At home relaxing

On the left are a few photos of Andrea leaving the hospital this past Saturday evening. One is with some of the nurses, Ataya and Jennifer, who have taken great care of Andrea. The other is all of us. Andrea has been home since Saturday night. She has felt okay at home. She has had a little nausea, some pain, and a few headaches. She is fighting through those and trying to build up her stamina and strength by taking multiple walks every day. She also has been watching movies with Kathleen and playing guitar with her dad. Also, everyone will be glad to know that her abdominal wound has finally closed and hopefully that will never be an issue ever again.

Andrea's counts will drop this week. So, our goal is to keep Andrea healthy and out of the hospital with an infection.

Going home today

Today is the last day of Andrea's 5th round of chemo. She has another 2 hours left. Hopefully, she will be going home later this afternoon or evening. This round had been hard, but still relatively better than other rounds of chemotherapy. There were no surgeries and no other complications this time around.

Yesterday, Andrea felt okay. She still had headaches in the morning. She was able to get them under control and had a much better evening. She watched a movie with her sister and Mrs. Taylor. She did have any nausea yesterday though. This morning she seems even better and we are trying to stay ahead of her headaches with medicine. Hopefully, she will not have any headaches today.

Andrea is looking forward to going home and spending some quality time on the hammock.

Last day/night

Today is Andrea's last day and night. We may get discharged tomorrow if Andrea is feeling well. If not, I think we will definitely be home Sunday.

Yesterday, Andrea woke up and felt okay. As the day progressed, however, Andrea's condition got much worse. She was fairly nauseated yesterday and had terrible headaches all day long. She primarily stayed in bed most of the day. She tried to hold it together. Even though she felt nauseated all day, she only vomited once. The doctors did administer another drug to Andrea called decadron to help with her headaches/nausea. It may be helping as Andrea is feeling much better today. Hopefully, she continues to feel the way she is this morning. If not, I think after the chemotherapy is done tomorrow she will feel much better.

She is going to try and relax as much as possible today and maybe watch another movie.

Day 4

Andrea is over the hump day and almost nearing the finish line for this round of chemotherapy. Yesterday was a rougher day for her. She had many migraine headaches yesterday. Usually Tylenol with codeine helps those headaches, but they seemed worse yesterday. So, most of the day, she was in bed dealing with those. She also had one fever yesterday.

She still, however, managed to have some fun. She did take a few walks and watched a movie in the evening. Even though the day was rough, it was still better than many other days in the hospital. This morning Andrea is feeling pretty good and hopefully she doesn't have any headaches today.

Day 3 of the 5th Round

Andrea has been doing really well so far in this chemo round. Last time, in the 4th round, she had a great number of fevers and all sorts of pain due to her surgeries. This time, she has had no fevers. She still has pain in her legs/back due to the neupogen injections and the spinal tap, but that is controlled well with pain medicine.

Yesterday she had a fairly good day. In the morning, she had some pain in her legs. Unfortunately we were a little late with the pain medicine so she was in some intense pain for about 30-45 minutes. She, however, felt fine after the pain medicine. Then, the Mangals came by for a visit. We had some nice conversation. After that, her nurse actually disconnected Andrea from all her IVs for 3-4 hours and Andrea got to take a nice walk outside with Mrs. Taylor and Kathleen. In the evening, some of our best friends, Mike and Crizen Hasegawa, stopped by for dinner and brought Andrea's favorite Chinese food. Andrea had a great time with them.

In all, a good day for Andrea. She had some pain, but most of the day she was having fun with friends and family. I am hoping for a similar day today.

Day 2 of the 5th Round of Chemo

We are back in the hospital for the 5th round of chemotherapy. Andrea was admitted yesterday and had a fairly good day. Yesterday, she has a spinal tap. A spinal tap checks her spinal fluid for signs of cancer and introduces chemo drugs into her central nervous system. It involves a fairly large needle in her spine. It was painful, but Andrea, as always, handled it very well. The results also should be positive.

Later yesterday, her chemo drugs were started intravenously. The big side effect with these drugs is fevers which cause migrane headaches which cause nausea. Fortunately, last night she did not have any fevers, no headaches, and no nausea. She slept right through the drugs being administered. Her next chemo will not start until 6pm today. So, we are just going to take it easy for most of the day, play some music, and try and stay upbeat. Andrea's goal for this admission was to stay upbeat as much as possible and have as much fun in the hospital as possible. So far she is doing a great job.

