Happy Holidays!!!

There is not a whole lot going on around the house right now other than the Christmas is coming hustle! I just wanted to take a minute and update, Jason is over is respiratory infection and so is Ronan. We are only four days a way from Christmas so we could possibly all be healthy this year, knock on wood. Jason goes back in early January to see Dr. Tannir and get his second round of shots. I am starting school in January.....I am completely nervous! Its good though, its good starting our lives post cancer treatment.

I know I have said it before, but this year compared to last year is night and day. Even if I dont receive a single gift, I am utterly happy and content. Its extremely difficult to put into words how difficult last year was. I know I documented here, but those post were not everything that was going on and definately not all the feelings and emotions being felt. I suppose the best analogy I have is being trapped underwater, drowning, and that first breath as you break the surface. That one breath that is filled with the need and want of survival and relief that its going to be okay and you can breathe again.

Each one of you has played an important roll in helping Jason and I through this journey. Your support, comments, phone calls meant more to us than you will ever know. It kept us grounded and let us know we were not alone. Jason does not remember most of last year. We had a long conversation awhile ago where he answered all my questions and I answered his about last year. He was moved to tears by how many people love and care about him and his family.

Thank you, each one of you for thinking of us. We hope you all have the happiest Christmas and most blessed New Year. Spend time with your family and say a prayer of thanks! My prayer for this Christmas is simple.

Heavenly Father, When your precious Son came into this world and was born in a stable in Bethlehem in poverty and simplicity, you changed our world. As we gather together let us become like the shepherds and the wise men. Let us seek him in wonder and praise. We thank you for our material lives, praise you for our spiritual lives, and trust in you for our eternal life. Amen.

Merry Christmas!
Kimmy, Jason, and Ronan

The results are in..........

According to scans Jason is still in REMISSION!!!! We now have 16months under the belt! Super duper happy. We are getting to move on away from cancer...it is an incredible feeling. It is also scary. Now it seems we just wait, but during this waiting, we get to live and make plans and most of all see them through. 2012 is going to fantastic. I know it! I will update before Christmas but just wanted you all to know how things went yesterday. Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Thank You note to Dr. Nieto and Staff

Dear Dr. Nieto and Staff,

As we come up on Jason’s one year post second stem cell transplant anniversary, I tried and tried to come up with ideas on how to thank you all. But how do you thank someone for life? I thought about food, flowers, a plaque, or even gift cards. I just could not narrow it down to anything that could possibly measure up to the amount of gratitude that I have for you all.
I have a kept a blog since September of 2009 when Jason’s first relapse was diagnosed. The other day I went back and read what we were doing at this time last year. The difference is as vast as night and day. Last year Jason was in the hospital for the second round having been out for a little over a month from the first transplant. He was barely walking, hardly keeping food down if he ate at all, and looked nothing like the man I married. This year, he helped me bake Thanksgiving pies, put up Christmas lights, and even helped carry in our Christmas tree. He even helped me with Christmas shopping which is not something that has happened since 2008.
That is what I want to thank you all for. Memories. No matter the outcome of this or any future scans, through all of your hard work and dedication, I and my son have had another year of memories with Jason. That is priceless to me and there is not an object in this world that has the same value.
So in short, all I have to offer is a thank you. Thank you all for taking time away from your own families to allow mine to have more time together. Have a blessed holiday season and the happiest of New Years.

With Immeasurable Gratitude,


Kimberly Elliott

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I had to go back and read the post from last year to figure out what we did. Last year is such a blur to most of us in this house! However, today and everyday is a day to be thankful. Thankful that our family had one more year together, thankful that we are all in general good health, thankful that we have come so far from where we were a year ago. Last year Jason was in a wheelchair and barely moving around and we were getting ready to in for the second translpant. This year he kept me company and fetched things while I baked pies. I got to see him and Ronan curl up in the recliner watching the Macy's parade. Its these little moments that move me to tears. While we have not won the lottery or magically found fantastic jobs that allow us to do as we will, we have been so blessed beyond any millionaire or person that has found their dream job. We have had another year together of making memories. Jason goes back for scans on December 7 results on the 8th. This will mark a year post second transplant...If these are clear, chances are the cancer will stay gone! Say alittle prayer for us. Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Here's an update

