Good evening. I don't know how low the temp was this morning; but when I
checked it at 8-ish it was 15 degrees!! I love the fire in the wood-
burning stove; wearing all my winter clothes; cuddling up under a blanket;
etc. So I am enjoying the cold. I can't wait for the snow to really fly!
Decorating our house in snowmen was an easy decision; I have been given so
many snowmen 'things' by people who know me well!
Ok, here is the haps on David's oncology appointment. My Facebook friends
already have a little 'heads up' on what is happening. Basically, David
did NOT gain any weight over the last two weeks. We talked about what to
do. Connie asked how opposed to an NG tube David was. He said he was
opposed to it. But as we were sitting there trying to figure out what to
do; just talking about getting him to eat made him nauseous. He sat there
with his head on my shoulder. She suggested Megace; an appetite stimulant.
We are going to give that a try. She said she wants to see him in 4 weeks
and see how he is doing. Then she said she would just give him a quick
check-up since we were there. Well, just walking from the chair to the
table (all of maybe 4 feet) raised his heart rate 20 bpm. When he told her
he has no energy; and I told her that he got so tired just coming
downstairs and picking up his laundry basket of clean clothes; she said
she wants to see him in two weeks, not four. She said she is concerned.
She said he is malnourished, and that is partly why he has no appetite. I
offer him food, he just won't eat. So we are going to try the Megace, and
if it doesn't work, then he gets the feeding tube. We are also talking
about some therapy for him. There could be some underlying reason why he
has this food aversion. The fact that Connie is concerned is what has us
very concerned. Therapy has been suggested to me in the past, and I was
really hoping to avoid it. David is a VERY quiet child, and I am not sure
he would open up to someone else. He was talking to a child psychologist,
named Christy, in the hospital; and it took a LONG time for him to even
make eye contact with her! So we are pretty much at a loss to know what to
do. We would covet your prayers for our precious son. He needs his protein
intake to be upped, substantially. He is eating, and I was surprised that
he hadn't gained at all. I feel like he is in the same position he was in
a year and a half ago when he got the feeding tube~~his body is unable to
gain the weight. Couple that with his not wanting to eat, and getting
nauseous just thinking about it; and you have a recipe for a malnourished
child!! *sigh* We soooooo hate seeing our child go through this. We do NOT
want to put him through the feeding tube again. But we will do whatever it
takes to get him healthy!! Thank you so much for your prayers, we need
them sooooo badly!
On a different note, David was cleared for PT again! Connie said we aren't
going to worry about range of motion; that is good. Dr. O is happy with 90
degree bend, David's is better than that. I don't know what his bend is,
but that is NOT what we are going to work on. We are going to focus on
muscle strengthening. His leg does still (again) buckle on him a lot, so
he does need to work on getting the muscles stronger. Of course, he needs
to eat more protein to help that area, too. He said he is looking forward
to working on those muscles, so that is good. He wants then to get
stronger, and he knows what he has to do to get there. So I will be giving
them a call tomorrow.
Thank you for visiting and checking up on David. Thank you to whoever you
are who deposited money into David's account; we sure need it! I pray and
ask God to give you an extra special blessing for the blessing you have
given us. Thank you. Thank you for your prayers; please keep them
coming!!! Have a good night. Sleep tight, and stay warm. God bless you
all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Three out of every five children diagnosed with cancer suffer from long-
term or late onset side effects.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Good evening.
It is cooooold, and beautiful here. It was all of 12 degrees this
morning!!! But I LOVE it!
We finally got the outside of the house decorated. We haven't decorated
the house for over 2 years. So this is the year! We have decided on a
'snow' and 'snowman' theme. I guess that would come as no surprise to
anyone who knows me!!! We have a few snowmen inside as well as outside.
Yay! We are done decorating. Bryon and I are pretty tired. Yesterday we
cleaned out the flowerbed that is in front of the house. Bryon did most of
the work. Now it is just down to the bare dirt! Come Spring I will have my
daffodils and sweet peas again!! It is nice to see all the weeds and the
cheat grass gone!! I will take a picture of the house and put it on here
in the next day or so. Whew. Glad that is done.
David has his appointment tomorrow to check his weight. He has been eating
ok, just not great. Please pray that he has at least maintained his
weight. We are really praying for a weight gain!! I will let you know
tomorrow how he is doing. His walking is going great! He limps, but I
think that maybe he always will. He is 'even' at least; for the most part.
But his leg is still weak. We find out tomorrow when he can start PT
again. Hopefully it will be soon. It has been kinda nice not having to
take him 3 times a week; but at the same time I have missed it. Please
continue to keep him in your prayers. Thank you so much.
Please continue to keep our finances in your prayers, as well as our
'special request.' Thank you. Thank you for checking in on David and the
Koury Klan. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to
us, we often find that it is those who . . . have chosen . . . to share
our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen
It is cooooold, and beautiful here. It was all of 12 degrees this
morning!!! But I LOVE it!
We finally got the outside of the house decorated. We haven't decorated
the house for over 2 years. So this is the year! We have decided on a
'snow' and 'snowman' theme. I guess that would come as no surprise to
anyone who knows me!!! We have a few snowmen inside as well as outside.
Yay! We are done decorating. Bryon and I are pretty tired. Yesterday we
cleaned out the flowerbed that is in front of the house. Bryon did most of
the work. Now it is just down to the bare dirt! Come Spring I will have my
daffodils and sweet peas again!! It is nice to see all the weeds and the
cheat grass gone!! I will take a picture of the house and put it on here
in the next day or so. Whew. Glad that is done.
David has his appointment tomorrow to check his weight. He has been eating
ok, just not great. Please pray that he has at least maintained his
weight. We are really praying for a weight gain!! I will let you know
tomorrow how he is doing. His walking is going great! He limps, but I
think that maybe he always will. He is 'even' at least; for the most part.
But his leg is still weak. We find out tomorrow when he can start PT
again. Hopefully it will be soon. It has been kinda nice not having to
take him 3 times a week; but at the same time I have missed it. Please
continue to keep him in your prayers. Thank you so much.
Please continue to keep our finances in your prayers, as well as our
'special request.' Thank you. Thank you for checking in on David and the
Koury Klan. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to
us, we often find that it is those who . . . have chosen . . . to share
our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand.
Henri Nouwen
Friday, November 27, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Good evening. IT'S SNOWING!!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet. It was just
the 7 of us enjoying our time together. We are so very thankful for the
blessings from God. #1 is that David is still alive, and able to celebrate
with us. Two years ago we were in the hospital with David having chemo on
Thanksgiving. We are so happy to be together this year with the other
children. We really missed going to my brother's house; it would have been
so much fun. But we did have a thankful Thanksgiving.
Rachel and I made 8 different kinds of cookies; Rachel made more fudge;
and David made biscotti. He did a GREAT job! He did 99% of it all by
himself. He wants to make some more! He really enjoys making it. And
Rachel and I had fun baking all those cookies. I sent a bunch home with
Jeremy and Lucy; and we still have plenty! One thing I don't need around
the house is a bunch of cookies!! Oh well. And Rachel is already talking
about the cookies we are going to be making for Christmas!! It will be
fun. I usually give away my baking as Christmas gifts to my friends, I
can't afford anything else. Plus, I am going to have David make some
biscotti for his Physical Therapy office. This month is going to go by
really fast!
Today Bryon put up the Christmas lights on the house, and I am putting
away the Fall decorations and getting out the Christmas ones. Our tree is
up, the kids just need to decorate it. There won't be presents under it,
but that is ok. We are going to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas
this year; and celebrate David being alive; and celebrate being together,
the 7 of us! We won't be in the hospital, and we won't be looking at David
having surgery in a few days! It will be a good Christmas.
Please continue to pray for our Osteo family members who are celebrating
their first holiday season without their children. Off-hand the ones I can
think of are Mattie, Sammie, Shane, Cullen, Amanda, and Emma. I know there
are many others, but I am tired and those are the names that come to mind
right now. Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a
good evening. Sleep tight. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer remains the number one disease killer of children; more than
genetic anomalies, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet. It was just
the 7 of us enjoying our time together. We are so very thankful for the
blessings from God. #1 is that David is still alive, and able to celebrate
with us. Two years ago we were in the hospital with David having chemo on
Thanksgiving. We are so happy to be together this year with the other
children. We really missed going to my brother's house; it would have been
so much fun. But we did have a thankful Thanksgiving.
Rachel and I made 8 different kinds of cookies; Rachel made more fudge;
and David made biscotti. He did a GREAT job! He did 99% of it all by
himself. He wants to make some more! He really enjoys making it. And
Rachel and I had fun baking all those cookies. I sent a bunch home with
Jeremy and Lucy; and we still have plenty! One thing I don't need around
the house is a bunch of cookies!! Oh well. And Rachel is already talking
about the cookies we are going to be making for Christmas!! It will be
fun. I usually give away my baking as Christmas gifts to my friends, I
can't afford anything else. Plus, I am going to have David make some
biscotti for his Physical Therapy office. This month is going to go by
really fast!
Today Bryon put up the Christmas lights on the house, and I am putting
away the Fall decorations and getting out the Christmas ones. Our tree is
up, the kids just need to decorate it. There won't be presents under it,
but that is ok. We are going to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas
this year; and celebrate David being alive; and celebrate being together,
the 7 of us! We won't be in the hospital, and we won't be looking at David
having surgery in a few days! It will be a good Christmas.
Please continue to pray for our Osteo family members who are celebrating
their first holiday season without their children. Off-hand the ones I can
think of are Mattie, Sammie, Shane, Cullen, Amanda, and Emma. I know there
are many others, but I am tired and those are the names that come to mind
right now. Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a
good evening. Sleep tight. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer remains the number one disease killer of children; more than
genetic anomalies, cystic fibrosis, and AIDS combined.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Ok, since I was asked several times for Quilters Soup, here it is. I got
the recipe from my mother several years ago. Here goes:
6 strips crisp bacon
1 pound browned ground beef
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 large can tomatoes (I use recipe ready)
1 can bullion soup (I use two cups water and beef base)
1 can cream of potato soup
1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine all ingredients and cook 45 minutes or until heated through.
Can be put in a slow cooker and cook all day.
There, you all have it. It is very yummy. We had it with some crescent
rolls; and there was only a little bit leftover!! I am so ready for soups
for dinners. I love soup in the winter as much as I love salads in the
summer! Soup just makes me feel warm; inside and out!
Today I made 3 loaves of cranberry bread and some Church Window Candy.
Then Rachel and I made 2 different kinds of cookies. We made Nutmeg Sugar
Crisps, and Tender Sugar Cookies. Tomorrow David is going to make
biscotti~~~something he hasn't made in over 2 years! He started making
biscotti with me about 7 or 8 years ago. Now he does most of the 'work'
and really enjoys making it! And I enjoy spending the time with him in the
kitchen making the biscotti. So we will have some fun bonding time.
I want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to First Baptist Church,
Minden/Gardnerville. Thank you for providing our Thanksgiving dinner.
Also, THANK YOU to a long-time friend, Val, for the gift of the turkey.
You guys have NO idea how much all of this is appreciated. Thank you just
doesn't say it all, but I don't have the words. Thank you.
Well, that is about all that is going on in the Koury Cancer Ward. Thank
you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good
evening. Sleep good. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet, some forms
of childhood cancers, like osteosarcoma, have proven so resistant to
treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is illusive.
Ok, since I was asked several times for Quilters Soup, here it is. I got
the recipe from my mother several years ago. Here goes:
6 strips crisp bacon
1 pound browned ground beef
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
1 large can tomatoes (I use recipe ready)
1 can bullion soup (I use two cups water and beef base)
1 can cream of potato soup
1 pkg. frozen mixed vegetables
1 8oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 tsp. pepper
Combine all ingredients and cook 45 minutes or until heated through.
Can be put in a slow cooker and cook all day.
There, you all have it. It is very yummy. We had it with some crescent
rolls; and there was only a little bit leftover!! I am so ready for soups
for dinners. I love soup in the winter as much as I love salads in the
summer! Soup just makes me feel warm; inside and out!
Today I made 3 loaves of cranberry bread and some Church Window Candy.
Then Rachel and I made 2 different kinds of cookies. We made Nutmeg Sugar
Crisps, and Tender Sugar Cookies. Tomorrow David is going to make
biscotti~~~something he hasn't made in over 2 years! He started making
biscotti with me about 7 or 8 years ago. Now he does most of the 'work'
and really enjoys making it! And I enjoy spending the time with him in the
kitchen making the biscotti. So we will have some fun bonding time.
I want to say a big 'THANK YOU' to First Baptist Church,
Minden/Gardnerville. Thank you for providing our Thanksgiving dinner.
Also, THANK YOU to a long-time friend, Val, for the gift of the turkey.