Having some fun at home

These past few days have been really great for Andrea. She came home from the hospital on Thursday and she has been feeling pretty good since she came home. She has had only one close call for nausea since then. She did, however, keep it under control and did not throw up. She had some stomach issues in the hospital and those seem to be clearing up. She also had a great deal of pain in the hospital due to her neupogen injections and that pain seems to have gone away. Also, her count is still rising. She is still a bit weak physically, but she is taking as many walks as possible and trying to get her physical health back.

Today, Mr. Taylor came to visit Andrea. Andrea and her family went to a nearby farmer's market. Then, we all went for a nice brunch in Chicago. Later, she relaxed in her garden, in her hammock, and watched a movie with me. Tonight we will be eating dinner and watching another movie. Altogether, a good relaxing day for her. She will be starting her next round on chemotherapy on Monday. So, these past few days and this weekend is exactly what she needed. Hopefully, her next round will go smoothly and she will be back home in no time.

Andrea is at home

Andrea left the hospital yesterday and is now relaxing at home. She is feeling much better and is looking forward to a great weekend. Her next round of chemotherapy starts on Monday. More to come later....

Feeling better today

Yesterday was a rough day. Andrea was feeling ok, but she was very emotional. She was/is just sick of being in the hospital. It has been a very long stay. She also has been having some muscle/bone pains and we finally figured out that is due to the neupogen injections. The neupogen injections help raise her white blood counts. We were able to calm her down a bit. I played the guitar and sang some songs with her to make her feel better. Kathleen watched a movie with her and Mrs. Taylor rubbed her feet. Everyone contributed and it helped Andrea a little. She felt better in the evening and went to bed with a smile.

This morning she felt much better. Her counts are finally increasing rapidly and they are up to 1.57. Normal are between 5 and 10, but they should be there soon. We woke up today, took a walk, and ate some breakfast. Today is looking like a really good day.

White blood count keep rising

The good news is that Andrea's white blood cell count keeps rising. It is 0.43 today. I think they may let her go home once it is near 2 or 3. The bad news is that this extended stay in the hospital has really hit Andrea hard emotionally. I think she just wants a day where she doesn't have to wake up in the hospital, have a number of doctors/nurses ask her a bunch of questions, and be confined to such a small cold place. She is still trying to stay positive, but it is very hard for her. She is also not eating very much and she feels very tired all the time.

We are trying to cheer her up and have fun during the day as much as possible. Yesterday, Mrs. Taylor and Kathleen were in Indy. Mrs. Taylor usually works in Indy on Monday and Kathleen had a doctor's appointment in Indy. Mr. Taylor and I were with Andrea alone yesterday. Mr. Taylor player guitar for her and we watched another movie. That seemed to cheer Andrea up. Then, Mr. Taylor left for Indy in the evening, and it was just Andrea and I. We watched a little more television and talked. It was nice having some time with her. Also, Andrea's platelet count was down last couple of days. Kathleen donated her platelets and Andrea received those yesterday which made a big difference in Andrea's energy level.

It has been very up and down last few days. I am wishing her white blood counts takes a huge jump and she can get some rest at home. It has been a long stay in the hospital, but I think we only have a few more days here.

Counts are coming up

Yesterday was a very hard day for Andrea. Her white blood count was still very low and she was very nauseated. Her white blood counts usually come up in 3-4 days after going to zero, but this time they have taken over a week. This has really hit Andrea hard emotionally and she was very worried if they will come up. The doctors and everyone has reassured her they will, but it is very hard sometimes for her to have faith. She is doing a great job trying to stay positive nonetheless and we are all helping her stay upbeat. Also, she has been physically a bit weaker as well because she can't any food down due to nausea and other reasons.

Last night, to help Andrea stay upbeat, I bought a projector for her. She loves going to the movies, so I brought the movies to her. We hooked up the projector in the hospital room and watched the movie "Watchmen." The movie was not so good, but she loved the experience of watching a movie on a somewhat big screen. Also, throughout the day yesterday, the Taylors did a great job of trying to cheer her up and I think it really helped Andrea. They also helped Andrea keep food down by trying to give her food items in small quantities that are easy to digest.

This morning, Andrea felt much better emotionally and looked better physically. Also, her white blood counts are finally coming up. Hopefully, it will only be a few more days before they are back to normal. I am looking forward to a much better day with Andrea and a better movie tonight.