So our lives have been crazy busy since the last post. Jason and I went on a roadtrip to Mississippi for the funeral of a friend's Dad, Jason also worked with him. He passed away due to complications of Pancreatic Cancer. However, on a lighter note we turned the roadtrip into a celebration for our Five year anniversary. Its hard to believe its been that long. It was fantastic and the first time we have got to really go anywhere since our honeymoon. Hopefully the next one wont be so long coming. Then on to Halloween. It was the first year since Ronan was born and had been trick or treating that Jason got to participate. We walked a neighborhood and Ronan was dressed as Phineas and Jason was dressed as Ferb. I cannot express how wonderful it was to do something so simple. Jason is doing well enough that I felt comfortable taking a part time seasonal job. I am working at Bass Pro Shop in the fudge cart...I told Ronan that I'm helping Santa. He is taking it hard but he is a trooper as always. Jason is doing great. He has cut down on alot of his pain medication, he is getting more feeling in his feet. That is both good and bad because he actually felt it when he stumped his toe last night. He actually asked me if he broke it....no you just stumped it honey. He is walking, staying awake for longer periods of time, and is generally getting back to a new normal. I like these past weeks...they were busy but fun and completely normal! I could get use to this. Prayer request is for things just keep going with the flow. His next scans are in December. Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy


Super Sorry for the pictures being sideways....blogspot and I are in a fight and right now Im not talking to it! Ill change later when I have a few more minutes!

Hmmm

So this week has been chocked full of appointments for Jason. Monday he went to the pain managment doctor. Not much change there, he is lowering the dose on one medicaiton (methadone) and upping it on another (lyrica) to see if that helps. Tuesday he went to the orthotist who basically made him some arch supports for his shoes and a new pair of leg/foot braces to help when he wants to wear low tops. Then today he went and got a bone density scan and met with the internal medicine doctor for the results. Well he is low in vitamin D. Apparently he was suppose to be taking this since his last visit and he has not been. I did not know this, I was not at his last appointment as well as this one. I guess I should start attending these. His scan shows that he continues to lose density in his bones. I dont know, he has been taking boniva ( an osteoporosis med) and it has not helped. They are going to wait and get his vitamin D level up and then switch Jason to a once a month IV med. We will wait and see. Its not great news, but its not bad either so we will take it. Ronan continues to grow,amaze, and downright baffle us sometimes. I will register in a fews days to go back to school. We are both super excited. On the whole not really a bad week! Prayers request this post is for a friend of ours whose Dad past away from complications of pancreatic cancer. Thanks everyone, will update when I know more. Prayers Welcomed, Kimmy!

NOthing particularly important

So this post is really just an update, but not really. We are all doing very well. Unfortunately I have had a wicked cold for the past 2 weeks but I am hoping its easing up. Jason is doing great. He no longer goes to physical therapy down at MDAnderson(insurance wont pay for more). We do however go to the gym and work out there which benefits both of us. Ronan did allergy testing the past couple of weeks. He did the prick test and and the under the skin test and a blood test to tell us....that he is not allergic to anything. So that was good. However his constantly runny nose is still unexplained then.
Yesterday we took Ronan to get his ears lowered, aka haircut. Jason was like I want mine cut too. This is Jason's first haircut in about a year and a half. When his hair grew back from this last transplant if grew back curly. He had these great curly q's. However he wore a hat all the time and with the curls this made him look like an extremely avid Nascar fan. DOnt get me wrong, we like Nascar, but we dont LIKEEEEE Nascar. So we took him to the Sports Clips and off they went. Yes, I did save one in a tissue to put in his scrapbook....unfortunately with my cold it got mixed in with my other tissues and Im pretty sure I threw it away....Oh well. Prayers Welcomed...Kimmy

On FIre!!!

