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May 13th, 2007: HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! Well, we finally made it home on the 8th and Whit
was very happy to be leaving that hospital. Don’t get us wrong, the nurses
up there take such good care of her and they are very special people to do the job they do. We
would like to thank Carolyn, Becki, Katrina, Ashley, Sarah, Branka, and of course the Doctors. Sorry if we missed your name but everyone took very good care of Whit. Whitney has been on nightly feeding still but also has been eating pretty well. She has to keep a daily log on everything that she eats so that hopefully we will
be able to discontinue the IV food. She is maintaining weight and looking better
every dayJ. The dogs love having
her home because they get a bath every week; Red is not enjoying that too much. Whitney is currently on day +24 since transplant and we have to go for 100 days before she can
go outside without a mask, eat food from a restaurant, or go swimming. That is
our next milestone; So Whit can eat out at KOKO’s again. We will try and
keep everyone posted, Take care and Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms out there!! The Pinson Clan… May 6th, 2007: Hello again everyone, Whit is still in the Hospital right now and we are maybe going home on Tuesday!! Whitney is looking
forward to that more than anything in the world right now. I think she is going stir crazy in this joint. She has been having
nose bleeds (that last three to five hours) and low platelet counts, the doctors say that the platelets are the last cells
to graft after the transplant. Whit will have to go in to the clinic probably every other day, even when she does get out,
for platelet transfusions. If you can give blood to the Florida/Georgia blood alliance now is the time to give. Tell them
you want to give to Whitney’s account. If you need the number give Michelle a call. The other battle right now is eating
solid foods, the chemo has ruined her taste buds so nothing has any taste to it. Obviously she doesn’t feel like eating
because of that, but she has to get off the IV nutrition quickly to prevent the risk of infection. She has been trying to
eat and will be working hard to force herself to eat as much solid food as she can!! I think we will need a U-haul truck just to get all the stuff out of her room. We have tried to make it homely and there
is pictures and stuff hanging all over the place. I want to thank everyone that sent cards and stuff, it really has helped
Whit realize that everyone is pulling for her success up here. Well we will try and keep up the updates, but for now just
keep praying for her return to home in good health. Take Care, The Pinson Family April 26, 2007: Well we have not been as lucky as the previous comments posted on the site. Whitney has developed some pretty bad mouth
sores and also has a fever from a blood infection. They seem to have the blood infection under control as of today and they
will be sending off another culture to see if it has returned. As for the mouth sores they are pretty tough and the doctors
have decided to put her on a continuous morphine drip for the pain. It is helping a lot and she is able to sleep good and
also when she is awake she is happier now. Her counts have not started to recover yet but hopefully in the next couple of
days we will get at least a small change in the right direction. Last night Whit had a bloody nose for 3½ hours and they had
to give her 2 bags of platelets to get it to stop. She is such a trooper though, while her nose was bleeding she was content
and just wanted to watch a movieJ . Michelle will hopefully get results back from her ultrasound tomorrow. They doc’s think that she may have Kidney
stones? The timing could not be worse, but she is home now and I am back in the hospital with Whit. I had to come up on Tuesday
night because Michelle was getting nauseous with the pain relievers she was on, and we did not want her up here throwing up.
