Giving Thanks

Sunday November 22 at their Gratitude Night!

Check out those chubby cheeks! :)

Robert and Ashley gave me a gift. The gift of gratitude. The Sunday before Thanksgiving our family got together. We were joined by Mike, Lara & family, the only ones missing were the Bakers. Robert and Ashley started off an FHE by sharing stories from their experience battling leukemia. They pointed out in each story how gratitude has blessed their experience. Then they passed out slips of paper, on it was printed someone's name in our family. We went around the room and said why we were grateful for the person on our paper slip. No matter what your family relationships are like: good, bad or indifferent, they could benefit from that exercise. Suddenly you are reminded of all the amazing qualities each family member possesses. It was awesome! Here is a quote that Ashley posted on her facebook page:

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." -Melody Beattie

Robert and Ashley are such an amazing example to me, and many. They keep their spirits up and look for the blessings in every situation, both big and small. To finish up they gave everyone a piece of paper with the words "Things I would like to be more grateful for..." I've been thinking about it ever since. And you know what has happened? I have noticed the little things, the tender mercies and even the things I first think are a frustration--yet they work out for my benefit. I have seen the Lord's hand in my life a little more than I did before.

So Thanksgiving Day has passed, yet today I am giving thanks. Thanks for Robert and Ashley. Thanks for their example. Thanks for Robert's life. Thanks for families and for friends!

Thanks for you! For your thoughts and your prayers!

With Robdob back in the ICU lets fill up his waiting room. Please feel free to leave a comment and let him know that you are thinking of him and are praying for him. And Ashpants too! Thank you!

*Robert's bronchioscopy went well, they were able to easily get fluid from his lungs, as well as a biopsy. We are waiting on results from those cultures. His initial lumbar puncture results are in and they look good, they also sent off for a culture of that, and it hasn't come back yet. No other test results are in as of yet. We may hear more after rounds tonight.

Robert is stable, and he has been calm all afternoon. Ashley is catching up on her sleep a bit from her eventful night. We'll post again soon!

Monday Update

I don't have much time right now, but I wanted to get a quick post up. Robert was taken to the ICU last night around 3:30am. His blood oxygen levels were really low (45%), so he was admitted, sedated and intubated. I was able to go down to the hospital at 5:00am to be with Ashley while she waited outside the ICU. The Pulmonologist (lung doctor) came out and said that Robert has stage 4 pneumonia. The doctor would need to do a bronchioscopy with a biopsy of his lung tissue. That procedure will tell them what is causing his pneumonia (bacteria, virus, etc.) so they know exactly what they are dealing with and how to treat it. They were doing that at 11:00am today. We are still awaiting word that he is out. (He probably is, but I haven't heard from Ashley yet.)

We are also hoping for the results of a biopsy from the bump on his chest and for his lumbar puncture they performed on Saturday. The results of a couple of cultures should come in today as well. I know that one was to check for cytomegalovirus (cmv virus). Do you remember that one? It is the one that 80% of the population has all the time, but only affects people if their immune systems get too depressed.

Ashley is doing pretty well. She was able to go into the ICU for a little over an hour this morning, before she had to leave for rounds and shift change. It was hard for her to see Robert on the ventilator and hooked up to more tubes. He got a little worked up, but she was able to calm him down. He is sedated, but not completely unconscious.

Thank you for praying for both of them today. I hope to post again very soon!

Love,

Janelle

Update & Prayer Request!

We took a little break from posting, I'm sure you noticed! ;) It has been so nice for the past month to watch Robert and Ashley settle back into normal life, well as normal as it can be. Robert has been back up to Salt Lake twice for check ups and everything has been looking good. They even took Robert off of his appetite stimulator. He's been gaining weight so well, they want him to slow it down a little. He still takes it occasionally, it helps with his nausea or if he has a couple days when he doesn't feel hungry. He has some cute chubby cheeks these days!

About a week ago Robert started feeling a little crummy. His docs thought he was detoxing all of the chemo and radiation and other drugs from his bone marrow transplant--a little too fast. He developed a small bump on his chest on Tuesday, and he's been feeling a little worse and sleeping a lot. He had a check up here in Vegas with Dr. Gollard yesterday (Wed). Doc was concerned about his overall health, so he sent Robert to check in to the hospital. They ran some additional blood work, and there are no abnormal cells (great sign). I talked to my dad just after he had been at the hospital last night to give Robert a blessing. While he was there Dr. Litman stopped by (the infectious disease doc) and he was checking Robert out. He said from what he could see, and the look of his skin (he has a rash?) that he thought Robert was developing graph vs. host disease (GVHD). Now that would be a good thing! We've been waiting a long time for some GVHD to show up!

GVHD would explain him feeling worse and worse. And one doc even said it could have caused the bump on his chest. If is is GVHD they will start Robert back on anti-rejection meds and that would help him to keep the GVHD under control and he would start feeling better.

We don't want to cause too much concern. Robert is in the hospital because as my dad said, "with all of Robert's health concerns they are going to keep him on a short leash." They also wanted to be able to help Robert feel more comfortable too. They want to know exactly what caused the bump on his chest, so they are running more tests. Today they will do two bone marrow biopsies--one on his chest and one on his back.

So Ashley wanted me to request extra prayers for him today! Pray for them both please!

I started this post on Thursday. Here is the Friday update: the results from both bone marrow biopsies are in and there are no leukemia cells. His blood cultures came back and they look pretty good too. His liver is a little stressed, raised enzyme levels I believe. They did an MRI and a CT scan, they were checking on his liver and kidneys and they looked good. This afternoon they were doing a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to be sure there isn't any infection in his spinal fluid. The docs thought that Robert might have a secondary infection, besides possible GVHD. So far they haven't seen signs of it. I hope this makes sense. It is a lot of medical info all at once!

