Carried - Day 693

"Even to your old age, I will be the same,

And even to your graying years I will bear you.

I will carry you; And I will deliver you"

~ Isaiah 46:4 ~

It is hard to ask for help sometimes.  It is even harder to make an appeal for help that may or may not come in the desired time frame we seek.  The answer requires patience and a big helping of some blind Faith.  The struggle in between represents the reoccurring test where perhaps coming to a conclusion in the present tense is not the ultimate goal.  There will just be another test next week.  Its been like that ever since I left college....where I naively thought exams would end once my classroom days were behind me.  We are pushed to some varying limit every single day in some way shape or form with periods of time where it seems to pile on.  And on and on as has been the case for us these past couple months.  I find I am forced to take a step back into my thoughts and commit to a self study that examines priorities and my interactions with others.  If I am to grasp onto Faith with clear eyes and a full heart waiting for answers far down the road, I need to have earned my way there.  The relationships we build and the people we connect and travel with in countless circles will ultimately be the branches of help we reach for in times of need.  If I have not done my part in creating each circle or committed to the intent to do so, I'm sure I should not even bother to raise my hand.  There is always the worry I have not done enough, but this is where the blind faith pays you back even if a conclusion still hasn't arrived.  Polly and I have found in these last two years that often we were being carried long before we ever had to ask.

So, I can't walk.  No, I mean I literally cannot walk....going on 6 weeks now.  Polly has been keeping up the blog for us as I have been trying to keep my surgically repaired left foot above my head to avoid this completely alarming shade of painful purple it turns at night when it isn't elevated.  Some two months ago, I made a very regrettable decision in a soccer game (as a player this time) to challenge for a loose ball with the inside of my foot exposed.  I got the ball, the other guy got my foot with his studs and I limped off with the injury.  Two weeks after thinking it was a bad bone bruise I went to get an X-ray because though I was walking mostly OK, I couldn't run at all.  X-Ray revealed a broken/cracked navicular bone in three places and surgery for a small screw insertion to pull the bone together was scheduled two days later.  Long story short, here I am now still non-weight bearing in my 6th week post surgery.  I use a loaned knee-walker to get around my classroom (Thank you, Dave) and combo of crutches plus lots of hopping to get around the house.  I crawl up stairs on my knees, am unable to carry much of anything, and have been about as useless around the house to help Polly as I can ever remember.  Polly is a Saint, to say the least, and about the toughest person I know to handle everything with the grace that she does.

The timing of my foot could not have been worse, coming right in the middle of Ellie's stomach issues.  For that, I feel guilty because of the undue stress placed onto Polly with everything that has to be done in our house on a given day/night, especially with the many night time screams, moans, and upset stomach sessions Ellie had been enduring.  But then we had that fateful 12 hour day at LPCH almost a month ago roaming between 4 departments seeking answers for what she was struggling with.  We criss-crossed the long Stanford Hospital corridor six different times and met every deadline put in front of us with 7 different doctors.  It was something out of a movie in parts.  Here was my little girl undergoing test after test at a place she thinks of as just another activity in her week (like her swim and gymnastic lessons).  She never cried once except to say she was hungry, she never complained we were there too long.  She sat face up with a multi-million dollar radioactive isotope detector covering her body inches from her nose without a peep.  This is the same girl who has worked her way back from having 95% of her blood filled with cancerous leukemic blasts two years ago followed by the most horrific medicines you could imagine having to inject into a 2 year old...yet she still found her way back to being cancer free and clear now.  That day at LPCH was a turning point for this latest mountain we have had to climb and Ellie led the way.  She carried us.  Answers were found for more questions than we started with and we found a way to survive....like we always do and always will.  I think about how much we can possibly still have thrown our way at one time or repeatedly over longer periods despite all that we still face now.  But there is this somewhat comforting feeling that exists from seeing Ellie be her stoic self at the hospital every time and knowing that if we ever got to a dire situation, faith through numerous vehicles of "help" has now on multiple occasions shown us the way through.