You guys have NO idea how much all of this is appreciated. Thank you just
doesn't say it all, but I don't have the words. Thank you.
Well, that is about all that is going on in the Koury Cancer Ward. Thank
you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good
evening. Sleep good. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet, some forms
of childhood cancers, like osteosarcoma, have proven so resistant to
treatment that, in spite of research, a cure is illusive.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Good evening.
Well, things are what they are. Saturday was such a busy day that Rachel
and I didn't do much baking. Actually, she made fudge, and that was about
it. By the time we got doing some errand running, and making fudge, it was
time for church. Then on Sunday Jeremy and Lucy came over. Rachel and I
did make one batch of snowball cookies last night. Then tonight we made a
batch of cherry snowball cookies, and some Mexican hot chocolate snowball
cookies. Do you see a theme here? We LOVE snowball cookies. Plus, they are
really easy! Tomorrow we will make a different kind. I will make some
cranberry bread and some other stuff while she is at work tomorrow.
The weather has been so beautiful these past few days. Today I make some
'Quilters Soup' for dinner. It has been perfect soup weather. And that is
a soup that everyone loves. David even ate almost a full bowl of it. Yum.
Today was busy. I had to do all the Thanksgiving food shopping. David just
plugged away with school while I went shopping. He knows I am only as far
away as my cell phone; but I still don't like leaving him alone. Like I
said before~~~normally leaving him alone is not a big deal. But under the
present circumstances.......I just don't like to. But he doesn't want to
go shopping with me; plus he has to do school; so I leave him. I really
don't mind shopping alone, that is no big deal. I just try to do it as
fast as I can so I can get home to him. But I am now prepared for
Thursday. Whew.
Please continue to pray for David and his schooling. He is doing his best.
Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for our 'special
request.' Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury
Klan. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Right now, this second, somewhere in America, there are 7 children
fighting for their lives who won't live through the day.
Well, things are what they are. Saturday was such a busy day that Rachel
and I didn't do much baking. Actually, she made fudge, and that was about
it. By the time we got doing some errand running, and making fudge, it was
time for church. Then on Sunday Jeremy and Lucy came over. Rachel and I
did make one batch of snowball cookies last night. Then tonight we made a
batch of cherry snowball cookies, and some Mexican hot chocolate snowball
cookies. Do you see a theme here? We LOVE snowball cookies. Plus, they are
really easy! Tomorrow we will make a different kind. I will make some
cranberry bread and some other stuff while she is at work tomorrow.
The weather has been so beautiful these past few days. Today I make some
'Quilters Soup' for dinner. It has been perfect soup weather. And that is
a soup that everyone loves. David even ate almost a full bowl of it. Yum.
Today was busy. I had to do all the Thanksgiving food shopping. David just
plugged away with school while I went shopping. He knows I am only as far
away as my cell phone; but I still don't like leaving him alone. Like I
said before~~~normally leaving him alone is not a big deal. But under the
present circumstances.......I just don't like to. But he doesn't want to
go shopping with me; plus he has to do school; so I leave him. I really
don't mind shopping alone, that is no big deal. I just try to do it as
fast as I can so I can get home to him. But I am now prepared for
Thursday. Whew.
Please continue to pray for David and his schooling. He is doing his best.
Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for our 'special
request.' Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury
Klan. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Right now, this second, somewhere in America, there are 7 children
fighting for their lives who won't live through the day.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Good evening.
Yesterday was a very long day. We left our house around 8:15am. We stopped
at Subway in Fairfield for lunch (thank you for the gift card, Noreen). We
arrived in San Francisco around 1:00pm, or so, I think. We checked in at
Dr. O's office around 1:20 for David's appointment; which was scheduled
for 1:40. Then we went and got his leg xrayed. Then we waited. We got
called into the room around 3:00. Then we waited some more. Then they came
around 4:00 and took out David's staples. Then we waited for Dr. O. He
finally came in and still laughs at the video of David doing his 'trick'
with his broken implant. So I emailed him the video, plus the pictures
that I have added here. He wants to see David back in 3 months; so we will
try to get his scans scheduled for the same time, well, the next day; so
we only have to make one trip to the Bay Area. Then we left there and went
over to the hospital to see Sara. I told you about Sara several months
ago. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June, and she is from Fallon,
NV. That is about an hour east of us. Anyway, I have been wanting to meet
her, we just never seem to be in SF at the same time. Well, we got to meet
her, her dad, and her sister. David couldn't go in the room because he is
only 15; and no one under 16 is allowed to visit because of Swine Flu. So
he had to wait by the elevators for us. It was just so fantastic to
finally see her. Please keep her in your prayers. She hopes to go home on
Monday. She has a thoracotomy scheduled for 12/14; please remember to pray
for her. Thanks. Then we left SF about 5:30, I think. We drove through
dinner, didn't even stop to eat, and we got home a little after 10:30pm!
It was a very long day. But it was a really good day. David got his
staples out, and we met Sara. I am just glad the day is over. Whew. Busy
day. So today has been a 'catch-up' day.
Today has been a gorgeous day! It was SUPER windy and COLD today!! Then,
it snowed! Yay! It didn't stick, unfortunately, but it was still a
beautiful day. It is now just wet and cold, but I love it. We have a nice
fire in the wood-burning stove (had a fire all day), I made the best chili
in the world for dinner, and we are all just toasty and comfy in the
house. So, that is the news of today.
Tomorrow Rachel and I are going to do some baking. Since we are going to
be home for Thanksgiving, I need to do some baking. David wants fudge, so
we will make him fudge! It is nice and fattening! Then we will make some
cranberry bread and some kind of cookies~~I hope Rachel has some ideas! I
think I have the ingredients on hand for some basic sugar
cookies.......we'll see.
Well, that is about it for now. Thank you for visiting and checking in on
David and the Koury Klan. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children
than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each
year from cancer.
Yesterday was a very long day. We left our house around 8:15am. We stopped
at Subway in Fairfield for lunch (thank you for the gift card, Noreen). We
arrived in San Francisco around 1:00pm, or so, I think. We checked in at
Dr. O's office around 1:20 for David's appointment; which was scheduled
for 1:40. Then we went and got his leg xrayed. Then we waited. We got
called into the room around 3:00. Then we waited some more. Then they came
around 4:00 and took out David's staples. Then we waited for Dr. O. He
finally came in and still laughs at the video of David doing his 'trick'
with his broken implant. So I emailed him the video, plus the pictures
that I have added here. He wants to see David back in 3 months; so we will
try to get his scans scheduled for the same time, well, the next day; so
we only have to make one trip to the Bay Area. Then we left there and went
over to the hospital to see Sara. I told you about Sara several months
ago. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June, and she is from Fallon,
NV. That is about an hour east of us. Anyway, I have been wanting to meet
her, we just never seem to be in SF at the same time. Well, we got to meet
her, her dad, and her sister. David couldn't go in the room because he is
only 15; and no one under 16 is allowed to visit because of Swine Flu. So
he had to wait by the elevators for us. It was just so fantastic to
finally see her. Please keep her in your prayers. She hopes to go home on
Monday. She has a thoracotomy scheduled for 12/14; please remember to pray
for her. Thanks. Then we left SF about 5:30, I think. We drove through
dinner, didn't even stop to eat, and we got home a little after 10:30pm!
It was a very long day. But it was a really good day. David got his
staples out, and we met Sara. I am just glad the day is over. Whew. Busy
day. So today has been a 'catch-up' day.
Today has been a gorgeous day! It was SUPER windy and COLD today!! Then,
it snowed! Yay! It didn't stick, unfortunately, but it was still a
beautiful day. It is now just wet and cold, but I love it. We have a nice
fire in the wood-burning stove (had a fire all day), I made the best chili
in the world for dinner, and we are all just toasty and comfy in the
house. So, that is the news of today.
Tomorrow Rachel and I are going to do some baking. Since we are going to
be home for Thanksgiving, I need to do some baking. David wants fudge, so
we will make him fudge! It is nice and fattening! Then we will make some
cranberry bread and some kind of cookies~~I hope Rachel has some ideas! I
think I have the ingredients on hand for some basic sugar
cookies.......we'll see.
Well, that is about it for now. Thank you for visiting and checking in on
David and the Koury Klan. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children
than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each
year from cancer.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Good evening.
I got the following from our website support group. They are a fantastic
bunch of people who are on the same journey we are on, their children have
the same cancer, and they have been there for us throughout this journey.
Some are farther along than us, some are not as far as us, but we are all
there for each other. Some of the children are still fighting, some have
lost their battle, and some are doing well. They are our family, and we
love them all!! Anyway, this so exactly describes our life, so I thought I
would share it with you. Here goes:
Parents of children with a terminal illness are often referred to or
viewed as having strength “like a rock.” Albeit flattering, it isn’t quite
true. It is more like the strength of an egg. An egg, you ask? Yes! If
you’ll think about it, you’ll see my point. An egg has a polished, smooth
outer appearance, with no cracks or weak spots visible. It seems almost
inconceivable that the inside might not be so smooth or solid. Most
children, at some point are shown the famous egg trick. An egg set at just
the right angle can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and cannot be
cracked or broken. Yet the same egg, tapped gently at an ever slightly
different angle, will break. The contents, once so neatly concealed, will
come spilling out. The no longer perfect shell will be crushed. It looks
so fragile that it seems inconceivable that it ever held any strength. A
rock, on the other hand, is solid all the way through. To break it is
almost impossible. If you succeed, you will find that there is nothing
inside but more rock. It takes a lot more than pure hardness to hold the
hand of hope. Parents of [medically fragile] children are not solid all
the way through. We hurt, we fear, we cry, we hope. It takes a very
careful balancing act to keep the shell from being shattered. “Balancing
an egg” while running a household, going for doctors’ visits and hospital
stays, keeping the family together, and holding on to the constantly
unraveling ties of your sanity can be very tricky indeed! Occasionally,
the angle will be off and the shell will break, shattering hope and all
the neatly secured appearances of a truly fragile existence. Unlike Humpty
Dumpty, though, parents of medically fragile kids will pick themselves up
and put themselves back together again.
Anonymous
David is doing about the same as yesterday; eating wise. He ate a piece of
sourdough toast for breakfast, some chips and dip, and about 1/3 cup of
leftover Sour Cream Chili Bake (minus the sour cream) for lunch. He eats
dinner at Bible Study tonight, so we will see how that goes. Nita had a
thought. She said Chris still can't eat breakfast~~~the association of
chemo in the morning and not being able to eat. Maybe that is part of
David's problem. I know that having cancer and all the ramifications of
the treatment go very deep; especially in a child. *sigh* We will get
through this, somehow or other. Thank you for your prayers, and
suggestions. I appreciate all the advice and suggestions I can get.
Well, tomorrow we go to San Francisco, again! David is happy. He doesn't
want to go to S.F., but he is ready to have those staples out!!!! He can't
wear long pants; and it is COLD!! He is freezing! So after tomorrow he can
wear long pants. Woo-Hoo!! We have to leave at 8am! It will be a long day.
At least the Bay Bridge is fixed! But it will still be a long day. I don't
know if I will update tomorrow; it depends on what time we get home. I
will let you know how it goes, eventually.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have
a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
I got the following from our website support group. They are a fantastic
bunch of people who are on the same journey we are on, their children have
the same cancer, and they have been there for us throughout this journey.
Some are farther along than us, some are not as far as us, but we are all
there for each other. Some of the children are still fighting, some have
lost their battle, and some are doing well. They are our family, and we
love them all!! Anyway, this so exactly describes our life, so I thought I
would share it with you. Here goes:
Parents of children with a terminal illness are often referred to or
viewed as having strength “like a rock.” Albeit flattering, it isn’t quite
true. It is more like the strength of an egg. An egg, you ask? Yes! If
you’ll think about it, you’ll see my point. An egg has a polished, smooth
outer appearance, with no cracks or weak spots visible. It seems almost
inconceivable that the inside might not be so smooth or solid. Most
children, at some point are shown the famous egg trick. An egg set at just
the right angle can withstand enormous amounts of pressure and cannot be
cracked or broken. Yet the same egg, tapped gently at an ever slightly
different angle, will break. The contents, once so neatly concealed, will
come spilling out. The no longer perfect shell will be crushed. It looks
so fragile that it seems inconceivable that it ever held any strength. A
rock, on the other hand, is solid all the way through. To break it is
almost impossible. If you succeed, you will find that there is nothing
inside but more rock. It takes a lot more than pure hardness to hold the
hand of hope. Parents of [medically fragile] children are not solid all
the way through. We hurt, we fear, we cry, we hope. It takes a very
careful balancing act to keep the shell from being shattered. “Balancing
an egg” while running a household, going for doctors’ visits and hospital
stays, keeping the family together, and holding on to the constantly
unraveling ties of your sanity can be very tricky indeed! Occasionally,
the angle will be off and the shell will break, shattering hope and all
the neatly secured appearances of a truly fragile existence. Unlike Humpty
Dumpty, though, parents of medically fragile kids will pick themselves up
and put themselves back together again.
