Well, it looks like we will be going ahead with the sinus surgery. Tiffany took Abby down to see Dr. Pachly, the ENT doc, and he took a look at her old and new films and said that we really shouldn't wait any longer. He's a nice doctor but also doesn't want to mess around and keep trying antibiotics anymore. Actually in the films from October her sinus infection wasn't completely gone on the 2nd scan and in last weeks scan the sinuses are completely filled up, mostly on the right side. There is no opening for the stuff to drain out this time, last time there was a small opening, so we can do nasal rinses until we are all blue in the face but in the end nothing is going to get past that blockage. So, surgery is really the only option left.
Now I do have to say that the film he looked at yesterday was from last Monday, Presidents Day. Things probably are a lot better after a week of antibiotics so maybe some of the wash is getting up there but who knows.
I really don't want for her to have to do yet another surgical procedure but I'm also tired of her being sick. Dr. Pachly said that she'll feel stuffed up and uncomfortable in her nose for a few days after the surgery but it will probably just feel about the same as she does now.
So that's one part of the week. The other part is the Chemo pulse. We start that today. She'll get one of her last spinal taps, some Vincristine, and IViG. And then off to the eye doctor to check her out for her 6 month follow up. She'll be on Dexamethosone for the week so Thursday ought to be a bit fun since she won't be able to eat before the surgery.
That's the scoop. I've got to get Abby ready to go to Denver again. I'm going to need to get her a more comfortable car seat with all of this driving!
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Fair to Good
Just a quick post to tell you that Abby is doing fair to good. Her fever is down a bit, 99-100, and she is eating a little better too. She still is pretty pale and takes a lot of rests but hopefully things will keep slowing getting better.
We're suppose to call tomorrow to tell them how she is doing so and then we can see what the next step will be.
That's it.
We're suppose to call tomorrow to tell them how she is doing so and then we can see what the next step will be.
That's it.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Just pray for Abby's health
Hey all,
Abby's still not doing good. Still has a fever. Still is coughing a lot and not feeling good. Tiffany took her back down to Denver yesterday and they did a blood culture and gave her fluids and a dose of IV antibiotics. They also put her on 1 more antibiotic to help her chest since it sounds like she is getting some fluid/gunk in there. So, now she is on 4 antibiotics. They also did a CBC and saw that her hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying part of your blood) is pretty low, 8.0.
So here is the new game plan:
See how she does over the weekend.
See if the fever goes away.
See if the cough goes away.
See if the nausea goes away.
Do lots of nose rinsing.
If she seems a lot better on Monday then we'll continue as we have been.
Get Chemo, Tap, IvIG, and go see the eye doc on Tuesday.
If isn't any better on Monday then we will do a surgery for her sinuses on Wed. To reshape them and help them drain better on their own.
So basically she get a lot better in the next 3 days or we go ahead and do surgery on Wednesday to clear this thing up. If the culture comes back positive then we'll have to go back down today too.
There you go. Now just add one more drug to that picture from the last post in your mind and you'll know what our microwave now looks like. :)
Abby's still not doing good. Still has a fever. Still is coughing a lot and not feeling good. Tiffany took her back down to Denver yesterday and they did a blood culture and gave her fluids and a dose of IV antibiotics. They also put her on 1 more antibiotic to help her chest since it sounds like she is getting some fluid/gunk in there. So, now she is on 4 antibiotics. They also did a CBC and saw that her hemoglobin (the oxygen carrying part of your blood) is pretty low, 8.0.
So here is the new game plan:
See how she does over the weekend.
See if the fever goes away.
See if the cough goes away.
See if the nausea goes away.
Do lots of nose rinsing.
If she seems a lot better on Monday then we'll continue as we have been.
Get Chemo, Tap, IvIG, and go see the eye doc on Tuesday.
If isn't any better on Monday then we will do a surgery for her sinuses on Wed. To reshape them and help them drain better on their own.
So basically she get a lot better in the next 3 days or we go ahead and do surgery on Wednesday to clear this thing up. If the culture comes back positive then we'll have to go back down today too.
There you go. Now just add one more drug to that picture from the last post in your mind and you'll know what our microwave now looks like. :)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Abby's new meds
Honestly I don't know how she does it. She is on yet another new antibiotic to help her fight off her roaring sinus infection that we found out about on Monday. We took her down to get another sinus CT (CAT scan) because she has been so miserable lately. Coughing at night and carrying a bowl around sometimes during the day. Other times she seem full of energy and is just playing outside seeming rather normal. She's a little trooper.Now, after looking at the top of our microwave and seeing this whole new batch of drugs I think I see why Abby's not feeling so good. I mean who would feel good with all of these medicines?! And man, what would she feel like without them? Tonight I gave her an anti-nausea, a cough med with codine, some antibiotics, zantac, Tyleno, and I still have to give her the two chemo drugs later tonight. Crazy.
