LIVER BIOPSY....LONG DAY

Hello all friends and relatives. This is Karen posting for Alyce today. Yesterday, Terry and Alyce were at the BMTU at 5:45am for blood work and liver biopsy. I got there around 7:30am to sit with Alyce. They had drawn blood and put in IV ports. Later they gave him 2 units of frozen plasma to help with clotting. We sat there until 11:20am before they came to get him for the liver biopsy. Alyce and I ate lunch, went to 2 gift shops, walked through 3 buildings at UAB, and went to the American Red Cross in the building and gave blood while we were waiting for him to get back. We could not go out of the building because of the rain ALL day. Lidia said the bloodwork did not look good and was afraid the GVHD was in the liver, but that is why they did the biopsy. Please pray that it is not there. We will not hear the results for about 5 days. If it is in the liver, they will begin a procedure called Photopheresis. Terry did not get back to the BMTU until around 4pm. He was starving and ready to go home. But because he had an irregular heartbeat and they wanted to monitor him, they kept him overnight. Alyce did not know yet if he will be released today or not. In talking to Alyce yesterday, we realized that we had both bought the same plaque for our kitchens. It says, "Faith is not believing that God can, it is knowing that God will." Our faith continues to sustain us along with your prayers and friendships. Love and Hugs to you all, Karen

Liver Biopsy Scheduled

Terry went to the bmt today and they did his bloodwork and his liver counts are even higher than Saturday's. So a liver biopsy will be done on Friday. They want to make sure that it is NOT GVHD. Hopefully its just all the meds he is taking but they have to make sure. Pray that it is not gvhd and when he comes off the steroids it will go away. He has been working hard and helping me with the shop re-do. It looks GREAT! Thanks to him and Gil for the paint and the hard work! We put John, Kaleb and Jacob to work and they learned how to put down a floor and the procedure you have to abide to for it to work right! Granny has been going through some rough times and they had to put her on oxygen for a while, but Butch and Jackie told us that Sat. she was better. Our family has really been going through some rough times lately, but as Terry always says to me "God only gives you what He thinks you can handle" Please pray this all goes away soon! Will update after Friday! Love to you all! Alyce

Blood Sugar Goes Up

We went to the BMT unit today and his blood sugar was high so we learned how to take it with one of those little machines that prick your finger. He says it doesn't hurt and he only has to do it when he wakes up in the morning and before we eat dinner. He is not on insulin yet and hopefully it won't come to that but they said we had to watch it while he on the steroids. He will be re-evaluated next week about coming off of them. He had a chest x-ray done and will do a pulmanary test Friday for the lung problem that has been with him since October. We were there from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm, a very long day. We saw a young man, whom we have become friends with as you do in the bmt unit, he had the same thing as Terry. He is only 24 years old and is battling the GVHD also. They tried the steriods with him, same regimine as they have Terry on, but it is not working so they were admitting him today and going to start a chemo-therapy to try to get it under control. I felt SO bad for him. Terry always encourages him and tells him to keep the faith and that God is watching over him. He always shakes his head and says " I know, I going to be alright". He is very swollen from the steroids and his arms are so bruised from the needles. His name is Mark, so keep him in your prayers. Lidia had a wreck this morning on the way to work, but she is OK. She is bruised and sore so don't know exactly when she will return back to work, soon hopefully! We also found out today a man who attended Terry's leukemia benefit and goes to church with my brother, Alan, lost his battle with cancer. He had throat cancer and when he and his wife attended the benefit, I remember talking to him about his fight with throat cancer and he had won the battle at that time(in May of 2007). He was cancer free for a year and it returned in the form of tumors in different parts of his body. He faught and took treatments and decided he was not going to live the rest of his life in pain and suffering. He stopped taking the treatments when they told him it could help but there was a chance they would not help. The church they attend, Mtn Top, paid for his family(wife and 2 children) to go to Hawaii to have a vacation they would not forget. He started riding his bike and worked a little until he couldn't any more and spent the rest of his days with a quality of life with his family until today. Please pray for the Joe Lent family and that they may get through this with God's Grace. I think about losing T when I hear about things like this and I have to thank the good Lord above he is still here. He has decided that the BMT unit needs more room, along with Dr. Vaughan, and is planning to start raising money to help it along. As we go up there so often we see a great need for this. He got his first donation yesterday and was so proud that Mr. Shirley was so gracious and generous in his giving. I am sure something will be in the works and we will let everyone know. We love all of you and God Bless Everyone of you for staying with us through this journey! Alyce

BAD BUG BAD WEEK!!!!!!

Well, since my last update too much has happened! I got the bad bug myself and several others that went to the nursing home have had it too! I took T to the hospital Tuesday to get his fluids and I went to work. While at work I got to feeling bad and just prayed I would make it back to the hospital to get T. I did, but on the way home, it was not pretty! Won't go into details, too bad to tell! My Dad and Barbara had to come get me and take me to the ER at St. Vincents East. We got home about 10:30 pm. I have not been back to work all week! Today, I do feel better and so does T. Not myself yet, but I think the steroids he is on is helping him. I hope this next week is much better! He will be on the steroids 3 more weeks and after that I am not sure! Will keep you updated! Hugs and kisses! Alyce

Granny's 85th Birthday!

We celebrated Ruth's 85th birthday Saturday! Just thank God Terry was here to celebrate it! Karen had fixed her up SOOOOOO pretty! She bought balloons, cake, chips and dip and we had a great time seeing everyone! They had gotten her a flat screen tv with a DVD player in it. We all bought her DVD's to play, mostly old stuff we knew whe would enjoy. She seemed to really like it! It will help keep her entertained during the day. Rick showed sweet Kelly how to work it. On another note, at 2 am Monday morning Terry started throwing up and some other fun stuff I won't mention. NOT fun! We spent all day today at the bmt unit and have to go back tomorrow, more fluids! They wanted to admit him but he begged and got 2 iv's, one in each arm and they gave him 3 liters today and he will get about the same tomorrow. They think its just a bug, but not sure. John is also not feeling well either. We told the doctor about going to the nursing home and they said he could have gotten a bug there, but it could have been anywhere we had been this weekend. John had played Friday night and we went to see them so no telling where he got it. Lidia said we had to get permission to go anywhere else first. "No more parties", she said! We just knodded, but would not take anything for what we did this weekend! Just thought I would update with the lastest! I am going to bed now, VERY TIRED! Hugs and kisses, they said he is doing to much of that and I should put a sign on him, saying"I would love to hug and kiss you but can't! God Bless Everyone! Good Night! Alyce