6-30-10

Morning everyone!

Well Jess and I had a super long night..... Headed over for chemo yesterday and found out that not only are her white cells still low but also her red blood cells were getting super low too!! :( So after chemo at the cancer center, we had to head to the hospital where they actually admitted her and put her in an Oncology room where we stayed until after 11 last night and she received 2 units of blood. So we didn't get home until after 1 am last night. We would of stayed the night but we didn't have anything with us. So it would of been a pain for both of us. But the blood sure made her feel better today. No wonder she has been starting to crash lately. We didn't even think about her reds being low.... We also asked about her chemo pills... Wow, we got a little in trouble from our favorite PA ! (Jess's doctor is on vacation) He told us in no way was she not to take these pills. They were part of the prodical and he wasn't going to get yelled at from Jess's doctor up north... So she has to take them tonight about an hour after dinner. She is supposed to take them the same time every night for some reason. I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. But anyways... She is done with IV chemo for this week and only has the pills and then we have to be back in Medford next Tues for the next round. So hopefully she feels better this week. I will keep you all informed. Thanks again for checking in and please keep her in your prayers. Love to all, Cindi

6-28-10

Good Evening Everyone!

Well Jess has been feeling a little under the weather since she has started those chemo pills. I wish that she could just be done with them. They make her feel so blucky. We had to go today to get her blood drawn up at the cancer center here in Klamath so that we would know if she was good enough to go to Medford tomorrow. But they called up and said that her white blood count was low again :( So they were supposed to talk to the doctor and call us back but when she called back it was for something else and now we don't know if we are going tomorrow or not.... So I told Jess to not stay up late and get up early and give them a jingle about 8 am and find out. At least her appointments aren't until 12:45 for blood drawn (which would they still do since she did it today?) and 2:00 pm for chemo. So we wouldn't have to leave Klamath until about 11:00 am. So we do have some time in the morning to find out. She sure is ready to be done with all this strong chemo and just get to the maintenance ones (hopefully they aren't to bad!) So I will let you all know what we find out tomorrow and please keep her in your prayers! Thanks so much for checking in. Love to all, Cindi

6-26-10

Thanks to you all for dropping me a line and letting me know that you are checking in :) It is hard to write this everyday without anyone just letting me know that someone is reading.... :) So thanks again! Well Friday went okay. She still isn't feeling up to par and so it is hard for me to watch her get chemo when she isn't feeling good. We think that it has a lot to do with the chemo pills because when we read the side effects Wow, is there a lot! But the oncology nurse kept asking her if she was okay and she kept saying that she was fine. The nurse also was telling me how strong of a girl she is. He said that he has been amazed watching and treating her. Which didn't surprise me in the least! :) So we headed home and I was so happy that we were done for the week..... On the way home though she laid her head on my shoulder and that just makes me choke up. She will always be my little girl and I so wish that I could take this all away for her. So I stay up late watching a movie with Rob thinking that I could sleep in and I get a call at 5:15 am from Jess, that she isn't feeling good and that she has a temp!! So Shane heads over to pick her up and I start to get ready as then we head to Rogue's ER. They did all sorts of blood tests and a chest x-ray to make sure that everything was okay but she still had a temp when we leave but not as bad. So they tell us to keep an eye on her and if she gets bad again we will have to go back there or into Sky Lakes. She has also been having shortness of breath, chest pains, chills, fatigue and sweats. This doesn't surprise me that she has been having symptoms and not telling anyone but I can only scold her so much. As it turned out they did decide that it must be her pills because they couldn't find anything else out in the blood cultures. We did find out though that her white blood count had come back up since Tues so that was awesome news in all of this. It kinda amazed me with all the chemo that she has been getting and it still came up but it goes back to her being the strong girl :) But anyways I will let you all go. Thanks so much for checking in. I'm beat and ready to put my feet up. Please keep her in your prayers. Love you all, Cindi

6-25-10

Morning everyone!

