30 June 2007 11:28pm Today has been a great day. Kara has felt real good today. She played with her cousins at Mamaw & Papaw Lee's house. Uncle Gary , Judy & Candace drove down from Indiana, and we all had a good visit. She ate 4 ice cream cones today! We set off fire works after it got dark, and she enjoyed that a lot. She doesn't seem to have any more diarrhea. YAH! They're going to do a stool sample at St Jude when they arrive, just to be sure the bug is all gone. They're planning on leaving Sunday morning, it'll be hard to see her leave knowing what is planned for her this week. She knows she has to go back and doesn't want to go, but having her siblings with her this time will make it easier for all of them. She's a very strong, & brave little girl. Thank you for all the prayers, please continue to lift them up in prayer. God is sooo good!!!

29 June 2007 3:15pm Erica, Brent, Lauren & Kara are here with me at my house right now. We are eating pizza and playing, I'm probably enjoying it more than them. Kara had a good nights sleep, 12:30 am to 11:30 am, and is doing better with her diarrhea too. Megan is packing for them all to go to St Jude on Sunday. They decided to take the kids back with them for the week. Kara will be in the hospital, but her counts will still be up until her 5 days of Chemo are done. So maybe they can all eat together at the hospital & go to the play room together. They're trying to be together as much as they can. Let's continue to ask the good Lord to keep his protecting hand upon all of them and shield her from any germs. God Bless, Mary

28 June 2007 5:34pm Kara went to church last night & slept through it, then she was up till 1:30 am. Everyone else but Megan & her were in bed, then she slept till 11:00 am today. She's turned into a night owl, but we don't care, as long as she can rest when she needs it. She had another good day today. Her nurse @ St Jude called to check on her. They are so supportive and they really care about these kids. They were hoping her diarhea had stopped, she had it one time last night, but so far today she hasn't had any. I'm sure it'll stop real soon. We'll get some pics of the family together while she's home. She's got 2 more days to be here. What a blessing you all are. We thank God that we have such a great support group!

27 June 2007 4:28pm Kara's doing better. She hasn't had any diarrhea today...thank God for this!!! She's staying up late and sleeping to 11:00 am. Yay for Kara!!! She's playing, laughing and is a lot happier. Nothing against St Jude, but it's better to be home, better for everyone! God's Blessings to you all!

26 June 2007 7:03pm We made it home just fine. Kara was great during the long car ride! We got home around 10:30 pm and her sibs were sooo excited to see her. They were up till 2:30 am. She's tired today and is napping. She had some diarrhea today, pray this stops soon. She's doing real good otherwise. It's wonderful that we can ask for prayer and know that so many people are praying for her. Prayer really changes things and Kara is living proof of this!!!

25 June 2007 1:00pm
GREAT NEWS
Kara's white blood cell count has risen to 3100, this is really good!! The doctors were surprised that it had risen so high so fast, but our GOD is able. Kara, Megan and Mary are on their way HOME to Dandridge right now, pray that they'll have a safe trip home. She was originally scheduled to begin her second round of chemo on Thursday, but because of her stomach virus they have rescheduled it for Monday July 2nd. The doctors told them that if they wanted they could go home to spend the weekend with family. Her hemoglobin and her platelets are both on the rise. Megan and Mary spoke with the doctor today and got some clarification on some things they were unsure of. The doctor said that he is pretty sure that the cancer is spread throughout her body in the bone and the marrow, this is different from what they (the family) originally thought, the good news is that it hasn't gone to any of her organs.
Please continue to pray, as stated she will begin her next round of chemo on Monday and they are looking at the possibility of surgery sometime in the next 3 weeks. As you can imagine the family is so excited about Kara coming home, Mary said her brothers and sisters were very excited.
Thanks so much to all of those individuals and churches that have responded with support for the family, both in prayer and financially. It's very much appreciated.

23 June 2007 9:00pm Kara has been doing much better today. Her hemoglobin was low so they gave her a transfusion. Her white blood cell count has climbed to 300 today, if her WBC count reaches 500 they will dismiss her, and she and the family will be able to return to the Ronald McDonald House. They have found no signs of any fungus on any of her cultures and she has not had any diarrhea or fever today. She has been laughing but she's very tired. She has lost almost all of her hair. Papaw Mike told her that her hair is beginning to look like his, but her's will grow back and his won't, Kara thought that was funny. All of her swelling has gone down and she has gained some of her appetite back, but her stomach is still aching some, although not as bad as before. They believe that she will probably only have to have one more "pokie", everyone will be glad of that.

23 June 2007 10:40am I just got off the phone with Mary, her and Mike are on their way to Memphis. She'll be staying this week with Megan as Tony will be returning home for a week to work. Not alot of new information to pass along. Kara's fever comes and goes and her tummy is still hurting her, she isn't eating much but the doctor's and nutritionist are watching her closely. They think she may have a viral infection, if so they'll keep an eye on it but it would have to run its course, she is still in isolation. The good news is is that her white blood count was up to 100 and the doctors believe that it will continue to go up in faster intervals now. The family thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers and would remind them that it's heartwarming for them to see all of the entries in the guestbook. Mary will call me back later in the day for another update once they are at the hospital.

