Laurenashleymorton's Blog

Dearest all,

Over the last 8 years, I have learned many things; one is that only God has the big picture and two; my vision is very limited even with His graciousness and promises for me.
After Lauren-Ashley got the infected line out and the new one put in, the flood continued. She returned to the room to recover and did not get up to go to the bathroom from 2p.m. until 11p.m. at which time there was some concern. I had previously noticed some swelling in her chest area and mentioned to the nurses and doctors – attributed to all the manipulation of surgeries and infection. At 11p.m. I uncovered her and was shocked. Lauren-Ashley’s chest was remarkably swollen with an unusual amount of fluid. As she tried to get up, her whole torso was clearly 2-3 inches larger in a barrel form. I proceeded to inspect her and was shocked to see her left arm twice the size of her right arm from just below the elbow all the way to her shoulder. I immediately pressed for the nurse and further inspection revealed a large discoloration in those areas. The doctor was called and when she arrived her eyes widened to the size of silver dollars. All fluids were stopped and the surgeon on call was notified. During the afternoon LA’s pain keep being reassessed because it seemed the raising of pain medications didn’t do much – rightfully so – all the fluid from recovery in the OR to 11 p.m. had seeped into her body cavity and was not going into the circulatory system in order to be effective. It was causing her an increased amount of pain in addition to the surgery pain. At midnight x-rays taken revealed the line’s 1st cusp which is for holding it in place had come dislodged and somehow caused leakage. It became such kayos when the surgeon on call decided to literally yell at the doctor on call for getting him up for such an issue and didn’t just stop the flow until morning on her own. I think the “mother bear” mode kick in at that point as I literally saw red and proceed to go out to the hallway and told everyone I had had enough – this outburst was within not only my daughter’s earshot but everyone else’s on the floor and extremely unprofessional to say the least. I asked the charge nurse to call Dr. Rosenthal immediately, I went back into the room at which time he followed me back in and boldly asked why was I so upset? I looked at him, looked at Lauren-Ashley, and in sheer disbelief that he would even talk to me that way or even ask, said the word “Really?”
He left the room, nurses came in tending to Lauren-Ashley and me when Dr. R called and order all fluids stopped. An IV was started for her pain meds and a call to the OR scheduling for her was made for the morning – again.
The whole surgeon issue was all the buzz in the morning change of shift, and Dr’s, Nurse managers etc. all came in to see me. It was much worse than I am telling you but my focus was not on that but LA. It will all be addressed over this next week, I am writing a letter etc. I am sure COH will take the appropriate actions.
Lauren-Ashley made it through surgery once again and is in a tremendous amount of pain, the collection of fluid is slowly dissipating, and she is resting a little better now with all the meds going where they should be.
Culture sensitivities should be in any day to be able to use the right combination for the new fungus. She is receiving one combo now and hopefully it is the right one.
Amidst this new flood of events, it is still evident God is taking care of her. If she had been receiving lipids (common with the administering of TPN) it would have been a disaster and caused irreparable damage to her skin and organs. IF she was still getting Vancomycin her skin and organs would have literally been burned from the inside out as if exposed to fire. These two agents were stopped when we entered the Hospital because her cholesterol was high enough and she did not need the lipids and she had been on Vanco for such a long time so they switched it up – MIRACLE!!!! Beyond miracles!!!!!God always sees the whole picture. I just have such a hard time seeing her in this much pain. This is the worst it has ever been as far as pain and she gets weak from it along with being so skin sensitive. I choose to continue to TRUST God and all He has for us and pray for her complete healing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Sorrell just came in and increased her medicine for comfort and LA seems to be more relaxed when she is sleeping- Much more conducive for healing which we all agreed upon. She also drank some Slim Fast (her favorite transition “food”) – so that is very comforting. Dr. is scheduling her pic line to be put in on Friday and this temporary chest one (which she cannot stand-hurts tremendously) out!!!!!!
Good news is there have been no new growths after the first two cultures and they will continue to take them daily for monitoring purposes until such time is deemed necessary. She just really needs to gain strength, be freed from unnecessary pain and have her counts recover for an immune response. Much love to all and will keep updating.