She's had a pretty high fever off and on for the last week. 10 days ago it was 103, and then last weekend it climbed to 102 and then hung out for a few days at 101. Today it went away for the afternoon but was back at 101.5 this evening. Pray that it goes away tomorrow becuase if it doesn't then we'll probably have to take here in again or admit to the hospital.
The treatment plan is this:
3 weeks of the antibiotic and then we'll do another CT. If it is still there then we'll talk to the Ear, Nose, Thoat Doc to see what to do next, maybe another 3 weeks of antibiotics, maybe surgery. So, please pray that this sinus infection will go away soon!
Tuesday she will also be going in to CHOA for a spinal tap, chemo, IvIG, and an eye appointment with Dr. King. This Friday, we have an appointment with the GI Doc. to see what's up with her tummy and what the appendix thing is all about.
So, that's our boring life. Sorry there's not too much to talk about :) Pretty typical her at the Schreibers' house! No really, I'm doing ok with it even though I'm a bit tired and also sad about all that she's had to go through. Tiffany has her good days and bad days too. Anna and Lily are pretty oblivious so they've been fine. Please pray for our family, for Abby, and for all the germs to take refuge into somebody elses house for a little bit.
Thanks for checking in!
.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
ER Sunday
Hey all,
We're still hanging in there. Actually I'm doing pretty good with all of this sickness stuff. I tend to do better when things are most definitely out of my control. These last couples months have been just that. Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to have a healthy family for more than a week but that's just not the case right now so I'll have to be ok with that.
Abby spiked a big fever on Saturday morning and it didn't come down by Sunday morning so we had to take her to the only place that was open, the ER. Not the best place to go if you don't have to... just my opinion. They actually were pretty good there. They checked her out, listened to her lungs, accessed her port, took blood, ran a CBC, and did a blood culture. Her fever was still in the 102.5-103.5 range so they gave her a shot of Roseffen, an antibiotic, just in case she had a blood infection. I assume the culture was negative since they didn't call back.
Abby's fever is gone now, her cough is getting better but I think Anna is getting it now. Lily already had it and Tiffany too so I guess Anna is the last one for this virus unless I catch it. I think I have it, but it has been tolerable for me. Tiffany also had something, it turned into a sinus infection so she went to the doctor yesterday and they put her on antibiotics. Hopefully she will fell better tonight.
So, that's life in the sick lane. Isn't it fun? I am definitely looking forward to Disneyland... I think we are all going to wear masks on the plane though!
Later
We're still hanging in there. Actually I'm doing pretty good with all of this sickness stuff. I tend to do better when things are most definitely out of my control. These last couples months have been just that. Now, don't get me wrong, I would love to have a healthy family for more than a week but that's just not the case right now so I'll have to be ok with that.
Abby spiked a big fever on Saturday morning and it didn't come down by Sunday morning so we had to take her to the only place that was open, the ER. Not the best place to go if you don't have to... just my opinion. They actually were pretty good there. They checked her out, listened to her lungs, accessed her port, took blood, ran a CBC, and did a blood culture. Her fever was still in the 102.5-103.5 range so they gave her a shot of Roseffen, an antibiotic, just in case she had a blood infection. I assume the culture was negative since they didn't call back.
Abby's fever is gone now, her cough is getting better but I think Anna is getting it now. Lily already had it and Tiffany too so I guess Anna is the last one for this virus unless I catch it. I think I have it, but it has been tolerable for me. Tiffany also had something, it turned into a sinus infection so she went to the doctor yesterday and they put her on antibiotics. Hopefully she will fell better tonight.
So, that's life in the sick lane. Isn't it fun? I am definitely looking forward to Disneyland... I think we are all going to wear masks on the plane though!
Later
Sunday, February 11, 2007
RSV?
Well it looks like Abby may now be the winner of a new virus called RSV. I told her to choose door number 3, but she went for door number 2 and now... RSV.
Actually we don't know for sure if it is but they are treating her like it is since RSV peaks in Feb and Jan. Lily had a cough last week, and Anna didn't feel too well either so it probably finally just got to Abby.
Yesterday morning, while I was gone, Abby spiked a big ol' fever so Tiffany called Dr. Smith at CHOA. They put her on a double does of her weekend antibiotic since that one covers for pneumonia and we really don't want her to get that! We did the old ibuprofen & and Tylenol tag team to get her fever down and I gave her a little codeine/Tylenol so that she could get some sleep last night. She seem better this morning and she slept great last night compared to the night before.
On the tummy side she is doing ok. They still have her on the anti-protozoa med every other day until we can see the doc again at the end of the month.
So pray that both of these goes away quickly and that other infections stay at bay.
