29 February 2008, 10:45pm EST

Well, Kara took leap day seriously. She has been very energetic, and played a lot. You can tell she is feeling a lot better. She's eating & drinking good. She is no longer constipated. She still hasn't had anymore fevers! No news of anything growing on her cultures, either! It looks like the next time I update, all 4 of us will be over at the Grizzly House together! Tony & I have been taking turns staying overnight at the Grizzly House with Lauren. Kara has a clinic visit on Monday, March 3rd. Mamaw & Papaw Lee were leaving it up to us whether they should come this weekend and bring Erica & Brent with them. We thought it would be best for them to stay in Dandridge. Erica felt a little warm Thursday night, and she's complained some. Plus, we look for Dr. Furman to give us the go ahead to go home on Monday if she's still doing good. It will be good to be home again! We are hoping that Kara's had the last of her condit ioning chemotherapy treatments and she will be ready for high dose chemo & transplant. Please help us pray that neither her or Lauren get any sickness. We want to be able to stay on track and go forward with her treatment plan. We won't know until after her scans on the 10th & 12th, and her biopsy on the 17th, what the next step is. Hopefully it's time for transplant. Please help us pray about this!

Tony & James brought supper in tonight and we ate together at the hospital. We are so glad for them and their great news with Nathanael! I was able to get a picture of the kids together! ;) Nathanael is 9. They will be heading back home tomorrow.
God bless and good night.......
Megan

29 February 2008, 3:28pm EST
Hello! I wanted to thank everyone for the encouraging messages! Thank you for the prayers, too!

Wednesday morning Kara had a clinic appointment. She had pain in her back Wednesday morning and her bottom started hurting her Tuesday afternoon. I think her pain problem was because she was constipated. After that problem was taken care of, her back never hurt again. The nurse practioner told me sometimes you can get like mouth sores in your rectum. The doctor looked at her also and said there may be an infection brewing in that area. They decided to admit her. I think mainly it was for observation, and in case there was an infection starting, they would be on top of it. They ordered bloodwork, and her ANC was at 0. This explained part of the reason why she wasn't feeling well, too. They needed to access a vein for blood also. This was hard. I told the nurse where we usually have the easiest time getting access, but for some reason, we couldn't get any blood to flow. Kara hates pokies. She was yelling and crying out. I just wanted to see the blood flow so it could be over with. The nurse was feeling bad, even though she could see the vein, and she could feel the vein pop, the blood just wouldn't flow. They went to get a different nurse and she tried her other hand and we did get blood to flow this time. So, they started her on a broad range antibiotic in clinic, and when she went upstairs, it was time for a 2nd antibiotic called Vancomycin. She is allergic to this, so they premedicated her with benadryl and administered the medicine over a longer period of time. Well, she fell asleep, and started to run a fever. She also started turning red on top of her head, but it spread to her eye area too, and she looked a little swollen in her face. The nurse came in and looked at her and stopped what little bit of medicine she had left. When I first noticed the redness, I thought it was because of her fever, not a reaction, so I didn't tell her nurse until I started looking more thoroughly, and noticed some swelling. By this time, her medicine was almost completely infused. The nurse practitioner came in and took a look at her. (It was decided that her next dose would be the same amount, but mixed with more fluids.) Before long, she looked fine again. Her fever left, and then it returned and it was high enough for tylenol, then it subsided. The next dose she had was around 10 p.m. Well, when she again started to turn red on top of her head, I called her night shift nurse. She stopped her medicine, kept her regular fluids running and checked with the fellow on call. He came in the room, and the redness had already almost diminished. He told us what could be done if she got really red, or if she swelled. Her fever again returned, but it wasn't high enough for tylenol. Her antibiotic was continued. Her nurse was so sweet. I had met her another time when Kara was in-patient, but had only talked to her for about 10 minutes. She had asked us since we were both believers if it would be alright if she prayed out loud for Kara. Of course! I was glad that she did this. How often do you run into that? We prayed, and she left. I took her temperature 3 times after that, and each time I took it, it dropped! Praise the Lord! So, Lauren & I left to sleep at the Grizzly House and Tony stayed all night with Kara. When I came back Thursday morning she hadn't ran a fever all night, and she hasn't had any more reactions with her Vanc! Thank you, Lord!!