Always in Him,
Sherri

“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the West,and His Glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.” Isaiah 59:19

Dearest Ones,
Thank you all so much for your faithfulness!!!! We ended our evening with the knowledge we would have to wait for a “slide-in’ spot in the OR sometime today. When going to bed my concern and prayer was for Lauren-Ashley’s protection and safety, her comfort in not being able to drink water (which she just guzzles often) and an early spot which would alleviate all the above concerns. I just felt prayer for specifics was in order last night and God did not disappoint.
I woke up at 6am to the sounds of nurses and platelets matching numbers being read aloud. Lauren-Ashley needed them before surgery and they wanted to infuse them as late as possible so they would last and be in a safe range to ensure clotting. At 7am the nurse came in and told me our prayers had been answered, the OR called and would be on their way to pick her up after the post count was confirmed. – It turns out her post count was in the 90’s and miracle of all miracles they came to get her at 8a.m. This was such an answer to prayer you cannot imagine- last time we had emergency issues we waited all day until dinner time and surgery lasted until 10:30pm and that is the norm –God really moved on our behalf.
She is resting but has an unusually significant increase in pain. They removed the Hickman port on the right side of her upper chest and put an outer central line in on the left side. Needless to say her whole chest is so sore the pain wakes her and she cries. I asked for her pain medication to be increased for the next few days until the pain subsides and her chest is less swollen which was gladly done.
Dr. Sorrell spoke to me this afternoon and we got into an assessment discussion on where we stood with the infections Lauren-Ashley has. The original aspergillus fungal infection is at bay (another miracle- I know it is cursed and is shriveling up) but will require long-term treatment in her condition. The leukemia blast cells are staying low and I believe they will disappear soon enough. There was also some discussion as to repeating the DLI treatments to further the destruction and total elimination. We did achieve a GVH condition which we prayed and hoped for and the response of the leukemia cells is evident – Hallelujah! I believe God moved in a BIG way in this area because before going home for Thanksgiving they basically told me it really hadn’t done what they had hoped for and just wanted her remaining time to be as comfortable as possible (difficult to say even now). God caused a great movement within this process and it was just in His time. The infection she got in her hickman Christmas week which spread to her blood is gone and the secondary infection in her sinus surgery wound is under control but still needing attention. The new fungal infection is being tested with all the available fungal medications, and we should find out which one is the most effective with this particular type. So o o o o o all that to say this- God is still here with us, His presence and peace is evident and we TRUST Him explicitly with all that we have. Lauren-Ashley needs specific prayer concerning complete and final eradication of the things above in addition to miraculous recovery from this surgery and the upcoming one to insert a pic line next week sometime. Removing the current topical central line will eliminate any residual infection that might decide to hide in it as well.
I appreciate the love and commitment you all have for us and the wonderful words you have written. I faithfully read them to Lauren-Ashley even when she doesn’t feel well and she smiles or nods. I am sure one day soon we will all be able to be together and celebrate God’s miraculous faithfulness, healing power, love toward us, and the forthcoming Victory I am speaking forth in agreement with all of you. I love each and every one of you and will keep you informed. Again, thank you for your powerful and effective prayers and commitment.
Always in Him,
Sherri

Dear All,
The identification of the “new” fungal infection is in. It is a Candida type called Candida Lusitaniae and has invaded her central line which is next to impossible to eliminate without removal. I need you all to pray for her protection because she will have to go into the OR and be under anesthesia once again in order to remove it and place a temporary central line in. This will remove the infection nightmare, and provide an opportunity for her body to receive treatment for the infection and eliminate and prevent any further future line infection. This will be happening tomorrow – Monday 1/11 and she will be slipped into the schedule sometime in a moment’s notice. She has been extremely thirsty and has had such a dry mouth which is very uncomfortable for her and will be placed NPO (nothing by mouth) at 2 am – please pray she get slipped in early or just stay asleep until the time. I thank God for your faithfulness to us in prayer which holds me up when I feel like collapsing. I am NOT looking or focusing on how big our problem is BUT on how BIG OUR GOD IS!!!!!!! continually keeping my eyes on Him, His words on my lips and treasure His peace in my Heart and Spirit KNOWING He will prevail concerning Lauren-Ashley.