That's all the medical news from the Schreiber household. Everything and everyone else is going real good but we all are looking forward to the spring!
Actually we don't know for sure if it is but they are treating her like it is since RSV peaks in Feb and Jan. Lily had a cough last week, and Anna didn't feel too well either so it probably finally just got to Abby.
Yesterday morning, while I was gone, Abby spiked a big ol' fever so Tiffany called Dr. Smith at CHOA. They put her on a double does of her weekend antibiotic since that one covers for pneumonia and we really don't want her to get that! We did the old ibuprofen & and Tylenol tag team to get her fever down and I gave her a little codeine/Tylenol so that she could get some sleep last night. She seem better this morning and she slept great last night compared to the night before.
On the tummy side she is doing ok. They still have her on the anti-protozoa med every other day until we can see the doc again at the end of the month.
So pray that both of these goes away quickly and that other infections stay at bay.
That's all the medical news from the Schreiber household. Everything and everyone else is going real good but we all are looking forward to the spring!
Friday, February 09, 2007
Upper GI
Well, Abby had her upper GI on Tuesday and things went fine as far as I know. She just had to fast for about 12 hours and then drink some radioactive stuff so they could watch it go down into her stomach. The test was painless and only took about 30 minutes. Tiffany went with her and she said it was kind of neat to see it swirl down to her stomach.
I guess this test is to see about any ulcers or problems with the lining of her stomach. We'll talk to the GI doctor about it near the end of the month. We could get an earlier appointment with him but the end of the month one he will be here in Fort Collins so that is much better than driving down to Denver again.
I think her stomach is getting better slowly but surely. She seems to be feeling good except for a bit of a cold.
I can't wait till cold season is over and we can let them out of the house to breath some fresh air. Ahhhhh... spring will be here soon.
I guess this test is to see about any ulcers or problems with the lining of her stomach. We'll talk to the GI doctor about it near the end of the month. We could get an earlier appointment with him but the end of the month one he will be here in Fort Collins so that is much better than driving down to Denver again.
I think her stomach is getting better slowly but surely. She seems to be feeling good except for a bit of a cold.
I can't wait till cold season is over and we can let them out of the house to breath some fresh air. Ahhhhh... spring will be here soon.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Biopsy results
Just a quick update to tell you about Abby's biopsy results from her tummy. On the cancer side things are great, no cancer cells or anything unusual found
As for infections, she has one. They started her on an antibiotic that seems to cover for protozoa and such. Anyway, she'll be on that one for a week to 10 days. We have an upper GI test scheduled for Tuesday and then a follow up for all of this stuff on a Friday at the end of the month.
It will be nice to talk to the doc and see what all he has to tell us.
See ya.
As for infections, she has one. They started her on an antibiotic that seems to cover for protozoa and such. Anyway, she'll be on that one for a week to 10 days. We have an upper GI test scheduled for Tuesday and then a follow up for all of this stuff on a Friday at the end of the month.
It will be nice to talk to the doc and see what all he has to tell us.
See ya.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
AWOL Appendix
So we are back from our Chemoscopy Tuesday and all went well. It was kind of like a progressive dinner but instead of parts of a meal we focused on different medical procedures... just like a progressive dinner though at the end Abby got dessert, a gianormous Popsicle!
So IvIG went well, as did the Vincristine. Abby's counts were great, actually a bit too good. Other than being really hungry at CHOA and unable to eat since the night before and unable to drink after 9am she was in good spirits. Things went really quick and in only 2 short videos we were out the door and on our way to the surgery center 15 miles away. We checked in and got everything all filled out and such. Abby was very excited to be able to eat a Popsicle when she got done and also was looking forward to being pushed around in the bed with wheels. The doctor actually took her for an extended ride around the recovery area before taking her into the surgery room.
40 minutes later she was done with both top and bottom "oscopies" and the doctor came to show me the nice color pictures of the inside of her colon and stomach. I know lovely! Good for show and tell later I guess. He gave us 3 copies of each, I don't know why so many really, maybe he is just very generous.
He took biopsies of her stomach and colon and is going to have some tests run on them. We won't know about those for a few days or a week. But that wasn't the big news. The big news was that her Cecum and Appendix are not where they are suppose to be. Wierd I know. Remember my family is different, refer to previous posts if you need a reminder. See her a the Schreiber house we try to do things in creative ways. Sometimes it's interesting colored pages that the girls draw, sometimes it's the care bears dressed up in Barbie clothes, and sometimes we just really try to get creative with how our organs are placed in our bodies. Yup our organs.
