Rough Day

Greetings to all of you,

Sorry not to have updated but basically am in survival mode. The after effects of chemo have really kicked in. First nausea, than intense abdominal pain (GI Tract is inflamed) and then today my tongue developed sores and swelled signifigantly.  Mostly I just try to sleep through it. Yesterday I am pretty sure I slept at least 24 hours! My ANC (white blood cells) have been 0 for 3 days. Today I received my neupogen shot which will help my white blood cells recover. I will get once shot each day. My Dr. at home said Day + 8 would be the hardest and I think it may well have ben.

Now, not to sound pathetic because everything is going beautifly and my Drs. tell me once my immune system builds back up I will feel much better.  When my ANC counts are above 1 we will be talking about leaving the hospital.  Then we will go to our cozy little apartment here in Ann Arbor.

Sorry this sounds so negative because it really isn't, I am doing great, on schedule and they find meds to help me with every side effect. Again my care has been outstanding, everyone is so caring and try to make me as comfortable, which I greatly appreciate.

Your prayers and loving concern help me with healing also. I am going to sign off, this update has taken all the energy I have.  I know this is only temporay and things will get better.  One of those situations I just have to walk through and cannot walk around.

Grace and Peace,  Peggy

Day +4

Friends and Family,

Well I am not sure what my "cocktail" of meds are but we have, at least for the moment, beat back the nausea. Thank you Lord!   I do have quite a bit of lower GI pain, evidently it is quite irritable/inflamed and is spasming.  So now we  are working on a solution for that.  I cannot complain because, overall I am feeling better at this moment than I ever thought I would.  The staff here on 7West are amazing to say the least. The nurses are so kind and attentive. The Doctors are straightforwad and yet kind. They are pleased with my progress. My white blood cells are at 0 so I am now neutropenic, which means my immune system is gone. I only have to wear a mask when I am walking in the hallway, 5 laps = 1 mile!

On day 8 I will begin to get injections (can't remember the name) daily to promote engraftment. Until then my meds fluctuate between one that says "slow down" to the combo of stem cells and the next day says"go ahead and get to know each other".  The technology and research that has gone into this is mind boggling to me.  So far no fevers, no infections.  What we don't know is how much graft vs. host symptons I will have.  I have been getting IV's that greatly enhance my chance of NOT getting a critical stage of GVHS.

I am so blessed to be able to have this opportunity and so blessed to have the love, prayers and support of so many.  Several of you have asked if I am bored, not yet.  It seems every time I put my head on my pillow I am fast asleep.  Sparkling, witty conversation is not my strong point at this moment!

Also a big shout out to those of you who participated in the Bone Marrow Stem Cell Drive last Tuesday night. We added 40 new names to the Registry. I am deeply appreciative of The Lake Michigan Competitive Cheer Officials Association for their sponsorship. What a great group of kind and giving people they are!  I miss them all so much....hopefully I will be back in the groove a year from now. As for right now I am deeply indebted to all of them for caring enough to make this happen.

Well that's about it for right now. Needless to say my life has slowed down to a tortoise's pace but that's about all I have for energy now.

Thank you again for all of your prayers. I firmly believe that your prayers are making a difference.

Grace and Peace,      Peggy

Day +2

Just a little update on day 2.  Mom really struggled with nausea today.  We think they have figured out a new medication regiment to help her.  She had some new pains in her intestinal tract today as well.  The nurses tell us this is expected and a result of the rigorous chemo she received for four days.  A specific prayer request...that the new medications continue to work on mom's new side effects and that she is able to rest well.  Please keep dad in your thoughts and prayers as well.  This is just the beginning of his caregiver role and we need to support him as best we can. 

B.

Happy Birthday - Day 0!

The transplant went so well this afternoon.  Mom did fantastic and all of her vitals have been really good this evening.  We know it's going to get really rough for mom in the next 8 to 10 days but we have been so blessed with a good day today.  Words cannot express our gratitude to mom's donor.  I know we all cannot wait to meet her face to face to tell her thank you in person.  Being in the room today and watching the transplant take place ranks as one of the best feelings I have ever experienced.  The excitement of what I felt was a bit like giving birth and I suppose it's because it was the feeling of LIFE.  Today was my mom's second chance of life - her new birthday- and it was such a celebration! 