Anonymous
David is doing about the same as yesterday; eating wise. He ate a piece of
sourdough toast for breakfast, some chips and dip, and about 1/3 cup of
leftover Sour Cream Chili Bake (minus the sour cream) for lunch. He eats
dinner at Bible Study tonight, so we will see how that goes. Nita had a
thought. She said Chris still can't eat breakfast~~~the association of
chemo in the morning and not being able to eat. Maybe that is part of
David's problem. I know that having cancer and all the ramifications of
the treatment go very deep; especially in a child. *sigh* We will get
through this, somehow or other. Thank you for your prayers, and
suggestions. I appreciate all the advice and suggestions I can get.
Well, tomorrow we go to San Francisco, again! David is happy. He doesn't
want to go to S.F., but he is ready to have those staples out!!!! He can't
wear long pants; and it is COLD!! He is freezing! So after tomorrow he can
wear long pants. Woo-Hoo!! We have to leave at 8am! It will be a long day.
At least the Bay Bridge is fixed! But it will still be a long day. I don't
know if I will update tomorrow; it depends on what time we get home. I
will let you know how it goes, eventually.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have
a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Good evening.
David had an ok day. I am not really sure the 'letting him take the lead'
in his eating is going to be such a good idea. For breakfast he ate a
piece of sourdough toast. Then mid morning he had some chips and dip. Then
he had nothing to eat until dinner. I made Sour Cream Chili Bake for him;
it is one of his favorite things I make. He ate a good helping of it, but
still. I guess we will see how it goes from now on. It is frustrating for
me. I am trying not to nag him, but I just want to scream when he won't
eat!! I have sorta figured something out, though. For the past 2 years
David's life has been out of his control. Things happened to him that he
had no control over. People did things (with our permission) to him that
were out of his control. Now his eating is 100% in his control. That is
the one area where nobody else can make him do something. I hope that
makes sense. I can't blame him for how he is acting; once I try to figure
him out! I just need to step back and let him take responsibility for this
situation. If he loses more weight; and ends up with a feeding tube again;
then that will be HIS choice, and he will have to take responsibility for
it. It is just hard. I want to put him in a bubble and let nothing more
bad happen to him. The feeding tube is not pleasant! I want to shield him
from that~~~but I can't!!! Please, please pray for me as I have to sit and
watch him not eat. Pray that I can do the right thing, and that he will
start eating!! Thank you for your prayers.
Please continue to pray for our 'special request' and for our finances. I
got the statement from David's last surgery~~~the hospital bill was
$58,000! David is rapidly running out of his lifetime cap of $2 million.
We are now in the new fiscal year, so we have to come up with lots of $$$
for David's care. You know, all the deductibles; which have gone up, by
the way. And gone up significantly!!! But what choice do we have? When it
comes to our child's life; there is NO choice!! So we would just really
covet your prayers. Thank you.
David is excited/nervous for Thursday. He gets his staples out on
Thursday. He can't wait for that, they are bugging him so much. He is
nervous because some are pretty healed and embedded in his leg. Please
pray for him as he anticipates Thursday. Thanks.
Mike~~please forgive us for not being able to make it down for
Thanksgiving! We really want to come down. We are so sorry. We love you
guys.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good night.
Thank you so very much for your prayers. We appreciate you all more than
you know. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Pediatric cancer is a punishing disease for children and their families.
And the often harsh treatments for cancer can impede youngsters'
development at a crucial time.
David had an ok day. I am not really sure the 'letting him take the lead'
in his eating is going to be such a good idea. For breakfast he ate a
piece of sourdough toast. Then mid morning he had some chips and dip. Then
he had nothing to eat until dinner. I made Sour Cream Chili Bake for him;
it is one of his favorite things I make. He ate a good helping of it, but
still. I guess we will see how it goes from now on. It is frustrating for
me. I am trying not to nag him, but I just want to scream when he won't
eat!! I have sorta figured something out, though. For the past 2 years
David's life has been out of his control. Things happened to him that he
had no control over. People did things (with our permission) to him that
were out of his control. Now his eating is 100% in his control. That is
the one area where nobody else can make him do something. I hope that
makes sense. I can't blame him for how he is acting; once I try to figure
him out! I just need to step back and let him take responsibility for this
situation. If he loses more weight; and ends up with a feeding tube again;
then that will be HIS choice, and he will have to take responsibility for
it. It is just hard. I want to put him in a bubble and let nothing more
bad happen to him. The feeding tube is not pleasant! I want to shield him
from that~~~but I can't!!! Please, please pray for me as I have to sit and
watch him not eat. Pray that I can do the right thing, and that he will
start eating!! Thank you for your prayers.
Please continue to pray for our 'special request' and for our finances. I
got the statement from David's last surgery~~~the hospital bill was
$58,000! David is rapidly running out of his lifetime cap of $2 million.
We are now in the new fiscal year, so we have to come up with lots of $$$
for David's care. You know, all the deductibles; which have gone up, by
the way. And gone up significantly!!! But what choice do we have? When it
comes to our child's life; there is NO choice!! So we would just really
covet your prayers. Thank you.
David is excited/nervous for Thursday. He gets his staples out on
Thursday. He can't wait for that, they are bugging him so much. He is
nervous because some are pretty healed and embedded in his leg. Please
pray for him as he anticipates Thursday. Thanks.
Mike~~please forgive us for not being able to make it down for
Thanksgiving! We really want to come down. We are so sorry. We love you
guys.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good night.
Thank you so very much for your prayers. We appreciate you all more than
you know. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Pediatric cancer is a punishing disease for children and their families.
And the often harsh treatments for cancer can impede youngsters'
development at a crucial time.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Good evening.
Ok, here is the news about David's oncology appointment. First, he has
lost a significant amount of weight. He now only weighs 119 pounds. Connie
looked at his chart and said that is a 13-14 pound loss. That is HUGE for
him. So, we are to just let him eat what he feels like eating; not overly
encourage him to eat anything else. She said that basically what we are
doing when we try to encourage him to eat is we are overwhelming him. Then
when all this food is verbally thrown at him, the thought of eating makes
him sick. So we are to take our cues from him and suggest things, but let
him take the 'lead' in his eating. She wants to see him in two weeks for a
weigh-in. She said she won't be upset if he doesn't gain, just as long as
he doesn't lose. He is back in the 'failure to thrive' category he was in
1 1/2 years ago. That is NOT good. We knew he was losing weight, we just
didn't know it was that bad. Please pray that he can stop losing the
weight, and that I can back-off. As his mom, I want to see him eat; and it
is hard for me to see him like this. She asked if he was like this before
he was diagnosed with cancer, and he said no. He knows he had a normal
appetite 'bc' (before cancer), and he was a lot more active; that is why
he was skinny then. But being skinny just because he won't eat is a whole
different situation from being skinny because you are eating and active.
Let me tell you~~~cancer sucks!!! It has 'damaged' my son in sooooo many
ways! I would really covet your prayers for all of us. Thank you.
Otherwise his appointment went well. Connie is going to get the info on
the phosphorous levels; so we are still in limbo about that. The other bad
part about the appointment is we were told NOT to take David anywhere for
Thanksgiving. We were invited to go to my brother's house (and we REALLY
want to go), but we were told not to. Connie said that 10 hours in the car
is too much for David this soon after surgery. If surgery had been a
couple months ago, that would have been different. We were told the 4
hours from S.F. was too much; but we had no choice about that one!! We
live 4 hours away, and we had to get home! Also, she said that there are
tons of germs out there that his body just can't fight. As evidenced by
his recent illness. She said those germs are nothing to you and me, but
could be deadly to David. I don't really understand that. He isn't having
chemo anymore, so I would think he would be ok. But apparently not. So we
are quite bummed about not being able to go to my brother's house. We have
been trying to get there for 2 years~~~yep, right when David was diagnosed
was when we were going to go. Ever since then we have been trying, but it
seems like there is one thing after another that keeps getting in the way!
*sigh* So sorry, Mike. It will happen, eventually. Please don't give up on
us! These things are just out of our hands. David's health is our #1
priority. I know my brother understands, it is just frustrating.
When David was laying on the table, Connie was very surprised to see that
David can almost get his leg straight! He is such a trooper. She said
after his appointment in 2 weeks we will start PT again. David is sooo
excited about that, NOT! He has enjoyed the break from PT. But his muscles
have atrophied sooo badly that he needs PT. But again, his appointment
went well, overall. He is still being the fantastic child that he is, and
still being the trooper that he always has been. We are so proud of him. I
am so glad he is my son.
Please continue to pray for his school situation. He is trying so hard.
Please pray that he is able to get the work done. Thank you for your
prayers.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for the prayers; boy do we need them! Have a good evening. God bless
you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Detecting childhood cancers at an early stage, when the disease would
react more favorably to treatment, is extremely difficult.
Ok, here is the news about David's oncology appointment. First, he has
lost a significant amount of weight. He now only weighs 119 pounds. Connie
looked at his chart and said that is a 13-14 pound loss. That is HUGE for
him. So, we are to just let him eat what he feels like eating; not overly
encourage him to eat anything else. She said that basically what we are
doing when we try to encourage him to eat is we are overwhelming him. Then
when all this food is verbally thrown at him, the thought of eating makes
him sick. So we are to take our cues from him and suggest things, but let
him take the 'lead' in his eating. She wants to see him in two weeks for a
weigh-in. She said she won't be upset if he doesn't gain, just as long as
he doesn't lose. He is back in the 'failure to thrive' category he was in
1 1/2 years ago. That is NOT good. We knew he was losing weight, we just
didn't know it was that bad. Please pray that he can stop losing the
weight, and that I can back-off. As his mom, I want to see him eat; and it
is hard for me to see him like this. She asked if he was like this before
he was diagnosed with cancer, and he said no. He knows he had a normal
appetite 'bc' (before cancer), and he was a lot more active; that is why
he was skinny then. But being skinny just because he won't eat is a whole
different situation from being skinny because you are eating and active.
Let me tell you~~~cancer sucks!!! It has 'damaged' my son in sooooo many
ways! I would really covet your prayers for all of us. Thank you.
Otherwise his appointment went well. Connie is going to get the info on
the phosphorous levels; so we are still in limbo about that. The other bad
part about the appointment is we were told NOT to take David anywhere for
Thanksgiving. We were invited to go to my brother's house (and we REALLY
want to go), but we were told not to. Connie said that 10 hours in the car
is too much for David this soon after surgery. If surgery had been a
couple months ago, that would have been different. We were told the 4
hours from S.F. was too much; but we had no choice about that one!! We
live 4 hours away, and we had to get home! Also, she said that there are
tons of germs out there that his body just can't fight. As evidenced by
his recent illness. She said those germs are nothing to you and me, but
could be deadly to David. I don't really understand that. He isn't having
chemo anymore, so I would think he would be ok. But apparently not. So we
are quite bummed about not being able to go to my brother's house. We have
been trying to get there for 2 years~~~yep, right when David was diagnosed
was when we were going to go. Ever since then we have been trying, but it
seems like there is one thing after another that keeps getting in the way!
*sigh* So sorry, Mike. It will happen, eventually. Please don't give up on
us! These things are just out of our hands. David's health is our #1
priority. I know my brother understands, it is just frustrating.
When David was laying on the table, Connie was very surprised to see that
David can almost get his leg straight! He is such a trooper. She said
after his appointment in 2 weeks we will start PT again. David is sooo
excited about that, NOT! He has enjoyed the break from PT. But his muscles
have atrophied sooo badly that he needs PT. But again, his appointment
went well, overall. He is still being the fantastic child that he is, and
still being the trooper that he always has been. We are so proud of him. I
am so glad he is my son.
Please continue to pray for his school situation. He is trying so hard.
Please pray that he is able to get the work done. Thank you for your
prayers.
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for the prayers; boy do we need them! Have a good evening. God bless
you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Detecting childhood cancers at an early stage, when the disease would
react more favorably to treatment, is extremely difficult.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Good evening.
Today was an ok day. David is feeling much better. He is hooked on Ginger
Ale! Crazy kid! That is his drink of choice now. That is just fine with
me. It keeps his tummy settled. He has eaten much better today. His tummy
is still sore; inside and outside. I know that will take time to heal.
