100% Donor (June 21)

We received the report today that Andrea's bone marrow is 100% donor cells. She continues to amaze us every step of the way. Please keep your prayers coming and will help her through this healing time. Thanks again for all the support and prayers.

Encouraging week (June 18)

We're all happy that Andrea gained 5 pounds since leaving the hospital. She's at a whopping 110 pounds now. She continues to go in every day, including weekends, to MDA for blood levels to be taken and receive fluids. A couple of times she wore a fanny pack full of fluid to run all night to get her creatine level down to an acceptable level. (This has to do with the kidney.) She started to complain that the fanny pack was in the way, then the next day she had to wear a backpack full of fluids to run all night. She made us laugh because she said she wouldn't complain about the fanny pack anymore because next time it may be a suitcase! She's a trooper and is trying to keep a sense of humor. She still has itching from the graft versus host disease, but it has calmed down some so she can at least sleep at night now.
The retina specialist said that he wanted to do at least 2 surgeries on each eye as soon as Andrea can get stablized, which will probably be as soon as summer is over. He confirmed the cataracts have gotten worse, which Andrea could already tell.
Thank you, thank you for your continued prayers. Kathy

Update 6-11-06

Sorry its been almost a week since I posted something, but the last several days have flown by. Andrea came home on Tuesday and has been going back to MDA each day. Her blood numbers have been looking good (no need for platelets or whole blood) and she has just been receiving fluids to keep up with all the meds she is taking. The issue she has been facing is a rash that has kept her itching all over. On Thursday they did another bone marrow biopsy and then Friday they did a skin biopsy to check out the rash. We won't know the results until sometime this week.

Andrea is so happy to be a home away from the hospital. She was really getting down the last couple of days there at MDA, but you would have to expect that I guess. I would have gone crazy. This week will be a healing week and we are praying the rash will go away. Thanks again to everyone out there who have being donating blood product. It looks like we can lay low for a while and I will make the announcement if and when she is in need. Also thanks to all who have been praying daily for Andrea's recovery. God has really heard our calling and answered our prayers. Andrea isn't out of the woods but she is getting much closer to that light at the end of the tunnel. God Bless.

Going Home Today (6-6-06)

Andrea will be leaving the hospital this morning and start getting all treatment on an outpatient basis. She is extremely excited to be leaving and can't wait to step out of the hospital. Thanks for everyone's support through this tough time and please keep the prayers coming her way.

She will begin going to the hospital daily starting tomorrow until her blood count all come back up to normal. Her platelets are still low (25), but she has not received a transfusion in 3 day. Any blood product donations are still greatly appreciated and will not go unused. Thanks again and talk to everyone soon. God Bless.

Tough Road as of June 3

Hi, this is Kathy, Andrea's mom posting tonight. As everyone knows by now, Andrea is one tough, determined young lady. She has also been in some excruciating pain, but WITH YOUR PRAYERS, she is pulling through pain after pain, moment after moment. As soon as she checked in May 4, she was determined to get on with what she knew would be a "tough treatment". She named her IV stand "Wheely" and started her walking exercises with it as it pumped her with every kind of hydration fluid, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral drug along with 2 very strong chemotherapies and the precious bone marrow stem cells from Kristin. The week she could not even put water in her mouth because it felt like acid, she did not walk but still did some bed exercises. Today she went to the gym for 25 minutes with the physical therapist and I thought did well, but she was disappointed at the strength she has lost. She clearly remembers running 3 miles a day in November. The doctor says "maybe next week" Andrea can go home, so they are in the process of changing the IV fluids to pill form since she can swallow again. They monitor her blood levels every day then prescribe the appropriate medicine and drugs and will need to continue doing that for many weeks to come, so once we get home we will need to either trek to MDA or maybe home health service may do some. Andrea's eyesight is still blurry and we know she does have cataracts in addition to the retina problem, so as soon as she gets discharged, we will go back to her retina specialist and see what miracles he can perform. SO, we're calling on you again to petition God. He is faithful, and we know you are too, with your prayers. Thank you all, so very much. We have our precious Andrea with us here because God listened to each and every one of you.
God bless and love to all, Kathy