She was started on a stool softener, and a laxative on Wednesday. They have pain medicine ordered, if Kara needs it. The attending doctor did find a tear on her bottom. We haven't asked for pain medine, but she had another bowel movement on Thursday, and we're still continuing the colace & senna (softener & laxative). I am happy to report that she still hasn't ran a fever or had any reactions, and nothing has grown on her cultures! She is through taking the Vanc, and is starting to take a different antibiotic today. They are wanting to keep her today, and see how she does. Yesterday, she had a pretty smooth and good day. Her room is right outside of the play room, which is really handy! They are getting everything in order and if she continues to do well, she will be discharged tomorrow! Yay!

We had a nice visit with James, Susie, and Nathanael Pruitt yesterday. Nathanael had his MRI yesterday and we are so glad to say that they got good reports! Praise the Lord!!!!! I need to get a picture of Nathanael, Lauren & Kara together and post it :) Nathanael had us laughing yesterday!
To those of you who don't know about Nathanael Pruitt, he is the son of James & Susie Pruitt. (We all go to Blue Springs Church together) He was diagnosed with AT/RT (brain tumor) in 2004. Things didn't look very good for them in the beginning, but God has brought Nathanael such a mighty long way! He's doing so good now, and just received a great report on his scans! Nothing's too hard for God!

(as of 4:29pm 29 Feb)Also, Kara's ANC is up to 100 - whoo hoo! Yay! It looks like her ANC's starting to go upwards now !!!! Please pray her counts recover quickly !!!! She is still on the G-CSF shots, and once she stops those, her counts will drop some, and then she'll have to recover on her own. I hope she recovers on her own quickly this time !!!! Thank you for all the prayers and for checking in !!!!

Until next time,
Megan

27 February 2008, 9:06pm EST
Well, Megan had to call for reinforcements.........Megan called Tony, and he should be in Memphis by now. I don't know too much except that Kara was complaining of her bottom hurting last nght. Megan had them check her this morning during their scheduled appointment. They have started her on antbiotics and have admitted her. We don't know what is going on, but they did notice her bottom was a little pinker than usual. They are taking necessary prrcautions just in case an infection is starting. With her counts so low, they don't want to take any chances. Thank God she isn't running a fever. Someone is suppose to call me tonight to let us know whats changed, if anythng. We'll keep everyone updated.
Thank you for all praying for Brooklyn, she is much better tonight. When I saw her she was smiling and she looked real good.
Please pray for Kara and Brooklyn, and Brooklyn Durham also.
God Bless,
Mamaw Mary

26 February 2008, 10:41pm EST
I talked to Dina. Brooklyn is a little dehydrated, not a lot, and if she'll drink, she'll be okay. She's still in pain, which is the reason for her blacking out. The pain is from a urinary tract infection. Her sinus infection turned into an upper respiratory infection. Thanks for everything! Let's pray her pain gets better! Megan

26 February 2008, 7:31pm EST
Tony just called me & his niece, Brooklyn Drew, (Dina & Duane's daughter), is headed to the Emergency Room. She has an upper respiratory infection, but she's blacking out now, and she's not wanting to drink. She dehydrates real easy. Please have everyone pray for her......Megan

26 February 2008, 4:06pm EST
I assumed we would be doing her blood counts today in clinic - I was wrong! They drew labs for her chemistry only. Everything looks good today, but the question was, should we leave her on fluids ? They wanted to know if she was drinking okay, to which I responded yes, but I thought she was before being hooked up, too. So, it was decided to keep her hooked up to her fluids, at a decreased rate, and if her fluids run out in the night, it's okay to disconnect her here, and we will wait to go back to the clinic tomorrow when her chemistry counts are checked again (9:15). She still is cranky, and easily upsetted, but when her counts are down, I think that can sometimes just be part of it. She will feel better when her counts are going back up. I remember talking to her nurse practitioner one day about how much perkier she seemed one day from another. She said, "getting a few white blood cells helps!" We know that a vi rus can lower your ANC, and you know how you feel when you get a cold virus. You feel so ran down and tired. Maybe that's some comparison to how she feels sometimes? She still plays, and eats, and drinks. The rest of the day, we will just take it easy around here.