Well yesterday was a hard day too. Jess ended up being sick to her stomach all night long and then on our way to Medford. I had to stop to let her get out... She is going through so much already and to add this, just makes me so upset. So once they accessed her port they gave her some anti nausea medicine for what she was feeling and plus for the new chemo that they were going to give her but it just didn't help so the nurse had to go find the doctor and they gave her a pill under her tongue which helped so much! So then they called that in for a prescription in Klamath so that we could pick it up on our way home. So it obviously made her sleepy on the way home cause as soon as we headed down the road she was out and under the blanket. Oh I had forgotten that she hadn't ate anything but grapes all day so after chemo she actually felt good enough to have some french fries and ice cream :) then she feel asleep! lol It makes for a long trip though without her to talk to :( But I was sure glad that she ate and then she rested cause then today we have the same thing all over again! Whew, am I getting tired but like Ive always said. I think of her and how strong she is being and it makes me push myself too. But anyways, I will let you all go. Please keep her in your prayers. Love to all, Cindi

6-24-10

Well yesterday felt sooooo long!! My body is actually stiff and sore so I know that Jess's must be twice as bad. We got over to the hospital for her spinal which was a nightmare even though she had the good doctor. He just couldn't get it to go. So he had to numb her spine in 3 places and try to get the big needle to go. Needless to say she was super sore and exhausted after the procedure. She said that he was very kind and kept talking to her and trying to make it easier but it still hurt a lot! She is hoping that she doesn't have to have a spinal ever again! I'm thinking that it was number 18 :( Then we had to wait for chemo at 2 and that took over 2 hours with the pre-meds, fluids & then the chemo. Some nice friends invited us for dinner afterwards over there but Jess was to exhausted and wow she sure was. After I drove her home and then I got home and did some stuff around the house I felt miserable and so sore. But anyways, we have to be back over there at 2 today so I don't know if I will need to go pick her up this morning. There was no way that she could drive last night so Pat drove her pickup home and I picked him up... Well please keep her in your prayers today. Oh I forgot that she also had to start her 3 chemo pills a day last night too! :( So I will let you all know how it goes and drop me a line if you can and let me know if you guys are reading. Thanks so much! Love, Cindi

Tues the 22nd

Hi All,

Went to chemo this morning about 8. We ran a little late cause of the road construction so we will need to leave a little earlier tomorrow morning. Jess's white cells were down again but they are pushing to get this week of chemo done. They were a 16 last Thurs after the shots and they were a 3 today. Before the shots they were a 1. So her body is really wore out. It bothers me that we are doing chemo but Jess wants to get it over with too. They wouldn't do it if it was lower but since it isn't yet they will do it but wow what a long week. She has her chemo pills for 2 weeks, IV chemo for four days and a spinal tomorrow. I feel wiped out tonight and I can only imagine what she is feeling like. She keeps telling me how she wants to take a trip far far away when this is done.. lol I totally understand!! So I will let you all know how she does tomorrow. We have to be over there at 10:30 for the spinal at the hospital and then 2pm for chemo so it will be a super long day.... I will let you all go and I need to get relaxed and ready for bed. Please keep her in your prayers! Love to all, Cindi

Sat 19 of June

Well today is Sat the 19th and it is my husband's Pat birthday! So him and the boys went camping up at the Sycan for the weekend!!! Exciting!! :) Jess and I have been hanging out at my house doing girly things :D Riding horses when she feels like it, watching movies and just relaxing. So it has been really nice. The doctor called her yesterday and said that her counts had come up enough so that she doesn't have to give blood anymore this week plus no more shots!! So we both were pretty happy. So the next thing in store will be going over to Medford on Tues morning for blood count and chemo plus she will have to be starting her chemo pills for two weeks if everything is going alright. So I will keep you all informed. Please keep Jess in your prayers. She is still getting tired off and on so she is going to try to make some nutritional smoothies to help her out. So that is all for now. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Love to all, Cindi

Thurs June 17th

Well not much to report today. Jess is on and off with how she is feeling. She wants to do so much and get back into shape but if she does a lot on the one day she is feeling like heck that evening and most of the time the next day. I totally understand how she is feeling. She has two big horse shows in July that she really wants to ride in. And that is what she lives for. So I'm hoping that we can get these white cells up and the chemo done so we can go up to Portland and get her scans done. Then we can see what the next two years will bring. Hopefully something not to hard on her. Yesterday we went and had her blood drawn up at the cancer center and then her other bone marrow shot up at the hospital. We have to have her blood drawn again tomorrow and hopefully we get good news. So I will let you all go. Thanks so much for checking up on her. Please keep her in your prayers. XOXO Cindi