Going Well (Day +21)

The afternoon of Day +19, Andrea's fever spike again. Then yesterday (Day +20) she didn't have a fever and today there has been no fever. The cultures from the lung procedure have not grown anything, but Andrea's blood from several days ago did grow some bacteria. Hopefully the antibiotics and fever took care of that and there is none left in her blood. The doctors said that it may take several week for her lungs to clear, but she is having no trouble breathing. Her lungs will not hold her in the hospital unless the cultures finally grow something. The doctors feel that if she continues the way she has for the last two days, she will be going home next week. Let's all pray for this to be the case. God Bless and talk to everyone tomorrow.

Fever is Gone (+19 morning)

This morning the fever was gone and Andrea woke up and had some french toast and yogurt for breakfast. We saw the infectious disease team and they said that all the cultures have come back negative, but we won't get the results from the procedure performed Saturday night till midweek. Then we should know if these fevers are related to fluid in her lung or just the engrafting of the new marrow. Let's pray for the latter.

We have already taken a walk and we just got done playing cards and checkers. Keep on praying for the doctors to figure out what is causing these fevers and that they will stop soon. Thanks everyone for the support and God Bless.

Fever is Back (+18 afternoon)

As soon as I tell everyone she is doing great Andrea spikes another fever. Hopefully the fever is just related to the grafting which can cause fevers. Around 6PM I left to go get Andrea and I some Italian food and when I got back she had spike another fever (104). I am trying to cool her down so she can get some sleep. Let's all pray again that the fever will break and that they are due to the grafting and not an infection. God Bless and Good Night.

Fever Break (Day +18)

Last night the fever broke and Andrea is feeling much better today. We just took a walk and she ate some quesadillas and a piece of angel food cake. No sign of fever today and she is in such a better mood. Hopefully the days to come will continue to be something like today. Please continue your prayers and we will have her out of this place before no long. God Bless and see you on the next post.

Please Pray (Day +17)

Yesterday Andrea continued to have a fever which finally broke this morning around 10am. Then she slowly developed another high fever today and the doctors have become concerned. They think that the bone marrow is grafting well but are trying to figure out what is causing these fevers. Here white blood cell count was 9.0 today and she did need platelets this morning. Today the doctors looked a current x-ray of Andrea chest and saw that there was some cloudiness in her left lung at the bottom. This is same lung that she had trouble with a St. Lukes.

Just a few hours ago they did a procedure to get a sample of this fluid and will running test to determine how to treat it. Currently she is not having any trouble breathing, but the doctors are trying to make the determination if she has pneumonia or not. Hopefully we got on this early enough that she will sail right through this and we can get her out of the hospital on the road to recovery. We should have results from the skin biopsy they did yesterday and the lung procedure they did tonight sometime next week. Please take time to pray for her especially tonight. Today she was really burning up with that fever so ask the lord to help her break this fever and comfort her in this time of need. God Bless and Good Night.

We Have Grafting (Day +16)

Yesterday, Andrea's white blood cell count went up to 0.7. Then in the afternoon she started having severe bone pain in her hips. It took them a while to control the pain and she developed a fever which went away in the middle of the night. The bone pain is a sure sign that the grafting has begun.

This morning her white blood cell count had risen to 3.2 and the normal range is about 5-10. This afternoon she started to have more bone pain, but not like yesterday. Again, this a sign that the new marrow has started to grow. She did develop another fever and it is beginning to go down. They pulled blood to run test but they assure us that this is not out of the ordinary. They also did a skin biopsy of her back since her skin was a little flush. The biopsy will tell them whether the skin reaction is due to GVHD or a medication she is taking.

Her throat has begun to fell better and she is able to get some lighter foods and drinks down the hatch. It won't be long before she is able to eat everything she wants. Thanks to everyone for the support and keep her in your prayers. Hopefully Andrea will be leaving this place before we know it. It won't be long. God Bless.

