30 Sep 2008, 12:36pm EST
Hello! We had a really nice weekend back home again in Indiana! As we were driving down the familiar highway getting close to Tony's brother's house, I told Tony that it brings back old memories. I was even glad to see all the cornfields again! We had been talking about going back since spring, but we felt now was a good time to go. The kids had been excited last week, even Lauren & Kara would tell us how many days we had left before we were heading out.

Friday night we were able to meet with my side of the family. I was even able to visit with my best friend growing up, and her family. Saturday, we visited with Tony's side of the family, and went to church at our old home church that night. We really had a good service, and afterwards met with some more of my family. Sunday, we took the kids to Sunday School, and I tried to meet up with a lady I worked with, but missed her being home. We really had a good weekend. I know we didn't get to see everyone, but in the amount of time we had, we got to see a lot of people. Some family we hadn't seen in maybe 7 years. It was over-due! We were able to eat Pizza King pizza, too. Tony loves Pizza King. :) There was one time Tony went up to Indiana to buy a truck, and he took our nephew Justin with him. They stopped and ate Pizza King. Tony ate a medium pizza, 3 or 4 tacos, and at least a couple orders of breadsticks. When they were done eating, they went outside and the truck had a flat tire. Tony said, "I can't bend over to change the tire, I'll be sick!" It was funny.....anyways, it was so good to see everyone again! When we heading out to go back home, I told Tony & the kids that it's kind of sad. I looked back, and Kara was tearing up, then she started crying out loud, then Erica's eyes started filling with tears. I think we were all wore out too, so I'm sure contributed to the emotions, but we were glad we were able to make this trip. We're already talking about when we can fit in the schedule to visit Grandma Gert and family in Kentucky. Hopefully soon!

Kara started Accutane again. This is Rd. #4, 2 more rounds to go and we'll be heading back to St. Jude for her evaluation. I've been talking to a Nutritionist at St. Jude about the appetite stimulant. The appetite stimulant they were going to start her on was Periactone (sp?). I believe it's an antihistime that they've found to make people want to eat. I'm not for sure she'll be able to take it. She will be getting back with me & letting me know what Kara's Dr. says. She was ordering the med, and noticed Kara's allergic to Atarax. She was given this at transplant when she was itching so much. Whether or not she's really allergic to this med is questionable, since she was on so many meds during transplant. One of the transplant Drs. didn't think it was likely she would have a reaction to something they use to treat allergic reactions (Atarax). She did have a reaction after they gave her Atarax, but we're not definite it was this med. They took her off of 3 different things when this happened, not sure which one was the culprit. But, we did find out for sure she was having reactions to the platelet transfusions. So, I will wait and see what they say. She did tell me that this isn't uncommon, and she's not that far out from transplant yet. It could take up to a year for us to see a significant weight gain. Just as long as she's eating and not losing weight. She wants to send me some papers to read, and wants me to encourage snacks, more than what I normally would. I told her she's eating, it's just not showing up on the scales. So, please keep praying that she'd eat us out of a house and home! :)

Well, I better run. We've been so busy since we got back home. Laundry, unpacking, grocery, homework, etc., plus Erica's got a science project to get started on this week. Plus, we've been doing more temp checks than normal. We think Kara's trying to fight off some sort of virus. Her white count last Wednesday at Clinic was in normal range, but it was higher than normal for Kara. I told someone she was probably trying to fight off Brent's cold. She has a cough, runny nose, and the last 2 nights her temp's been up, but not the "official" fever number where I would have to run her to the E.R. She's playing, and eating, so that's a good sign. I've been letting the girls sleep in as long as they want, too. Well, I will run for now. I've "talked" long enough.

God bless,
Megan

25 Sep 2008, 9:25pm EST
Nathanael Pruitt was at church last night, and all I know is that they received a good report! Their Dr. was telling a fellow (Dr. in training) at St. Jude how far Nathanael has come since when he first arrived there a few years ago. We are thankful for how the Lord has helped Nathanael!

Keep our family in your prayers as we travel this weekend. I thought I might have to take Brent to the Pediatrician today, over his ear, but his ear wasn't hurting too bad this a.m. when he woke up. He has a cold, and I am hoping it's just pressure/congestion causing him the discomfort. I had a clinic visit scheduled for him this a.m., but cancelled it after he told me it wasn't hurting when he woke up. Kara still has a runny nose, too, but nothing major.

Please keep praying for Brooklyn, she is at U.K. in the ICU. Keep remembering the whole family in your prayers. Thanks for checking in, and have a great weekend. I will try to post when we return.