To the most important news....the results of Jason's one year scans are an ALL CLEAR!! Yes ladies and gentlemen a year post transplant and we are still in the green. His tumor markers are normal, everything looks the same on the scans as it did last time, and there has even been some slight improvement in his pulmonary emboli. WE talked with the Dr. about options to stop taking the blood thinners and the Dr. and I are on the same page. He could switch to a pill but that would require almost weekly blood test and watching his diet closely. We could stop altogether and then he could form a clot and die. or we can slightly reduce the amount so that he only has to have one shot a day instead of two. The Dr. and I voted option 3, J eventually agreed. I figure we did not go through all this for him to die of a blood clot. What else, he started his revaccinations today. All of his childhood vaccines were wiped out with the transplant so he got to start retaking them today. Wahoo that was 6 shots, 3 in each arm. (this does not include his lovenox tonight oops) To top off the shots he is taking 3000mg of Valtrex a day for the shingles and when done with this 14 day dose he will take 1000mg a day for at least 6months oh and he has some sort of bronchitis. They started him on an antibiotic did a throat culture and nasal wash so hopefully we will know a bit more. His red blood cell count is steadily rising so this awesome. Dr. Tannir was going to let him go 4 months with out a scan but J has to have the second series of vaccines before then so we will go back earlier probably 3 months. The 4 months would have been the longest we had been between scans ever!!! All in all minus the illness we are ecstatic!!! Thanks for the prayers!!! Prayers Welcomed!! Kimmy

Shimmy Shimmy Shingles.....

So the other day J thought he had a pimple on his chest and popped it. After his nap he was laying in bed without a shirt and I was like what is that? He said "a pimple" , "um no its not. I dont know what it is but its not that." I took a picture and emailed it to his Mom who works for UT Dermatology yesterday. She showed it to her docotor who told us to come in. Low and behold when J took his shirt off it had spread underneath his arm to his back. They did a scraping to confirm but she was certain its Shingles. Shingles is a from the chicken pox virus. What it does is the virus still lives in our nerves, when you are immunosuppressed the virus can rear its ugly head causing blisters that spread along the nerve that was infected. Its more painful than chicken pox because it involves the nerves. Yeah....It could be worse. He wasnt have any pain yesterday, today he is. We are sending Ronan to Mimi and Pops for a few days because there is still a small chance that Ronan could catch chicken pox from him even though he has had the vaccine and Ronan just doesnt understand why he cant climb on Daddy like usual. Like I said earlier J is in some pain and he says that he is very stiff. He is suppose to rest and keep calm. Apparently stress can make it worse and our lives arent stressful at all! :) Hopefully we will get in to see Dr. Nieto tomorrow (transplant dr.). Prayer requests, for a speedy resolution for this for J and patience for me!Prayers Welcomed!Kimmy

Everyday is filled with wonder, but today is special!!

I am shedding tears as I type this, not for sadness, but because if you had asked me a year ago if we would have made it to today I would have said probably not. Today marks one year that Jason has been cancer free. It's his REBIRTH Day. August 17th, 2010 was the day that J was given his stem cells after the first round of High Dose Chemo. It signified that he was leaving his old life behind and embarking on a cancer free one. The past year has been filled with despair, heartache, joy, worry, pretty much every emotion there is. Jason and I have grown apart and come back together stronger than we ever would have been had we not faced this. As a family we were put through trials that we pray no one will have to endure. We are thankful that Ronan was relatively young and will not remember all that his Daddy had to go through. It was not an easy road and the one ahead is still incredibly bumpy and uncertain but whatever is ahead we will face as a family. Thank you all for your support to Jason, Ronan, and myself. I dont think I can adequately explain how grateful we are that all of you were and continue to be there for us. We have scans coming up in the beginning of September and we are sure they are clear. We get to look forward to a future as a family. Thank you Dr. Tannir, Dr. Nieto, and all of the staff at MD Anderson. I know that none of us are promised a tomorrow, but thank you for giving Jason to Ronan and myself for the past year. We pray that this is only a start. Happy REBIRTH Day to one of the strongest guys I know, a warrior, and my best friend. You are amazing J. Love you, Kimmy

Another Update...........

So howdy all. Wow, its been over a month since my last post! This in and of itself is amazing. Wahoo! An entire month with nothing exciting enough to blog over, I am ecstatic and pray nightly for these to continue for years.

Everything is going well here. Ronan has started daycare and seems to enjoy it. Though the downside is he is bringing home alot of colds! Oh well he is just helping Jason build up his immune system quickly. Jason is doing great. We are both going to gym three days a week and the days he is not at the gym he is in physical therapy. Its amazing the difference a year makes. Last year at this time we were gearing up for the benefit and Jason was over 360lbs, barely walking, in a wheelchair, and almost completely unrecognizable. Today he is 260lbs walking well enough to go without the cane at home and each day is looking more and more like the guy I married. Well except for the fact that so much chemo has now given him curly hair :). I am getting ready to go back to school in August. It will be quite different than the last time I went. Things are going good and I am doing my best not to question them, just thanking God for each day.

