 |
July 11th -
Quiet night, still a long ways to go and still critical,
but there were not any emergencies last night. Please
keep up the prayers and just think of Michelle today - send her your
love.
Michelle plans to spend the next week or so, in a
Rotoprone Bed.
It's very intimidating to see but if she improves then who
cares...This bed has only been around 2.5 years and only has been
used 2 other times at St. Mary's Hospital.
Cost is over 1 million dollars to purchase
so hospitals only rent this equipment.
Michelle would be pleased to know not even
big named celebrities have beds this expensive.
Good news her kidneys are working much better...and we are still
hoping the oxygenation gets better over the course of this
treatment. During the
course of the day...big concern was still getting enough oxygen's
for her organs. Her oxygen levels though quite low remained
quit consistent. During the big supine turn around 8pm (on
your back) she did a nose dive and stayed very low for a long
time...respiratory therapists worked on her "(manual bagged)
without too much improvement for a long time....low period for us
all here...
July 10th-Currently being
rotated side to side on this medical bed to help with respiration.
Very Critical with a sepias infection...and pneumonia. Lungs
have fluid and aren't working well. Very unstable but holding
on. She was worked on throughout the night to control her vitals and
oxygen levels. NEED PRAYERS!!! Chemo for
Leukemia treatment discontinued. We are trying to get her
immune system involved in the fight and praying that there are no
blasts.7PM- Is it
August yet?...Long day and it's not over yet, but Michelle is still
hanging on to dear life. She had several scares throughout the
middle of the night and one in the afternoon but she has bounced
back. Last night she was put on a medical bed that moved from
side to side- at 60-40 degrees but that didn't help the lungs much
so they brought in the next super deluxe model "Rotoprone" bed which
turns her upside down, and from side to side trying to relief some
pressure on her lungs. She has a viral infection growing in
her lungs causing her major distress. This is her most serious
problem and they are doing everything they can to help her. So far
the bed has helped some but until the infection heals she still is
in danger.
July 9th - Very long night of
platelets, blood and
antibiotics. Her surgery at midnight didn't happen as her blood
wasn't clotting well enough. They planned on retrying it at
6AM this morning after giving more plasma and Vitamin K throughout
the night, and once again not where they want the clotting to
be...so we wait. Now it's rescheduled for 7:30am after trying
more plasma. (Mike's not betting on it) Another Chest X-ray
this morning as her breathing is not where they want it. She's
now on the heavy duty oxygen mask which has made it improved. Blood
pressure stayed good throughout the night with heart rate still
higher than they like. She still remains in ICU and is being
monitored closely. She will need more prayers today...8am
after many consultations by doctors they have decided to have a
breathing tube (maybe feed tube as well ?) put in now- in a
controlled environment. This will be in place during surgery
and likely for a couple days to allow for needed rest, and she will
likely be out for a few days. This will allow her the needed rest
she needs. Her lungs are starting to stress and they want to
prevent anything further. She is currently getting the tube in and a
bronco inspection by a lung doctor...to removed fluid and mucus.
Neurosurgeon said surgery will be done as soon as it's possible.
Chemotherapy scheduled for Wed may be postponed. Infection
Doctor was in but we haven't spoke with him yet, they are still
concerned about the e coli- (yesterday I thought we weren't) So -
this day doesn't look good. We are just waiting in the waiting
room until we hear how things are going.
quits causing
problems she's not out of the woods.
Breathing tube has been placed, and lung doctor removed some
mucus. She is going in surgery now. Surgery is done and she is
back in ICU recovering. I guess she will have a CAT scan later
in the day to determine where the e-coli is coming from and see if
there is an abscess growing. New antibiotics have been added
and she's got a whole team of specialists working on her so she's
being watched closely.
