Janell is 50 Days Old!

Janell has been progressing well according to the doctors and the blood tests.  Her neutrophils and white blood cell counts have been very promising.  She still has to be very careful regarding her contact with others.  Therefore, she cannot go shopping at crowded, enclosed buildings like Costco, or attend functions in close contact like church services or concerts.  Early morning trips to the open air Yakima Fruit Market are fine.

She has slowly but steadily been building up her stamina.  She struggled with walking a "1/4" block.  She has now moved to being able to walk around a four block square of our neighborhood, about 1/3 of a mile.

The great news is that she has been released from Seattle Cancer Care Alliance back to her original oncologist at Cascade Cancer Care located within Evergreen Hospital.  The original plan was for her release after Day 60, but it happened at Day 44.  The blood draws and weekly visits still occur.  Now we are focused on strategies to get her through the upcoming cold and flu season without getting sick.

CAN SHE HAVE VISITORS?  Yes, as long as you are not coughing, wheezing, have a runny nose, etc.  It should also be noted that she "fades" pretty quickly and has to rest quietly a number of times during the day.

We really appreciate the prayers, cards and thoughts you all have sent.  Included here are pictures from the beautiful and abundant "care package" Janell's work sent.  In the pictures you see our oldest son, Geoffrey, during his visit up from the San Diego area to "check on MOM" and our grandsons, helping Janell open her gifts.  We also appreciate the Dinners Ready gift accounts established by Inglemoor High School Staff and by our Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox Church Family.  They have been a tremendous help.

Thank you all for your caring and love!

What's Happening at Day 35

It has been awhile since the last post.  SORRY!

The days have been melting into each other as we navigate this time period.  As caregiver, this is an extremely critical time to monitor Janell's progress.  I take her temperature multiple times a day.  If her temperature lands in the range 99.4 f/37.4 c to 100.8 f/ 38.2 c, then "all systems" are on alert.  I make calls to Janell's team nurse and I start an every 30 minute monitoring protocol.  If her temperature come close to 101.2 f/ 38.4 c, then we are on our way to the hospital.  THE GOAL = NO HOSPITAL VISITS!

I keep records of her temperature, gather copies of her labs, monitor her bodily functions, and the preparation of her foods.  She also receives at home intraveinous hydration with medicines infused in the hydration.  I have included two pictures showing the three sizes of bags that I hook up to her at home.  They range from 250ml, 500 ml (both beside the ruler) to 1000ml, shown inside the specially designed back pack for hanging the hydration bags and holding the portable hydration pump or the "fanny pack for the smaller bag.  We have been trained how to read the bag instructions, prime the pump and program the pump for the correct rate of hydration.  If Janell receives the hydration too quickly, then the medicines in the hydration fluid will cause much havoc and we are then calling 911.  THE GOAL = NO HOSPITAL VISITS!

It seems like a small thing, but Janell had the shivers.  You can re-call when you felt cold inside and shivered.  It is something I have always toughed out.  In Janell's case, I called the on-call charge nurse to report the situation.  I was asked a series of questions for which I had the answers right in front of me.  Remember those lab results I collect?  I read off certain portions of those result from the day before, which saved time in the diagnosis of the situation.  Questions like "What is her white (blood cell) count?", " What are her neutrophils?", were asked and I answered based on the two page labs I was reading.  The results were a dose of tylenol and continued monitoring.  I met the goal so far  = NO HOSPITAL VISITS!

That's all for day 35!  Stay tuned for more!