You would all be so proud of our girl! She went out in public with no hat and no wig this week. She has really struggled with the self image problems that face many woman in her situation. She purchased a wig, but found that during her menapausal heat flashes that it was unbearably hot. It looked adorable on her, but she only wore it a few times. She opted instead to wear her trusty old baseball cap...to the doctor...to the store...,and to church. She joined me the other day to venture out on a small excursion to find a birthday gift for one of my daughters. I noticed immediately that she was "bare headed". She bravely choose to wear only a braided headband. Her hair is only about an inch or two high, but it is getting thicker every day. She checked into getting extensions put in but they can't do that until her hair is at least 3 inches long. When I asked what prompted her decision to go capless she said that it was time for her to deal with the fact that she has "no hair" and do the best she can with it. She "girled" herself up with painted nails, dangly earrings, and new lipstick, and off we went. We didn't get far before she was exhausted, hot and limping, but that's not the point! This is a personal triumph for Kecia and I am so proud of her! She asked me to put this on her blog because she knew you would all celebrate this small (yet, so big) milestone with her.

Kecia had her first round of chemo on the new schedule yesterday. It is a much higher dose than previously, but she would only need to get it once a month instead of every week. She was very hopeful that this would allow her less down time and more productive time. At first, she reported feeling pretty good...a little nausea and tired but okay. However, by late afternoon today she began experiencing a rather painful side effect. Her feet used to be numb and tingly, now they feel like they are on fire. They are red and hot to the touch. She can barely walk and is in excruciating pain when she has to get out of bed. She said she keeps checking because it feels like they are actually blistering. She read the info sheet and it says that these are normal side effects,in addition to cracking and bleeding. Kecia is disappointed because she was so excited about feeling good again and getting back to normal. These thoughts then leave her feeling guilty because she knows she should be thankful and not "crying about a little thing like her feet." I assured her that it is perfectly normal to be thankful for the fact that she is recovering and still cry when her feet burn like fire! Please remember her in your prayers. Ask that the Lord guide her doctor's decisions as she adjusts Kecia's medications and tries to regulate her schedule to allow Kecia a "normal" life while still keeping cancer at bay.

Update

When I spoke with Kecia earlier this afternoon she was pretty upset about the news she was given from her surgeon-to be. She told Kecia that they could not do the reconstruction at the time of her mastectomy and that it would not only be 2 surgeries as Kecia has feared, but 3. Based on her estimated time table she thought they could meet with the reconstruction specialist next week, the anesthesiologist the following week and coordinate the first surgery for sometime in the next two months. She would leave the hospital in about 5-7 days with a drainage tube from the breasts that would need to be cared for daily until removed about a month later. And then they would begin preparation for the next surgery. It may seem like a little thing when sitting on the other side of the fence, but for Kecia who was thinking things would move a little quicker (and therefore closer to recovery) all the waiting is very unnerving. She was feeling discouraged and sad and got off the phone to take a nap. (side note: I found out later that she did NOT take a nap, but did some work on the computer instead...just like Kecia!) Anyway, she called a few hours later in much better spirits with the news that the doctor's office had called and already had her set up for a meeting with the reconstruction specialist for Thurdsay morning and the anesthesiologist Friday. Just feeling like the "ball is rolling" helped her get through that discouraging hump. She also has an appointment with the infectious disease specialist for her bacterial infection on Thursday afternoon so I should have alot to report on by the end of the week. Please pray that they will find a way to treat and beat this bacterial infection. Also, during this whole ordeal, and interesting thing happened (or should I say, another interest thing) Kecia has torn her house apart looking for the paperwork about a previous lumpecotomy she had back in '98. Her doctor had said it would be very useful information for the surgeon to have and review before working on Kecia. She couldn't find it anywhere and couldn't remember who the surgeon had been. Then, through a very strange twist of events, the surgeon that her doctor so highly recommended she use, suddenly broke her back and is forced to retire from surgery and will now only be teaching the trade. So, disappointed that "the best in the field" is no longer available, she calls a few of his other referrals. One doesn't accept insurance, and the other left Kecia with a really bad feeling. She ended up meeting with one from her insurance list that someone else recommended and after speaking with her Kecia is astonished to learn that this woman is partners with the surgeon who operated on Kecia in '98. She told Kecia, "Oh yes, I have all of your records and I've already looked them over and feel very comfortable with the planned procedure." Just a coincidence? I think not! How cool is that!!!! I don't know about ya'll, but I feel so honored to be a part of this amazing journey with Kecia. Certainly, if I could, I would take it all away for her. But since I can't, I am so proud to be one of the people who gets to take this walk with her and I must say that I am learning so much along the way. I'm so glad that you all chose to join us!