July 9th -10:30pm - Michelle had difficulties and her
muscles had to be paralyzed to
reduce Oxygen demand on her body. It was a critical moment
for her. The chest x-rays came back and
shows stuff on of her lungs. |
July 8th- After the PA came in this morning and the
Oncologist they made orders to transfer her back to St. Mary's
Hospital (It's attached to Lacks) in the
Critical Care Unit to be monitored more closely due to
her serious infections (
E- Coli most people carry in their bodies but are able to fight
it is one they are concerned with) that are causing her problems
with her heart such as extremely low blood pressures and very high
heart rates. The Room here is larger with lots more doctors, nurses
and fancy machines to help Michelle. So cell phone are not
allowed, just laptops. She is resting and being a very good
patient through this all. We have met with the CC floor physician
and are waiting consultations with the infectious physician as
well. She also had another chest x-ray and will be having a
CAT scan of her abdominal area something today.
11:00 am - Good news, the
e-coli in her blood is negative today - the Cefepime knocked it out,
no levaquin needed. Just have to finish the course of Cefepime
(10-14 days). But the body is still reacting as she has the
infection...so her body is still reacting as it's fighting it...thus
the reason for the bad vitals, so they say. Other News -
Staph infection in / near her port. She will be having surgery
today to remove it. Just waiting to get 3 units of palettes, 2
units of plasma
in and her blood pressure up.. Treating with Vancomycin.
Still has hair on Day 18. She has not been active at all
today...just a few moments of alertness and then back to snoozing.
Resting up for her surgery which will be sometime
between 9PM-11PM. 5am and 6am
tomorrow morning.
It's now almost 8pm and her blood pressure is good for the first
time in days (with a little help from some meds) She's still running
a high heart rate and she is on oxygen to help her breathe.
Hopefully all the pain she has been experiencing in her back will
soon be relieved after her surgery which will remove the infected
"reservoir" port.
Michelle's Note: Not excited about all
this. Looking forward to the end of Day 18 (of ~36 of Induction
Phase). Maybe 10 more days of hard time. Good Night. |
July 7th - Michelle rested well, no big things
overnight. Looks like she may head back to Lacks today, we are
hoping for one of the huge rooms. Still waiting for
blood cultures (tomorrow) to determine exactly what is causing
the infection so far it is
gram negative
(correction). Looks like another hot one here in
Grand Rapids.
About 1:30 am headed back to Lacks for a new room assignment.
Her new room has a view of the Grand Rapids skyline. So glad
to get the large room back again so more than two people can
fit at one time. She has returned from the
neurological/pathology procedure and is now resting very
soundly...except for the mumbling she's doing in her sleep. You know
you been at the hospital too long when the cafeteria staff comes in
and says "Hey Michelle" and nice to see you again Mrs. Lunn. I guess
we are on first name basis with everyone here...even the cleaning
crew. 5PM and the culture results are back. She was
positive for infections in her back reservoir, and also an infection
in her blood...so a double whammy. She was put on a
couple antibiotics to fight them.
Shortly after the last new antibiotic (around 5PM) for the port
infection Michelle started getting tachycardia (short for tacky.. or
very high heart rate ) They tried several different things to lower
it but it stayed consistent throughout the night. She was
given more blood and more fluid. She had a very rough night at
Lacks with more EKG's and chest x-rays, and many more vital checks.
Mike left at 2:30am and Mitch spent the night.
|
 July 6th 12:01 am - Still going from 1 am yesterday.
Changed rooms at 10:30 pm on the 5th floor of St. Mary's, Hospital now in
intermediate care. The room here is extremely small (actually my bathroom is larger) and it
appears we've moved from the Hilton to the projects...temporary.
But needed to moved here to monitor Michelle's
heart. Great concern about infection and chemo having ill
effects on her heart. This room is laptop friendly but not
cell phone, all cell phones have to be OFF in the room.
As of 7:20 am this day seems to be an improvement over yesterday.
Cancer Dr. just visited and said the Chest x-ray was good, and she
has an infection that may have caused all her symptoms...(type of
infection unknown as of yet- waiting for cultures to grow) she is
here until she get her vitals more stable and is currently on
antibiotics.. Doctor thinks she
may be back to "Lacks" possibly by tomorrow (Saturday
maybe now) if all goes well. With
Leukemia patients that have no white blood cells to fight infections,
getting infections are not uncommon per the doctors. She had another EKG this
morning and the Cardiologist said it looked fine and a echo
cardiogram was done later in the day and that also looked good and
ruled out any damage, but noted a small amount of fluid behind the
heart which may disappear once chemo is over. No oxygen needed any longer as her level has improved
with an additional unit of blood she received last night. I
have never realized how important giving blood was until now.