This evening we had our second Be The Match swabbing event and last I heard we had at least 40 people come to get swabbed!  Thank you to Lake Michigan Competitive Cheer Officials Association for making this event happen!!

I get to have the night shift with mom.  Please pray that she is able to rest easy and pray that in spite of all the scaring in her marrow that the new stem cells are able to engraft and MULTIPLY!

Grace,
Beth

CELLS ARE HERE!

               The plane carrying moms donor stem cells arrived at U of M last night! The doctors want the stem cells to be fresh so the transplant will happen around 1:00 today! Thank-you for all of your thoughts and prayers. They mean so much to mom and the rest of us. We are all trying to get to the hospital in time!
                              Love, Jen.

Transplant Time Moved Up!

Hello Friends and Family!  Transplant time is now 1:00 this afternoon. Looks like they might have overnighted the stem cells last night.  Don't ask me why. They expected it to take 2 catches and they were able to get it in one.  The girls have all hit the road to get here on time. They thought they had a more leisurely day than they do now.

Sounds like I get a lot of pre-meds along with benedryl which really turns out my lights.

So here we go....feel free to be my prayer warriors today....that my body accepts the cells and that the process goes smoothly.  I probably will be pretty out of it for the next few days......so we shall see how much you hear from me.  I am sure my "staff" will keep you well informed!

Much, much love to all of you.  Peggy

Tomorrow's The Day!

This will be brief because I don't have a lot for you, a lot of energy or a lot of new information.  Today for my "rest day" I received my first of many blood transfusions. Not a big deal, I am appreciating my neostar more and more each day.  Just wished I could get my lovenox shot through it.  They gave me a  significant amount of benedryl with it so of course I snoozed through most of the afternoon. My constant battle with nausea continues.

I said I would update you with times for tomorrow.  The plane with my stem cells is supposed to land at 6:20 pm tomorrow night and so the Dr. is thinking 8:30ish.  That would be a good time to pray if you would have the time.

I had some company today, Carah Hoitenga, is a nursing student here at U of M.  She cheered on Beth's team at HC so was nice to catch up with her today for a few minutes.

Again thank you for your prayers, I love you all.   Peggy

Chemo and then a day of rest

Well friends, I have been better and according to my transplant Dr. I will soon get worse.  The chemo I received will take a few days to really kick in. My day of rest is tomorrow and as far as we know my transplant is on Tuesday afternoon, transplant day is considered day 0, then days plus 2-4 my counts will fall to zero, requiring blood and platelet transfusions.  I did not get a blood transfusion today...I will probably get my first one tomorrow as my hemo stayed up a bit but will continue to drop tomorrow. Dr. Magineau said days +4 - +9 may be my toughest days. Sorry this is so clinical but it is the way it is here at the hospital. These dates are all variable depending on infection and GVHD.

My family has been wonderful with their support. I am not talking much, seems like too much effort. Smells that no one else can smell send me right to my little pink tub.  I feel so bad but not much I can do about it. There are other issues but don't want to TMI all of you to death!

Typing tonight is a little hard on my brain. I am guessing the girls will do this next week.

I close my eyes and picture many of you praying for me. That is easier for me than to pray for myself.  I don't know if that is bad or good but it is what is working for me at the moment. Please keep praying for my donor. I miss so many of you!

My fingers keep hitting the wrong keys so I should go.  Thank you again for all of your love and encouragement!   Love to all of you!   Peggy

Day #3 Chemo

Day #3 of chemo is coming to an end and mom is doing o.k. Not good, not bad, just o.k. As mom has told everyone who has asked, "I've been better".  She is extremely tired and only eating out of necessity. On a positive note, mom has stated that she feels no bone pain and that is a first since April. As I write this I am actually watching her sleep, which she has done a lot of today.  She had another "rough" night last night but, that gives us room for improvement tonight!

Mom's HGB (hemoglobin) is at 8.4 and once it gets 8 or below she will receive her first blood transfusion.  That will probably happen tomorrow. Dr. Maginaw made his rounds today and was pleased with mom's "counts". He is looking at her white blood cells, platelets, absolute neutrophil count, hemoglobin and hematocrit (a % of blood in her blood).  Mom's numbers are all going down and that is what we want. We are still anticipating the transplant to take place on Tuesday the 23rd in the afternoon. 

