Central Line surgery

Another update from Laurie -

Mary called and said that the last couple of days have been eventful. On Wednesday, Tim went in for the stem cell harvest which involved 6 hours of keeping both his arms very still. In the middle of that, there was a problem with the line which resulted in not enough cells being harvested. So Tim had to get one more neupogen shot and had to go back on Thursday for another 3 hour blood draw.

On Thursday morning, Jennifer and Mary got up early and went in for Jennifer’s surgery. Her central line was implanted and she is sore, but is doing well. Jennifer was admitted to Texas Children’s last night and this morning, they came to get her sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 am to take her to MD Anderson for her radiation treatment. Tomorrow begins her first chemo treatment. You can send Jennifer an email greeting which will be printed and hand delivered to her by hospital staff by going to the following website:
www.texaschildrenshospital.org/parents/patientgreeting/default.aspx
and clicking “Create Message.” You do not need to have the room number, but do use Jennifer’s first and last name.

Mary said it is all very overwhelming and way too real. They had the preliminary discussion with the doctor AGAIN about what to expect and it saddens Mary that Jennifer has to go through all this again. After the first couple of weeks in the hospital, she will stay in Houston for a couple of months so that any problems can be quickly addressed. Jennifer’s immune system will, like last time, take a long time to recover. Please pray fervently that this be Jennifer’s miracle.

Lovingly,
Laurie Randel

note: the above entry is a copy originally posted on our ‘Caring Bridge’ website.