day 15 chemo

Naham 1:7, "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble, he cares for those who trust in Him.."
Things seem to change so quickly here on the leukemia unit. Katrina's night last night and start of today looked like things with her GI system were going the wrong way- I was mentally composing a prayer note for the blog. Katrina's abdominal condition was painful, frequent diarrhea and distention. She was miserable. She had been told nothing by mouth except for taking pills yesterday and that continued today. They are giving her plenty of IV fluids. The GI doctor was the first to see her today and ordered another abdominal xray- with her problems she couldn't go down to radiology so they came her room. The x-ray was the same as the previous. She has swollen/bloated large intestine and the xray showed no blockage. He feels the problems are going to resolve themselves and is keeping a close eye on her. She is off narcotic pain meds which will help and seems to be doing ok with that. She can get an oral pain med as needed. The chemo has been a source of irritation as well. As the day has progressed, so has she. She has walked in the room, then in the hallways and going to the bathroom is less frequent. She knows that being up and moving is the best cure for her problems right now and she is pushing through. Her leukemia team came in late AM and feel she is ready to "turn the corner". Her back pain and leg pain are signs of some WBC stimuation. After being at zero WBC's today's was .1 so we look forward to getting that count to slowly inch forward. Her meds are constantly adjusted and her IV pole is looking more normal and not like a Christmas tree. Please pray, pray for the GI system to recover- that is an important request. The other thing she had to face today is that her hair is starting to fall out. She can pull out small clumps rather easily. I went to the hospital beauty shop today and got some info for her. She is thinking she will shave it on Monday. I got her a cute beanie and scarf today so we are now in the market for fun scarves and will be looking at wigs. As you can imagine, this will take an emotional toll. She is facing it realistically and the truth is it will grow back. Please pray for her on this hurdle too. It is something she dreaded with the diagnosis as all of you reading this can imagine. I am so proud of how she is dealing with all she faces day to day. God is truly her refuge through the pain, the unexpected physical issues, the emotional issues of having to leave her class of kindergarteners, etc. She has the best husband ever. Louis is such a supportive spouse. He should be walking through the day soon and I am glad she is feeling better this evening so they can have some good conversation this evening. Guess this is long enough for today. It is a privilege to share Katrina's prayer requests with you. Lori