In His Hands

After a courageous and brave 15 month battle, our loving Nonnie has gone home to be with the Lord. There are few words to describe the pain and sadness our family feels at this time, but we take comfort in knowing that she is in Heaven with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Nonnie fought with such determination and grace and has been a blessing to so many people.

Nonnie always referred to our family as "Our little family". Although "Our little family" is a little smaller, we are blessed to have been able to make so many memories that will last a lifetime! She was at peace and looking forward to being reunited with Mike, Shannon and Brennen in Heaven.

Nonnie made an impact not only to those who personally knew her, but also to those who followed her battle through mutual friends and the kind and loving hospital staff at UCLA. The staff that met her could not help making a loving connection with Nonnie that people in that profession are warned not to make. I heard that the staff would actually argue who was going to take care of Nonnie on their assigned shift. She was always the favorite patient and never argued or complained, not even once!

There are so many memories that we all have of Nonnie and we invite you all to join our family on June 18, 2010 at 10:30 A.M to celebrate her life. The services will be held at The Grove Community Church located at 19900 Grove Community Drive Riverside, CA 92508. In lieu of flowers or gifts, we ask that all donations be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Surrounded By Love

On Thursday evening, Papa brought Nonnie home to be with family in the comfort of her own home. She was so happy to be home and loved seeing all of the beautiful changes around the house. We were able to put her in a wheelchair and show her the new landscaping, the kids rooms and the gazebo Papa built especially for her.

Nonnie was feeling quite well all day on Friday and was able to spend time visiting with family and friends. The rest of our Oregon family made it down on Friday night and her sister Carol and Tony arrived yesterday afternoon. Several families have been very generous and have provided wonderful fruit bouquets and delicious meals for us.

There have been so many heart-touching moments and conversations over the last couple of days. Nonnie had a talk with all of the grandkids and she had them promise her to be strong and to take care of Papa. She is surrounded by the love of her family and we are keeping her comfortable until she goes to be with the Lord.

Praying For A Miracle

The last couple of days have been difficult on many levels. Each day presents itself differently than the one before. With each victory, there seems to be another upsetting challenge to face. The recent neuropathy has been treated by injecting chemotherapy into Nonnie's spine. These treatments appear to make her more comfortable, although she still has the weakness and loss of sensation to her extremities.

This morning, Nonnie had a blood test and the results confirmed that she is not in remission. Despite all of the treatments she has had, the leukemia has not responded according to plan. Although Nonnie will get another chemotherapy treatment in her spine tomorrow, this does not affect her leukemia because the spine is a closed system. It only helps with the neurological symptoms.

Lisa and I went to UCLA this afternoon after the doctors had a meeting with Nonnie and Papa. Nonnie has been battling this horrible disease for 15 months and her body can no longer sustain further treatments. Together, we cried and talked about how to deal with this horrible situation. On Thursday, Nonnie will be discharged from UCLA and sent home with hospice care.

Our family has not given up on a miracle to happen. Nonnie's faith is stronger than ever, and she has put everything in God's hands. She actually had a pretty good day today, and she wants to go home to be with family while she is still feeling this way. The most important thing for us to remember, is that He is in control!

Wrong Turn

After several days of making improvements, Nonnie has unfortunately taken a wrong turn. The last two days have been a struggle for her and a source of frustration for the doctors. She has developed a case of neuropathy, which causes her tingling and numbness to her feet and hands. The left side of her body is weaker than the right. The doctors did a CT and MRI to see if there was a reason other than the neuropathy causing the weakness. The CT came back negative and the MRI results are not available at this time. In addition, she has been unable to eat because of her throat pain. As a result of these issues, Nonnie will not be able to come home this weekend as expected.

Tentative Game Plan

The forward progress is continuing and there is a tentative plan in place that will take effect this weekend. Nonnie and Papa have been faithful about getting their walks in and she is gaining strength. Based on her current status, barring any setbacks, the doctors are considering sending her home as early as this weekend for a break. Her job there will be to continue getting stronger by eating and walking. She will then return to UCLA after one week and repeat this last treatment.

A request was made by the doctors to hold off on making any more direct donations at this time. Of course, there is always a demand for blood products for other people with illnesses. After all, Nonnie has received these gifts from countless donors over the last year! Once Nonnie returns for the next treatment, she will need more donations and I will let everyone know on the blog.

What Is Pain?

The battle continues, but Nonnie is still being a warrior! Each day is still mainly focused on her counts, but there has been some great progress this past week. Her biggest physical problem is the mucusitis, which causes severe mucus build-up in the mouth. In turn, this causes her to cough which causes pain in her sore ridden throat.

We are relieved that the bleeding has resolved itself and the doctors have changed the platelet protocol. The magic number when Nonnie will receive platelets is 20,000 instead of 50,000. This will be very helpful because when she gets platelets, she also takes Benadryl. When she was getting platelets up to 3 times a day, she was sleeping most of the day. Who would want to get out of bed and go for a walk if you are sleepy all the time?

Since the change over the weekend, Papa has gotten her out of bed and they started a walking routine. Nonnie had to start walking back and forth in her room since she had not walked in over a month. Yesterday, they graduated to the halls on her floor and put down a few laps! When I spoke with Papa this morning, he told me Nonnie's legs were sore from the workout. I reminded him of an old saying......"Pain is weakness leaving the body". They both liked that, and promised another walk today.