Big scans are coming up in September. Those are the one year post first transplant. Its very exciting yet terrifying at the same time. Remember the further we make it away from treatment the better chances we have of staying in remission and ultimately dare I say Cure!

Prayer request, pray for Jason's continued improvement. And maybe throw in a word for me about patience with the 18-22 year olds I will be taking classes with. Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Just an update....

Thought I would drop in and let you all know how we are faring. All in all we are doing well! Jason restarted physical therapy this week. We are very excited about this because he has tons of room for even more improvement. He has been getting down on the floor (laying on his stomach, or sitting for short periods of time) and playing with Ronan. Each day he is improving in someway. Ronan is doing good he is making leaps in bounds of improvement with potty training! This is very exciting. The week of the 4th he will be starting daycare and I think I am having a harder time of it than him. I am having a hard time trusting other people with my only child....Oh well, he will have a blast and everyone tells me it will be harder on me than him. Roo going to daycare will give me more time to work on my business and free up time for me to go back to school. Hopefully if its not too much maybe even squeeze a part time job in there. So all in all everything is headed in the right direction with J and us. We have a minor snafu with my Mom and will be addressing that on this upcoming Tuesday. Hopefully that is all it will be. So prayer request this week, pray for good health for my MOm....Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

And the news is........

We went and had Jason's follow scans done yesterday. Its 10 months post first transplant and 6 months post second and..... HE IS STILL IN REMISSION!!!!!!!!!! There was nothing on the scans to indicate a relaspse and his tumor markers are still great. His blood counts look good. The only bad news we walked away with is that he still has the blood clots in his lungs. He is still being given a blood thinner and it unfortunately looks like he could be doing this for the rest of his life. BOOO! But if thats the price we pay so be it. Dr. Tannir (yes ladies and gents we got to see him for the first time in about a year) walked into the room and gave Jason a hug then gave me one. I love this doctor. He amazes me with his compassion for his patients. I dont know if its just Jason and myself(because we are lovable) or if he handles all his patients this way. He was very happy with Jason's progress. Said that he knew we had had very rough time but was glad that Jason is looking so good. The last time Dr. Tannir saw J he was 360lbs due to water weight. J was 260lbs today. We did learn that somehow the chemo affected J's heart and that he will always run a higher pulse now. Thats okay he just wanted to be like me!:) He did tell J not to worry about going back to work or looking for a job til next year sometime. Said that he needed to try to heal a bit more. Cautioned him to find a line between careful and having fun. Recap* Because of the blood thinners and he condition of J's pelvis if he fell it would not be any fun. His pelvis is like an old osteoporotic lady, very easy to shatter.* Also said that maybe J should look into working from home when he does decide to work and said no physical labor. I just have to convince J that he did not mean dishes and clothes:). Other than that it was really nice to get to see Dr. Tannir and Zita(PA) again. They said that we look younger than the last time they saw us, I said really I feel about a 10 years older! We do not have to go see them again for another 3 months!!! We will do scans and meet with Dr. Nieto as well. Jason will start getting revaccinated then too. That will put us a year post transplant and each and every month further away we get the more likely that it is gone for good!!! Thanks everyone for your support! Prayer request, that we get some rain!!! God is GOOD!! Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

This is Post number 100!!!!!!!

Just an update!So Jason had a follow up appointment with his Rehabilitation Dr. Dr. Fu is great. He is the one that got Jason on to the Rehab floor back in September of last year. Well 6 months ago at the follow up appointment after discharging from the hospital post first transplant, Jason was only doing 25% of his daily care and activites. That meant that 75% was either assited or with me. He was in the wheelchair and had to use a slide board to transfer out of chairs and bed etc. Now 6 months later Jason has been cleared to use a cane to walk!!! He still has a long way to go. His balance is off, he has some pretty wicked gait abnormalities, his neuropathy has curled his toes on his right foot so he occassionally steps on them (ouch!), still has some slight drop foot issues but he has done so well!!! To go from not walking at all back in October to walking with a cane is fantastic. Im am so proud of him! We go back in the beginning of June for 6 months post second Transplant and 10 months post first and it still looks good. Jason said that he has had less pelvis and sacrum pain so maybe those are healing too!