Low but sure

Dear family and friends,

today Andrea feels a little better but still tired and a little nauseated but much better than yesterdays late afternoon and evening. She started vomiting and having headaches and since she has had constant intestinal issues since last Sunday and we were worried that she was just getting weaker and weaker. But her blood count has stayed stable since her recent blood and platelet transfusions which is good and her platelets are very low but we are still hopefull when her body starts making white cells everything will get better. Dr. Kent stopped by today and said he thought she had a significant infection and the antibiotics are the right ones for this infection so he told her that he thought that the lab test was saying 0 but that he thought they were still there were still white cells fighting the infection. So hopefully tomorrow all the counts will be on the way up and Andrea will start gaining more. Kathleen gave Platelets today and she said everyone was commenting on how great they were and actually they got two units from her because she had such an large active group they actually said she was a "Platelet godness" which Kathleen was pretty pleased with :-) She came back looking a little puny so Andrea tucked her in bed with a little juice and plenty of some of the little comments we give to her. It was a really nice moment. So at the end of the day our andrea is tired but drinking tea and having a better day. She has enjoyed the memories of the birthday party and the pictures of that day. It was really been a bright spot for her and all the cards and bog notes have also been so wonderful they all brighten up the long hard days for Andrea. Thank you all so much for all the ways you all love and support her during this difficult time. It really helps her and us.
Also another note Andrea has needed alot of blood and platelets so the blood bank has given us infor for any one else that could donate for Andrea they call it a directed donor collection and maybe it could be done even in Indy and sent here but they were unsure. However if anyone wants to donate you are welcome to stay with us.
The number to call is 312-942-7824 and Melessia has been very kind and helpful in coordinating collections from Joe and Kathleen.

Here is the picture of Andrea and Kathleen how wonderful :-) andrea is taking care of kathleen after giving platelets.
Good night and love to all of you Sharon

Muscle pain persists

Andrea still has the muscle pain in her upper body that she felt yesterday. The doctors did a vast array of tests, but all of the tests came back negative. None of the tests indicate any sort of issues with her muscles. The doctors came in this morning to check up on Andrea and told us they don't know what is causing the problem.

Also, her white blood counts still have not risen to a normal level. They are still essentially zero. They are taking an abnormally longer period of time to rise to normal levels this time. The doctors have doubled the dose of neupogen, a drug that she receives to stimulate white blood cell levels. I am hoping that when her white blood count rises, the muscle pain somehow will disappear as well.

Other than the muscle pain and no white blood cells, she feels fine. She is a little tired, but overall she is doing okay. She even had a Big Mac Attack today (2 all beef patties, special sauce, on a sesame seed bun - she's lovin' it). I am once again optimistic that the extra neupogen will help, her white blood count will be higher tomorrow, and her muscle pain will subside. This afternoon we will be relaxing and watching a chick flick, "Confessions of a Shop-a-holic." Yesterday, I was forced to sit through "Enchanted," a movie with singing. Andrea has muscle pain and she, along with Mrs. Taylor and Kathleen, is putting me through a great deal of audio and video pain with these movies. It is her birthday week though.

Severe muscle pain today

Today was not such a great day. The morning started off positive. Andrea woke up and complained of neck pain. We didn't really think much more of it than just regular neck pain initially. Then, we ate breakfast, took our morning walk, and she even received a massage from a volunteer masseuse.

Then, in the afternoon, Andrea complained of severe pain in her muscles in her upper body. She also had bruises all over her body. We found out the bruises were due to her platelets being low. She was given more platelets and then her bruising minimized a bit. Her muscle pain however persisted. We got more tests done and everything came out negative. It was very frustrating. We still do not have an answer. Even more tests are being done and, hopefully, those will provide a clue why Andrea is having so much muscle pain.

I am optimistic that these new tests will provide a definitive answer to her muscle pain and her white blood count will go up tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Andrea

Today is Andrea's 30th Birthday. She is a little emotional that she has to spend it in the hospital, but we are trying to make it as special as possible.

Yesterday, Mr. Taylor gave Andrea presents that he had gotten for her, played the board game Clue with her and took walks with Andrea. Andrea has been listening to his CDs that he purchases non-stop and loves them. Then, at night, me and Andrea watched a movie and relaxed. Unfortunately, her night did not end up relaxing. They had to canulate her second port to put some antibiotics through it. Canulation of the port was uncomfortable and made Andrea very emotional. Even with that, however, the day was a positive one for Andrea.

She woke up today to phone calls from everyone wishing her a happy birthday. I got her some flowers, 30 roses for 30 years. Then, we just relaxed most of the day. She ate a hearty breakfast and took many walks with me. Mrs. Taylor and Kathleen then came in the afternoon bearing gifts and decorations. They decorated Andrea's room with pictures from Sunday's party, presents, and birtday banners. They did a great job and the room looks phenomenal. Everyone at the hospital (nurses/doctors/staff) have been stopping by and wishing Andrea a happy birthday.


