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12/30/08 |
      
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12/29/08 BMT+830
Kellie has
been real busy lately. She has been going to
concerts, plays, and hosting a large blood
drive for United Blood Services.
Now Kellie has
been doing well health wise until last
night. She started with a belly ache that
turned into a fever then turned into her
getting sick. Just like all the other times
with in 24 hours she is back to her cheerful
self. She is on her way to the Wellness
community center for a party.
She has a lot of things on her list for 2009 and they all start with her staying healthy. Please keep her and her friends in your prayers.
Keep praying
it works.
11/22/08 BMT+793
I took Kellie
to Tucson for her IVIG treatment. This was
such a stressful day. Things started off
late because the nurses had a hard time
getting an IV started. I felt so bad for
Kellie having to get her arm squeezed so
hard and tapped for an hour just to find a
good vein. Poke after poke they finely
slipped in a small butterfly blood draw line
in the back of her hand. They normally would
not do that but they just could not get
anything else in.
Before Kellie started the IVIG she needed to be pre medicated for it. She took 2 Tylenol and some Benadryl. Well that set off a whole set of other problems. Kellie is real sensitive to the Benadryl. A normal dose of Benadryl is 25-50 mg and Kellie can only take 7mg. By the time we got everything ready to start it was 11:00. The IVIG was running for about an hour before Kellie started to run a fever, chilling, and not feeing well. She had one of the worst reactions I have ever seen her have on this medication. Kellie's head and back hurt the doctor wanted to help her pain and try to reverse the reaction she was having. But what he needed to do to help her with the medication reaction put her in respiratory distress. She was not looking good for about 45 min. Doctor Graham came by and ordered her to have a high dose of steroids. Once she go it in she started to turn around with in about 15 minutes Wow! I do have to say it was a stressful situation for a while. Grandma Z and Sabrina W. was there during that time. Grandma Z was sitting next to Kellie talking about something and Sabrina seen me starting to break down. I think in that moment we all started pray together. I am thankful that we had friends around at that point. So thank you. By the time we made it home that night it was 11:45pm. Kellie will have to be on steroids for the weekend. Today she is doing well and feels a bit weird because of the meds. Come Monday she will be back to school and back to a some what normal life.
Keep praying
it works.
11/10/08 BMT+781
Happy 15th Birthday Kellie!
Kellie let Dad know that she will be 15 1/2 in six months, which by the way is the same day she can get her driving permit.
11/4/08 BMT+775
Kellie has been doing well. She did have an E.R. visit a week a go. Most of her labs came back looking good. Kellie has one that is a bit low, so she will be going to Tucson on the 21st of this month to have a dose of IVIG. That will take about 6 hours in the clinic to get that done. Once Dr Graham told me that Kellie's lab was low my heart sank. I was flooded with all kinds of emotions all at once. I was so scared this was a sign of another re lap. Dr Graham set me straight real fast. Dr Graham said he has to give IVIG to most of his patients every 3-6 months for a few years after transplant. He was surprised that Kellie lasted this long with out it. The last time Kellie got IVIG was over a year and a half ago. So what we need to pray for is that Kellie will not have a reaction to her infusion and for her to be strong emotionally.
Keep praying
it works.
10/28/08 BMT+768 Kellie has been running a fever most of the night. We are on the way to PCH hospital today for a bunch of test. Please keep Kellie in your prayers today. 9/22/08 BMT+731 Today is Kellie's 2 year Birthday post transplant. Two years ago today I remember standing at her bedside praying and feeling all the prayers form many people from around the world. I remember Kellie just laying in her bed watching the stem cells flow into her body wondering if it would kill her or heal her. Kellie is here today because of the prayer and standing on Faith.
Kellie now is a
healthy happy 14 year old Freshman in High
school. She has overcome so many obstacles in
her life and is very happy to live life and talk
about her fight. She is using her illness to
help others in the cancer fight and to raise
money for her team in training. Sabrina Woods
will be riding her bike 100 miles to raise money
for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This Sat the
27th of Sept she will be hosting time at a local
ice skating rink. At Polar Ice off of 83rd Ave
and Bell form 12:30 pm to 3:30 pm. It will cost
$10.00 to get in and that includes your skate
rental. Snakes will be provided and it will give
some people an opportunity to meet and to get to
know some of the Leukemia patients they are
trying to help. So if you can make it please do
so by just showing up. Thank you.
Thank you all for
your prayers
Keep praying it
works.
9/8/08 BMT+717
Last week Kellie
went to Tucson for her first volleyball game of
this year. Her team played a great game. They
all had fun and all had great team spirit. It
was nice to see their first win on the season.
After Kellie's game on Thursday she came home
and started to run a fever again. It has been a
few months now without one. So the fevers are
not as often and not as high. Praise God for
that. She still is getting really congested and
coughing up a lot of stuff. She has been out of
school for 2 days and her fever is just hanging
on. Please pray for it to go away soon.
Keep praying it
works.
8/17/08 BMT+695
Kellie has been
doing great. She had a doctors appt Wed with
doctor Graham. He gave her a clean bill of
health. He even signed her physical paperwork
for Kellie to try out for the High School
Volleyball team. Kellie will have to have blood
work, a cat scan of her chest ,a bone ageing
test and an echocardiogram done in October
before she see's doctor Graham again. Most of
the tests are looking for post transplant
problems. Every person that has had a transplant
has some sort of long term effects of such harsh
chemo. Some are so small that they are not
noticed and some can real bad. We already know
that Kellie has some lung problems that she is
overcoming. Doctor Graham has a good feeling
that in a few years Kellie's lung problems will
be gone.