Ronan is doing better, Jason is doing better, and I managed to only feel bad for a day or two! All in all not too bad. Im thinking that this weekend Jason and I might have a date night and take his new walking cane out for a spin! Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Icky!!!

Well nothing cancer related wahoo! But our house is a germ factory right now. We took J to the Er last night because he was coughing up green stuff and whatnot. Well they gave him antibiotics at the hospital and sent us home with a perscription for the rest of it. He has an upper Respiratory infection. Well Ronan went and spent the night with MiMI and Pop because you never know how long it will take at the Er and I was suppose to go to Sweet Adelines but best laid plans and all that jazz. He had a little bit of a cough when I dropped him off but he was running around and playing. Mimi called this morning and said I needed to schedule an appointment for him. Well Dr appt later poor kid has a double ear infection, pink eye, and an upper respiratory infection. Icky Icky Icky! Im just hoping that if it is a virus that it stays away from me long enough for the other two to start feeling better. Here's hoping! Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Post number 98!

So sorry about not writing in a while but no news is good news right! Well we are coming up on a year since Jason relasped and I am both extremely excited and equally terrified. Everything has been relatively uneventful except for an UTI with Jason but he is on antibiotics for that and it seems to be clearing up. It seems like we cant do anything but wait for the other shoe to drop. I think we have been bombarded with so much for the past 3 years that we have kind of forgotten how to live normally or our new normal! Jason is getting stronger at every turn. He is still going to physical therapy 3 times a week and his improvement is great. He still has a very long way to go but he will get there I know it! We went to Arkansas this past weekend for a short trip to celebrate one of our niece's first birthday and to celebrate Ronan's third birthday. It was a nice trip and the first we have ever got to take as a family. Oh yes you read that right our little man turned 3. You never beleive the people that say enjoy it while you can because they grew up so fast until you have one yourself. Where did our baby go? Oh J went to see the opthamalogical surgeon and she said that she does not beleive that Jason has Graves Disease, we will know with more certainty after the CT scan this Friday. Well I'll leave you for now and hopefully more uneventful updates will be filling this corner of the web!Prayers Welcomed!Kimmy

Time passes by......

So not a whole lot going on in the world of Jason's Journey. Thats the way I like it. Jason continues to go to physical therapy and he is improving. He had a DEXA scan back in March which is a bone density test for those who dont know. His left hip is osteoporotic along with head of the femur the right hip is osteopenic which is not good just not to the point of osteoporosis yet. So they started him on the flying nun medicine or Boniva for those who didnt get my Sally Field reference. Hopefully that will start replacing some of what his bones have loss. We have the appointment with the opthamological surgeon to see what is happening on the grave's disease front. Interesting enough he has the appointment before he has the CT. Lets see Monday I drove down to Texas State to get everything cleared up for me to enroll for the fall. I am sooooo excited. We are driving up to Arkansas next week to visit my sister and nieces', Reagan is turning one already! Boy how time flies, as it happens Ronan's birthday is going to be while we are up there so we will celebrate that too. Although lucky little guy that he is is having two parties. Then Easter is the same weekend as Roo's party and then maybe ArtFest up in Austin with Carolyn if we are not pooped out of how busy this month has been. Well we are all doing pretty good so far, will report more when there is something to report.....Prayers Welcomed. Kimmy

Another day, another post

Alright so Jason finally went to the opthamologist last week. The results his vision has changed drastically since his last eye exam. We are also being referred to a different eye doctor, a surgeon, to test J out for something called Grave's Disease. Its basically an autoimmune disorder that leads to hyperthyroidism. Jason is presenting with a whole bunch of the symptoms. If it is indeed what he has then it is treatable, especially at the stage we have seem to have caught it at. Better news we had a fantastic family picture session with Nena Metcalf Photograpy this weekend. We have not had family pictures in like 2 years and J and I havent had pictures since our wedding. Needless to say I am very excited. We also took a trip to the beach yesterday. It was a little windy and overcast but it was perfectly fine for Ronan to play in the sand. J sat out in a chair and watched him, it was a good time. We went to Gaido's for lunch for those that dont know its the oldest Seafood House in Texas. Guess who got sick from it, thats right me! Im feeling a bit better and Im just thankful it held off until we got back home. Other than that the next month is shaping up to be a busy one. We have multiple doctor appointments, physical therapy appointments, Ronan's 3rd birthday, our niece's 1st birthday, Easter. It looks like we will be on the go. Oh and guess what I got back into school starting the Fall semester!!!!Prayers Welcomed!Kimmy

Another mountain climbed!

