Back to Treatment

Ashli asked that I update everyone on the appointments in Chicago this week.

She will begin chemotherapy & re-radiation treatment on 04/08/07 in Chicago. She'll do the chemo & radiation 5 days a week and will rotate 1 week of treatment, 1 week off to rest for a total of 6 "treatment" weeks or 12 "rotation weeks" total.

Her pain is still pretty bad and she's been sleeping a lot. Please continue to pray for pain relief for her as that is one of the hardest things for her to cope with right now.

---Alysia

Still Hospitalized

Hi everyone,

Just thought I should update and let you all know that Ashli is still hospitalized. She is not going to be released today and they are pretty certain she will not be released tomorrow morning. Ashli would specifically like people to pray that the pain meds start working. They have weened her off the morphine pump and have re-introduced her oral pain meds. These don't seem to provide her with nearly the relief she was getting and she has been sleeping a lot.

Thanks again for all your visits, cards, prayers and phone calls. They mean a lot to all of us~

--Alysia

Hopefully more answers soon. . .

I got a call from Ashli today. The doctors in Chicago said that in-light of the new info that the ear biopsy came back cancerous, they see no need to do the full biopsy previously discussed. She will have an appointment sometime next week in Chicago, in which they will discuss the treatment plan they have devised for her.

Just wanted let everyone know that is the latest info. Pray that she continues to get her strength back so that she is prepared for the upcoming treatments they will propose. . .

Thanks for your prayers!

--Alysia

Back in the Hospital Again

So here is the lastest. Ashli is back to throwing everything up. She had her appointment today in Chicago and they did let her come "home" but told her she had to be admitted to Elkhart General to deal with the vomiting issue. There is not a direct phone number to her room so your best bet would be to try her cell.

The hospital address is 600 East Boulevard, Elkhart, IN (I'm not sure the zip)
4th Floor(Oncology)
EGH is much friendlier and there are no restrictions on what she can receive. Plants, balloons whatever are fine. I don't think they really know how long she'll be in. The doctors @ Chicago are meeting again tomorrow to discuss her case. In light of the new info from the ear biopsy they 'may' allow her to forego the biopsy scheduled for Wednesday, but we won't know that for sure until tomorrow either. . .

Oh, and no visiting "hours" so I guess visitors can just come and go as they please. But please call Ashli's cell before coming to visit. Thanks!

Hope you find this info helpful.

--Alysia

Pivotal Week Ahead. . .

This week will be a pivotal week for Ashli and our family. As you can tell from her previous post, she is getting discouraged and needs us to lift her up and encourage her. Tomorrow (Monday) she has an appointment in Chicago. She has not had a good day physically today and needs the strength to mentally and physically make it through this appointment. Her dad and sister, Anne, are going to the appointment with her.Pray for their safety as they travel and their peace of mind. Pray that they know what questions to ask and that they have clarity of thinking as they deal with a lot of information. Pray that the doctors have wisdom in choosing the best course of action in treating Ashli.Ashli is scheduled to have a biopsy on Wednesday and this is a scary proposition for all of us. Pray that fears will be calmed and that the doctor's hand will be guided. Pray that Ashli suffers no unnecessary pain or damaging side effects.As always, thank you as you support us and pray for us.

--Perri Hepler

The Ship is Sinking

To be honest, I've been avoiding updating the blog. I know that is stupid. It's just that I am in a place where I cannot think of anything witty of positive to say.

On Wednesday night I got a voicemail message from Maureen at the University of Chicago. While I was in the hopsital there, they took another MRI. The "tumor board" met and reviewed my MRI results by comparing this MRI with the one on file from back in January. It is obvious that there have been changes and growth in the mass in my brain. At first, I was in total and complete shock. I parked my car in the garage and just sat there for a few minutes. My shock gave way to anger -- Why more bad news? I feel like I deserve a break here. Doesn't God owe me some good news at some point? (Don't worry...I already know the answer to that qusetion. I'm just attempting to be honest about my feelings here).