Day (+12) and Day (+13)

Another delayed post. Yesterday Andrea had a pretty good day but today was difficult. Her throat is still giving her problems and she hasn't been able to eat. Last night and today her stomach started bothering her and she threw up several times. She has been in a high level of pain for the last week. Today she received platelets and blood. The grafting hasn't taken place up to this point so please keep on praying. Today her white blood count remained at 0.1. Like I have been saying, as soon as this occurs she will start improving fairly quickly. Hopefully this will happen in this next couple of days. Please keep your prayers coming her way and God will pull her through this. Thanks again for all the gifts and she send her love to each and every one of you. God Bless.

Another Morning (Day +11)

We are awake once again. Last night I spent another night with Andrea here in the hospital. We spent most of our night talking about what kind of house we are going to buy. Then we finally made it to sleep around midnight. Yesterday she did receive platelets and a unit of whole blood. Her mouth and throat continued to hurt and she was only able to eat Italian Ices and popsicles.

Today her platelets are at 48 and her hemoglobin is at 8.7 so she will not need a transfusion. Kidney, Liver, and Lungs seem to be working great and we are just waiting for the grafting to take place in her marrow. As soon as this happens we will see the increase in her white blood cell count. Currently her WBC is at 0.1, and the neupogen shot she is receiving each day is suppose to cause the cells to begin increasing.

Let's all pray that this happens very soon so that her throat and mouth will repair their selves and she can begin pigging out. Her spirits are still high and she continues to make me laugh all the time. She still needs platelet and whole blood donations so if you feel the urge please go to one of the MD Anderson blood bank locations to donate. Her patient number is 667690 which will give her credit for your donation. Thanks again for all the support and keep the prayers coming her way. She loves each and every one of you so much. Have a wonderful day and God Bless.

Morning of Day +10

We just woke up and ordered breakfast. Actually I ordered breakfast and Andrea ordered a milkshake. Her throat still hurts. The doctor just walked in while we were laying in Andrea's bed and didn't seem to mind. We had to get close for the time being. Andrea is still right where he expects her to be and he thinks the throat will get better sooner than later. Her platelet count and hemoglobin this morning were 19 and 7.8 respectively. Therefore she will receive a unit of each today. Other than that it will be normal day and we will continue to pray for Andrea's throat to heal quickly. Thanks for all the support and I will update everyone further when the day is over. Good Morning and God Bless.

Day (+8 and +9)

Sorry for the delayed post. Yesterday (day +8) Andrea's throat hurt even worse than the day before and she couldn't swallow anything. She couldn't even swallow her own saliva. The doctors reassured her that this was totally normal with the chemotherapy that she received and when her new white blood cells begin to reproduce again this will go away. Yesterday her platelets were at 9 and hemoglobin was at 7.8. Like I said before when these are below 20 and 8 respectively they are going to transfuse her with platelets and whole blood. Therefore yesterday she received a unit of platelets and whole blood.

This morning (day +9) her platelets were at 35 and hemoglobin was at 8.7. Therefore she didn't need a transfusion. Today she said that her throat isn't as bad as yesterday, but she is still not able to eat anything except Italian ice. The doctors aren't two concerned and they are confident this will be a short lived situation. As soon as her white blood cells rebound, her mouth will heal, and she will be pigging out again. Let's all pray that her throat gets better quickly and she can get back to packing food away.

I spent my whole day up at the hospital and right now I am laying down on the pull out bed. Andrea is already asleep on the other side of the room. I appreciate everyone's support out there. The presents have really helped keep her spirits up and she looks forward to the moment each day. I didn't think I would have enough presents when I decided to do the gifts. I was wrong. In fact I have been giving more than one gift since the beginning and I am no where near running out. Andrea truly has some wonderful friends out there and we pray for each and every one of you each night. Keep the prayers coming our way too and God will continue to bless us all. Good Night and God Bless.

