Slow and Steady

Hi folks, Justin here. I'm sure my post won't be nearly as entertaining or inspirational as Katie's, but I thought people might like an update.

Katie's finally been feeling the full effects of the last chemotherapy over the past few days so she hasn't felt like doing much. Post chemo, she had a successful stem cell transplant on December 30, and has been recovering since. Her blood counts had a slight recovery after the transplant, but have dropped considerably since (as expected) and are now all but zero. A normal person has 5-10 billion white blood cells per liter of their blood, right now Katie has a measly 130 million. Of course the red blood cells and platelets are taking their toll too, so she's had to have a transfusion or two to keep those values to a reasonable level. This condition is likely to last anywhere from 5-10 days, at which point the counts will start to increase as her body starts to make cells once again.

Right now, the biggest issue Katie's facing are some mouth and throat sores that are making it difficult to eat or talk, and generally making her pretty uncomfortable. She's been given some medication to help out, but if you've called her and she hasn't answered it's because it's really painful to talk. I mean, we all know she likes to screen our calls, but this time she has a pretty good excuse. Over the next week or so the doctors and nurses will be watching her very closely for any signs of illness or infection as she basically has no immune system and is very susceptible during this time. They expect that she'll get at least one infection, but that's why she's there.

A number of people have asked if there's anything they can send or do. Right now we just need your prayers. Katie has a good arsenal of books and satellite TV, which is about all she feels like doing right now when she is awake. If you call, understand that we may not answer. Feel free to send emails, but know that she's only checking sporadically as she feels well enough. Right now she just wants to get through this and get on to the recovery stage at home. The timing is pretty up in the air right now and depends on how fast the counts recover (as with everything in this process, there's no room for planning), but we're hoping she can come home sometime next week. Thanks for all of your prayers.