I can't keep up with my texts again, so here is a quick medical update. Timmie was admitted to Primary's early Monday morning after a rough couple of weeks of debilitating nausea and vomiting. They have done several tests since then and have confirmed that the gall bladder does have a thickened wall which could be contributing to the nausea. After much deliberation, the game plan has been determined. They will leave her gall bladder in for now; no one was eager for her to have another surgery and face risks such as infection because of her low counts. Rather, they have taken her off of three antibiotics, her pain pills, and three other meds. Getting rid of 7 meds in 4 days isn't bad. She is pretty happy about that. The hope is that because of the decreased meds, her nausea will gradually improve. If the nausea stays the same, they can discuss stopping her voriconazole (the antifungul for the cryptoccus they found in her lung) in January. They would prefer to keep giving that through March though if they can. If her nausea symptoms get worse, they will revisit the gall bladder issue. So basically we are headed home tomorrow to wait and and see if she feels any better. We are hopeful that getting rid of so many meds will indeed help. Of course she couldn't let us off that easy...just now she had a reaction to an iv med they gave her to replace her Monday and Tuesday Septra antibiotic. Her head and hands started tingling and her nausea intensified. She is trying to relax while the docs decide if they should continue giving her the rest of the IV or bag it and have her continue taking the Monday/Tuesday pill. The goal this week has been to keep as many pills out of her gut as we can. Her counts remain close to transfusion level but the decision to hold off has probably been a good one because her crit was up today from 19.7 to 22.4. We usually transfuse at 20, but she has been lingering around there all week and they really want to try to stress that bone marrow out a bit and avoid transfusions as much as possible. All in all I feel that good decisions have been made on her behalf this week. Emotionally she is exhausted, and she expresses often that she doesn't know how much more fight she has left in her. But it seems just when the challenge seems impossible or overwhelming, someone else reaches out with an act of kindness, generosity, love, and support. It is amazing how much strength it gives Timmie when she realizes how many people are cheering her on. The high school basketball community has been remarkably supportive. Players and coaches have reached out to her with kind words and thoughtful gifts. Last night she cried as she missed her first region game. But she was so touched by the outpouring of love from the Skyline Grizzlies student body, coaches, players, parents, and staff. Their "Team Timme" night both amazed
her and and humbled her. I often wonder if people really recognize the impact they are having on her and on our entire family. I feel as though all the words I could ever utter are inadequate in expressing our gratitude. It is a strange and indescribable feeling to feel simultaneously overwhelmed with grief and enveloped in the love of those who care. Timmie is beginning to feel better from her reaction. We are watching Joyful Noise for what i swear must be the 100th time. She loves it though, particularly the gospel music performances. It seems to uplift her.