Sarah

Day 1

Hi friends... Well, day 1 of chemo is coming to an end.  Mom had a rough start to the morning.  She became sick from the sleep meds they gave her last night.  Fortunately, her nurses were awesome and helped her through it.  They will be changing medication for tonight to make sure it doesn't happen again.  

They started prepping her for chemo at 4:30 this morning and she finished around 9:30.  She was able to doze in and out and watched the news while she received it.  Juliet and Dad kept her company today and despite the nausea and extreme bone pain she walked a mile in the transplant hallways!

Thank you for the phone calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages.  We all appreciate it so much.  

Mom is awfully exhausted tonight...today was a long day for her.  Pray she gets some good rest tonight and pray her donor is doing well on her shots.

B.

Let's Get This Started!

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I am writing this from my room in Mott's Hospital.  I have an absolutely gorgeous view from my bed.  All I can see are trees in their various shades of red, yellow and still some green.  My two nurses are total sweethearts. I have the most beautiful family pictures on large canvasses and everyone seems to really enjoy looking at them.

Kate drove to Ann Arbor last night and spent the night with us in our cozy apartment. We were up very early this morning, 5am, to be here at 6:30.  My procedure where they implanted my neostar (port) was at about 7:30am.  I will let you know I visualized some of you praying for me during some of the "ouchier" parts of the procedure and it really helped!  I'm a little sore but I am sure it will heal up in the next few days.  Some people go home for a few days then come back to be hospitalized, I am relieved that I was admitted same day so my nurses are doing the care.  I know Den, the girls and my caregivers will be able to do it but for now we can just let the experts take care of things. It was so nice having Kate with us and the girls have done a great job of scheduling people so that Den can step out for just a bit, or have some companionship.  They tell me I will be doing a LOT of sleeping prior to and for several days after the transplant.  I would imagine the hours could be terribly long for Den so hopefully this will help.

I cannot give Mott's Hospital enough credit for their caring and wonderful staff. Everyone has been so warm and accommodating, what a great place!  They would wait on me hand and foot if I needed them to.

My chemo begins at 5am and will be done by 10am each day. They will fly my blood (and I assume other's) to Seattle everyday to assess my blood levels to avoid any toxicity. No wonder this is such an expensive procedure!  Is it just not so amazing what goes on in this world that we have no idea until it touches our lives?

So for those of you following "Jesus Calling", today was wonderful, what really stood out to me was, "making your thoughts a dialogue with Me" and "Remember the promise of my continual presence".

Tomorrow Juliet will be here and I am looking forward to that.  It is so wonderful that she is only about 30 minutes from here. Then Jen on Friday and Sarah, Saturday and Sunday.  I am pretty sure Beth will be here on Sunday.  By Sunday afternoon my chemo will be done!  Monday is my day of rest then transplant on Tuesday.  If I get a time for the transplant I will let you know.  I believe my donor's shots to stimulate her stem cells begin tomorrow.  Please be praying for her.  What a gift to a complete stranger!

I received a gift today that completely melted my heart. Evidently there has been a Facebook page regarding me and I received a clipboard (which if you were on my teams you would remember the clipboard!) with so many letters from young women whom I have coached.  Honestly!  Thank you Heidi for spearheading such a thoughtful gift.  After reading those I could really have an enlarged ego, however we all know I am perfectly human and imperfect much of the time. What a treasure though, and what a wonderful gift. Again I feel so humbled to have so many people take time for me. How can anyone express their appreciation adequately?

Again I thank you for lifting me up.  What a gift to have the love of so many. I am honored, I am humbled, I am grateful and I am so blessed.  Yes, I will call the love and concern of so many a blessing because it is not something I have ever asked for nor did I ever expect it.  My small group will appreciate that comment because I have difficulty calling many things a "blessing". This would definitely be a blessing!

Love To All,  Peggy

Here is my address for those of you who wanted it.

Peggy Lintemuth
7 West, Room 50, Mott Hospital
1540 East Hospital Drive
Ann Arbor, MI
48109

It's Almost "Go" Time!

Hello Family and Friends!

This post could be overly long and I am going to try to prevent that from happening. So much has happened.