I think now I'm just in a spot where my spirits are sinking. I feel like this situation continues to get worse and worse. It's hard to expect it to get better because everytime I do I just end up being more disappointed. I spent the evening at Karl & Danielle's and they prayed with me. Danielle even came back and spent the night at my house (bless her and Karl for giving her up for the evening). That helped some.

At this point, I feel like I've grown numb. It almost feels as if I'm sleepwalking through my own life. I received another voicemail from U of C yesterday. I have a consultation with Dr. Yaminin, their cheif neurosurgeon, on Monday. They now would like to proceed with a biopsy and propose that we do the biopsy on Wednesday. On Monday he is going to give me details about the procedure and I will be able to tell you all more then. I do know that they plan to try to resect several samples of tissue so that they can come up with some conclusive answer as to whether or not this is cancer or scar tissue. I was really hoping that they would be able to use the ENT surgeon and perform the biopsy through my ear; however, that is an impossibility and the tumor board agrees that their best chance of getting a good tissue sample is by going directly through my brain. Obviously that is an incredibly scary through to me. I'm sure Dr. Yamini has cut into the human brain a million times -- but I've never had mine cut into. The prospect is terrifying.

I'm sure that this post gives you a number of specific ideas about how you can pray for me/my family. More than anything I feel like I need some renewal of hope. It all seems to be fading away at the present time :(

Return to the Land of the Living

Thanks to Mom & Alysia for keeping everyone updated during my absence; I am back among the land of the living. It appears as if the nausea and vomiting are at bay. Unfortunately, we do not necessarily have a definitive answer about what caused this in the first place. The good news is that the neurosurgeons did not feel like it was a result of intercranial pressure. This basically means that the tumor is not putting so much pressure on my brain that it is causing all the nausea and vomiting. In essence, it doesn't look like this is the result of some radical change in my tumor.

Instead, it seems like my body just worked itself into this ridiculous funk. All the vomiting put me in a state where I could no longer keep any of my medication down. That made me even sicker. My body was just starting to shut down. A good dose of saline and morphine pumped through an IV sure made a difference. They re-introduced my medications one at a time to be sure that a specific medication wasn't the culprit. I am now back on the full dose of all my meds. I'd say that getting some rest helped, but evidently they don't want you to rest in a hospital because they wake you up every freaking five minutes for one thing or another.

I had a follow-up with Dr. Press regarding my ear yesterday. It continues to have pollups and clots and other crazy growths. She elected to biopsy a piece of this tissue since we cannot seem to combat all the infection. Pray that we get some answers and relief fom that. Thanks for all of your prayers and support.

Thanks to Danna & Bobby who brightened up the otherwise dim oncology floor with some renegade balloons! I continue to hear from my friends, "Well... I've been wanting to call, but I didn't want to bother you." Apparently, everyone is adopting this mentality because NO ONE IS CALLING! Please don't be afraid to call. Unfortunately, I'm finding that a sickly life often yields a lonely life. ButI've got caller ID and, the truth is, I just won't answer if I don't feel like talking to you, so CALL ME!

Back Home Again in Indiana

After much frustration with the speed of the medical wheels turning to get all of the sign offs on Ashli to get her discharged, we finally headed out of of Chicago at 4:30 last night. Ashli is feeling much better. She hasn't vomited for a day and a half (which is much improved from every 45 minutes on Tuesday night). Her snappy comments have returned, and she had an entire nights sleep without an IV monitor going off 4 times or having her blood pressure checked. She is still tired and needs to take things a little easier, but her appetite is back and her mind is running full tilt. I am planning on going home tonight; she will be relieved to not have to hear my snoring and I will be relieved not to hear "Mom can you...............". The next time I take a road trip to Chicago with Ashli I hope to see more blue sky, restaurants, shopping and luxury accomodations. Thank you all so much for your faithfulness in praying for Ashli and letting her know how much you love and care for her.

