Quick Update

As Jan told you, I did the marathon run---Maryland to North Carolina back to Maryland in under 30 hours---so I'm a day or so behind in updates. Thanks for your patience.

I did get to see Donna for a few hours while I was there. Once again, the girl is simply amazing. She's had a few rough days with discouragement, so I expected to see that. What I found was a spry Donna who is geared up to get out of that place! I told her it was great to see she has her "fight" back on.

Monday, Day +76

Donna is at day +76 of her transplant. She is "down the home stretch" as far as treating the transplant goes. Of course, we all know about the setbacks she has had with the complication of DAH and TTP that have kept her in the hospital rather than being discharged to the clinic. Our specific prayer request for Donna is that her body will do some major catching up so that she can get to the point that she can be discharged from the hospital.

Thursday, Jan 19

Donna had a very good, but very busy day Thursday. She continues to eat well, and the docs reported that her protein levels are coming up, a very good sign that should help her muscles recover. She does have some skin "tears"--abrasions like skinned knees--on some of her pressure points. These are not bed sores, but damage from sliding her across the sheets, etc. Her skin is very fragile right now. The staff has taken measures to ease this, such as a therapeutic air type mattress, and other items.

Donna continues to work hard at the goals set for her, namely regaining her strength and use of her legs. It is very tiresome work, but she has her fight on and is determined. We know that through God she can accomplish this. We praise Him and thank Him for never letting go of her (and all of us too!)

Wednesday, Feb 18

Donna had a pretty good day Wednesday. She is setting goals and meeting them head-on. Donna made a short walk outside her room today and took NO breaks. Right after her walk she decided to have lunch in her chair instead of catching a nap. She is working very hard to build her strength so that she can get to clinic care as soon as possible.

We do not have scheduled caregivers lined up for next week and Donna is okay with that. She will be focused on exercising and strength building. Please keep her in prayer especially next week, and one more time, thanks again to everyone who gave so generously of themselves and spent some time in Durham. You are all a big part of Donna's recovery to this point, along with the faithful prayer warriors & bloggers too.

We thank God for His amazing love, the strength and courage He gives Donna to press on, and for all answered prayers. Worthy is the Lamb, worthy of our praise!!

A Little Late, But Here's the Latest

Joel spoke to Donna this afternoon and she told him that the wraps the occupational therapist is using on her legs seem to be working really well. Her feet are almost at normal size!!

Donna is still a little down & frustrated, as anyone would be, that she is not out of there yet. In a way that is a praise, in that she is well enough today to be frustrated, but Joel has asked that everyone keep her in their prayers for this. She has 3 good friends visiting today, and a couple she has known since she first moved to Franklin County coming tomorrow (Sandra and Lynn). Please pray for safe travel for these friends as we understand bad weather is expected tomorrow (Wednesday). We continue to thank God and the wonderful friends and family that have given of themselves to keep Donna's spirits lifted and support her in so many ways.

Joel is also asking for prayer during the next few weeks as he works with the hospital staff to try to get Donna out of the hospital. There are so many decisions to be made about her post release care, and knowing just when is the right time to make that move. We know that God will provide His guidance as He has all along.

Monday, Feb 16

Donna continues to do as well as, or better than, can be expected. Over the weekend, she was given a new physical therapy regimen that she will be working for 45 minutes daily. I am sure this is going to tire her greatly, but let's pray this new regimen builds strength in her legs to help give her the stability Donna needs to be discharged.

Coming Right Along!

Once again, the reports coming out of Durham just get better and better. The biggest celebration is that Donna's platelet counts have been going UP. They have gone from 4,000 to 38,000 this week. Praise God!

All in all, Donna is feeling wonderful. She no longer is tied to any ongoing IVs and food is becoming her friend once again. In fact, last night she ate some Chinese food and LIKED IT!

Donna still has trouble walking and, therefore, still has problems with fluid build up in her legs. Also, she still gets very, very tired. But, all of this is to be expected. Donna has been working very hard this week at achieving the goals needed for her to be discharged, and we are foreseeing a discharge in the very near future as long as this upward trend continues.

We wish to thank all of you who have volunteered your time to visit with Donna. The family cannot express how much it has meant to all of us. We currently have visitors scheduled through next Thursday. At this point, we are asking that you hold off scheduling future visits until we know the disposition and time frame of Donna's discharge. It is very possible that Donna could be discharged as early as some time next week. When her discharge does happen, there will be a flurry of activity that will require quite a few people to go to Durham on very short notice, namely her caretakers who are required to attend training classes prior to Donna leaving the hospital in order to learn how to tend to Donna's needs. We suspect that if Donna does get discharged next week it will more than likely be towards the end of the week, so it should not effect anyone who is currently scheduled to be in Durham.

It is so exciting to see all the wonders God is working in Donna. Let's RISE UP AND PRAISE HIM!

