Day 4 /3

Feeling a little better today, cross seems a little lighter to bear. Yesterday morning I spiked a fever again, BP went down, HR went up, O2 went down. They were afraid that I was having a repeat of Friday, but things seemed to calm down which is good. Today hasn't been nearly as exciting and I feel pretty decent. I'm just so thankful that I've finally made it to day 4. This round has taken FOREVER. At least I'll be home for Easter.

Finally, Day 2 /3

Back on track today as they've restarted the chemo. One day closer to being 75% done!! Today was a pretty good day. I've been fighting a headache which they say is from the LP- not sure how long that will last. It dawned on me this morning that this is the start of holy week and as much as I dislike the current journey that I'm on, it brings me closer to understanding the meaning of Easter. Without a cross, it is very difficult to follow Christ or understand what he did for us. Obviously all of us have our cross, mine happens to be big and hard to miss. Carrying it has allowed me to participate in Jesus' sacrifice, to relate a little better to Christ. Even though I won't be able to attend any Holy week services, I feel closer to Jesus this Easter than any other. I pray that as I bear my cross, I won't become bitter but rather that I'll have a greater appreciation of what our Lord did for us. That I'll be more motivated to follow and to serve. And after we've won this battle (and had a great party) I pray that God shows me how I can use this experience to serve Him better.
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. ~Matthew 16:24

Out of the ICU

Last night was a little eventful as a low resting heart rate worried the nurses and I ended up getting a couple EKG's and more blood. Today, I got moved back to the oncology floor. They found an unwanted bacteria (from all the antibiotics) in my intestine so now the thought is that might have been the cause of my fevers. We'll know more as tests come back next week. In the meantime, they hope to restart the chemo in the next day or 2. Other than a headache, I feel pretty good today. Lisa flew in for the weekend, it was good to see her and a nice break for mom.
Thanks for all your prayers!!!

A better day!

Janna is much improved today. They moved her to the ICU about 5:00 last night. The doctors are amazed at the rapid change this morning. (I should have shared the secret that you prayer warriors already know!) The fever broke about 4:00 am, she is no longer on oxygen, her pulse and blood pressure have stabilized. She still has septis but is much better. She is alert and responsive, eating scrambled eggs and a toasted muffin as I type. We don't know when she will leave ICU or when they will continue the chemo.

There are much better days in her future and we indeed have hope. We will be joining you in prayer at 7:11 and 10:11. Janna has the best friends ever!

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:18

Ida May

A rough day

This is hard to write. Janna is very sick. She started the day with 105 fever. The nurses have been fighting all day to bring it down to 102. The CT scans from today show she has pneumonia. Her blood pressure is very low. She is on oxygen, another antibiotic, much fluid, and being closely monitored. They have stopped the chemo for now. We are grateful that the spinal fluid was clear...no cancer cells there. Janna is very tired but I think peaceful. She never complains. I know you are all concerned so thought I'd give a short update. Please continue your prayers, you are holding her (and us) up! Tomorrow will be a better day.

Ida May

Message for Janna currently not working

I'm sorry to report that the ability to add additional messages for Janna is currently out of order. Blogger has been notified and should be fixed soon. Until then, you can put messages under this post.

Hold that thought...

I was getting used to the thought of not having to start the chemo today and was excited to have a weekend when I felt good and could hang out with friends. And then the phone rang - it's KU telling me that Dr McGuirk wants me to start my chemo today. Ughh, wish the communication was a little better. I don't know what I'm feeling right now but it is not a sense of peace. I pray that God gives that feeling back to me! So, guess I'll head home to pack up my bags and head to the hospital. The chemo will be getting started late so I probably won't get to go home until Tuesday :(

Not quite right...

I didn't feel quite right most of the day Wednesday and sure enough, yesterday afternoon I spiked a fever. Since fevers and chemo don't go very well together, round 3 has been postponed - probably outwards of a week. They drew another blood culture (#5 for those counting) and I'm back on IV antibiotics. Hopefully the fever will go away today and I'll feel good this weekend. (There is basketball to be watched!) Just have to remember that there is "perfect timing" for everything and today was obivously not it for chemo.

Day 20 /2 - Feelin' Good!

Well, the sun was shining and I felt good on Tuesday. No fevers and the surgeon said that she couldn't find anything (however wouldn't rule out needing to take action in the future). I am so grateful to have a couple days where I feel good before restarting the fight. Thursday should be the start of Round 3. Hard to believe that in just a few days, I'll be 75% done with the chemo!
Praises: fevers gone, good appetite, able to work, spring is almost here and fabulous prayer warriors and support group!!
Prayer requests for this round: no infections, no fevers, "stomach of steel," continued peace and strength, peace about selection of transplant sight.

Day 19 /2 Spared the spine!

No fever so far today! I'm going to my surgeon tomorrow to rule out 1 other possible cause for the fevers, but looks like I'm going to get to keep all my spinal fluid! Yea. I'll let you know the final word tomorrow, but for now I'm just going to enjoy feeling pretty good. It looks like I'm still scheduled to start round 3 on Thursday.
I can't thank all of you enough for your continued encouragement, prayers and support!!!

Day 18 /2 Ready to feel good

Unfortunately, today makes day 9 of fever which is very frustrating and exhausting. I had really looked forward to a week of feeling good before starting my next round of chemo and so far that just hasn't been in the plan. I've been on 4 antibiotics, an antiviral, antifungal, had 4 blood cultures, (and lots of other stuff cultured) but no answers can be found. Tomorrow they said they'll be checking my spinal fluid - yea. I just keep praying that God's hand is somehow active in all of this. I know that some day we'll all be able to see the plan, but right now it is very difficult.
Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me. ~ Psalm 86: 6-7

Day 16 /2 Fever Fever Go Away!

