Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Christmas at Home
I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. It amazes me that another year has somehow slipped by. December marks Kecia's 18th month in her battle against cancer. I am so happy that she's here but so sad about how much pain and sickness she has had to endure to stay. We felt very blessed to have her home with us this Christmas and to be able to spend time as a family. We got a wii this year so much of the day was spent laughing at each other and engaging in friendly competition. Kecia occupied her favorite spot in MY recliner right in front of the fire place and from there she was able to put in quite a few pieces of the 1000 piece puzzle we have been working on. She wasn't able to enjoy any of our Christmas dinner because she was at the tail end of the big chemo rotation, but I do think she enjoyed the time with the family. She finished that chemo round on Sunday so she should get 3 or 4 days of good health before she starts it again for 3 more weeks. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
GOOD NEWS
12-22-09 Kecia just got the results back from her full body bone scan last week and her bones are STILL CANCER FREE! What a HUGE answer to prayer. The last spot on her brain is still there of course but the doctors considered this to be a big "test" for how well the chemo has been keeping the cancer at bay. They really didn't want to see any new growth while she was still on such strong chemo or it would have meant that her cancer was resistent to it and they were unable to stop the growth. Last year, Kecia was in the hospital on Thanksgiving and again through the whole Christmas celebration. You can imagine how happy we are that she will be home with us for a Christmas that she was told she would never see! God bless each of you for praying so faithfully for Kecia and our family. MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
12-16-09
Kecia is recovering well from her gamma knife radiation procedure. She had a severe headache for the 3 days following it, but is feeling much better now. She has done a great job of only opening one of her "feel better gifts" (that she received at her luncheon) and is really enjoying them. The day following her surgery she opened 4 presents and she justified it by saying that the RX instructs her to open "as needed for joy" and she felt that it would take 4 suprises to make up for her procedure. So far she has opened a Snuggie, a chocolate candle, body lotion, a Bible with her name engraved, a really cool Bible reference book that lets you look up any topic and find verses about it in the Bible, a Wal-Mart gift card (that she used part of to buy herself a silver cross neckless and earrings, and a few others that I can't recall right now. She has really enjoyed getting to open a surpise every day and I am SO GRATEFUL to the women of Marsh Lane Baptist who thought of that cute idea and all those who contributed!
On a more serious note, Kecia has asked that I post a request for prayer on a specific matter. She is really battling with bouts of depression and knows that it is something stronger than she can conquer on her own. She knows that she is so fortunate to even be here after getting such a grim prognosis a year and a half ago. She has an amazing army of prayer warriors and the constant support of so many wonderful people. She goes back and forth between feeling so grateful ,and questioning why God is letting these things happen to her. When she starts feeling depressed and questioning God, she feels guilty about it and that just fuels the unhealthy cycle. If you could pray for Kecia on this matter it would mean so much to her.
On a more serious note, Kecia has asked that I post a request for prayer on a specific matter. She is really battling with bouts of depression and knows that it is something stronger than she can conquer on her own. She knows that she is so fortunate to even be here after getting such a grim prognosis a year and a half ago. She has an amazing army of prayer warriors and the constant support of so many wonderful people. She goes back and forth between feeling so grateful ,and questioning why God is letting these things happen to her. When she starts feeling depressed and questioning God, she feels guilty about it and that just fuels the unhealthy cycle. If you could pray for Kecia on this matter it would mean so much to her.
Friday, December 11, 2009
12-11-09
9:45pm-Jeanie was told that Kecia was done with the radiation and heading back to have the
halo removed
1015pm-Jeanie was taken back to Kecia's room to wait for her...released shortly after
11;45pm-they headed for home
Sorry it took me so long to update this last bit, I worked today and didn't get the full story from Kecia until late this afternoon. It goes as follows:
Kecia ended up spending 7 hours laying on her back on top of 2 metal beams (they had to remove the "padding" in order to bend her body in the positions they needed). She was not allowed to take any of her pain meds that day. It took about 30 minutes to do each lesion and they would let her sit up for a few minutes between each. She said that she just had keep praying "God, please give me the strength to one more", because each time they would do a new one they had to use a screwdriver type thing to pull and push her skull into the correct alignment. She could actually feel her skull moving inside her head. It creeped her out very much and she had the overwhelming sensation that she just had to get out of there. But it kept going and going because they found not 4, but 12 lesions that had to be lasered. (don't know if I told you that in the last update) They were able to get 11 of them, but one of the original 4 had shrunk during earlier treatments and in doing so, moved outside the spectrum in which they were working. (I know that sounds confusing but it's hard to explain in just a few sentences) They will watch it closely and possibly do a different gamma radiation that will require several treatments, but no halo or long treatments like this one. So many people were praying that Kecia would feel the presence of God and his host of angels as they surrounded her and kept her safe. She appreciates those prayers because they worked. She did feel His presence and was greatly comforted by it. In fact, she said if it hadn't been for that, she doesn't know how she could have stayed like that for so long and would surely have made the doctors stop half way through.