Well with a lot of
hard work for the past few day after school
Kellie made the Volleyball team! For all of you
that joined this fight after Kellie's got her
cancer the second time. In the beginning the
doctors told me that Kellie will not be walking
and might not have all of her brain functions.
Now here she is playing Volleyball for a High
School team that means no pass no play rule. So
she is doing much better then what was told to
us.
It all was done by
prayer and having Faith.
So keep praying it
works.
8/3/08 BMT+681
Things have been
busy around here. Kellie was doing a few news
interviews last weekend for United Blood
Services blood drive. On top of speaking at the
Peoria police department for their blood drive,
visiting with grandparents, having her brother
here for a week, keeping up with a few friends
during the summer, having a pool party and doing
some school shopping. Wow she has been busy.
That's not all she just left this morning to go to cancer camp. She will be back for only one day before she starts school. Now this year is not just about starting school for her, it is HIGH SCHOOL. That makes me feel old. I still think of her as my 10 year old little girl with cancer small and fragile. Now she is taller then I am and speaking out to help others. She looks so healthy and getting stronger every day. Thank you for all your prayers during this long fight.
Please pray she
will not get a fever when she is a camp this
week.
Keep praying it
works.
7/10/08 BMT+657
Hi everyone.
Just a short update. Kellie just celebrated
her 5 year cancer Birthday. It was July 3rd
2004. Wow she has been through so much.
The
celebration was so much fun. Kellie was
doing the Hula in Hawaii with the biggest
smile on her face. She was catching plenty
of waves as well. Even to this day we can
not take a vacation without Kellie getting
sick. She ran a fever for about 6 hours and
wound up with pneumonia again. It did not
keep her down for two long.
Now that we are back she had to get back to work. She went to work with her Dad today and learned what it was like to put in a full days work. She did come home with a smile on her face so that was good.
Do to the
Forth of July we want to send out a special
prayer to a special family friend. Pete
Davinson.
He is in Iraq
fighting for all of us to be free. Please
say some special prayer for him to be able
to come home safe and sound to his wife and
2 small baby girls. He had to go only 9 days
after his 2nd baby was born on April 1st.
Keep praying it works.
6/14/08 BMT+631
Well this week has
been a busy one. Tuesday Kellie went to her regular
doctors office to get started with her baby shots.
We have been waiting for over a year for Kellie to
be well enough to start her shots. She was to get 5
shots but only got 4. The doctor did not want to
over load her body and push her in to having a fever
so when we get back from vacation Kellie will have
to go get the last one. Then 6 months later she is
will get her next round. So we will see how that
goes.
5/25/08 BMT+610
All is well here. Kellie just graduated the 8th grade and now is in High School. Praise God for that. Keep praying it works.
5/4/08 BMT+590
I know it has been
a while and I am sorry. We are trying to get
back to a normal lifestyle. Well for the past
few weeks Kellie has been having some kind of
weird fever. It comes and goes at different
times of the day and night. We do not know why
she keeps getting them. One minute she is fine
then when you turn around she is down and out in
bed with a fever. Some times she is real tired
and other minute she is full of energy. Oh yes I
can not forget to tell you about the strange
rash on her legs. It dose not look like the
rashes she has had in the past all red and
blotchy looking. This one is little raised bumps
all over her legs. The color is not a any
different then the rest of her skin. It dose not
look like blisters ether. I am not sure how or
at what point it changes to a red color for a
few hours then scabs over. Nothing ever comes
out of the bumps. They dry up and flake off. So
many times Kellie gets these unexplainable
things happen to her. She has stumped her
doctors for years. She has a doctors appointment
with her transplant doctor later this week to
see if he can point us in the right direction.
Kellie wants the fevers to go away and this
weird rash to go away as well. It is getting
really hot out here already and she wants to
wear shorts. People look at her like she
has something they can catch. That is sad and
hurtful to her after everything she has had to
face.
Well on the other
hand her lungs are clear for the moment. She is
doing well when it comes to her breathing
treatments and exercises.
Oh Kellie wants
everyone to please say a special prayer to her
cousin Michael. He just had a double lung
transplant. He is still in the hospital hooked
up to a lot of things. Kellie feels for him
because she knows the pain of being hooked up to
all kinds of machines and learning how to walk
again for being in bed for so long. Please pray
for him to get better fast.
Keep praying it
works.
4/13/08 BMT+568
Kellie is doing
well. She still has a cough and a runny nose.
She is getting excited for her up coming
graduation form the 8th grade. We are having a
great time getting her ready for high school.
We had a meeting of the minds between her grade school teachers and her up coming high school teacher.
Kellie has a great
year lined up for her.
Keep praying it
works.
3/30/08 - BMT+554
Kellie is
doing well. She had a small fever Easter
Sunday and she started to cough a bit more.
We increased her breathing treatments and
changed her antibiotics around and she is
doing better. During this spring break she
went on a trip to her grandma's and Pap
Pap's house. She is having a great time.
Thanks for all your prayers.
Keep praying
it works.
3/9/08 - BMT+534
Well is has been a
rough few days around here. Kellie came down
with a fever Thursday afternoon. She has been
sick for the past 4 days. Friday afternoon I
had to take her to her primary care doctor here
in town to see her. Doctor Babarinde ordered her
to have a few tests done to find out if it was
the flu or some kind of bacterial infection. We
went to the hospital next to the doctors office
for the labs to be done. They said we do not
take you insurance. So I packed up Kellie and
took her to the Lab Corp across the street. They
told us that they only draw blood and they can
not do the nose swab. So at this point I was
just about in tears wondering what to do to get
this test done because now it is 2pm on a
Friday afternoon.