Everyone has asked if there is anything they can do...and all I can
think of...is to say prayers and think about donating to your local
blood bank in the near future. I plan to as soon as I can. *
On another note- when we left Lack's we had to remove all Michelle's
stuff, as we will be getting a new room when she gets back there.
(talk about a job...she had cards, gifts, decorations, mini frig,
clothes...etc). And when she returns we'll have to redecorate all
over again. Just before noon today she had a visit from her favorite nurses,
Christie and Chris from Lacks Cancer Center that came in to visit
her... they
said they missed seeing her smiling face. That cheered her up. Day 17
of treatment , and day 22 in the hospital and she still has hair - she is pretty proud of that.
Staples aren't getting removed today as neurosurgeon is drawing a
blood sample tomorrow to make sure there is no infection present in
that area. oh...and now she's developed a rash on her back probably
from one of the antibiotics...if it's not one thing its another.
Michelle's notes: Day of 17 of treatment much better than Day
16, note to self day 16's are bad. Mitch will be here shortly
(see the big smile on face). Made a lot of new friends,
Neurologist, Oncologist, Infectionologist, Cardiologist and a whole
bunch more. Tired, thanks for the emails, candles and support. |
July 5th - So far the day hasn't started out well. At 1am
while she was in the bathroom she got dizzy and fell into the shower
on her head/shoulder. She yelled for mom but I couldn't reach
her in time. 2 am- she is now off to CAT scan to check out
things. She now needs to have nurses assistant every time she
needs to get up, and neurological checks every 2 hours throughout the
night. She had another rough time around 4PM in which we had
to call ALL STAFF ALERT CALL due to her passing out in the bathroom
once again. She's had no sleep and her blood pressure is quite low
so today isn't a good day to visit. CAT scan test came
back normal. She received a bag of platelets and now has a
temperature. They have drawn blood to determine the cause, she
is now getting put on antibiotics to prevent any infections from
starting. So the day isn't getting any better...On a positive
note her cousin Cierra from Grayling came up and gave blood at the
blood drive the hospital was having.
Michelle's Note - One plus for the day is
that the slacker didn't get arrested last night. It
was/is a long long day, hit a few speed bumps. I am sure
tomorrow will better. Hey, I still have my hair, must be a new
record. Plan to sleep, snooze, knap then sleep a little more.
TTFN (ta ta for now) * reference Winnie the Pooh, not IM. |
 July 4th - We have PICC
Line problems right here in River City (trivia note: Grand Rapids is
actually referred to as River City) it is not flowing and they poked
her this morning to get blood. They are clearing it out
today - soon - right now. Chemo today, then next Wednesday the
last push of the phase. Mitch brought her popcorn last night
and she ate half a bag...that is the first thing that tasted good to
her in a long while. This afternoon mom made some chicken soup (seen
in the picture...broth,
chicken, and noodles...no spices) and brought it up as she needed to
get some protein in and the food up here is a bit on the spicy side
and loaded with onions which upsets the stomach. She even
likes it!! Doctor and PA came in and said they are still
amazed she still has hair, after 15 days of chemo...they can't
believe it. Of course they still say....it'll be any day now.
Grandma Nan is taking the day off from visiting due to her not
feeling good yesterday (People with germs aren't allowed up while
she's neutropenic.) She's decided not to watch the fireworks as her
counts are extremely low...and she's not comfortable with hanging
out with a lot of people that may be germ carriers. (Our new
motto...better safe than sorry). Happy 4th of July from
room 4419.Michelle's Notes- Decided to sleep instead
of watching the fireworks, due to the effects of the extensive pain
meds I took. Sue, Jessica and Gentry went upstairs to watch
them and Julie watched the Boston Pop's fireworks on TV with me in
the comfort of my room. I plan on having a much better forth next year. |
|
July 3rd - Typical night vitals, bathroom (the IV
keeps pumping fluid into around the clock) and blood drawn at 5:30.
