chrissy_updates

8/07/03

Chrissy had her MRI yesterday. Still no change or improvement with her brain tumor, however the doctors at Children's Memorial as very pleased with how she is learning to overcome her physical disabilities. She is able to walk a little more with the aid of a leg brace. Her range of motion with her right arm has increased. She is now able to bend her arm at the elbow. She still cannot move her fingers or wrist. All the therapy she gets is helping. She goes for physical therapy and occupational therapy twice a week and also speech therapy twice a week, blood work every week. infusions every month, regular doctor appointments, MRI's every 3 months. Tomorrow she starts another round of chemo for 42 days straight. It's a busy schedule.

5/23/03

It was a year ago this time that Chrissy was admitted into the hospital and underwent multiple testing to determine what was happening to her. Her diagnosis remains the same, Gliomatosis Cerebri,, (malignant infiltrating brain tumor) She has not regained use of her right side. However, she has survived past doctors expectations. Her spirits are good and she continues to enjoy every moment of her life and doesn't allow her disabilities to get her down. She has gone through 4 rounds of chemo... each one leaves her a little more tired then the last. The next round is scheduled for June 1st. She will continue getting chemo, 6 weeks on - 4 weeks off, as long as her blood counts allow it. Her next MRI is May 28th. Please continue to pray that she wins this battle with this beast. Thank You for all your prayers and support.

05/29/03

Chrissy had her MRI yesterday. There is still no improvement but has not progressed and that is good. Her next round of chemo that was to be started on June 1st. will have to be delayed due to poor blood counts. She will be getting regular intravenous infusions at the hospital to help protect her from pneumonia. She had her first infusion yesterday and slept for 18 hours afterwards. Hopefully her bloodcount will come up enough to get her back on chemo to prevent progression. Please Pray.... reduce tumor.... increase bloodcounts. Chrissy had some anxiety before her MRI but has always her spirits are great.

06/04/03

Starting round five of chemo today. It was delayed due to bloodcounts. Her plateletes are still low but her doctor said to start the chemo for four weeks instead of six weeks. Her bloodcounts will be monitored and she will still be getting the intravenous infusions . Her next MRI will be in three months.

07/03/03

Today is her last day of chemo for round five. She had her second intravenous infusions last week. Her next MRI is scheduled for August 6th. and she will be seeing the whole team of doctors at Children's Memorial that day. Her bloodcounts will be checked tomorrow. She is admired by so many with how she has endured through this. She is an inspiration to us all.

07/29/03

Chrissy has someone new in her life. His name is Brian, he is a policeman and on the S.W.A.T. Team. They have been dating for almost 8 weeks now. She is incredibly happy. He is very caring and good for her. Brian has taken an active part in Chrissy's rehabilitation.

Chrissy had her 3rd infusion on July 23rd. Brian accompanied her to the hospital for that. Her next MRI is still scheduled for Aug. 6th. The blood counts are continuing to decrease. She still needs your prayers.

Miracles do happen

8/27/03

Chrissy went into Children's Memorial today for her 4th infusion and had a reaction to it that caused her blood pressure to drop drastically. The infusion was immediately stopped and she was given an injection to bring her blood pressure back up which made her very tired and was kept awake by her nurse to keep her from going unconscious. When her blood pressure was stabilized, she had a long nap. Her doctor was out of town during this and we will hear from him when he returns as what to do when her next infusion is due.

9/24/03

Chrissy had her fifth infusion today. Due to the reaction she had with her last infusion, her doctor pre-medicated her to prevent the same thing from happening again. (see 8/27/03)

There has been a noticeable change in Chrissy's speech. She has been having a harder time finding words and speaking. She has been more tired then usual. This concerns her doctor, so he has moved up her next MRI date to Oct. 22.

Her appetite has been poor and she has been having stomach pains, similar to an ulcer. This has been the result of the chemo therapy. She is on an ulcer medication.

More prayers Please!!!

10/07/03

Chrissy had her MRI yesterday. The results showed a slight change (new growth) from her last MRI on 08/06/03. Not what we wanted to hear.

She is going into the hospital tomorrow for a spinal tap to make sure cancer cells haven't traveled anywhere else in her body. Her tumor may have stopped responding to her current chemo therapy. Her team of doctors will be meeting on Thursday to study these new MRI findings and discuss new treatment for her. Her doctor wants her to consider radiation therapy. She continues to be weak, tired & nauseous. The picture below was taken yesterday at the doctors. Her Aunt and several cousins also came with for support. She is amazing how she can be going through all of this and still have a smile.

