Update on Kecia

When she returned home from the hospital Kecia was feeling pretty good and looking forward to a Saturday evening dinner with our whole family and some friends. Unfortunatly, by Friday evening she was not feeling well and her port was giving her some trouble. Saturday she was feeling so bad that we cancelled the get-together. As you know, her uncle Eric who lives with them has been in and out of the hospital in "near death" condition all weekend. This, along with other things, keeps the house in constant termoil and I have no doubt this drama is affecting her physically and emotionally in a negative way. We know that stress plays a role in hindering recovery. Kecia worries about the family's health, finances, and emotional state constantly. For this reason, we are strongly encouraging her to move in with her Grandad for awhile. He lives only a few miles from her pa rents so she would still be close, but it would remove her from the "front lines" of everyone else's issues. She is hesitant to do so because she worries about not being there to "take care of everyone". She also fears being a burden on Grandad. He, of course, would love to have her. His home is neat, quiet and peaceful. What better place to pamper oneself while recooperating on the path to full recovery? She has promised to give it serious consideration over the next few days.

You may remember that the doctors had left the lines in her port so she could give herself antibiotic drips while she was at home over the weekend. While getting out of bed today she stumbled and fell. In doing so, her arm caught one of the lines which almost pulled it from the port. It was already sore, so this only added to her discomfort. She doesn't think serious damage was done to the port but it has started swelling and stings when the medicine drips in. She will see her doctor first thing tomorrow and they will decide how to proceed. Please pray that her port can be salvaged without surgery as it would be very risky for her at this point. Kecia has alot of respect for her doctor and feels secure in the relationship they have established. He is good about listening to her and seems to be very honest with her. We prayed from the begin ning that Kecia would be placed in the hands of good doctors and we are so thankful that she was led to him. (His name is Dr. Wazenski- but I don't know how to spell it) She absolutely loves his nursing staff at the infusion center and I think she gets special treatment from all of them. They call her "the baby" because she is the only one in there younger than 40. She is a good patient. She is tough and brave and rarely complains. But the thoughts and feelings going on inside her are usually not the same. I know when I send these emails out that alot of you send one back telling me what your prayer is for Kecia. It would be so great if you have a specific prayer for Kecia that you enter it under the "comments" section of this blog and let her know. I just think that if she knows some one is specifically praying for her strength or that she will h ave peace, then she will naturally be more strong and be able to claim the peace that God has set aside just for her. You all have so many wonderful and uplifting things to share from your own personal experiences and she can't possibly get enough. Thank you all for the role that you are playing in Kecia's recovery.

Praying for her full recovery,
Jennifer and family