Our family is such a support to us. We are blessed to have the help that we have. They help where they're needed, and we couldn't do this without them! Whether it's at home with Erica & Brent, or here, we are very supported. I've been assured that if I need someone here, I can call and someone could come. It's okay right now. So far, no fever! If she fevers, I'll be calling for reinforcement! :)

Please remember Brooklyn Durham and her family in your prayers. Also, please remember March 10th, March 12th, and March 17th, which is Kara's upcoming scans and bone marrow biopsy. Thank You !!!
God bless and have a great night! :)
Megan

25 February 2008, 8:00pm EST
Megan is on her own in Memphis with the twins, please keep her in prayer. Kara isn't running a fever, but her blood chemistry is high in 3 areas. This means that her body is getting dry. This has them a little puzzled, because she isn't vomiting or having diarhea. Anyway, they are going to put her on IV fluids. Megan is waiting on a phone call saying they have it ready for her to pick up. This means she'll have to check Kara every 2 hrs during the night and change her pull ups. This isn't so bad when there are 2 of us. Then she has an appointment at 9:45 tomorrow morning to check her chemistry again. Megan said Kara is getting frustrated very easily today, she's sure this is because of her counts and chemistry. She said the twins are keeping her very busy today just tending to their needs. Please pray for God to strengthen her and give her the peace she needs right now.
Thank you for checking in, praying, and posting in the guestbook. This is always encouraging and appreciated by us. Have a good night and God bless.
Mamaw Mary

25 February 2008, 5:20pm EST
Good afternoon! We are back at the Grizzly House, and the girls are eating and relaxing before we return to St. Jude for Kara's I.V. fluids. They drew her labwork earlier today:

• Hemoglobin: 8.9
• Platelets: 55 (55,000)
• WBC: .5
• ANC: 300

25 February 2008, 12:03am EST
Hi, this is Mamaw Mary tonight. Mike, Tony, Erica & Brent got to Memphis Friday night and the girls were so glad to see them. They saw Papaw's big truck arriving at the Grizzly house and they were jumping up and down and yelling Hurray and Hallelujah. They were so excited and happy we were afraid we might be disturbing the other residents. I'm sure they understand and we did try to keep the noise down. As far as we know, no one complained.
Mike and I came back home this evening. Tony is working 3rd shift tomorrow, so he wanted to stay another day with them. They are going to let Erica and Brent take a day off school tomorrow. The plan was to bring Lauren home this time too, but Dina called, (Tony's sister, who was going to keep Lauren) and her girl Brooklyn is running a fever, they think it might be bronchitis. We have to be very careful of Lauren getting sick too. If she gets ill, it'll put off the transplant. Megan called me after we were on the road 2 hours. I almost turned around and went back, but my boss has been so generous about letting me stay with Megan, I hated to take off a 3rd week this time. Please pray that Megan has a smooth week. They can be handfuls for her sometimes.
Kara hasn't had any fever so far. Tony said if, she does get sick with a fever, he'll try to go and help her out this week. If not I or Vonda will go. It's just too much on Megan if Kara is admitted. Please pray for them this week. We still have to be very protective of the twins right now. We are so blessed that they haven't had the flu or strep. God has truly been helping them. They have a clinic appt in the morning, and they'll be doing blood work. Hopefully her ANC will be good. Megan has my laptop in Memphis, so one of us will let you know how she's doing.
Have a good night and God bless,
MM (Mamaw Mary)

22 February 2008, 8:26pm EST
It's been a slow day around here. (I'm sure things will liven up in 2-3 hours when the gang arrives!) We haven't been out today, but I'm getting ready to run to the store to pick up some things before the weekend starts. Dr. Furman said maybe we can enjoy one weekend before her counts are due to drop. Please pray for NO FEVER!!!! If she runs a fever when her ANC is below 500, she will have to be admitted. We'd like to avoid that if possible!!! :) The girls took a nap yesterday evening, so they went to bed real late. Which means we all slept in this morning, (back in our usual out-patient routine it seems!) and the girls have played around here today. Yesterday after clinic visit we went out and ate, and enjoyed the afternoon and evening. Well, I'll sign off for tonight..... Have a safe and happy weekend !!!!
Megan

21 February 2008, 3:31am EST
There are a couple of things that I really wanted to post tonight. One is a very urgent prayer request for Brooklyn Durham and her family. They really need the Lord's guidance right now, and are requesting prayer. Brooklyn has ALL (Leukemia). Please visit her Caringbridge website and let them know you care and are praying! It is so encouraging when people care, and even more-so when they let you know - To visit Brooklyn's site click on her name Brooklyn Durham. Thank you so much !!!!!!