10/10/03

All of Chrissy's doctors had a meeting to discuss her MRI's & neurological exam. They all agree that the tumor has progressed. She is no longer responding to the chemo and she should proceed with radiation. We are taking her to the hospital on Monday for her meeting with the radiologist and set everything up. She will be getting full brain radiation five days a week (Monday to Friday) for five weeks. Her doctors want to keep a close eye on her treatments so she won't be able to get these treatments locally. It's about four to five hours of driving each day, depending on traffic.

We are not giving up hope.... Miracles do happen!!!

Thank You for all of your prayers.

10/15/03

Chrissy had her first radiation treatment yesterday. 24 more treatments to go. She experienced a mild headache in the evening and slept longer then usual. Her appetite is still poor. With the steroids she's taking to prevent brain swelling due to radiation we are hoping that will also increase her appetite.

It is getting more difficult for her to speak. Hopefully that will return soon.

Keeping the faith !!!

10/19/03

Chrissy has completed a very difficult week of radiation treatments. Four more weeks to go. She was hospitalized Friday at Children's Memorial in ICU after she was taken to ER. She has had some confusion & I was afraid she wasn't getting enough nutrition and fluids. She had become dehydrated and needed to be fed intravenously. She is continuing to loose weight. Her appetite has been so poor, she has been fighting us on eating and will take only enough water to get her pills down. All she wants to do is sleep. She also had a CT scan of her brain and we were worried what they saw was a hemorrhage. They kept her hospitalized for observation until it was determined to have been calcification. She came home today after she was stabilized. She was told if she doesn't start eating & drinking, she will get a port. Her boyfriend, Brian calls her and stops in to check on her to make sure she's eating & drinking. She will do it for him and he stays until she's done. She cheers up every time she sees or talks to him.

10/26/03

Week two of radiation is over with. Three more weeks to go. I thought the first week was rough. This is going to be hell for her. She is eating a little better but liquids still need to be pushed. She doesn't speak much any more. She has a difficult time communicating with us. She has Expressive aphasia: (difficulty in conveying thoughts) and Receptive aphasia: (difficulty understanding spoken or written language) and Apraxia: (unable to perform common expressive gestures on request, such as waving good-bye) She sleeps most of the day. It takes a lot of effort for her to go to her radiation treatments. We were told that she will loose her hair in week three, which is coming up. Her hair wrap that she has had fell out today. Her boyfriend, Brian has been here with her whenever possible. She is always so happy to see him. These next few weeks of radiation and the weeks to follow of recuperation will be very hard on her. She is going to need lots of love & care & prayers.

11/02/03

Her doctor has added three more radiation treatments for a total of 28. She just had her 14th treatment. This past week has so far been the most drastic. We are praying that this will be the plateau. I can't imagine her getting any worse than she is now.

She no longer speaks except for saying no & yeah. She can't walk anymore. She is not able to feed herself and she is having difficulty with swallowing. It takes a lot of effort to sit up and needs to be propped up. She is constantly tired and incoherent. Her hair has fallen out in this past week. She still looks beautiful.

Her doctor feels that it would be a good time to involve Hospice part time so that I can start being just Mom and not always nurse.

We are bringing her into the hospital later today so that she can be admitted for a spinal MRI and severe constipation.

Family and friends drop in frequently to give support. Chrissy's cousin Margaret flew in from New York to spend some time with her and to help out. She is not too aware of what's going on. I am trying to keep a journal and take photos for her of what's going on around her so we can show it all to her when she is done with radiation and she starts to recover. I want her to see how loved she is by everyone.

11/09/03

Chrissy is in the hospital. I only have a moment here at home until I want to run back there to be with her.

Thursday, Chrissy has suffered multiple grand mall seizures that has left her in a coma. She has had over 200 mini seizures to follow.

She has strength and love all around her. All of the family have been here for her. The hospital here has set up a room for visiting family. We have family coming in from Japan, San Antonio, Arizona, New York & Alaska to be by her side.

Chrissy is in hospice care at the hospital.

Please continue the prayers so that she remains peaceful and painfree.

She will soon be our ANGEL.