31 August 2007 6:00pmEST Kara got sick 3 more times during the night. She still has the IV due to the Dr. decision yesterday. She has been some better today as far as she hasn't gotton sick any more today. Her appetite has been better today, and she has had no diarrhea today! Praise God! The Dr. said her nausea and sickness could be from a couple of different things; could be delayed nausea from the chemo, or some type of a bug. They are hoping that yesterday was the worst of it. Her blood counts are also good today. But Mary said she just wants to lay around today and doesn't feel like doing much. Lauren is hoping her playmate gets better. Kara still needs lots of prayer! She has lost around 5lbs. Mary said she is really home sick for her house in Dandridge. Prayer warriors, pray that they will let her go home for a few days before the next chemo. Kara has been a very sick little girl the last few days! Thanks for all your prayers! God is faithful!

30 August 2007 10:30amEST Megan just called and Kara has been sick quite a bit during the night. She's loosing fluids, and they're planning on removing her IV this morning, We think it should continue...we'll see what the Dr. decided this morning. Megan is starting a more rigorous schedule for her anti-nausea meds. I'm getting ready to leave now, so I'll try to call Gary Lee tonight to update on how her day has gone. God bless you all and Praise God, for he is Great!

29 August 2007 10:30pmEST Kara was dismissed from St Jude today and they have her on an IV for extra fluids. She has 3 apt @ St Jude tomorrow, so it's going to be a long & busy day. Kara is having a problem with some stitches on her main line. they are embedded in her skin, they plan to remove them the next time she's sedated. Yesterday she ate sooo much better, then she threw everything up that she ate. Then she ate 4 oz. of mandarin oranges after that and kept it down. So God is taking care of this little problem too. It's a big problem for Kara, but a very little one for God!!! He has been so faithful to us. Tony is coming home tomorrow and I'm headed back to Memphis, so pray Kara doesn't have a setback and we all have traveling mercies. She's is eating better today, and there are 4 different nausea meds that Megan can give her. (but not all at once)........so we're prepared! God bless you all. Sis Mary

28 August 2007 3:00pmEST Praise God for Kara's improvements today!!! She is eating and drinking and sitting up in bed, her blood pressure is normal and the nausea is better too. We're happy to report an overall improvement for her. She has just one more day of Chemo and she can go back to the McDonald House. Hopefully she won't run any fever this time and she can have a nice break from St Jude. Lauren would like that real well. She'll get playmate back!!! There's good new for some of the kids at St Jude that we've been praying for. Evan may be able to have a bone marrow transplant after all, Carson's counts are up enough for him to have his stem cell harvest, and Madelyn may be able to go home for a few days. Isn't God wonderful!!!! Please add McKenzie to your prayer list. She was diagnosed when she was 2 months old with an incurable cancer and is in Children's hospital in Knoxville. She is precious and her mother is just devastated and scared for her. She needs to make some important decisions about her treatments. Pray that God will lead her in the right direction. The Dr's say childhood cancer isn't very common, but it seems to be everywhere to me. Of course being at St Jude, that is all you see, considering these kids are from all over the world, maybe it's not that common..........I know I'd like to see a cure............NOW! God bless!

27 August 2007 3:00EST I just talked to Megan and Kara continues to be very tired today. The resident Dr said their main concern is keeping her nausia under control right now. They aren't too worried about the eating problem although they need to keep trying to get her to eat some. Her appetite will get better a couple days after this round of chemo. Surgery & Chemo is hard on the appetite, and her high blood pressure is from the med's. The nutritionist came in and she said actually Kara's weight is still good for her height, she said the tumor is the reason for some of the weight loss, she assured them also that after chemo she'll put the weight back on. This is normal for children after they've had several treatments. She's a good little girl, I can't imagine what kind of a patient I'd be if I'd been through what she's been through. I only hope I'd be half as brave as Kara! Thank you for your continued prayers! God is soo faithful to help us.