God bless,
Megan

24 Sep 2008, 1:56pm EST
Kara had a clinic appointment in Knoxville at Children's Hospital today. She had a physical exam along with her complete blood counts, and also her chemistries and triglycerides checked. Everything looked good. They gave her clearance to start Rd. #4 of Accutane on Monday, 29th. I spoke with Sandy, her N.P. at St. Jude, and requested that we get a prescription of the appetite stimulant. Her weight was still only 36.52 lbs. She's going to talk to the Nutiritionist, and then order some, and have her meds shipped out tomorrow.

One thing I really wanted to make mention of is something a fellow St. Jude Momma is putting together. It is called "Spice 4 Bryce" Cookbook. Her son, Bryce Norwood, fought pediatric cancer, and is now no longer suffering. He is in Heaven, now. She is asking for anyone who would like to, donate recipes, a picture, etc. of a child with cancer, or that had cancer. Whether it be a cancer warrior, hero, survivor, or if you would like to keep a childhood cancer victim's memory alive, you can do so through this cookbook. I thought it was a great idea, and you can learn more by visiting this site: www.caringbridge.org/visit/brycenorwood . Her email address is on the right-hand side of the page, and she is asking for these by Sept. 29th, I believe.

We have been so busy here lately! We are planning on a family-reunion trip this weekend to Indiana. We are leaving Friday, 26th, and plan on having a busy weekend. We have a lot of people we need to see, and we also want to go to our old home church, on 10th St. hill, Saturday night. We are hoping for a very enjoyable weekend. Please pray for safe traveling. My parent's, and Tony's parents are going, also. The last time Kara & I (& maybe even Lauren, too.) were in Indiana was the weekend before she was admitted to Children's Hospital in June 2007. That was when we were told they suspected Kara had cancer. While we were in Indiana, she was taking her course of antibiotics for her upper respiratory infection. Who would've known where the next months would've taken us, at that time? God definitely was ahead of our steps, and knew what we were to face, and has given us the grace and strength to face it all. I know He will continue to. That's just the way He is, unfailing.

Please keep praying for Brooklyn Durham (www.caringbridge.org/visit/brooklyndurham), and also Kara, and all the ones out there fighting this! Nathanael Pruitt also had his check-up at St. Jude this week. I will update when I know more. Please keep remembering them, also. Thank you for checking in, and all the continued prayers and messages. We appreciate every one of them!

God bless,
Megan

15 Sep 2008, 11:08am EST
Lauren is almost finished taking her antibiotic, and Kara only has to take hers thru Wednesday, and she's done. Kara's last dose of Accutane for Rd. #3 was last night. I always look forward to her having a 2 week break from taking it! We have been using a moisturizer called "Biafine" that she used while she had radiation treatments. Her lips still peel pretty bad, but it's still tolerable, and we notice she still scratches her skin a lot. This round (unless I'm imagining things) seems to be one of the better ones she's had so far. She has ate fairly well through it all - even with a bout of strep throat! I'm just not seeing a steady weight gain!

Erica and Brent escaped the strep, so all the kids were able to go to Kid's Crusade last week. They thoroughly enjoyed every night! Even the adults got involved and had a lot of fun! We had so many laughs! One night, they had a crazy hat contest. The theme of the week was "Jonah" so they asked that the hats had a "sea" theme. Kara's was quite pitiful in comparison to the rest of the hats...(keep in mind I was fumbling through the toy box and the girls' room trying to gather up enough stuff that was sea-related for 4 kids :)....anyway, the kids hats were judged by the cheers, hand-clapping, and hollaring of everyone. Kara came in 1st place and was awarded a certificate, but Brent told me later that night that all the boys had passed the word along to vote for Kara. How amazing is that, for them (and all the kids for that matter, I think the boys and girls were pretty much united on this...cause they were cheering her on, too!) to show them their love and support and put her before themselves through a crazy hat contest ?! I thought that was well worth mentioning....
Thank you, kids, you're awesome!
All week, there was a penny contest between the boys and the girls. The evangelist and his wife (Brian & karlita Hisle) were the team captains. So, on the last night, the team who brought in the most money, their captain got to smash a pie in the other team captain's face and wash it off with a super soaker squirt gun! The boys won the contest...poor Karlita! Then, there was a penny contest between Bro. & Sis. Ingram's bucket. Well, Sis. Ingram's penny bucket had the most money, so Bro. Ingram ended up getting punished, but somehow it wasn't in the deal for him to get the super-soaker wash! Needless to say we all really had a blast! Every night was a lot of fun and excitement!

Well, I better run, still lots to get done today! I hope you all are doing great!

Megan

09 Sep 2008, 11:30pm EST
Kara & Lauren are doing good. They are eating and playing. Kara has kept the runny nose, but her blood cultures are "Negative", which is wonderful! Erica & Brent aren't complaining with sore throats, so, so far, so good! Hopefully, they've escaped it! I better run, just wanted to do a quick update to let you know about Kara's blood cultures that were drawn on Sunday - (they take 48 hours to culture).