The other subject I wanted to address, is a special to THANK YOU everyone at Dandridge Elementary School (DES) who sponsored the benefit last Saturday. Even though Kara & Lauren, Mamaw Mary and I couldn't be there, it really meant a lot to us that people (some we have never even personally met) would attend and support Kara and our family. Tony told me that you could tell there was a lot of hard work involved for the benefit. I hope you know that you are appreciated !!!! Thank you also to everyone that unselfishly gave their time, talents, and also for the people who were able to obtain items that were auctioned, and the donations and gifts. We are thankful to be in a community that show they care!

I also wanted to thank all of our family, who give unselfishly day after day, in whatever area they're needed in! Thank you to everyone (family, church, friends, strangers, acquaintances) who encourage us and lift Kara and our family up in prayer. I can't tell you enough: THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!!

Kara was discharged Wednesday evening. She went out on I.V. fluids, but at her clinic visit Thursday, she was disconnected from them. Everything looked good. Her ANC has jumped up a lot, which we believe is mainly due to the steroids, but she again had to start her G-shots on Wednesday evening, and this will make her ANC rise also. Her counts (hemoglobin, platelets, and white blood cells) are due to drop next week. Please pray for NO FEVER! Her next clinic visit will be Monday, February 25th.

Here are some upcoming dates to keep in mind:

Monday, March 10th	CT scan of abdomen/chest/pelvis
Wednesday, March 12th	MIBG scan (This scan lights up Neuroblastoma)
Monday, March 17th	Bone Marrow Biopsy/Aspirate

Please pray for Kara to have clear scans! We are ready to be able to move onto transplant (and beyond!) (Patience , Patience, Patience :):)

Papaw Mike, Tony, Erica, & Brent will be with coming in Friday night and staying through Sunday. Pray for safe traveling!

Thank you again for all you have done for us,
Megan

19 February 2008, 6:55pm EST
Hi everyone from St Jude. Kara had a good night and was is a real good mood before bed. In fact her and Megan were playing on the couch and laughing, then Megan noticed her tubing was laying on the floor and then blood started coming from the line. It was scary, but she was quick to clamp the line and this stopped the blood flow. The nurse came in and fixed her back up, no damage done. The Lord sure had His hand on them again. He has been ever present in times of trouble. He is a faithful God. We're also thankful that this didn't happen during the night while all were sleeping.

Kara woke up in a good mood and so did Lauren. We had a pretty good day. We were so excited this morning because the blood work showed her ANC was 1900. We asked if this meant that she could go on and have her full dose of chemo this round since it was so good. They asked Dr Furman and he said NO, evidently the steroids that they gave her yesterday is the reason for the high ANC. It isn't that her body is making more white blood cells like we thought. So they are going to stick with this same schedule and she'll be done with chemo and we'll be dismissed to the Grizzly tomorrow. Today they were laughing and playing and Dr Cain could hear them and peaked in to see them and he said it is so good to see the beautiful girls and with Kara laughing and playing like normal after all she's been through that it has really made his day. He is one of the resident doctors and I'm glad this cheered him up.

She's sleeping right now. She may be up late tonight so I may stay here instead of Megan, we'll decide later. Megan is tired and she'll sleep better at the Grizzly. I slept good last night over there. Well everyone have a good evening and God bless.
Mamaw Mary

