Day 25 and Snowshoing

Today was such a gorgeous day! Kelly decided he wanted to take me on a walk today. We went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and snowshoed for an hour. I'm not sure if this is exactly what the Dr. ordered but it was 50 degrees and beautiful! We saw a moose and it felt really good to be up in the mountains, hiking around and breathing in that fresh air. I hope Kelly will sleep well tonight. I know I will.
Isaac went to Las Vegas this morning for a Lacross Tournament this weekend - We hope he does well and has a lot of fun.

Day 24 of Transplant

Kelly had a doctors appointment today and everything is looking good. His counts are slowing coming up and the doctors are excited about his progress (so are we). He still feels very sick to his stomach, is weak, and doesn't have a lot of energy which is pretty normal. He needs to drink 3 quarts of liquid a day, eat lots of small meals, and go on daily walks. He doesn't have to wear his mask outside if its not windy and can go out to eat but can't have any fresh veggies. He enjoyed a hamburger from Crown Burger today for lunch but he missed the lettuce and tomato. He does have to wear the mask around people and in crowds. He is not allowed to do yard work but was caught yesterday trimming bushes. I have my work cut out for me!

Where in the world will he be called?

Spencer's papers for his mission have been sent in! Where do you think he'll be sent? We will let you know his destination in less than two weeks! (March 5, 2008)

Kelly's Homecoming

Kelly was released from the hospital today! He was able to get out because he engrafted so quickly. We brought the pharamcy home with us and hope to keep everything straight. He spent a total of 21 long days in the hospital. We are all tired and hope to get to bed early tonight!

Day 12 of Transplant

Kelly's body is doing what it is supposed to be doing. Kelly is engrafted! Which means the new stem cells have made it back home in the bone and are producing blood. He is feeling better than he did a few days ago and will continue getting better every day. His body has been through a lot and it will slowly heal itself and could take up to a year for him to fully recover. Yesterday they took him off his feeding tube and switched all his I.V. medications to oral. He is no longer teathered to his I.V. pole and is enjoying his freedom. He is still retaining fluid so he gets to wear these cute stockings. Since his last chemo treatment his hair had grown about 1/4" and he was even thinking about shaving but with this round of chemo and transplant it is all falling out again. He has been in the hospital for 20 days and is ready to go home. He is trying to eat and drink and do everything they tell him so he can get home as quickly as possible.

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Day 9 of Transplant

Today is day 9 of the transplant. Kelly called me at 6:30 this morning (I left last night at 11:) and asked me where I was. He said that Frankienstein and his wife Godzella weren't taking good care of him. When I arrived at the hospital he was checking out! Changing Hospitals - He had had it! He didn't get much sleep because he spent over half the night on his bedside cammode. We stuck him in the shower and he came out a little more mellow. The last few days have been very rough. Kelly can't even remember saturday. Sunday he was put onto a feeding tube, had a transfusion of a unit of blood and a unit of platlets. Monday he had two units of platlets. Today he is getting two units of blood and a unit of platlets. He has been very sick with fevers, chills, bloody noses, that last all day, rashes, nausea, diarrhea, and mouth/throat sores. He is hooked up to seven different things right now, 3 being antibiotics, and is given countless oral medications. He has been pretty confused and mixed-up. I can't help but laugh about some of the things he has said and done and he won't even remember. Today in his blood work there were some white blood cells - the first sign of engraftment! The second onriness- Hallelujah!

Happy Birthday Levi!