Tuesday the 15th

Well we headed over to Medford this morning only to find out that her white blood count was worse! Even after the two marrow shots.. The doctor seemed surprised but told us that her body has been through a heck of a lot and it is just tired... So they had already accessed her port so they took that out and gave her another marrow shot and sent us home. Why couldn't her little body of held off for about another week..:( So tomorrow we have to go up to the cancer center and hospital for blood drawn and another shot then blood drawn again on Fri. So hopefully she picks up or I don't know what they are going to do. We have to really keep an eye on her temperature to make sure that it doesn't go over 100.5 or it is off to the ER. She can so easily catch anything right now so it is watching what she eats and everyone washing their hands, plus her too. So it was definitely not the news we had hoped to hear today. So that also puts us back another week to go to Portland. So please keep her in your prayers and I will let you all know how she does tomorrow. Thanks for checking in. Love to all, Cindi

Monday the 14th

Morning all!!

Well Jess had to have another bone marrow shot Sat morning before we took off for Bend. Between the two of them she ended up feeling like she was major stiff and sore and kinda like when you work out hard and everything aches... She also got a little tired up there but all in all I feel like it was really good to get her out and visiting. I know that if felt good for me mentally. I also didn't know that I like to karaoke! lol But anyways we head to Medford tomorrow morning for chemo. Please keep her in your prayers as we are hoping that her white cell count is up and she can get started on chemo so we can get it done! The doctor said that two bone shots aren't bad but after that they can get painful and she might have to use some pain meds so we are hoping that they have come up now. So we will find out tomorrow around 10:30 so I will let you know how it goes. Thanks so much for checking in and I will update tomorrow night. Love to all, Cindi

Fri the 11th

Well we headed up about eleven this morn to get Jess's blood drawn for her white blood count up at the cancer center. She said the tech did a better job so that was good to hear. I hate to know that it is hurting her. We then did a couple things around town and then went out to my house to pick up one of her horses to start getting them moved down to her house. We were at her house for about an hour when Jess's doctor office called and said that her count was still way to low and that she was going to have to get the bone marrow shots and we had to be up at Sky Lakes infusium center to get the shot in an hour. So away we went! She said that it stung a little and we have to be back up there in the morning at eight to get another one! :( So hopefully these will help her get back on track....The said to expect bone aches and some pain so if we can't handle it with over the counter that they would give her something stronger. She had also received her chemo pills which she has to take for two weeks and three times a day!! Yuck! But with her counts they also put those off until we see the doctor on Tues again. We will then try our 4 days of chemo plus her spinal and pills!! I kinda hope that we can get going so we can get them done but another part of me hates to see her go through this but I know that we have to sooo.... Well please keep her in your prayers!! Love to all, Cindi

Don't know who saw this thank you so I decided to post it :)

The family of Jessica Kelly-Unruh would like to give thanks to all the support that they have received for their daughter who is battling cancer. Jessi is a 21 yr old 2007 graduate of Bonanza High School. In Sept 2009 she married 25 yr old Jonathan Unruh of Malin, a 2003 graduate of Lost River High School. In Oct 2009 she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Lymphoma. She has been receiving treatments and tests in Portland at OHSU and in Medford at the cancer treatment center for the last nine months and is now in remission. Because of the severity of her cancer, treatments and tests are required for the next two years between the two cities. The support has been strong with lots of prayers and help from their community and the surrounding communities. Sorry that we can't mention everyone but please know that we do appreciate you. Here are a few: The Bonanza School, Big Springs Market, SEOPHC, Mr Vieira and his six graders, Ashley Petersen & Sam Gallagher, Tim, Tom and Jim Cuthbertson, Haley Cantrell, Malin Cafe, Lost River School, Big R, Bonanza Fire Dept, Heather Nichols, Mike & Diane Tyrholm, Kingsley Air Base are just a few of the supporters. There is also lots of family and friends and we can't thank you enough. Help is still being accepted and needed as the family travels to and from treatments and tests. There is an account set up at South Valley Bank 5215 S 6th Street, Klamath Falls, Or 97603 Attn: Jessica Kelly-Unruh Fund. The family states "We couldn't have done it so far without everyone's help, thank you"