I called my work
to let my friends know what was going on and to
find out if they can turn me in the right
direction. At this point Kellie is vomiting and
fevering in the truck and just wanted to go
home. My friends told me to bring her in to my
work and they would take care of her. So off we
went. When we got there we found out that the
lab techs could not do the nose swab it had to
be a nurse. I called my friend to come down to
do it for Kellie. I tell you what Thank God for
friends. We were able to get the nose swab done
but after two pokes and no blood draw I told
them no more. I am just going to take her home.
Later that night Dr. B called back to tell us it
is not the flu. Kellie was started on
antibiotics again. It is her lungs again. She
has another pneumonia going on. Just when we go
a clean bill of health from her lung doctor a
few day ago. That just keeps reminding me how
fast Kellie turn around. Well on minute and sick
the next. Her fever has gone down and she is
felling much better now. Still doing all her
lung exercises to keep her healthy.
Keep praying it
works.
3/4/08 BMT+529
Kellie went to the lung doctor today and got an "A" on her lung test. Kellie's lungs were working at 65% back in November. Today her lungs were working at 85%. WOW! Kellie has been working hard on her lung exercises. Her doctor was going to put her on a new medication to try for a few weeks to help keep her lungs clear. She still has a cough but it is not all congested like it has been. Over all she is doing well.
Keep praying it works
2/24/08 BMT+520
Just a short update.
Kellie's doctor wants her to have a second doctor
take a look at the red spots on her gums. They want
to take a biopsy of them just to make sure we have
nothing to worry about. I am kind of glad that they
are going to put that worry to rest fast. This is
why we need to find a cure for this cancer. So
children would never have to have painful biopsy's
done every time they have a bump or a small spots on
them that does not look quite right. Keep praying it works.
2/20/08 BMT+516
Kellie went to the doctors yesterday for her foot. It looks like the viral infection is gone. The wound is still healing and most of the pain is gone. Praise God for that. I want to let everyone know Kellie noticed a few red spots on her gums yesterday. It maybe nothing but we are going to have them checked out. At this point we are not taking any chances. We should know something by Friday afternoon. So please pray for good news.
Just wanted to pass the word about an upcoming fund raiser that Kellie has been involved with as an honor child. It is the 100 mile bike ride with the team in training. They are raising money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Her team needs to raise $2,000.00 min to be in the race. Her rider has done this race for Kellie 2 years in a row now. Her name is Sabrina. This year she is coach for the team and they are training every Saturday. Last Saturday I went on a ride with them. Oh man I am out of shape. We were out for a few hours and I made it 14 miles. Once I was riding with the team in honor for my daughter it made me want to ride harder. I do not want another child to have to suffer the pain of having treatments like Kellie. All the money goes to find a cure for Leukemia. So that is the reason why my passion is so strong for this ride.
If you would like to help get this team off the ground in the fund raising part of it you can. At this point you can write a check in what ever amount you would like to the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and email me at kellie.miner@teamkellie.org so I can get you the address to email it back to you. More information and updates to come. Sabrina is making a web page for online donations. When it is up an running I will let you know.
2/14/08 BMT+510
Happy Valentine's day
to all. Today is the day to show love and receive it
as well. Kellie is feeling the love from all who are
praying for her to heal. She has been a bit
emotional lately. She has been looking back to when
she was really sick and not knowing if she was going
to make it or not. She has been tearful when she
thinks about how Dr. Graham saved her life. She dose
not know how to thank him. Every time she sees him
she thanks him and gives him a big hug. He states he
is just doing his job. I thank GOD for Dr Graham and
for all he has done not just for Kellie but the
entire family. Loving feeling can be very
overwhelming at time. I am so glad this family's cup
is running over in that department. It is the love
from all of you praying for us that helped us get
past the rough day and for the light be shine a bit
brighter at the other end of a dark tunnel. So
Kellie, Kyle, Jeff and myself THANK YOU form the
bottom of our hearts. Happy Valentine's Day!
2/6/08 BMT+502
Kellie has been getting stronger and stronger each day. This infection hit her a lot harder then all the rest. She lost a lot of her endurance and has been real tired. Her cough is still hanging on but it is a lot better. She will be seeing Dr Graham Thursday this week for a check up. The viral infection came back on her foot and now she is having to have it burned off. The doctor yesterday cut away a lot of skin off the bottom of her foot and put on a burring medication. She has to keep the dressing on it for 2 days while it burns into the skin. Kellie has a big blister over the area the medication was put on. Kellie is experiencing a kind of pain she has not had before. I thought with all the pain she has had she in the past she could deal with this. She said all the other pain was in the past and I dealt with it in a different way. She is trying to find the best way to deal with this pain. Kellie has a lot of bad reactions when she takes pain meds so that is not an option at this point. She is tough she will find some way to deal with it. I am a bit concerned about the open wound that this infection is leaving on her foot. That is not the cleanest place to have a wound and it is the hardest place to heal. So if you can pray for fast healing of the wound and for it not to get any kind of infection while healing I would appreciate it. Thank you all for your on going support.
Keep praying it works.