Much love and always in Him,
Sherri

Continuing on. . . . my dear partners in prayer and support . . . in what God has given me to do concerning Lauren-Ashley. We came through Thanksgiving with LA gaining strength each day and enjoying being with family. Preparing for Christmas, we attended appointments in the outpatient clinic where blood and platelet support was a norm. Her eye continued to heal and swelling diminished. I was able to administer antibiotics and antifungal and necessary medications at home which was quite an experience for me. We continued to pray over her daily and provide as much as a normal environment for her to replenish, refresh and renew. I noticed a couple days before Christmas she seemed to sleep more and not feel quite her best under the circumstances – never the less she was excited for Christmas. The morning was peaceful and gradually increased with activity as family arrived. She was surrounded by all those she loved minus by brother and his family who live in Colorado – but who we got to see and talk with on the computer several times during the day. As we began to gather around the tree, the phone rang – announcing City of Hope- which we answered promptly but with hesitation. It was one of the doctors with news of her culture -taken the day before -being gram negative positive in both her lumens ;Off we went for antibiotic infusion! We returned after two hours and resumed the day. Lauren-Ashley enjoyed her gifts, family and fell asleep in the chair next to the tree. We continued on after Christmas going daily to the ETC for infusion until I could get the home health care to deliver it for me to administer. We had no idea what lie ahead with Mom, myself, Dad and Lauren-Ashley getting a 24 stomach virus, in that order, about 24-32 hours apart. LA did well with moving through the virus and its side effects. She basically stopped eating on the 29th of December and had no desire to eat solid food. Her lack of solid food and the nutrition it brings her potassium and magnesium levels had to be watched closely and she required several bolus treatments of potassium which fell dangerously low causing her muscles to just ache. During this time we felt led to take a trip to Redding, California to Bethel Church where their ministry for healing is spreading widely. Things just fell into place as they do when God provides the way and it was a true blessing for her. People who had never seen her or knew anything about her came and confirmed all the scriptures, promises, encouraging words and peace God has given to us concerning this journey over the past 7 years – It was amazing! Most of all God’s heart of magnificent love was conveyed to Lauren-Ashley over and over and over again. Things that she felt and thought were addressed that no one really knew. God imparted His love and faithfulness reminding her He was the glory and the lifter of her head in everything. She had a wonderful experience even though we had no idea how bad she was beginning to feel. She tried to eat on Monday evening the 4th but ended not being able to keep it down. Clinic was scheduled for Wednesday but when I got up Tuesday morning after a couple hours of sleep, laundry was started, packing began and a call to Dr. Rosenthal was made and back to City of Hope we went for admittance. Lauren-Ashley requested to go because she felt safer there. I knew immediately, as did the Dr., when she says that it is time to be there – it is. It has been several trying days when I got word this afternoon one of her cultures was growing another form of fungus – likely candida which is common with the amount of antibiotics she has received, her weakened immune system etc… it will take a couple of days to be sure and we will have to discuss whether it is a resistant form or not. Not exactly what I wanted or needed to hear right now. But. . it goes right in line with how the enemy is – when you are blessed and God is moving in a big way he comes in like a flood to try and destroy or diminish -BUT GOD!!!!!! You see. . . . the day before amidst all these difficult moments the leukemia blast cells which had risen and teeter- tottered from the 18% to 32% back to 25% and back up again had gone down to 16%. . . . so predictably the enemy’s onslaught to rob the joy we all felt! I had a little bit of a difficult afternoon emotionally but I write you tonight standing firm NOT being moved by what I see, hear or feel, standing in the shadow of the Almighty keeping y eyes on Him and covering her with His word. Please continue battling with me. At my request, they have put her on TPN (total nutrition) to help her maintain nutritional supply and strength just until she is able to eat again. She is weak and just does not feel very well, but I am expecting a MIRACLE!!!!!!! I will keep you all informed.
Always in Him,
Sherri
p.s. Her eyelid is about 97% back to normal in color and swelling but still needs prayer for the incision site and the broken open area on the bridge of her nose.