We want to say a very special thank you to our beloved pre-school community.  About a month and a half ago, a train of food started coming to our door every night for a few weeks when finding time to make dinner by the time work was out and to meet Ellie's chemo window was a near impossibility...not to mention my one legged kitchen work just isn't the same as that on two.  The twins' amazing teacher was nice enough to lend me her family's spare car which has an automatic transmission so I could still drive myself to work (my car is a stick and without a clutch pushing foot....you get the idea).  On hospital days, we have several folks who are willing to take Timmy to school so Polly can get to LPCH and I can make my first class at Serra.  Everything takes twice as long on one foot in the morning for me.  And most of all, there are so many dear friends who asked about Ellie on a regular basis while she was out of school for the better part of three weeks.  The Co-Op environment for a pre-school setting is very unique and now after being in it for a full school year, I'm not sure why you would want to do anything else.  It is a wonderful family to be a part of....and one that is willing to carry you without reservation when it is needed the most.

My players and I talk a lot about those moments in games when adversity seems to be rearing its ugly head singing a potentially insurmountable tune and the desire for a leader to come to the forefront and "carry" the team on his back is needed now more than ever.  But a true leader on the field who can command respect simply by his performance without words does so by making everyone else around him better.  The needed injection of new life to a team can come from an individual aiming to spread to his community or from the community aimed at an individual.  In essence, we take turns carrying each other because we will all get a lot further than trying to gut it out without help.  The "piling on" is manageable because of the company we keep and common goals we share.

Ellie took her final does of the eurythromiacin last Thursday.  This was the antibiotic med that she had to be on to stop the effects of the gastro-paresis.  She was taking it for its side effect which is increased stomach motility.  As Polly said in an earlier post, within 24 hours of taking it following that marathon day at LPCH, she was instantly better.  The worry then became how would she react after she was taken off the med.  There was an unknown in this entire equation because no literature exists to suggest how absorption of the chemo meds Methotrexate and Mercaptopurine are affected by having an antibiotic in her stomach at the same time pushing things faster into her gut.  Thus, the eurythro was stopped sooner than it might have been for a non cancer patient.  She has been off of it now for a few days and all looks great thus far.  When the stomach ailment had reached its peak, she went on a chemo hold because her blood counts had crashed.  Protocol says you slowly work your way back up the dosage chart while recovering.  She is currently at a 75% dose strength with all signs pointing to her moving back to 100% by mid week.  She has a lumbar puncture coming up soon which will also begin her second to last three month cycle of chemo.  I have to say, I know it isn't ideal for her not to be on 100% chemo for everyday possible of LTM (Long Term Maintenance - final phase of the chemo therapy treatment protocol for A.L.L Leukemia) but I love seeing her blood counts shoot up to almost non suppressed values.  Its like her body cannot wait to be whole again.  Soon enough.  We reach the end of treatment in less than 6 months now, late October this coming fall.

Ellie and Timmy have two weeks of school left, as do I and then it will be summer time (Hooray!).  On the horizon is our second annual trip to a little piece of heaven called Camp Okizu.  Ellie has mentioned more than once that she will be doing the Zip line again - BY MYSELF DADDY!  I also get the green light from the doc to take my first steps again the day before we leave to camp, so it will be a celebratory weekend in more ways than one.  Both kids are getting so good at swimming now.  Each earned a progress sticker this week for being able to swim the length of the pool while doing 8 unassisted "up-faces" in the water (holding breath, lifting head, breathing, repeat).  They jump into the deep end and now seem to be regular fish.  I too, in the last four weeks, have traded my now dormant running shoes for a swim suit and towel so I can do something active while recovering.  In fact I look forward to it everyday after school now.  There is something very relaxing about the water while still getting the heart rate up to a solid cardio level.  Really makes me miss the times in high school down in Long Beach where my buddy Lee and I would roam through the waves on several summer evenings and watch the sun go down at the same time.  I cannot bring my iphone music and headphones into the pool, so for 45 minutes, it is just the calming sounds of water rushing by alternating with the peaceful silence below the surface.  Sometimes there is no better feeling than going home from work exhausted but completely relaxed.

To adequately describe to you how the euphoria of relief feels after getting past a prolonged episode like this spring has brought us...however carrying with it the underlying knowledge that we can be plunged back into it or another dark corridor at a moment's notice is and will forever be impossible to do.  Only our fellow childhood cancer parents know what that is like.  It creates days on occasion that bring us both to our knees.  I know I am never going to be able to fully pay back everyone that has carried us through these tougher times.  Instead, the self examination of how earning those branches comes about means to me that I must push my limits with my endeavors.  I need to continue to teach and seek professional learning communities within the teaching profession that challenge everything.  Teaching is paying it back and paying it forward at the same time.  It is what I can do with both an indirect and often direct benefit to Ellie fighting the beautiful fight.