Update 03/23/2009

Well, once again our celebration is overshadowed by bad news. Kecia has been battling a urinary track infection for about 2 weeks. Not suprising since her counts are still alot lower than that of someone with a healthy immune system and it takes her longer to heal or recover from even small stuff. She wasn't really concerned but due to the discomfort of it, she brought it up to the doctor again. They did some testing and called today to tell her that not only does she have a bacterial infection, but it is not treatable. How many times is she going to hear that she has something that doctors can't really do anything about? She is very frusterated and emotionally tired of this rollercoaster. The pure joy that came from being told she was beating cancer is immesurable and then to be told that she has contracted a deadly infection that will probably kill her is just too much to comprehend. She's starting to wonder.."w hat is God doing to me...? How much more..?" and it's just so hard to accept. My heart is breaking for her. I have total belief that God has brought her to this place for a reason, but I know this would be much easier for her to deal with if He chose to reveal Himself to her. Her doctor is making her an appointment with an infectious disease specialist to see what options she has and what he recommends for her. All this, on top of her appointment tomorrow to determine what type of mastectomy she will have. Not to mention, that while all of this is going on, Kecia is still working full time from home. She is a perfectionist and takes great pride in her work. She is extreamly thankful to her managment team as they have bent over backwords to accomodate her every need. But her worries about not keeping up with her work load is putting alot of stress on her right now. She is just emotionally overloaded and needs o ur prayers! I will update as soon as I know anything tomorrow.

Update 03/21/2009

How many of you are still in the WOW stage from Kecia's last update? I spent the day with Kecia. First we met at church, stayed for a luncheon, then to Grandad's to cut coupons while baby boy napped. Once he awakened we wisked the children to a drop off point where I handed them off to their daddy, and away Kecia and I went to do our grocery shopping. You may not realize what a HUGE deal that is, but 3 months ago she could barely get to the bathroom. I expected her to ride that motorized cart thing, but she insisted on walking...slowly...and kindof limpy...but walking the whole way! She is still in pain but nothing like before. She has decreased her pain meds to an "only as needed" basis (which Im sure will be tonight after her big day) I have realized two areas where Kecia is in need of prayer though. First, the Herceptin that she takes weekly has caused a condition for which I can't remember the name, but it makes her feet numb which is another reason that she has trouble walking and needs to shuffle her feet in order to prevent falling. That is annoying, but manageable. Unfortunately, her feet started tingling a few weeks ago and her doctors say that is also the effect of this chemo. She says the tingling is the same as when your foot is asleep and you can't feel it and then it gets those horrible prickly pains all over it. For us, that would only last a few minutes. For Kecia, it has been going on for over a week. The constant pain and discomfort in her feet is causing her to have restless leg syndrome and makes it very hard to sleep. Obviously, this is one of those areas where we can help by lifting this concern up to the Lord. Also, I think the realization that she is about to enter the hospital "a full woman" and leave it without breasts has really hit her hard the last few days. She wants them removed because it is necessary for her in order to avoid a relapse, but how difficult this must be for her. There is a chance that she can have reconstruction done at the same time so the physical shock would be lessened which would in turn reduce the inner turmoil that comes from this type of surgery. She is preparing herself for the fact that it might not be the case for her and she will have to deal with the physical loss of her breasts. She really needs our prayers and uplifting words during this time. Please join me as I pray that God will send her an inner peace to handle whatever surgery she is faced with. Also, if you get a minute, drop a card in the mail or make a quick call just to check on her. She is feeling good enough to take calls and have visitors and go places now, so this would be a great time to see if you can hook up with her. She has a doctors appt on Tuesday to discuss the type of surgery she will need. We'll let you know how that goes. As always, we appreciate each and every one of you!

