HE'S ALL FEMALE!

That is what they told us yesterday! His donor % is all Karen! That is what the doctors and we wanted! His immune system is still weak so if you are sick, please stay a good distance from him if you see him out! He got his esophogus stretched and is doing that again next Thursday. He is doing much better eating, but has not gained a whole lot of weight! But he was always tall and skinny, one of the things that attracted me to him! All the nurses hugged my neck and said they were sorry! They could tell the steroids are making him act differently! His nurse told me to get him out, she was tired of listening to him! So if he seems REALLY hyper, he IS! He is slowly coming off of them, so hopefully he will be acting more like himself soon! He wants to celebrate with everyone but wants to be able to sing and he said next year when they tell him he is CURED, we are going to have a BIG party! He will turn 50 this November, so we will have to celebrate that's for sure! Again, thank all of you for hanging in here with us this last year and a half, its been long but then short too! We love all of you! Hugs and kisses! Terry and Alyce

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TERRY!

Well, it has been 1 year ago today we watched Karen's blood cells be entered into Terry's body! So far she has done a GREAT job staying there! Not that she has anything to do with it except letting them put all those tubes and wires and shots into her body to prepare her for all that! WHEW! What a BRAVE woman! We love you and Rick both! We will know exactly that percentages everything is on Wednesday. We go to get his esophogus stretched again and then to the BMT unit for regular blood work. They hopefully will tell us how much is Karen's immune system and the % of donor cells are seen! That is VERY important! All we DO know is NO leukemia! We have had a GREAT week last week. We rode on a bus to see the Eagles in Atlanta and Friday night went to see Sheryl Crow here in B'ham. The tickets were donated by the Leukemia Society and Gil, Terry's business partner, bought them and we had a great time! Thank you Gil(Denise), Davis(Jennifer-missed you!) and Rick(Kristy)! Sunday, we went to church of course, Jerry a great lesson, and then to Barber's Track where my brother was racing his BMW. He talked Terry into riding with a professional driver and he did over 140 miles per hour at one time! He LOVED it!Could not stop talking about it! We(I) am very tired! So I will post again after we see the doctor on Wednesday! Hugs and kisses to everyone! Thanks for hanging in here with us and I apologize for not posting sooner, haven't had time as you can tell! Thank our Good Lord and Savior for all his blessings! Alyce

Great News!

We got wonderful news this afternoon. We went to the GI doctor and he got his esophogus stretched to where the doc said he should notice alot of difference. He ate a bacon cheeseburger and some strawberries and cream for lunch(I got food in the food court at the hospital). He was then wheel-chaired over to the BMT unit and when we went in Dr. Vaughan, the big cheese, looked up at Terry and said "I looked at your bone marrow and it's puny but there is no leukemia!" We literally fell on him and said "Praise the Lord!" I felt like a brick house had been lifted off of me! Of course we asked about the puny part. He said it just hasn't stirred up like they would like it to but that was ok. Getting that kind of news just made our week!!! God is good and has more work for Terry to do here on earth! John is recovering and I take him to the doctor tomorrow. God bless everyone of you who have spent the last year praying for us, your work has been rewarded! Hugs and kisses to all! Alyce

Everyone's At Home Now

Yes, I am exhausted! I do not think I ever got this tired through the whole year last year! I'm chalking it up to old age! John had his surgery yesterday early and he was and is still pretty much out of it. They released Terry around 2 pm yesterday and we went and got John from my Dad's and Barbara's and all came home. Kristina had driven in after her last test in Tuscaloosa. She is home for the summer thank goodness. I need her help! They sent oxygen home with us and of course Terry being the stubborn person he is will not keep it on. They will stretch his esophogus again on Monday and then will go to the BMT unit for his oxygen to be measured. He will go to a pulmanary doctor sometime this week and in the mean time I have to take John to the doctor at 1pm on Tuesday to take the staples out. They have prescibed Lovibox shots to be given to John because of the Factor-5 lyden that Terry, Karen and Kristina have. This can cause blood clots, Johnny most likely had it and that is why he is not here with us today! I want to apologize to Jerry Jenkins, our preacher, he followed us around all day yesterday and never found us. Everywhere he went we had just left! I am sorry for that Jerry! We love everyone of you and keep praying for Terry in that his bone marrow test will come back negative! Hugs to everyone! Alyce

TERRY HOSPITILIZED

Hi Everyone, this is Karen. I told Alyce I would do the Blog for her because she is at the hospital with Terry. Yesterday they were at UAB from 9am and got home about 5:15pm. The doctor called them and said they needed to come back to the hospital to check Terry in because a test they had done on him showed his oxygen level was dangerously low. He was at risk for a stroke or heart attack. They checked him in about 7:45pm. Earlier his white cell count was elevated to 14,000 (normal 4,00 to 11,000) and they had done several blood tests and the Bone Marrow test and a CT thinking he may have some pneumonia. He was on oxygen overnight and when Alyce got to the BMTU this morning, he was gone for more pulmonary tests. They just got through doing a V.Q. test on him where he breathes in a substance that makes your insides glow so they can see everything better. They now think he has a possible blood clot in his lung. They are about to do another special CT test to confirm. Please pray that the results from the Bone Marrow test and blood tests will be good and that this possible blood clot can be dissolved. Most of you do not know that our Dad died of a blood clot so this is Very serious and scary to all of us. John is supposed to have knee surgery tomorrow at St. Vincent's East. Please pray for him and his speedy recovery. I will try to keep you updated. Love to all, Karen

The Yearly Tests Are Here!

We found out Friday that they will do the bone marrow test this Wednesday and also will test the donor(Karen's) cells, last time he was tested they were are 100%, and they will see where his immune system really is at this time! Makes me a little nervous but trust that God is watching over him! This week has been a little rough, we had the procedure done on Wednesday and I had to take John to the doctor before I took T to the doctor then Lois's funeral was Thursday. It was very sweet! And then trying to work on top of all that! Butch and Jackie's dog Ginger died, they had had her for 12 years. Karen told me that the social worker had called her before she came to the funeral and Ruth was having a good day! So glad to hear that! Pray that his donor cells are still at 100% and the leukemia is still gone! The GVHD hopefully has killed any that might have been still there!Will update after we see the doctor on Wednesday. Love to you all! Alyce