It has, however, been a up and down emotional day for Andrea. She loves everyone's efforts, but she is sad that she is in the hospital and still has five rounds of chemo left. She is trying to stay strong and we are giving her pep-talks along the way. She looks good health wise, however. Her mouth sores pain is being controlled, she has no nausea, no pain in her shoulder/abdomen, but she is a little tired due to low white blood counts.

Tonight, we will be having birthday cake, singing her happy birthday, and eating Chinese food. Happy Birthday Andrea. I love you very much.

Back in the hospital

Well, last night Andrea started getting fevers up to 102.6. So, we ended up going to the emergency room. We were very conflicted whether or not to go because she still looked okay. It ended up being the right decision because we found out at the hospital her white blood count was almost nothing and her fevers got a little worse.

Once she got to the hospital her fever as I said did get worse, but after she calmed down quite a bit after got her meds. She woke up this morning and I thought she looked really good. Her mouth sores are bothering her a little more but Tylenol with codeine has been helping. She did have a bite to eat this morning and went on a walk with her dad. This is the best I have seen her in the hospital after being admitted to the ER. We are still waiting to find out if she did in fact have an infection, but, regardless, she is being given antibiotics to cover possible infections.


She is really doing quite well and is sitting up right now in a chair and talking up a storm. The entire time she was uncomfortable last night, the party and seeing her family and everyone yesterday kept a smile in her face. She wants everyone to know that the party had nothing to do with going to the hospital - it was just a result of her counts being so low. She and I also want to thank everyone for making yesterday such a great day for her.

Feeling Good

Andrea is feeling pretty good this morning. She is on her way as I type to the Lincoln Park Farmer's Market - a small outdoor market near our condo. Her body is also healing well. Her shoulder has less pain, her head rash is less painful, and the wound in her abdomen is almost healed.

Also, Andrea's father and sister are on their way up so that should make her feel even better.

Rest and relaxation

We had a decent day yesterday. Andrea still has had no fevers and no infections. That is what we need to make sure we don't go to the hospital earlier than we need to. She got up yesterday and had breakfast with her mom. Then, I grilled her a hot dog for lunch and went on a walk with her. She relaxed most of the day, slept, and watched TV. We had italian food for dinner and looked at some old photos which made her emotional. We ended the night with a little more relaxation and more TV.

She did have one episode of nausea yesterday. It was was related to her vertigo and not due to any chemo drugs directly. Even with that one episode, she kept herself very well hydrated and ate a good amount. So, she is still doing okay. Every now and then she will have a little bump. Her shoulder today is feeling better and every day I think she is getting a little healthier. Hopefully, today will be another relaxing day.

Relaxing at home

The above is a picture of Andrea with two of the nurses that have cared for her at Rush Medical Hospital. This picture was taken as we left the hospital late afternoon yesterday.

Since then Andrea has felt okay. She developed some mouth sores but they are not nearly as bad as last time. She is still eating and drinking lots of fluids. We had a nice day at home yesterday. We took a walk and watched some TV. We are looking forward to more rest and relaxtion today. This is definetely the best Andrea has ever been at home after chemotherapy. Mrs Taylor and I and Andrea, herself, are working very hard to keep her comfortable. We are hoping no re-admission to the hospital for any infections and so far we are looking good.

Andrea's Favorite Blog Uncle

We are going home today. Yesterday was a great day for Andrea. She did not have any nausea and very little pain in her shoulder. She even cut down her morphine to a very small amount. I can't believe the recovery Andrea has made after this round of chemo. I think she is going home stronger than when she came in - which is truly remarkable.

She got up yesterday with a smile. We took many walks, she ate some food, continued drinking lots of fluids and felt great. We even had dinner, mexican food, at a table instead of in her bed. She was very jovial, very talk-a-tive, and just like the Andrea we know. We even ended the night with a movie - Kung Fu Panda.

And speaking of kung fu - there is been a debate of words between two heavy weights (notice i did not put the word "heavy" and "weight" together on purpose) on the andrea taylor blog comment board. So, I thought I would finally put them in the ring and duke it out for ANDREA'S FAVORITE BLOG UNCLE. Sorry Ralph, your letters are great, but you gotta get a keyboard and mouse soon or at least a typewriter. And Jim, I am not throwing your hat in the ring because you still owe me 5 bucks for the lakers nba c-h-a-m-p-i-o-n-s-h-i-p.