PS Jeanie (kecia's mom) got a call on Friday that one of her long time, best friends has a grapefruit sized tumor in her stomach. They are doing a biopsy to determine malignancy but she will need surgery to remove it either way. Her name is Carmen.

Update

Since our latest big news, Kecia has been busy making appointments, meeting with doctors, and doing research on her mastectomy procedure. She got her first round of lower dosed chemo late last week. It was MUCH better than the usual but still left her in bed "sleeping it off" for 3 days. She has already bounced back quite nicely and has been very busy. She had another breast sonogram done and has an appt. with the surgeon who will do the mastectomy on Tuesday. At that time they will schedule the surgery and give her all the details as to what she can expect. She is excited and optimistic as she knows this will be one more big step out of the way, but as with all surgeries she is somewhat apprehensive. They have told her that there is a chance that she will be able to have reconstructive surgery done at the same time which would greatly reduce the mental anguish over loosing her breasts. Most of you don't get to see Kecia on a regular basis and she forbid me from putting her "cancer pictures" up on the web, so you haven't seen the dramatic physical changes that have occurred in her over the past 9 months. I reported to you that she had lost all of her hair, including eye lashes and eye brows. During the 10 dry weeks without chemo, Kecia started getting her facial hair back and a small bit of fuzz on her head. (we teased that she looked a lot like a chea pet) I am happy to report that her buzz cut is now thick enough that no scalp can be seen. She hasa nice thick helmet of black hair. (and boy is it soft like a baby's) It's only about an inch long but it's a nice start. She looks great...even healthy! I can't tell you how good it feels to report good news! Thank God for miracles! Hopefully the worst is behind us, but please stick with us and continue to pray for Kecia regularly. I have absolutely no doubt that they are what pulled her through this difficult time and we want you with us until the end. Thanks for your continued support...

OUTSTANDING news!!!

Prayer Warriors, I've been sitting infront of this computer trying to think of a way to say this that would do it justice..but the words won't come to me. Nothing I think of, can convey the full range of emotions that I feel right now. So I will just say it. Kecia was given her results from the scans that were taken last week and she is in remission! There is NO ACTIVE CANCER IN HER BODY! I dare someone to tell her this isn't a GOD thing!! He is so amazing. He waits until she has been chemo free for a good 10 weeks and then heals her so that credit can't be given to the medicine. Kecia's doctor was beaming when he gave her the news. And he can't explain her recovery medically since he had already told her "there is no cure for cancer once it is in the bones, but we are close to a cure and we'll just keep you around until the cure is found." Too bad for him cause God did it first! Technically, Kecia is n ot cured..she is in remission which is different. She will still need to have both the mastectomy and hysterectomy in order to prevent future growth but just a month ago, her doctor didn't know that she would ever be physically able to handle the surgeries so that was still in question. Now, he is talking about doing the mastectomy early May and the other later in the summer. We had been looking toward the summer as Kecia's "light at the end of the tunnel" to mark her journey as half over through the worst part, but now we are thinking that this summer may actually be the "end of the tunnel" when life returns to a more normal state for her. At church the other day our pastor called on us to gather around members of the church who were in need of God's assistance and pray over them as a group. About 25 people gathered around Kecia and prayed for her. Anyone who knows Kecia well, knows that this is way out of her com fort zone and she felt a little wierd being the center of attention, but she was thankful that so many people care about and pray for her. Today, after hearing the results, she joked that the pastor should have had them "lay hands" on her alot sooner so she could have just skipped all that chemo! Join me tonight as I hit my knees hard in a prayer of thanksgiving because God is good all the time....and all the time God is good! She will still need to do the lower doses of chemo until all of the surgeries are completed and possibly for awhile afterwards, but it shouldn't be nearly as hard on her as the high doses were. We are praying that she will continue to respond favorably to the treatments and handle the chemo without too much discomfort. I can't possibly tell you all how much we love and appreciate you! There are no words that can accuratly express our thanks. Having you all here beside us every step of the way makes the sorrow easier to bear and the good news better to share! But don't leave us yet. We're not finished with this journey and we want ya'll here all the way. (written by Jennifer, posted by Lacey)

More Good News!