I made early enough to school several days ago to a weekly Thursday morning Mass in the Serra chapel, knee walker and all.  From my car to the Communion table I had two students unprompted open the building door and then again in the hallway going to the chapel for me, my colleague Sally made room for me next to her in the second row even though I was late, and Father Joe said a prayer just for Ellie.  All in a 10 minute span to start my Thursday.  We are taken care of.  God has a nice way of nudging us toward that full embrace of blind Faith, but it is only possible because when needed we are carried to it and carried unconditionally.  I know the answers will come in His time.  Until then we are so thankful for everyone who offers us help in getting to where we need to go.

Mary Poppins, A Practically Perfect Mother's Day Celebration - Day 688

Mary Poppins is one of Timmy and Ellie's favorite movies.  They know all of the songs and dances, have both the soundtrack and DVD and we are in midst of planning an upcoming Mary Poppins birthday party.  Several months ago we purchased 4 tickets to see Marry Poppins the musical in San Francisco.  After purchasing the tickets, I wrote to an info email address for the show asking if there were any opportunities to meet Mary and Bert following the show.  Quite honestly, I didn't even expect to get a response but thought it was worth a try, knowing how cool it would be for the kids to meet them.  Not only did I get a response, but I met two amazing people who work for Disney and gave Timmy and Ellie a truly magical experience.

About a week and half ago, a package came in the mail for Ellie and Timmy with a letter from Mary Poppins and Bert telling them how excited they were to meet us.  They also sent along our own backstage badges with the kids names on them...to almost 4 year olds, a badge you get to wear around your neck, with your own name is a HUGE deal.

The instructions had us show up at the stage door following the matinee performance as we were seeing the evening performance later.  We were to arrive at 3:15, but as Jeff will tell you, I'm early for everything and this was certainly not something we were going to miss for being late.  So we arrived early, and it was a windy day in San Francisco.  We walked over to check out a farmers market and were stopped by two different sets of tourists who really wanted to take pictures of Timmy and Ellie.  Ellie had been given a hand me down Mary Poppins costume and I had been able to make a hat for Timmy and found a great lady on Etsy who rushed to make a shirt for him.  The two of them were quite a pair walking through the farmers market.

We then waited in front of Stage Door 1178 with our badges ready.  Since we had to wait for at least 20 minutes the kids started asking what the hold up was, and Timmy declared that he thought Mary Poppins hadn't arrived yet and that the wind was a sign that she was arriving soon :)  He and Ellie then proceed to examine all the windows up above that were open to try to figure out which one she would be flying in through.

Then Brad, the assistant company manager who helped make this day possible, arrived with goodie bags for the kids and a real Mary Poppins umbrella signed by the whole cast.  Timmy (who loves umbrellas) immediately took it and started examining it to see if the parrot on it would talk like Mary Poppins' does.  He then led us onto the side of the stage as the final act was performing.  As the final curtain came down we were ushered onto the stage to meet the whole cast.  Ellie was a little nervous at first, but Timmy took the lead and gave Mary Poppins a big hug and Ellie quickly warmed up to her.

Following the meet and greet with the cast, we were escorted out and treated to a fantastic Mother's Day meal courtesy of the Mary Poppins show at a restaurant a block away from the theater.  It was a fantastic meal and a real treat for my Mom and I.

Ellie and Timmy sat on the edge of their seats for the entire 2 hour and 45 minute performance.  The highlight was watching them sing along to "Let's Go Fly A Kite" with huge smiles on their faces.  On our walk back to the parking garage, Timmy was searching the sky to see if he could see Mary Poppins flying away.  He saw a white light and exclaimed "Mommy there she goes!  I wonder how she will land with her new family?"  to which Ellie responded "Oh, I think Brad (the assistant company manager) will help her."

We have been so blessed throughout the last 23 months to be touched by people's acts of kindness and support of our little Ellie-Belle.  We are so grateful to the Mary Poppins Disney production, and in particular Matt and Brad from the production for giving Ellie and Timmy such a magical evening and the experience of meeting the "real" Mary Poppins and Bert.

Tomorrow is chemo day for Ellie, we continue to pray for good counts and that her chemo can resume to 100% of her dose.

With Love and Thanks,
Polly

Some Ups and Downs - Day 673

It is Polly here again...Jeff will update eventually, but right now he is too busy hopping around the house trying not to fall down and keeping Timmy from climbing his crutches :)

We continue to have a somewhat bumpy road, but as usual Ellie seems to take everything in stride and thankfully in the last week there have been more days with smiles.  