A lot has happened since our last update on November 7, 2009. Lauren-Ashley’s pain and recovery from the sinus surgeries deepened and intensified. They literally had her on a PCA pump allowing her to get a 3mg. dose every 15 minutes, a continuous dose of 2 mg per hour and a nurse bolus of 2 mg. every half hour when requested – which was quite often. Her counts seemed to hit bottom and beyond and showed no signs of recovery. As the beginning of the holidays neared, my concern for her and the dependence or possibility of it on morphine deepened as well as the lack of movement in her bone marrow other than the leukemia cells. It was not long before Thanksgiving the same concern was conveyed to me by Dr. Rosenthal. Prior to this, the pain management team had begun a wonderful work of weaning her off such a large dose of medicine. She was responding well over the next 10 days to neurontin and methadone and almost altogether was off the morphine. God continued to guide and comfort us through this most difficult time. Her eye also worsened with the incision becoming very ugly and infected. I had noticed a difference and conveyed it to the doctors; they didn’t feel it necessary to do anything but watch it, which they had been doing all this time. It wasn’t until I started administering colloidal silver liquid myself that we saw an improvement, at which time I “confessed” I had been doing so. It then prompted them to take a discharge sample and give me their blessings to continue with the topical application. A day later we found out it was a secondary gram positive infection and they immediately put her on an extremely strong antibiotic which targets it specifically. Lauren-Ashley responded immediately but the eye was slow going with the involvement of the fungal infection. On the 17th she had her third DLI (Donor Lymphocyte Infusion). It became apparent to me the doctors were acting a little different as time went on during that week. Lauren-Ashley slept more and continued to not feel well. I was taken into the hallway and presented with the facts (on paper) the DLI was not doing anything they could see and the leukemic cell were on the rise (about 62% at this time) her blood pressure was dropping little bits from time to time and her heart began to race periodically to levels which concerned them deeply. One Friday evening her heart rate began to increase again and blood pressure drop a little. It was still within parameters, but highly concerned the nurse calling for the doctor on call. After a “pow-wow” outside our room they came in (about 11:30p.m.). Knowing what I know now, I understand their intensity. Sepsis (complete body infection) occurs with the same symptoms only much worse and very quickly. They presented me with options and told me what they would have to do if Lauren-Ashley continued on a downward spiral. It is a moment I never thought I would be in, let alone have to take myself to its possibilities. The reality of that moment was crushing to my entire being and they requested – because of my desire to spare her from any horrific moments of that kind of harsh life saving efforts (CPR, intubation, being dependant on life support and in the ICU with more things poked and prodded all over her)- I signed a DNR(do not resuscitate) order deeply considering the circumstances of the leukemia taking over her body and we not being able to administer chemo because of the fungal infection. I was thrown into a grief cycle which I continued to fight every moment of every day – needless to say I could not sleep very well for many days, pleaded the blood of our Lord over Lauren-Ashley and myself while I mustered any smiles, hugs and encouragement for her when she was awake. The date for Thanksgiving was about a week away when Dr. Rosenthal asked Lauren-Ashley if she would like to try to get the pain really under control and go to Grandma’s where I would administer her medications and she could go back and forth to clinic every other day for blood work etc… but mostly to be with family for the holidays. She perked up and said yes. She began to respond better, stay up a little more in anticipation for leaving the hospital. After the weekend Dr. Rosenthal and his head nurse came to see if they could talk to me outside. My heart sank as they lead me down the hall to a small room – I knew what was coming and didn’t want to be there. I actually wanted to run down the hall screaming and just keep running until I couldn’t any more. His face said everything – but not what I wanted to hear. The goal of the team was to keep Lauren-Ashley comfortable, free from pain and to allow her to enjoy her family and anything she wanted to do that she could tolerate. I felt like someone plunged a knife through my heart and twisted it a bit as tears welled up. Doctor put his head in his hand and fought back the tears himself while his nurse put her hand on my leg and fought them back as well. All I could say was that I NEVER thought I would be in that room and in this position because Lauren-Ashley was already my little miracle from God. He proceeded to tell me that we were caught between a rock and a hard spot and interrupting I said I think it is much worse than that apparently. He then said he really felt like he was tied to a fence with a train at about 100 feet away. This coming from a very optimistic and positive man – I knew he felt hopeless at this moment and I asked if he had given up hope on Lauren-Ashley – when he said No, no but I am at a loss for things to do. We then discussed the last DLI which we both agreed it wouldn’t hurt but he was convinced it probably wouldn’t do anything either. His nurse handed me another DNR paper for outside of the hospital if paramedics had to be called for any reason – I completely broke down, and for the sake of your own hearts I will not go into detail what I was told might be possibilities. I felt like I was being bombarded by hell itself in all its ugliness – and I was. It took everything in me to move into a place of safety with the Lord and to allow God to cover me. Walking back into that hospital room was extremely difficult and to “proceed as normal” but with God’s strength I did it!
It is not often that I have feelings of “deep sorrow” from them the way I did in that room but I ran to the Lord every moment that seemed to want to consume me. I felt his strong love and his right hand upholding me as I proceeded to plan for discharge, get medicines in order and take a class at Kaiser for IV med administration at home. My mind flew back to the Lord’s words in the beginning, “. . walk through it. . . . I go before you. . . . and I will be your rear guard.” I held on to all the words over the years we had been given and shown and clung to them like a life rope as we left the hospital with counts almost nonexistent and blast cells up to 82% .
Thanksgiving was wonderful with all the children together and clinic visits were plenty every other day. Lauren-Ashley grew in strength and was able to walk more around the house but still showed the signs of months in the hospital and heavy meds. Even amidst not feeling well, she still mustered up smiles and her sense of humor came through. At this point, when at clinic I did not ask about blast cells any longer but only the absolute necessary ones related to platelets, blood and things like potassium and magnesium I could have some control over all the while spiritually cursing the fungus and leukemia and declaring its destruction. Lauren-Ashley continued to cling to the Lord and picture all the ugly cells running for their lives. December 1 arrived, and in clinic we went for the last DLI. It went without a hitch and I can never get over what a miracle it is, taking pictures as usual. Finals came and went yielding a miraculous bunch of good grades for me and my stress was diminished a bit, now being able to concentrate on Lauren-Ashley and what I needed to do for her. My Mom, Dad and I continued to just take each day at a time and pray over Lauren-Ashley along with countless others committed to do the same. As we attended our clinic visit this past Friday, we arrived early, got blood taken, needed blood and platelets and waited for Dr. Rosenthal to see us. He came in later in the afternoon, with a different look on his face. As he stood near the doorway, leaning on the sink cabinet, I looked him in the eye and said if he had anything bad to say please just forget it and leave. He stammered in his words a little but managed to get out that no, it wasn’t and he was a bit “puzzled” by her blood work. Not understanding what he meant, he proceeded to tell me her donor cells which were completely 0 had begun to rise, and the leukemia cells were down to 18% – Tears welled, I clapped and almost couldn’t contain myself. At which time he said he was extremely cautious over this and I said with my medical training so far I understood BUT putting my hand on my chest and pointing to the sky I proclaimed I KNEW what had happened and would proceed accordingly as well. He looked at me with an almost bewilderment and said, “..well, keep praying and, we are talking about Lauren-Ashley here” When he left, Lauren-Ashley realized just where she was at – on paper- she looked at me and said “I knew it was a virus and I was going to be ok”. She has often, when asked, said she knows the Lord is taking care of her – and that never was a question or concern of hers. The whole week of this appointment I felt the Lord asking me if I trusted Him and would I trust Him in the 11th hour? I could always answer Yes! Because I really know He is our everything and no matter what situation, trial or opportunity He is taking care of us and He in control and wants us to obey. My mind often went to Joseph and his situation of having to endure many years of unjust treatment and Abraham having to continue to obey all the while knowing God wanted him to sacrifice his son – and in the 11th hour God’s hand spared them both, lifted them up and fulfilled His word to them. I BELIEVE GOD and continue to hold fast to His word!!!!!
Please continue to picture God’s breath moving across Lauren-Ashley’s bone marrow, cells proliferating under God’s direction and fungus and leukemia cells being destroyed and eliminated from her body – for His Glory!!!!!!! Our work is not done yet in this situation, and our heels need to be dug in because the battle IS BEING WON!!!!!!!!!Strongholds are being completely destroyed, ground is being recaptured and the enemy is fleeing.
Remember God is our Strength, Light and Salvation and, “ . . . they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, the shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Thank you all for standing with us, fighting and believing God.