Levi is 14 years old. It is hard to believe how fast time flies. He had a great birthday even though life is hectic. We usually have a big birthday breakfast for the birthday person but mom got called to the hospital at 12:30 am and wasn't home when the kids woke up. Levi understood and didn't seem to mind. At school he got a birthday candy bar and almost every class sang to him. Kelly usually takes the kids out for lunch on thier birthdays and since Kelly is in the hospital Levi wasn't planning on going to lunch but his mom (felt guilty) surprized him and took him to Panda Express. After school we all went to the hospital for a party. We ate dinner at the Bristo located in the Huntsman Cancer Hospital. We told the cook it was Levi's birthday and he laughed and said, "You chose to eat here? Sorry you didn't have a choice of where you wanted to eat." Little did he know that Levi did have a choice and could have chosen the cafiteria at the University of Utah Hospital. Dinner was good and Levi was happy. We stopped at the grocery store on the way to the hospital and Levi got to pick out his cake. Out of the two he chose the priate birthday cake. He couldn't have candles but we sang to him, he opened presents, and we were all together. Levi is so easy going and can make anywhere fun. We love Levi so much and appreciate his constant smile, willingness to help and do anything for everybody and being a part of our family.
We love you! Happy Birthday!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Tonight was Murray Highs MORP. Jessica and the other sophmore class officers were incharge of planning, organizing, decorating, advertising, and just putting this dance together. They did a great job, worked hard, and had a lot of fun doing it! The theme of the dance was Happily Ever After and the attire was Disney Couples.
Isaac took the ACT test this morning and went paint balling for his day activity. Isaac went with a girl named Crystal and they dressed up as pirates. They looked cute. They had noodles for dinner and had a blast!
Jessica had Drivers Ed. this morning and then decorated for the dance. She has been very busy today running around town getting balloons and supplies for the dance and making sure everything was just right. Jessica isn't 16 (legal age to date yet), so she went with a group of girl friends as Snow White. She looked really cute! They had a pizza dinner at our house, went to the dance and then went to her friends house to watch a movie and play Disney Scene It. Isaac and Jessica had a great day!
Levi went on a winter scout camp yesterday. They slept in a yurt, went cross country skiing, and tubbing with a tow rope to pull them up the hill. He had a ton of fun! He got home today. Tonight we went on a date to Wendy's then he and his friends went ice skating.
Spencer went to work and tonight he is at a work party.
Everyone is busy and happy - I'm just trying to keep up.

MORP 2008

Day +5 of Transplant

Today is day 5 and Kelly has been really sick for the past two days. He has had a tempurature, his appitite is decreasing (gone), and he just dosen't feel good with sevier flu like symptoms. The Doc. says this is all normal and to be expected - I just wish there was something we could do for him. I was told this was going to happen - but I wasn't prepared to see it. There is so much going on inside of his body right now. They say once those new stem cells graft and start producing he will start to feel better. We can't wait.
Today his White Blood Cells are 0.02 (normal: 3.2-10.6)
Absolute Neutrophil Count is at 0 -(Engraftment = ANC to be .5 for 3 consecutive days) Hemoglobin is 9.0 (normal: 15-18)
Platelets are 18 (normal: 177-406)
He is hanging in there and is able to rest in between interruptions. There are great doctors, nurses and aids taking really good care of him. We appreciate their hard work. We all love him so much its hard to see him so sick and we can't wait for healthier days. We just keep cheering those stem cells on. Go stem cells! Grow stem cells!...

Transplant Day!

Today was transplant day - Kelly has a new second "Birthday". Now that the diseased cells have been destroyed along with his bone marrow, it was time for the transplant, or rescue. He was infused with 10 million of his own stem cells - similar to a blood trnsfusion. It took about one hour with no serious complocations. They had given him a lot of pre-meds to help with any reactions. A doctor brought his stem cells in a big round cooler filled with dry ice. All of the nurses came in and sang Happy Birthday, gave him a birthday balloon and a blanket made by a transplant surviver. They defrosted the bag of stem cells and then hooked them up to his central line. The preservative they use to store the stem cells in smelled like creamed corn. Kelly got to suck on a sucker to avoid the taste but we all got to smell it. These new cells will travel through his bloodstream and into his bone marrow. Once in his bone marrow, they begin their job of making new bold cells and rebuilding his immune system. They referre to this day as "Day Zero," the day that starts the post-transplant count. They consider it Kelly's second birthday. Both sets of parents George, Sally, Dave and Dona were all here to celebrate with us. We even got a visit from Sam. Thanks for all being here.

Apperently we missed the most exciting hockey game of the season. Levi got a 5 min penelty for fighting! What happened to our sweet, well manered, and kind young man? We were told there were lots of fights tonight and the game was neck to neck and ended tied 3 to 3. Levi loves this game. As parents we just hope he keeps all his teeth!

Kelly had his last chemo treatment today! We are glad this week and chemo is over. His bone marrow cells and all rapidly dividing cells are being killed. They are monitoring him closely as his body can't fight off any infection or sickness. He is very tired and sick as his blood count drops. They tell us the next few weeks will be tough but he is hanging in there and can't wait for this to be over.

Kelly's hospital stays