Normal Platelets and Prayer Requests

I had an appointment today and my platelets were 228k, which is normal! PRAISE THE LORD!

People ask how I am doing.  As long as my platelets are normal, I can consider myself doing very well.

The last couple days have been rough for me.  My body's reaction to the high dose of steroids has not been wonderful.  The side effects have not been fun.  My lymph nodes have been swollen and very sore.  My digestive system is just jacked up, to say the least.  I have been tired, and trying to rest when Hazel does.  Each day gets a little bit better.  My doctor told me today to expect better things every day.  We are praying the side effects will fade quickly and my healing will continue. 


I have been advised to quite nursing Hazel.  My hormones have been imbalanced and breastfeeding doesn't help with that.  She was royally ticked off at me yesterday.  She did not want to take a bottle.  It has been pretty emotional on me as well.  I know it's something I need to do for my health and I am okay with that.  I had quite a bit of milk in the freezer, but we have now started on formula.  Boy, that stuff is expensive!  She is eating table food a lot now and is 9 months old, so we will only need to do formula for a couple months before she turns one.  Please pray that she transitions well with formula.  Prayers for her to sleep through the night would be great too.  Seriously.


I go back on the 21st to meet with my Hematologist and talk about a plan for maintenance.  As long as I don't have anymore dips in platelet counts, it should be an easy, short process.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
- that my platelet counts stay in the normal range
- that my body will start feeling "normal" again, and the side effects from the drugs will wear off soon.
- that Hazel will adjust well to bottle feeding, and sleep better at night.
- for finances, that God will provide above and beyond for all of these medical costs



Thank you so much for the prayers.
Thank you for the meals!
Thank you for notes, texts, and calls of encouragement!

First Full Day Back at Home

Yesterday I was greeted with these precious signs and washi-tape hearts on the door when I got home.  

Tony took care of Hazel through the night last night and let me rest.  What a great night of rest in my own bed at home!  

My mom and Grammy made the family breakfast this morning then headed to Mississippi to get Grammy back to her house.  I am so thankful for them and how much help they were here!  Grammy pretty much folded laundry 24/7! Between getting behind at Christmas, to returning with a weeks load of dirty laundry from our trip, we were quite behind.  We still have missing socks. Where do all the socks go? 

Hazel bonded quite a bit with my mom (aka: Nonnie) while I was in the hospital and even started calling her nonnom.  It is so sweet! 

It was sad to see them go, but I was full of gratitude as I watched them drive away.

I am so thankful that I am alive, on the uphill climb of healing, and safe inside my home again.

When they left, my brother Nathan and his new Fiancè Holly came over to help.  Boy, was it nice to have them here to wrangle the kids, help us sort through Baby proofing toys, and take down Christmas lights outside.  We even fit in a tutu dress up princess playtime while Nathan shot nerf guns with Tobin and Tony put away laundry. Keeping the kids entertained is a full time job, so it really helped having them here for a few hours! 

I took my (hopefully) last giant dose of high octane drugs today.

 I go Tuesday to get my labs checked and meet with my Hemotologist Oncologist.  There will be many appointments in the next months to make sure my body is responding to treatment and my platelets don't decrease.  This steroid regimen is different than my last treatment and quite experimental.  It's only been done on 7 people so far.  We have high hopes it will do the trick! 

The side effects from the drugs have taken a toll on me today.  My body aches, heart races, and I am shaky, yet at the same time I am weak and tired.  Since the steroids ramp up, I am having trouble actually sleeping.  It's quite a weird feeling to be tired and weak but not get to sleep.  I have quite a bit of swelling which they expect to go down pretty quickly, so I am hoping for that!  The steroids also make me an eating black hole.  It has been an interesting day.  Please pray that my body will allow me to rest well tonight.

I didn't really write much about breastfeeding, but I was able to pump in the hospital and my milk tested safe for Hazel which was such a blessing and answer to prayer!  The drugs I am on now have dropped my supply quite s bit, so I am praying my milk increases.  She is eating quite a bit of food and tolerating bottles wonderfully.  All of this is an answer to prayer as well. You can continue to pray for these things. 

Sweet friends brought dinner last night and tonight which has been such a blessing!  Hazel enjoyed French fries tonight with her new 6 teeth!  

There has been a meal train set up and posted on my facebook page hat our amazing church family has set up.

Thank you for all the amazing prayers and support.  You can continue praying for the requests on the previous post.  I'll let you know when specific prayers have been answered, or new ones are needed. 

Please know that you have witnessed another modern day miracle from our Lord!  I cannot believe I get the privilege of letting the lord use my body as a living testament and miracle from him! What an amazing honor.  

I'll update tomorrow! ~Rachel

ITP relapse

Sunday I was at my parents house in Arkansas enjoying our Christmas break.  On our way back to their house after church I was driving and noticed odd looking bruises on my hands and arms.  My first thought was "oh no! ITP!"  Then, I thought... "No.  It's probably the hustle and bustle of Christmas and traveling. "  

The next morning I noticed more bruises and by that evening I had small petechia (little red dots of blood) on my chest, and arms.  I knew something wasn't right.  I decided to pack us up and head home.  If something was wrong, I didn't want to be away from my doctors and home, and support network of friends where we live.

I dropped the kids off with tony at the house and went to the closest ER.  They checked my platelets and my lab results showed my count was 14,000. This is extremely low and very high risk for bleeding our, and other complications.  Platelets help your blood clot.  and without clotting, it's a bad thing.  ITP stands for Idiopathic Thrombocytopenia Perpura. Google it, or look in my archives back to 2009.  That's when I was first diagnosed.

Ok, back to the story...

This little hospital I went to transported me by ambulance to a bigger hospital downtown Tulsa that has specialist for my disease.  I have a team of Hemotologist Oncologists working on my specific case.  My ITP is not like the typical cases.  My blood is different and they aren't sure why. They are doing a new experimental treatment on me over the next four days and will track progress closely. (More on that later)

Please pray for my platelets to increase.  Pray for Gods provision for this hospital stay.  Being in the hospital two different calendar years equals two different $3,000 deductibles.  Pray for my babies at home. They miss me and I am missing their time away from school at home for break.

We covet your prayers and are believing in miracles!