Looking forward to the last day of steroids (then there is a slight
chance the stomach pains will diminish) and sometime in the next few
days it is likely that the staples from the back surgery will come
out (lessening the back pain). All in all sleeping pretty good
tonight. PA says...need more blood today so probably get that
later in the today...that might give her a tad more energy.
Michelle wants to wish her cousin Joshua a very happy 7th Birthday
today!!! Michelle's Notes- Day 14, 2 full weeks of
treatment, and done with one bag of blood, and have one more to go
tonight. Mitch is on his way up to spend the night and I had a
lot of visitors today...Patty, Joe, Julie, and Jessica and Gentry.
My counts are real low...but that's expected...loved the two
packages I got today, mom and I will be singing karaoke someday
soon. Hope to get a good nights sleep so I will feel up for
Chemo tomorrow. Thanks for the cards, and for lighting a
candle for me, and all the crazy gifts...I love them all...Grandma
Nan get better. ...till the
4th. |
July 2nd - Early blood work and slept in until nearly 8 am.,
Woo Hoo. Mom spent the night. Pillow check revealed no hair loss, yet.
Michelle claim she's the cure for baldness (Day 13 of Induction
Phase). This get rich scheme...may not pan out due to the
doctor saying some of her head fuzziness might be the hair foliates
starting to do there thing. Picture on right is the lunch birthday
bash celebrated today for Julie (in brown dress)...no cake but
awesome chocolate milkshakes.
Michele's Note: Day 13 almost over, minor bumps and
bruises, still doing good, all things considered. Tomorrow is
another easy day, last day of steroids and Mitch will be back for a
day. Kathy (old room mate) stopped by and it was very nice to
see her. Mom and Grandma are plotting and scheming to get me a
wig. Walked a couple laps and sat outdoors for a while. The
slacker was here for an hour or two, I was surprised to see him.
Grandma was teaching mom to play hearts, I always thought that
you didn't want points. Happy Birthday Julie,
thanks for the Chocolate shake. |
July 1st- 17th day at the hospital, and 12th day of
treatment. Mitch and Michelle said the night shift was
uneventful. They did have the loud PCA "(Patient Care
Assistant) at night but they have her favorite for today,
Kelly. Nurses still trying out different pain/nausea meds to find
the perfect one that either doesn't cause headaches, brain freezes,
or make her even more exhausted then she already is. Blood
test back and she will need palettes today, but not in need of a
blood transfusion yet. ..also a CAT scan ordered for later today to
make sure all is well in the brain/head area due to the spinal chemo
treatment. Cat Scan complete and she's very tired today as expected.
The hats say "Nanos_Fav". CAT scan was normal. YEAH!
 Michelle's Notes: zzzzz's ...she had lots of visitors today,
Mitch, Mary, Gramma Nan, Chelsea, Jeanne and Jessica and is probably
out for the night.
|
June 30- Both mom and dad are home in bed while Mitch stayed
with me last night. I don't think that I scared him away quite yet. I am trying to figure this thing out on my own
and surprise my parents
when they get up here. (updating the website) So, we will see if it works. Mitch is resting
well and it's six am and I am wide awake. Nothing planned for today,
that I am aware of. Should be a pretty relaxed day. Looking forward
to that!
Last night Sue and Julie went to the "Lowell
Relay for Life" benefit. At Relay they celebrate survivorship
and raise money to help the American Cancer Society in its mission
to save lives, help those who have been touched by cancer, and
empower individuals to fight back. Here are some pictures from
Friday night. Pictures.
Peggy Idema a friend of Julie's (as well as the mother of the lead
singer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers") made a luminary bag in
Michelle's honor as well as having her name appear as one of the
honored cancer fighters mentioned on the dedication video they
showed. A few others also walked in her honor at this walk.
She appreciates everyone's kindness.
Michelle's Note- Mom and Dad are off again tonight. Aren't
they lucky? So, it's just Mitch and I and we are doing good. We went
walking and sat outside (5th floor roof/healing garden area) for a while, tonight is a beautiful night
and nobody was around so the mask came off, gotta love that. Today
was a nice relaxing day and I am thankful for that. Going to just
take it easy till I go to bed will be back in the morning. Thanks to
everyone.