We had gotten spoiled over the last year of maintenance, for the most part Ellie's little body has done quite well.  On most weeks we were only having to go the hospital once a week and we had a pretty good routine going.  Last week we had 3 days at the hospital, and we are hoping for just 2 this week.  

Last week started with labs and a quick visit with her oncologist on Monday. The good news from last Monday's visit was the adenovirus had decreased significantly in her blood, and that the erythromycin seems to be a wonder drug for gastroparesis and has made her feel 100% better.  Also, her counts had come up enough for us to start her 6-MP back at 50% of her regular dose.  The bad news from the visit was that her oncologist wasn't comfortable leaving her on the erythromycin long term (more on that later).  

Last Thursday we went expecting her counts to be up to start the rest of her chemo...unfortunately her platelets had fallen below 50 so her chemo was again held.  They also did some clotting tests which were abnormal.  We were sent home expecting not to be back until today (Monday).  Then at about 8pm on Thursday night we received a phone call from her Nurse Practitioner (never a good sign when they call you after hours) and she let us know that there was a problem with her labs and we needed to come in first thing in the morning before going to school.  On a normal Friday this would only be a mere inconvenience, but this Friday, Timmy and Ellie's preschool had a field trip planned, a train ride that they were both SO looking forward to.  We arranged to meet the Nurse Practitioner early before the LPCH lab opened at the Stanford lab so we could hopefully get the labs done and still make it to the field trip.  Because the labs they were doing had to do with clotting and had been so abnormal, they decided she had to have them done in her arm not her port.  She knew this going into it because we put numbing cream aka "tickle cream" on her port when she is being accessed and this time we put it on her arms.  Unfortunately, she doesn't have great veins and we've had a lot of problems with the arm pokes in the ER visit so she was very nervous...but as usual she got through it and was so brave.  And we made it to the field trip in time so she got to ride the train with her classmates.  Upon arriving at the train station, she insisted on taking her sweatshirt off even though it was cold outside.  At first I didn't realize why, and then when she saw Timmy she stuck out her arm with the pink bandage on it and told him she did her labs in her arm...she was so proud of herself.  

Our weekend was relatively quiet.  And she and I made the trip back to the hospital this morning.  Again, I expected her counts to be up and to be resuming chemo but that wasn't the case.  She had to do another arm poke today as they are still checking her clotting, and this time there were no tears...she just sat on my lap and watched as they drew her blood.  When we first walked into the room, she looked to make sure they had the pink bandage with purple hearts and then she was ready to go.   There was another little boy who came into the room while she was getting her labs.  He is 6 or 7 and just went off treatment a few months ago.  When I saw his mom in the waiting room after the labs, she called me over and whispered how helpful it was for her son to see Ellie, someone a lot younger than him, be so brave with the arm poke and not cry.  

We waited for about an hour for her labs to result and meet with her oncologist.  First, we discussed the plan moving forward to take her off the erythromycin.  There are no studies on the interaction between erythromycin and the chemo she takes so long term they don't want her on it.  So, she will keep taking it for about another week and then we will go off of it and pray that her body can keep processing her food.  My understanding is that if she is going to get sick again with the gastroparesis it will happen within a couple of days.  

The other development from today's appointment was that her platelets fell again and today they were quite low.  During maintenance they have been somewhere between 150,000 and 200,000 and as of today they were down to 9,000.  They haven't been this low since frontline treatment.  So she needed a platelet transfusion today. First we had to wait for a room and then for the platelets to arrive.  Her doctor believes that this dip is a result of the same virus that had hit the rest of her counts last week.  

When she was diagnosed we knew what it was and her doctor laid out a course of 2 and a half years of treatment.  Was it a guarantee, no, not at all, but it was a plan and he knew what to do.  I think what has been so hard about the last 6 weeks is that there have been so many different things that have come up and they don't all have a diagnosis and a plan.  So, I wasn't surprised today when he said the dip in the platelets was due to a virus, though at times I think this is code for, we are not really sure what's causing this and the only real course is to wait and see if things change.  So for now, we wait until Thursday and hope and pray that the transfusion from today has held and her platelets are in a safer range.  

My father-in-law told me today that to donate platelets at the Red Cross it takes two hours.  To the person who donated Ellie's platelets today, thank you!! Without all the people who donate blood products we wouldn't be in the place we are today.