18 February 2008, 11:06pm EST
Hi everyone, Megan & Kara are @ the hospital and they've started her ICE. Her counts weren't what they'd hoped for. Last Tuesdat they were 800, Thursdat they had dropped to 400, they opted to wait until today to start her chemo to see if her counts would recover more. Today they were only 600. They didn't want to put off her chemo any longer so they started it today. She will only have 2 days instead of 3 days, and the carboplatin is not the full dosage. We found out today that the last time she had ICE, the carboplatin was cut back then too. This is really going to be hard on her since her ANC is already so low. Her counts will drop to zero faster and probably take a little longer to recover. This is all due to the treatments that she's been on. She's coping well with it, it's just rough stuff on her body. Her doctor is scheduling the body scans for 3 weeks from now. We should have her schedule by Wednesday. This is when we'll be able to find out exactly what the chemo has accomplished. We aren't too sure she'll be home any before then, it all depends on how her body handles things. They want to get on to transplant and hopefully we will be able to. We'll need to keep her and Lauren away from crowds and sick people, we're too close to transplant to take any chances. Please pray for God's healing hands on her as she fights this cancer. She's been pretty cranky today and we thought she looked a little pale tonight. They had given her all 3 chemo meds tonight and when we told them she is looking pale, they said they'll check her blood again in the morning (4am) and they're ready to give her more blood if she needs it. That always perks her up and gives her some color. Please pray for God's peace, it's getting a little stressful for us, but we're doing fine, we can see God working in so many ways. We're constantly amazed at how well she's coping, she very rarely vomits, and she's keeping her weight up. She's still contrary and likes to be silly and play tricks on everyone. She loves to pretend, to draw, color and play, if it wasn't for the fact she's bald, you wouldn't know she was sick. A lady asked her one time if she'd been feeling bad, she said "No". She hardly ever complains about her health. God has truly touched her along this journey. We are so blessed and thankful. Have a good evening, God Bless.
Mamaw Mary

18 February 2008, 10:23am EST
We're so sorry we haven't updated all weekend. It seems that our password expired here at St Jude and we weren't aware of it. That's been fixed and we know what to do if it happens again. Megan is getting use to this computer and is going to be doing some of the udates now. Isn't this great?

Right now, Lauren is still asleep and Megan & Kara are at St Jude to start her next, and hopefully the last round of chemo. We plan to go over there as soon as Lauren wakes up. Kara was happy and in a good mood this morning, so hopefully we'll find out that her counts are good. She's been irratable and cranky most of the weekend, but her appitite has been good and she's been playful. We stayed here all weekend, except for a short trip to the airport yesterday, we thought this might be a safe place. They get so excited just watching the planes take off. We didn't stay too long, but it did us good to get out of this room. I'm sure Kara is getting tired of us saying, 'Don't touch ANYTHING'! We take the sanitizer with us and wipe stuff off before she touches. People understand and just smile at her. I hope people say a little prayer for her when they see her.

It sounds like the benefit for Kara was a big success. It's a shame we were here instead of there, but it wasn't meant to be. Everyone we've talked to said they had a great time and it took a lot of hard work to pull it off. I wish we could've been there. Even if Kara could've just shown up for a few minutes would've been great.

Well I better get things going here and get over to the hospital. I'm sure Megan or I will update more later and tell you how the treatment is going and how Kara is coping with it all. Please pray that this will kill any cancer cells that are left and we can get on with her healing. God bless!
Mamaw Mary

15 February 2008, 9:42pm EST
There's not much to report today. It has been a lazy day around here at the Grizzly House. We've cleaned a little, and tended to laundry. She wanted to help clean the floor today. She wore mom's high heals with her p.j.'s while she mopped. Isn't it funny how you can change their shoes, or clothes, or change a little detail, and it can change their whole personality?!Kara was cranky a lot today, but she's fine right now. We are happy to report that we have not had an incident with a fever! Yay! Lauren had 2 doses of tylenol for her head last night, but she hasn't had to have any today. She hit her head so hard last night! I was asking her questions to see how well she was thinking, checking her pupils to make sure they dialated okay, and we set the alarm and mom checked her through the night. Everything is okay! Please continue to pray that Kara's white blood cells raise and we can start chemo on Monday, 18th, and that it kills out her cancer! Thank you for checking in on Kara & signing the guestbook!