Always in Him,
Sherri

Dearest All,

I have tended to wait to do this next update because each day has held its own. I prefer to have answers, results etc…

“yesterday”, but that is not the nature of this kind of process. It has really forced me to live the proverbial “one day at

a time” and accumulate MUCH patience. Since our last udate Lauren-Ashley has continued to move in the right direction slowly

and steadily. This type of fungal infection is extremely touchy and destructive. It is a miracle that we were not put in the ICU. Bottom line I have not heard of many(one hand count) childen who have not ended up there let alone survived this most monsterous culprit. Her counts continue to remain “stable”. Until two days ago that was enough for me. I used to analyze each and every letter on the daily bloodwork reports and I think I have just decided to be “happy” to know we are stable and positive at this point. Her eye remains a little swollen, slightly red but she can open it a bit(about 1/3) and her vision does not seem to be impaired or the occular muscle function either-miracle! At this time I have chosen not to tell her about the herendous moment and decision about keeping her eye etc.. I think this is best left for another time when she can look at this with more perspective and know that God literally wanted to use that moment for something more than the moment itself. I am sure He wll reveal it to her when need be and she will be able to use it for His Glory!
One of the doctors, Dr. Polauska came to me on Thursday and cheerfully asked me if I wanted to know what her counts were. She seemed too happy at that moment and I told her I think moreso she would like to tell me – she said “come to the computer and I will show you. All her counts seem to be stable and her white count is .9 (not much but better than nothing)

As she scrolled across the figures, she showed me that the blast cells hon Nov. 2nd were up to 42% – Now know why I had no desire to check on them daily – this would have made me extremely and deeply concerned BUT GOD showed up when the next lyphocyte infusion did on Tuesday the 3rd. the count on Thursday – when she showed me two days later -had gone down to 17% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This reason is why she was excited. It seems to be doing what they were hoping. I am not sure how long we need to do this but Dr. said we wil do it as long and as many times as we are able and need to. I thank God every day Lauren-Ashley has a good day and I sit back and watch and know God is working even when she doesn’t. This battle is a long and difficult one BUT GOD has a wonderful plan for all of us within it.