Back in 2/08 when he had the endoscopy that discovered the ulcer they said
that the trauma to his stomach does take time to heal, especially with an
ulcer!! Poor kid. But it will be fine. He did eat better, and I am happy
with that. The one thing that I am having NO problem getting him to eat is
chip and dip! We have this great dip from a mail order place (called
Singing Pig Food Co.) that David loves. I make it with lowfat sour cream
and mayo. The flavor he likes is Cheddar & Chives. So if he will eat it, I
will gladly make it for him. I only have 2 more pkgs. of that flavor
left........so I hope he doesn't eat it too fast, ha-ha. I bought it quite
some time ago, and put it in the pantry and sorta forgot about it. I am
glad I remembered it so I could make it for him. At least I found
something he will eat! Thank you for your prayers; he is feeling better. I
am continuing to soak my house in Lysol, and I bought David a new
toothbrush! So hopefully I can keep him well.
Please pray for my daughter-in-love, Lucy. She is not feeling well. It
isn't what David had, she is having sinus problems. She seems to have a
lot of sinus issues~~not sure what that is about. Jeremy came over today,
Lucy stayed home. She didn't need to spread her germs or be at risk of
getting David's germs. I sent Jeremy home with a can of Lysol to spray all
over his house!! Thank you for praying for her.
I talked to David's school about the 504 plan. She was very helpful and
sent us some forms to fill out. I wrote her back and told her that David
is having issues with the time constraints. He has always been
homeschooled, but since the cancer diagnosis school is just done on his
own time. As you know, that means that sometimes he finishes school in
late July; but he still finishes. Then I gave her the addresses to David's
websites, and this is what she wrote back to me, "Kristi,
Thanks for sharing his websites with me. I was wondering if you have
thought about sharing them with his teachers, too.
It is an understatement to say that David and your family has been through
a lot over the past couple of years. I'd like to get the 504 plan in
place for him as soon as possible.
Heather" So now I am thinking about giving David's websites to his
teachers so they can put a face to his name, and understand why he needs
the 504. But I thought that was a sweet note from Heather. I am not asking
for 'special treatment' for David; but with all the surgeries, trips to
Oakland Children's Hospital, trips to San Francisco, trips to Renown, PT,
etc. he just needs more time to complete the work. He tries so hard, poor
guy. Thank you for your prayers about that.
David has an oncology appointment tomorrow. We will find out some
information about his blood work, hopefully. We want to see if we can
discontinue the Phosphorous. We will also see if it would be advisable to
travel anywhere for Thanksgiving. We have been potentially advised against
it by the surgeon (it would be too hard on David to sit for a long time
just fresh from surgery), but we will see. Plus, with him being so
recently sick. . . . I just don't know. I know to a healthy child, once
they are over their sickness it is 'back to normal,' but that is just not
so with a child who has/had cancer. Like I have said many times, this is a
new normal that we are going to have to get used to! And some things just
seem to not make sense to us. But that is because we aren't used to this
life!! *sigh* As usual, we will just have to play it by ear!
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for your love, prayers, and support. We really appreciate you. Have a
good night. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer treatment can cause serious side effects that may last a lifetime.
Today was an ok day. David is feeling much better. He is hooked on Ginger
Ale! Crazy kid! That is his drink of choice now. That is just fine with
me. It keeps his tummy settled. He has eaten much better today. His tummy
is still sore; inside and outside. I know that will take time to heal.
Back in 2/08 when he had the endoscopy that discovered the ulcer they said
that the trauma to his stomach does take time to heal, especially with an
ulcer!! Poor kid. But it will be fine. He did eat better, and I am happy
with that. The one thing that I am having NO problem getting him to eat is
chip and dip! We have this great dip from a mail order place (called
Singing Pig Food Co.) that David loves. I make it with lowfat sour cream
and mayo. The flavor he likes is Cheddar & Chives. So if he will eat it, I
will gladly make it for him. I only have 2 more pkgs. of that flavor
left........so I hope he doesn't eat it too fast, ha-ha. I bought it quite
some time ago, and put it in the pantry and sorta forgot about it. I am
glad I remembered it so I could make it for him. At least I found
something he will eat! Thank you for your prayers; he is feeling better. I
am continuing to soak my house in Lysol, and I bought David a new
toothbrush! So hopefully I can keep him well.
Please pray for my daughter-in-love, Lucy. She is not feeling well. It
isn't what David had, she is having sinus problems. She seems to have a
lot of sinus issues~~not sure what that is about. Jeremy came over today,
Lucy stayed home. She didn't need to spread her germs or be at risk of
getting David's germs. I sent Jeremy home with a can of Lysol to spray all
over his house!! Thank you for praying for her.
I talked to David's school about the 504 plan. She was very helpful and
sent us some forms to fill out. I wrote her back and told her that David
is having issues with the time constraints. He has always been
homeschooled, but since the cancer diagnosis school is just done on his
own time. As you know, that means that sometimes he finishes school in
late July; but he still finishes. Then I gave her the addresses to David's
websites, and this is what she wrote back to me, "Kristi,
Thanks for sharing his websites with me. I was wondering if you have
thought about sharing them with his teachers, too.
It is an understatement to say that David and your family has been through
a lot over the past couple of years. I'd like to get the 504 plan in
place for him as soon as possible.
Heather" So now I am thinking about giving David's websites to his
teachers so they can put a face to his name, and understand why he needs
the 504. But I thought that was a sweet note from Heather. I am not asking
for 'special treatment' for David; but with all the surgeries, trips to
Oakland Children's Hospital, trips to San Francisco, trips to Renown, PT,
etc. he just needs more time to complete the work. He tries so hard, poor
guy. Thank you for your prayers about that.
David has an oncology appointment tomorrow. We will find out some
information about his blood work, hopefully. We want to see if we can
discontinue the Phosphorous. We will also see if it would be advisable to
travel anywhere for Thanksgiving. We have been potentially advised against
it by the surgeon (it would be too hard on David to sit for a long time
just fresh from surgery), but we will see. Plus, with him being so
recently sick. . . . I just don't know. I know to a healthy child, once
they are over their sickness it is 'back to normal,' but that is just not
so with a child who has/had cancer. Like I have said many times, this is a
new normal that we are going to have to get used to! And some things just
seem to not make sense to us. But that is because we aren't used to this
life!! *sigh* As usual, we will just have to play it by ear!
Thank you for visiting and checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for your love, prayers, and support. We really appreciate you. Have a
good night. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer treatment can cause serious side effects that may last a lifetime.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Good evening.
Sorry I haven't updated sooner. It has been pretty busy.
David is feeling better. I gave him ginger ale, saltines, and 7up
yesterday. I also gave him some chewable anti-nausea medicine~~~he
promptly threw that up! He just nibbled on the saltines (he HATES
saltines), and sipped the ginger ale and 7up. He kept it all down, yay! He
also kept his Prevacid down, yay! He said today he feels better, but his
stomach hurts. The muscles hurt from all the retching, and his tummy is
still sore a bit on the inside. I am sure the inside is pretty raw from
all the vomiting and the dry heaves he was having. But at least now he is
feeling better. I know it was just a stomach virus that had to run it's
course; and I am so thankful that it is gone!! Thank you so much for your
prayers. David actually said he was hungry at dinner time, and ate fairly
well! I am thinking the lack of appetite was partly due to the fact that
he was getting sick; we just didn't know it! All the suggestions I was
given (via guestbook, facebook, and email) were greatly appreciated; thank
you. David will not be going to church tomorrow; I really don't think it
is a good idea. He really isn't 100% yet, so he will stay home. Especially
because it is soooo cold (I am NOT complaining, mind you), and he has an
oncology appointment on Monday. Whew. So that is the haps.
Thank you so much for all the prayers for David. Now the prayers are that
nobody else gets sick! I sprayed my whole house with Lysol, so hopefully
that stupid bug is dead!! Thanks for checking in on David and the Koury
Klan. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Treatments often involve lengthy hospital stays &/or outpatient treatments
which can extend over a period of months to multiple years. Children may
often need to be isolated from other people/activities (even certain
foods, at times) due to their heightened risk of infection. Families
experience multiple severe stressors from the financial, emotional,
physical, psychological, social & spiritual strains from it all. Parents
may lose or have to give up jobs; insurance issues may add to the stress;
siblings experience their own multitude of issues from it all.
Sorry I haven't updated sooner. It has been pretty busy.
David is feeling better. I gave him ginger ale, saltines, and 7up
yesterday. I also gave him some chewable anti-nausea medicine~~~he
promptly threw that up! He just nibbled on the saltines (he HATES
saltines), and sipped the ginger ale and 7up. He kept it all down, yay! He
also kept his Prevacid down, yay! He said today he feels better, but his
stomach hurts. The muscles hurt from all the retching, and his tummy is
still sore a bit on the inside. I am sure the inside is pretty raw from
all the vomiting and the dry heaves he was having. But at least now he is
feeling better. I know it was just a stomach virus that had to run it's
course; and I am so thankful that it is gone!! Thank you so much for your
prayers. David actually said he was hungry at dinner time, and ate fairly
well! I am thinking the lack of appetite was partly due to the fact that
he was getting sick; we just didn't know it! All the suggestions I was
given (via guestbook, facebook, and email) were greatly appreciated; thank
you. David will not be going to church tomorrow; I really don't think it
is a good idea. He really isn't 100% yet, so he will stay home. Especially
because it is soooo cold (I am NOT complaining, mind you), and he has an
oncology appointment on Monday. Whew. So that is the haps.
Thank you so much for all the prayers for David. Now the prayers are that
nobody else gets sick! I sprayed my whole house with Lysol, so hopefully
that stupid bug is dead!! Thanks for checking in on David and the Koury
Klan. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Treatments often involve lengthy hospital stays &/or outpatient treatments
which can extend over a period of months to multiple years. Children may
often need to be isolated from other people/activities (even certain
foods, at times) due to their heightened risk of infection. Families
experience multiple severe stressors from the financial, emotional,
physical, psychological, social & spiritual strains from it all. Parents
may lose or have to give up jobs; insurance issues may add to the stress;
siblings experience their own multitude of issues from it all.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Quick urgent update.
David is not feeling well. He (we) were up all night with him vomiting. He
started around 1am, and continued all night. He couldn't get comfortable,
his stomach hurt so bad. We ended up spending the night in our recliners
downstairs. He, right now, is taking small sips of water and fighting to
keep it down. He did take his Prevacid, and so far so good about keeping
that down. We gave him Pepto Bismol~~he threw it up. We gave him Ginger
Brew~~he threw it up. Please pray that he feels better soon. Please pray
that this bug leaves his body ASAP! Thank you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
David is not feeling well. He (we) were up all night with him vomiting. He
started around 1am, and continued all night. He couldn't get comfortable,
his stomach hurt so bad. We ended up spending the night in our recliners
downstairs. He, right now, is taking small sips of water and fighting to
keep it down. He did take his Prevacid, and so far so good about keeping
that down. We gave him Pepto Bismol~~he threw it up. We gave him Ginger
Brew~~he threw it up. Please pray that he feels better soon. Please pray
that this bug leaves his body ASAP! Thank you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Good evening.
Today has been a rather frustrating day. I slept horribly last night, and
have been awake since a little after 5am. Having my friend's son was fine.
I had to feed him breakfast, though. He said his mom didn't feed
him......maybe he was just still hungry. I took him to school, and then
came home and got David going. Then I had a dentist appointment to have my
teeth cleaned. Rachel had an appointment right after me, so I waited until
she got there so I could see her! Then I had to drive thru Jack in the Box
for David (more about that later). Then I got home and remembered I had an
errand to run. Then I got home and had to make dinner. I haven't done any
shopping, so I just threw some spaghetti and corn together. It just seems
like it was a busy day.
The frustrating part is~~~please pray for David and his eating. It is such
a challenge to get him to eat! He has absolutely NO desire to eat. I can't
seem to entice him with anything. He did want Jack in the Box tacos for
lunch. That is the only thing we like at JIB; we don't eat much fast food.
But he is at the point that whatever he wants, I will do my best to get
for him. Luckily the tacos are 2 for $1!! So his lunch (he wanted 4) cost
me $2.13. Then he doesn't even eat all of the tacos. The last time he
weighed himself at home he weighed (fully clothed) 125 pounds. That is
down several pounds!! I don't know what to do to stimulate his appetite.
Nothing sounds good to him (except JIB tacos today). He did eat ok of the
spaghetti and corn for dinner. He basically is just not back to himself
yet. He feels ok, just seems to be developing an aversion to food for some
reason. Please pray that we can get past this hurdle. I am going to make
him drink a milkshake tonight. He is 15; he should be eating me out of
house and home!!! Is this just another long-term side effect of cancer and
chemo? *sigh*
Thank you for your prayers, love, and support~~~please keep the prayers
coming. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. I'm off to
make a milkshake (and I am going to sneak in some more calorie booster;
thanks Karen). Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Today has been a rather frustrating day. I slept horribly last night, and
have been awake since a little after 5am. Having my friend's son was fine.