Have a great Wednesday!
Megan

08 Sep 2008, 7:06pm EST
Sunday morning Kara said her throat was hurting, so off to the E.R. we went. They did a strep throat test and it was negative, which didn't make sense to the E.R. Dr., since Lauren has it, (after looking at Kara's throat she said it looked like strep throat.) They called St. Jude and went off of their orders on how to treat Kara. She is on an oral antibiotic, and they cultured the throat swab to make sure she was negative for strep throat, and they also drew blood cultures out of both lumens in her central line, to culture. They also ran an i.v. antibiotic through her line. The blood cultures take 48 hours for final results. So far, they are negative. But, we got a call today from Children's Hospital that her strep throat culture from yesterday was "POSITIVE" for strep throat. The medicine she is on should take care of the strep throat. She needs to have a follow-up at the Pediatrician's office when she is finished taking her antibiotic to make sure it is gone. I found out that strep throat can cause other problems, like mono, so, if she gets worse, or doesn't improve, she will need to be seen again.

She really only complained that her throat hurt once yesterday a.m., she is still eating and drinking, but she did take another nap yesterday, which isn't normal for her to do this 2 days in a row. They checked her chemistry levels and also her blood count levels yesterday, and her immune cell count has dropped some from what it was when she was at St. Jude, but they aren't too low.

The girls act like they feel pretty good now, and have been playing together again. I think Lauren was missing Kara some while she was away at Mamaw's house overnight. We had plans to go see Lauren at Mamaw's after the 24 hours "contagious" period was up on Sunday, but Erica & Brent went to my Mom's while I took Kara to the E.R. It's been busy again all the way around, but they are on the mend now, and hopefully Erica and Brent won't get it. If they're going to get it, I hope it's by tomorrow, so we can get them started on an antibiotic because they'll be disappointed if they have to miss out on the Kid's Crusade. Well, I better go, I hope everyone has a good night!

God Bless,
Megan

06 Sep 2008, 9:59pm EST
Well, Lauren's test strep came back positive, and she is on antibiotics. She is considered "contagious" up until 24 hours after starting her antibiotic. Mom kept Erica, Brent, & Lauren this a.m. They were up and out of the house before I woke Lauren up to take her to the Dr.'s office. We came back home from the Dr. and from getting her medicine, & she stayed at home until around 3:30, when Vonda came and got her. Butch & Vonda are keeping her at their house overnight, so she's away from the house, and close contact with the rest of our kids. Even though they've already been exposed while she was contagious yesterday, (and I know strep is mainly contagious through close contact, or sharing utensils, stuff like that, not really just from being in the same room), I feel better that the house has been more sanitized, and sprayed with disinfecting spray while she's been away. I went ahead and washed the bed linens, too, with bleach. I figure the more that they're together and around Lauren the more chance that they will catch it. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

After Vonda picked up Lauren, we went to Mom's to see Morgan and Mandy. (Erica, Brent, & Kara were still there.) We had a real good visit with them this evening. Vonda came back by this evening to get Lauren's clothes & medicine, and they stayed in the car, while we went out to see them. (I didn't want the kids real close, or in Lauren's face.) Well, before we went outside, Erica & Kara got an idea to put on medical latex gloves. Erica said they could go out and "see" her since they had their gloves on.. :)
The kids have been coloring Lauren a picture to give to her tomorrow...

Tony wanted me to call St. Jude's to see if they wanted to start Kara on anything, but they said for us to wait and see if she shows symptoms first. Pray that doesn't happen!

Kara took a good nap at Mom & Dad's house today, which isn't like her, so first thing you think of is, "I wonder if she's warm, running a fever"....or "We'll probably have to make a trip to the E.R." Her skin has been itching a lot today, and her skin's still peeling, but she's playing, and laughing still, so we'll trust that things don't get worse.
I guess I spoke too soon about things being boring around here....it's been very busy!
Well, I better run, the kids are getting wound up tight and it's time for their baths.... I guess I spoke too soon about things being boring around here

:) ... Megan

06 Sep 2008, 2:46am EST
I needed to ask you all to pray, AGAIN....Lauren is running a fever....I will be taking her to the Pediatric's office in the a.m. to see if we can find out the problem....and get her on the mend quickly...I am suspecting strep throat.