21 June 2007 7:38pm We just heard from Tony. Dr Furman, Kara's main doctor was just in. She's not wanting to eat and this is concerning Megan & Tony, but the doctor said they have a nutritionist keeping a watch, and it's ok. She has a belly ache and some diarrhea, and it's normal not to want to eat right now. He said there's an army of doctor's watching out for her. It'll take a few days to get this bacteria cleared up, then she'll feel much better, he expects her white count to start going up soon. She's going to be taking the G shot for 3-4 more days. This will help the white count, this is the shot that hurts so bad......she calls it a POKIE! She begs, " no more pokies." This is one of worst things that she must go through right now, but it's necessary. She is so brave, she's taking this so well. This is the Kara that would panic when she got grass on her bare feet. She is so dramatic when she gets a boo-boo, we have said that if something serious ever happened she'd be a basket case, but she is surprising us all. What a Brave little girl she is! Tomorrow she is scheduled to have a T scan to find the bacteria. Hopefully it'll be a good report......Let's ask God to continue to bless her. We're praying for all you too. You are all so caring and a blessing to us.

20 June 2007 5:28pm Kara was able to take the rest of her antibiotics and she is being watched real close now. They think the pre-meds helped her, but we know who really helped her!!!! Her Pet scan showed NO tumors in her head, neck or spine! It showed the one tumor in her stomach, she also has some on her legs, arms and in her bone marrow. She's complaining of her stomach hurting now.

20 June 2007 12:28pm Pray now, and ask everyone around you to bind together. They are about to start the antibiotic & the Dr.'s are nervous about it. They are getting prepared to take her to intensive care if she has a severe reaction this time. A severe reaction would be her blood pressure drop way down, or swelling that constricts her breathing. Just PRAY!

20 June 2007 11:21am They found a bacteria growing in Kara's stool sample. They need to put her back on the antibiotic that caused her such a bad reaction. This time they'll be giving her medicine prior to the antibiotic. Hopefully this will counteract a reaction. Her fever is still down and she's in a better mood right now, but she's still swollen from last night. They are putting her in isolation as a precaution. Everyone has to wash, wash, wash, and wear masks and a gown when they enter her room. Megan asks that we all Pray that she can take this antibiotic without a reaction! The guestbook is so uplifting and encouraging to us all.

20 June 2007 10:00am They've had a rough night. Kara's fever went to 103, so they gave her a 2nd antibiotic, this caused her to have an allergic reaction. She turned red all over, (they call this the red-man syndrome) they weren't too worried about that. It wasn't long when she started to swell all over, and break out in hives. Her face and head swelled so bad you couldn't see her eyes, and she cried with her head hurting. They stopped that antibiotic right away, and gave her benedryl. This worked real well, and this morning she's just a little swollen. Her fever is down too. They're not sure she has a bug (or virus), because nothing has grown on the cultures from her blood work, so they think her body is having trouble distinguishing what is her natural bacteria and what is not. This may be why she's running a fever. She was given more platelet's today. It may take 7-10 days for her blood counts to go up, they're up slightly from yesterday. They are still waiting on the PET scan results. All in all, everything is under control, and doing as well as expected. Pray for no more set backs, and that her blood counts get up more. Tonight I'll download some pics taken recently, they show Kara in her 1st few days at St. Jude, she's a doll baby!
Please pray for her twin Lauren, she's having a rough time worrying about Kara, and missing them all. She's made some comments that just break our hearts. I think it's tougher on her than any of us. But, we serve a BIG GOD and he is helping all of us.

19 June 2007 12:56pm Yesterday Kara was given another blood transfusion and more platelettes. Her fever went down yesturday, but it's back up today, (102degrees). She vomitted last night several times. They also took some blood yesterday to see if they can tell where the infection is. She's complaining of her ear hurting. This will be checked out today. Tony said she's weak today and isn't too perky. We still don't know the results of Kara's PET scan yet, but we should know something later today. Please keep PRAYING! This is all to be expected when her white cell count is zero. They are keeping on top of everything and taking very good care of our little Sweetheart. God is in control and we are certain everything is going to be all right! God is sooo good to us! Praise His Holy Name!

17 June 2007 10:30am Kara was admitted back into St. Judes last night because of a fever. Although this was expected it's still serious and the St. Jude staff said she would in the hospital for at least 7 days. The family was hoping that she would be able to wake up this morning and play with her brother and sisters, unfortunately that wasn't to be today. They are also considering giving her antibiotics for the thrush that was discovered yesterday. Please continue to pray for the family, they were supposed to move to the McDonald's house today or tomorrow, not sure if her being readmitted will change this or not.