1/31/07 BMT+497
Well yesterday we got
a call about her bronchoscope results. Kellie has a
bacterial and a viral infection going on at the same
time. That is why she has been so sick. Now we have
a name of the bacterial infection we know how to
treat it. Prays God for letting the doctors find it
this time. The antibiotics she is taking should get
rid of the bacterial infection part of it. She is on
a new drug call TAMIFLU. That should help her get
over the viral infection part faster than letting it
just run it's course. She has a doctors appointment
today to see what else they might want to do to help
her. She get coughing so bad she can hardly catch
her breath. We have increased her breathing
treatments and have her sitting in a warm shower. It
seems to help. She finely was able to sleep all
night long without coughing. She feel better today.
When she got up she said it was much easier to
breath today. That is a great sign if I ever heard
one. I believe everyday the good LORD lets me get up
out of bed and I can breath is a great sign. So live
the day like it might be your last and be happy in
what might come your way even if it might not be so
pleasant. It could be worse.
1/29/08 BMT+494
Well a lot has happened the past few days. Kellie was admitted back in to the hospital again on Sat the 26th. Early that afternoon she started to fever again. This time she was not to get any antibiotics until the doctors could get another bronchoscope done. It took until Monday afternoon to get one set up. During that time Kellie was running a fever on and off and her cough got worse. Before the bronch was done the doctors wanted her to have another cat scan of her sinus's.
1/21/08 BMT+486
Over all Kellie is doing well. She had to be picked up from school early Friday because she had a back ache and a headache. When she got home she started to feel a bit better. She wanted to go pick up her brother from day care and stop by a friends house for a short visit. While we were there her head started to hurt again and soon after that she got sick. Kellie was down and out for the rest of the day. NO fevers thank GOD. Kellie has a runny nose and a small cough but she is doing well.
Keep praying it works.
1/14/08 BMT+477
Just a small post
today. Kellie is doing well. Her cough is gone
and no fever. All and all this has been a great
week.
Keep praying it
works.
1/4/08 BMT+469
Wow this has been a few busy days for all of us. Kellie is at home now and doing well. She has to go back to Phoenix Children's Hospital for a follow up test on Saturday the 5th. The doctors were not able to find out anything this time. It was to late to run some of the test and to do another bronchoscope do to the fact she got a high dose of an IV antibiotic in the ER. That dose seems to have done it's job quite well.
Kellie is showing no signs of infection anywhere. I just keep praying she will not fever again. If she dose happen to fever again she will by pass the ER and be admitted right to the floor. The doctors will do a bronchoscope as soon as she gets in before any antibiotics are given. We really need to get to the bottom of this problem. If we are not able to find anything, Kellie might have to have a lung biopsy. That is not as easy as the biopsy of her bone marrow. This will take a surgeon to go in and take off part of her lower lung. Kellie will have to have a chest tube for a few days and be down and out for a while. So please keep praying this pneumonia will go away and that Kellie will not have anymore fevers.
Today Kellie spent her time being pampered with a few other cancer friends. They have been getting their hair done, doing nails, getting facials and having a fun time. She needed that after the past few days of getting poked and prodded at by all the doctors.
Keep praying it works.
1/3/08 BMT+468
I am sorry for not
posting an update in a while. Kellie has been sick
again. Monday she was doing well. Tuesday I came
home from work and Kellie was curled up in a chair
resting I told her to go jump in bed to take a nap.
I touched her shoulder to give her a little help up
and felt the heat rising up off her body. I ran to
get something to take her temp. She was 102.7. With
in minutes we were out the door to the ER. By the
time we got her in she was up to 103.5. We knew she
was going to be admitted at that point. We got up to
the room around 11:50 pm and got all the paper work
done by 2am. It is amazing how your body works. I
could not stay up past 10 pm New Years Eve but when
something is going on with your child you have the
energy to stay awake and still answer questions.
12/27/07 BMT+461
Kellie has been doing better. The grand total of weight loss was 11 pounds. She has been eating better now and not getting sick. This flu hit her hard. I am sure it will be a few weeks before she is back to her normal weight again. Her lungs sound better. She is now taking Cipro antibiotic again. The pathology report came back showing pneumocystis pneumonia and bronchiectasis. That means she still has a pneumonia that shows up in people that have a low immune system. The bronchiectasis means that she has swelling and infection going on. So that is why she was started on a higher dose of Cipro. We had to wait until she was over the flu to start it.
I am glad Jesus was
listening to all the prayers that were sent out for
Kellie to be at home for Christmas this year. The
doctors wanted her to be admitted because she was
getting dehydrated and losing too much weight. Today
Kellie is doing well. She has to do her breathing
treatments 3 times a day, do her lung exercises and
take 2 pills twice a day. Prays God it could have
been worse. Now we are not sure how much lung damage
was done. We will find out when her pneumonia is
gone.
12/19/07 BMT+453
Post BMT day 453. Kellie has been sick the past 2 days. She has the flu. It has been a rough time for her. We heard form Doctor Graham late yesterday and he told us that the pathology report came back clear on Kellie's bronchoscope fluid. The only thing that it shows is that she has a lot of mucus that keeps building up in her lungs. She just has to keep doing her lung exercises to keep the mucus moving. Please pray that Kellie gets over the flu quickly. She can't afford to lose anymore weight at this point.
Keep praying it works.