halo removed
1015pm-Jeanie was taken back to Kecia's room to wait for her...released shortly after
11;45pm-they headed for home
Sorry it took me so long to update this last bit, I worked today and didn't get the full story from Kecia until late this afternoon. It goes as follows:
Kecia ended up spending 7 hours laying on her back on top of 2 metal beams (they had to remove the "padding" in order to bend her body in the positions they needed). She was not allowed to take any of her pain meds that day. It took about 30 minutes to do each lesion and they would let her sit up for a few minutes between each. She said that she just had keep praying "God, please give me the strength to one more", because each time they would do a new one they had to use a screwdriver type thing to pull and push her skull into the correct alignment. She could actually feel her skull moving inside her head. It creeped her out very much and she had the overwhelming sensation that she just had to get out of there. But it kept going and going because they found not 4, but 12 lesions that had to be lasered. (don't know if I told you that in the last update) They were able to get 11 of them, but one of the original 4 had shrunk during earlier treatments and in doing so, moved outside the spectrum in which they were working. (I know that sounds confusing but it's hard to explain in just a few sentences) They will watch it closely and possibly do a different gamma radiation that will require several treatments, but no halo or long treatments like this one. So many people were praying that Kecia would feel the presence of God and his host of angels as they surrounded her and kept her safe. She appreciates those prayers because they worked. She did feel His presence and was greatly comforted by it. In fact, she said if it hadn't been for that, she doesn't know how she could have stayed like that for so long and would surely have made the doctors stop half way through.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Gamma Knife Radiation 12-10-09
Kecia has had a very long and exhausting day. So far it has gone something like this....
6:00am-checked into hospital
7:00am-try to find vein to start IV-have a little trouble but eventually got it
7:45am-gave Kecia some "happy juice" to help with her nerves and anxiety
8:20am-took her back to the OR to put on her halo-it went much better than Kecia was
originally told. Instead of drilling holes into her skull to hold the halo in place, they
used a different kind that only had to be screwed in by hand and only went through
the skin and barely into the skull-(HUGE praise for that one) this part only took
about 20 minutes
8:50am-Kecia gave mom the thumbs up sign and a big (drunken) smile as they wheeled her
back for the "special" MRI. Kecia said "it was alot easier than I thought..it went okay"
11:00- finally back from MRI in the room with Jeanie, slept alot while they waited for doctors
to map the legions on the gamma knife machine..took several hours as it is so precise
2:40pm-wheeled back to begin gamma knife radiation
5:30pm-doctor came out to talk to Jeanie since it would still be several more hours..told her
once they saw the images from the "special" MRI they found that there were not
just 4 spots, but 14. Of the original spots, 1 was the size of a dime, 3 were the size of
sunflower seeds and the 10 new ones were the size of a pin head..they were undetect-
able with the normal MRI's. Not sure if these are new or just now being detected..not
sure if they are dead or alive without a biopsy but they lasered them of course and will
be dead when they are done. Doctor said this is not uncommon and he is not suprised
although we all were and I could hear Jeanie's concern about it through the phone.
Doctor went back in to finish and said it could be several hours.