It is important that all of you get rest and renewal through this battle and Praise God which strenghtens you and strengthens us.

This miracle of cell transfer is just that – a miracle! I took some pictures of it arriving in the cooler outside our door, of it in its container cryogenically frozen(very cool), being thawed and being hung for infusion, just so you all could share in the miracle and what it was like. We continue to wait for some type of a GVH reaction showing us the cells are armed and really continuing to battle on their own and today I think we have a glimpse- LA has a very sore spot in her mouth and her tummy is upset alot – I never thought I would be happy she doesn’t feel so great in that respect – go figure!!!!. Pray for Gods little Army to continue to be girded up inside her body gaining ground and strengthening on their own. This will enable the leukemia cells to be destroyed when they rear up and her own cells to recover.

Just a note – I have 5 weeks of school left for this semester – finals will be here before I know it and Please pray that I will be able to retain the info needed and things will go well.

Please remember to take a look at the new pics – it is amazing to me!!!

Always greatful for each and every one of you and the strength we receive and feel knowing you are standing with us!

Always in Him,
Sherri

9 Message(s)

Posted Nov 20, 2009 11:44pm

by Christopher Schmidt

Praying for your family and Praising God from Kansas

Posted Nov 20, 2009 2:14pm

by Rebecca Wolfe

Sherri and Lauren Ashley –

You are continuously in our prayers and we lift you up daily for complete healing and strength. Just wanted to pop in and send you hugs and love!
Love you!
Rebecca/Rich

Posted Nov 11, 2009 6:23am

by Kathy Dages

Lauren Ashley & Sherri,
The prayers for strength and renewed healing continue in abundance. Your faith is unfailing as well as God’s love and so many others who admire your fortitude. Hang in there and feel our hugs and prayers always, Love, Kathy

Posted Nov 9, 2009 9:37pm

by Sharon Welker

Dear LA and Sherri,
I am so sorry you both are going through all this suffering and stress. I can only say your faithfulness to God during such a tragedy is certainly an encouragement to others and a testimony to your dedication to Christ. I am continuing to be in prayer for your comfort and total healing Lauren Ashley, including those symptoms created from the side effects of the chemo and all the cell transfer. I will not soon forget what that day was like. A new birthday. May God’s spirit and His wisdom continue to guide you Sherri in making the decisions that will help this healing process along quickly. You are both in my thoughts and prayers. I am rejoicing and thankful for this good bit of news…Sharon

Posted Nov 9, 2009 1:28pm

by Brion Ockenfels

Dear Lauren Ashley and Sherri, THANK YOU GOD is all I can express at this moment!

Lauren Ashley my thoughts, prayers and journey with God cannot be without you and those I hold dear. You are my hero Lauren Ashley; you have brought me closer to God, softened my heart and strengthened the Holy Spirit within my soul. I know I am not alone when I say I am proud to stand next to you, amazed with your strength, resolve and the living breathing light of God you bring into the our lives.

We Love you Lauren Ashley.

You are one tough cookie young lady, keep up the good fight, rest and heal when you can, let God’s little Special Force guys do what they do best.

Sherri, Thank you so much for the pics, never in my life did I think that cranberry red would be my favorite color. You absolutely know you are in our prayers, I cannot think of a better Mom and you will be, you are an incredible Nurse.

PAX, Brion

Posted Nov 8, 2009 11:19am

by Amelia Pesante

Sherri we both know that the battles we must often fight are never wasted but God will use them to strengthen us for days ahead. He never leads us down roads that He in His merciful way has not prepared us to travel. It is the same this time around. I know that even now He is equipping you and our precious Lauren-Ashley for His good work that lies before you. His plans are always good and purposeful. I believe those with the greatest destinies must climb the steepest mountains. Praise be to God who anoints us with every good gift and prepares our hands for war. I love you both dearly and continue to pray for total healing and divine restoration. Amelia

Posted Nov 8, 2009 10:46am

by Ruthie James

I pray night and day for you both, and Dad, and of course for the wondeful Dr Rosenthal and the fabulos nurses w/ you. Sherri I will pray for you w/ your finals, but I am not worried, you are doing EXACTLY what you are suppose to be doing and NO ONE will make a finer nurse! We love you all. Stay strong, fight the fight & walk the walk, we are w/ you, as Michael Jackson’s go… ” You Are Not Alone”. Love, Ruthie

Posted Nov 7, 2009 7:16pm

by Tara Christian

God is good and as much as you have learned to trust God in all things, it may not be evident now, but Lauren is learning from you how to trust God also. God is using you as much as he is Lauren to be that little light of Hope that most people give up on. Continue the course, Do not grow weary, for His ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and if they weren’t then we would be in some big trouble. We are in the valleys at times, but we never stay there. The mountain top awaits you both! We love you guys very much.

