One day at a time

Kelsey is still here at Mercy Hospital. Dr. Keefer came by to check on her again today. He had some additional ideas for pain control which might allow her to go a bit longer between her IV pain medication. He also added another medication which she can take as needed for cough suppression and a breathing tool to help with her lung capacity (she does not need to use it if it starts her coughing a whole lot). His goals for her to reach before she can head back home include pain control, greater ease of breathing, and control of her infections. Those seem to me to be some good prayer points!

No real idea on time frame - we'll be here a day at a time. Kelsey was glad that we are not yet going home - especially from the pain management standpoint. She has been able to eat a bit more today, but certainly nowhere close to the amount of food that she needs to be taking in. However, we are glad to celebrate the little victories. Our nurses continue to be blessings. Kelsey's warriors continue to reach out in so many tangible and special ways: text messages, dropping by, Facebook messages, food, artwork, and encouraging notes (not to mention some super-fun Christmas lights hanging in the room which make it feel a LOT less institutional).

I know that I say this each time I write a post, but it hasn't stopped being true. Your prayers are so important to us! For each of us there have been times and I am sure will continue to be times that we don't even have the words to pray. What an encouragement to know that literally thousands of our brothers and sisters around the world (some of whom we have never met) are lifting us up in prayer! It is a blessing to be a part of such a caring network. You are the ones who allow us to have hope each day and it is being noticed. Our nurse today commented that our room was different than others that she goes into here on the oncology floor because she can tell that the room is filled with hope. Praise God that we can continue to hope in Him!

Here are some specific prayer requests:

-- Pain control. This is probably the number one issue at this point in time. The pain medication makes her sleepy, which means no eating while she is asleep. There is a very narrow window when she is alert enough to eat and about then her pain starts getting bad again. She pretty consistently requests the pain medication every two hours.

-- Greater ease of breathing. She is definitely breathing better, but it is still a bit of a struggle and she is still using oxygen constantly.

-- End to infection. It seems that taking care of her urinary tract infection and thrush will allow her body to focus on healing from cancer instead of infections.

-- Continued control of nausea. She has been doing better in that front. We pray for ongoing success in the reduction (and eventual elimination) of nausea.

-- Appetite. The more she is able to eat, the stronger she will get. Moving is pretty strenuous at this point in time, with more nutrition, everything will get a bit easier.

-- Good rest.

-- Wisdom for Dr. Keefer and for us to know when Kelsey is ready to go home.

-- Wisdom about ongoing treatment.

-- A fighting spirit for Kelsey, God to receive glory, and Kelsey's full and complete earthly healing.

One more special request for you all to lift up. Our dear friend, Melinda Wells, who is going through a similar battle with cancer (she has had several brain surgeries and more recently a sarcoma which grew alongside her brain) was going to have an MRI this evening at MD Anderson. Before the MRI, she suffered a stroke and became unconscious. Her husband Corey rode with her in the ambulance to take her across the street for tests and possible surgery. Please pray for her, for the doctors, and for her husband. Oh that God would protect her and heal her completely!