 
June 29 - Up for pills, injections and draw blood at 4:15
am sharp. Michelle's friends brought her some presents last
night and room customizations continue.
 
Tonight when she makes her note (or earlier) she may be willing to
share the story about the latest additions. Looks like she is
well protected and doesn't want folks messing with the thermostat.
 Her
bone marrow tests came back... Blasts are now only 3% in her bone
marrow rather than 80% (at the first test) ...that is great news -
She's A Rapid Responder.
Michelle's Note - First day of double digits something to
celebrate. Took it real easy today and just waiting patiently for
Mitch and Nan to get here. Had some lunchtime visitors, Julie,
Richie and Gabriela. Katie came up for a bit and noticed the
redecorating dad did. Matthew even came up again. Can you believe
it? Lots of people walking for me today in
Lowell Relay for Life, a big thank you to all of them! Still
receiving lots of mail. Thanks from everyone. Also, getting lots of
email, it takes me a bit to respond so please be patient. Thanks for
everything.
|
June 28- Thursday- This makes 2 weeks at this fancy hotel and
day 9 of her treatment. She's very glad the dreaded day 8 is done
and over. Way too many procedures for one day. She slept
well...about 13 hours or so and is currently getting her morning
blood work done. No procedure schedule for today...just a wig
consultation at 11am. See her wig prescription below. Last night our nice nurse told us to
just buzz her when she gets up rather than her coming in to wake us
up all the time. This worked great...and allowed us both to
get a good night sleep. She thinks she must have some sort of
super hair follicles that science should use her genes for as she's
still hasn't noticed any head hair loss.
 Michelle's
Note:
Today went sufficiently better than yesterday. We had the
wig consultation today. That was hard, having a serious conversation
about wigs when I have always had so much hair. Oh, well. The photo
next here is a prescription for a wig. Who would of thought they
right prescriptions for those? Not I! I had lots of visitors today.
My brother came took time out of his busy life and came and visited.
It was nice to see that he remembered who I was. Grandma and Grandpa
Sedlecky came up for a while. Grandma has been doing lots of
research and seems to understand more of this than I do. Katie came
and visited, it was nice to see her and catch up. Jessica and Karen
came up and those two are always fun to be around laughing and
giggling so that was nice. Overall, day nine was good and looking
forward to day ten. Mitch comes home and he's bringing Nano with
him:)
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June 27- Although we were woke up at 10:30, midnight, 2am, 4,
and 6am we did feel when we slept it was good hard zzzz's.
Michelle's back feels like there is something suctioned on her
spine. The pain meds have been helping and its countdown to
chemo, and bone marrow time. Chemo over by 10 am.
Great news
Blast Cell count was 0.0 (thou/mcl) today, 300 last week and 3000
when we arrived. Michelle said tell everyone two down one to go.
She survived the bone marrow aspiration. Results likely Friday
(read Monday or Tuesday). Doc showed up at 3:45 pm for the
5:30 pm appointment for the chemo in the spine...that's her last one
until next week. Looks like the chemo is doing it's thing...and
she's definitely feeling it's effects.
Michelle's Note: Michelle went to
sleep early, after a long day . She may post something in the morning.
She appreciates your patience. I am glad those procedures are done
for a while. Now I can take it easy and focus on other things. Poor
Justin came up and was here during one of the procedures. I hope it
didn't scare him away. It's done with, and that's all that matters.
|
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June 26 - Last night they took blood for typing (will be a
weekly event) and drew blood at 5:30 am. Then Michelle
was kind enough to let me sleep in until 7:30 am. She is
NPO (nothing to eat or drink) before her procedure this afternoon.
Her room is beginning to take on her personality.
Michelle's is now out of surgery and her Neurosurgeon reported that
the surgery went perfect. She was in recovery for an hour and
a half and is currently resting. She has been heavily medicated so
today may not be a good evening for
visitors.