I had to feed him breakfast, though. He said his mom didn't feed
him......maybe he was just still hungry. I took him to school, and then
came home and got David going. Then I had a dentist appointment to have my
teeth cleaned. Rachel had an appointment right after me, so I waited until
she got there so I could see her! Then I had to drive thru Jack in the Box
for David (more about that later). Then I got home and remembered I had an
errand to run. Then I got home and had to make dinner. I haven't done any
shopping, so I just threw some spaghetti and corn together. It just seems
like it was a busy day.
The frustrating part is~~~please pray for David and his eating. It is such
a challenge to get him to eat! He has absolutely NO desire to eat. I can't
seem to entice him with anything. He did want Jack in the Box tacos for
lunch. That is the only thing we like at JIB; we don't eat much fast food.
But he is at the point that whatever he wants, I will do my best to get
for him. Luckily the tacos are 2 for $1!! So his lunch (he wanted 4) cost
me $2.13. Then he doesn't even eat all of the tacos. The last time he
weighed himself at home he weighed (fully clothed) 125 pounds. That is
down several pounds!! I don't know what to do to stimulate his appetite.
Nothing sounds good to him (except JIB tacos today). He did eat ok of the
spaghetti and corn for dinner. He basically is just not back to himself
yet. He feels ok, just seems to be developing an aversion to food for some
reason. Please pray that we can get past this hurdle. I am going to make
him drink a milkshake tonight. He is 15; he should be eating me out of
house and home!!! Is this just another long-term side effect of cancer and
chemo? *sigh*
Thank you for your prayers, love, and support~~~please keep the prayers
coming. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. I'm off to
make a milkshake (and I am going to sneak in some more calorie booster;
thanks Karen). Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Good evening.
First things first~~~Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all our veterans and
their families. Thank you for your service to our country. That includes
Bryon, and my brother, Mike. Thank you!
It is so beautiful right now!! VERY windy, because a storm is blowing in!
Woo-Hoo!! It is supposed to snow sometime tonight and tomorrow. I am so
happy about that! It has been a beautiful day.
David is doing ok. The fever just keeps jumping around. Earlier it was
99.4. Then it goes down to 98.3. But I am not really worried about it too
much. I think part of it is the fact that he has an artificial part in his
leg. His body is adjusting to having that part there. But I would still
feel better if the fever would just go away and stay away!!! *sigh*
We had our support group meeting tonight. We missed you again, Roseanne.
We won't be having a meeting next month; there is a Christmas party in
place of the meeting. So that will be fun.
Well, it is late. I have to watch my friend's son tomorrow morning before
school. Then I will walk him to school. Then I have a dentist appointment
to get my teeth cleaned in the afternoon. It will be a busy day tomorrow.
I am tired, it has been a long day. Thank you for visiting and checking in
on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good evening, and a good day tomorrow.
God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Confucius said it best "The smallest gesture is better than the grandest
intention"
First things first~~~Happy Veterans Day. Thank you to all our veterans and
their families. Thank you for your service to our country. That includes
Bryon, and my brother, Mike. Thank you!
It is so beautiful right now!! VERY windy, because a storm is blowing in!
Woo-Hoo!! It is supposed to snow sometime tonight and tomorrow. I am so
happy about that! It has been a beautiful day.
David is doing ok. The fever just keeps jumping around. Earlier it was
99.4. Then it goes down to 98.3. But I am not really worried about it too
much. I think part of it is the fact that he has an artificial part in his
leg. His body is adjusting to having that part there. But I would still
feel better if the fever would just go away and stay away!!! *sigh*
We had our support group meeting tonight. We missed you again, Roseanne.
We won't be having a meeting next month; there is a Christmas party in
place of the meeting. So that will be fun.
Well, it is late. I have to watch my friend's son tomorrow morning before
school. Then I will walk him to school. Then I have a dentist appointment
to get my teeth cleaned in the afternoon. It will be a busy day tomorrow.
I am tired, it has been a long day. Thank you for visiting and checking in
on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good evening, and a good day tomorrow.
God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Confucius said it best "The smallest gesture is better than the grandest
intention"
Monday, November 9, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Good evening.
Today was an ok day. David did school, and he had a couple Elluminate
sessions. He is so funny. He says he misses Geometry because he really
doesn't like Algebra II! He makes me laugh. But he needs to work harder at
getting caught up. I need to call the online school and tell them they
were supposed to set up a 504 for him, and I don't think they did. I don't
think they know what that is! He already started late (their fault), and
he has had days of surgeries, recovery, and just plain illness that has
kept him a little bit behind. Please pray that he will be able to get
caught up soon! The end of the semester will be here soon, and he needs to
be caught up. Well, as far as he needs to be once the 504 is set up.
Please pray that I will not have any trouble getting that for him. I know
the poor child is just overwhelmed with everything he has been going
through! *sigh*
His leg is almost 100% pain-free!! It is still the staples that are giving
him trouble. The biggest problem is his clothes keep getting caught on the
staples; then they pull! Poor kid. He is working on getting the leg
straight, again. He is still on the antibiotic, I hope to d/c that in a
day or so. Yesterday his fever went up a little bit; to 100.3. Not too
bad. Today it was around 99.2, so I am keeping him on the Bactrim for
another day or so. We will see how things go.
Thanks for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your
love, prayers, and support. Please keep the prayers coming. God bless you
all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis,
including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas (that is what David
has), relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma.
Today was an ok day. David did school, and he had a couple Elluminate
sessions. He is so funny. He says he misses Geometry because he really
doesn't like Algebra II! He makes me laugh. But he needs to work harder at
getting caught up. I need to call the online school and tell them they
were supposed to set up a 504 for him, and I don't think they did. I don't
think they know what that is! He already started late (their fault), and
he has had days of surgeries, recovery, and just plain illness that has
kept him a little bit behind. Please pray that he will be able to get
caught up soon! The end of the semester will be here soon, and he needs to
be caught up. Well, as far as he needs to be once the 504 is set up.
Please pray that I will not have any trouble getting that for him. I know
the poor child is just overwhelmed with everything he has been going
through! *sigh*
His leg is almost 100% pain-free!! It is still the staples that are giving
him trouble. The biggest problem is his clothes keep getting caught on the
staples; then they pull! Poor kid. He is working on getting the leg
straight, again. He is still on the antibiotic, I hope to d/c that in a
day or so. Yesterday his fever went up a little bit; to 100.3. Not too
bad. Today it was around 99.2, so I am keeping him on the Bactrim for
another day or so. We will see how things go.
Thanks for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your
love, prayers, and support. Please keep the prayers coming. God bless you
all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis,
including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas (that is what David
has), relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Good evening.
We have had a busy couple of days. On Friday we went to the Physical
Therapy office to show off David's prosthesis. They couldn't believe how
heavy it was! They also told us that David can come in and 'work out'
because I know how to use everything; and they won't charge us. He can use
the bike, the elliptical, the shuttle, the leg press, things that he can
do by himself. So I am thinking about taking him in a couple times a week
so he can build up that leg again. His right calf has atrophied so bad it
isn't even funny! So, we will see.
We went to church tonight; it was very good. Today we went to Lowe's to
get some anti-freeze for the water lines in the trailer. We have to
winterize the trailer. We were really hoping to go camping again before
winter....didn't plan on David breaking his prosthesis! David got very
tired very quickly walking around Lowe's. Jennifer worked, so Rachel and I
wanted to look at all the Christmas stuff at Lowe's. But we had to cut it
short because David got too tired and worn out. Oh well. Poor kid.
His fever is pretty much gone! Yay! His knee is still very swollen. The
staples are bothering him, BIG TIME! I was advised to ask for dissolve-
able sutures; yeah, I forgot to ask for them! So David is suffering with
the staples. But he is a trooper. He just deals with it. They just pull
sometimes and they catch on his clothes. November 19th can't come fast
enough for him!!
Thank you for visiting and checking up on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for all your prayers. Thank you for being here for us. Have a good
evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
(Fight For Life
© Lorna Mahan)
"Fight For Life
Storms of life are strong enough
without cancer stepping in,
Came creeping through the back door
just counting on a win.
Engaging you in battle
we firmly stand our ground,
Armed with courage, faith and hope,
our child's life we surround..
This fight rages day and night
the will to survive is strong,
We will never surrender
In our lives you don't belong.
Prepare yourself to lose this time
our child's life you won't take,
This is a fight you will not win
Cancer, make no mistake!"
The above poem is my prayer. Please pray this with me! Thank you.
We have had a busy couple of days. On Friday we went to the Physical
Therapy office to show off David's prosthesis. They couldn't believe how
heavy it was! They also told us that David can come in and 'work out'
because I know how to use everything; and they won't charge us. He can use
the bike, the elliptical, the shuttle, the leg press, things that he can
do by himself. So I am thinking about taking him in a couple times a week
so he can build up that leg again. His right calf has atrophied so bad it
isn't even funny! So, we will see.
We went to church tonight; it was very good. Today we went to Lowe's to
get some anti-freeze for the water lines in the trailer. We have to
winterize the trailer. We were really hoping to go camping again before
winter....didn't plan on David breaking his prosthesis! David got very
tired very quickly walking around Lowe's. Jennifer worked, so Rachel and I
wanted to look at all the Christmas stuff at Lowe's. But we had to cut it
short because David got too tired and worn out. Oh well. Poor kid.
His fever is pretty much gone! Yay! His knee is still very swollen. The
staples are bothering him, BIG TIME! I was advised to ask for dissolve-
able sutures; yeah, I forgot to ask for them! So David is suffering with
the staples. But he is a trooper. He just deals with it. They just pull
sometimes and they catch on his clothes. November 19th can't come fast
enough for him!!
Thank you for visiting and checking up on David and the Koury Klan. Thank
you for all your prayers. Thank you for being here for us. Have a good
evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
(Fight For Life
© Lorna Mahan)
"Fight For Life
Storms of life are strong enough
without cancer stepping in,
Came creeping through the back door
just counting on a win.
Engaging you in battle
we firmly stand our ground,
Armed with courage, faith and hope,
our child's life we surround..
This fight rages day and night
the will to survive is strong,
We will never surrender
In our lives you don't belong.
Prepare yourself to lose this time
our child's life you won't take,
This is a fight you will not win
Cancer, make no mistake!"
The above poem is my prayer. Please pray this with me! Thank you.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Good evening.
David is feeling better every day, just like we told him he would. He is
still battling that fever, tho. Today it was between 99.7 and 100.4. We
wish he could just kick that fever to the curb; just like he did the
pain!!
He had a great time at Bible Study last night. And tonight he is not
walking with the crutches anymore!! He is using his cane (walking stick)
to get around. He won't use the walker, but as long as the cane works,
then I am fine with it. His ankle is causing him pain, though. His right
leg has not been used in two months, so the ankle gets tired quickly. But
otherwise his leg is doing great!!
I talked to Nita tonight. Thank you for your prayers for Chris (David's
Osteo friend). The doctor said that the problems he is having is arthritis
in his knee. They were in Colorado for a week and Dr. O said that the cold
caused it to 'flare up.' He said that it is common, and in about 10 years
they will need to do surgery on his knee and remove his kneecap and
replace it with an artificial one. Dr. O told us that when he goes in and
replaces David's expandable rod with a non-expandable (fixed) implant they
will be replacing David's kneecap then. That will save David a surgery
later on. One less surgery~~~~sounds good to me!!! Nita and I were
laughing because when Carol found out that Chris was having trouble with
his knee she instantly put him on crutches. Dr. O was surprised to see
Chris on the crutches; but then said to Nita, "Carol probably panicked
because we just had to replace the prosthesis in another boy." Nita said,
"David." and Dr. O said, "Oh, yeah. I forgot you know them!" It was pretty
funny! So, thank you for your prayers for Chris. It is sad that a 17-
year-old child has arthritis.......*sigh*
Tomorrow we are going to go to David's Physical Therapy office to show
them his prosthesis. I am curious to see their reaction.
Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support. Thank you, again, for
whoever you are that has deposited money into David's account. I ask God
to continue to bless you for your generosity; you have no idea how much it
helps us! Like I said before, just because David is 'out of treatment'
doesn't mean that the medical expenses stop! They just continue!!! Thank
you. Thank you for being here for us, all of you. Have a good night. God
bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Even with insurance coverage, a family will have out-of pocket expenses of
about $40,000 per year, not including travel.
David is feeling better every day, just like we told him he would. He is
still battling that fever, tho. Today it was between 99.7 and 100.4. We
wish he could just kick that fever to the curb; just like he did the
pain!!
He had a great time at Bible Study last night. And tonight he is not
walking with the crutches anymore!! He is using his cane (walking stick)
to get around. He won't use the walker, but as long as the cane works,
then I am fine with it. His ankle is causing him pain, though. His right
leg has not been used in two months, so the ankle gets tired quickly. But
otherwise his leg is doing great!!