Robert is feeling better. They have been giving him fluids and some pain meds, so he is much more comfortable.

Please keep praying for Robert and Ashley! We'll continue updating daily, at least until we know what is going on. Thank you again for your love and support!

Hugs & Kisses

XOXOXOXOXO

WELCOME HOME ROBDOB AND ASHPANTS!

Taryn loves having Uncle Robert home!

Robert and Ashley returned home just this past Sunday, October 18th. Robert completed all of his testing two weeks ago, and had his final appointment with the docs this past week. No cancer cells were found in his bone marrow. I feel the need to repeat...

NO CANCER CELLS WERE FOUND IN HIS BONE MARROW!!!

Or anywhere else in his body either. Amanda's bone marrow has taken over nicely and things are going well. Robert has been off his TPN (nutrition IV) for almost two weeks. His appetite increases daily. I would know, he ate three pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad when he was at my house the other day! He eats a lot of little meals, he still can't eat as much in one sitting. Robert is gaining weight nicely, and his energy is returning bit by bit. Robert will be going up to Salt Lake monthly for check ups.

As you can see in the photo his hair is growing back quickly this time! Robert can be around children for short periods of time, but still avoids large crowds. He is doing so very well! We are so excited for that, and we are thoroughly enjoying having them home!

Ashley is busy unpacking and settling them back in at home. They have been making the rounds to hang out with family, and a few friends. I wish I had more pictures of the gatherings and welcoming! This is the only one I snapped when they were at my house. Taryn is sure that Uncle Robert came home just to be her BFF. Ashley stopped by the next day without him and Taryn asked, "where's Robert?" She was bummed he hadn't come too!

Thank you again so much for all your prayers and loving support of Robert and Ashley!

Pillow Talk.

So this is how Robert was sleeping when I came into the room the other day. I thought it was hilarious. It looks like the pillow is eating his head.

After I got some pics of this I asked Robert if he wanted me to move his pillow around, but he insisted that he was "very comfortable". I got a kick out of this, so I thought I'd share.

Robert is doing well, he has had some more chest pain, but it is getting better. Robert is just frustrated that he was finally starting to eat and now his esophagus is hurting when he swallows. But, it is getting better, and we hope it continues to. Other than that things are going well. We've just been hanging out and waiting to be able to go home. We are hoping sooner than later. The weather is supposed to be cooling down a lot this week, and we are excited to possibly see some snow. Although I don't really want to drive in it! Things are going well, and we are so grateful. Thank you for the prayers and love.

All our love.

Little League.

Last night Robert was having some chest pains that were causing him a lot of pain, so we called the BMT wing and they told us to go to the ER to make sure everything was okay with his lungs and heart. So we went to the ER, and by the time we got there most of his pain has subsided, it only hurt when he was moving around a lot. They ran some tests and during a CT scan they gave him some dilauded, which is pain medication, and it's 6 times as strong as morphine. Needless to say, he was drugged up when they brought him back. It was entertaining to say the least. He was scratching everywhere, and of course made me scratch him as well. After they did their tests they cleared us to go home. They think he just tore his asaphogus when he threw up earlier in the night, or something to that effect, so we were grateful that it wasn't a big deal.

After we arrived home and Robert was in bed and had gotten more scratch time he was ready for bed, so we said a prayer together. Robert decided he wanted to say it, and I though he might actually fall asleep, since he was so out of it from the pain meds they gave him in the ER. So he was saying the prayer and was staying awake and then right at the end he says "Please help me keep feeling better and healing, so that one day I can coach little league baseball." He finished and then I look up and his eyes are closed. I just started laughing and he wakes up and is like "Whattt? I am sorry, I fell asleep. Did I finish praying?" I was in tears from laughing. It was the cutest, most hilarious thing he has done in a while. He didn't remember saying it, but we laughed about it today. I know one day he will get that chance to coach a little league team, and I can't wait to see it.

Robert is doing well. He didn't gain too much more weight this week, but he didn't lose any. So that is great. We are still working on his appetite. He has been feeling a lot better, and the IV nausea medicine is still helping a lot. Things are going great and we are hoping to be heading home by the end of October. We miss Vegas!

All our love.

What is Daisy?...

We get this question often, so I thought I would answer it today. People either think Daisy is super cute, if they know what an Italian Greyhound is, or else they ask if she ever eats. Thats just how she is. Skinny. Italian Greyhounds are a miniature version of Greyhounds, the racing dogs. So they are fast and agile, just like the big Greyhounds. Daisy is a quick dog. We can never catch her if she is running.
Robert had another Italian Greyhound while he was growing up and I have always thought they were stinkin' cute, so when we got married we often talked about getting one. Daisy is a great and loving dog. Robert is glad I made him wait to get a grey greyhound, because they are harder to find, but we held out and found Daisy and she is perfect for us.
Daisy is always patient when I smother her with kisses.
Daisy has this thing for Robert's ears. Not mine. Mostly Roberts. She is always licking them and sticking her cold wet little nose in there... or she is trying anyway.
I love this picture of Daisy and Robert having some bonding time while she was visiting us.

Robert has finally been able to start eating again this week. Yay! He has been on IV nausea medication that I give him when he needs it and it has been helping so much. He is still on TPN, but we are hoping he will be able to keep eating more and more and get off TPN in the next couple of weeks. Robert is still getting weened off his anti-rejection medication and he will be completely off it next week. We got a call this morning that Robert has been positive for CMV Virus 2 weeks is a row, so they are going to switch one of his antibiotics to one that is stronger to get it in check. Things are looking up and Robert has been feeling better. Thank you for all your prayers and love. We appreciate them so much.

All our love.