat it and we can move on with her recovery plan. Thank you all for your consistent care and prayers!
Much love to you,
Lindsay
Well, this post has been long-awaited. I keep postponing writing in hope of hearing more news from the doctors so I can better inform you all but then that just keeps you wondering and waiting. Sorry!
On Thursday, April 3rd, my mom was at home and felt a fever coming on. She called her doctor and they admitted her into the hospital ER shortly after. A small thing like a fever for you and me isn't a big deal but for my mom it's serious (due to her white counts still being severely low). It's Tuesday, April 8th, and she's still in the hospital. Her fever continues to spike (as high as 104!) and then drop back to normal multiple times a day. This means that she has some sort of infection in her body but they cannot figure out where it is coming from. They have done countless blood and urine tests but to no avail. She got a CT scan done 2 days ago and the results came back normal. That is great news, for sure! They performed her fourth bone marrow biopsy yesterday and we are awaiting those results today. I think the worst is not knowing. She has had the same symptoms for six days now and as of yet, they have no idea how to treat it. They even sent an Infectious Disease Specialist to look at her. Still no answers....frustrating.
She's a trooper though! She was supposed to start her consolidation round of chemotherapy on Monday (yesterday) but due to this infection they have had to postpone everything. Yesterday I told the nurses to send in a Physical Therapy team to give her a Thera-band and some exercises for her to do so she doesn't just waste away in her bed. Today I had them teach her "fun" exercises that she can do in bed to keep her muscles active. I put "fun" in quotation marks because she doesn't think it's very fun. ;) She kept flashing me her "annoyed eyes" as the physical therapist and I were teaching her exercises and writing up a workout regime. But hey, I guess it's my turn for revenge after all those years she forced me to practice the piano, right? What goes around comes around, Pammy Sue! ;)
We will hopefully hear the results of the bone marrow biopsy later today so I will post the results as soon as I know. In the meantime, please be praying that the doctors will be able to find out what is causing these fevers so that they can treat it and we can move on with her recovery plan. Thank you all for your consistent care and prayers!
Much love to you,
Lindsay
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