God bless & good night......
Megan

14 February 2008, 8:14pm EST
Well, we are back at the Grizzly House. Kara's ANC was only 400 today. The doctor said that she is sensitive. The drop from 800 on Tuesday, to 400 today could be due to an infection / virus. She has a little bit of a runny nose, but no cough. The runny nose is sporadic - not continuous. So, he asked if we were comfortable in sticking around until Monday, and then recheck her bloodcounts. She is scheduled to be admitted on Monday, 18th. There's just so much out there illness-wise right now, with her counts being low, we won't be having her out and about this weekend. Dr. Furman said we could check her in an hour, and her ANC could be 501. We just don't know. So, with a few extra days we're hoping her white blood cell counts will rise. If we were to start full dosage of chemo when her ANC is not real high, it would cause Kara to stay down longer and that would increase her risk of infections. We don't want to push her body before it's ready and possibly do more harm. He said this is not necessarily a bad thing. It's her body's way of saying, "Don't push me." They gave her a 2nd flu shot vaccine today. Her platelets were up, but we have to watch for a fever. If she runs a low-grade fever, we are to give her tylenol and fluids. If she still fevers, and she's not acting/feeling well, we'll need to call St. Jude's and speak to the on-call doctor. Hopefully, she won't fever!

They had some valentine's ready to hand out today. When we were at home, all 4 of the kids were able to do Valentine cards together.They were able to give about 1/3 of them out today. Their nurse practitioner was sick, and 2 of the nurses they did cards for were in-patient nurses, so we'll have to catch them on Monday.

Since starting this update, Lauren has slid into the wooden chair head-first and has a goose egg on her forehead. Kara's been offering her her favorite teddy bear, Madison, and her Minnie Mouse. She is helping us to put ice (which is turning into ice water) on her head. Kara's taking good care of her! I need to run out and get some tylenol, so I will go for now....... Please pray for protection over Kara, and a rise in her white blood cells. Also, please remember the Norwood's in prayer tonight. Pray for peace and comfort and that they feel Jesus' loving arms around them as they just lost their son, Bryce today. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brycenorwood.

Thank you for checking in & for your prayers, God bless......
Megan

13 February 2008, 11:49pm EST
We hope you are all had a good Wednesday. We're thankful for another trip here to Memphis with no problems. Traffic was good and we saw some snow around Crossville & Cookeville. The girls were hoping for enough snow to build a snowman, but it's not going to happen today. Something Lauren said on the way here was so sweet. It was dark and she saw a very bright star, so she made a wish to it. It was for Kara to be all better. I told her that was the most wonderful wish, so then of course Kara wished for Lauren to be all better, too. They can be so sweet and a second later, be little stinkers. Never a dull moment for sure. :) :) :)

We are in room 2013 of the Grizzly House this time. It's just next door from where we were last time. We 're settled in and getting ready for bed. We don't have to be at St Jude until 12:45 tomorrow. They will do her labs, and then we'll have a clinic visit, before she's admitted later that day. Round #10 starts (ICE). Pray for her not to have any adverse side effects. This can effect her hearing, pray for protection from this, and of course, our main goal, that her cancer will be eliminated.

There is a benefit planned for Kara this Saturday in Dandridge. The elementary school where Erica & Brent attend has been working hard to get this event in order. Due to her chemo starting, Kara won't be able to be there for it. We hope everyone understands! Tony, Erica, and Brent will be able to attend, though.

Well, we will update more later. Thank you for checking in, God bless and good night.......

12 February 2008, 11:14pm EST
Hi everyone, thank you for checking in. We heard from St Jude and they want Kara to come tomorrow. Her ANC isn't as high as they'd like, but her doctor doesn't want to postpone this last round of chemo any longer. He will check her counts again Thursday morning, just before the chemo starts. He is thinking about lowering her dose this time if the counts are still low. He said he doesn't want to give her a full dose unless the counts get higher. They're a little over 800 now. It's taking longer these last few treatments for her counts to come back up, but the chemo is still working. They've assured us of this, and say she is doing well. She will be getting ICE this time and they do this as inpatient, it should take 3 days. Lauren & I will be going too. Please pray that all goes well and pray that the doctor makes the right decision for Kara this week. We are trusting that God has His hand on Kara and will continue to protect her. Remember the other children too, it's hard for them when they aren't together.
God Bless,
Mamaw Mary

10 February 2008, 5:52pm EST
Kara's been enjoying her time at home. She's been eating a lot of corndogs and snow cream flavored popsicles. This is more normal eating now! I know when we come home it seems that the updates are not as frequent. We take advantage of being home and doing what needs to be done, and having things closer to normal!