Prayer Warriors,

I am so sorry to keep you waiting but we just got the call from Kecia's doctor. They have set up a meeting one week from today (next Tuesday) to sit down together. They will go over the scans, discuss results and any new courses of action. He said her scans look good. There is no new cancer growth even though she has been without the Taxitere (the strong stuff) for 8 weeks. In addition, several of her tumors are still shrinking! For these reasons, he wants to let her have another week "on break" from the Taxitere because, while it is the most powerful cancer fighter, it is also the most damaging to her body. She is doing great without it and it seems that the Herceptin (less powerful "maintenance" chemo) is doing just fine. She is SO excited! I can't even tell you how good she has felt over the past week in comparison to the two previous months. She actually drove herself to my house yesterday. (her mom was with her, but Kecia drove) Praise God!
I mentioned in my last update that the woman doing Kecia's sonogram had a very difficult time even finding the tumor. That is because it is so small now it is no longer technically a "tumor". Now it is just a legion with no active cancer growth!!! Her doctor is actually starting to discuss the surgery which is a huge deal because he was afraid they may not be able to do it based on the type of cancer Kecia has. Now, he is positive they will be able to do the surgery and they will discuss that next week. Thank you all for sharing in the ups and downs of this journey with us. We have no doubt that even the faintest of our prayers is heard, but there is something so reassuring about knowing that our prayers go up to Heaven like the bold cheers at a stadium game instead of like a fearful whisper in the night. Your numbers bring us encouragement! We are so thankful for each and every one of you!

Good News!

Hello everyone,

Don't know much yet. Kecia finished the last of her scans and testing this afternoon. She sounded great on the phone. Very upbeat and feeling pretty good physically. She won't get the results until next week, but she did say that when they were doing the sonogram on her breast they tech couldn't find the cancer! She kept asking Kecia "now where is the mass"? She did eventually find the dark spot but it was much thinner and less dense than the last time it was done. Her platelet counts are up to 90! Can you believe that! Kecia is so relieved by all this and feels very hopeful about the results to come. YEAH! We love good news! Have a great weekend and don't forget to give credit (and thanks) where it is due!!!! We love ya'll Jen and family

Update 2/22/2009

A few weeks ago Kecia told her mom "you know your life is really boring when finding that your favorite snuggly socks are clean and ready to wear again makes you SO happy." If nothing else, Kecia certainly doesn't take the little things for granted anymore!
After being stuck in bed for so many weeks, our girl is finally getting that much needed break. She has had 4 really good days so far. Thursday she and her mom stopped by our house between two doctor visits. She read books to my two little ones and watched the other two perform shows on the trampoline. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside a little and took in some rays. It's amazing how we take for granted a little thing like enjoying the feel of sunshine on our faces. Friday Kecia stayed in and watched a movie with her boyfriend and Saturday afternoon she and Jeanie joined some friends out at our place for dinner. She made it to church this morning and is now at home resting after her busy week.
She is scheduled to have the complete set of scans done next week. She will do them Tue, Wed and Thurs. She hopes to get the results on Friday but they may make her wait until Monday. She is very excited. Each time she has gotten scans they have shown positive results which is a HUGE pick up for Kecia. It makes all those days spent in bed or by the toilet worth it. She is, however, a little apprehensive since it will have been 8 weeks since her last treatment of the "real" chemo. She has had several of the "stabilizing" Herceptin, but none of the "cancer killer" that I can't remember the name of. She is anxious to see if the cancer is still shrinking or if not having that chemo for so long has given it a chance to grow back.

We are so grateful for the past few days that Kecia has had the opportunity to get out of her bed and enjoy the simple things in life. She has color in her cheeks and her face just looks like she feels better. It was so great to see her smile. Thank you for your prayers on that matter. Now we can concentrate our prayers on the scans! So glad you have chosen to take this journey with us.