26 August 2007 9:45EST Megan just called, Kara is vomiting some today, and she's only drank 1 oz, and hasn't eaten anything. She is getting IV fluids, but the nurse would still like to see her drink some more. She just wants to sleep today. She is getting meds to help the nausia, and this is making her drouzy. Let's pray tonight she'll be able to eat more. Thanks everyone! PS I talked to Megan after church and she said Kara's blood pressure is high tonight. It came down a little last time they took it. She seems ok, just tired and she drank another oz. of apple juice. The nurse is calling the resident Dr is going to take a look at her and see if anything is wrong.

26 August 2007 5:45EST Kara started chemo Friday night and got sick in the night once, but has been fine ever since. They have started her on steroids again and it has really helped her appetite. She is eating real good again. Megan, Tony & Lauren sleep @ the hospital in Kara's room and the family room, and then they take turns going to McDonald House to shower and get clean clothes everyday. This isn't the ideal situation but it's the best for Kara. Please pray that God will continue to help them through these trying times. St Jude is so good to them, they want to help all they can. Megan is concerned that Kara will have hearing loss, this is a side effect with the chemo drugs Kara is being given. Please pray that God will continue to shield her from all the awful side effects of this treatment. We know He is able and we are believing He'll do this for Kara too. She is really doing very well, and with God's continued protection she'll over come this. Thank you all for praying for Madelyn & TJ. Madelyn is doing better, she's finally out of ICU, and TJ''s surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, please pray for them both and their families. They are like so many families, they desperately want their children to live. Please join us in praising God for what He's doing for Kara. Thank you all for the gifts, she looks forward to us bringing her something each time we come, and it really lifts her spirits. She knows that she is loved and people are praying for her!!!

24 August 2007 8:35pm EST Kara had another good day, her appetite has returned a little, the doctors aren't worried about it. They are currently at St. Jude and she will be beginning her next round of chemo tonight, we are currently waiting on a room. Tony and Mike arrived safely today. They had boxes and presents and Kara had a good time opening them before they came to the hospital. She is somewhat stronger today. Please continue to pray that she will cope well with this round of chemo. Pray for Tony and Megan so that they will stay strong.

23 August 2007 7:45pm EST Kara has had a good day, she's been tired but the doctor said it wasn't anything to worry about. The doctor said if we had had the same operation it would be months before we would recover. Tomorrow we are scheduled to meet with the surgeon, we are expecting him to release her and she will probably begin her chemo tomorrow night. Mike and Tony will be coming to Memphis on Friday.
Kara received a package that consisted of a basket with some books and a little girl with butterfly wings, we would like to thank whoever sent it but there was no name listed on it. Kara just loves it. Mary read her one of the books last night and she said she loved her, Mary said "Thanks" to whoever sent it.

22 August 2007 7:30pm EST Kara got some good news today. The doctors ruled out pneumonia in her lungs, they believe it is just from where her surgery was so long. They want them to have her blow on spin-wheels to help strengthen her lungs, she doesn't really want to do it so she's being a little cranky. She still doesn't have an appetite, they have fixed her everything that sounded good to her today but she basically takes one bite and then gags, so please pray that her appetite will return. She is still very tired. Her counts are all good and they are supposed to meet with their regular doctor tomorrow to see when he wants to start the next round of chemo. Mary and Megan don't think she's ready for it yet, we'll let you know what the doctor says about it tomorrow.
Sorry about the guestbook, I've checked on a few things today but was unable to figure out the problem. I'm limited on how much time I've got to work on it this week as we are in our campmeeting. I've got a helpdesk call in on it and I'm just waiting on their reply, I'll get it running again as soon as possible.

21 August 2007 7:17pm EST Kara has had a pretty good day, not as good as yesterday though. She has been able to move around pretty good but she has been really tired and does not have any appetite whatsoever. We thought that maybe her blood count had dropped so we took her by the clinic. They ran a few tests and said her blood was okay but they heard something in her breathing. They took chest x-rays and found that she had some fluid in one of her lungs. We are supposed to monitor her closely to watch for a fever. We have been giving her Tylenol for her pain, which may have been supressing a fever so they told us not to give her tylenol and to only give her morphine for pain. Please pray that this will not turn into pneumonia and that her fever won't spike. Kara has been doing so great, please continue to pray for her.

