| Sunday October 21 ( 7 of 10 ) - All of Kara's side effects from the radiation have subsided. She is still using the feeding tube for all of her nutrition. She has not even tried to eat any solid food, but she is drinking a cherry slurpee every day. She is still weak and nauseus; both of which are caused by her ongoing dehydration. We are trying to increase the amount of food that she takes through the tube, but she has been getting nauseus lately. 9:00 AM Tuesday October 16th ( 6 of 10 ) - Kara continues to get a little better each day. She remains fatigued and has a sore throat, but she says that both bother her less and less each day. She gets IV fluids every other day, and her blood pressure has dropped back to normal levels. She is up and around more and more every day. 11:00PM Friday October 12th ( 3.5 of 10 ) - Kara is starting to do much better at times. She will have 1-2 hour spurts where she feels very well, and is able to walk around, have a conversation, or get a drink. Afterwards she will still revert back to being fatigued and congested with mucus, which still bothers her quite a bit. 11:00 PM Wednesday October 10th ( 2.5 of 10 ) - Kara was doing well for most of the day. She went to get fluids this afternoon at Folbe's office, and felt much better afterwards. She seems to get worn down as the day goes on, though, and has a harder time at night. Her symptoms are much worse late at night: more pain and more nausea. Her hearing is again coming and going. She is missing a lot of the sounds around her: ringing phones, alarm clocks, screaming 3 year olds. 7:00PM Tuesday October 9th ( 2.5 of 10 ) - Kara is feeling much the same as yesterday. Her throat is very sore, and she is achy all over. She has had the feeding tube on for more than 24 hours continuously so that she does not get dehydrated. She had a few bites of jell-o and some sherbet, but used the tube for everything else. She spent the day resting on the couch. The TV is on, but she is not picking what we watch. ( When she is feeling well, she will pick shows.) 7:00AM Tuesday October 9th ( 3 of 10 ) - Kara came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Her white cell count and mineral levels are up, but other than that her condition has not changed much in the last few days. She is tolerating fluids and used the feeding tube continuously through the evening and overnight. - She will remain home recouperating for the rest of the week, and wants to try to go back to work next week. Her next milestone will be the PET scan in 6-8 weeks to determine how successful the last two months of treatments have been. 7:30 PM Saturday October 6th ( 2 of 10 ) - Kara is still feeling the same: tired, sore, and hoarse. He kidneys continue to improve. The doctors are going to keep her in the hospital until Monday now becuase her potassium and white blood cell count is low. She is getting another round of those "bone pain" shots in the stomach for the white cell count. 9:00 PM Wednesday October 3 ( 2 of 10 ) - Kara is feeling better today. She is sore and tired, and her mineral levels are very low. Her renal function is returning to normal, though, and her color has returned. She went to radiation again today, and only has two more sessions to go. The doctors lengthened her projected stay through the weekend so that her mineral levels, mainly potassium, could return to normal. She is also starting up with the feeding tube again on and off throughout the day. 9:00 PM Tuesday October 2 ( 1 of 10 ) - Kara was deteriorating fast last night so we went to the ER at 11PM. She began IV fluids immediately while the doctors ran a few tests. The tests revealed that she was dehydrated to the point of early stage renal failure. (This is reverseable) The ER doctor admitted Kara soon thereafter. She continued with the IV fluids in triage until a bed became available upstairs at 9AM. She spent most of that time sleeping. Her condition improved as soon as we got to the ER. Her heart rate and BP were down after just the first hour of fluids. - She has been getting IV fluids through the day. She spent most of the day sleeping. The pain, which was an 8 last night, is down to a 3 with the medication, and her cough has subsided greatly. She will come home either Wednesday or Thursday. - She did go to radiation today. Only three more to go. 8:00 PM Monday October 1 ( 0 of 10 ) - Kara is feeling miserable today. She has no voice, and is in pain all over her body, especially her throat. She did not feel well enough to go to radiation today, and will make up today's treatment on Friday, which should be her last treatment. She is drinking cherry slurpees from 7 Eleven regularly, though. She has one per day, and it is about all she eats or drinks. - She spends most of her day sleeping, spitting, and getting sick. When she is awake, she just blankly stares into space. We will go to Folbe's office tomorrow for fluids, which may help a bit. |
| -- September 15-30 -- September 1-15 -- August -- July -- |