Posted Nov 7, 2009 5:48pm

by Janet Squire

Craig & I are continueing to pray for a miracle.
Love, Janet

Dearest Loved Ones,
Last night I received an update from Brion (LA’s donor). Being the faithful man of God he, and before going home he placed his hands on the cooler with his lymphocytes and prayed for their safe delivery and purpose. They were sent on their way and arrived here sometime last night.
This morning, Lauren-Ashley had the drain removed from her sinus/nasal cavity and was brave – as usual. We have had multiple doctors in and out this morning all “amazed”, pleased and cautious with her progress to the anti-fungal treatment and hopeful for its continued success.
I was given the infusion schedule STARTING TODAY!!!!!! The lymphocytes were processed and split into four infusion packs. The schedule starts with the first infusion starting today 10/20 2009 at noon! The following infusions will each being given on a Tuesday – 11/3, 11/17,and 12/01. * It will be important for these cells to take hold and battle the leukemia cell invaders and destroy them enabling her marrow production to re-establish itself and her counts to recover.
*It is also important to declare and speak these things as they already are. In approaching God the Father on her behalf give Him Glory and our hearts full of Praise and Thanksgiving for her cells recovering, the fungus shriveling up by the roots and the order in her body on a cellular level being reestablished as God intended… BECAUSE . . . . . it has Already happened in the Spirit and needs to be declared with our words on this earth – where we have been given authority and dominion! It may not feel like it at times but God does not lie and His Word does not change or return void!!!!!!. . . . . . ………………………………………………….. Well, it is 12:32 on 10/20/2009 and I am continuing our update – several nurses came in about 10 minutes ago with a rather large looking syringe with about an inch of reddish liquid that was the lymphocytes. It was attached to her central line which goes (appropriately) directly into her heart to be pumped throughout her whole body. The nursed let me hold it just before infusion – what an emotional moment! As I watched it being infused (which only took about a minute or less) I couldn’t help but picture the little “trouble maker” cells running for their lives!!!!! – and I am sure to NO AVAIL!!!!!!!!! She is taking a nap and slept through the whole thing except for a moment when I woke her to let her see them. She reached up to touch the syringe ad closed her eyes and went back to sleep. They will be monitoring her vitals for the next hour as they do for all blood products and we just continue to walk through this healing process.
I love you all for staying the course with us and bless you this day for your faithfulness
Always in Him,
Sherri