So they found the appendix if you are still wondering. It's just not in the bottom right side of her like it should be. Instead it is in the upper left quadrant. When he said it was in the upper left quadrant I really didn't mind because I had no clue as to what he was trying to say. I still don't really know what he is trying to, or not to, say about this condition. All I know is that it's about 180 degrees out of phase with the normal human. Did any of you ever watch X-Files? Just wondering.
Anyway, they'll be doing some more tests on her this coming week at PVH her in Fort Collins. Basically they just want to get an idea of where the rest of her GI track is. I guess that is a nice thing to know.
Well, that's all for now on the case of the AWOL Appendix. Stay tuned next time to see where the rest of her organs are!
PS. For those of you that have watched X-Files in the past, I can assure you that none of the future test have anything to do with bees, clones and or any vaccine that I know about.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Tuesday Chemoscopy
Look, I made a new word "Chemoscopy"
Chemoscopy-- Definition: (Noun, Adjective, and Verb.) Pronounced-- (Kee Mo Os Cope ee).
1)To drive to Denver for many procedures. 1a)The act of lots of procedures being scheduled for the same day. 1b)To describe a day filled with medical devices such as small intestinal cameras, fiber optics, laxatives, access ports, IvIG, and chemotherapy. 1c)To give multiple procedures that have to do with chemo, and multiple "oscopy" procedures in rapid succession on one day. "Abby will have a Chemoscopy on Tuesday, Mark told his concerned friends."
Yup, you got it. It's Chemoscopy Tuesday next week. Here's the day plan give her multiple laxative for about 12 hours before. Drive her down to CHOA where they will give her Vincristine and IViG in 2 hours instead of the normal 4 hours. Then by 10am ish we will give her some other lovely looking "clearing" device to help the colonoscopy go better. We will arrive at the outpatient surgery center where they will put her under for the procedures, and endoscopy and colonoscopy, to determine what might be going on.
So you say, "where did all this come from?" or "When did this all get scheduled?" Well, just on Friday, so get off my back. I can only type so fast! :) just kiddin'.
Ya, so Friday Tiffany took Abby to the GI Doc and they decided to try to get this all taken care of on the same day that we have chemo/IViG schedule, Tuesday. By Friday afternoon they had it all scheduled. They don't think there will be much to see but with her tummy being in such disarray for such a long time they want to make sure there isn't something more going on. They will also be able to take some biopsies that will help them to determine what is going on. I'll be glad when we have something more solid, no pun intended... actually it was, to go on. Get it all figured out, that's what we'd like.
They think it is probably just some reaction of the bodies to the virus that she had where the body stops processing foods the correct way. If that is the case then we will just have to do some dietary changes until she gets back on track.
Well, that's it. Pray for Tuesday.
Chemoscopy-- Definition: (Noun, Adjective, and Verb.) Pronounced-- (Kee Mo Os Cope ee).
1)To drive to Denver for many procedures. 1a)The act of lots of procedures being scheduled for the same day. 1b)To describe a day filled with medical devices such as small intestinal cameras, fiber optics, laxatives, access ports, IvIG, and chemotherapy. 1c)To give multiple procedures that have to do with chemo, and multiple "oscopy" procedures in rapid succession on one day. "Abby will have a Chemoscopy on Tuesday, Mark told his concerned friends."
Yup, you got it. It's Chemoscopy Tuesday next week. Here's the day plan give her multiple laxative for about 12 hours before. Drive her down to CHOA where they will give her Vincristine and IViG in 2 hours instead of the normal 4 hours. Then by 10am ish we will give her some other lovely looking "clearing" device to help the colonoscopy go better. We will arrive at the outpatient surgery center where they will put her under for the procedures, and endoscopy and colonoscopy, to determine what might be going on.
So you say, "where did all this come from?" or "When did this all get scheduled?" Well, just on Friday, so get off my back. I can only type so fast! :) just kiddin'.
Ya, so Friday Tiffany took Abby to the GI Doc and they decided to try to get this all taken care of on the same day that we have chemo/IViG schedule, Tuesday. By Friday afternoon they had it all scheduled. They don't think there will be much to see but with her tummy being in such disarray for such a long time they want to make sure there isn't something more going on. They will also be able to take some biopsies that will help them to determine what is going on. I'll be glad when we have something more solid, no pun intended... actually it was, to go on. Get it all figured out, that's what we'd like.
They think it is probably just some reaction of the bodies to the virus that she had where the body stops processing foods the correct way. If that is the case then we will just have to do some dietary changes until she gets back on track.
Well, that's it. Pray for Tuesday.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
GI doc Friday
Well, Abby still is having tummy issues. Nauseous in the morning sometimes and well... lets just say she isn't exactly happy in the bathroom yet. It's been about a month and a half now. We had her on immodium for a few days in a row and took her off of it on Monday and back to the same old. We called CHOA and they wanted us to get checked out soon since the immodium should have taken care of it all for good. They got us in to see a doc that they work with and bonus, he's in Fort Collins on Friday! So no need for a trip to Denver. Actually the funny thing is I still have to go to Denver for a conference on Friday and a luncheon on Saturday. Then next week, Tuesday, I'll take Abby back down to CHOA for another round of chemo. After this one we only will have 2 or 3 more! Yippee! Crazy.
