welovedonna.com

Hello everyone.  This is Aunt Marilyn.  After a very stressful week of trying to make arrangments long distance, and the difficulty in getting the paperwork completed to be able to transport Donna back to Kansas, it seems we now have the final arrangments made.

Visitation will be at Harrison Chapel, 190 S. Franklin, Colby, KS  67701 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday, February 26, 2010.   A vigil service will be that evening at 7:00 p.m.  For those who are traveling from out of town and are not able to get to Colby in time on Friday evening, there will be a limited visitation from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the funeral home.

Funeral Mass will be at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church, 1065 W. 5th, Colby, Kansas  at 10:30 a.m.  Saturday, February 27th.  There will be a meal in the basement of the church immediately following Mass for all family and friends, so please feel free to join us.

Burial will be at the Selden Cemetery, Selden, Kansas  (which is located at the south end of town, and east about 1 mile)  at 2:00 p.m.

Immediately following the graveside service, there will be cookies and snacks at the Parish Hall in Selden for everyone.   These are all CENTRAL TIME.

Thank you all for your love and support and prayers you have shown Donna and her family throughout her illness.  All your comments meant so much to her, and all of us.  I know I speak for all of Donna’s family and friends when I say that we are so blessed to have so much support.  It is truly appreciated.   I believe Donna has touched each and every one of us in a very special way. 

I also want to thank all of you who came by the funeral home or to Donna and Michael’s home  in Las Vegas to pay your respects, and show your love and support for Donna’s family.    Thank you for being so kind.   Donna had a wonderful family of friends in Vegas and across the nation.

This is Donna’s sister Amy and it is with deep sorrow that I write to tell everyone that Donna lost her 32 month battle with luekemia and passed away on Friday, February 19th 2010 at St. Rose Dominican hospital.  As Donna was such an inspiration to all of you who check her website, it is important you know that she was extraordinarily brave and she fought with all her heart and strength up to the end.  Donna will be greatly missed by all of her famiy and her many friends who have supported her throughout her difficult journey.  Thank each and every one of you who left words of encouragement on her guestbook, in emails and during visits.  We know Donna gained strength from your support and enjoyed hearing from you.

Michael, the boys, and our family are doing as good as can be expected at this time and we all appreciate the kindness that everyone is showing.  Donna will be extremely missed by many.

A memorial viewing will be held at Desert Memorial, 1111 Las Vegas Blvd North, Las Vegas NV 89101 on Tuesday, February 23rd 2010 from 2-5 pm.  A funeral service and final burial will follow in Colby Kansas.  The details for the Colby service are pending and I will update the website once finalized.

We love you Donna and will miss you so.  May you rest in peace.  Love, Amy

February 14^th, 2010 

Wow, I think this is the longest I’ve gone without an update. I’m sorry to all you faithful readers. Happy Valentines Day and Happy Anniversary to Pam & Gary Waldren. As you’ve probably guessed, I haven’t been writing because I haven’t had the strength to do so. I have a couple of good days here and there but they are becoming very rare. It’s funny though because what I call a good day now, would have been called a pretty bad day 4 months ago. Right now I’m totally dependant on my husband. I can’t get out of the chair by myself, can’t roll over in bed, can’t even get up from the handicap porta potty. It sucks. My Parents arrived for a visit last Sunday and were supposed to leave today but decided to stay for a while due to my condition. My Sister and Grandma upped there visit to tomorrow instead of the end of the month, and Michael’s brother arrives on Friday for a 4 day stay. I hope this gives a little relief to Michael as he could definitely use one. I am constantly asking for his help.  I don’t really understand why they all want to come out and watch me sleep as that is pretty much my day but they assure me that is ok. We are trying  a new treatment and praying that it’s the one. It’s the magic bullet so to speak. Let’s hope anyway. Michael believes it is working because of  some of the side effects are matching up and I’m expelling what they describe  as dead cancer cells. Time will tell. I did start knitting my Mom a hat today with this new fangled plastic circular device to try to stay awake and give my hands something to do. It’s been an interesting adventure so to speak. May attempt to sit in a real chair and cut some quilt squares. No guarantees though. I have developed a cough that is relentless as well. On the other hand, the fever seems to be under control so I’m not extremely worried. The worst part right now are the sores and the swelling. My leg skin can’t stretch much more and the arms are now partaking in the swelling so that just adds to the frustration.  Especially because it’s worse in my left arm and that is the side the end table is on and that makes it hard to grab things without reaching across myself with my right hand. Anyway, that’s been the life in the Handy household. I’ll try not to go so far in between updates. I just haven’t had my computer open in ages. No energy. Please don’t give up on me though.

