Tishie

I did this once before. This is a note that I copied from facebook from my cousin, Landy. This is for those of you who know Tishie, and to ask a favor of those of you who don't know her. Please keep them and the doctors in your prayers...


(from Landy)
Once again, I don't know where to start. We are beyond blessed to have such caring, concerned, and supportive family and friends. Y'all are the greatest. Too many to tag, so if I didn't tag you it doesn't mean I don't want you to know what's going on. And that you for being patient with me cause I know it takes me awhile to update you sometimes.

We met with her oncologist on Wednesday, expecting him to prep her for her long awaited second stem cell transplant. I don't know if I have ever explained what a transplant actually does, so here it goes just in case I haven't. They first remove stem cells from your own body by filtering your blood kind of like they do in dialysis, only they keep the stem cells. She has some "harvested" which means saved, at UAMS. They keep them frozen until they're needed. When it is transplant time, they give you a big load of nasty chemotherapy drugs then wait for all of your levels to drop. Once you have hit rock bottom, they transplant your stem cells back into your bloodstream. They are designed to help your body recover. The way the doctor described it to me is that by knowing they have these cells to replenish you, they can give you higher doses of chemo to kill the cancer without killing the patient. When we went in May, Mama wasn't strong enough to undergo one because she had been in and out of the hospital with infections. Her heart and lungs were not functioning well, and her kidneys only function at about 40 percent all the time. The risks were just too high, so he sent her home on some therapy to try to keep her cancer from growing until she could regain strength.

She is now much stronger than last time we went, so we were sure she would be ready for transplant. We found out, however, that her cancer has progressed greatly or "significantly" as he said, and that it is "not under proper control". She only has one new lesion, which is a good thing, but her cancer cells have multiplied greatly. Because she will only be able to have one more transplant due to her health status, she has too much cancer in her body for one to be effective right now. So this brought her back home for more lower dose treatment. It is the same as she had this summer (Velcade, Dexamethasone, and Thalidomide) except he is also adding a drug called Adriamycin. He said this has been effective for other patients who did not respond well to the combination of the other three drugs alone. His goal is for this new combination to decrease her cancer cells enough to be within a therapeutic range for a transplant. She will recieve this in two 28 day cycles, then we will return for further testing. Hopefully, she will finally get to have her transplant then.

I have no idea what God's plan for my mom is right now, and I may never understand why she has to have this horrible disease. I still don't know why Lista is gone, and I may never understand. One thing I do know is that although I may not understand, God does. His knowledge is far beyond anything I could ever comprehend, and I'm trying to put all my trust in Him. I don't always deal with my grief or frustration in the right ways, and not a day goes by that I don't wonder why two of the greatest people I've ever know have suffered so much. But to prove even further what amazing women they are, neither of them ever questioned any of it. They just accepted it and dealt with it, as Mama continues to do daily. I know that when Mama was scheduled to have her first transplant a little over two years ago, they kept turning her down. We didn't understand why. A couple months later, Lista was diagnosed. If Mama had been in the hospital (transplants are usually 1-2 month processes from beginning to end), she wouldn't have been home to spend that time with Lista. Shortly after Lista passed, the doctors felt she was finally ready. I know in my heart that God had a hand in that, because He wanted them to have those few months together before Lista went to be with Him. Knowing that gives me hope that maybe He has a bigger plan (obviously) just as He did before.

I don't know if I have explained things clearly or not, so if you have any other questions please don't be afraid to ask. We got some sucky news and Mama has a rough diagnosis, but I believe in God's timing, and I believe in miracles. I've been blessed enough to witness a huge one with her before. I am going to continue to pray for another miracle for the most deserving person, and I am asking you all to do the same. Please just try to remember her when you're talking to God. I hope her ears a burning for the next 2 months straight! We sure would appreciate it. Thank you so much.