Turbulent Tuesday

Good evening friends, family, and followers!!!
Yesterday my dad had 3 visitors drive all the way from Fresno to visit with him at the hospital.  His mom, sister Debbie, and niece Kristy enjoyed the day with Mom and Dad.  Dad had a great day yesterday, despite having insanely low blood count numbers.
Today, on the other hand, Dad hasn't felt well.  He's been weak and a little nautious, which make for a long day for them both.  BUT, there is always a silver lining....their head physician, Dr. Pallarkat (Polar Cat) came by to visit and update them on the testing that had been taking place on his sisters' blood in order to see if they were bone marrow matches.  Miraculously, his older sister Charlene is a match!!! We all cried tears of joy! GOD IS SO GOOD.

   

Love Is All You Need.  

Thank you for the tremendous love!! It's helping us and I know its really helping my dad.

Please continue to keep my dad in your prayers. Prayers for strength, patience, and success of treatment would be greatly appreciated.   He still has a LONG road ahead. Your thoughts, prayers, encouragement, cards, pictures, text messages, and calls are very helpful.
Nicole

Just Keep Swimming

Well, my girls are hooked on creating silly videos using Dubsmash...so they decided to make a couple to cheer Papa up while he is in the hospital.  I thought I'd share one of my favorites, a clip from the movie Finding Nemo. Dad thought it was pretty funny!!!
Just keep swimming. In whatever you're going through.  Sound advice from Dory, the fish.  

Nicole

Sunday Update

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope this weekend brought rest, relaxation, and quality family time.
Mom reports that Dad is doing pretty well. His white blood count was less than .01 yesterday and will remain this extraordinarily low for a few days.  Being with so few cells in his immune system, dad feels tired and weak and is on careful watch in case he needs blood or platelets until his body starts creating new ones on it's own.
This morning we got a joy-filled text from my mom that included pictures of dad receiving platelets and blood from their friends Tom and Irene!!! You may remember we wrote about how they drove down to City of Hope a few days ago, encountered many setbacks, but in the end Tom donated blood and platelets in my dad's name. Now this morning my dad received this generous gift!!! So amazing.

Thank you for your continued prayers.  Mom and Dad have been at City of Hope for 2 weeks now and it will be at least 2 more weeks before coming home for a short rest.  Your thoughtful words, prayers, text messages, and comments on this blog or on Facebook, are VERY MUCH appreciated.

Nicole and Jenny

Feeling the Platelet Love

Yesterday, Nicole and I drove to City of Hope to see our mom and dad...dad was looking good and doing pretty well!  He finished his last round of chemo yesterday around 5 pm - YAY!! He was able to finish all of the doses.   What a blessing.
The afternoon was especially sweet...we walked with dad, hand in hand, through the halls of the fifth floor. (It was his first time walking since he's been there!!)
Yesterday we also had an extraordinary delivery, some dear friends of my moms, Tom and Irene Edmonds, drove down to City of Hope specifically to donate platelets to my dad.  How awesome are they?!?! They sustained the platelet donation, a car wreck, having to be towed back to Bakersfield, and some pretty severe freeway traffic.  Lord, bless them! What amazing people you two are, and we are SO sorry you endured those bad breaks with this donation trip!  My mom tells me Tom said he would do it again without hesitation.  God bless you both for your generosity!

Thank you for your continued prayers and support!!

Love Jen and Nicole

Some very big wins under his belt!

We know God is in Dad's corner, and we have certainly received validation from all the prayers Dad is receiving.

Mom reported that the medical team moved him out of the ICU on Sunday the 19th, early afternoon, and into a regular care room.  He is feeling so good that they restarted the chemo treatments on Sunday at 2 pm (they were able to pinpoint which chemo drug of the three he is receiving that made his body react so terribly and sent him to ICU, so they are substituting it for a different one). He was able to get up, have a shower, and even a meal - first meal in nearly a week.  That was his third out of the total five treatments he needs.