19 August 2007 3:00pm EST Kara is having another really good day. She has all of the tubes removed now and the only pain medication she is receiving is orally. They got her up today, at first she didn't think she could do it, it took them about 20 minutes to get her out of the bed, but after she started walking she didn't want to go back to the bed. She went to the playroom and played for more than an hour, she's pretty worn out now and she's resting, we plan on getting her back up and moving some more later. She won't be going to the McDonald house until tomorrow. She thinks she's a real big shot now that she can walk. We are really pleased with her progress. We love everyone and thanks for your wonderful prayers.

17 August 2007 7:00pm EST - Kara had another great day. The doctors are thrilled with the way she is coming along. She got all of her tubes out of her today, even the epidural. She still has her IV and they give her some pain medication ever so often, but she has a high tolerance for pain so they aren't giving her much. She made cards today for both of her mamaws and papaws and one for her mommy and daddy too. She sat in the chair today and moved around quite a bit. Tomorrow they intend to give her solid food and move her around more, maybe even try to walk. They still think she'll be ready to go to the McDonald house on Sunday. She's doing great, she's a little miracle!!

16 August 2007 6:30pm EST - Kara is doing great today. Mary said she's been a little grumpy but if they cut me like they did her I'd be grumpy too. They have moved her from her bed to a chair, which caused some discomfort for her, but otherwise she's been doing good. She gets tired easy as they still have the epidural in. Tomorrow she will be getting the hose that runs from her nose to her stomach removed. This removes the bile and acids in her stomach while her bowels are inactive, the nurse said that her bowels were beginning to wake up though. Her counts are good and she hasn't had a fever. They still think she may go to the McDonald house on Sunday. The family would like to say thanks again to everyone for all of their prayers. There was a change in plans, Butch and Vonda stayed today and are planning on going home tomorrow. Tony, Mike and the kids will be returning on Sunday. Please continue to pray for TJ as his surgery is coming up soon and don't forget to pray for Madilyn.

15 August 2007 7:00pm EST - Kara is doing great. She is still somewhat sedated, but she's awake. She had her IV removed, she is still on the epidural but they are supposed to take that out tomorrow. The nurses come in and turn her over ever so often and once this evening she didn't want them to do it, she turned over herself. She is just doing fantastic, the doctors are amazed at just how well she's doing. Tomorrow they are wanting to get her up and moving around. They are talking about letting her go to the McDonald House on Sunday!! Megan asked that everyone please remember a couple of children at St. Judes that are also afflicted with Neuroblastoma, their names are Madelyn and TJ, she hoped that all of Kara's prayer warriors would say a prayer for them. Butch and Vonda are traveling home tomorrow with the children and Mike and Tony will be traveling back to Dandridge on Friday, please pray for safe passage.

14 August 2007 6:50pm (CST) -
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country - Prov 25: 24-26
Just got off the phone with Mary. Kara is out of surgery and headed to recovery. The Lord has moved in a mighty way for her. The doctors said the surgery was successful. The tumor was approximately 5 x 2.5", very large for a such a young girl, but they are confident that they got 99 if not 100% of the tumor. Praise God!! They had no problem separating the tumor from the aorta, therefore sparing Kara's kidney, Praise God!! They originally thought that she would be on a ventilator tonight, but have decided that she doesn't need it. Praise God! She will be sedated most of tomorrow, but they hope to have her up and moving the day after and out of the hospital in a week. The family is so thankful for all that God has done for them, you can only imagine the thankfulness that was in Mary's voice as she described to me what had transpired. The family also wishes to thank each of you for bombarding heaven with Kara's name. We have a great God that loves us and takes pleasures in helping us. Thank God, Thank God, Thank God!!

14 August 2007 5:49pm (CST) - I just spoke with Mary again, still nothing to report other than the fact that Kara is still doing good. The nurse told her that they were going very slow but that things were going good. She also told Mary that it would be awhile yet before they are finished. Continue to pray.
P.S. We have church tonight starting at 7:00pm EST so I won't be updating the site again until I get home sometime around 9:30, so look for the next update around that time. -Webmaster

14 August 2007 3:00pm (CST) - Mary reported that the surgical team had called out again, saying that Kara's vitals are good and that she is stable. They continue to remove the tumor. She said she'd call me again once she has something different to report. She wanted to thank you all for praying and asked that you would continue.