I have been back to U of M twice since I last posted. At my ob/gyn appointment last week the PA thought she noticed an irregularity for which I had an ultrasound on Monday. To tell you that wondering and waiting for the results was excruciating does not even touch what I was feeling. Remember my fight with anxiety? Well let me tell you it was 5 days (and nights) of not much sleep, barely eating.  I spent a lot of time talking with God, trying to understand and to accept His plan for my life. For those of you who advise "just to relax" or "try not to worry", it's just not that easy for me. I plan to keep trying but it is a struggle for me.  And, yes, everything is alright and the transplant is a go!

We met with my transplant Dr. on Monday and he explained that palliative care is an option for me. My prognosis is poor, although predicting the future is never exact he said I could expect to live another 1-2 years with comfort care.  If I were 80 that would, perhaps be a rational choice for me. With transplant the Dr. is seeking "curative" as my end result.  Whether or not that is what happens is up to the Lord and His plan for my life. There is nothing inside of me that is telling me the transplant is not a good option for me. In fact at every step of the way I feel the Lord whispering in my ear, "see Peggy, they made it, you go for it!"

I cannot tell you how your emails and FB messages come at just the right time.  When my spirits sinks, there you are with words of love and encouragement!  Den and I met a couple in the waiting room on Monday.  They are over a year from his transplant and even though they have had some rough spots in their journey they were so excited for us. They viewed his transplant as a miracle and were so excited for my opportunity for life. Their enthusiasm was quite contagious and just what we needed.  You see?  Again and again the Lord speaking to us, through you, encouraging, uplifting, loving and comforting both of us.

Then came yesterday and what a day that was.  Our dear, dear friends Helen and Rob Bell planned a "Dedication" service for me. We had 20 some friends and family here to pray over me.  Our new teaching pastor at Mars annointed me with oil and everyone laid hands on me and prayed. Other friends and family were praying from their homes. Words could never describe what that has done for my soul. I don't think I ever understood what an army of prayer warriors could be before but I do now! I feel so lifted up and carried by all of you.  How does a person ever fully express gratitude and appreciation for so much love and concern?  My heart is so full it is overflowing and I am not sure it will ever stop in my lifetime.  Over and over, again and again, thank you for your love and friendship. I am pretty sure I don't deserve all the love I have been given, but do any of us "deserve"  the love and grace we have been given?  I understand more fully spiritual truths that I had head knowledge of but not always heart knowledge.

Now I am busy getting ready for the trip. You know, the cleaning, the laundry and all that comes with leaving home for 3months.  I am loving every minute of it, just enjoying home and all the comforts.  It will be a great day when we drive back into the driveway come January, God willing!

For those of you in the GR area please don't forget the swabbing event for the National Bone Marrow Registry. It is at Grandville HS 4-7, October 23. It is free unless you desire to make a contribution.  Please know I would never ask any of you to do something that is too hard or dangerous. Educate yourself to know how easy it is to save a life.

Prayer requests?  For my donor, for her health and that she is excited for her part in giving me a second chance at life.
For Den and myself to stay healthy. He seems to feel as though he is getting a cold.  We can't have that.
For our girls, that they are comforted and held up through this process.
That I withstand my chemo.  Please pray for my eating.  That already is a bit of a struggle for me. It has been a life long battle for me to eat when under stress and that does not seem to have changed. 
Last but least that my body accepts my donors stem cells....even more....that my body LOVES her stem cells and is gracious to them!

"But now says the Lord, He who created you, O Jacob, He who created you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you:
I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned.
And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior"!  Amen and Amen   (thanks Wynn!)

My Love to All,  Peggy

Hi friends!  We are trying to round up some potential numbers for Michigan Blood for our October 23 swabbing event at Grandville High School.  Please email us at peggylintemuthfamily@gmail.com to let us know if you will be there.  Please also indicate how many of your family and friends are coming with you.  We hope to see you there if you have not already ordered a kit from BeTheMatch.  You must be between the ages of 18-44.  If you are over 44 please encourage someone else to come in your place :)

If you haven't already noticed, the day of our swabbing event is the day of mom's transplant.  Pretty neat if I do say so myself!  Mom spent all day Thursday in Ann Arbor meeting with various doctors and having another bone marrow biopsy.  She heads back on Monday to meet with her transplant doctor to finalize her protocol.  If there are any changes we will be sure to let you know.  Some days are more of a struggle than others but she is getting through it.

Enjoy this very fall weekend.
Beth