Weds the 9th

Took Jess into the cancer center here in town to get her blood drawn. The ladies in there were very happy to see her there. It is funny but they act like Medford. They kept calling her "Their Girl" lol She said that it hurts to get it drawn since her veins are very deep and tiny (plus some of the chemo's affect them) They weren't allowed to use her port since they aren't qualified to do so :( Bummer... So I headed out to look around as she got it done and asked if they had a wig room. They were very happy to tell me that they did so when Jess got done we went in and looked around. We ended up finding one so now she has a short one and a long one. So that made her happy which in turn makes me happy. lol She called Medford since they wanted the results pronto so hopefully they got them later today or in the morning so that we can see how her blood is doing. We are hoping that all is well so that she doesn't need to get the shots. Jess also told me that the chemo pills finally got approved so she will get them delivered to her house tomorrow sometime. With approval they are still $50 but that is a heck of a lot better than $500! But with taking them we now have more chemo going in to her so I'm a little worried what her blood will do then. These type of pills always seem to do a number on her insides and last time ended her up in the hospital so lets keep our fingers crossed and prayers said so that this doesn't happen. Well I will let you know if we find out anything tomorrow. Thanks for checking in and please keep her in your prayers. Love to all, Cindi

Tues the 8th

Well we headed over to Medford to get chemo this morn but after getting her blood drawn from her port the doctor said that her white cells were to low to do anything. She was really upset because they hate for us to drive all that way and then not do anything but she really didn't expect the blood to go down again after it had been coming back up on Friday of last week. She actually thought about trying to get the spinal done today but she knew that it would be hard to get set up at such short notice and she was kinda afraid of doing it with the cell count but she wanted to do something. lol Soooo... now chemo and spinal will happen next week. But tomorrow and Friday Jess is set up to go get her blood drawn up at Sky Lakes to make sure on the white count because if it gets any lower she will have to get the two shots to bump up the count and to tell you the truth you can see that they really don't want to give it to her unless they really have to. It was funny cause all the chemo nurses were like "where you going?" "why aren't you getting treatment?" "you're not really going home now are you?" lol they treat her like a little queen of the center and I know it is because of her age but it makes me smile cause I can see that Jess really likes them and vice versa. The one nurse told us that after Jess goes to Portland and they get the results and new prodical that they ALL (like around 10 - 12 I have noticed) have a meeting with her doctor in Medford and speaker phone with her doctor in Portland to go over everything cause they don't even carry her type of chemo and they have to special order everything cause it is all pediatric. So I've rambled on enough for tonight. I will let you all know how her blood is tomorrow. Please keep her in your prayers! Love, Cindi

Monday Morn the 7th

Hi everyone,

Well Sunday was a major rest up day. Jess had been super tired so she just laid around and tried to catch up on her rest. She was feeling okay except for that so I felt pretty good about her. (not so stressed) Hopefully this will all get easier after we go to Portland on the 22nd. I'm sure hoping so. This coming week is going to be long and I'm not looking forward to it at all. We start off with chemo tomorrow about 10:45 and then spinal at 10:30 on Weds so I think that we will just spend the night. It makes for a long week driving back and forth with someone who just really isn't feeling well. And with her getting a spinal I like her to be well rested :( Well I will let you all go. I have a lot of catching up to do around the house. It was so busy this weekend. Please keep her in your prayers! God Bless, Cindi

Graduation Day!

Today was an amazing day!! Shane had an awesome graduation, Gabbi, his girlfriend from Portland came down to go to it and the best thing of all was that Jessi went with us and enjoyed it all!! That was kinda a rambling sentence but you guys get it! lol Jess was having a super good day so we were so happy. Everyone that seen her commented on how gorgeous she looked :) It is funny how bad she can be and then she picks right up. She is so strong and this is why she is gonna beat this thing!! So it was a good day and we are going to go watch the seniors bowl as long as Jess feels okay and doesn't get to tired. So I will let you all go and thanks for checking in. Jess has chemo Tues-Fri next week plus another spinal on Weds! I really think that this is number eighteen! So please keep her in your prayers. Love, Cindi