I talked to Nita tonight. Thank you for your prayers for Chris (David's
Osteo friend). The doctor said that the problems he is having is arthritis
in his knee. They were in Colorado for a week and Dr. O said that the cold
caused it to 'flare up.' He said that it is common, and in about 10 years
they will need to do surgery on his knee and remove his kneecap and
replace it with an artificial one. Dr. O told us that when he goes in and
replaces David's expandable rod with a non-expandable (fixed) implant they
will be replacing David's kneecap then. That will save David a surgery
later on. One less surgery~~~~sounds good to me!!! Nita and I were
laughing because when Carol found out that Chris was having trouble with
his knee she instantly put him on crutches. Dr. O was surprised to see
Chris on the crutches; but then said to Nita, "Carol probably panicked
because we just had to replace the prosthesis in another boy." Nita said,
"David." and Dr. O said, "Oh, yeah. I forgot you know them!" It was pretty
funny! So, thank you for your prayers for Chris. It is sad that a 17-
year-old child has arthritis.......*sigh*
Tomorrow we are going to go to David's Physical Therapy office to show
them his prosthesis. I am curious to see their reaction.
Thank you for all your prayers, love, and support. Thank you, again, for
whoever you are that has deposited money into David's account. I ask God
to continue to bless you for your generosity; you have no idea how much it
helps us! Like I said before, just because David is 'out of treatment'
doesn't mean that the medical expenses stop! They just continue!!! Thank
you. Thank you for being here for us, all of you. Have a good night. God
bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Even with insurance coverage, a family will have out-of pocket expenses of
about $40,000 per year, not including travel.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Good evening.
David is doing better. He went to Bible Study tonight. He is still running
a low-grade fever; 99.4; but that is much better than the 102.8 that it
was!!! I am happier. I am still giving him the Bactrim (thanks, Karen), so
we will make sure nothing takes hold of him!! I am sure the fever will be
gone in a day or so. Please pray that it is. Thanks.
David took his prosthesis to Bible Study tonight for 'show and tell.' He
likes freaking people out with it. Well, some people are freaked out by it
(because it was in his leg), and others think it is really cool. So he had
fun showing it off; goofy kid!!
David is doing really well in school. He is getting caught up, slowly but
surely. Two of his classes are taking the whole week of Thanksgiving off,
so he will be able to get totally caught up in those classes that week. He
has to get caught up before the semester ends, of course. But I am sure he
will be able to do it. Please continue to pray for him. Thank you.
That is about it for tonight. Thank you so much for your prayers, love,
and support. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
David is doing better. He went to Bible Study tonight. He is still running
a low-grade fever; 99.4; but that is much better than the 102.8 that it
was!!! I am happier. I am still giving him the Bactrim (thanks, Karen), so
we will make sure nothing takes hold of him!! I am sure the fever will be
gone in a day or so. Please pray that it is. Thanks.
David took his prosthesis to Bible Study tonight for 'show and tell.' He
likes freaking people out with it. Well, some people are freaked out by it
(because it was in his leg), and others think it is really cool. So he had
fun showing it off; goofy kid!!
David is doing really well in school. He is getting caught up, slowly but
surely. Two of his classes are taking the whole week of Thanksgiving off,
so he will be able to get totally caught up in those classes that week. He
has to get caught up before the semester ends, of course. But I am sure he
will be able to do it. Please continue to pray for him. Thank you.
That is about it for tonight. Thank you so much for your prayers, love,
and support. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Good morning.
Praise God, David's pain is down to a 1-2!! Yay! His fever is still
hovering around 100, but he is feeling better. He is not suffering from
chills, aches, or anything like that anymore. Thank you for your prayers.
And the Prevacid is working much better than the Prilosec did! He is not
nauseous with the Prevacid. I am so happy about that! It is so hard to see
him nauseous all the time~~~that affects how he eats! He ate ok yesterday.
For lunch he had a grilled cheese sandwich and a very small bowl of tomato
soup. For dinner he ate all of his hamburger! He is doing better in the
eating category. Not as good as we want him to do; not as good as he was;
but still better. Thank you soooo much for your prayers.
Please pray for David's friend, Chris. He is having some problems with his
knee. Chris is David's Osteo friend he met in the hospital. His titanium
knee is giving his some trouble. He is going for an x-ray today and
meeting with the surgeon (same one as David's) on Thursday. Please pray
that there is nothing wrong with his implant! Thanks.
Well, David is finally getting ready for breakfast. He sleeps in, and gets
ready about this time. Have a great day. Thank you for checking in on
David. Thank you for all your prayers. God bless you and your day. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Hope is ours for the taking every single minute. It's the assurance that
things will make sense when there's no sense to make of things.
~Luci Swindoll
Praise God, David's pain is down to a 1-2!! Yay! His fever is still
hovering around 100, but he is feeling better. He is not suffering from
chills, aches, or anything like that anymore. Thank you for your prayers.
And the Prevacid is working much better than the Prilosec did! He is not
nauseous with the Prevacid. I am so happy about that! It is so hard to see
him nauseous all the time~~~that affects how he eats! He ate ok yesterday.
For lunch he had a grilled cheese sandwich and a very small bowl of tomato
soup. For dinner he ate all of his hamburger! He is doing better in the
eating category. Not as good as we want him to do; not as good as he was;
but still better. Thank you soooo much for your prayers.
Please pray for David's friend, Chris. He is having some problems with his
knee. Chris is David's Osteo friend he met in the hospital. His titanium
knee is giving his some trouble. He is going for an x-ray today and
meeting with the surgeon (same one as David's) on Thursday. Please pray
that there is nothing wrong with his implant! Thanks.
Well, David is finally getting ready for breakfast. He sleeps in, and gets
ready about this time. Have a great day. Thank you for checking in on
David. Thank you for all your prayers. God bless you and your day. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Hope is ours for the taking every single minute. It's the assurance that
things will make sense when there's no sense to make of things.
~Luci Swindoll
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Good evening.
I just took David's temperature and it is 100.7!! I wish his fever would
just break and go away, forever! We did not go to church today; well,
Bryon did. David was playing Monopoly with Rachel, so he is feeling
better. I just wish the fever would go away. His pain is stable at a 2-3,
so he won't take pain meds when his pain is manageable. He is so silly. He
doesn't want to get his pain to a 0; not enough to take the Percoset,
anyway. I don't blame him. We raised our children to not run to drugs with
every little pain and/or ache. We have a pretty healthy family (minus the
cancer, of course, lol), and that could be part of it. But I still wish
David's fever would just go away. I don't know what is causing it. *sigh*
I will just continue to give him the Bactrim.
Thank you to you who have offered meds to me. I really appreciate it.
Tomorrow David will go back to school. He has had a week off. He likes
most of his classes, so he is ok with going back. He really wants to be
better by Wednesday so he can go to Bible Study. Please pray that he is
better by then. Thanks.
He is working on getting his leg straight. Dr. O lengthened the rod when
he installed it in David's leg, so the muscles are tight again. So he is
trying to get it straight. He is also bending it some, but the staples
pull and it hurts. Please pray that he feels better soon, and his leg pain
goes away. Thank you so much.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your
love, prayers and support. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
I just took David's temperature and it is 100.7!! I wish his fever would
just break and go away, forever! We did not go to church today; well,
Bryon did. David was playing Monopoly with Rachel, so he is feeling
better. I just wish the fever would go away. His pain is stable at a 2-3,
so he won't take pain meds when his pain is manageable. He is so silly. He
doesn't want to get his pain to a 0; not enough to take the Percoset,
anyway. I don't blame him. We raised our children to not run to drugs with
every little pain and/or ache. We have a pretty healthy family (minus the
cancer, of course, lol), and that could be part of it. But I still wish
David's fever would just go away. I don't know what is causing it. *sigh*
I will just continue to give him the Bactrim.
Thank you to you who have offered meds to me. I really appreciate it.
Tomorrow David will go back to school. He has had a week off. He likes
most of his classes, so he is ok with going back. He really wants to be
better by Wednesday so he can go to Bible Study. Please pray that he is
better by then. Thanks.
He is working on getting his leg straight. Dr. O lengthened the rod when
he installed it in David's leg, so the muscles are tight again. So he is
trying to get it straight. He is also bending it some, but the staples
pull and it hurts. Please pray that he feels better soon, and his leg pain
goes away. Thank you so much.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your
love, prayers and support. Have a good night. God bless you all. We love
you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Good evening.
Today was a better day for David. His fever is hovering right around 100 degrees. I am still giving him the Bactrim. He said his pain isn't as bad, but the leg still really throbs sometimes. He is still on the Percoset, even though he really doesn't like taking meds! I hope this isn't TMI, but he finally had a BM today!! After what happened last time with his limb-salvage (the intussusception) we were pretty anxious for his bowels to function properly!! Praise God everything seems to be working!! He is on a pretty strong dose of Colace as long as he is on the Percoset. Of course, he hasn't really been eating, so I guess if nothing is going in, nothing can come out, right? Anyway, we were happy about that!
David ate a little bit better today. I made breakfast burritos for brunch today, and he ate about half of it. Then for dinner I made orange chicken, rice, green beans, and salad. He had a fair amount of rice, a spoonful of green beans, and about 5 bites of chicken. I was sooo happy to see him eat! Thank you for your prayers for him. We tell him that each day will be better than the day before; but it is still so hard to see him suffering. He is such a great kid!!! I feel like my 'job' as his mom is to protect him from all the crap (excuse my language) that has been happening him the past 2 years. I just hate so much what he has been through. And what is still in store for him in the future. That is why I can't worry about the future; just take one day at a time.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your prayers; please keep them coming. We hope to go to church tomorrow, please pray that David is up to it (I will just drug him with lots of Percoset, lol). Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Today was a better day for David. His fever is hovering right around 100 degrees. I am still giving him the Bactrim. He said his pain isn't as bad, but the leg still really throbs sometimes. He is still on the Percoset, even though he really doesn't like taking meds! I hope this isn't TMI, but he finally had a BM today!! After what happened last time with his limb-salvage (the intussusception) we were pretty anxious for his bowels to function properly!! Praise God everything seems to be working!! He is on a pretty strong dose of Colace as long as he is on the Percoset. Of course, he hasn't really been eating, so I guess if nothing is going in, nothing can come out, right? Anyway, we were happy about that!
David ate a little bit better today. I made breakfast burritos for brunch today, and he ate about half of it. Then for dinner I made orange chicken, rice, green beans, and salad. He had a fair amount of rice, a spoonful of green beans, and about 5 bites of chicken. I was sooo happy to see him eat! Thank you for your prayers for him. We tell him that each day will be better than the day before; but it is still so hard to see him suffering. He is such a great kid!!! I feel like my 'job' as his mom is to protect him from all the crap (excuse my language) that has been happening him the past 2 years. I just hate so much what he has been through. And what is still in store for him in the future. That is why I can't worry about the future; just take one day at a time.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your prayers; please keep them coming. We hope to go to church tomorrow, please pray that David is up to it (I will just drug him with lots of Percoset, lol). Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
Good evening.
David is doing a little bit better. His fever hasn't spiked again; it is hovering between 100 & 101 degrees. I have put him on the Bactrim I still have. He said he is achy, nauseous, and has chills. I hope the Bactrim will take care of whatever is trying to get him down. Thank you for your prayers.
I was so stressed yesterday I forgot to mention that it was one year ago yesterday that David got his broviac out!! Yay!
Please continue to pray for him. He still isn't eating like he should; like we need him to. Maybe once this 'bug' is gone he will start eating again. He is still in pain from the surgery, I can't even imagine going through what he has been through. He is allowed to put weight on his leg, he just is afraid to at this point. His muscles have atrophied quite a lot over the past 6 weeks that he has been unable to walk on his right leg. Please pray he is able to be walking again soon. I am so tired of my baby being unable to walk. I am so tired of watching my son go through what he has gone through. It doesn't matter how many surgeries he has, it doesn't get any easier watching them wheel him off to surgery. It doesn't get any easier to 'allow' them to do something to him that is going to cause him pain. It doesn't get any easier knowing my son is going to be cut up, and into, and his body scarred up. There are some wounds that time does NOT heal. It stinks knowing that we are forever parents of a child with cancer. Ok, maybe he doesn't have 'active' cancer (or however you want to say it); but cancer will forever be part of our life. We will go on and live our life, but there will always be this cloud hanging over our head~~~the cancer could always come back!! *sigh* That is why we try to life each day to the fullest.