Other than that, the pink eye is gone... we hope. Tiffany looks like she is getting another cold and I think the girls might not be that far behind her. Oh well, what can you do? We can't just stay cooped up in the house every waking moment. Maybe Abby will fight it off! She is getting IvIG on Tuesday so who knows.
That's about it... Oh ya Abby's B-day is coming up at the end of the month! The big 5 0 minus the "0" so I guess that's just the big 5. I'll say it again, crazy! That should be a good B-day, we are excited.
Have a good night!
Other than that, the pink eye is gone... we hope. Tiffany looks like she is getting another cold and I think the girls might not be that far behind her. Oh well, what can you do? We can't just stay cooped up in the house every waking moment. Maybe Abby will fight it off! She is getting IvIG on Tuesday so who knows.
That's about it... Oh ya Abby's B-day is coming up at the end of the month! The big 5 0 minus the "0" so I guess that's just the big 5. I'll say it again, crazy! That should be a good B-day, we are excited.
Have a good night!
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Still getting better
Does it seem like forever to you? It does to me. But now think things are finally on the up and up. We are half way threw the drops for the second round of pink eye (Abby, Tiffany, and Lily). I'm praying that we will get that all over with soon.
As for Abby's tummy issues, they are still there. I took her down for her 3rd fill up on Monday afternoon and they checked her out and topped her off with some fluids. I'm thinking of getting a frequent fill up card for her to see if we can maybe get one free soon. They had us take another sample in for testing to the lab but I haven't heard anything back from that so I assume it was another negative test. They finally let us put her on immodium and after a few doses that seemed to do the trick for now. I don't know how long she'll need to be on it, probably just a couple more days.
Lily has 4 teeth coming in on the top all at the same time so she hasn't been real happy about that... now I know why she is always trying to chew on our Zantac bottle! We've since bought a chew-toy for her... wait is a chew-toy what dogs get? Maybe it is a chew ring or something like that.
We'll Abby's not feeling good this morning so I'm going to go help get some food in her tummy. All in all we are doing good.
Thanks for checking in on us!
As for Abby's tummy issues, they are still there. I took her down for her 3rd fill up on Monday afternoon and they checked her out and topped her off with some fluids. I'm thinking of getting a frequent fill up card for her to see if we can maybe get one free soon. They had us take another sample in for testing to the lab but I haven't heard anything back from that so I assume it was another negative test. They finally let us put her on immodium and after a few doses that seemed to do the trick for now. I don't know how long she'll need to be on it, probably just a couple more days.
Lily has 4 teeth coming in on the top all at the same time so she hasn't been real happy about that... now I know why she is always trying to chew on our Zantac bottle! We've since bought a chew-toy for her... wait is a chew-toy what dogs get? Maybe it is a chew ring or something like that.
We'll Abby's not feeling good this morning so I'm going to go help get some food in her tummy. All in all we are doing good.
Thanks for checking in on us!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
My Family is Different...
As I was watching Lily chew on the top of Abby's mega Zantac bottle the other day(don't worry it was closed!) it struck me that my family is different than most. I know, news flash did someone forget to tell me!?So, Abby got sick again (after the pink eye) in the tummy arena on Tuesday. She had such bad issues (ie. diarrhea) that we took her down to CHOA to get checked out. She was dehydrated so they plugged her into some fluids for an hour and a half to rehydrate her. See that's what I mean... different. I mean your kid doesn't get sick and just go get plugged in to fluids. Sometimes I feel like she is a little car. "Plug her in and get the coolant flushed and don't forget I have a frequent buyer coupon." Different.
Maybe other families went put their kids in the Christmas pageant without a mask and their kids are still sick but I don't know of any. Different. I guess I could have made her a cute Christmas Angel mask with glitter and stuff but that just seemed kind of sad to be honest. She was a cute Angel though... I'll have to post some video.
So, as you can tell, I'm a little worn down... we all are a little worn down. We're trying to keep our chins up, find the best in things and not become a product of our circumstances but to be honest, it's still tiring. Just like the snow here in Colorado, it just keeps coming. Cold fronts and "Cold fronts". I'm really hoping for a change in the metaphorical and real weather around here.
So, here are some requests if you are the praying type:
- For us to all get better (Tiffany's cough, my sinus infection, Lily (whatever her deal is) and of course Abby's health.
- For us to see the best in what is set before us.
- For the Lysol to actual work.