Mom

An Unhappy Place

Apparently the oncology floor at Mitchell Hosptial in Chicago is a very unhappy place. . .

Not only do they not allow flowers, but they also don't allow "latex" balloons b/c they set the alarms off or maybe allergy reasons. . .We've been told mylars should be OK.

Mom just wanted me to let you guys know.

For the one person who already sent latex balloons. . .thank you for being our guinea pig and Ashli still got to see her balloons and appreciates it!!

--Alysia

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, to Chicago Ashli goes. . .

Just checking back in this morning. Last night Ashli was transported to the University of Chicago & Mom went with her. She stayed last night and it is quite possible she will stay through the weekend. . .(but nothing's been confirmed as to when she's coming home yet.)

They have her IV'd to get her some nutrients and Mom said she slept a lot better last night but still had some problems keeping things down.

Just an FYI: Some of the buttons on Ash's cell aren't working so well, so she's not able to really text b/c the one w/ "P, Q, R & S" isn't working. (obviously R&S are pretty important texting letters!)

Her phone # at the hosptial is 773-753-1577, if you need to get a hold of her, but please be sensitive since she's not been sleeping much. You may try try texting first and just ask my Mom? "Ok to call? Ye or No?" That way she can text back since she doesn't have an "S".

The address at the hosptial is: University of Chicago, Mitchell Hospital, 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Chicago, IL 60637-1470, Room # TS-653. Also, Mom mentioned that there are no plants or fresh flowers allowed on her floor. . .so keep that in mind.

Kelly Moses is starting a prayer chain for Ashli. This is the letter she sent:


Hello everyone.

As you all know, our dear friend, Ashli is battling Cancer.

We decided to come up with a Prayer Chain for Ashli. A spreadsheet has been set up covering everyday of the week; 8 am - midnight, in two hour segments.

We know so many people have been praying for Ashli and this way we know she'll be prayed for constantly.

If you would be willing to cover one of the time slots, please email Kelly Moses at curtnkellymoses@aol.com, with your name and email. We'll update the spreadsheet and email you any specific requests from Ashli.

Thanks for your prayers for Ashli.

"Pray for one another, that you may be healed." Jam 5.16b


You can sign up for time slots 7 days a week, 8am-10am, 10am-12pm, 12-2pm, 2-4pm, 4-6pm, 6-8pm, 8-10pm. 10pm-12am. If anyone would like to take a slot on a day or two you can email Kelly at the address above and she will fill it in.

Thanks so much for your continued prayers! We will be in touch as we know more. ..

--Alysia

Pray, Pray, Pray!!!!!

Ashli doesn't know I'm posting on her behalf today, but I wanted to give you all a quick update.

Her nausea is just getting worse. I was with her on Friday night and she ate a small amount of spaghetti & had a little salad and probably 40 minutes later was puking it up.

Mom & Dad were with her on Sunday and had pizza, same story. Basically, she's keeping nothing down, including her meds. Finally today they called Doctor Wheeler and he said for her to go to the Emergency room.

Mom is with Ashli right now and they are at Elkhart General Hospital. I'm not sure if she will be admitted or not. But we sure could use your prayers right about now. I know University of Chicago wanted to wait until the end of March for her next appointment, but if she can't even keep her food or meds down, my hunch is they will speed things up a little.

Please pray for her spirits and her physical well-being.

Thanks,

Alysia

Jumping the Gun

Okay... the whole "first taste of pain management" was simply a tease. I am struggling so badly with nausea and vomiting that I cannot keep any of this helpful medication down. It seems like am stuck on a pendulum -- one week up, one week down. At this point, I'd settle for being caught in the middle with no movement whatsoever.

I have tried to isolate the cause of this and cannot identify a culprit. All I know is that they need to make a Pedialyte for grownups that tastes like Diet Coke rather than a half cup of orange drink mixed with 5 cups of sugar.

Pray. Hard.