A New Body!

Donna's GFR today was 34! That means she is now upgraded to stage 3 moderate kidney disease!! That number a few days ago was 23, stage 4 severe disease. There has been some platelet recovery but she is also receiving platelets, so it is hard to gauge that progress. Still struggling with the TTP but it is controlled right now with treatment.

As for eating, Donna sent the nurses off on a midnight run last night to heat up some of Aunt D's famous potato soup. Uncle Kingly reports that Donna continued to eat very well today and went outside for another stroll (or roll, as the case may be) around the Duke campus in the glorious sunshine that God provided today.

Speaking of Uncle Kingly, I passed along some of the blogger's praises. He said "Tell 'em I'm just the chauffeur..." Yeah, maybe chauffeur as in "Driving Miss Daisy," setting things straight as he putters along. You would have to know the Duke, Uncle Kingly, to know how true that is!

As for Aunt D in TN, well there just aren't words. God has overwhelmed us with friends and family that have given of themselves in so many ways. We've talked about how things are in God's perfect timing. and having Aunt D in TN come to be with Donna was timed perfectly. God knew that these past few days were when Donna would be ready for hearing the words of wisdom and shared experiences of her "Aunt D in TN."

As I get these updates, I can't help but think of an old gospel song our dad sang for years with his quartet, The Royals...I'll Have A New Body. One day we're all gonna have a new body, but seems like Donna is getting a headstart on the rest of us!

You'll have to forgive the quality of this recording. I went out on the Web looking for videos of this song. I found a few, but as I listened to them they just weren't the same without The Royals singing. I made this video using an old recording made from an album, anyone remember those?

A Wonderful Day!

Donna had a wonderful day on Monday! She ate a large amount of food and good variety, and absolutely loved being able to get outside for a "stroll." She is absolutely moving in the right direction. She still has trouble walking, but is working with physical therapy and her nutrition to overcome that. The docs have said that the steroids Donna takes are hindering her ability to walk, but that bringing up her protein level will help counter that somewhat. Donna is putting her best foot (or fork!) forward and trying to increase her protein intake as much as she can.

Going For A *Walk*

I know we've blogged already today, but I had to share the good news...Donna is going on a "walk" today! Aunt Dix and Uncle "Kingly" are getting Donna gathered up in a wheelchair and are taking her outside for a walk!! This will be Donna's first visit outside since December 1, 2008. Wow...Simply amazing.

Lift High the Name of Jesus!!

With all the good news coming from Durham, this song has been on my heart for days...

1 Chronicles 16:23-25a: Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise!

Following is an update from Jan:

As Bev already told you so well, Mom, Jeff and I just got back from a FANTASTIC visit with big sister! Donna is just so on her game that the docs and her body are going to have to run fast to catch up to her mindset. She wants to get out of Duke (no offense to Duke), and get about the business of healing. We had hour long chats, giggles and planning sessions (how to get out of Duke, of course), she is definitely a flight risk for them right now. She even tolerated our rolling her back and forth across the bed several times very well. That is a long story, but I'll just say that GG is going to have to retake some Nursing 101 courses.

Donna will be spending the week with our Aunt Dix and Uncle Kingly (as our cousin Sherry has named him, appropriately). Uncle Kingly ALWAYS gets what Uncle Kingly wants, and right now he wants Donna to eat lots of protein.

As Bev told you in an earlier blog, our wonderful Aunt Dix is a 12 year cancer survivor and she can share things with Donna that most of us can only imagine. She also can cook like there's no tomorrow and already served potato soup last night, which Donna ate a whole bowl of. I'm a little insulted because she would not eat my spaghetti, but I will get over it.

Back to business--we do not currently have caregivers lined up after this week. Donna's days are filled pretty much right now with lots of work to heal. And getting out of the hospital is becoming a very real possibility. In the meantime though, if there are bloggers & friends in the Roanoke/Floyd area interested in driving down for brief visits (1-2 hours), or spending a day or two in Durham, we would love to hear from you. You can email Janet at pennjl@comcast.net -- that way we can try to help manage the calendar.

Donna does want everyone who has been faithfully praying for her to know that she knows you are there and appreciates all of the support everyone has given. We are praying God will bless Donna with easier days and praise Him for his goodness and mercy today.

~Jan~

How Great Thou Art!

I can barely contain myself long enough to write an update today. Mom and Jan are in Durham with Donna and the news coming from there is nothing less than outstanding, and all the glory goes to God! Even the doctors are amazed and astounded at the improvements in Donna.

Medically, Donna is making great strides. She is still very weak and needs assistance to get up and move around, but that is improving. The doctors are starting to see some resolution in the DAH...Praise God!! It's still there, and they are very honest in saying that they don't really know why it's showing signs of resolving but they are going to continue with the current treatment regimen and see if it resolves even more. Today they are going to start tapering her steroids. Keep this in prayer as tapering the steroids is what has caused the DAH to flare up in the past.