- Good nights sleep.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Ringin' in the new year
We'll it's 9pm and everyone is sleeping. I figure it's midnight somewhere so why fight it, I might as well just go to bed :)!
Actually, even though everyone has been sick and Tiffany is still pushing through the cold it still is a good night. I mean honestly I can get down about these circumstances but when you look at the whole picture... we are doing great! Remember 2 years ago? I had the flu, Tiffany had the flu, Abby had the flu and was in the Hospital getting a Broviac put in, bone marrow taken out, and a spinal tap with Methotrexate. So again, this is nothing really.
Perspective.
What a crazy time. Tiffany and I were talking and saying that it seems like it was 5 years ago that this all started, not 2. Yet in some ways it seems like just yesterday.
With all of us getting sick this break and the 3 feet of snow there has been a lot of time to think and that's been really good. Last year I think we kept ourselves busy enough to not have to think about the previous 12 months and that was good. But all this time to think about it this year has also been equally as good. It has really made me and our whole family a lot different in who we all are... and once we can start to leave this house again maybe you all will notice! But really, things are good. We would like to get out some more and Tiffany and I are definitely looking forward to being able to put Abby and Anna back in Sunday school or take them to germ infected play room in the near future. Actually I bet it will be pretty hard not to hose them down with sanitizer or burn their clothes when we get home but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
And there is coming up soon! When Abby is done with this round of chemo we should have only 3 more to go (slight chance of 4 but I'm holding out for 3). That sounds weird. She'll be done in 3 months. Done. Weird. I don't know if I'll be relieved or just stressed about it coming back. I'm going to shoot for relieved with just a tinge of stress on the side. Anyway that is going to be a really nice belated Easter present. Maybe we'll chance it and take her to an Easter egg hunt... outside of course... with a mask. Hey with 11 days to go on Easter Sunday I may just for go the mask... we'll see.
Well, I got to mention 3 new years and an Easter here in one post so I'd say my job is done.
Happy New Year!
Actually, even though everyone has been sick and Tiffany is still pushing through the cold it still is a good night. I mean honestly I can get down about these circumstances but when you look at the whole picture... we are doing great! Remember 2 years ago? I had the flu, Tiffany had the flu, Abby had the flu and was in the Hospital getting a Broviac put in, bone marrow taken out, and a spinal tap with Methotrexate. So again, this is nothing really.
Perspective.
What a crazy time. Tiffany and I were talking and saying that it seems like it was 5 years ago that this all started, not 2. Yet in some ways it seems like just yesterday.
With all of us getting sick this break and the 3 feet of snow there has been a lot of time to think and that's been really good. Last year I think we kept ourselves busy enough to not have to think about the previous 12 months and that was good. But all this time to think about it this year has also been equally as good. It has really made me and our whole family a lot different in who we all are... and once we can start to leave this house again maybe you all will notice! But really, things are good. We would like to get out some more and Tiffany and I are definitely looking forward to being able to put Abby and Anna back in Sunday school or take them to germ infected play room in the near future. Actually I bet it will be pretty hard not to hose them down with sanitizer or burn their clothes when we get home but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
And there is coming up soon! When Abby is done with this round of chemo we should have only 3 more to go (slight chance of 4 but I'm holding out for 3). That sounds weird. She'll be done in 3 months. Done. Weird. I don't know if I'll be relieved or just stressed about it coming back. I'm going to shoot for relieved with just a tinge of stress on the side. Anyway that is going to be a really nice belated Easter present. Maybe we'll chance it and take her to an Easter egg hunt... outside of course... with a mask. Hey with 11 days to go on Easter Sunday I may just for go the mask... we'll see.
Well, I got to mention 3 new years and an Easter here in one post so I'd say my job is done.
Happy New Year!
Give us this day our daily meds
Hey just a quick update of the drugs that the Schreiber clan is currently on.
Abby:
Dexamethasone (grumpy/hungry pill)
Vincristine
Methotrexate
6-MP
Benadryl (just because)
Anna:
Benadryl (why not?)
Robitussin
Tiffany:
Ibuprofen (sore throat)
Cough drops
Ocean spray
Tussin
Mark:
Augmenten (antibiotic)
Anti-inflamitory
Tussin
Benadryl (just kidding!)
Lily:
All of Tiffany's medicines while nursing
Tylenol
Diaper rash cream
The Fish:....
I probably should feed it but it seems to be doing OK.
Ahhh... we are ready for the new year! Yippee!
Actually, we are all doing pretty good. Abby has done great during this round of chemo. Still lots of "hold me's" and such" but otherwise really good.
Tiffany has the cold that we all had finally and I think Lily has it a bit too.
I have a sinus infection and I'm starting my second round of antibiotics (just got off Amoxicillin). Hopefully this will kick it.