So, on the left,
weighing in at an unsurmountable weight, father of many child, all the way from some high school in Indianapolis, hopefully wearing trunks,
John "Machine Gun" Taylor.
vs
Tom "Two Tooth" Taylor,
father of one child, also hooked on phonics in indy, also weighing in at an unpredictable rate, and also hopefully wearing trunks.

To win ANDREA'S FAVORITE BLOG UNCLE, I need the blog readers to cast their votes on the message board or they can simply tweet 1-800-IDOL-09. Votes will be tallied by the dark accounting firm of Mangal & Indians and the final results will be announced later on the board.

Better day yesterday

Yesterday was a better day. Her chemo ended around noon yesterday. Then, shortly after, Dr. Kent, her hematologist/oncologist, disconnected her from everything. He disconnected her IV fluids and her PCA pump. His goal was to try and get her more lucid and start having less side effects from the morphine.

And it worked. She still took the morphine orally, but she was much more lucid and felt much better. She was still had a little nauseated but she did not throw up at all. She also slept great last night with hardly any fever, little pain, and hardly any nausea. So, overall, she is feeling better. I am hoping today she continues to feel much better. She was still been in bed all day yesterday. I am hoping to go on a few walks with her today and get her out of the room. She also did not eat anything yesterday, but I am hoping she eats a little more today. She was able to keep down quite a large quantity of fluids though.

So, if she can go for some walks, eat, and keep things down then we may go home today. If not, then probably tomorrow. It seems like when she leaves the hospital in good health she has a better chance of not returning until the next chemo admission.

Update: Andrea is feeling really good today. No nausea and hardly any pain. She ate breakfast and took a nice walk with me. She looks really great so far today.

Almost There

Well, this round of chemo should be over by this afternoon. Andrea had a rough day/afternoon yesterday. She was very nauseated, had a high fever, and painful headache. The evening, however, was much different. She was still a little out of it, but she was smiling. She listened to some music which helped her relax. We finally were able to get her nausea/headache/fever under control.

She also slept well last night. She again did get a fever/headache/nausea this morning. But it was very short lived and we treated it very quickly. She is almost done and I think she will just continue to feel much better. I am hoping for a relaxing day for Andrea today.

Also, I was listening to the news-radio earlier this morning:

THERE IS A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND HURRICANE WATCH FOR ALL COUNTIES OF INDIANAPOLIS: INCLUDING JOHNSON COUNTY, MARION COUNTY, THE COUNTY WHERE ALL OF YOU LIVE COUNTY.

Hurricane Kathleena is sweeping across the nation from Washington, DC to Indianapolis. It is a high pressure system that likes expensive shoes. Be ware of your belongings and all citizens of "the county where all of you live county" need to find a closet to hide with your shoes in.

The end is near

Yesterday evening/this morning was Day 4 of 5 of this round of chemotheraphy. And shortly she will be getting her last dose of chemo for this round. That dose will be administered today to tomorrow morning. So, Andrea will be through her 4th round of chemotherapy tomorrow.

It has been a rough round though. Her pain has been fairly well controlled. She, however, has been in bed continuously through this round and yesterday/this morning she has been very nauseated. She has only thrown up a few times during the day, but she feels queasy all day long. She hasn't eaten anything in 5 days and has been pretty much sleeping for the last few days. She has also been spiking fevers up to 103 degrees. That is a common side effect of one of the chemo drugs she is being given. So, she is constantly getting the chills which also don't help.

I wish there was something I could do to help. Unfortunately, even with all my and Mrs. Taylor's efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to make her feel better. The doctors and nurses here are also trying their best. I am hoping that she will just feel better once this round of chemo is over and am hoping she gets to go home Tuesday in good health.

Anshul

Painful day yesterday

Andrea had a very tough day yesterday. She was in extreme pain most of the day. Her pain was concentrated in the shoulder area, where she had her port surgery. She also had an excruciating headache all day long. The morphine did not seem to help at all. She literally laid in bed all day long. She did not eat or drink anything. She also got nauseated once. To add to the complications, she has been retaining fluids. She gained seven pounds in three days because of her fluid retention. That is really bad because in those three days she had two surgeries and barely has eaten anything. The doctors have given her some lasik, a drug to prevent retaining fluids and her weight did seem to come back down.

This was all yesterday morning/afternoon. In the evening, she was able to get a PCA morphine pump and that really helped. We finally got her pain under control. She slept fairly well last night and is feeling ok this morning. She is still in a little bit of pain, but I think she will have a much better day than yesterday. She is also retaining fluids again, so we will try and get her some more lasik.

This is day 3 of 5 of the chemotherapy and Andrea is getting close to finishing another round of chemotherapy.