January 20, 2010

I’m sorry I haven’t updated in so long and left you all worrying. I have to say though, we’ve been a little worried ourselves. I have managed to stay out of the hospital but only by a hair. My fever spiked to 101 last night and that is our usual cut off but we used some ice extra ice packs and got it down to a low grade. My cultures came back negative so I shouldn’t been getting any fevers but who knows. Last week went well with the blood products but this week we are back to chasing down results and doctors. It’s never ending vicious cycle. I did a couple treatments at the home-path dr.., one being a vitamin drip that seemed to boost my energy a bit and the second was a hydrogen peroxide treatment that is designed to deliver oxygen to your cells. And we all know by now, that cancer cells don’t like oxygen as they are anerobic in nature. Unfortunately the positive response from the treatments are short lived. I had some energy for a couple of hours but then I’d nose dive again. The cost of the treatments are pretty high for short lived results so we are still searching our options.  The past week or so has been the worst. I literally sleep about 18 hours a day. I may get up 3 or 4 times a day for an hour or two but that is it. Of course this has caused more muscle loss and even walking with the walker is getting scary as I have 0 balance. Poor Michael is bound to the house and watching me. That is no life. He is coping though and actually did some research for me today so we can weigh our options and decide what direction we want to go. I had lost so much of my drive that it was hard to even think about posting because I felt like I was letting people down by not being as strong as I need to be. I just need to pick myself up, kick myself in the butt and start fighting to get these muscles back and immune system working. We had other battles to deal with as well but the details would most likely be to gory for the standard reader. I know my husband never thought he would have to go there and I know he hopes he never has to go back. And yes it was extremely painful for me. I don’t usually make noises when I’m in pain but this time I did. Actually a couple of times throughout the month, I’ve had to let it out and just cry or moan. I’m so looking forward to these sores healing and the bone pain to subside.  However, on the upside, my mouth is doing a lot better and my sinuses are holding steady. They aren’t cleared completely but I am able to breath thru my nose for the most part. 

On top of all of this, Brandon went and got himself in trouble out in Boulder City and that cost us a lot time and money. I don’t know when that boy is going to learn he is not welcome in that town. Ian leaves for L.A. on Friday for America’s got talent tryouts and gathering all those documents was also a time consuming task. And with only one vehicle in the family, things just got more complicated. But hopefully, that has been remedied and Brandon can start driving his truck again.

That’s about it. Just getting by day by day and trying to get my determination and drive back. I’m near rock bottom and just trying to hold on to the rung of the ladder and not slip any lower as the climb already seems insurmountable.  So with that, please keep praying. I appreciate each and every one of you that are checking on me, praying for me, leaving me comments and encouragement.  Love to all of you.

January 6^th, 2010 

Ian woke up yesterday with pink eye. Poor guy, I know how that can hurt. I immediately sent him off to his dad’s because I know just how contagious this can be. He went to the Dr. and says it’s healing up but they want him out of school until Friday. I’m sure he doesn’t mind. He’ll survive but I’m not sure his grades will.  Monday and Tuesday, my fiend Rachel came over to be my caretaker. It was very nice of her and she said she had a good time as she usually doesn’t slow down long enough to enjoy the silence in the day. She starts her new job in hospice care on Monday and judging by how she was with me for those two days, she is going to do a fantastic job. I continue to go up and down. I’m back to just taking it hour by hour as things are changing constantly. I worked on getting standing orders on my platelets and blood so maybe we can make these transfusions less of a major drama and more like a simple medical procedure. I contacted the P.A. and had her do some poking & proding with my oncologist to figure out why he was restricting my blood products. Not sure we made all the progress we wanted but did move forward. So, thank you Lord. We see the homeopathic dr. tomorrow. …………….It’s now January 7^tth , I kept falling asleep while typing last night so my husband put me to bed.  I got a pretty good nights sleep and I’m up and at it this morning trying to be as normal as possible.  Still working on Christmas cards and hopefully will have them done before Valentines day.  I must go get dressed for my appointment now.  I’ll try to write more later.