14 August 2007 12:45 (CST) - Mary has called twice, the last time being at 12:45 CST. She said that Kara is doing fine and the surgical team told them that things are going as expected. She has been in the OR for 3 hours now and they are just beginning to remove parts of the tumor, the team said that they were going to be slow and deliberate. As for now, things are going well, please continue to pray. Mary told me that she would probably call again around 3:00pm CST, I'll make another update as soon as I receive it.

14 August 2007 9:45am (Central Standard Time) - 10:45am (Eastern Standard Time) I just got off the phone with Mary. They just took Kara back into the operating room. They are running a little behind but are now getting started. Remember that Memphis is an hour behind most of us, at least those of us that are in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and Eastern Tennessee. She said that Kara was blowing them kisses as they took her back, she seems to be in good spirits. Megan was able to go in with her until she fell asleep. Keep praying, I'll add more info as Mary updates me during the day. God Bless you all for praying.

13 August 2007 7:30pm URGENT...Family, Friends and prayer warriors. Please be in prayer for Kara tomorrow. We talked to the surgeon this afternoon and have found out that the surgery is much more critical and dangerous than we had anticipated. We found out for the first time this afternoon that the tumor is actually wrapped around Kara's aorta. This will make the surgery very, very serious. One of the very best surgeons will be in charge but we are very concerned. We ask that you call out to God for His mercies to be upon Kara and for His hand to direct the surgeon. We have not lost hope nor is our faith dimmed, this is just information that we weren't expecting at this time. But we know in whom we have believed and are persuaded that HE IS ABLE!! Please pray with us and for us that God will perform another miracle. Also, the surgeon told us that their is a real possibility that Kara may lose one of her kidneys. We weren't clear as to why this is, we were so shaken by the other information that we didn't get as much clarification on this as we might have. But please pray that God will be merciful. The surgery is scheduled to begin at 9:00am and usually lasts about 6 hours, but the surgeon has told us that it may take longer because of the location of the tumor in relation to the aorta. Kara is being a big girl, she understands that they are gonna cut on her and fix her up and then sew her incision up. Lauren had told her that they would be able to play again in a few days, but Kara told her no, that she would have to be still for a few days afterwards. They are planning on giving her an epidural and leaving it in for a few days afterwards to keep the pain down.
P.S. I intend to fast and pray for Kara tomorrow, it would be great if we could get others to join in the fight -Webmaster

11 August 2007 10:30pm Not alot to report today. Lauren and Kara have played hard all day, having fun with each other. We had dinner here at the McDonald's House tonight with other guests as a local church supplied the meal, this was real nice. Kara has continued to get stronger, she has a very good appetite, not quite green eggs and ham, but would you believe pancakes and cottage cheese? She can't get enough of it. The surgery is still scheduled for Tuesday, we don't know what time, but we are on the schedule. We thank everyone for praying for us and we would ask that you all please say a prayer for the other children here at St. Judes, some of the families are really having it tough right now. Tony, Mike, Butch and Vonda are all scheduled to be coming in sometime on Monday. Pray that Kara's surgery is a huge success.

09 August 2007 7:52pm Today Megan had a busy day at St Jude, she had the twins with her. Tony drove back home because he has to work tomorrow and he brought Erica and Brent home with him. The twins are playing so well together. When I came back yesterday, Kara didn't want me to take Lauren back home with me. The doctor said Kara's mouth sores are gone, and her count is still up, and she looks and feels good, so he wants to remove the big tumor on Tuesday. He said if all goes well she can start her chemo 5 days after surgery. He said she may be able to go to McDonald house for the weekend and start chemo then on Monday the 20th. That's the plan for now. It's a shame they didn't know this before Tony left today, they could've come home to Dandridge for a few days, but this way Kara will probably get more rest. I'm heading back to Memphis in the morning to help out. Nothing is on her schedule until Monday, when they have a full day, blood work, ekg, and a hearing test, and then meeting with the surgeon. They'll be there from 9:30am till after 2pm. Pray for God's will to be done for Kara & Lauren, and traveling mercy for the families, and also the children at St Jude. Everything seems to be working out so well for Kara, pray God will shield and protect her from all the side effects of all this. I believe He is truly watching over her. She told me that God has helped her pokies, and He's making her better. I'm glad she's unhooked from the IV's and doesn't have to have any more pokies for awhile........God is really good! God bless you all....there is much HOPE.