So Jason is still in Remission!!!!! Wahoo! THis is 7 months post first transplant and 3 months after the second. The ct scans look good there is post treatment effects being seen is his tailbone and spine (meaning the cancer is going bye bye) there are few nodes in his lung but those are being attributed to his pneumonia and the RSV. Dr. Nieto said they are not cancer. The blood clot is still in his legs and not he has blood clots in both lungs. He is already on the treatment so its just waiting for them to clear up. He is not symptomatic so thats good. We are so excited this basically the longest Remission that he has had and are so thankful. Jason continues to do well with physical therapy we actually have the foot brace people coming on Friday to see if they can custom make a brace for his giant feet, the two he has now are just too small. We do go back next week to see the opthamalogist because the chemo has affected his eye site then the next week go get a bone density scan so we can see if there is any treatment we can do to start filling in all the holes in Jason's pelvis so that maybe it can be stabilized enough for some hardware. On the whole we are pretty happy with they way things are going. Thank you for all the prayers and support, please continue. Prayer requests, a friend of ours Dad was diagnosed with Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer, please pray for the Breeland family. Prayers Welcome, Kimmy

Deep breath in, release...................

We went and saw Dr.Nieto last Tuesday. Jason's lungs sound good and they said the wheezing and cough is going to hang around for a while. They put the request back in for physical and occupational therapy to begin again. We asked about Ronan being able to start day care and they said since J seems to catch any and everything could we wait a few more months for Jason's immune system to get a bit stronger. We go in for three month scans in a week and a half and Jason and I are on pins and needles. It is exactly a year since he started having symptoms of a recurrance. Dr. Nieto seems pretty happy with the ways things are progressing, we even have an appointment back with Dr. Tannir in June. This is exciting, we kind of miss him and Zita. We are making some changes to the house, I picked up an OOPS paint at home depot for a $1 and painted part of our kitchen. We liked the color and figured after almost five years we should started making this our house. Well prayer request that things go on as usual. Ill update when there is more to say.. Happy almost Spring....Prayers Welcomed. Kimmy

A little update

So Jason came home on Tuesday. He is feeling pretty tired and still has some wheezing and coughing but is very happy to be in his own bed. He is getting some rest and he and Ronan are playing when he has the energy but either the illness or the cure pretty much wiped him out. He is getting out of bed and coming to the living room, tomorrow Im going to try to get him outside for a bit if the weather stays nice. He is back on blood thinners twice a day and at a bigger dose, luckily his belly is pretty numb to these now. The swelling has gone down on his right foot and is lessening on his right leg so thats good news. We go back to the doctor on Tuesday so I will have more to report then. Prayers for an event free weekend! Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Whats it like inside the bubble...........

Alright so yesterday at the hospital the Dr on call ordered a Doppler Sonogram of Jason's leg(this checks blood flow). His leg had been swelling and brought it to the attention of the Dr and PA but it didnt get anywhere. Well yeah for the Er doc, apparently J has a blood clot that stretches from his groin to his knee. It could be further down they just dont scan the calves. So he is started on blood thinners again and Im not quite sure what the next step is. He finally got into a room and they initiated the treatments for the RSV. He says that a plasic bubble is put over him with a hole in the side so that he can get himself drinks, then there is a mask on the inside that delivers the medicine. Sounds space agey, but he if it works. No one is allowed in the room when he is getting the treatments so I dont have to feel so guilty about not being up there even though Roo and I are sick and logically I know I should not be there. The treatments will last 5 days so its looking like hopefully Monday for release but probably Tuesday. He is doing well, just bored. He is going to make sure that with the clot its okay for him to get up and walk around. Thats about all for now. Its amazing how God works, J goes in for a virus to be treated and a life threatening blood clot is found...Thank you Jesus for watching over my husband. Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Icky, Yucky, and then some.............

