Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Thirty Days of Gifts

As Andrea's Mom said in the last post, Andrea will start her thirty day stay at the hospital on May 4th. She will receive four days of chemotherapy followed by a day of rest and then she will receive Kristin's bone marrow. During this time I will be able to see her, but we will have to seriously limit the visitors.

To make her stay more pleasant I thought we could all come together and do something special for her each day. I was thinking we could have a special present for her to open each day of her stay in the hospital. It would be something to look forward to each day and make her day a much brighter one. Like I said her first night at MD Anderson will be the 4th of May so lets start this on the 5th of May. If you are interested in participating, please send a gift to my parent's home in Katy:

Andrea Luthringer
c/o J. Martin
722 Enford Ct.
Katy, TX 77450

I will be sure she has a gift each day to open and enjoy. Please don't send flowers our items that might make her sick. Good ideas are:

-Things to decorate her hospital room
-Pictures of times you shared with her or just a picture of yourself
-CD's
-VCR tapes/DVD's
-Books on tape
-girlie Magazines (she really likes gossip Hollywood mags)
-Use your imagination and if you have questions email me @ jmartiniv@houston.rr.com

If you are interested in participating please comment on this blog topic so I know an estimate of how many gift I need to buy. Let's make this stay a more enjoyable one and keep the prayers coming her way. Thank you everyone for your support and we will get Andrea through this obstacle.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Andrea's heroes, please keep praying

Hi. This is Kathy, Andrea's mom, posting tonight. So much has been happening with Andrea continuing to get check ups and growing a bit stronger each day.
Plans now are for her to start the bone marrow transplant process May 1. It is supposed to last 100 days, with at least 30 of those being admitted to M.D. Anderson Hospital.
I thank each and every one of you reading this blog for praying for Andrea and saving her life. There was only so much that the doctors and nurses could do at St. Luke's Hospital and it was you who prayed with us for God to perform His miracles to keep her alive again and again. You are her heroes. God heard you and saved her. While at St. Luke's, Andrea got the boost she needed to survive from the platelets from J., Mark and Debbie. What special heroes! And each of you who gave blood to Andrea, thank you. I read the list to Andrea of over 100 of you who gave blood and we cry with gratitude. What heroes! And many of you gave over and over again. Thank you so very much.
Kristin, Andrea's sister, is a her hero by donating her bone marrow. There is only a 25% chance that a sibling's marrow will match, so when the pathologist personally delivered the great news that Kristin was a match, we were all elated. Thank you, Kristin, for undergoing a week's hospital rigorous process and turning your arm black and blue to give the gift of life. Thank you, Jimbo, for being such a support through this process. You are our heroes.
The whole Martin family has heroically supported us through the daily process of physical and emotional needs. Thank you for being there, time and time again. It is awesome to witness and experience sacrifical love being poured out upon Andrea.
The special cards, messagaes and telephone calls are so much appreciated.
Our church friends, Jim, Jim, Cheryl, Randy and Beall, were our heroes getting us moved into our house and we really, really appreciate that. Perry is not only a good wig coordinator, but a good room organizer, too. Thank you so much to each of you.
I could go on and on about how wonderful you all are, so I'll make it short by saying that thank you to each of you will never be enough. One thing for sure, though, I do see the love of God and Christ shining through each of you. For those of you who live far away, we do feel the blessings of your prayers. God is listening. He is healing. Please keep praying for Andrea's sight and for complete cure.
Love to all,
Kathy

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

All is Well 4-5-06

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I have been out of town away from the computer for some time. Andrea was unhooked from the chemo on Saturday and she went to see the doctor on Monday. From what I understand all is well and she is not having any complications. She will return to MD Anderson tomorrow to have another check of her blood. Please pray for good results tomorrow.

Andrea's sister came in on Wednesday of last week to get prepared for the bone marrow harvest. They gave her some shots for several days and ran tests. Yesterday they completed the harvest and we found out today that the doctors recovered the amount they need for Andrea. Thank God Andrea has a sister that is so generous and would bend over backwards to help her only sister at the drop of a hat. It surely must be such a rewarding experience knowing that you are saving someone's life and especially your sister's. Not all of us will get to make that kind of contribution in our life, but it is truly a miracle when the chance arises. We should all get test for bone marrow donation and when the chance arises save a life.

Today Andrea is off to the eye doctor since she began seeing color. I am sure that he will be amazed at the progress she has made is the last several weeks. She is excited about going back and showing him what she can see. Her glasses did come in last week and they are helping her see even more. I have not seen her since she got her glasses, but I will give a better update when I do.

Please continue your support and prayers. God Bless.