She huffed and puffed.....

Well... we just got back from the pulmonologist... Gabby did great, as expected... but Kaitlyn is another story. She huffed and puffed, but she won't be blowing any houses over.... After finishing three rounds of different oral antibiotics, and now also being on Tobi for the last two weeks to boot.... her PFT's went down instead of up. She's been incredibly fatigued lately, and coughing more so we know something is going on, just not what. We were hoping for the best, but it's official, Kaitlyn is heading back to the joint :( Thankfully we have awsome doctors, and since Kaitlyn's Aunt Steph is coming up next week and taking both Kaitlyn and Josh till the end of June, they have agreed to let her hold off the hospitalization until July 2nd. That means she gets to go have fun for a little before heading back, but it also means we will spend the 4th of July and possibly Gabby's 2nd birthday in the hospital. They will be doing the standard 2 week course of IV antibiotics, but Kaitlyn will also be having a bronchoscopy and a sinus surgery while there this time. We're not happy about it, but Kaitlyn is very excited about spending time with her Aunt Stephanie and her friend Jordan first :) She has also been saying that as much as she doesn't want surgery, she is willing to do just about anything to feel better at this point. Please keep Kaitlyn in prayer, hopefully they will find out what has been causing the dramatic drop in her PFT's over the last year or so, and be able to get her back up at least a little... we're hoping to get them way up, but they've warned us it may not happen... we're placing it in God's hands either way.

(pic from Feb 2012 PFT's)



Prayers for Dad... Please

   My Dad is such a fighter. When he was first diagnosed with leukemia in 2010 it was such a blow to all of us. Here he was the strongest man we knew having his whole world (and ours) change in the blink of an eye. They told my dad he could expect three years of life with his diagnosis, but from the beginning we all insisted there was no date stamp anywhere on him. He has fought back from the brink more than once. For a while he had us so scared, we didn't think he'd make it to last Christmas. He scared us again, worse than ever, in April when he nearly died of a bowel obstruction. He's fought his way back to us each and every time. I think he knows how badly we need him here. We love him so much, we just can't bear the thought of losing him.

   When my parents learned they had to move, with less than 24 hours notice, my Dad didn't take it too well. He watched as an army of friends and family worked to move everything they could, feeling helpless and full of anxiety. There was little we could do as we watched the panic attacks plague him. He wasn't even really settled at my sister's for 24 hours when his shortness of breath became bad enough to go to the ER the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. We all felt the stress really played a part in his condition deteriorating, as he'd not even been out of the hospital a month really. At first the VA said all he needed was platelets, so they gave him a transfusion, and said they were going to keep him overnight. Then they told him he'd probably be out by Tuesday.... On Wednesday and Thursday he already had scheduled follow up appointments, so they just kept him longer... he needed more blood anyway. They did another bone marrow biopsy. The news wasn't great. My father's cancer is worse again. His blasts are back to 25%.

   To make a long story short, his doctor made it clear that they were running out of treatment options at the VA Hospital. The VA tried to make arrangements to transfer my father to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa to see if they can use some other treatments to get his blasts back down to 5%. We received the news today that Moffitt accepted him as a patient and he will probably be transferred tomorrow. When Moffitt  accomplishes that, getting his blasts back down to 5%, then the VA will rush the Bone Marrow Transplant in Nashville. This is such a critical time for my Dad... this is life or death.  He is doing his part, cooperating with the doctors (anyone who knows him knows how hard that in itself is for him lol), staying in the hospital when he'd rather be home, agreeing to more chemotherapy when the last round nearly killed him with side effects, etc.....

   My point to this update is this, to know my Dad is to love him. He is always there with a helping hand, or a good word of advice. He is always there to make us laugh and encourage us, but now he needs us to be there for him. He needs our prayers now more than ever. Please add him to your daily prayer list, your church prayer list, and if you have friends and family that believe in the power of prayer, spread the word. I would like my dad to be flooded with LOVE & PRAYER... If you feel like contacting him, please send him a message of encouragement.. whether it be by phone, text, email, or Facebook, I am sure he would love to hear from everyone. We would definitely appreciate the prayers... My Dad is a fighter, he won't give up, and with the Lord's help, he will beat this.