16 June 2007 5:30pm Kara spent the day at St. Jude's getting lab work done. Megan gave her her G-shot today. She has to have these G-shots for 7 to 10 days following her chemo, these shots force her white cells, both good and bad, out of her bone marrow. This can be painful for Kara as it does its job on her bones. She also has to have an pneumonia shot twice a day, this shot is for the duration of her visits.
Her white blood cell count was at zero today, this is normal and although it wasn't surprising it is scary. During this period is when Kara is most susceptible to germs. She wears a mask and is limited to whom can be around her for obvious reasons. She also developed a case of thrush and they are treating this. It's imperative that they find these things early because Kara's body can't fight them off by itself. She also had a slight fever today and they are keeping an eye on this.
Kara was able to visit with her siblings today, they were all very excited to see one another. The staff is very adamant that her siblings get to be with her, they believe this is a big help to her morale. Sunday is a rest day and then on Monday Kara is scheduled for a Pet scan, please pray for her because she won't be able to eat until after the tests. She has kept a pretty good appetite through all of this.
God has helped us through these past few weeks and we know that he will continue to strengthen, comfort and provide hope for us. He has helped Kara too through all of this. Thank you again for all of your support and prayers. We ask that you continue to hold us all up in prayer.

14 June 2007 6:25pm Here's todays update..... Her hearing test was very good! Her heart test was also good! Now, her MIBG scan didn't give them all the info that they need. The tumors of 10-20% of children tested won't show up very bright, and Kara is in this percentage. Her main tumor wasn't even very bright. They will do a PET scan on Monday morning. Neuroblastoma tumors absorb sugar, and the PET scan will target were the sugar is being absorbed. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the good Lord was healing her right now!!! She'll be having more blood work done tomorrow morning. Today her White blood count was 600, so she has to stay away from crowds now. She has to wear a blue mask when she leaves the house. Megan gave her her first shot today and she cried herself because she didn't want to hurt her. These shots may make her bones ache. Her red blood count is good! She calls her main line "Buddy", and Buddy has to be flushed everyday so it won't clot. They are at the Grizzly House one more night. They're to check with the office tomorrow and see were they'll be moved. Maybe we'll have an address for you soon. God's blessing to all! HOPE. Sis Mary

13 June 2007 6:31pm: Kara's finished her first round of chemo today, YEAH!!! They did her scan today, but we don't know the results yet. Yesterday and today Kara has had to drink radioactive drinks, this makes the tumors glow and then the scan will pick them up, and they'll be able to locate every tumor. She has been released, YEAH!!!, and will be treated at the outpatient Clinic D ( this is for solid tumors), which is at St Jude's. They are staying at the Grizzly House tonight, this will probably change tomorrow. We will have an address for you all soon. After 3 weeks, she will be admitted again for her 2nd round of chemo. They didn't get her hearing test finished today, so tomorrow they'll do that, and the nurse at the clinic will check Kara's main line. Megan and Tony are going to start giving her the shots tomorrow to boost her white blood count. Megan found out that the transfusions were to increase her platelets in the red blood cells. (the shots will help her white blood count). She won't be able to come home for awhile, but she's in good hands! Keep praying, I really believe God is busy healing Kara right now! God Bless!

12 June 2007 9:00pm: Kara had to have a blood transfusion today because her white blood cells were low again. Megan & Tony learned how to give her shots today. Kara will need one daily to boost her white cell count. The Dr said she is doing good. You all may know how weak Bro Ingram's stomach is? Well Sister Ingram told me when Kara would gag, so did Bro Ingram. Then Kara would pretend to gag, and made a game of it. We're so glad she hasn't lost her sense of humor!!!

12 June 2007 1:00pm: We (Papaw Mike & Mamaw Mary Isaacs) were there this past weekend and got home last night. She is tolerating the Chemo quite well. She had a reaction to it on Sunday (She broke out in hives), they needed to stop it for a couple hours. Then she was given Steroids & Benedryl to counter the reaction. It worked well, and she's back on the full dose, and doing well. She will be in the hospital 5 days for the chemo, then a 3 week break. Then we're looking at another 5 days of chemo. She has only vomited 4 times. Her mood swings are trying for the family, (she ran Papaw Mike out of the room), but we'd gladly accept this little side effect to get her well. She had an EKG, echo cardiogram, & hearing test yesterday, We don't know the results. They've scheduled an MIBG scan tomorrow. This will tell them more about the cancer in her body. Yesterday was better because she didn't have a reaction to the chemo mixture.

10 June 2007: Kara received two chemo treatments today. The first treatment was given around 1:30am and the second around 7:00am. The doctors have said they will continue to up the dosage with each treatment. Kara was very sick today, please continue to pray for this little warrior.

09 June 2007: Kara is awaiting surgery to remove a malignant tumor from her abdomen. Cancer cells were also found in her bone marrow. Children's hospital in Knoxville suspects the cancer to be in the fourth stage. St.Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN is reviewing Kara's test results and deciding and/or trying to confirm past results. Upon arrival at St.Jude, Kara received a blood transfusion because she is anemic. This will improve Kara's strength in days to come. Starting June 8th Kara began receiving what will be five days of chemotherapy that will be followed by a complete body scan.