Saturday, Feb 21

It's coming up on 3-1/2 weeks that Christina has been in the hospital, and she will have to be here (I'm currently at the hospital with her after having a movie night and sleepover last night) for at least a few more days. She has dialysis every other day right now, and she finished the first cycle (10 days) of radiation this morning. On Monday they will re-scan her abdomen area to determine the size of the mass. See the previous post for more on that.

Her bilirubin levels have dropped slightly each day for the last few days. That's a good trend. However, some of the other levels that help to indicate liver function have increased or stayed the same, so the doctors still consider her liver condition stable, not necessarily trending better. Some of the levels can be affected by the radiation, so with the positive bilirubin trending, we're considering this to be positive overall. Her general condition, appearance and spunkiness have definitely gotten better from a couple of weeks ago. Keep the thoughts and prayers coming.

This past week Christina really enjoyed having some of her college buddies, her sister and other family around constantly. I think it helped quite a bit. She also had several other visitors, which was good, but she has commented that too many people at once, or even back-to-back vistors makes her tired. Denise is trying to manage this, but it's difficult. Please be patient with us/her, and please don't be offended if she/we ask that you come back another time. She (Christina) can all of a sudden get tired and just need to rest. We know she's feeling better though, because she has no qualms about telling you, me, the nurses, or the doctors, to get lost.

I think that's it for now. Thanks.
Ken

Tuesday, Feb 17

Sorry for the delay in posting an update. I know that everyone is trying to keep up on Christina's status and being patient with me. Thanks for not bombarding me with phone calls. I know it's difficult not knowing what's going on, but to some extent that's kind of how it's going right now.

As of this morning her status is basically the same. Her liver and kidneys are the primary areas of concern right now. In my previous post I mentioned that her bilirubin levels had gone up. That changes a bit each day, along with her liver enzyme levels. What we've come to find out is that it's not necessarily the individual increases or decreases that are critical, but rather the trend that is developing. At this point, the trend is simply stable. There have been small increases and small decreases, but no real upward or downward trend. However, her condition is still serious because the levels are very high overall. We want the levels to start trending downward.

She is continuing to have dialysis to help her kidney function, and radiation to shrink the mass. Right now the radiation is key to her progress. The reason for her kidney and liver function issues are due to the mass pushing on them, and preventing them from working properly (some recent tests confirmed that the stints in her ureters are still clear and able to function as needed).

She has had 6 of her initial 10 radiation treatments, so this initial cycle should be completed this week. On Monday, 2/23 they will do a scan of the mass to determine it's size now, and hopefully be able to narrow the radiation field and increase intensity in a more focused treatment. Right now it's more of a wide range field because of the size of the mass.

Christina has had several visitors recently, and I think it has helped to boost her spirits, which is also key to her progress. She's got to remain strong and positive throughout this difficult time. She's also got to be able to rest. Denise (Christina's sister) is in the process of putting together a visitation schedule, to try to prevent times where too many people are visiting, but to provide plenty of coverage of visitors.

Please keep up the prayers and positive thoughts. We need them. And thanks for all of the kindness.

Ken