January 3, 2010

Breakthrough! I woke up this morning wondering just how I was going to make it thru the day. I was in extreme pain and due to the bone pain, misc. sores and of course the nose situation which was completely swollen shut with no air being allowed to flow thru it. My gums were bleeding due to the dry mouth as my lips were sticking to them. It was miserable. I slept in, got up long enough to eat a small breakfast, and went back to bed. I just wanted to sleep the day away so I didn’t have to deal with the pain.  I had done quite a bit of exercising yesterday and I was really feeling it this morning. So part of it was a bitter-sweet pain. I had decided to play tennis and bowling on the wii last night just sitting on the couch and using only my forearm/wrist. Ohhhhhh……..it felt like my wrist was broken this morning. So I took a nap, then nature called. So while I was in there I figured I’d take the pain, grin and bear it and blow as hard as I could to clear that nostril. It hadn’t worked in the past but I was desperate. Low and behold… something started to come out. So I grabbed a hold and slowly started to pull. I blew, tugged, blew, tugged and pretty soon it was pretty clear why I couldn’t breath. It was so thick. Pretty soon, it was all cleared out and I had air flow once again in my right nostril. This was amazing!  Then I used the neti pot, nasal spray, and nose lotions to make sure it stayed clear. So far, so good.  I spent the rest of the day in the chair watching football and resting. I’m not sure which is best. Exercise one day, rest a day, or exercise a little each day. Anyone have any advice in muscle building? I am soooooooo sore but I’m scared to stop exercising as I know building muscle is extremely important.  My appetite wasn’t as good today as in the past couple of days but I forced what I could down. I’m running low on pain pills so I’m going to have to add that to my list of things to do early this week. May require a dr. visit. Michael has 2 more days of work left so  my friend Rachel is going to come sit with me. She’ll make me exercise if Michael tells her to.  Of course we  will most likely be getting blood and platelets somewhere between Tues. and Thurs. So now it’s evening time, the pain is back and I must go see what I can do. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Love ya all.

December 24, 2009 – January 1, 2010 

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone. Hard to believe the year is coming to an end. Just seems like yesterday that we were celebrating the new millennium and now we’re a decade into it. The older we get the faster the time flies I think.So my parents were able to sneak out of town a night early and beat the blizzard to Denver. They hit some nasty weather around Limon but for the most part missed the worst of it. My Aunt was able to find them a hotel room at a very reasonable rate and they even lucked out more cause the hotel waived their parking fee and they didn’t have to leave their car in airport parking. They headed to the airport on a shuttle hoping to catch an earlier flight and the good Lord was with them once more as they were able to get on the 9 am flight. A full 12 hours early.  ………………………

Fast forward to New Year’s Day.  As you can see, my intentions were once again in the right spot but then the energy level died off and then completely disappeared.  In other words, I had a very tough week.  I got a call on Christmas Eve letting me know that I needed to go to the ER for platelets and blood. I didn’t want to spend Christmas in the hospital and we needed to try to get on a new schedule where I would need transfusions at the beginning of the week and not at the end. So even though I knew it would be a rough couple of days and I’d be pretty fatigued, I decided to hunker down and make it thru to Monday where I could go to the regular infusion center.  Mission accomplished. I was able to get my blood drawn on Monday and processed STAT. Then we should have been able to just call the infusion center and make an appointment but nothing can be that easy lately. Brenda and I spent the morning calling around trying to find out where the standing orders were for my transfusion. The blood draws had been ordered by our infectious disease dr. but we were having a hard time getting an order faxed over for transfusion. So the infusion center called the oncologists and everything went south from there. I swear this man is trying to kill me. He said he’d send over orders buy he changed the parameters. No platelets unless I’m below 10. It was 20. No blood unless it’s below 8. It was 8.5. He wouldn’t budge either. So I decided to pick my battles and I’d deal with it later as I was well below those parameters now. So they infuse me with 2 units of blood and a unit of platelets. The blood bank informed them that they had another unit of platelets available and since I was at 3 and they had time to infuse, would they like them to send it over. They called my oncologist twice and he denied it twice. I would not sign off on two units. They reminded him that they were closed Thursday-Monday and it would help carry me. He still said no and we didn’t have time to track down another doctor to over-ride it. I also found out he canceled my home physical therapy. So now I’ll be searching for a new oncologist which seems pretty silly considering I’ve been with him for 2 ½ years and that’s a lot of medical records.  Now, on to Wednesday, I had an appointment with the homeopathic doctor we choose here.  After spending some time with him discussing different options, we ended up doing an I.V. of a major vitamin mix. It took a couple of hours to drip but packed a much needed punch.  It really perked me up so they sent a bag of it home with us for today. He felt Michael had enough experience with I.V.’s  to administer it. He also sent us home with some more of that cream that seems to be magic. I put it on my sores and they look better the very next day.  We go back to see him next week. I think we’re going to start a plan to rebuild the immune system and flush out the toxins. Palladium Lipoic Complex or Poly-MVA. He first wants to tackle my malnourishment. He is very worried about my lack of muscles, my sores, and my weight which was 97 pounds at check-in. He gave me some amino acids to help build it back up and wants me juicing 3 times a day. So my New’s Years Eve drink was the juice of several green vegetables. Oh……yummy. This morning my hubby made me some fresh apple/orange juice and it was TRULY yummy. Going to have to ease into that pure vegetables part of juicing. Adding a fruit here and there won’t hurt.  At this point, every calorie counts. I just have to watch out for the sugar. Some of my meds screwed up my adrenals and we are still having to check my blood sugar levels and administer insulin regularly. I truly hope this is temporary. If I end up with diabetes after all of  this, that would really suck. I’d still be thankful to be alive but really….don’t we have enough scares from this journey?  And that brings us to Today! New Year’s. 2010. I’m feeling pretty good today. Still in a lot of pain but otherwise well. My sinuses are still swollen but my gums don’t seem to be near as sore. So I’ll be thankful for the relief, large or small. Concentrate on the positive! I did get a call today about my blood work. My platelets and hemoglobin were good but the pharmacist was alarmed this the potassium level. It was severely low. I told him I have a prescription potassium pill and he advised me to take them but encouraged me to call and get dosage from the doctor because if the potassium goes too low, it can cause heart palpitations. When I informed him that I was already having them, he suggested we go to the ER if they continue.  I took the potassium and did the bag of vitamins. The palpitations are none to minimal so I think we’re in the clear and we can see what tomorrow brings paying close attention to the little details and signs your body gives you. Well, I better close for now and get this posted before I fall asleep. Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support.