Finishing the ordered chemo doses and length of time and killing the leukemic cells is the only way to move to the bone marrow transplant - like we mentioned previously, in order to do the transplant he has to be leukemia free first.

Today Mom told us it is another good day! Dad is feeling good, a little weak and wobbly, but that's nothing compared to his brief setback a few nights ago!  All of his blood counts are starting to drop which is exactly what is supposed to happen.  He is neutropenic right now, which means his white blood count is SO low that his body can't fight off infection by itself.  We have to be insanely careful when around him with gloves, masks, and sanitation to make sure he isn't exposed to any germs.

Next (4th) round has already been given today - please pray that he can get through these chemo rounds with as little to no side effects as possible and that he goes into remission this first time!

No update on his sisters' HLA match status yet to see if they are a good match for the transplant...we should find out soon!

Everyone, your support means the world to us and we can feel your positivity and prayers sent his way! If your home church accepts prayer requests, please submit dad's name! The more prayers the better!

Thanks all,

Jen and Nicole

Treatment Begins

Happy Weekend Friends,

Jenny, myself and our cousin Dylan are here at City of Hope today. 

Goofing around while dad slept. (Get it?)

Dad had chemo treatment on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and he immediately had a terrible reaction to the treatments.  He became violently ill, had a high fever, became a bit unresponsive and his blood pressure dropped.  The medical team stopped the chemo and moved him to the ICU in order to more closely monitor him.  

We arrived to see dad struggling with a fever that had been plaguing him for days. We spent the first few hours asking LOTS of questions of his attending nurse, the critical care doctor, and the on-call oncologist.  We refilled ice packs that were all over his body, wiped his face with cold clothes, and hung up art work from the granddaughters all over the walls of his room.  Eventually, the doctor ordered ibuprofen via IV and in no time the fever finally subsided!! (SUCH a blessing!!!!!) Once the fever broke, dad was back! His blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rates all normalized.

We were able to enjoy the evening and talk with dad.  He seemed extremely happy that we were there.  (I know its terribly difficult on mom and dad being 2 hours away from family and friends) Prayers for the fever staying gone, so he can continue with chemo, are much appreciated. Finishing the chemo is imperative to continue toward the bone marrow transplant. Prayers for my mom to stay strong as she is by his side every minute of each day are greatly appreciated too.

Thank you again faithful followers, friends, and family. I know your prayers are helping my dad fight through this unimaginable journey.

Nicole and Jen

Jenny and I saying goodbye to Dad before heading home

Relapse...Prayers Needed

Taken last Fri at City of Hope before bone marrow biopsy

Dear Readers,

Thanks so much for checking this blog.  We are writing to let you know that we received news on Friday, July 10th that my dad's leukemia had returned.  It has been caught extremely early, so much so, that dad really looks healthy heading into the hospital this time.  However, because it has returned and because of the type of leukemia he has, the best solution for long term remission at this point is a round of chemo and then a bone marrow transplant.  

He and mom are currently at the City of Hope in Los Angeles doing a round of inpatient chemotherapy. He will receive 5 days of chemo in an effort to eliminate the leukemic cells before doing the bone marrow transplant.  There are many variables that come with a transplant including finding a perfect match donor, success after transplant, and much more.  The highest likelihood of a match will be in his two sisters, Charlene and Debbie - siblings are tested first. 

We will update as we know more information, but right now we ask that you please pray for my dad.  My prayer is that he can get through this first round without any complications, get into remission and that a perfect donor match is found in one of his sisters.  My dad is and has always been a private man, but he has greatly appreciated us sharing his story via this blog with you all and our whole family has benefited tremendously from the power of your prayers.

My dad would LOVE to hear from you and would love some words of encouragement/support (as you can imagine he is devastated to be going through such a fight again...) so please feel free to enter a comment to him on this blog or on the Facebook comments section.

Thanks so much!!

Jen and Nicole

P.S. Yesterday was our mom's 60th birthday, so if you haven't sent her a shout-out please do!