12/13/07 BMT+446
Post BMT day 446. Kellie had a hard emotional time going under for the bronchoscope yesterday. It was so hard to watch her get poked over and over again for the IV start. She was so brave sitting still for each one with tears just running down her little face. She had to get the IV to put her to sleep. Kellie dose not do well with any kind of mask on her face to put her out. Once she was asleep I left the room to wait outside in the waiting area with all the other emotional parents. I sat waiting, praying and waiting. I felt my eyes locked on the clock for an hour. The doctor came out to let me know what was going on. The calcification in her mid lobe was the size of a pea now and is going away on it's own. He did find a lot of fluid in both lower lungs that he took out and set out for all kinds of cultures. He showed me what her lungs looked like and where he had some concerns. At her opening of the tube where her lungs split off is inflamed and has some mucus covering the opening area. He took some of that as well and sent for cultures. All in all things went well and Kellie is felling ok. We thought this might bring on a fever or Kellie might be feeling under the weather for a while, but she is back in school and sang in her winter concert at school. We will find out more information some time next week once the cultures come back.
Thank you all for your prayers. We felt them.
Keep praying it works.
12/09/07 BMT+436
Post BMT day 436. As many of you know Kellie has been passing the word about collecting pop top tabs to help out the Ronald Mc Donald House. We have been collecting them for a while now. Some times we drop them off with a friends in Tucson to turn in or Kellie's Dad will drop them off at the Ronald Mc Donald House in Tucson when he goes to work out there. We feel really strong about this. So Kellie asked her Nana in California to pass the word around and man did she. She is getting pop tabs form cities as far as 250 miles away. By the time she gathered all of them up to put in her van for her trip out here she had over 100 pounds. Wow! We want to give a big thank you out to a small Company in California Called San Joaquin fig company. Consuelo Ibarra passed the word on Kellie's behalf and she has her family and friends saving them as well. Kellie wanted to help out others and she didn't have the funds to help out the way she wanted to. Once she found out what the Ronald Mc Donald House does with the pop tabs and how it helps everyone that has to stay at the House like we did she was on fire. She made me pick up every one she seen. I pick them off my friends pops at work and bring home about 10-20 every day. It is amazing how they add up. Tonight Kellie is sitting in front of the Christmas tree counting how many were sent to her.
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP.
Keep praying it works.
12/8/07 BMT+441
Post BMT day 441. Kellie is such a strong girl.
Kellie has been dealing with a lot of medical things this past two week. After all the tests, fevers, pain, and just not feeling well she always makes a big effort not to miss any school. She has missed only 1 1/2 days. She had a cat scan a few days ago. Dr Graham called to let us know Kellie has something still going on in both lower lobes of her lungs and it looks like a calcification about a size of a quarter in her middle lobe. She will be having a bronchoscope on Tuesday morning. This will give us a lot more information about what is going on in her lower lungs and for the doctors to get the calcification out before it causes any problems.
Keep praying it works.
12/4/07 BMT+438
Post BMT day 438. Well Kellie has been sick and really busy. Starting Thursday Kellie had an x-ray of her back, Friday she had her doctors appointment with the lung doctor, Monday back to the hospital for an ultrasound and today she went to her foot doctor. Now tomorrow she will be back at the hospital for a cat scan of her chest. Now what dose all of this mean? Well let's start at her head and work down from there.
She has been a bit stuffy in her head with a runny nose. She has had quite a few bad head aches. She still has a bad cough and coughing up a lot of stuff. She has had a lot of pain in her back that has put her to the floor in tears. For the past 5 days now she has been taking Tylenol with codeine for the pain. She has had an upset stomach on top of all of that. After all if that stuff going on Kellie is losing weight. She was doing so well until last week. She was up to 95 pounds. She is less the 88 now. The ultra sound shows that Kellie has gull stones. That may be why she has been feeling sick and the pain. Now the about the abnormal cells on her foot. After months of treatments they are almost all gone.
Kellie will have her bronchoscope on Dec. 11th. That will show what is going on with the lungs. After that I hope they find a treatment to get rid of what is going on in her lungs once and for all.
Kellie is feeling a bit better at this point. She is sitting on the couch talking on the phone.
Keep praying it works.
12/1/07 BMT+435
Post BMT day 435. Kellie had her doctor's appointment yesterday. We went looking for answers on why she is coughing so much and why she gets pneumonia so much. I was not ready for the answers we got. The chemo she had to have to save her life did some lung damage. We are not sure how bad yet until the high resolution cat scan and her bronchoscope. The doctors office will get back to me next week to get them set up. I knew in the back of my mind that she could have late effects do to the chemo treatments but Kellie was doing so well and this hit us kind of hard. Kellie did a pulmonary function test yesterday and it is showing her lungs are not letting her breath in enough air. The exchange of oxygen in her blood stream is good but her lungs can not hold enough air to exchange the oxygen properly when she is running or doing long term exercise. Her oxygen sat's are hanging around 93-95%. If she drops below 91% she will need to be on oxygen. So we are praying for strong lungs and for this to be the only damage that was done by this chemo.
The doctors can not tell me one way or the other if this can get worse or better. He did tell me that when damage is done to the lungs it will not heal it's self like the liver will. I am trying to let you all know what is going on the best way I can. At this point I am walking in that fog of shock all over again. I am trying to hard myself to understand all of this and pass on what was told to us. I am sure we will understand more after the tests are done. I will keep you informed of what is going on.
Until then Keep praying it works.
11/25/07 BMT+429
Post BMT day 429. Kellie had a rough week with the new antibiotic she was put on. It was not nice on her stomach. Kellie did all she could to stay at school for the 3 days she had to go. All week long her stomach was hurting and she felt sick most of the time. Between the aches and sick feeling she felt great. Her fever was short lived but she still has a bad cough and runny nose. Kellie will be going to her lung doctor on Friday. I pray they find something to fix. Kellie is just about fed up with this cough that keeps her up at night. I am sure she would feel better if she would not have to blow her nose all day long as well.