December 21, 2009 

I have been stuck in hospital hell. On my last update I mentioned that we were waiting on lab results. Well we got them. At midnight! Needless to say, I didn’t rush on it then as I knew it would be a waiting game that could be pushed off until morning. Unfortunately, no infusion center could take me until Monday so the avoidance of the ER didn’t work out as planned. So Kylie and Brenda came over and we packed for what should have been an overnight trip to the hospital. That was Friday morning. Here it is Monday evening and they are still working on discharge papers. But at least I know it will be this evening. The kicker of the whole thing is that no-one seemed to want to take charge. My infectious disease doctor was fine with letting me go the next day and so was the attending general but everyone thought it should be the oncologists call. No oncologist showed up for 3 days and when paged, they gave the run around and pointed fingers at other doctors. I just don’t get it. Anyway, as luck would have it, they found some infections beginning in my bladder and switched up my i.v. meds.  Unfortunately, for no apparent reason I started breaking out in little sores all up and down my arms and legs. None of the docs can seem to explain them but let me assure you, they are called sores for a reason. Ouch! Then to top things off, they started taking my blood sugar again and the readings were in the 3 to 400 range. Huh? So they started giving me insulin. They said the high sugar was because I was on high doses of steroids but no one could tell me why, just that I couldn’t stop it cold turkey. So after a couple of days of that, I finally got a schedule I could use and an explanation for the medication.

So I have to say, this past month has really tested me. I am definitely having a difficult time trying to stay positive. I am by no means giving up or wavering on my belief that I can beat this but it’s not as easy as it was 6 months ago. My body is not the only thing that is tired right now. My mind and my soul are taking it one hour at a time. I know from experience that tomorrow could bring about a whole new attitude and I may wake up feeling amazing. That’s what I shoot for when I lay my head down at night. Tomorrow is always a new day and God is always there to carry you.

My little sister, bless her heart, gave my parents plane tickets to come se me for Christmas. I’m very excited about their trip. It’s only for three days but it is better than nothing. It will also allow them to see Ian’s play on the 24^th. I’m still hoping I get to go but it’s going to be a last minute call.  Not sure I can risk being around that many people even with a mask.  But the video from the last program wasn’t of very high quality so I’m afraid if it’s the same company, I may miss out on a lot with him having a leading roll and all.

I am happy to say, I got my Christmas letter done. Un-happy to say, it will be after the new year before you receive it. I was printing them up Friday night when we ran out of  black ink.

Thanks for your support, prayers, and encouragement. May your Christmas be everything Christ meant it to be. Hug your loved ones and say Thank You for all the blessings you have received today.

December 17, 2009

 First off I’d like to apologize for not keeping up on a daily basis. It’s been a pretty up and down time. I’ve started several updates and then fallen asleep in the middle of typing them. They were short and humorless so I didn’t post them, but I’m sure a little update is better than no update at all. I would also like to apologize for the opening page of the website. I can’t get it to change and I can’t find the customer support number to get help. I will continue to try as obviously I’m not in Houston anymore and much as happened since I was.

