Day 50

Christmas Eve. Kelsey had a stable temp night. She was coughing a bit this morning which caused her to throw up a little. She is getting 2 units of blood. She is getting a double dose of GSF which is suppose to boost her absolute neutrophils, but it isn't. She is very neutropenic. She doesn't have much of an appetite, so this is very hard to get her to eat. I tried some of her favorites, but they just don't taste good to her. Everything sticks in her mouth. So far she's eaten diced peaches and jello, but not a ton of calories there. She's been tired, but aware. Her catheter is causing her difficulty, and she talks about it all day long. It has to be there not just because she's not mobile, but also because of the bladder virus. We got her out of bed briefly today so she could stretch and take a few steps. She maintained her temp. She is having a lot of pain in her cath area, so taking some pain and numbing medication. I pray for a restful and uneventful night for her and Alex.

Tracy did the morning shift until he went to the Blood Bank. Tyler and Konner took the next shift. I was able to spend the morning getting ready for Christmas Day for the family. Tracy spent 80 minutes donating platelets today. It is an apheresis process, so out one arm through the machine to extract the platelets, then returned in the other arm. He did great and received his t-shirt. He won't know his typing until Monday. Tonight we had a very nice dinner at the Inn, carolers, then Santa by the fireplace. Santa came by to see Kelsey, but she was in a great deal of pain, so that didn't work out. There are very thoughtful people who take care of those staying at the Inn, and do an awesome job of making sure there is a Christmas for all the kids and their families. We are thankful. On Christmas Day a brunch is served at 10:00, Santa comes again by the fireplace, then Debbie and family will come up, a dinner is served at 3:30. We will all be coming over to Kelsey's room throughout the day, so pray the staff isn't bothered by our numbers that day. They have limited the visitors to a number not conducive to our family size. We are doing our best to stay within these limits, but hey, it's Christmas and that is a family day full of togetherness.

Please pray our family as we deal with the loss of my father last Dec. 26th. I was talking with my sister, Angie, tonight about how to honor him and his legacy. For her and those that spent that time with him in those last days I feel it's tougher for them than me. I didn't see what was lost. I don't have those memories of him. We are making new memories. We want to create new memories with Grandma and still honor him. Pray for all of us as we may have different needs or thoughts on how that might look. I pray that we sense Jesus in everything we say and do and that Grandma will feel the love that is surrounding her during these days.
Blessed to be followers of Jesus.
Blessed to have the family we have.
Blessed to have the friends we have.
Blessed to be where we are.
Blessed to be.
Love,
Mom