Tuesday Kara will have another CBC. If her ANC (counts that determine how much defense/immunity she has) are going up, they talk like she will need to be admitted for chemo on Thursday, 2/14. We are anxious to see what they will be. The last round of Topotecan her ANC was the last number to recover. We'll know more after St. Jude receives her blood counts and we talk to them.

Please be in prayer for Kara, as she has 1 more round of chemo before it's time for her scans. We would love to see N.E.D. (no evidence of disease) before transplant time! We know God is able - we just need to put all of our confidence and trust in Him - the One who is in control and knows what's best for each and everyone of our lives. His way is better than our own! He sees the big picture when we can't! We know that He is with us and He is taking care of us, and if you have that, then everything's okay! God has been so good to us and blessed us so much.

Thank you for checking in on Kara, and the many prayers said for her and our family. We enjoy reading the journal entries and love to hear from you! We have had so many people that have shown their support for us. We want to thank you for all that each one of you have done for us. That outpouring of love, cards, gifts, & well-wishes that we receive aren't going unnoticed; I'm just behind on getting my thank you cards out! I wanted to tell you: "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all that you have done !!!!"

Have a blessed Sunday ... God Bless .... !!! :) :) :)
Megan

07 February 2008, 8:40pm EST
Hi everyone, it's good to be home and the Lee's are especially glad. It's been a good week for them. Today Megan had to take Kara to Knoxville to get her blood work done. Her hemoglobin is still going up, so is her plateletes, but her ANC is pretty low, it's 230. We are sure this is due to the fact Kara isn't getting her G shot now. She won't be going to Memphis to start chemo this week. She is to have another blood test on Tuesday, then if her AQC is going up, they'll want to start chemo the following Thursday. We'll just have to wait and see what her little body does. Right now, we need to keep her away from crowds and especially sick people. If she gets a fever, they'll need to take her to Children's Hospital in Knoxville right away. PLEASE PRAY that this doesn't happen. Nothing against Children's, they were the ones who found her cancer, it's just St Jude knows all about her and that's where we feel safer right now. Brent is complaining of his throat hurting. We don't know what's going on with him, but he's keeping his distance from Kara. Megan is thinking about having him wear a mask. Strep is going around and the flu is pretty bad right now. Kara has had her flu shot, but they'd like her to get another one as soon as her counts go up some more. I stopped over for a little while tonight and she was working a puzzle on the floor with Mamaw Lee. They had eaten from O'Charley's carry out, and Kara just wanted hot dogs, can you believe that? I sure wouldn't turn away a steak or a roll from O'Charley's, would you? Oh well, I'm sure all her senses will return soon. She seems real happy and she looks good. They were all playing real good and being sweet to each other. They just seemed tired tonight. Maybe they'll get to bed early. Have a great night and God Bless.

04 February 2008, 11:15pm EST
We are HOME - HOME!!! That's right!! We got in around 9:30pm. The girls traveled just great, they actually slept most of the way, so I don't know what time they'll get to bed tonight.........
We had real good news this morning when Kara had her clinical visit. Of course her plateletes were up, due to the transfusion last night @ St Jude. Her ANC has gone up to 2550, how about that? And even her hemoglobin is now @ 8.0, so they decided NOT to do a transfusion for the blood, since it's raising on it's own. GO Kara GO! They actually told us that her next round of chemo is scheduled to start this Thursday. But, after looking at her history they didn't think her plateletes would be up enough to start this soon. We we had mixed feelings......we want to get the chemo over and move on to scans, but then we wouldn't be able to come home for awhile. This is a much needed break for all of us to get to come home now. Thank you God, He looks out for our every need, big and small ones. More wonderful news is: we can stop her G shots, which makes her VERY Happy! No more antibiotics, and Megan's been putting lanocaine on her cheek for these little bumps, we can stop that too. the only thing Kara is taking now is her pneumonia meds, 3 times a week, and we swab her mouth 3 times daily to help prevent any sores. She still has to change the dressing on 'her Buddy', (the direct line), times a week, but that's all we have to do right now.
The kids are out of school tomorrow and Tony has to work this Saturday, so they're letting him have tomorrow off too. So they should have a good time together for once. They do cherish these times, they are few and far between. But hopefully this will all be back the way it should before long. Have a great tomorrow and God Bless.