I leave you with two pictures from today.  The first one is her getting her platelet transfusion and the second one is her showing off her pink bandage from the arm poke.   Thank you everyone for continuing to keep Ellie in your thoughts and prayers.  

Finally Some Answers - Day 664

Polly here again...I know a lot of you miss Jeff's blogs and I'm confident he will be up to a long post soon :) but in the meantime I will try to give you a rundown of our 10 hour day at the hospital...

First, I want to say that Ellie is one of the most amazing 3 1/2 half year olds ever!! Yes, I am biased, but seriously what she went through today was no fun, and she wasn't feeling well, and she still did all of it with very minor protesting and an understanding that hopefully all the tests, doctors, and running around today would make her tummy feel better.

Yesterday (Thursday) Ellie had her normal labs and chemo scheduled.  I met with her oncologist and her labs came back and showed that she was neutropenic with an ANC of only 200.  It was decided that all chemo would be held and we would re-check her labs on Monday.  They also tested her blood for the adenovirus which they told me the results wouldn't be back for 48 hours (more on that shortly).

So today our morning started off with an 8:30 check in at Nuclear Medicine for a gastric emptying study.  Ellie had to be NPO (nothing to eat or drink) as of the night before.  We were instructed to bring egg beaters, 2 slices of white bread, and 2 tablespoons of jam which she happily packed this morning in her bright pink horse lunch box.  We had talked about the fact that this was going to be a long day and that she was going to eat food and we would get to see it in her tummy, which she thought sounded neat.

We arrived and they asked us to wait in the waiting room.  A few minutes later they called me back up and told me the insurance hadn't approved the gastric emptying study.  We have an HMO that thankfully generally approves necessary tests.  Well, it turns out the GI insurance coordinator forgot to send the approval off and they told me they couldn't start the study until they had the approval or I could pay $3,000.00 before they would start the test.  At this point, Ellie started to get really hungry and I was getting more and more upset with the situation.  I finally begged the guy to start the test and I would put it on my credit card if it wasn't straightened out by the time I left (the test is over 4 hours long).  Thankfully they took pity on us (after a 1 1/2 hour wait) and took us in and said they would continue to work on the insurance aspect.

So into the room we went and handed them our food.  They came back with the equivalent of 2 scrambled eggs with some radioactive something put in it and a piece of toast and the jam.  The tech said it would be great for her to eat all of it, but most adults can't so if she couldn't finish it that was okay.  Well, Ellie was hungry, she hadn't really wanted dinner the night before and it was now 10:00am and she ate it all down in 5 minutes.  And then the scan began.  She had to lay completely still for 30 minutes for the first scan.  The machine is similar looking to an MRI machine and the lower the top to within 6-8 inches above her head.  Thankfully they had a TV with videos she could watch.  After the first 30 minute scan we waited another 30 minutes and then they did another 5 minute scan.  Then it was 3 more 5 minute scans every hour for the next 3 hours.

Now, it would have been nice to relax during those in between times, but no thats not the way we do things.  We awoke this morning to an email from her primary oncologist that was sent in the middle of the night letting us know that she had tested positive for the adenovirus and that the amount in her blood was moderately high and we needed to be seen by the infectious disease docs today too.  Her stool had tested positive for adenovirus over the weekend, but when we spoke with oncology on Monday they weren't concerned because this is a common virus and it sheds in your stool for up to 18 months after having it.

So, we first had to rush down from Nuclear Medicine which is in the adult part of the hospital back to LPCH (about a 7-10 min walk) and try to get a chest x-ray done because the adenovirus can cause respiratory issues (though she hasn't had those symptoms).  Of course, we show up at radiology and the x-ray machine was down.  So back to Nuclear Medicine for the next scan, and then back to x-ray again for the chest x-ray.  Then back to Nuclear Medicine for another scan and then we went to clinic to meet with the Infectious Disease doctors.

Both Jeff and I were highly impressed with the infectious disease doctors who had great bedside manner and seemed to really know their stuff.  There is a medication they can give to help with adenovirus but the side effects can be quite significant.  You have to be admitted for the medication, and it has to be given with fluids and additional meds that protect the kidneys because it can cause damage to the kidneys.  After going through all of the options, all of her doctors (oncology, GI, and infectious disease) are in agreement that we are going to wait and see if the amount in her blood is trending down on Monday when we get labs done again.  So our next question was whether or not all of her pain and vomiting is from the adenovirus or something else.