Kecia update 02/18/09

***Forgot to add: I thought you might all be encouraged to know that Kecia's uncle Eric (with pancreatitis) has gone 7 days without drinking any alcohol! If you knew him, you would know how absolutely AMAZING that is. We are all very suprised, but pleased. Praise God! Thank you all for your prayers! They are working! Jen


After many weeks of sickness Kecia finally had a good day yesterday. She was out of bed and spent several hours catching up on work. It was a much needed break from the mental stress that comes from being sick. She has had an unidentified rash for about a week that they finally determined was a reaction to one of her new medications that was treating her port infection. They are taking care of that with daily benedryl drips at the infusion center and an oral med at home. She started a new medication this morning that they immediately realized was not going to work for her as it made her very jittery and shaky. She won't be taking that again so once it is out of her system she should be okay. She has not been nauseated for a couple of days now which is a HUGE answer to prayer.
I have a meeting with one of our former professors tomorrow (we meet monthly as he is our mentor in the counseling field). Kecia has not been able to attend for a long time and is really wanting to make it tomorrow afternoon. It is a time when we discuss our client load, new ideas for treatment, and our plans for the future. Kecia and I still plan on opening a Christian based private practice once she is healthy and back on her feet. We'd like to start by working with at-risk youth and foster children using equine therapy on a working ranch. Eventually we would like to have a cancer outreach program and family therapy as well. Talking about our dreams and actually making plans really energizes both of us. Kecia finds it so refreshing to focus on "life a year from now" instead of "life with cancer" for a few hours. For that reason, I am praying that God will bless Kecia with another few days of good health so that she can make the meeting and remind herself of yet one more reason that this is all worth the fight.

Kecia Update

Hello prayer warriors,
As you know Kecia has not had the strong chemo for 6 weeks now. Between sickness, low counts, and her port, she has just been unable to get it. I thought this would be good in the sense that her body would have some time to "recoop" and she would have a chance to feel good and be "normal" for a few days. Unfortunatly, she is not feeling well at all. She has basically been in bed for 6 weeks. When I stopped by today she was ill again and looked to be very miserable. She is hardly able to hold anything down which ends up leaving her even more weak and tired. For anyone who has ever been sick for more than a day or two you know how tired you get of being sick...laying around..doing nothing..and feeling bad all over. You can imagine then that after weeks of this, she feels like she just can't take much more of this mentally. She needs a few days to just get her mental and physical strength back. She really needs our prayers in this matter. EVERY SINGLE time we have taken this need to the Lord, He has come through for her. Please join me tonight in lifting this request up so that she can get a few days of needed reprieve.

I am so thankful that I can turn to each of you and know that we are loved and prayed for.
In Him,
Jennifer and Family

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

Update on the family

Dear Prayer Warriors,

Our family is in a very difficult time right now. In addition to the already stated, the situation with my brother (Kecia's uncle) is only getting worse. He has acute pancreatitis. We now understand that if he does not quit drinking alcohol completely he will die. Based on the severity of his symptoms we are led to believe that it would be sometime in the near future. He has lost so much weight, can not eat or drink anything with out throwing up, is often delirious and in a lot of pain. He checked himself out of the critical care unit yesterday morning against medical advice and was back in the hospital last night. Due to the poisons in his body he is often in an altered mental state and making irrational decisions. He lives with my sister and Kecia so all of this is directly affecting both of them. Kecia does not need this kind of stress but it seems unavoidable. Right now he is playing a cat and mouse game with death...in the hospital to stabilize his condition, then out to drink himself into a state of drunkeness that will dull his pain...then back to the hospital and so on. It's difficult to even know how to pray for him. We would love see him make a complete rededication of his life to the Lord and in doing so completely stop drinking. We desperately want him to recover but there is no way that can happen unless he is totally committed to the recovery process. He has tried in the past, but he wants it to be easy and when it's not, he just quits trying. We don't want him to suffer, and Kecia worries that he will collapse someone and die alone and frightened. This is a HUGE burden on her heart. I don't even know what to ask you to pray for other than that God's hand be on our family during this difficult time.

I am reminded of the passage Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified;do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Thank you for your prayers,
Jennifer and family

Kecia's big escape!

