God is Faithful

As always, God is faithful and doesn't give us more than we can handle! Thank you for all the prayers, esp. over the past 24 hours. My hands and feet have gotten remarkably better! They're not perfect, but I was able to sleep last night, no longer need to constantly have them soaking in cool water and was able to walk around the hospital today without too much discomfort. I know that God always hears our prayers, but it's so nice when His will aligns with my prayers and answers come so quickly! The swelling in my legs is going down steadily and my labs continue to look good. I pray that my appetite continues to return, that I can start taking walks and that life gets a little more "boring" when it comes to my health. I don't need to be the patient with crazy side effects that gets all the consults!
"Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I know that you hear me always" ~John 11:42

Day 30

I wish I had better news, but it's still a struggle around here. My hands and feet are not improving as quickly as I'd hoped, in fact last night was probably the worst they've been. The burning is unbelievable, if I could have slept in the bathtub, I would have. I pray that was the low point and it's just up from here because tolerating anything more will have to be all God - my reserves are exhausted. Maybe that's the lesson. The further along this path that I travel, the less I understand and that's probably part of the trust/faith lesson too.
I went to the doctor yesterday and my labs continue to look very good. The final pathology report was finally back and it was rather inconclusive - looked like it could be early GVH but they couldn't say for sure. The doctor didn't seem too concerned by the report since he said we wouldn't do anything different treatment-wise unless symptoms got worse. For the next 70 days, I'll be watching, waiting and healing. Appointments every Tues and Thurs for labs and to see the doctor. Every day will be better than the last!
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." ~ Isaiah 43:2

Freedom!!!!

It's Day 28 post transplant and I'm finally getting to move to our apt! I guess we'll call this Freedom Phase II. Not feeling too different than yesterday but they figured from this point I can heal out of the hospital just as well as in. Until my hands and feet get better, they said I'd need to come back to the clinic for daily checks, after that I'll only have to go the clinic 2 or 3 times/week. Regardless, I'm just looking forward to feeling a little better each day and can't wait until I get my tastebuds back and can take a walk again!
Have a great week - Happy Monday!!

Day 27 - see the light???

Well it's Day 27 and I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - hallelujah!!! My feet still feel like someone took a potato peeler to them and like I touched an iron with my hands, but I'm able to eat and take the 100 pills they give me each day and no fevers! They still don't know the final biopsy results but seem confident that it's not GVH. They're blaming everything on delayed side effects from the chemo - that's a silver lining since all those side effects should go away, eventually. All my lab work remains very good so all seems well with the transplant! Since I'm off the IV meds and able to eat, I should get discharged from the hospital tomorrow or Tuesday - yea!! It will be sooo nice to be at the apartment, 34 days is a long time to be at the med ctr!
Thanks for everyone's prayers, words of encouragement and nice letters - I couldn't do it without you! I got a card the other day with this quote - not scripture, but feels very appropriate for my current state (maybe this is why my feet feel burned :)
If you're going through hell, keep going. ~Winston Churchill

Day 25

I guess it would be an understatement to say that things haven't gone as I had imagined the past 2 weeks and I'm starting to feel myself wearing down. Each day is slowly getting better, but struggles continue with being able to eat and take my medicine. Since everyone seems surprised that my recovery is so delayed, yesterday they decided to do an upper GI to rule out Graft vs Host (GVH), ulcers... Visually they said that I have gastritis but we won't know the result of the biopsies until tomorrow. I'm still on TPN but am hoping that we can stop it this weekend. Two days ago I decided that I needed a little excitement so ran 104 fever again. Good times, thankfully it lasted less than 24hours. And the newest crazy thing to happen is that I've developed blisters on my palms and very tender hands and feet. Feels like I walked on a really hot pool deck and wasn't smart enough to find the shade. No one knows the cause for this either so must be the stem cells ;)
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” ~Psalm 51:12

Tuesday --- Day 22

It has been a very long 12 days for Janna. This is day 22 since transplant and everyone expected Janna to be out of the hospital COOP by now. But, each day is better than the one before. She is eating small amounts so the doctors are cutting back on the IV feedings. She can swallow pills so they are weaning her off the IV med., her fevers are gone, and she is enjoying walking outside again.

The blood counts are great and the doctors are confident that the transplant is right on track. Hopefully by the end of the week we can go back to the apartment. We are all very weary and that will be a real energizer.

We are taking small steps...all in God's good time....sometimes hard to accept. I'm sure there is a rainbow at the end of this storm.

Please continue to remember Janna in your prayers.

Ida May (mom)

The days keep adding up, I MUST be close!

25 days since admission, 18 days since transplant, 10 days since engraphment, 9 days of fever, 7 days of vomiting, 7 days of not being able to eat, 10 days of severe mucositis (the skin of my entire GI tract has sloughed off). Sorry for the ugliness of this picture, but now you know why Mom's been blogging for me the past several days. And why this will go down as one of the hardest parts of my cancer treatment so far. I actually am starting to feel better today, but still can't eat so they had to start me on TPN/Lipids - nutrition through an IV. Not an ideal situation, but hopefully it will give my body the boost it needs and then we can stop it! They've also put me on a steroid to try and calm down all the inflammation. The good news is that they have no doubt that the transplant has taken and those numbers are looking great. If it wasn't for these crazy side effects, we'd be back to the apt already!