7:10pm-still in surgery..Jeanie hadn't heard any more..will let us know when she does
I have heard from so many people who are diligently praying for Kecia today. I assure you, those prayed are felt and greatly appreciated! We love ya'll...Jen
6:00am-checked into hospital
7:00am-try to find vein to start IV-have a little trouble but eventually got it
7:45am-gave Kecia some "happy juice" to help with her nerves and anxiety
8:20am-took her back to the OR to put on her halo-it went much better than Kecia was
originally told. Instead of drilling holes into her skull to hold the halo in place, they
used a different kind that only had to be screwed in by hand and only went through
the skin and barely into the skull-(HUGE praise for that one) this part only took
about 20 minutes
8:50am-Kecia gave mom the thumbs up sign and a big (drunken) smile as they wheeled her
back for the "special" MRI. Kecia said "it was alot easier than I thought..it went okay"
11:00- finally back from MRI in the room with Jeanie, slept alot while they waited for doctors
to map the legions on the gamma knife machine..took several hours as it is so precise
2:40pm-wheeled back to begin gamma knife radiation
5:30pm-doctor came out to talk to Jeanie since it would still be several more hours..told her
once they saw the images from the "special" MRI they found that there were not
just 4 spots, but 14. Of the original spots, 1 was the size of a dime, 3 were the size of
sunflower seeds and the 10 new ones were the size of a pin head..they were undetect-
able with the normal MRI's. Not sure if these are new or just now being detected..not
sure if they are dead or alive without a biopsy but they lasered them of course and will
be dead when they are done. Doctor said this is not uncommon and he is not suprised
although we all were and I could hear Jeanie's concern about it through the phone.
Doctor went back in to finish and said it could be several hours.
7:10pm-still in surgery..Jeanie hadn't heard any more..will let us know when she does
I have heard from so many people who are diligently praying for Kecia today. I assure you, those prayed are felt and greatly appreciated! We love ya'll...Jen
Monday, December 7, 2009
12-07-09
A HUGE thank you to all the ladies that showed up to support Kecia at her honorary luncheon on Saturday. She felt horrible physically but so encouraged emotionally! We had lots of good food, fellowship and encouragement. Kecia left with a huge box of gifts and an RX that instructed her to open one package per day as needed for cheer. She got so many that she will still be opening long after the first of the year.
Kecia has a big week planned so keep her in your prayers. On Tuesday she goes in for bone scans of her whole body. They are checking to make sure that there is no new cancer growth and that everything is inactive in all the right places. On Wednesday she goes in for fluid infusion and possibly a transfusion if her white counts are still too low. On Thursday she has the gamma knife radiation/surgery. She will be at the hospital all day but due to the rigerous schedule that she will be on, moving from place to place, she is asking that no visitors come by for this one. As long as all goes well, she will be home that same night. This will be a less than pleasant experience so please pray for Kecia and Jeanie as they tackle yet another big hurdle.
Her ear infection is still not healing up and she is concerned about what could be causing the continuous infection. She hopes to get some answers at her visit tomorrow. I'll update on the surgery as soon as I know something.
Kecia has a big week planned so keep her in your prayers. On Tuesday she goes in for bone scans of her whole body. They are checking to make sure that there is no new cancer growth and that everything is inactive in all the right places. On Wednesday she goes in for fluid infusion and possibly a transfusion if her white counts are still too low. On Thursday she has the gamma knife radiation/surgery. She will be at the hospital all day but due to the rigerous schedule that she will be on, moving from place to place, she is asking that no visitors come by for this one. As long as all goes well, she will be home that same night. This will be a less than pleasant experience so please pray for Kecia and Jeanie as they tackle yet another big hurdle.
Her ear infection is still not healing up and she is concerned about what could be causing the continuous infection. She hopes to get some answers at her visit tomorrow. I'll update on the surgery as soon as I know something.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
12-2-09 I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were happy that Kecia was home with us, and not in the hospital like last year. She was feeling pretty bad, but she was determined to spend time with the family so she had us pull the recliner into the family. She ate a tiny bit of mashed potatoes and green beans and the cuddled under her blankets and slept. We are hoping that she will feel better for Christmas.
She called this morning and asked me to send out an update asking for prayer again. She has a horrible ear infection. She has been battling it for almost 3 weeks and it just keeps getting worse. It's so bad that they normally would drain it to release the infection, but her white blood counts are so low they don't want to make any openings in her skin where other infections (mainly staff) can get in. She on medications but even with her normal pain meds this is hurting her very bad! She is concerned about her gamma radiation which is scheduled for the 10th. If she isn't infection free with higher counts, they won't be able to proceed. Thanks for your prayers and support in these areas!
She called this morning and asked me to send out an update asking for prayer again. She has a horrible ear infection. She has been battling it for almost 3 weeks and it just keeps getting worse. It's so bad that they normally would drain it to release the infection, but her white blood counts are so low they don't want to make any openings in her skin where other infections (mainly staff) can get in. She on medications but even with her normal pain meds this is hurting her very bad! She is concerned about her gamma radiation which is scheduled for the 10th. If she isn't infection free with higher counts, they won't be able to proceed. Thanks for your prayers and support in these areas!
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