07 August 2007 10:15pm Tony, Mike and the kids arrived safely in Memphis this afternoon. Kara was so glad to see them all. The kids played hard all day and are fast asleep now. Today was a good day. Kara's WBC count is up to around 14,000, it's going up faster now because they were giving her a double dose of her normal G-shot. She isn't taking those now. They will see the doctor on Thursday, her next chemo treatment will start on Monday of next week. At this time they are thinking that she may have her surgery after this next chemo treatment. Still thanking God for his Goodness!!

06 August 2007 8:00pm I spoke with Mary again. She told me that Kara's doctor was telling her that they were optimistic about the possibility that Lauren's stem cells would match Kara's but they didn't want her to get her hopes up to much. They said that things were matching up pretty well but they had one more set of results to get back before they would proclaim an identical match. As the doctor was about to leave the nurse that works in the transplant office came in with a BIG smile and told them the news...Kara and Lauren were identical matches. I could hear the excitement in Mary's voice. They are so thankful. The nurse said that this was like a miracle (I believe I know a few folks who were asking for just that). The nurses were so excited too. This greatly increased Kara's prognosis. Kara has been dismissed to the McDonald house, before she left she had a transfusion. She was really feeling good after that. When Mary called they were on the playground and I could her Kara in the background making alot of noise and trying to get everyone's attention. I'm so thrilled and I know all of the family in Memphis, Dandridge, Connersville and wherever else are too, I'm happy for all of you.

06 August 2007 6:00pm The nurse that deals with the transplant were just here, WE HAVE GREAT NEWS, Kara and Lauren's stem cells are a PERFECT match. This is the absolute best news we could have hoped for short of a complete healing. God is so Good and so Faithful!! The doctors were ecstatic over the news. Kara will not have to depend on her own stem cells now for the transplant, she'll use Lauren's. We wanted to share this information with everyone as soon as possible, Megan doesn't even know yet. We'll get more information posted later. Again, thanks for your prayers and thank God for his mercies.

05 August 2007 1:45pm Mary wanted to apologize to everyone for not getting an update in yesterday, it wasn't all her fault though, she called me around 3:00pm yesterday and I wasn't able to take the update, then things got busy and we just missed it. We appreciate your desire to read Kara's daily update.
Kara's WBC count has been at zero for the last 5 days, we were worried about this but the doctors reassured us that this is normal, as she takes more chemo treatments it takes a little more each time to get things going in the other direction. Kara is in the hospital because she was running a fever. Megan and Mary had trouble changing her dressing around her mainline and noticed oozing, redness and scabs, they couldn't get the gauze off. The nurses and doctor both looked at it and said they hadn't seen that happen before, but they don't think it's anything to worry about and they believe it may be the cause for the high fever. Today her WBC count is up to 200 and her fever is gone. She is taking two antibiotics, one of which was the one she had a reaction to earlier, they gave her premeds before starting that one and she hasn't had any reaction this time. When her WBC counts get to 500 they will get dismissed to the McDonald house, hopefully tomorrow. Kara slept alot yesterday and it looks like she may sleep alot today too, as her counts come up she will get more energy. She'll need it in the next few days as Tony is still planning on bringing the kids back on Tuesday for a few days visit with Kara before school starts.

03 August 2007 9:30pm Kara is back in the hospital, she was admitted on Thursday evening. She was running a fever so as a precaution they admitted her. Her fever has dropped some today, it's just below 100 degrees. She is on an IV and receiving antibiotics. She has nothing growing on her cultures so they don't believe it's bacterial. Her WBC count is zero, this fever thing seems to happen each time her WBC count drops. They are hoping she can go home tomorrow, but it is more likely that it'll be Sunday. They won't dismiss her until her WBC count is up to 500. Tony and the kids are coming back on Tuesday to spend a few days with Kara before school starts, he'll be off three days before he has to go back to work. Please continue to pray both for Kara and for traveling mercies as the family goes back and forth to Memphis.