Kellie had a great time at Grandma's house for Thanksgiving. Last year we were still in Tucson for all the Holidays. We are all thankful for being home this year.
Yesterday we got a phone call from Grandma Z from the Ronald Mc Donald House in Tucson. We found out that she will not be working there anymore. I am sure that was a great loss for them. Grandma Z is being led on another path. I am sure God will lead her to do his will in whatever state that will be. She is in CA now visiting with family. So please pray for her to find her place to volunteer. She is retired but she still wants to help out somewhere. I know she does not like the cold weather. So please pray she finds a place where it is warm.
Keep praying it works.
11/18/07 BMT+422
Post BMT day 422. Well Kellie started to run a fever again last night. We are waiting to see a pulmonary doctor about this cough she has had for a long time now. I made the appointment 3 weeks ago and we still have another 2 weeks to wait. Kellie is tired of feeling sick and wants this cough and runny nose to go away. I was not going to take her in to be seen but the fever told me that something was going on and Kellie's immune system was not strong enough to fight it anymore. We spent most of the night in the ER at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Kellie had blood test's, chest x-rays, and many people listening to her lungs. Kellie's lungs sounded like a bunch of whistle's and squeaks going on. The doctors were almost sure she had pneumonia again. Once the blood test came back it showed her WBC was up a bit and the doctors were leaning more for the pneumonia. When the chest x-ray came back is was clear. Her lungs look great. Why this cough and junky stuff coming up? They took a look at her sinus and said she has another sinus infection. They started her on antibiotics again for 10 days. Kellie was up most of the night coughing and running a fever. Kellie is praying this will go away soon.
Keep praying it works.
11/5/07 BMT+409
Post BMT day 409. Kellie is still fighting a cough that she can not get rid of. This has been going on for a few months and Kellie has taken 4 types of antibiotics for 10 days each to try to get better. She is still taking her breathing treatments 3 times a day as well. Kellie's doctor called me today and told me to set up an appointment with her pulmonary doctor. I am a bit scared to see this doctor again. He is a great person but the last time I seen him Kellie was on life support. This is a bitter sweet appointment. I pray that this will be something easy to treat and get rid of it for good. Her appointment is the 30th of Nov. Kellie was going to start her baby shots this month but because she is still fighting something in her lungs they want to hold off.
Kellie is getting excited for this weekend. She will be turning 14 years old on Sat the 10th. This is a girl that had less then a 2% chance of living 3 years ago. It is amazing to see how she has grown up. When I look back at some of the archived photos Kellie had such a baby face. Seeing her now she is all grown up. Wow she is just 2 years away form driving. I am not sure I am ready for her to grow up just yet.
Keep praying it works.
10/24/07 BMT+ 397
Post BMT day 397. Well, Monday Kellie was sent home from school with a fever. It is so scary when one day she is fine and the next she is down and out. We went to the doctors and had a chest x-ray done, a swab for strep. She has another sinus infection that is making it's way to her chest again. I was told that she will be catching all the colds and viral infections that come along but she has not had one yet. Praise God for that. This sinus thing is something she can not catch from someone. She just can't seem to stop getting this infection. I am sure we will be seeing another ENT doctor sometime soon. Kellie is doing much better and is back in school today. We will keep you informed of what is going on when we get the other results back form her labs.
Keep praying it works.
10/19/07 BMT+392
Post BMT day 392. Kellie went to the doctors yesterday and her lungs are clear! That is the best news we have had in a long time. Kellie is down to taking only one pill a day now and no more breathing treatments at this point.
Kellie had labs done and we will not get the results for a day or two. They did in graftment studies and we will not get the results of that for another week. We will let you know when we get results.
Thank you for all the
prayers.
10/15/07 BMT+388
Post BMT day 388.
Kellie is doing well. She still is undergoing
treatment for her viral cells on her left foot.
Things are looking good when it comes to her
foot. Now on to her lungs. She will be doing a
chest x-ray on Thursday before her appointment
with Dr Graham. Kellie has been doing all of her
breathing treatments and exercises but she is
still coughing. We will see what the chest x-ray
has to show. If no changes from the last time
Kellie will have to go see a lung specialist to
find out what is going on. We will update
sometime Friday.
Kellie's Holiday
cards are now on line at the PCH web page
Phoenix Children's Hospital Christmas Cards
It is the Happy Holidays glitter card. Soon they
will be out in some stores around town. We will
keep you informed when and where you can get
them.
Keep praying it
works.
10/2/07 BMT+375
Post BMT day 375.
Sorry for not updating sooner. Kellie got the
results of her biopsy back and she has a weird
viral cell cluster on her foot. She is treating
it with a topical medication that we have to
keep covered for a while. The doctor thinks it
might take a few months to get rid of. At least
it is something that can go away. Praise God for
that.
Kellie had her
first volleyball game this weekend. Her team
Lighting Strikes won all three games. All of the
girls played real well. I am so proud of Kellie
still giving it 110% while she is still fighting
this pneumonia.
If things do not
change by next week while being on this new
medication for her lungs Doctor Graham will be
getting a call. I am sure he will be ordering
another chest x-ray sometime next week to follow
up with this lung stuff going on. Kellie has a
follow up appointment with her foot doctor on
the 11th. Please pray that this treatment is
working.