Attitude-wise, Donna is on top of her game. She is ready to leave Duke and is determined to fight to get out of there! Right now, the key to her discharge is to improve her nutritional status and to get stronger. She asked the doctor today what he thought about her prospects for discharge. He told her that if she continued on an upward course, improved her nutritional intake (they want a minimum of 1500 calories a day), and improved her strength, then he would guess that in the next 2-3 weeks she could leave the hospital, barring any setbacks with the DAH and/or TTP.

Donna and all of us are well aware that this fight is far from over and that we can expect future setbacks, but today we thank and praise God for all the blessings He continues to shower down on Donna.

THEN SINGS MY SOUL
MY SAVIOR GOD TO THEE

HOW GREAT THOU ART!

God Is Great!

Following is an update we received from Donna's caregiver of the past few days:

...Her oxygen has been turned back to 4 and her saturations were holding at 98 & 99%. She is trying really hard to work on the food thing. She ordered a grilled cheese today, but when it finally arrived (long after the soup), it was toasted and not grilled. She did eat about 1/4 of it anyway. She also has eaten 1/2 of a canteloupe in the past 2 days. She even mentioned that she should try vegetable soup.

Donna seemed to enjoy my reading to her. Yesterday & today I read to her from her Bible. Today I also read a cute story from a book I had taken down. I thought she might drift off to sleep, but each time I looked up, she was grinning at something I had read.

I am sitting here this morning with tears in my eyes thinking of how wonderful our Lord is. Even when we allow doubt to creep in, the Lord doesn't budge and stays right by our side. How awesome is that?

Just a week ago Donna was downgraded to an oxygen mask and was on the verge of another ICU visit. We all prayed and not only did God sustain Donna and keep her out of ICU, He also brought her spirit up to levels we have not seen since...well, since this entire journey began. What an awesome God we serve, and what an obedient, faithful servant Donna is...an example for all to follow!

GOD IS GREAT! SING HIS PRAISE!

Update From Jan

Donna apparently has been so busy roaming the halls and munching that she doesn't have time to get on the phone! I did try to call a few times today but she was either walking or otherwise busy (I think her and Jeanette might have been having a party there). Joel did talk to Donna and she sounded good and did tell him she had walked the halls today.

For prayer request, please keep Donna in your prayers Thursday and Friday as she will not have a visitor until we arrive Friday evening. We do know Donna is going to be just fine in the care of the great nurses, and she might even be looking forward to a little quiet time--but the prayers will be appreciated all the same. While she still has a bit of struggle with the phone we will be touching base with her and will have an update Friday morning.

And we know she really isn't alone, our God who has sustained her (and all of us) is right there by her side.

Working Hard

Donna had a pretty good day on Monday. She is now off the oxygen mask and back on nasal cannula. Her oxygen requirement through the cannula is higher than it was a couple of weeks ago, but being on the nasal cannula versus mask is a step in the right direction. Donna's spirits continue to be on the upside. Seems she has decided it is time to leave Duke so she is working very hard, even through days where she doesn't feel like it, to get discharged. She is still very weak, but was able to push herself to walk a little bit yesterday and spent over 4 hours sitting up in the chair.

On the downside is that Donna's caregiver who was scheduled for Wednesday through Friday has come down with a cold and, therefore, will not be able to stay with Donna. The current caregiver is going to stay an extra day on Wednesday, but we don't have anyone available for Thursday or Friday.

If anyone lives close enough to Durham to make a day trip and can stay Thursday or Friday, or both, please let us know. You can contact Jan through her email at pennjl@comcast.net or me, Bev, at baw2b@comcast.net. If you can do both and would like to stay overnight in Durham you can stay in the apartment. It is only 6 miles from the hospital and is a 2-bedroom, fully furnished apartment.

Being "caregiver" at the hospital is really just being a visitor for Donna and keeping her company, and of course being her encourager--especially when it is medicine time and she has to swallow down 13 pills! Bring your pom-poms and cheer her on...LOL Seriously, though, you do not need to do anything physical with her, such as lifting or anything of that sort.

God is Good

God answered prayers and kept Donna out of the ICU this weekend!! Her lungs and the DAH are still not good--she still has low oxygen levels and difficult breathing, but we are praising God for lifting Donna's spirit above the discomfort in her body to enjoy one of the best weekends emotionally that she has had almost since admission to Duke 2 months ago.

I am reminded of lyrics from the song God Is Good.

God is good all the time
Through the darkest night
His light will shine

If you're walking through the valley
There are shadows all around
Do no fear He will guide you
He will keep you safe and sound

I dare you to listen to this song and not feel lifted...I don't think you can!