Thank you for praying

Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying.

It looks like the headaches are a result of swelling, the brain's reaction to the radiation. Katy will be receiving a higher dose of the steroid that is helping with the swelling. So, Katy is not dealing with anything new.

We are so grateful for this news. Going back to the emergency room because of "headaches" certainly became too reminiscent of a few months ago. I am grateful we can send out these blogs when there are needs. Thanks for being there to pray.

Kit

Pray for Katy

We thought we would send a blog out tonight. Some of you might still be awake or wake early to this … we are hopeful you will be joining us in prayer.

Right now (about 11:00 PM Phoenix time) Katy is back in the hospital. She went into the emergency room for incessant headaches that have been getting worse for about a week. So far tonight, she has had a CT scan and some blood work. At this writing they haven’t come back with the results yet.

In the morning I will send the report regarding this situation.

Pray for Katy. To find the source of these headaches. To heal her of whatever is the cause, and to give her and all her caretakers peace in all of this.

God Bless you for standing with Katy, daily, in prayer.

Love you, Kit

Update from Katy

Dear Loved Ones,

I apologize that it has been so long since I have updated you on the happenings here in Phoenix. Our time apart has been quite eventful due to an allergic reaction to my medicine, the onset of the fatigue that I have been warned about, and the loss of hair in a patch on the back of my head the size of my hand. (Those of you that know me know that I had a few strands to spare, so I am able to cover up easily). If you ask me those seem like such small side effects for having had BRAIN SURGERY! Thank you for your prayers; they are carrying me through this. Each day is so precious to me.

I also had an appointment with my oncologist to discuss the timing and procedures surrounding my chemotherapy. He told me that I would have two weeks off between radiation and chemo to rest and take some tests. As some of you know my grandfather, Frenchy, has cancer as well. Unfortunately his prognosis is that he will only live for a few more months. I have been praying for an opportunity to visit him in Indianapolis, so I am thankful to be able to use this small break to see him. My Dad and Brother have gone back to Indiana to be with him. Please pray for my extended family as you pray for my immediate family during this difficult time.

All My Love,
Katy

Katy's journal blog

Dear Loved Ones,

I wanted you to hear from me directly what this last week and a half has been like. As your prayers have asked, I have continued to see many miracles. 

Every day my parents escort me to my radiation appointment at 8:30.  I sign in and wait for the nurse to call my name.  They know me.  There are several of us in the waiting room.  We all know each other at this point or feel like we do.  We are all in various stages of treatment but we share the same appointment time and the same disease.  There is a strange camaraderie among us.  When they call my name I walk back to a room with a door worthy of being a vault in a different lifetime.  I then lay on a narrow table in the middle of this room.  It has a clear plastic piece that is rounded to comfortably hold my head and secure my mask.  They rubber band my feet together, I suppose to keep me from escaping and then they attach my mask to the plastic piece.  The placement of the mask is the most complicated part of the whole procedure.  The nurse and the technician both lean over my head and move the mask this way and that until it is just right (I almost have to laugh as I watch through the tiny holes because often what does the trick is me wiggling my nose or some other such complicated motion).  Once all is set they take refuge behind the door of the "vault" and leave me laying strapped to the table staring up at an illuminated coral reef photograph. For the first week they kept checking to make sure that I was OK, which made me wonder if I should be panicking but I decided against that because the whole procedure seemed more intriguing than frightening. The machine itself reminds me of those robots from the movie "Batteries Not Included" that went around fixing broken buildings and appliances. It seems to sneak up from the side and think carefully before it makes each move.  It makes a loud hum, but it does not hurt as it moves around my head.  Before I know it the whole thing is over and I am in the waiting room saying my good-byes. 

I don't know what the rest of my treatment will be like, but right now I feel great.  I have had a few headaches but they have been treatable with Tylenol.

I still have all of my hair!  I sometimes have to remind myself that I just had brain surgery.  Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  May God continue to bless you as he is me thru this experience.

I love you,  Katy