Day 24
Deb had visitors for the entire day today and she certainly enjoyed the company. God knows I exhausted my word quotient at lunch yesterday and needed help with a few more million words today from her girl friends. Thanks for that.
We were informed today that Debbie will definitely need a stem cell transplant in order to beat this disease. The chemo alone will not fix her problem. This will require the help of her brothers and Pam. As you may know, Pam is the only Keevill that has contacted Deb since she has been admitted to the hospital and she has offered to help, but we will likely need more help than that. This would be difficult in a normal family -- so God help us now!
They started the chemo therapy last evening, but began a more aggressive approach using a "high-dose" chemotherapy treatment. Instead of 24 x 7, Deb gets mega doses of the chemo for 2 hours every 12 hours. She had her first 2 treatments today and seemed to be tolerating it fairly well. Because of the high dosages, I am not sure if the timing of the dark times we learned from the last round will have any relevance now, but will keep you posted.
Nevertheless, Deb was in good spirits today and was thankful for her visitors. We are hoping to schedule some time with the head physician tomorrow to get a better understanding on her prognosis.
Deb sends her love to all.
posted by Joe @ 8:25 PM
17 Comments:
Hey sweetie. I guess this has been another rough day for you. If love and prayers were enough in this world, you know you would be sailing through this. You're always in my thoughts, please let me know how I can help. I can do sleepovers any time you're ready for some company.
Love,
Cathy
Debbie and Joe,
I am so sorry about this news, but I am more than willing to be tested. Joe, just let me know what you would need me to do. And, I can volunteer to help Pam if you need me to.
You're both in my thoughts and prayers.
Jeanne
Dear Deb and Joe
Here I am again just have to tell you how much I love you guys.
You are in my prayers.
BIG HUGS Your Aunt Angie
Good Morning Deb,
Couldn't get on last night for some reason, so just read the latest. As with all your family and FOD's....WHATEVER you need, I would do for you.
Sounds like you had a good day visiting...thank God you had some backup for poor Joe.
Dan is still a little under the weather..he is a man after all(sorry guys, but really , it's been 5 days).
Will check in later. Love and prayers your way always, Kim
Dear Debbie,
Good morning, I hope you had a restful night. Sorry to hear the news, I'd like to offer to be tested, it's a small thing in comparison to all you did for me when we were new to Pa. I've wanted to come and see you, but I remember when my sister-in-law was going through Chemo, she only wanted family and her closest friends. Jeff, Rose and Matt said to tell you they're praying for you. Bird and I keep you in our prayers.
Love,
Pam K.
Debbie,
Hope the chemo is treating you okay- as okay as can be expected I guess. Keep on truckin'! Get better soon Debbie, we miss you! Who else is going to help me bring stuff to my parents surprise 50thhhh anniversary party. Ha... that is an obvious joke, I'm pretty sure they'll be living on separate coasts by then. JK. Kate is over here playing with Molly, and she wants me to write down right now that 'she says HI!'
I am kind of glad that the winter season will be ending shortly. Can't wait for the summer! I think if you listen really closely you can hear that ocean breeze...
xoxo Meg and Kate Noon xoxo
Did you see the "main" dr. this am? I hope he cleared up all your questions, also hoped your night was okay with all the large doses your now getting.Not alot going on out here.. all the christmas decorations are packed away.. had a menopausal moment and decided to highlite my hair.. it turned bright yellow.. apparently my hair"takes" to bleach faster than they expectd so we then had to use a toner..what we do as women..deb. i feel useless way out here.. all i can offer you is my positive thoughts,hope, love and prayers that this hard time will soon be over and that you"re slapping on the baby oil at the beach soon..good luck with everything today..mdf
Mrs. Teklits,
Remember me? I wanted to let you know that I am sending healthy and happy thoughts and wishes your way. Hang in there! You are doing great!
love,
Katie Moyer
Good Day to you!
