Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Don't Plan on Planning!



Well, the fever that we were monitoring turned into an ER visit, which turned into a hospital admission, and stay...Caroline is still in the hospital, and will probably stay here a few more days.

Cancer is definitely teaching us a lot of lessons quickly - the most recent is planning. As in, you can't plan! Instead of our annual tradition of a quiet night at home celebrating NYE with some delicious seafood, we were in the ER...and instead of resting up at home before Andrew comes home from Florida, we're hanging out in the hospital. Luckily, this is Margaret's new full-time job, so it's not a big deal...just hard for a Type-A planner to get used to...

Caroline's counts are slowly (slowly!) making their way back up towards going home. She's gotten antibiotics and a blood transfusion, which are definitely helping. Her Neulasta shot is kicking in...great news for her counts, but has caused her some extreme bone pain.

Despite it all, she is mostly herself, which keeps us all motivated to smile.


As of today, her next scheduled chemo round will begin on 1/15/18. That same day, before chemo begins, she will be sedated to have another bone marrow biopsy. The biopsy will check the progress of the chemo on the cancer within her marrow; the hope is that the cancerous cells have shrunk to less than 5% (from 90% at start). Assuming this significant improvement has happened, they will be able to harvest those bone marrow cells in between rounds 3 and 4 of chemo. Those cells, from her own body, will be frozen for use at a later time (months away) during the bone marrow transplant phase of treatment (aka: autologous transplant).

FYI: we are moving away from the GoFundMe site for donations, because some folks have told us they accidently donated to the GoFundMe site itself, instead of Caroline's page on that site. We have added a "PayPal Pool" account to the "Ways to Help" section on the website: follow the link and click "chip in." We appreciate all of your generosity and love to date!

Much Love ~
Lantz Family

#carolinestrong
#ftgf



7 comments:

  1. Carmen Brenes-HarrisJanuary 3, 2018 at 9:53 AM

    Sending prayers your way each and every day!

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  2. Hang in there guys. FTGF! How amazing medicine and doctors are!

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  3. Our prayer for all of you tonight is a good night's sleep. Lord, help the Lantz's stay present and in each moment. We know how unpredictable each and every hour can be! As a type A planner myself, I know that struggle! Let them hand it over to you, to plan and be ready to adjust to new plans that come before them, often without any notice. May every cancerous cell in Caroline's body, particularly her bone marrow, be cast out and replaced with a good healthy cell. And let some of those wonderful, God-given cells be salvaged for Carolines' necessary future treatment. By your hands Lord, all this is possible. God bless you guys!

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  4. Prayers for Caroline tonite as she rest and heals.

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  5. May the good Lord watch over this beautiful baby girl! Amen we love you guys. Linda and Peter Fayerweather

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