Day (+7)

As to be expected Andrea's platelet count dropped to 20 today and she will most likely need a transfusion. All this is something that the doctors are used to for bone marrow transplants, but it sure is rough. Due to the chemo Andrea's throat hurts extremely bad. She is on pain meds 24/7, but this is said to reverse itself after the new marrow starts to graft. The doctors say around day +10 to +14 day. She started receiving Nuepogen shots today to stimulate the new marrow.

As far as donating platelets, I would advise you to go to the location on Fannin which is a more equipped facility. The blood center in MD Anderson at the Medical Center doesn't operate the most efficiently for the most part. You should be able to find the link and more information on donating platelets in the post before this one.

Please continue to pray for Andrea and she will make it through this tough week. I will post another update sometime tomorrow. God Bless and Good Night.

Day (+5) and Morning of (+6)

Yesterday Andrea started to feel bad which is to be expected. Her counts continued to drop and she had a hard time keeping all of her food down. Her throat started to bother her again. When I visited yesterday she was still in a pretty good mood and we watched tv till about 10PM.

This morning I talked to her and she said that her counts had dropped again (this is still what the doctors are looking for). Her throat was hurting more than yesterday, but she said that she had kept all her food down. Her platelet count was at 32 this morning and when it drops below 20 they will infuse her with a set of donor platelets. It is now a good time to start donating platelets on her behalf at MD Anderson. If you don't have time to donate platelets or would rather donate blood feel free to do so. Remember to specify that the donation is for Andrea Luthringer. More information about donating can be found at this link http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/bloodbank/dIndex.cfm?pn=0A133F7B-C05C-4906-A3B0DB0161B9CD6C. If you have any questions or concerns please email me at jmartiniv@houston.rr.com.

Thanks for all the support and will update everyone again after I see her this afternoon. Take care and God Bless.

Day (+4) - Still going well

Yesterday Andrea was feeling fine with the occasional period of nausea. We slept in till 10AM or so and had breakfast around 11AM. Then we played a game of checkers and spades till around 5PM. The surprising thing was that we never turned the tv on until Andrea had to watch her normal shows (Desperate Housewives and Gray's Anatomy). Andrea and her mother had Mother's Day dinner provided by MD Anderson. The day flew by and we moved closer to the day when Andrea gets to go home. Best case scenario she will be going home on May 31st. Lets all pray that this is the case.

Her counts are still dropping but still haven't bottomed out. All organ functions are where they need to be and her spirits are high. Thanks again for all the support and gifts. She really has enjoyed all the gifts and it continues to brighten her day when she opens a new one. You guys are really great for sending each and every gift. Please continue your prayers and we will make it through this one day at a time. God Bless.

Day (+2) and Morning of (+3)

Andrea's count continue to drop just like the doctors want. Her immunity is very low at this point and will probably get lower before it comes back. Overall she is doing well battling the nausea and discomfort. During the night her throat was hurting so the nurses gave her some pain meds. The doctor checked her out this morning and saw no mouth sores, but will keep an eye out. This morning her immunity reached a lower point, but this is all expected.

Please keep Andrea in your prayers and God will pull her through this trial. Again she thanks everyone for the gifts and messages. The ride so far has been so much better than her time at St. Lukes. Let's keep it that way. God Bless.

Day (+1) - All is Well

Everything is going fine with the new bone marrow. Andrea's counts have not completely dropped, but they will eventually. Today she still is experiencing nausea, but it seems a little better than yesterday. She was able to eat a little more today than yesterday.

She continues to get up and get around just fine and her organ function is perfect. Hopefully everything will continue to go well and we will be out of the hospital in 21 days. Andrea has been in for a week now today. Emotional she is doing well and she says the process has gone by faster than she expected.

Please continue your prayers and I will keep you updated. Thanks again for the outpouring of gift and she really liked the messages everyone sent yesterday. Like I said in my last post you send messages to her through MD Anderson using the link to the left. God Bless and keep the prayers headed Andrea's way.