This week Kellie
received a gift from a box maker. Mr. Conroy
made her a wood box for all of her Beads of
Courage a while ago. Kellie's box was not big
enough to fit all her beads now. So he made her
2 more boxes that are even bigger. Mr. Conroy
Thank you so much. You do beautiful work.
Keep praying it
works.
9/23/07 BMT+365
Post BMT day 365! WOW it has been one year ago when Kellie had her transplant. It has been a long road with lots of ups and downs.
A lot of things have been going on this past week. Kellie went back for a follow up chest x-ray Wednesday for her pneumonia. It has not changed in her lower bases and now it is showing something going on in her middle lobe on her right side. Doctor Graham is going to be talking to a few other doctors to find out what would be the best way to treat this.
Now on Thursday Kellie had to go to another Doctor's appointment for her left foot. Kellie has something going on and we just are not sure what it is. The few Doctors that have looked at it thinks it might be a viral infection. Some others believe it might be callous. We decided to do a biopsy on it. The Doctor took quite a big chunk out of he bottom of her foot. Kellie has to soak her foot and put antibiotics on it twice a day. It took almost 24 hours for the biopsy site to stop bleeding. I am just praying she will be protected from infections at this point. I thought being so far out from her transplant things would settle down a bit. When she wound up getting a fever a few weeks ago it felt like the flood gates flew open all over again. Now with something going on with her foot it brings backs all the worries and a deep ache in everyone's hearts all over again. When we get the biopsy results back we will let you know what is going on.
Keep praying it works.
9/12/07 BMT+355
Post BMT day 355. Kellie is feeling much better. Due to the fact that she has pneumonia Doctor Graham wants to see her this month. So Kellie has an appointment on the 19th. We will be stopping by PCH for a chest x-ray before the appointment. I am sure he will be doing labs at that point and find her a good lung Doctor. Kellie has been up and about doing so many things. This is not a normal person that has pneumonia, in bed and moaning. Kellie is going to school, playing volleyball and even went to the Toby Keith concert Friday night. Photos are on his web page. www.tobykeith.com/photos choose the Phoenix show and then view all photos. She is in there twice. Once by herself and one with a group of friends from Hope kids.
Kellie now is involved with team in training. This is a bike group that will be riding 100 miles to raise money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. We will be posting more information about this once we get more.
Keep praying it works.
9/5/07 BMT+348
Post BMT day 348. Kellie started to fever last night. She ran a temperature of 102.5 until 3:30am today. Her cough changed from her normal chemo cough to a deep junky one. Dr Graham told me to start her back on Cipro and her breathing treatments. She had a rough night sleeping on and off in my lazy boy chair next to my bed. Jeff and I were on edge most of the night wondering if the fever was going to break or get worse. If it got any higher Dr. Graham wanted a call and Kellie more then likely would have ended up in the hospital again. Kellie and I started to pray for this bad bug to go away and fast. We know all to well how bad this could have been. Praise God for the work He has done once again for Kellie. Kellie woke up feeing better not 100% but not as bad as yesterday. We went to see her primary physician Dr Babarinde today on the request of Dr. Graham ( thanks it saved us a trip to Tucson). Dr B. listened to Kellie's lungs and sent us for a chest x-ray. It came back that Kellie has pneumonia in both lower lungs. She was started on another antibiotic along with the one she started yesterday in hopes that we can stay one step ahead of this. Kellie was upset she missed a day of school for this. So she will try to go to school tomorrow. She is one tough kid. Please pray for her lungs to get better and stay strong.
Kellie wanted to have everyone pray for one of her friends. His name is Ray. We just found out his transplant did not work. He is going to do another one here soon.
Keep praying it works.
8/29/07 BMT+341
Post BMT day 341. Kellie is doing well. She is now getting back into volleyball and loving it. Kellie is making a lot of new friends. She is eating well and still gaining weight. She is up to 91 lbs now. Tall and skinny I am having a hard time finding her jeans that fit. The waist is a size 8 to 10 and her length is extra long. I am just glad Capri's are in.
Kellie and a few friends went to the Ski restaurant night club for the final show for the Arizona Idol. All the girls fell in love with a singer named Kyle Merser. We all voted for him before we left. It was a fun time out and with a lot of good food. Thank you Rob for setting it up and thank you to Ski for the V.I.P seats and treatment.
Keep praying it works
8/18/07 BMT+330
Post BMT day 330. Kellie had a good office visit with Doctor Graham. When it came to the lab draw that was great as well only one poke. We got a call last night with counts. They all looked good. Her liver test came back with in normal limits. This is the first time that we have seen normal liver counts ever sense her pre chemo for her transplant. We have been a bit worried about her liver and her lungs. Kellie still has a cough and Doctor Graham heard some weird squeaking sounds in her lungs. Kellie had to start on her breathing treatments again for a week to see if that would help. If things keep sounding like what they do Kellie will be going to see a lung specialist. Kellie had a good time this week in school. She had a few things to overcome but I think she is on the right track now. She has been trying to figure out what she is going to wear to the Hillary Duff concert tomorrow night. She is getting so excited. Kellie and her friend Shelby will be going with Kellie's Team In Training rider. Kellie has been talking about it for weeks now. I know she will have a great time.
Keep praying it works.
8/15/07 BMT+326
Post BMT day 326. Kellie is getting ready for her doctor appointment tomorrow. We all are sitting on pins around here. Please pray they get her lab draw on one poke. We hope we will get a call back by Friday so we can let you know what is going on.