Onto the past week or so. Let me tell you it has been an interesting one. Getting blood products in this town can make you feel like a vampire in the night trying to get some forbidden food. So basically, what happened is 3 lab screw ups and 2 hospital stays because of it. They were only overnight stays but still very annoying. In the meantime, I caught the cold that was going around and have been trying to deal with the stuffed up nose. The nose alone wouldn’t be too bad but it forces me to breath through my mouth which in turn dries out the ulcers on my gums making for one miserable little mouth. But this to shall pass and they put me back on I.V. antibiotics to help it along. The meds have to be given every 8 hours though and Michael got called to work for the next 3 weeks so I’m having to have a friend come over and administer the dosage. While she’s here, we try to do a little holiday baking. Well she does most of the work, I just point out where things are. The physical therapist came by twice. He said without a doubt, I was his youngest and weakest patient but not to worry, he would get me back in shape. He said the progress from day 1 to day 2 was amazing. But now I’m on day three and my muscles are feeling it. Ouch. There were a couple of times, I thought I was going to be stuck on the toilet because I couldn’t get enough quad strength mustered up.  All in due time. So basically, I’d have a really good day where I actually took care of a few things and then I’d have a not so good day where I’d pretty much be stuck in bed or in a chair just fading in and out of sleep. The good news is there have been no fevers or near death experiences. No serious hospital stays and I’m getting some good time with my family and friends. We are nowhere near ready for Christmas but I suppose it’s going to come and go whether we are or not so we’ll just do the best we can. On-line shopping just isn’t the same but I don’t dare leave the house right now with all that is out there.  Not to mention that everytime I get on the computer my eyelids seem to turn into 50 pound weights.  I really can’t even think of anything the boys need this year.  I know they would love to do some snowboarding but the season passes at Mt. Charleston have risen quite a bit and it’s such a hit and miss with the snow each year.  Brianhead is a bit larger and more reasonably priced but 3 hours away making it harder to just go up for a couple of hours and still have a day left. Driving 3 hours after a hard day on the slopes can seem more like a 6 hour drive.  Hopefully their feet will stop growing soon so we don’t have to keep updating their boots. That can get expensive.  I’m anxious for the day when I can ski again. It so much fun but definitely takes more muscle than I have right now. But all in due time.

They took my blood this morning but no results yet. We used to think no news is good news but after all the lab screw ups, that’s not the case anymore. Hopefully we’ll be getting a call soon to say I’m ok and won’t be needing any products today. That would be great. This morning was a tough one and I was sure things were off but this afternoon has picked up and I feel a bit more alive. Tomorrow will be even better I’m sure.

One last note……Happy Birthday to my sister Amy on the 19^th . Also Happy Birthday to my dear friend who created this website for me, Elisha Scrogum.

For all of you that will be traveling this holiday season, please drive safe, fly safe, and enjoy all the memories you’re making. 

December 8, 2009

Ok, back on track this morning with my granola, banana, almond milk, and hot tea. It’s actually really good and makes me feel better than any of that sugary stuff. Just have to keep reminding myself of that when the cravings come along.

It seems to be cold all over the US this week. We may even get snow here in Vegas. Maybe not as much as Houston got the other day but a dusting or so would be nice. The news footage of Houston was crazy. Beautiful but crazy. That probally doesn’t happen but once a decade or so. Last night, my husband built me a fire to sleep by. It was awesome, right at the head of my bed. It helps also because of the drying factor. The central heat can play havic on your nose and sinuses but the fire seems to eleviate a lot of that. He kept it going until around 1 am I think. I read some scriptures until 11 or so and then couldn’t hang any longer and drifted off to a peaceful sleep. I had full intentions of getting up and watching the sun-rise with a cup of hot tea but I must say today the covers, quilt, and sweet dreams won out and I didn’t get up until after 7. The boys getting ready for school didn’t even disturb me. Brandon feels he is coming down with a pretty bad cold so we’re tying to avoid each other as is. Not sure what to do with that. Send him to a friends for a couple of days? Quarantine him to his room? Follow him around with Lysol spray? Or all of the above? I hate being paranoid but I think it’s the only way I’m going to be able to keep infections at bay. I do have open wounds that are healing quite nicely though so there must be some immune system building. One day a time, just one day at a time, I keep telling myself. Today is a busy one as well. We have the attorney stopping by, physical therapy stopping by, I want to get a Christmas letter typed, would like to cut some quilt pieces, and a whole lot of reading is backing up. And I still need to get dressed. Please don’t be discouraged if I don’t get back to you when you send me e-mails or comments. I read everyone of them, I just don’t get the time to follow up much. I will try hard to make this a New Year’s resolution I can keep. Well best get posted and on with the day as it is already 9 am and I am still in my p,j.’s.  Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support.