Anna went to the doc with me yesterday and she got a chest X-Ray. Everything seems to be going good, they just wanted to make sure since she has been sick for soooooo long.
Well, that's the update! Hope you all have a happy new year too! Stay healthy and wash those hands!!
Abby:
Dexamethasone (grumpy/hungry pill)
Vincristine
Methotrexate
6-MP
Benadryl (just because)
Anna:
Benadryl (why not?)
Robitussin
Tiffany:
Ibuprofen (sore throat)
Cough drops
Ocean spray
Tussin
Mark:
Augmenten (antibiotic)
Anti-inflamitory
Tussin
Benadryl (just kidding!)
Lily:
All of Tiffany's medicines while nursing
Tylenol
Diaper rash cream
The Fish:....
I probably should feed it but it seems to be doing OK.
Ahhh... we are ready for the new year! Yippee!
Actually, we are all doing pretty good. Abby has done great during this round of chemo. Still lots of "hold me's" and such" but otherwise really good.
Tiffany has the cold that we all had finally and I think Lily has it a bit too.
I have a sinus infection and I'm starting my second round of antibiotics (just got off Amoxicillin). Hopefully this will kick it.
Anna went to the doc with me yesterday and she got a chest X-Ray. Everything seems to be going good, they just wanted to make sure since she has been sick for soooooo long.
Well, that's the update! Hope you all have a happy new year too! Stay healthy and wash those hands!!
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Chemo before the storm
We just got back from Denver... What a drive it was! Yikes! Lots of snow. Another 1-2 feet expected tonight. Denver seems to be getting more than we are. I guess shoveling will once again be in my future... round 28 I think. Maybe since Abby will be on Dexomethosone again I have her help shovel. They increased her dosage so that should be fun. Not really.
I feel like we moved to Michigan or North Dakota or something... so much snow! Piles everywhere and more is on the way. At least it is pretty.
Well, once Abby is done with this round she'll only have 3 more chemo's to go (maybe 4 but I don't think they'll tack that one on... we'll see). I'm so excited. Nervous but excited. It will be really weird when we don't have to give her nightly meds and such. Weird.
As for the sick front in our house, it seems that a high pressure system is starting to move back in to our house. Some of the pressure still seems to be lodged in my sinuses and maybe Abby's too but otherwise the big bad low cold pressure seems to be on the way out. Whew!
Well, everyone is back up so... off to hold Lily!
I feel like we moved to Michigan or North Dakota or something... so much snow! Piles everywhere and more is on the way. At least it is pretty.
Well, once Abby is done with this round she'll only have 3 more chemo's to go (maybe 4 but I don't think they'll tack that one on... we'll see). I'm so excited. Nervous but excited. It will be really weird when we don't have to give her nightly meds and such. Weird.
As for the sick front in our house, it seems that a high pressure system is starting to move back in to our house. Some of the pressure still seems to be lodged in my sinuses and maybe Abby's too but otherwise the big bad low cold pressure seems to be on the way out. Whew!
Well, everyone is back up so... off to hold Lily!
Friday, December 22, 2006
We'll be Home for Christmas
So where still here... in Colorado. The 2 feet of snow didn't help us get on the road to Idaho in time but that's not the main reason that we'll be staying home this year.
As you know Abby's been sick. Actually, Abby, Anna, Lily and myself have all been sick... Tiffany is taking good care of us. I have a sinus infection and Abby has the same cold I think. Lily seems like she is getting it today too so we'll just have to see how everyone does. Abby went into the local hospital to get some blood cultures done for the last couple days and a shot of Rocefin (sp?) antibiotic. She seems to be doing fine but they wanted to make sure since she was running a 101 fever and spiking up to 102.5 at times. Her fever broke today and she seems in good spirits.
We almost didn't make it back from the hospital on Wednesday since we had to go over during the blizzard. I dug us out of the parking lot with a basket and we made it mostly into our drive way before I gave up and left it there. Since then it has been about 15 rounds of digging to get various vehicle out of the snow and clear a path in our driveway. It was a nice neighborhood even. Everyone was digging and now we all have a mountian of snow in our yards!
So we are staying home. Maybe we'll all be healed up by new years! We'll see.
As you know Abby's been sick. Actually, Abby, Anna, Lily and myself have all been sick... Tiffany is taking good care of us. I have a sinus infection and Abby has the same cold I think. Lily seems like she is getting it today too so we'll just have to see how everyone does. Abby went into the local hospital to get some blood cultures done for the last couple days and a shot of Rocefin (sp?) antibiotic. She seems to be doing fine but they wanted to make sure since she was running a 101 fever and spiking up to 102.5 at times. Her fever broke today and she seems in good spirits.