Keep praying it works.
8/12/07 BMT+323
Post Bone Marrow
Transplant (BMT) day 323.
Kellie just came back today from camp. She had a
blast! She is already talking about what she
want's to bring next year. The things she liked
the most was the pool party, raiding the
kitchen, playing jokes on the boys, singing camp
songs with Woody,and the pine cone ceremony.
Kellie laughed and cried a lot this week. It is
just a great experience for these kids to get
together and deal with a lot of issues that most
people do not understand. Kellie said it was a
little easier hearing about her friend Gavin
with her cancer friends around that understood
her feelings better.
Kellie is doing
great. Her sinus stuffy head she was dealing
with a week and a half ago is almost gone.
Kellie will have a doctors appointment this
Thursday and we will let you know how things
look when we get her counts back. Until then.
Keep praying it
works.
8/5/07 BMT+317
We are so sad to post this entry on Kellie's friend GAVIN!
It is with great sadness that I tell you Gavin is now with Jesus and free from any pain and sickness that he has fought so hard against the last almost 3 years. He took his last breath and jumped toward Jesus this morning at about 8:35am. We will be having his visitation on Monday the 6th from 6-8 at Clock Funeral Home in Whitehall and his funeral service on Tuesday the 7th at 11:00 am at St James Lutheran Church in Montague. All who want to come are welcome. Everyone that reads this site Gavin has touched in so many different ways and we want you to celebrate his life with us if you can and understand if you can't. Thank you all for everything you have done, all the well wishes, prayers, food and gifts have meant so very much to us all. Any donations that are made will be in Gavin's name to the U of M Mott Children's Hospital. We love you all and remember, Fight the Fight!!! Team Gavin Rocks!!! BELIEVE, Have Faith and Never Give Up. He is a perfect Angel now watching us all!!!!!!!! I am still going to post pictures on here from the Tigers Game. Don't give up on me..
Kellie
just left today for Camp Rainbow
today. Kellie was excited on one
hand and sad on the other.
Keep
praying it works.
8/2/07 BMT+314
Post BMT day 314. Kellie has been busy. We took a trip to Las Vegas this past week. Kellie went to the Blue Man Group show and had a blast. She spent a day at the Mirage Hotel looking at everything for her Dolphin swim on Tuesday. Kellie was so excited she did not sleep to well Monday night. It was not hard to get her up and moving Tuesday morning. All I had to say was it is time to go swimming with the dolphins. She was up taking off all her jewelry jumping in to her swim suit and headed for the door. The entire day was spent at the dolphin's home. Kellie ate breakfast and lunch with them and she would have dined with them as well if she could. She was side by side with the trainer all day long. Kellie had a smile on her face that was -- Well I can't really put in to words on how it looked to me besides total JOY.
Kellie is doing well when it comes to her medical aspect. She is still fighting some sinus stuff. Doctor Graham put her back on an antibiotic again to see if that would help. Kellie is doing her breathing treatments again to break up the junk in her lungs. It seems to be helping out a lot. Kellie is real worried that she will not be able to make it to cancer camp because of this. Doctor Graham did not seem to be to worried about it. Months ago I would have been so stressed over this. Now it is getting a bit easier. She is showing signs of getting stronger every week.
We got Kellie enrolled at her new school Friday and she can not wait to get started. We have a meeting set up for tomorrow to talk about what precautions the school needs to take with her. This meeting involves all of her teachers and staff that have anything to do with her while she is on campus. I hope it will not take long. Jeff and I want this transfer to be as easy as it can be for her. She wants to be a normal kid again. I just want to protect her. To find a middle ground in this is kind of hard.
Please pray for her friend Gavin. He is not doing well. He is not moving around as much and is in pain. Please let him have no pain and be healed. We love him so much it hurts to hear about him in pain. We just have to keep the Faith. God will heal him and make him whole again.
Please pray for all the kids that will be going to camp Rainbow this Sunday. Keep them all safe and healthy.
Kellie will be going to see Doctor Graham on the 16th of Aug. We will let you know how things go.
Keep praying it works.
7/22/07 BMT+303
Post BMT day 303. Well we spent the morning at Church praying for Gavin. Kellie is still waiting for God to heal him and make him cancer free. That is what she prayed for today. She was looking at some old pictures of them together a few years back and the look on her face was hard to see. She does not want to cry in front of me but I could see the tears in her eyes ready to trickle down her face the next time she blink her eyes. I asked if she was ok and she told me she was fine. She turned her attention back to what she was doing. Packing for cancer camp. Kellie will be going to cancer camp this year. It will be Aug 5th to the 11th. She was signed up to go last year but did not make it. She had to go to camp GET_A_WELLA in the hospital at Phoenix Children's Hospital. She said that was not a fun camp to go to. She is so excited. All of her stuff is packed in her room already.
We are still waiting to find out if I have to take her to Tucson this week or not for labs. I hope to find out something by Monday.
Here is one of the poems I told you about. Kellie did a great job.
Keep praying it works.
The Big “C” Word
It happened on July third. It was the big “C” word. My mom and dad were speechless. I was diagnosed with AML. Then my stomach fell. At that time my life took a turn.
For nine months the hospital became my home. My view of the world took a whole different tone. The nurses and the doctors took really good care of me. I had to endure many new things. I couldn’t take any outings. My body was sore and weak.
Three years later and I’m cancer free. Family, friends, and I are yelling yippee! I feel thankful to be alive today. I couldn’t have done it without my team.
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