Well we all have the icky crud which is apparently RSV. For me it equals a pretty annoying cold and cough. For Ronan, a cold, cough, with some crazy mucous amounts, for Jason it equals a trip the the hospital. We took J to the Dr. yesterday and they drew some cultures and were sent home while those stewed. We went to pick up Roo from my parents went by the grocery store to stock up, when we got home at around 9pm we get a phone call from Dr. Nieto. He asked us to come up to the hospital through the ER for Jason to be admitted. He has to get some sort of medicine there to keep this from turning into something really bad. I dont know how long he will be in, he doesnt actually have a room yet and still in the Er. They are doing breathing treatments right now so thats about all I know. Ronan and myself are slowly getting better with lots of fluids, a humidifier, and inhalers. On a different note, my Aunt, Carol has been in the ICU in Austin for the past 12days. She is on intubated and on a ventilator and will be putting in a tracheotomy tomorrow. She is having some major complications from the flu and pneumonia. Please pray for the doctors to be able to pin down the cause of this and to treat it accordingly, pray for strength for her and Jason to overcome these illnesses. You guys are amazing! Prayers Welcomed!Kimmy

Good to GO!

Well the weather might not be, but we are. We had an appointment with Dr. Nieto today. First off let me start by saying that Jason walked at the hospital. He did not use a wheelchair. I am so proud of him. We are suppose to have a physical therapy appointment tomorrow, we will see if that works out tomorrow or not. Second, all of Jason's blood work is looking excellent. We only had one tumor marker back at the time of the appointment but it was the one I was worrying about and it is within normal range and less than a month ago. He is apparenty doing so good we dont have to be back for 3 months! This is the first time since 2009 that we have got to go that long between check ups. On one hand its excellent on the other it petrifies me. When we go back in May we will repeat tumor markers and ct scans and meet with Dr. Nieto and get to visit Dr. Tannir. Obivousely we well go back if we suspect something but for now its physical therapy and we will add in occupational therapy and just work on moving forward. Prayers Welcomed. Kimmy

Ha! Dr.s should learn to trust instincts!

Alright well J did not go to therapy on Tuesday or on Thursday. I did however take him to the Stem Cell clinic on Thursday to see the Dr. Nieto because a week later he was still having diarrhea and vomitting. Well we dropped off a "sample", Dr.Nieto said that this was still part of the stomach flu he contracted from Roo and myself. I was like really 7 days later, shouldnt he have fought this off by now or at least showed some sort of improvement? He said no, for J to drink, and eat as he could, Im like thats the problem he cant! Anyways they sent us home, and told us to bring up another "sample" on Friday. Well Friday comes along and I get a call from them that his other sample came back positive for C. Diff. Yes that is shortened for some complicated to pronounce thing that is basically an infection of his intestinal tract due to antibiotics. He did have this in the hospital and apparently if you have had it once your are prone to relapse. So they called him in another antibiotic(kind of funny) to get rid of it. Jason has started eating a little bit and drinking a lot better. SO there it was more than just the virus and even if it wasnt no one should go 7 days with eating next to nothing and drinking next to nothing. We go to physical therapy 3 days next week and then of course an appointment on a totally different day so we will be up there four days next week. Oh well. We were planning on going to Austin this weekend but that got pushed back because of J feeling poorly so we will try again for this coming weekend! Just a little update Prayers Welcomed, Kimmy

Title here!

Alright so I came down with some random stomach virus on Thursday of last week and was over it Friday with some lingering effects, Jason got on Friday,Roo got it Saturday night and was right as rain on Sunday. Jason not so lucky. He has been dealing with it ever since and finally decided to take him to the ER on Monday. After test it came back as just the same virus, they did push 2 liters of fluid through him and gave him more nausea meds. We are just waiting to see, all of his blood work came back fine, and the good news is that his LDH (a non descript tumor marker but the only one that showed up last time) is in the normal acceptable range for the first time since March of 2010!!!! This is pretty exciting. As of February 8th Jason will be in Remission for 4 months which is the same amount of time that his recurrence happened last year. For both of us it is nerve wracking and its like if we can just pass this point we can breathe alittl easier. Jason did not go to physical therapy today but we will be going on Thursday. Thats about all I have for now. Prayers Welcome! Kimmy

PT is on!