Please continue to pray for our 'special request.' Also, please pray for our finances. David was taken off prilosec and put on a stronger dose of prevacid because the prilosec doesn't always work very well for him. He still often complaines of a stomache ache with the prilosec. Well, the prilosec costs us $5 co-pay for a 30 day supply. The prevacid is $90 co-pay for a 30 day supply!! But what are we to do? Please pray for us as the medical expenses just seem to grow, even though David is not in 'active' treatment at this time. Thanks for your prayers.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your prayers, please keep them coming. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
For the patients' parents, a cancer diagnosis can launch a balancing act between the toughness needed to hold together the family and demand the best medical care, and the gentleness needed to stay collected and positive with the child. The ordeal of treatments creates a bond among families who go through the experience.
David is doing a little bit better. His fever hasn't spiked again; it is hovering between 100 & 101 degrees. I have put him on the Bactrim I still have. He said he is achy, nauseous, and has chills. I hope the Bactrim will take care of whatever is trying to get him down. Thank you for your prayers.
I was so stressed yesterday I forgot to mention that it was one year ago yesterday that David got his broviac out!! Yay!
Please continue to pray for him. He still isn't eating like he should; like we need him to. Maybe once this 'bug' is gone he will start eating again. He is still in pain from the surgery, I can't even imagine going through what he has been through. He is allowed to put weight on his leg, he just is afraid to at this point. His muscles have atrophied quite a lot over the past 6 weeks that he has been unable to walk on his right leg. Please pray he is able to be walking again soon. I am so tired of my baby being unable to walk. I am so tired of watching my son go through what he has gone through. It doesn't matter how many surgeries he has, it doesn't get any easier watching them wheel him off to surgery. It doesn't get any easier to 'allow' them to do something to him that is going to cause him pain. It doesn't get any easier knowing my son is going to be cut up, and into, and his body scarred up. There are some wounds that time does NOT heal. It stinks knowing that we are forever parents of a child with cancer. Ok, maybe he doesn't have 'active' cancer (or however you want to say it); but cancer will forever be part of our life. We will go on and live our life, but there will always be this cloud hanging over our head~~~the cancer could always come back!! *sigh* That is why we try to life each day to the fullest.
Please continue to pray for our 'special request.' Also, please pray for our finances. David was taken off prilosec and put on a stronger dose of prevacid because the prilosec doesn't always work very well for him. He still often complaines of a stomache ache with the prilosec. Well, the prilosec costs us $5 co-pay for a 30 day supply. The prevacid is $90 co-pay for a 30 day supply!! But what are we to do? Please pray for us as the medical expenses just seem to grow, even though David is not in 'active' treatment at this time. Thanks for your prayers.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your prayers, please keep them coming. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
For the patients' parents, a cancer diagnosis can launch a balancing act between the toughness needed to hold together the family and demand the best medical care, and the gentleness needed to stay collected and positive with the child. The ordeal of treatments creates a bond among families who go through the experience.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Please pray for David. He isn't feeling well. I took his temperature, and it was 102.0 in one ear, and 102.8 in the other. I averaged it to be 102.4. I gave him some Tylenol; but if he isn't feeling better tomorrow, I will give Connie a call. Gee, could it be that having 2 sick babies in his room was not such a good idea?!?! He was there before they brought the babies into his room. I guess we will see how he is doing tomorrow. I will let you all know. Gotta go. Have a good night. God bless you all. Thanks for the prayers. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Good morning.
We are home!! They let us go yesterday. We figured they aren't doing anything for him there that I can't do for him here. Why waste the money staying in the hospital? Plus, now I have a sore throat and am not feeling the best~~~go figure. Two sick babies in the room with us? I couldn't get David out of there fast enough! It is a good thing he got a powerful antibiotic after surgery! The room situation was a major contributor to us leaving ASAP!! We had two nurses tell us they don't know why David was put there. Oh, well.
Bryon and I went upstairs to the 7th floor to say hi to a nurse David had back in Feb. 2008. She was the nurse who was the most pro-active about finding out what was wrong with David and why he was dying. She remembered David, she will never forget an intussusception in a 13-year-old child!! She said she had never seen it before, and has never seen it since! So it was good to see Amber.
They discharged us about 11:00. Then we had to go check out of the Family House. What that means for the S.F. Family House is clean the room (of course) and wash all the sheets and towels and put them back in the room. Well, by the time we got all that done; and had lunch while the laundry was washing; we left San Francisco at 3:45! If any of you get news from the Bay Area, you know the Bay Bridge was closed because it was broken. Well, that means we had to take the long way home. We stopped for a total of 1/2 hour to get gas and grab food to go; and we got home at 10:30 last night! We were soooooo exhausted!! It took almost 7 hours to go 4 hours away! But we were glad to be home.
For a year when David was on chemo it always snowed when we were gone, and then 'warmed up' when we got home. Well, it did it again! It snowed Tuesday night here! We missed it! Although there is still snow in our backyard. When we got home Bryon was saying that I will get David situated and he will start a fire. Well, Jeremy and Lucy had come over and started a fire for us! That was so sweet and thoughtful of them. So we came home to a blazing fire! Lucy said the house was 49 degrees!! It was so nice to come home to a warm fire. David just slept downstairs~~~he isn't into tackling the stairs yet.
The dressing change went well yesterday. His incision looks good. The doc put another dressing on it, and said we wouldn't need to change it unless it got really bad inside, and then in a week we can take it off for good. Well, it is weeping a little bit, but not too bad. The incision is the same length as the old one, minus about an inch at the top. David's pain is ok. The Percoset is working ok; just can't get his pain below a 2. But it is tolerable, so he is doing better. Thank you so much for your prayers. Keep them coming.
That is about all the news for now. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good day. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer is like a roadtrip. You begin your journey knowing the destination, but do not know what's in store. Detours, pot holes, exciting adventures around every turn! But you still drive on! (This pretty much sums it us for us!!)
We are home!! They let us go yesterday. We figured they aren't doing anything for him there that I can't do for him here. Why waste the money staying in the hospital? Plus, now I have a sore throat and am not feeling the best~~~go figure. Two sick babies in the room with us? I couldn't get David out of there fast enough! It is a good thing he got a powerful antibiotic after surgery! The room situation was a major contributor to us leaving ASAP!! We had two nurses tell us they don't know why David was put there. Oh, well.
Bryon and I went upstairs to the 7th floor to say hi to a nurse David had back in Feb. 2008. She was the nurse who was the most pro-active about finding out what was wrong with David and why he was dying. She remembered David, she will never forget an intussusception in a 13-year-old child!! She said she had never seen it before, and has never seen it since! So it was good to see Amber.
They discharged us about 11:00. Then we had to go check out of the Family House. What that means for the S.F. Family House is clean the room (of course) and wash all the sheets and towels and put them back in the room. Well, by the time we got all that done; and had lunch while the laundry was washing; we left San Francisco at 3:45! If any of you get news from the Bay Area, you know the Bay Bridge was closed because it was broken. Well, that means we had to take the long way home. We stopped for a total of 1/2 hour to get gas and grab food to go; and we got home at 10:30 last night! We were soooooo exhausted!! It took almost 7 hours to go 4 hours away! But we were glad to be home.
For a year when David was on chemo it always snowed when we were gone, and then 'warmed up' when we got home. Well, it did it again! It snowed Tuesday night here! We missed it! Although there is still snow in our backyard. When we got home Bryon was saying that I will get David situated and he will start a fire. Well, Jeremy and Lucy had come over and started a fire for us! That was so sweet and thoughtful of them. So we came home to a blazing fire! Lucy said the house was 49 degrees!! It was so nice to come home to a warm fire. David just slept downstairs~~~he isn't into tackling the stairs yet.
The dressing change went well yesterday. His incision looks good. The doc put another dressing on it, and said we wouldn't need to change it unless it got really bad inside, and then in a week we can take it off for good. Well, it is weeping a little bit, but not too bad. The incision is the same length as the old one, minus about an inch at the top. David's pain is ok. The Percoset is working ok; just can't get his pain below a 2. But it is tolerable, so he is doing better. Thank you so much for your prayers. Keep them coming.
That is about all the news for now. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good day. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Cancer is like a roadtrip. You begin your journey knowing the destination, but do not know what's in store. Detours, pot holes, exciting adventures around every turn! But you still drive on! (This pretty much sums it us for us!!)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Good afternoon. I will try this again.
We left Sunday after church. The sermon was good, and then there was a special prayer for David. That was very sweet. Then we left for San Francisco.
We got here around 5:30. We got a fantastic surprise when we checked into the Family House. We walked in the room and Jennifer said, "We have our own bathroom!" I thought she was kidding~~~~shouldn't kid about a thing like that, tho. But she wasn't kidding~~~a private bathroom attached to our room! For a year in Oakland we lived in the Family House with a community bathroom. It is amazing how something so 'simple' can make us soooo happy! But we got the biggest room, and it has a private bathroom. After we got settled in we went to Taco Bell for dinner. Then we just kinda vegged-out until bedtime.
About David's surgery. I was told his surgery was at 10am, so check in at 8am. Then I was told that surgery was at 12pm, and to check in at 10am. Then I got a letter saying surgery was at 10am; check in at 8am. So we got up (didn't sleep well, anyway) and got here at 8am. The receptionist said, "wow, you guys are here early," so I assumed the surgery time had been changed to 12pm. Well, we asked, and apparently David was scheduled for surgery at 2:10!!! Yeah, I guess we were there early! Well, Dr. O'Donnell came to see us around 11:30 or so and said they would be bringing David back in about an hour. Then David showed him his trick, and Dr. O just laughed! He said, "I have to get a picture of that! I have to show my Resident!" He loved it!! He thought it was great. Of course, it reinforced the need for the revision. So anyway, they took David into surgery at 1:30. Not too bad, I guess. But David was pretty hungry by that point. But he is such a great kid, he went back to surgery WITHOUT the versed! No 'happy medicine' for him this time. He was so scared, but so brave at the same time. Then they told us we could go back to the PACU at 4:00pm. Surgery was over!! YAY! We spent forever in there waiting for his room to be ready. The 7th floor (oncology floor) is full, and they put on the 6th floor. His nurse said they don't usually do the orthopedic oncology kids, so she wasn't 100% sure of the 'protocol' for his meds and stuff. Sounds strange, I guess you had to be there (lol). Anyway, our room is HORRIBLE!!! It is a room with 3 beds and NO bathroom! When we got here there was just one boy in the room. He was fine, his mom was fine, no complaints there. I just think it is really stupid to make these kids go down the hall to use a 'public' bathroom. Very strange. . . . . . . Anyway, things were going ok, at best, then at midnight they brought in a baby. A very sick, congested baby. A very cute, fussy baby. And NO PARENTS for said baby. So sad. But they moved him in the room at midnight like it was the middle of the afternoon!! They were soooooo loud! The other boy left this morning, and they brought another crib in here!! What is up with that?!?!? We are praying, HARD, that we get to go home tomorrow. David was in a LOT of pain this morning. They pulled the PCA around 7am. Then his pain got up to a 9 before they got oral meds on board. But you see, he had to eat something before he could take the oral meds. So now that he has the Percoset on board, he is doing better. The Physical Therapist just came by and David was up and walking. He walked across the room and back. YAY! He is doing great. He ate a pretty good lunch, for him, and we are on the 'every four hours' schedule for pain meds. I am so proud of him. He is doing fantastic. This morning they took off the knee immobilizer, and tomorrow morning they are going to take the dressing off and change the bandages. So we will see what his leg looks like. Oh, I forgot to tell you~~~~DAVID GOT TO KEEP HIS PROSTHESIS!!! Dr. O took it to pathology, they did their thing with it, then they cleaned it up, autoclaved it, and gave it to David. He was so excited about that! Thank you so much for your prayers to have him keep it. It is very strange to see it. It is very heavy! And it was definitely broken. Dr. O said he was surprised it didn't collapse after it broke. Still not exactly sure what happened. Except that it is David. But he (David) told us his new 'curve ball' was doing everything the right way! Doing everything the 'easy' way and having things go the way they are supposed to go. We totally approve of those curve balls! So that is the haps on the surgery.
Rachel is staying with David tonight. We are REALLY hoping to go home tomorrow. I know we are pre-approved to stay until Saturday, but we would really like to go home tomorrow. This surgery has gone much better, for David, than the last leg surgery. No intussusception this time!! Woo-hoo!! The pain is finally under control, and life is plugging along here. Please pray for a good night tonight. Please pray that they have a good night tonight. Please pray they get more sleep than I did (that shouldn't be too hard). And please pray that we are able to go home tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
P.S.~~They are bringing another patient in here. We gotta go home tomorrow!!
We left Sunday after church. The sermon was good, and then there was a special prayer for David. That was very sweet. Then we left for San Francisco.