Michelle's Notes: Day 7 is come and gone and all I have to do is
get through tomorrow. I have early morning chemo and then
around noonish a bone marrow test, and then chemo in my new devise
that is implanted in my back later in the evening. Not looking
forward to tomorrow. After Wednesday...I get to rest for a
while. Very medicated, very tired and very sore from my
procedure. I hope that Charles is doing alright in Georgia after his
surgery and I hope he has a speedy recovery. |
 June 25 - Vitals at midnight and blood draw at 5:30 am
on the dot. The hospital is almost empty, so her room is very
quiet. Looking forward to an uneventful day. Pillow
check did not find any hair. After her afternoon nap (not to be
confused with her morning nap) Michelle is always very upbeat and
happy (now that her
blood count is up a little). Tomorrow she will get her
Ommaya Reservoir in her back (not scalp) for her
Intrathecal Chemotherapy. Michelle's Note: Day
six was pretty uneventful. I will take uneventful though. No
procedures, no transfusions, I got to rest and take it easy and boy
did I take it easy. John came up and visited. He kept complaining
about having to travel to the badlands. I would much rather be there
right now! HAHA! Grandma and Grandpa Sedlecky came up and it was
nice to see them. I am sure I will see more of them now that they
are back from Colorado. Oh and to all the Lunn's out there it's is
official, I am Nan's favorite. She had hats made up for me and
everything. Look at the photo closely. So there! I am still setting
records for mail received here. Thanks very much to everyone sending
cards. Mail time is an exciting time around here. The emails are
great too. I will respond just be patient please. Day six is almost
over and I will only have to worry about my FUN day tomorrow.
Imagine me rolling my eyes!
|
June 24 - Today makes it Michelle's 10th in the hospital and
she is on her 5th day of treatment. Wasn't crazy about the
baby crying in the middle of the night or the 2am vital check but
slept OK until 4:30am for the hour plus middle of the night visit.
(RN told stories of her survival, drew blood and finally changed her
saline bag after about 40 minutes of listening to the alarm going
off)...now it's 6am, new plan...back to bed until dad woke us up at
7:30am. She still sporting the same do...no hair on the pillow
again. Now time for breakfast. Looks like another great
weather day.
We did 6 laps and then it was nap time this
morning. After her nap we rested then later she did 5 more laps.
Some views from Michelle's windows. |
 Michelle's
Note -
I am sure that some of you with longer hair tend to go through
more conditioner than shampoo. This is something that was common for
me until recently. I have noticed my shampoo bottle is twice as
empty as my conditioner quite the shock for me. And yes I am still
conditioning my long flowing locks. I did however notice more than a
few eyebrows coming out in my washcloth. I am sure my head of hair
is next. However, I do have quite the option as to what hat to wear.
Thanks to everyone. Overall, day five was great! Mitch came back and
brought lots of fun stuff. It was real nice seeing him. Aunt Mary
and Ben both stopped by too. Everyone much tanner than I am,
mainly because my lack of sun. Mitch suggested spray on tan. Final
note, I have to be much more careful when getting dressed. I am such
an idiot. I put my shirt on backwards and didn't notice till the
afternoon and it's a pain to disconnect from things and change. So,
I have spent the whole day with my shirt on backwards. BOY AM I NOT
GOING TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN. I will take the extra time while
getting dressed I think. Day five almost over preparing for bed.
This is Michelle signing out!
|
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June 23 - Bathroom and vitals at 3 am.,blood didn't get
drawn until 6 am., nothing like sleeping in on a Saturday.
Yesterday we forgot to mention that the
bone marrow
aspiration will be done with a real small needle (good news) in
the
sternum (not sure of news) on Wednesday. The previous
bone marrow
aspiration or
biopsy was done on her hip bone. No
hair on Michelle's pillow this morning. Today she will get
a
PEG Asparaginase
intramuscularly (into the muscle). This will be administered by
three injections of chemo into her muscles at 11am. She was
bummed they won't put her out for this treatment. Need to apply
lotion to her hand and feet as the chemo is taking a toll on her
skin by making it very painful.
This morning the Doctor came in and gave us a nice analogy.