Dearest All,
It is now 11:30 p.m. and this is by far the most difficult post yet. Despite the events of today and especially this evening, I still stand firm in what God says and NOT the Doctors.
First, I want to say the events we have endured I did not expect or see coming – at all. We were slated to go to the OR at 2:30p.m. but the go-ahead was not for sure until a little earlier in the day approx. 11a.m. As we waited and waited, it wasn’t until 4 p.m. until the OR transport arrived. We quickly did the paper signing, meeting the extra docs etc… and at 5p.m. she went in. I anticipated another 3+ hour surgery by 7:30p.m. I received a call on my cell phone from Doctor Rosenthal’s right hand Dr. Polaska (wonderful woman and doctor) asking where I was – I was in our room waiting for her to be done. The tone in her voice warranted me asking if everything was alright. Her response was, “No, not really”. As electric like shocks ran through my whole being I asked if she was alive, at which point she realized what she had done and said yes, but she needed to talk to me about an immediate plan of some sort – Lauren-Ashley was still on the operating table and Doctor would be right up.
It seemed like longer but was only about 1 minute. She proceeded to tell me that when they entered the frontal, ethmoid and sphenoid sinuses they removed a significant amount of fungal infected tissue and discovered the aspergillus has permeated the blood vessels in the oral cavity. The conservative plan would be to scrape, remove and clean anything within reach in all sinus cavities but in order to remove most if not all would be an aggressive treatment needing my immediate approval and that to my shock was to remove her eye- I really could NOT BELIEVE what I was hearing. The eye itself was not affected but in order to clean the ocular cavity, irreparable damage would be done to the eye and removing in would ensure the best chance of removal of the fungus.
There are so many factors we are juggling right now this was the most shocking and immediate. Dr. Polaska, on the way up to me, contacted Dr. Rosenthal in Texas at a conference and he did not agree with performing aggressive treatment under the circumstances of fighting the leukemia and putting her at risk to become weaker. The removal of her eye would have been an extremely difficult procedure, more painful and longer recovery and he insists on moving forward with the lymphocyte infusion next week sometime to give her the best chance against the leukemia.
Needless to say, I moved through a gamut of emotions all the while considering what would be the best for her state of mind and what the Lord would have me to do – and I needed to make the decision right then. Knowing Lauren-Ashley, having to endure probably triple + the pain she is enduring now, along with the fact of losing her eye would have really caused her to most likely lose her strength, cause her to weaken at an accelerated pace and start to lose hope. This I COULD NOT ALLOW to happen. Amidst waves of tears and wanting to just fall apart I had to encourage myself to keep my eyes on what God had said and stay in tune with the Holy Spirit’s prodding to stay the course and stay on the conservative plan.
Dr. immediately ran (literally) back to the OR to let them know to finish up and return her to me after post op. As she left the door two nurses who have ran the journey with us from the beginning held me as I broke down for a few minutes – I think I just had to let it out! It was an extremely difficult few moments but I was peaceful amidst the ciaos. Just then my mom walked in and caught on, called my Dad downstairs to come up – what timing!!!!!!!
Lauren-Ashley went into post op at 8:30 p.m. and didn’t return to me until 10.00p.m. It feels like a little piece of me gets chewed off every time I see her in such pain and in such a setting with tubes, tears etc. Mom mode kicks in and we transferred her to her bed, comforted her, covered, hooked meds back up and tried to make her as comfortable as possible. She is on her pain med regimen (3 mg. hourly morphine continuous, a pca at 15 min. intervals-2mg, and a nurse bolus every 30 minutes of 2mg and if any more is needed we will evaluate at each interval. Her eye is red and swollen a little with a drain coming out of the incision by her nose running down her rt. nasal cavity and gauze across her nose. She just wants to rest and is not very conscious but is extremely coherent and irritated and probably will remain that way until we get the pain managed which shouldn’t take very long. I pray she will have a comfortable night and a speedy recovery with the fungus being destroyed every second of every day and the leukemia hovering until we can blast it into oblivion!!!!!!!!
God being who He is her vitals (bp, oxygen saturation, and temp) after this heavier and more difficult, not to mention longer surgery are better and more stable than last weeks surgery!!
Please forgive me if I have rambled a bit but as I type the tears just have rolled and I think I needed to “get it out”. I love you all for allowing me to share this most painful part of our lives and standing by, with, and next to us while I literally feel you all holding us up. You all are so precious to me as I walk through this most difficult time and your faithfulness blesses me.
I will keep you informed as usual,
Always in Him,
Sherri

Dearest All,
It has been a week of encouragement, bewilderment, puzzling moments, happy moments, relief and concern, just to wrap it up. we truly are learning to take each day a moment at a time. Lauren-Ashley continues to go through the healing process and some concern remains.
The pathology tests revealed a very serious and extremely dangerous type of fungus in her sinus cavity. For you and I it would be serious enough, but for an immunocompromised person it is more than serious.
As a precautionary measure she was put on an antifungal medication prior to surgery, after the results came back they increased the dosage. Her week went up and down with swelling and redness and is looking less “angry” but the dilema is, Do they go back in and remove more fluid and try to take out as much infected tissue as they can. It seems simple enough, but the risks are certainly a concern. If they do, do we run the risk of dislodging some and it entering the bloodstream in a big way and poses more complications? Will this weakien her any more? (she is strong and draws on the Lord for it physically, spiritually and mentally) I am sitting here waiting for the ENT surgeon and neurological consult to come in to discuss some of these issues.
Now is the time we need, as we have prayed for the wisdom of the Almighty to be imparted clearly to each of the doctors influencing their thoughts, decisions and hands.
Her counts still remain extremely low and she is being supported appropriately with blood and platelets. Dr. Rosenthal informed the people in charge of the Lymphocyte collection who wanted to cancel in last week, but Dr. said absolutely not and it was postponed until the 19th of October – next week. We just need to get the remainder of this infection arrested and. . . . . . .30 minutes later. . . .

Dr. Magami came in and discussed the procedure with me and we talked about all concerns, but her feeling is, she has been conservative enough with Lauren-Ashley and wants to go in, open up the sinus area through the same incision, possibly extending it a bit if necessary as to not miss anything, remove more tissue and any fluid build-up to help with irrigation, drainage and the healing process.
Please, stand with us today in full confidance in what God is allowing and bless the doctors involved with clear vision, purpose and steady hands.
As a mom, this is a little difficult, to say the least, since Lauren-Ashley has to endure a very long surgery once again, but as a mom who trusts the Lord with ALL she has, I stand in His promises conerning Lauren-Ashley knowing that His word is the same yesterday, today and forever!

Thank you for standing with me in the Spirit,
Always appreciating and loving each and every one of you,

In Him,
Sherri