Liquid Bengay?!?

Just a funny story...

Brian was talking with Kathy tonight when she said she better go as they were going to be in soon with her evening ritual of medications. This is how it went:

Kathy: "They'll be coming in to give me my liquid Bengay, Demerol, Morphine..."

Brian: "Liquid Bengay?"

Kathy: "Wait, no, that's not right. What's the allergy stuff?"

Brian: "Benadryl."

Kathy: "Ya, that must be it. I don't think liquid Bengay would help me much."

Are we there yet? YES!

So, a platelet level of 10,000 was the magic number to get Kathy moved out of ICU and back to the 14th floor. This morning, she went from 5,000 to 9,000...an amazing jump! Brian just spoke with her less than an hour ago and her levels are now to 13,000!! The doctors will be meeting soon and hopefully she will move out of ICU tomorrow. :)

If you are interested in sending her a birthday card (May 3rd), this is the address:

     Kathy Parrott, c/o OHSU 14KPV 
     3181 SW Sam Jackson Park RD
     Portland, OR 97239

Silver linings

There isn't a lot to update on but wanted to let everyone know the little that we know.

The bleeding has stopped, which is good news, but it could easily start up at any time. It is still a very critical situation because if the bleeding restarts it could be life threatening. She will be in the ER for at least 7-10 days. She has her cell phone so if you want to reach her use that number. I don't know her new room number or her new direct line. I've asked Brian to find out about mail and whether or not it is the same address as before.

Brian just talked to Kathy a bit ago and she sounds okay; they didn't get to talk long as her pain meds were kicking in. She is under a lot of stress and needs everyone to be sending her lots and lots of positivity. Her birthday is coming up on May 3rd (Thursday) so let's do what we can to make it the most cheery birthday it can be even though it will be spent in the hospital. As a reminder, flowers (both artificial and real) are not allowed but cards and mylar balloons are. 

Please follow and re-share the link to this blog so that everyone has the most up to date information.

About the title of this blog post...

One of my favorite musicians to listen to when I need calming yet meaningful music is Ingrid Michaelson. These lyrics, from her song "Are we there yet" seem fitting to this current situation:

          They say there's linings made of silver, folded inside each raining cloud.

          Well, we need someone to deliver our silver lining now.

For complete lyrics, visit: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/ingridmichaelson/arewethereyet.html

Let's keep her strong!

In the best interest of what Kathy needs right now, here are some important reminders:

Limit hours and frequency of visitations. Kathy needs her rest. While there are not set visitor hours for the hospital we would expect that her visitors observe normal awake hours, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.  If you are unable to visit during that time please do not visit. Also, an excess of visitations might be wearing her down as she tries to visit with everyone. While it is amazing that people want to visit with her daily, please know that it may be too much for her right now as she tries to keep her strength up to fight this battle.

Do not visit if you are sick or have been exposed to ANYONE that is sick. You (or the person you were exposed to) should be symptom free for at least one week before resuming visits. It is killing me and Brian that we can't visit her due to illness in our household but it is absolutely essential to keeping Kathy healthy.

Leave your baggage at the door. This is not the place to fight, bicker, or be negative. Kathy needs a positive environment and her visitors should help surround her with happiness. If you need to take a phone call or deal with an issue take it outside. If you do anything to bring her spirit down I will personally kick your butt. :)

Platelet Update

We thought this morning that a solution had been found for Kathy's platelet situation; a friend and visitor was told by a nurse that they had found the donor and that her body was accepting the platelets. This turned out to be inaccurate information.

From Brian:

"My mom did not receive a matching donor until later in the day today. As of now her body is still rejecting the blood platelets because her immune system is wiped out. What they are doing now is introducing the blood platelets at a very slow rate in hopes that her own immune system will start to take over and start producing it's own platelets. So now we wait to see what happens. The good news is, she is stable, alert and able to visit a little."

Brian spoke with her just a few minutes ago and the head doctors will be meeting tomorrow to come up with a plan. They will also be doing another CT scan tomorrow.

Setback

Please send lots of positive thoughts towards Kathy. She has had a somewhat substantial setback. 

She has bleeding in her brain that they are having trouble stopping due to her antibodies rejecting the platelet transfusions that they are giving her. They are currently searching the Red Cross database for platelet donors that would be an exact donor for Kathy (to avoid the antibody rejection issue).

She has been moved to ICU and the next 24 hours are pretty critical. She is in stable condition right now, she is coherent but also has a lot going on so please keep this in mind if planning to call or visit. The chances of things getting worse with the bleeding are slim (5%) but if they do get worse it could kill her. 

Brian is making phone calls to try to reach family members right now. Please know that we are doing our best to get the word out quickly.

Going For The Cure

What a beautifully sunny and warm Monday for Kathy to get some fabulous news:

"Very good news today. The docs are telling me they are Going For The CURE. No bone morrow transplant needed. Probably more chemo."

She has been in the hospital for two weeks now. It really doesn't seem like it can be two weeks already. Her bone marrow biopsy was today and that should help verify that she is kicking cancer's butt!