So, back we went for the final scan.  They had told us initially that the test could be as quick as 2 hours or as long as 4.  At the 2 hour mark they said she would be there for the full four hours based on how she was progressing.  So, we got the last scan in, stopped at the cafeteria to get some food to go (by now it was 3pm) and all she had to eat was the egg beaters and toast, and we were off to meet with her GI doc.  GI is across the street from the hospital so we definitely were getting our exercise today.  Thankfully I had thrown the stroller in the car this morning, which we almost never use, and Jeff had his knee walker.

After a long wait for the GI doc (we had missed our scheduled appointment due to the test running so long because of the insurance mishap) we met with her GI doc.  And he had the results of her gastric emptying scan...at hour 4 she still had over 50% of the radioactive eggs in her little body.  He said that over 50% of the food should have been cleared by the end of hour 1!  The name for this condition is gastroparesis.  So, somewhat of a sigh of relief as now her doctors are fairly confident that this is what has been causing her to throw up, have so much stomach pain, and caused her counts to drop this week.  While they said it won't get better overnight, there are meds they can give her to help her gut motility.  The first one we will try is the safest, it is a low dose of erythromycin.  They said it could take as long as 9 months for her gut to be back to normal, but in many cases that time is a lot shorter.  They also are not sure what part of the equation the adenovirus is playing in her feeling unwell, so we will hopefully have a better idea on that next week as she will be getting likely several sets of labs.

By the time we left the hospital it was almost 6 pm.  All day Ellie had been telling me when she was done with her scans she wanted a brioche roll from a bakery nearby, to take chocolate sprinkles cupcakes home for her and Timmy, and to ride the mechanical horse at the shopping center across the street.  Of course, despite being exhausted, I couldn't say no and across the street we went for the roll, the cupcakes, and the small metal horse ride.

When everything started to go wrong with the insurance this morning, Jeff was able to find someone to teach his classes and come to the hospital with us and I was so thankful he was there!! He is my support and rock and made it possible to get through this day.  We are hopeful this new plan will bring comfort and relief from pain soon for Ellie.  We thank everyone who has been praying for us and supporting us with meals for the last couple of weeks.  I will leave you with two pictures.  One is Ellie during one of her scans and the other is her riding the mechanical horse.

Polly

Still Looking For Answers...Day 662

Another update by Polly...

I write this with continued frustration and fear as things don't seem to be improving for our El-Belle.  We stayed the course with the laxatives last week and cleared her out as best as we could.  While she did have some smiles, she also has continued to have a lot of time not feeling good at all.  Unfortunately her vomiting has increased over the last several days to 2-3 times per 24 hour period.  The nausea meds don't seem to make a difference for her.  Thankfully she generally gets a good hour after throwing up where she seems to feel okay, but then she slowly goes back to her stomach hurting and being very uncomfortable.

So far, we've tried the mass laxatives, some of which she is still on and they have now increased the acid reflux medicine to a stronger one, though that isn't helping yet.  I have spoke with the GI doctor everyday this week and finally today she told me they are thinking she might have post viral gastroparesis, which is basically delayed gastric emptying.  The have decided to have her do a gastric acid scintigraphy study on Friday morning over at the adult hospital.  Basically she will eat radioactive meal of eggs and white bread and then they will evaluate how quickly these are moving through her body at 30 minute intervals.  From our understanding, there are no real protocols for this study in children, which is why we have to go over to the adult hospital.  If this is what she has, the doctor warned us that it can take several months to improve.  They will start motility drugs to hopefully help her body start moving food through it.

We go in tomorrow for labs, chemo if she makes counts, and to touch base with her primary oncologist who has not been very involved up to this point.  I have gotten several questions from friends asking if her throwing up could be from the chemo she is on, and none of her doctors think that is the case.  Some chemotherapy is known for causing nausea, however, she had been on these same drugs almost exactly one year when this started to happen.  Also, the nausea meds usually help to control when the nausea is related to chemo and in her case they don't seem to help at all.

So that's where things stand.  Jeff continues to recuperate and work on getting around with his crutches and knee walker which he is already tired of.  We hope to possibly at least have a new plan by Friday afternoon when we meet with her GI doc and get the results of the study.  In the meantime if you could please pray for our little Ellie, that her body can have a break from all of this, and that her counts continue to remain high enough to get her chemotherapy tomorrow.

Polly