Joe it looks like you have to do some recruiting for the playoffs. We need the bench to be just a tad deeper! Good luck with the search. Cathy and I would love to visit if it is okay! You let us know. :) Deb we love you and are so happy with the progress you are making. Hang in there, and all the pieces will fall into place. Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Thank you for all the blogspot info, it helps to hold all of you close. That's something we all need, all the time. :) Love Artie
Hi Debbie ~
I hope you're getting good news from the "head doc" today. (What's taking so long? Doesn't he know you're a VIP?) The M.D. in me is so curious about the results of your cytogenetics... I need to start my research on how to make you better! I hope your spirits are brighter than today's gloomy weather!
much love,
Sarah
Mrs Teklits,
Hope your second day in round two is going well! Im glad you were able to have visitors yesterday since Mr. Teklits has maxed out his words for this month!!! I wish I had that problem! I am actually about to head to Lansdale to spend the weekend with Joey..I have some goodies for you( a belated christmas gift!) -- AND I found you a copy of Walk the Line.. I am not sure how good a copy it is, but you can try it out!!!
Well hopefully I will get to talk to you this weekend...
Thinking of You Always,
Love,
Alli <3
Deb and Joe:
After speaking with Joe this morning I needed to focus on something I can do for all of you. Something I have control over.
I want to come do a stent by your bedside but not sure when will be a good time. Joe had said the timing thus far was good with his work but I would imagine he may have to a little traveling in the days to come. I am looking into January to come for a couple days. Stay at Penn Towers and relieve some of your usual cast of characters.
I know that you will have some rough days in the near future and thought that I might give you some time to bounce back and come spend some time with you. Another chance to teach you to needlepoint.
Joe has my email. I will wait for word from him. I know his word bank is slowing but he can still ask for help. :}
Remember what you said in your posting regarding getting through the tough parts of the last round of chemo. We (Dave, Mere, Colin, Bee,Aunt Angie and me) are sending lots of love to you. Keep the faith. The next bone marrow test results will be remission!!!! :)
Con mucho amor....Cuz Eileen
Debby & Joe,
It was nice to read that Debby enjoyed her day yesterday with her friends & we also thank them for providing much needed support & laughter. We were disapointed to read about the need for a stem cell transplant. If there is anything that we can do in this required need, please let us know. Like most everyone we are anxiouly awaiting the outcome of your discussion with the chief physician. Our thoughts & prayers are always with you,
Mom and Dad
Hi Aunt Debbie and Uncle Joe. I'm sorry to hear that you will need the stem cells after all of this. I'm happy to hear that Pammy wants to help out and I'm hopeful that your brothers would offer their help too once they learn of this. I would be happy to be tested to see if I'm a match, too, as I'm sure everyone else on this blog would. (I need to do some research to find out exactly how matches are found.)
We have some goodies to drop off this weekend. We hope you enjoy them!
Love,
Lisa
Hi Deb!
I think Eileen Weber might be on to something when she suggested we all pray to the same saint - Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. Aside from having a long-standing devotion to her, a reader recently wrote to me about Kateri and her letter, along with a prayer card, has been sitting on my desk right next to my mouse for a couple weeks now. I finally put it away today and a few hours later, Pop called to say, "Get on the blog and read what Eileen Weber said." Coincidence? We'll see. Anyone who wants to join us, here's a prayer (official text) to Blessed Kateri asking her intercession for Debbie's complete healing by either natural or supernatural means.
"O God, who among the many marvels of your grace in the New World, did cause to blossom on the banks of the Mohawk and of the St. Lawrence, the pure and tender lily, Kateri Tekakwitha, grant we beseech you, the favor we beg through her intercession (for Debbie's complete healing); that this young lover of Jesus and of his cross may soon be counted among her saints by Holy Mother Church, and that our hearts may be enkindled with a stronger desire to imitate her innocent and faith, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen." (Sorry for the long post, guys.)I'm in and will gladly say it every day with much love for you, Debbie! Susie
hi debbie
ted and i think of you often and send our prayers and love. we're going to kick it up a notch and beat this. right! you're in our prayers love ted and suzanne
Hi Deb,
Hoping you had a good day today. I sent this joke to Mo and she said to blog it. This in no way means I am in joke competition with that cute Sarah who sends them to you.
Thanks to Susie for the prayer..I'm in too. Love you, Kim
Sorry to all the men
This is definitely a woman thing..... The Wash Cloth (There is not a woman alive today who won't crack up over this) I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist later in the afternoon and that morning I received a call from the doctor's office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45am. The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have time to spare. As most women do I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going to be able to make the full effort. So I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash "in that area" to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment. I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?" I didn't respond. After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal...some shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, where's my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard. She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it.
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