She & Lauren have already been showing signs of cold/allergy symptoms this week, but today was different with Lauren. She wasn't all the way herself. She vomited 1 time this a.m. after taking a vitamin and a fiber supplement, but I blamed it on drainage, or even taking the medicine 1st thing in the a.m., and even though a stomach bug did cross my mind, she has also complained today that she has a sore inside the roof of her mouth. I also dismissed this as a possible canker sore, since she tends to get these ever so often. Please pray that Lauren gets over this fast, whatever it is, and no one else gets it. Like before, if Kara runs a fever we have to call the Dr. A.S.A.P. and deal with it quickly. She would likely end up having blood drawn to culture & to see what her blood counts reveal, and an automatic dose of an antibiotic through her central line. Hopefully it doesn't come to that....please be praying that all this doesn't turn into anything major...maybe all of this will just be something simple that just has to run it's course.

Thanks for checking and praying...I'll update again tomorrow....

Megan

05 Sep 2008, 10:42pm EST
Hello!

Well, I have to tell you, I got the dates messed-up for the Kid's Crusade. It starts NEXT Wednesday, the 10th, and goes through Friday, the 12th. Each night it will begin at 7 p.m., and last approx. 1 1/2 hours. So, there's still time to plan to come if anyone is interested in going. The kids are looking forward to having fun!

We are staying busy with normal stuff....school, suppers, etc., etc......call us boring, but in this case, boring is good!

Tomorrow morning, the kids are going over to Mamaw Lee's house for a little while. Sometime tomorrow, Morgan, (my Brother) and Mandy will be back in town, too. We plan on visiting with them at Mom's house.

We have had quite a few laughs together tonight. The kids were showing me some gym exercises they do in school....Kara was even trying push-ups...they played a couple games together...The kids have been silly, noisy, laid-back, clumsy, and FUNNY......it's been a fun night. Lauren hasn't been the happiest, though. She acts like she doesn't feel the best, and she hasn't ate very well today. Believe it or not, Kara's appetite has been better than Lauren's. Mom & I were talking tonight how HAPPY Kara is. I've noticed the past few days that she has laughed a lot. It can be the simplest thing, and she will see something comical in it. It is really a blessing to see her like this. Her skin is peeling now on her face, but over-all her mood is great, and her appetite is good, too. Keep the prayers going up! :)

I better go for now, Brent is needing my help...
Good night & God bless,
Megan

03 Sep 2008, 2:14pm EST
I just want to say "Thank you" for praying for Kara. Since starting the accutane on Monday, and catching a summer cold, her appetite so far is still good! She and Lauren ate green beans today like they were the next best thing to McDonald's cheeseburgers! She stepped on the scales today, and her weight is now at 37.2 lbs. There's only about 5.5 lbs. difference now between her & Lauren.

For today and the next couple of afternoons it will be busy again. The kids will be going every evening to Kid's Crusade at church. It's sort of like Bible School. A few years ago, even the adults enjoyed going. We are looking forward to it!

Well, I must run for now. It won't be long and it'll be time to pick up the kids from school. Please keep praying for Kara and all the children. If you get a chance, look up Brooklyn Durham's caringbridge site. A few journal entries back, there will be a link to hear her sing! Please keep them in your prayers!

God bless,
Megan

01 Sep 2008, 12:42pm EST
I know I should've took time out to update before now, but it sure has been busy since we came back into town Friday evening. Our church was in revival last week, and we were able to make it to service on Friday to hear WONDERFUL preaching from a visiting evangelist, Bro. Mark Lowery. That is the first time I have ever heard him preach, and it again was food for my soul. I know I wasn't the only one that got help, but it was definitely words that I needed to hear, and encouragement for me. God again knew what I needed, when I needed it. My outlook on everything was so much better after that service!
Saturday, we had a small get-together at our house. The girls love parties...coming home was another reason to party again! Then, we headed to another birthday party for a little boy in our church who just turned "1". Happy Birthday, Joseph! Then, it was time to hit the grocery.....and on to evening chores.
Sunday, we headed to church again, and over to our friends' house afterwards for lunch and laughs. Then, headed back home, and on to church again. It's always so refreshing. I am really glad God allowed us this time back home. I told one of Kara's nurses, and her Radiologist that I felt like this past year had been "on hold" for us, but I don't feel that way now. I am thankful I can be back at home to be here for Erica & Brent, too, and we can all be in our home together again.
Dina called Tony one day last week, and all the kid's were hooping and hollaring with happiness and excitement.
Kara & Lauren seem to have picked up a summer cold virus. Today, starts Round #3 of her oral chemo. Even though it causes some side effects that aren't fun, (the dry, peeling lips and skin, moodiness, and decreases appetite) it is tolerable. Kara's appetite is still good. Please pray this continues, and she gains weight. If she needs it, we can have the appetite stimulant prescribed. I know God can help her with this, too. I just hope her weight increases. She has to have sufficient nutrition to grow!

Please continue to pray for all the children, Camden, Caleb, and Brooklyn Durham and her family. Have a blessed Labor Day holiday. Enjoy God's blessings.
Megan