The
leukemia is like your lawn when it has dandelions, clover and
crabgrass. In this case there are more
dandelions, clover and crabgrass than lawn. So they are
trying to eliminate the weeds by using various types of weed killers
(chemo drugs) and
rototill the lawn (bone marrow). Then wait for it to
grow back, as it grows back more work is required (further
treatment) to make sure that the weeds do not grow back.
Remember that the seed takes a long time to germinate so patience is
required. We look a long nap this afternoon after
watching the relaxation music station on the flat screen LCD.
Michelle's Notes:
Day four almost done and going great! Honestly. Kinda tired,
totally expected but dad is still pushing me. Which is what I had
asked him to do. Slacker came up for a bit before work, it was nice
of him. Today we just chilled waiting to see how I would react to
those lovely shots. Besides a little stinging all is well. Julie
dined with me and brought be new shoes because my feet are sore. Mom
is already stealing the shoes. Then Uncle Joe showed up with some
beautiful pictures of Colorado. The pictures were great because I
can't get out so it's nice to look at other places than my hospital
room. Jeanne even came by, it was real nice. Richie babysat for her
because Josh can't come see me. It was nice to sit and chat and have
my mind off things. Looking forward to tomorrow, no work maybe a
transfusion but that's pretty easy. Mom is staying the night again
she's in her Grey's Anatomy Scrubs and hoping to get mistaken for a
doctor. Mitch comes home tomorrow and definitely looking forward to
that. Till tomorrow.
|
 June 22 - Suzanne and Michelle got to sleep in to 5:45 am.
when blood was drawn. The sun is shining nicely. Mike
arrived about 6:45 am. Michelle is really upbeat and wishes to
go walking this morning. Doc says Shell is doing well - blast cells
(immature blood-forming cells) are down. Here she is upstairs walking (4 laps) with
Grand Rapids
in the background. Worked was done to remodel the website. It
was my (Mike) idea to use a red blood cell as a
favicon.Michelle's Note: Today started out on an
awesome note as noted above. We liked to hear that I was doing so
well. Grandpa Lunn and Lucy came today. They brought me a nice pink
hat. Luckily I don't need them quite yet. Mom keeps checking to make
sure my hair isn't falling out but it will be of great need in the
future. Jessica came by today with Laine. She will be busy the next
few days so I won't see her as much but totally understandable. I
hope she has fun in Wisconsin! Talked to Grandpa Sedlecky and Nan. I
should see both them next week sometime! My brother is the biggest
slacker ever. He never comes and sees me anymore. Jerk! Almost
done with day three and happy to hear that! One day closer to home!
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June 21 - Shell and I are up at
5:20 am., blood drawn. Both ordered ice water to start our
day. Saw some lightening from behind the curtains opened the
curtains to watch it. Haven't seen any yet.
9AM heard from her nurse Dee that her hemo level was at
11...woo hoo, almost normal. Need iron though. Got
the iron and then she walked 7.5 laps and plans to go back for more
at dusk. The Doctor came in late this afternoon and said she
looked good...and was wondering if Mike was going to a Jimmy buffet
Concert (yes, he was wearing his usual Hawaiian shirt). She
has not had in any reactions to the chemo and other meds so
far...which is a great. Mom is her overnight guest tonight and
Dad is going home for the first time to sleep in a real bed...
Michelle's Note: Although Paris Hilton may be setting records for the most mail
in jail, I think that I am setting records here at the Cancer
Center. So, thanks to everyone that is sending them. They are nice
and it's so much fun to get! Today I am still feeling great! Had
lots of visitors! Richie and Gabriela came and lunch time it was
real nice to see them and Richie came back with that cap from the
two of them. THANKS! I LIKE! It will be real nice in the awkward
time between baldy and buzz cut. Knowing all my hair won't fall out
at once. Julie walked over at her lunch just to see me. Then Jane
came by and brought some cute outfits to wear around the hospital.
They will be perfect when I start losing my hair because there will
be no need to shave my legs or underarms. HAHA! Jeanne was up here
for a while while mom ran home with josh to get her overnight stuff.
Josh waved from the hallway. He told my mom that he has had it a lot
worst when he had his tonsils out, whats the big deal. Yes mom
is spending the night. Jessica was here as well. She comes a lot!
