Kurt is still doing well at home!

This week is when the last chemo treatment starts to do it's magic, kills all cells good and hopefully bad. They gave us the choice to stay at home and come in every other day or daily if needed, or be admitted to the hospital. We are trying the home choice, since Kurt thinks he overstayed his welcome the first hospital stay. We came last Thursday for a shot, Saturday for some platelets and that stay was only for a couple of hours, then on Monday we came in at 8:30 and he needed platelets, and two units of blood. The poor guy was there until 4:30, but got to go home, so one day is better than staying in the hospital. After staying all day they tested his counts again, and his platelets did not go up very high, so they wanted us to come back today. When we got here, he needed platelets, but they didn't have them ready, they had to order them from the Red Cross, so we got here at 8:15, and didn't leave until 12:00, still better than staying in the hospital. We will probably have to come back a few more times. They said his good cells should start producing around this Sunday. Then we will wait another week or so, and maybe the donor will have given the marrow, or he will have to have another round of the consolidation chemo. I will keep you posted.
Thanks again to everyone for your concern and prayers. We know that he has been very blessed and will continue to be blessed.

We feel a little normal right now.

Last Sunday the 19th, Kurt was able to leave the hospital after the consolidation round of chemo. He did pretty well considering they put posion into his body. During the week he was able to stay home by himself while I went to work during the day. He loved being home and I loved just getting to go home after work and be with him! On Thursday the 23, he had to come up to the hospital to get his blood work done to check his counts. They were still good and he didn't need any transfusions. They gave him a shot of something to help his blood counts come back faster, and we got to take him back home. They told us to come back Saturday, the 25th at 10:00 am.
Well we are here at the hospital, and they said his platelets are low, but the other counts are good. We had to sit here for about an hour and he had a transfusion of platelets and they are letting us go home for the weekend. We have to come back Monday morning and check him in. So I will keep you posted on what goes on next week.

Home again.

Today was the last chemo treatment of the first consolidation round. He had 2 hours last night and 2 hours this morning at 6:00am. I got up to the hospital around 11:00am and he was a little nauseated. They told us the doctor wanted to come in and check on him before they let him go. We left around 12:00 and got home around 12:30.
We are both excited to be here, but it won't last too long. We have to go back in on Thursday and have blood tests to see where his counts are, and then they might admit him or let him go home for a day or two. When the counts are really low, they will admit him and may have to do tranfusions and platlets to get his counts to come up again. After they are good he will get to come home for a week or two and then hopefully they will have a donor and be ready to transplant. If not they will have to do another consolidation round of chemo again and be ready again for the transplant. In order to do the transplant, they have to have this chemo process to kill the last of the leukemia cells and then get the good cells to come up to normal and then they can do the transplant. So we just have to be patient for the right time and know that Heavenly Father is watching over us and the right thing will happen. I am so grateful that things have gone as well as they have. I know he could be a lot worse off. Even though he had some really rough times, we have been very blessed and know that our prayers are being answered. Thanks again for your concern and prayers.

So far so good!

Well he has had 4 doses of chemo only two more. Yesterday was a good day, the fever was gone and I talked to him this morning and still not having a fever. If all goes well he will get chemo Saturday night, and Sunday morning and then come home Sunday afternoon. Then around Wednesday or Thursday the counts will start going down. He might be able to stay at home if we watch him really good, but if he gets a fever he will have to go back to hospital. Or he will have to be admitted on Thursday after getting the blood tests done. Then when the counts start going up, they will maybe let him go home again. The next step after that is to find a donor which they are trying to do, and then after this round of chemo process they would like to start the transplant. If the donor is not available till later then he would have to do another round of this same chemo and go through about a 4 week process again. Our hope is to start in about 3 weeks. The doctor came in yesterday and told us all of the things to expect with the transplant, and didn't paint a pretty picture. But we are hopeful that all will go well and this will cure the cancer. I will let everyone know more as we go. Thanks again to everyone for everything!

I think he is allergic to the hospital.

Well yesterday, he said he almost felt normal again, after we talked to the doctor, he told us that his counts were normal and that his bone marrow biopsy looked really clean. He also told us that the chromosones looked really good. So we got checked into our suite (ha ha) and they started the chemo that night. I called Kurt around 9 in the morning and he said he was really tired. He called me back about 10 and told me that he had a fever. I got up here about 2:45 and he was doing a little better, but was not very happy. Dr Asch came in and said that he must be doing things on his own little path, and not the one that everyone else does. Now they're thinking that he might get fevers from the chemo. The good thing is he doesn't have the chemo everyday, but the bad thing is that he has 4 more doses. So they are giving him anti-biotics and tylenol. This is so hard on him, he really is discouraged. Hopefully since he doesn't have chemo tomorrow, maybe he will feel a little better tomorrow.
Please keep him in your prayers that he will get through this next week and get rid of these fevers again!