04 February 2008, 5:00pm EST
New Pics loaded into the January pics page, you may have looked at this page already, but you might want to check again. I got a boatload of pics from Mary loaded this afternoon. Enjoy!! Jeff

04 February 2008, 1:50am EST
Just a quick update tonight (Sunday update). We took Kara over to the medicine room, (which is like the E.R.) for a CBC. We noticed what we thought might be petechie (pin-point size purplish red spots) on her leg.

Her labs were:
WBC: 2.0
Hemoglobin: 7.6
Platelets: 13.0
ANC: 1,200

This meant she needed a platelet transfusion, and also a blood transfusion. We proceded with the platelets tonight. They checked her heartrate, and it was okay, so we opted for the blood transfusion on Monday. If her heartrate wouldn't have been okay, we probably would've had to have the blood transfusion tonight also. So, with her ANC being up (due to the G-shots) we look for Dr. Furman to release us to go home after her blood transfusion. The transfusion process will take about 3 hours. Lauren & I came back and packed everything up so we'd have a headstart on tomorrow. Can you tell we're ready to be I - 40 Eastbound!!!! Well, we hope everyone has a great Monday, and God Bless !!!

03 February 2008, 3:21am EST
Well, today we decided to leave the Memphis Grizzly's House for an outing. Kara said she was tired, but she also was ready to get out and do something. The girls wanted to go to the mall that had the carousel. It had been a while since they had been there, and we were all ready to get out for a while. It was sunny and not too cold today, which made it even better. The girls were able to get by with a sweatshirt. We made it to the mall, but decided against the carousel. With not knowing exactly what her ANC is, and figuring it's not up much (if up at all), we figured it was best to play it safe. They were fine with that. They enjoyed the sugar cookies, and the strollers. The strollers are blue with a cop design on the side of them. They're the kind you can pretend like you're driving, so that made it even better. They fell asleep on the way home, and we thought they might be asleep for the night. Well, around 10:30 or 11:00 o'clock they woke up. Kara said she wanted chicken flavored ramen noodles with hershey chocolate mixed in - don't ask me where she gets these food combinations. She said she didn't like the smell of it once it was fixed. She is still eating and drinking good. Her & Lauren are still awake and playing and it's 2:00a.m.!!! I think we've gotten in a bad habit of staying up late while we're here. We'll have to make some adjustments, especially if the doctors release us to go home next week. We are hoping to be released on Monday. We know Kara will probably need to be transfused. We're not sure if it will be tomorrow, or if it will be Monday. I know there's not a whole lot to update about Kara today, but we'll know more when she gets her CBC and clinic visit.
On a sad note, when we returned here tonight, we learned that precious Maddie passed away. She is no longer fighting this disease - she has made it to Heaven. Please remember her family, Brandi & Neal, Tyler & Ella Beamon. http://www.caringbridge.org/tn/madelyn.
Thank you, and God Bless.....

01 February 2008, 3:05pm EST
We've had a real good day today. She's eating and drinking much better now and she's playing, you can tell she seems happier today. She's developed a liking for grits, we've fixed her 3 bowls of them today. This evening she got pretty tired and we noticed a few bruises that we don't know how she got, so we are talking about taking her to the hospital tomorrow instead of waiting till Monday. It looks like her plateletes may be low now too. We've been at the Grizzly house all day. We did laundry and cleaned and just had a lazy day. Megan had a tender moment with her......Kara was coloring or writing, (I can't remember which), and Megan was watching her. Kara noticed and she must have thought Megan looked worried because she said "I'm OK Mommy". Megan thought this was sweet.
Lauren is ready to go home to Dandridge, her and I have been here 2 weeks. She said we've been her too long. Megan is missing the kids too, Kara and her have been here 3 weeks now. They do seem to be going home a little more often than at first. We sure hope they release Kara to go home for a visit this Monday. Lets pray her counts are starting to recover and we can get home for a little while, it always does her good to be home. It's good for all of them. Tony starts a different shift Monday and it's Mon-Fri. with the weekends all off. They said when transplant time comes, he'll be allowed to take off for that. They seem to be working with him pretty well. Thank God for this. Well, it's 2:00am again and I should be in bed. God bless and have a good weekend.