Matthew how ever slacked and blew me off. What a brother. I had my
first breath of fresh air in a week today. SOOOOOOOOOOO nice! Mom
and I just finished walking so I put in a mile today. Feeling good!
Really feeling good! Not so worried about losing my eye lashes
anymore. Was quite concerned today. I think I will be ok...we will
see.
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June 20 - At 5:30 am they drew blood, at 6:30 am Christie
(Michelle's nurse of the day) came it to start the Chemo, total time
45 minutes. Michelle said that it wasn't too bad and was quite
proud that she hadn't lost her hair during the process. The
rest of the day wasn't eventful. Michelle did some walking and
we did our things. For those interest her total hemoglobin was
8.0, chemo started so two more units of whole blood.
Matthew Notes: I came down to the hospital for a
family dinner, by the request of the queen herself. However, to my
surprise me my parents deserted us for some much needed time alone
and I had dinner with my alternate mother and the queen herself.
The sterile, shrink wrapped, dust free, pot pie i had made to order
was exceptional. The Queen herself appears much healthier now, color
in her cheeks and sarcasm in her voice are true signs of recovery.
The queen herself is actively seeking a device 32" wide LCD to play
her new netflix dvd's. However i must end this shortly so you can
finish reading. The queen herself is just about to empty another bag
o' blood so this is matt signing off.
Eh' Migual(The Queen herself's) Notes: Well isn't my
brother the nicest guy ever. He offered up his BRAND SPANKIN' new TV
because the one in the room cannot work with the dvd player. By the
end of the week it should be up here. On a lighter note. Started
Chemo. Feeling GOOD! Real good! One weird side effect thus far neon
orange urine. Quite a surprise. Besides that have walked around
upstairs. Ooo was visited by priest. He did the whole anointing of
the sick sacrament. He threw us off guard and it was like what is
going on. Getting transfusions today so should be running laps
tomorrow I will have so much oxygen in my blood! Looking forward to
feeling even better.
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June 19 - Typical day so far,
5:20 am. draw blood from
PICC Line,
Chemo will likely start today or tomorrow. Afternoon
news;
Spinal Tap results are back, no leukemia in the spinal fluid,
Michelle wants to break out the bubbly. Signed the papers for
the trial and waiting for
Chemotherapy to start, early tomorrow. Actually she did
receive some chemo in her spine as a preventive measure yesterday
during her spinal tap.
*She was able to walk around on the 5th floor (in the healing
gardens) and did 1 1/2 laps (9 times around = 1 mile) . As soon as
she makes some more red blood cells she hopes to increase her laps.
Michelle's Note: Today was a roller coaster started out good,
thought that we would get lots of answers and then roll on Chemo.
Then as the day went on we ran into a doctor that said that the
answers weren't coming for 24 - 48 hours. This made us very
frustrated. Surprisingly, then we got the answers,
signed documents and begin chemo tomorrow 8 am sharp, be there or be
square. Went for our nightly walk and sat outside for a while.
It would have been better without the mask. But ya gotta do
what ya gotta do. |
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June 18 - Spinal tap performed to
determine if leukemia cells are in her spinal fluid, results
tomorrow. Although this has gone on for only 6 Days in real
time, it seems more like 18 months to us involved.
Michelle's Note: I Thought today would be worst than
it was. Still not a lot of answers. Waiting tests, tests
and more tests. Taking it easy and napping, when I have energy I
do things. Taken it day by day. Matt, Nate and Jessica
came up. Today that was plenty of visitors. A little
tired and going to bed early, big day tomorrow. My dad said that my
forum will be ready soon (http://forum.tlunn.com)
then I can really let you know what I think. Bone Marrow tests
HURT!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 17 - Michelle was diagnosis with Acute Leukemia
and the treatment is still undetermined until further test come
back. She is inpatient at Lack's Cancer Center (St. Mary's) in room
4419 and is estimated to be in for at least 5-6 weeks for treatment.
She can not receive flowers, or have small child, or sick people
visit due to her lack of a immune system currently. Please send
cards...funny ones the best to uplift her spirits.
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