Zach is doing alright, the guy has been shuffled around a lot and has had a lot of late homework nights. He is still swimming
every Tue, Thur, and Fri and he seems to enjoy doing that. We have not had a chance to get out on the bikes for a long time
but we have the summer to look forward to. We will say goodbye for now, keep praying for Whit!! The Pinson’s APRIL 18th, 2007: Whit is doing so well right now and we are praying that we don't have to go through any severe mouth sores or nausea. She
finished chemo yesterday and is on her day of rest today. Tomorrow is Whitney's big day (Her new birthday), she will be going
through transplant around 12:00 or 1:00 PM EST. If you are in the area and want to stop by to waive at her through the window,
please do. Once that is done she just needs to have counts above 500 for 3 days and we will be homebound. She has been a trooper
through this so far, we may have not hit the rough stuff yet but of course Whit will not complain at all. She only had one
day where she got a little home sick. We are very proud of her attitude and her continued high spirits. She continues to amaze
us everyday. She wants to thank everyone who has sent mail, we have cards taped up all over her roomJ
. I was praised for putting an update on the web site, and I am trying to keep it up. We have lots of time while we are sitting
in the hospital room with her. Maybe I can get Michelle to do an update one of these days before she gets doneJ
. Hope all is well with everyone out there, thanks for all the prayers and following up on the site!! Love the Pinson Family April 9th,
2007: Hello all
once again, We have finally made it to the day that Whit goes in for the high dose chemotherapy and the bone marrow transplant. Of course tonight we don’t feel like we are ready for the long stay in isolation,
but I am sure Michelle will bring more than enough stuff!! She will go
in for surgery tomorrow at 12:45 to have the broviac line placed (which is like a second port). She will start chemo the next day for 4 days and then have a day of rest before the real “transplant”. I am very nervous but Whit is not really concerned about the procedure. Which is just like her, to not show much emotion and just go get it done and over with. I wish I could have the same attitude sometimes. Wouldn’t it be nice if our lives were like VCR’s…and
we could just “fast forward” through the crummy times? Zach is doing well and has started swimming with the Dressel’s. We
are very excited about him getting away from the darn TV!! He is having fun,
which is the most important thing. We just need to get out to the track more
often. He asks just about every day when we can get back out on the track again… I will try to update the website more often while she is in the hospital. I
know I have said that a lot but this time I really mean it?!?! WE appreciate
all the support that we receive and please keep Whitney in your prayers!! If
you would like to send mail to her, get in touch with us and we can give you the address to her room in the hospital. Take Care, February
5th, 2007: Well, There is finally a little light at the end of the tunnel. Whitney
just completed another round of chemo and will be going in this week when her counts are right so they can harvest cells for
a bone marrow transplant. The schedule is very flexible, but so far she will
be done with the harvest by Saturday the 10th of Feb. If they don’t
get enough or it does not work they will be going in on the 14th to get bone marrow from the hips. Once we have enough to do the transplant she will have a week to recover and a week to do pre scans. Whit should be going in the hospital the last week of Feb, or the first week of March
to get the high dose chemo and the bone marrow. She will be in the hospital for
a minimum of 14 days after they do the transplant. We are looking at about 20
days in isolation at a minimum. Once we are out of the hospital she has to be
careful for about 100 days. No eating out; fast food or restaurant. She will be wearing a mask any time she leaves the house. That is all they have given us so far, but I’m sure there is more to follow. Sorry so short this time, but we don’t have very much else to say. Hope
every one is well, Keep Whitney in your prayers!! December
23rd, 2006: Merry Christmas everyone!!! We have been blessed with some very good news this Holiday Season!! Whit’s MRI from the 18th of Dec. showed no highlighted spots that
indicate cancerous areas; there was some questions about her kidney having some hazy spots.
She had an Ultrasound and they found some cists on her kidneys, the doctors say they are perfectly normal though. J J We
could not ask for a better Christmas gift. She still has some treatments to go
through, we will be going in for a 5-day chemo on the 2nd of January. The
team of Doctors will be discussing her case at the tumor board in January to determine if she will be getting a bone marrow
transplant. Most of the Dr.’s think it is a good idea because the treatments
are working so well that they don’t want to stop now. They will be harvesting
her cells to do the transplant, and freezing them for when the time comes. It
will mean a long stay, which includes isolation in the hospital. They will give
her high dose chemo to wipe out anything left and then the transplant to replenish her bone marrow. She will be able to leave when her blood counts are sufficient. Michelle
and I are very excited but also apprehensive because of the relapse. We just
want to make sure this time that the cancer is gone for good. Whitney has been feeling really good
lately and looking forward to having a good Christmas. She has been able to spend
some time with friends this last week, and is all caught up on her schoolwork. Zach
is enjoying being out of school for the holiday; he has been working really hard and is making great improvement in his work
at school. We have not been able to get out on the motorcycles as much as we
hoped to because of the weather (rain). It does not feel much like Christmas
around here with the temperatures being in the high 70’s. The A/C came
back on yesterday. L Grandma and Grandpa Byington have been in town living in their motor home. They went up to North Carolina to visit the Gabbert’s (Michelle’s sister) last week. Odell really loves the warm weather; he sweats like a stuck pig on a regular basis. That is all for now, We just want to
wish everyone Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. For everyone who has helped
out this year we really appreciate your unwavering support since the relapse. You
have helped out soooo much this year. The list is too long to write but you know
who you are. Love
the Pinson’s |
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