Kecia has been sprung!!! She escaped from the hospital around 3pm today. Okay, I said that to be funny, but seriously, she actually felt like she was in danger under the care of the doctor who was overseeing her. Long story short...He really wanted to do surgery on her even though it is very dangerous for her to "go under the knife" right now. She kept talking with HER doctor who kept saying DO NOT DO THE SURGERY! He even went to the hospital and had a "discussion" with the attending physicians. They thought it was all worked out and then she found out that the attending was actually giving her false information in an effort to get her to change her mind. When she called him on it, he actually told her that if she wasn't going to do the surgery then there was no reason for her to stay. Happily, she asked to be discharged and after her doctor called up to order her discharge, they kept her waiting by saying "we have to wait for the signatures of 3 other doctors before you can go." When she finally got out, she went across the street to the Cancer Center where they checked out her port and even accessed it (inserted her needles) with no problem at all. They said it looks good. Still needs to be on antibiotics so she will go to the infusion center tomorrow and see her doctor. If it all still looks good, they will send her home with iv's that she can do herself over the weekend.

Praying for a complete recovery,
Jen and family

News on Kecia

Hello all,
I know most of you are anxiously awaiting some news on Kecia and I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to get back in touch. To add to the drama, my brother (Kecia's uncle) was taken by ambulance to the hospital yesterday after he collapsed at a friend's house. He has been in the critical care unit, but since he was unconscious and couldn't give consent, noone would really tell us anything. It was pretty hectic but all is sorted out now. He has pancreitice (sorry about the spelling) and will be there for several days at least. He should be okay though.
Ok, back to Kecia. Her doctor finally got back in town and went to see her around 6pm today. He looked at her port which is doing great now, and was furious that the other doctors kept insisting that she remove it. Surgery would be very dangerous for her now and the risk of her dying due to surgical complications and her low immune system would be great. He assured her that not only did she do the right thing by standing her ground, but that he would definitely speak to the others about the incident. She will have to stay on IV antibiotics for another day or so and then should be able to get what she needs as an out patient at her regular infusion sessions. She still goes there daily and can get what she needs from them.
Physically Kecia is feeling pretty good since she hasn't had chemo in awhile. We are hoping that she will get out in time to have a few days "off" before going in for another round of chemo. It's time for her to have a few good days and do something other than be sick just to get her spirits back up. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We are so blessed to have you as a part of our lives.
Looking for a miracle,
Jennifer

Kecia Hospitalized

Hello family and friends,

Just wanted to let everyone know that our girl is in the hospital again. This time her levels are not to blame. She has been experiencing a lot of pain from her medi-port (square box implanted under the skin on her chest where medicine and iv's are inserted) and a few days ago they "cleared it" which was very painful for Kecia. They said it was clogged and that was causing the problem but that it should be fine. The pain and swelling got worse so today they did a thorough exam which revealed that it had turned into an infection in the muscle and tissue around the port. She was admitted to Trinity Medical Center in Carrollton (don't know which room yet) around 5pm. She will get continual antibiotics in hopes that it will control the infection. If it does not, she will have to undergo surgery to have that one removed and a new one implanted on the other side of her chest. They do not want to do that because any type of procedure is traumatic to her body and it leaves her with more risks of infection.
She is having some trouble with the surgical staff at the hospital that is leaving her very upset. They are really pushing her to go ahead and sign for the surgery tonight so they can do the surgery in the morning even though her doctor said they would wait a few days. They are upsetting her because they keep saying things like "the infection is close to your heart and we don't want to wait" and "we need to go ahead and do it..what's the problem?" She said she feels stupid and uncertain. We encouraged her to hold her ground and insist that she talk to her doctor before doing anything. Her cancer advocate has put in a call to him and we are waiting to hear back. (One member of the surgical team has come in again since then and tried to push the subject again. I suspect he has plans for later in the weekend and doesn't want to get paged in to do surgery on Sunday and would like to get her out of the way now.) Anyway, she could really use our prayers in the matter of peace of mind. She is alone, drugged up and very vulnerable. Please pray that God's presence will fill her room and give her not only peace, but also strength of mind as she makes important decisions. I will update you as soon as I know more.

Thanks to all who pray for us daily,
Jennifer and family