A great week!

Well it has been a great week having Kurt home. He has been so happy to be here after 32 days in the hospital, but not looking forward to going back. Last Wednesday he had another biopsy done and we still have not heard anything, which I think is a good thing. So for now the plan is to go back on Tuesday the 14th and have some labs done, and then be admitted to undergo the next round of chemo. This is called consolidation and is not supposed to be as hard as the first. It is for 6 days, but not continually like the first seven days were. Then home for a week and then back, but it will all depend on how he is doing. So we are both hoping for a week there and then a week home. We still haven't heard if there is a donor match yet, but hopefully soon, so we can get this all behind us. I told Kurt we are just taking this year of our life off and next year, we will be able to enjoy life again.

He's Home!!!

Well they said yesterday, because he was doing so well, they might kick him out, and they did. We're so happy that they let him go home. He is so happy to be home and just enjoying every moment. Kelli, Cher, and my sister Kristy came today in the morning and cleaned our house all day. They will never know how grateful we both are for that. It smelled so clean and looked so nice. Thank you very much!! Then he decided he wanted some chinese food so I went and order some by at a place by our house and it did taste good. Now we are going to attempt to watch a movie, but I bet we'll both fall asleep. Thanks again for everyone and how great they have been to us!

Kurt with our favorite nurse Ben Johnson.

I was not ready for what happened today!

You won't believe what happened today, I still don't even believe it. Last Sunday Kurt almost went to ICU and today he got a 4hr pass to leave the hospital. I got here around 1:00 and got him ready, we went to Liberty park and he even went and sat on a bench for a little bit, but it was a little too cold so we just sat in the car and watched the birds. Then he wanted a hamburger from the Training Table, and a frosty from Wendy's, We drove around the Capitol, and got back to the hospital around 4:30. He was tired from his big day. He hasn't had a fever today. The doctor told me when I got here that his nutrifil #'s had gone from 900 yesterday to 5,400 today. I couldn't believe it. She said that if he continues to do well through the night and tomorrow that he could possibly go home tomorrow. It really turned around from just a few days ago. He will get to stay at home for about 10 days, and then come back for some more treatments. But they won't be as hard as the first treatment.
I just want everyone to know, that because of all of the prayers and Heavenly Father's love, that Kurt is doing so well. I know the power of the priesthood is very powerful, and he received many wonderful blessings. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the strength to get through this first part, and the knowledge that he is there for us. I know Kurt is grateful as well, but still a little scared, but we will get through this with all of the love and support from our families and friends. Thank you again for everything.

A little improvement

Today Kurt called me and said they had put a pic line in his arm and they were going to take the central line out of his chest, they're hoping this will get rid of the fevers all together, especially if this line was infected. He had some fevers still last night, but they are not as high as they were last week. They also think that when he gets his counts up higher they will keep coming down. He is eating better too, today they will take him off of the TPN food supplement through the IV. They told us that after his nutrifil came up around 500, they would talk about going home. Yesterday they told us it was around 300 and then today it went to 900. I was told by one person if he wasn't having these fevers they would probably let him go home. This afternoon the doctor came in and told us that if these fevers keep going down and go away that maybe he could come home next Monday or even sooner. It was the best news we have heard for a long time. So keep praying that the fevers go away and he will be able to come home soon! Because of the two procedures he had done today, he is warn out. Yesterday I got him to go for a walk, but today he is really tired, and just resting. Hopefully tomorrow he will feel like doing some exercise, and that will help him to build up his strength. The doctor also told us that he should start feeling better each day, and his counts should keep going up. He said that he would probably let him be home for a couple of weeks and then come back for the consolidation chemo, which would just kill any cancer that they didn't see. They are still looking for a donor, and then they will do the transplant as soon as they find one. It will be great to have him come home, and not have to be in that room anymore.
We have so many great nurses and doctors, and want to thank them for the great care they have given Kurt and will continue to give. We are so grateful for their knowledge and their desire to help people in this situation. We could really tell that they put their whole heart and minds into taking care of these cancer patients. I wish I could do something back for them, but maybe by getting Kurt better, this will let them know how much we appreciate them.