Just a quick entry to ask for prayers that my fever will break. They're still spiking to 102-103 if I don't take Tylenol. I dont feel that sick, but my doctors really don't like fevers "with unknown origin" so I REALLY need them to stop. Prayer is the best treatment I could think of! Thanks.

Day 15 /2 - Up and Down we go

Well, unfortunately, took a bit of a backslide in the past day. Still tired and I started getting dizzy, terrible headache, fever :( When I went to the clinic this morning they drew labs and my Hgb is even lower (7.0) which means my anemia is not improving and can probably account for most if not all of my symptoms. KU's protocol is to not give you blood unless you're less than 7 and I've been hovering down there since I was in the hospital. Today they FINALLY agreed to give me a transfusion since I was "symptomatic" - not sure what they call the fatigue over the past week, but I'll try not to be bitter. If it's like the last time, the blood should make me feel much better. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be back on the right track!
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it ~John 1:5

Day 13 /2

So, who really needs platelets... or red cells ... or white cells anyway???
I think my fever is pretty much gone today but honestly, I haven't checked (don't tell McGuirk). I'm still pretty tired but to be expected since I pretty much don't have any blood cells left, and what I do have they've taken in labs and blood cultures. ;) Tomorrow morning I'll get a platelet transfusion and by then the "marrow stimulating" shot that I get each round should be kicking in, so it should be up-n-up from here! Today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be even better!

Day 11 /2 - Like Clockwork...

To no surprise, my WBC's dropped Friday, fever started Saturday. (for anyone counting, that makes 4x, how many times does it take to make a pattern??) Anyway, I didn't really feel bad, but just to be safe I have to jump through all the hoops - blood cultures, IV antibiotics, more waiting at clinics... Fever is down today, I'm optimistic that it won't be coming back and that all the cultures will be negative. The good news is that the fever conveniently arrived after a lunch with friends and before the Big 12 Champ game! :) I think I'll spend a couple more nights with Mom and Dad and then head home until round 3. I was able to work a couple days last week and plan to work this week as well - praise God!

Day 9 /2 - Crested the hill!!

Praise God, I'm feeling back to human again! Yesterday was fair, but today I can really feel the difference. I have a cold which really doesn't excite my doctors, but overall, feeling good. Labs this morning show that the chemo is once again doing it's job (good thing, because I'm not going through this for nothing! :) My WBC's have dropped to 0.5 which means no crowds, bball watching parties or dancing for me this weekend. Maybe since the numbers are falling faster than last time, I'll rebound faster as well!! In any case, glad to be back among the living!
...and with his stripes, we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53:5

Day 7/2; Faith of Levi...

Not bouncing back quite as quickly as I had hoped this time. Today I'm finally feeling the fog lift a bit but still not too great. (I'm now wearing an electric stim bracelet to try and alleviate the side effects) So much easier to be confident in God's plan on the good days, probably need to remind myself of those a little more often during these valleys. As the days have passed, I've tried to focus on the faith of children because they aren't as cynical as the rest of us. Oh what I wouldn't give right now to have that unclouded faith that God so desires for all of us. I've been told that Levi, a special little boy, prays, "Lord God, Jesus God, be with Janna as she gets better." - completely bypassing the request for healing because he already knows that healing is in God's plan. Just that God be by my side until the healing comes to pass. And people wonder why I chose to spend my life caring for children.
Let us then approach the throne with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:16

Day 5, Cycle 2

Good news, they're going to let me go "home" today. It will be late, but at least I'm out of the hospital and back in a comfortable surrounding. I will go to Mom and Dad's to recover for a day or so and then see how things are going. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers - I need your words as mine have been few. It's been difficult staying "up" the past few days, but have faith that tomorrow will be better!

Day 4, Cycle 2

Well, I'm 80% done with the 2nd round of chemo and counting the hours until it's over. This chemo is so nasty and makes me feel awful - it's hard to remember that I'm doing it to get better. No crazy fevers or weird rashes. My WBC's haven't fallen nearly as low this time as they did the first round but I think I might feel a little worse, not sure if that's good or bad. All I know is that I'm ready to get out of here and back on the mend. Please pray for the peace that only God can provide, strength to get through the chemo and that the chemo is destroying the cancer as we speak. Today is rough, but tomorrow is a new day.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion. ~ Psalm 103: 2-3

March 5 - day 2

In spite of beautiful sunshine and a corner room with 9 window, today has been tough. Janna is fighting nausea and a fever (thankfully not as high as round 1). Today is one of those days when I need to be reminded frequently of Romans 8:28 (it is engraved on a bracelet given to me by a dear friend) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Failing to see any other good, I see those nasty cancer cells disappearing. Looking forward to a better tomorrow...
Ida May

Continuing the Fight

Still on schedule to start Round 2 tomorrow morning. I feel strong and am ready to continue the fight. I've been blessed with some great prayer meetings this week and tonight Fr Jerry gave me a blessing which included water from Lourdes. I continue to feel at peace knowing that God is walking by my side through this and have faith that his grace will sustain. I pray that this round will go even more smoothly than the first and plan to be "home" on Monday and back to work next week!
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the ful armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.
~ Ephesians 6:10-11

Day 19

Just a quick update. I had a great weekend, good energy, no fevers, good appetite, able to catch up with lots of friends... Thanks to everyone who made Saturday night possible - it was amazing.
I saw the doctors today, my counts are good and we're still on schedule - PICC #2 will be placed Wednesday morning and I'll start Chemo round #2 on Thursday. If anything changes, I'll send an update!
And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. ~ Isaiah 65:24