On Tuesday after be woken up at 10am by the phone. Our little alarm clock i.e. Ronan, did not wake up at his customary 7:30. I had to hurry and get Ronan, Jason, and myself ready for J's dr. appointments. As an aside I am so sorry Mom's group for bailing! Mimi and Pop came and picked up Roo and J and I headed to MDAnderson. First we had his evaluation with Physical therapy. They wanted to know what Jason's goals were and we said walking without a walker, much better balance, being able to walk up stairs, and working on his drop foot issues (ankle weakness that cause him not to be able to keep his feet inline with his leg). They said okay and did some strenght test, sit to stand test, and endurance test. Basically theses are just starting off points. We set up appointments for the next two weeks, we will go for a month, then re-evaluate and then go from there. We did have a few issues with his pulse rate which sky rocketed and his oxygen levels which dipped pretty significantly. We are attributing this to him just getting over the bronchitis. They do as a precaution have him on oxygen as he is doing activities. He left feeling pretty good about himself but extremely tired. We then went to see chronic pain management and got refills for his pain meds and set up an appointment for next month to see if any adjusting needs to happen. On the whole other than it taking FOREVER, it was a pretty successful day. Oh another happy note, Ronan went to the bathroom on the potty!!!!! Of course he hasnt since, but its a start. We are doing pretty well, just trying to get the house cleaned up and organized, kind of early spring cleaning. Thats about all that is going on for now. We are headed up to Austin at the end of this month for a few days to help my Nana celebrate her birthday. We go back to see Dr. Nieto on the 4th of February. Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Good report then a trip to the Er....

Last Tuesday we met up with Dr. Nieto (stem cell Doc) for the first time since J was sent home from the hospital. The good news is J is still in Remission, his blood counts look great, but his liver is apparently damaged. Not as in he needs a transplant or anything, hopefully it is something that will heal itself over time. The great thing was that J did not use a wheelchair at this visit. HE WALKED everywhere. Of course he was insanely tired afterward but he walked. He then started running a slight fever on Wednesday night but it did not go high enough for us to take him to the Dr. Then there was no fever on Thurday, but last night it got up to 100.8F which means a trip to the Er for us. We went and got in really quickly, they did blood cultures, an chest xray, and a nasal flush thing. All signs point to a virus but they are sending him home on anitibiotics just in case. He was also a bit dehydrated they had a crazy time getting blood from him and his veins are okay still Ive stuck them! He is tired and is resting. I am going to email Dr. Nieto assistant on Monday and see if we need to come in this week for a follow up or not. Thats all that is happening in our neck of the woods. Never a dull moment in this househould! Prayers Welcomed! Kimmy

Happy New Year!!!! 1-1-11

We hope that everyone had a fantastic New Year's Eve and will continue to have a wonder New Years. We had a good evening of fireworks, sparkling grape juice, and champagne with our lovely neighbors! The kiddos had a good time, Ronan escaped with a scraped forehead, nose, and lip. Oh well, thats boys for you.
We went to see the nurses on Thursday and Jason has officially graduated from the fast track part of transplant!!! They did a fantastic job of keeping up with his blood counts and getting appointments scheduled for us for the future. His blood counts are doing great still. His white blood cell count is a little high but we are attributing that to him still being on steriods. When we see Dr. Nieto we will start weaning him off of them. That will be the first time he has not taken them since March of last year! Jason is feeling really good and he is walking with the walker next week we should be getting in to see Physical therapy so he will improve even faster!
Its amazing how great it feels to finally be able to plan things for our future. Obviously we dont know what it holds but its good to be able to say " We should go on a mini trip in March dont you think?" It will be three years in February that we have been able to plan something like that.

We are being cautiously optimistic about these transplants. Everything points to this finally eliminating the Cancer we just dont want to go overboard. Im sure you all can understand. J says that he has a good feeling about this time so I will take that. Again thank you everyone for all the support you showed to our family last year! Hopefully we will be able to return the favor this year!
Happy New Years! Love, Jason, Kimberly, and Ronan