We almost didn't make it back from the hospital on Wednesday since we had to go over during the blizzard. I dug us out of the parking lot with a basket and we made it mostly into our drive way before I gave up and left it there. Since then it has been about 15 rounds of digging to get various vehicle out of the snow and clear a path in our driveway. It was a nice neighborhood even. Everyone was digging and now we all have a mountian of snow in our yards!
So we are staying home. Maybe we'll all be healed up by new years! We'll see.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Still sick
Hey all,
You can be praying for Abby. She isn't feeling good at all. Walking around the house for the last week with a bowl in her hand in case she throws up. It's just a stomach virus, Anna and Tiffany also had it, but for Abby it is lasting a lot longer. That's pretty common for people with low immunities like her but still not fun. decided that I would not get their stomach bug and did everything in my power to keep it at bay... Instead I got a major sore throat and now I can barely talk. I was reminded though as grated through the pain of swallowing and eating from the sores in my throat about how happy I was that Abby have very few if any sores from the chemo last year. So, at least one good thing from this cold. It also reminded me how happy I am that Abby isn't like this all of the time like she was during some of those first few rounds. Man those were rough.
Still, it makes us sad having to see her like this for so long, pushing 9 or 10 days I think. We were up with her last night till about 2am and then again at 3:30. She seems to be eating and drinking better today and she hasn't thrown up so that is a huge deal. We are hoping that it will work it's way through and be done soon, hopefully without having to go to the other end of her system before it is all done and gone!
Well, lets just say it's been a tiring month. We did have a little reprieve while Tiffany's mom was her but then we all got sick again. I guess that is part of this winter season.
Pray that Abby will feel better and that she won't throw up her medicine again this night. I haven't been able to give her her chemo for the last 2 nights.
You can be praying for Abby. She isn't feeling good at all. Walking around the house for the last week with a bowl in her hand in case she throws up. It's just a stomach virus, Anna and Tiffany also had it, but for Abby it is lasting a lot longer. That's pretty common for people with low immunities like her but still not fun. decided that I would not get their stomach bug and did everything in my power to keep it at bay... Instead I got a major sore throat and now I can barely talk. I was reminded though as grated through the pain of swallowing and eating from the sores in my throat about how happy I was that Abby have very few if any sores from the chemo last year. So, at least one good thing from this cold. It also reminded me how happy I am that Abby isn't like this all of the time like she was during some of those first few rounds. Man those were rough.
Still, it makes us sad having to see her like this for so long, pushing 9 or 10 days I think. We were up with her last night till about 2am and then again at 3:30. She seems to be eating and drinking better today and she hasn't thrown up so that is a huge deal. We are hoping that it will work it's way through and be done soon, hopefully without having to go to the other end of her system before it is all done and gone!
Well, lets just say it's been a tiring month. We did have a little reprieve while Tiffany's mom was her but then we all got sick again. I guess that is part of this winter season.
Pray that Abby will feel better and that she won't throw up her medicine again this night. I haven't been able to give her her chemo for the last 2 nights.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Chemo and the Christmas Angel
So Abby is on chemo again this week. She had a tap on Tuesday and we started her Dexamethasone (grumpy pill) a day early so that she would be done by Saturday since she is in the Christmas program at church... She gets to be an angel with a little group of girls. I think she'll have a good time. I'm not so sure about Anna though, she is a bit scared of large crowds of kids right now. She also hasn't been in Sunday school for a couple months becuase of the chicken pox thing at church. So, we'll see.
Over all Abby is doing good. The spinal tap with fine yesterday and Anna even stayed there in the room with her all wide-eyed watching everything that they were doing to her sister. She has been really getting into the protector and comforter role when Abby has to get a shot or wash her nose out. Anna just stands next to her and pats Abby on the foot or something like that. Pretty cute and loving.
Since Abby was already on the steroids for a day, she was quite hungry at CHOA. Anna tried to eat everything that Abby was eating but by lunch time she had hit her limit. Abby still was hungry and kind of in the "you gonna eat that?" mode wanting all of Tiffany's food too! Crazy how much she can eat.
Well, that's the breif but true update... I'll tell you how the Christmas program goes later.
Over all Abby is doing good. The spinal tap with fine yesterday and Anna even stayed there in the room with her all wide-eyed watching everything that they were doing to her sister. She has been really getting into the protector and comforter role when Abby has to get a shot or wash her nose out. Anna just stands next to her and pats Abby on the foot or something like that. Pretty cute and loving.
Since Abby was already on the steroids for a day, she was quite hungry at CHOA. Anna tried to eat everything that Abby was eating but by lunch time she had hit her limit. Abby still was hungry and kind of in the "you gonna eat that?" mode wanting all of Tiffany's food too! Crazy how much she can eat.
Well, that's the breif but true update... I'll tell you how the Christmas program goes later.
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