Fri the 4th

Well Jess and Jon just got home from chemo in Medford... She actually looks a lot better today. THANK GOODNESS!! I was so worried to see her come walking through the door but when I did I could instantly tell. I think that it is just her strength. She is so strong. The doctor said that her white count had come up enough that she doesn't have to have that cell regenerating shot :) :) I was so happy to hear that. They are still waiting for her chemo pills to come. I guess that they are a special order and we are hoping that the insurance is going to pick up most of the bill.... If not we aren't sure what we are going to do yet. So she is planning on going to Shane's graduation tomorrow which still makes me a little nervous but she is so stubborn. lol Then we have four days of chemo next week starting on Tuesday. I'm pretty sure that I will be taking her everyday because I'm off now. Sooo..... long week for me too! Please keep her in your prayers and I will keep you all updated. Thanks! Love, Cindi

Thursday June 2nd

Well Jess had an okay chemo day but let me tell you she is showing a lot of exhaustion. It scares me to see her like this but she is determined to get her 3 weeks done and over. She looks so tired and sick of all this but she never says a word. I of course, on the other hand is basically a blubbering mess. I think about her and I cry, after I see her and she leaves, I cry. I talk to other people about her and I cry. I just don't know what is wrong with me.... Well I was hoping that Pat would get to see the doctor today but nope that is tomorrow...and of course neither Pat or I are going tomorrow! So it will either be Robbie or Jon (can't farm with the weather) I'm not sure which one is taking her as of yet. She will get her chemo and blood check tomorrow and then on Saturday they are giving her the shot to help with the white cells. She is going to try to make is for Sat afternoon up at Sky Lakes so that she can make it to Shane's graduation. But I'm not so sure that she should even go with her counts. I guess we will see what it is tomorrow. She could prolly go if she wore a mask but she doesn't like people staring at her sooo..... I just don't know. Well I will let you go. Please keep her in your prayers! Thanks everyone! xoxo Cindi

how bout 3 steps back....??

well today was a totally rough day... I couldn't help but cry off and on. I know that I'm super tired of all of this and I can't even imagine what my daughter and son in law are feeling... First off the spinal was two hours off as they ordered the wrong chemo?? how did they do that?? Kinda makes me worried.. Then they had to poke her two times in one arm and one in the other to get blood.. Didn't I say that she had a port and they are supposed to use it? I don't know what is going on lately over there. I'm sure glad that I'm off as of Friday so I will be able to do the chemo runs next week and keep an eye on everything. Then she had chemo over at the cancer center which went okay but why is she getting chemo if her white cells are so bad?? All this chemo is only going to make it worse.. So Dad has the trip tomorrow so I told him the questions that I wanted asked. Jess didn't get home until about 5 pm tonight and they have to leave at about 9 am tomorrow so it will be a long week for her. I just thought and prayed for her all day and it just makes me super depressed. I just want to grab her and hold her tight and take it all away.. Well I will let you all go and I will let you know how it goes tomorrow. Please put her in your prayers! Love to all, Cindi

Couple steps back... 6-1-10

Well Jess headed over to get her chemo today and found out that her white cells are dangerously low. (Now we know the hair loss reason) So the doctor was very concerned and she is going to be keeping an eye on them this week and then she might have to have a shot to get them going again. But we are concerned because when you do that to the cells it also helps the cancer cells but she is in remission so hopefully everything will be okay. The doctor said that she wanted to give the shot on Sat after chemo this week but guess what??!!? That is Shane's graduation so she is very upset and she is going to talk to the doctor about it. Jess said that if she didn't get the shot and this new chemo knocks her cells down any further that she could end up in the hospital again and that upsets all of us :( I swear if it isn't one thing after another. When she got her blood drawn today they were supposed to use her port but the lady that keeps track of that stuff had it drawn out of her arm and that is a big no no with Jess and I guess even with Jess telling her she still had it done and it took three tries for the tech to do it so the doctor had a very upset talk with Bobbi (she is the one that is supposed to know all the stuff) That just opens Jess up for infection. So I bet that it doesn't happen again and hopefully Jess doesn't catch anything. They also gave Jess two bags of fluids so Jess said that she is feeling really water logged. Her and Jon stayed the night since she has her spinal in the morning at 8:30 am and then chemo at 11:30. I can't believe all that she is going through. They also want her on chemo pills but right now they say that they aren't covered by insurance so the kids don't want to pay about $500 for them so we will have to see what they come up with. The doctor was putting in some calls. So I will let you all know how she is feeling tomorrow. She just text d me and said that she was super tired and her head was fuzzy. So hopefully everything clears up. Please keep her in your prayers! Love, Cindi