We got here around 5:30. We got a fantastic surprise when we checked into the Family House. We walked in the room and Jennifer said, "We have our own bathroom!" I thought she was kidding~~~~shouldn't kid about a thing like that, tho. But she wasn't kidding~~~a private bathroom attached to our room! For a year in Oakland we lived in the Family House with a community bathroom. It is amazing how something so 'simple' can make us soooo happy! But we got the biggest room, and it has a private bathroom. After we got settled in we went to Taco Bell for dinner. Then we just kinda vegged-out until bedtime.
About David's surgery. I was told his surgery was at 10am, so check in at 8am. Then I was told that surgery was at 12pm, and to check in at 10am. Then I got a letter saying surgery was at 10am; check in at 8am. So we got up (didn't sleep well, anyway) and got here at 8am. The receptionist said, "wow, you guys are here early," so I assumed the surgery time had been changed to 12pm. Well, we asked, and apparently David was scheduled for surgery at 2:10!!! Yeah, I guess we were there early! Well, Dr. O'Donnell came to see us around 11:30 or so and said they would be bringing David back in about an hour. Then David showed him his trick, and Dr. O just laughed! He said, "I have to get a picture of that! I have to show my Resident!" He loved it!! He thought it was great. Of course, it reinforced the need for the revision. So anyway, they took David into surgery at 1:30. Not too bad, I guess. But David was pretty hungry by that point. But he is such a great kid, he went back to surgery WITHOUT the versed! No 'happy medicine' for him this time. He was so scared, but so brave at the same time. Then they told us we could go back to the PACU at 4:00pm. Surgery was over!! YAY! We spent forever in there waiting for his room to be ready. The 7th floor (oncology floor) is full, and they put on the 6th floor. His nurse said they don't usually do the orthopedic oncology kids, so she wasn't 100% sure of the 'protocol' for his meds and stuff. Sounds strange, I guess you had to be there (lol). Anyway, our room is HORRIBLE!!! It is a room with 3 beds and NO bathroom! When we got here there was just one boy in the room. He was fine, his mom was fine, no complaints there. I just think it is really stupid to make these kids go down the hall to use a 'public' bathroom. Very strange. . . . . . . Anyway, things were going ok, at best, then at midnight they brought in a baby. A very sick, congested baby. A very cute, fussy baby. And NO PARENTS for said baby. So sad. But they moved him in the room at midnight like it was the middle of the afternoon!! They were soooooo loud! The other boy left this morning, and they brought another crib in here!! What is up with that?!?!? We are praying, HARD, that we get to go home tomorrow. David was in a LOT of pain this morning. They pulled the PCA around 7am. Then his pain got up to a 9 before they got oral meds on board. But you see, he had to eat something before he could take the oral meds. So now that he has the Percoset on board, he is doing better. The Physical Therapist just came by and David was up and walking. He walked across the room and back. YAY! He is doing great. He ate a pretty good lunch, for him, and we are on the 'every four hours' schedule for pain meds. I am so proud of him. He is doing fantastic. This morning they took off the knee immobilizer, and tomorrow morning they are going to take the dressing off and change the bandages. So we will see what his leg looks like. Oh, I forgot to tell you~~~~DAVID GOT TO KEEP HIS PROSTHESIS!!! Dr. O took it to pathology, they did their thing with it, then they cleaned it up, autoclaved it, and gave it to David. He was so excited about that! Thank you so much for your prayers to have him keep it. It is very strange to see it. It is very heavy! And it was definitely broken. Dr. O said he was surprised it didn't collapse after it broke. Still not exactly sure what happened. Except that it is David. But he (David) told us his new 'curve ball' was doing everything the right way! Doing everything the 'easy' way and having things go the way they are supposed to go. We totally approve of those curve balls! So that is the haps on the surgery.
Rachel is staying with David tonight. We are REALLY hoping to go home tomorrow. I know we are pre-approved to stay until Saturday, but we would really like to go home tomorrow. This surgery has gone much better, for David, than the last leg surgery. No intussusception this time!! Woo-hoo!! The pain is finally under control, and life is plugging along here. Please pray for a good night tonight. Please pray that they have a good night tonight. Please pray they get more sleep than I did (that shouldn't be too hard). And please pray that we are able to go home tomorrow. Thank you.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
P.S.~~They are bringing another patient in here. We gotta go home tomorrow!!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
Good evening. I just wrote the whole events of the past two days~~~and lost it!! Grrr. I am tired, so I will put it all in a nutshell and write more details tomorrow. David's surgery went well. Please pray that his Dilaudid PCA helps; his pain at it's lowest is a 4 (on a 1-10 scale). They would like to discontinue the PCA tomorrow and just do oral Percoset. I am staying with him tonight. We got a fantastic room at the Family House; we got a lousy room in the hospital. I will write more details and fill in the blanks tomorrow.
Some very sad news; we lost another of our Osteo children today; Shane Christiansen. His website is; www.caringbridge.org/visit/1shane. Please pray for his family. Thank you for checking in on David, and thank you for your prayers. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Some very sad news; we lost another of our Osteo children today; Shane Christiansen. His website is; www.caringbridge.org/visit/1shane. Please pray for his family. Thank you for checking in on David, and thank you for your prayers. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Good evening, everyone.
Today was a very busy day. Bryon worked all day. I donated blood this morning. My appointment was for 9:45, and I didn't get in the chair to start the donation until after 10:30! Of course I had better things to do than sit there, but oh well. Then I got home and David and I left to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We were told it was real close to where we live..........not so much. It was about 40 minutes away!! But that was ok. It was a little rough for David to be walking on the uneven ground with his crutches; but he managed. He got a good pumpkin. He said he doesn't want to carve it until we get home, tho. It will be after Halloween, but that is ok. Then we got home and Jennifer and I went and got some good walking shoes~~~~we will be doing a LOT of walking in San Francisco. The Family House is about 8 blocks away from the hospital; up and down hills. So we need good walking shoes. Bryon met us at Big 5 (he got some shoes, too). Then we went to church. It was soooooo good! The sermon really spoke to Bryon and me. Pastor John talked about prayer and why our prayers might not be being answered. The part that spoke to us was he said that when people tell you that the reason your very sick family member isn't healed is because you don't have enough faith, that is WRONG!!! It was a good sermon. Then we had dinner, and Rachel and I had to run to Walmart real quick for some last minute stuff. Now I am doing the laundry so we can finish packing. Whew. Busy day.
Please pray for us tomorrow. We will be leaving to go to San Francisco after we go to church. Please pray for a safe trip for us. Please cover David in lots of prayers~~~he is getting very nervous. He wishes he didn't have to go through this again. But he is such a great kid. I don't blame him for how scared he is getting. Please pray that this surgery is an easy surgery for him; NO complications!! I will try to post tomorrow and let you know how the trip went.
I will keep you all posted in the hospital as soon as I know anything. I will keep you abreast of the situation as it unfolds.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Do not be afraid of tomorrow; for God is already there. ~Author Unknown
Today was a very busy day. Bryon worked all day. I donated blood this morning. My appointment was for 9:45, and I didn't get in the chair to start the donation until after 10:30! Of course I had better things to do than sit there, but oh well. Then I got home and David and I left to go to the Pumpkin Patch. We were told it was real close to where we live..........not so much. It was about 40 minutes away!! But that was ok. It was a little rough for David to be walking on the uneven ground with his crutches; but he managed. He got a good pumpkin. He said he doesn't want to carve it until we get home, tho. It will be after Halloween, but that is ok. Then we got home and Jennifer and I went and got some good walking shoes~~~~we will be doing a LOT of walking in San Francisco. The Family House is about 8 blocks away from the hospital; up and down hills. So we need good walking shoes. Bryon met us at Big 5 (he got some shoes, too). Then we went to church. It was soooooo good! The sermon really spoke to Bryon and me. Pastor John talked about prayer and why our prayers might not be being answered. The part that spoke to us was he said that when people tell you that the reason your very sick family member isn't healed is because you don't have enough faith, that is WRONG!!! It was a good sermon. Then we had dinner, and Rachel and I had to run to Walmart real quick for some last minute stuff. Now I am doing the laundry so we can finish packing. Whew. Busy day.
Please pray for us tomorrow. We will be leaving to go to San Francisco after we go to church. Please pray for a safe trip for us. Please cover David in lots of prayers~~~he is getting very nervous. He wishes he didn't have to go through this again. But he is such a great kid. I don't blame him for how scared he is getting. Please pray that this surgery is an easy surgery for him; NO complications!! I will try to post tomorrow and let you know how the trip went.
I will keep you all posted in the hospital as soon as I know anything. I will keep you abreast of the situation as it unfolds.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Have a good evening. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Do not be afraid of tomorrow; for God is already there. ~Author Unknown
Friday, October 23, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Good evening.
Today was a busy day. David had a pretty fun day. We went to his Physical Therapy office because he wanted to show Linda his new 'trick' that he does with his leg. He got the desired response from Linda, Amy, and Tanya. They were very freaked out by it!! And Mike, after he took pictures, said, "Put that thing away now!" It was quite funny. David got such a kick out of showing them what he can do.
Then we came home and dropped David off and Bryon and I took Berlynn to the boarders. They aren't open on weekends, so we had to drop her off today.
Then we came home and I finished making apple pies. I baked one last night because Jeremy and Lucy came over for dinner and we had a pie for dessert. I gave 3 of the frozen ones to Jeremy and Lucy, I baked one and gave it to my friend, and we now have 6 in the freezer!! Yay!
David had such a blast freaking out Jeremy and Lucy last night! He is such a goofy kid!! Typical teenage boy~~~~loves to make people scream when they see his trick!! He always gets exactly the response he wants from people!
Tomorrow Bryon has to work; and I am going to donate blood. After I donate I am going to take David to a pumpkin patch. My friend is going to take her kids, and we will caravan there. It will be fun. David picked out a 'ghost' pumpkin last year; so we will see what he gets this time.
I think that is about all that is happening in the Koury Cancer Ward. David is starting to get nervous about the surgery. Please pray hard for him. This sucks so bad. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Please keep him in your prayers. Please pray that this will be a 'cut and dry' surgery~~~~no complications!! No curve balls!! Thanks. Have a good night. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow. ~Dan Rather
Today was a busy day. David had a pretty fun day. We went to his Physical Therapy office because he wanted to show Linda his new 'trick' that he does with his leg. He got the desired response from Linda, Amy, and Tanya. They were very freaked out by it!! And Mike, after he took pictures, said, "Put that thing away now!" It was quite funny. David got such a kick out of showing them what he can do.
Then we came home and dropped David off and Bryon and I took Berlynn to the boarders. They aren't open on weekends, so we had to drop her off today.
Then we came home and I finished making apple pies. I baked one last night because Jeremy and Lucy came over for dinner and we had a pie for dessert. I gave 3 of the frozen ones to Jeremy and Lucy, I baked one and gave it to my friend, and we now have 6 in the freezer!! Yay!
David had such a blast freaking out Jeremy and Lucy last night! He is such a goofy kid!! Typical teenage boy~~~~loves to make people scream when they see his trick!! He always gets exactly the response he wants from people!
Tomorrow Bryon has to work; and I am going to donate blood. After I donate I am going to take David to a pumpkin patch. My friend is going to take her kids, and we will caravan there. It will be fun. David picked out a 'ghost' pumpkin last year; so we will see what he gets this time.
I think that is about all that is happening in the Koury Cancer Ward. David is starting to get nervous about the surgery. Please pray hard for him. This sucks so bad. Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Please keep him in your prayers. Please pray that this will be a 'cut and dry' surgery~~~~no complications!! No curve balls!! Thanks. Have a good night. God bless you. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow. ~Dan Rather
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Good evening.
We have had fairly uneventful days. Tonight was our support group meeting (missed you, Roseanne), and it was pretty good. David had Bible Study and thoroughly enjoyed it. He really enjoys going, and I am glad.
David is really getting the hang of online school. He is doing quite well. He is catching up quite fast. He is a great kid, and he tries so hard. Please continue to pray that he is able to get completely caught up with his peers. He really enjoys the Elluminate sessions. So that is how the school situation is coming along.
Tonight David showed us his new trick. The picture shows what he can do with his leg. Isn't it freaky!?!? When we got home from the support group meeting he was already home (Jennifer took the boys) and he showed us his new trick!! I about threw up when I saw him do it! He said it doesn't hurt at all when he does it; he can just feel the skin twisting. He is so goofy; he said it is kinda sad that he is getting the knee fixed!! He liked freaking out the kids at Bible Study! He like freaking out the adults, too. He is such a goofball. Jeremy and Lucy are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, David can't wait to show them what he can do!! Isn't he funny? Just had to tell you what he can do now. He said, "If the knee has to be broken, I might as well have fun with it!" And having fun he is!!!!
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good evening and a good night's sleep tonight. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
P.S. Check out the new pictures!!
We have had fairly uneventful days. Tonight was our support group meeting (missed you, Roseanne), and it was pretty good. David had Bible Study and thoroughly enjoyed it. He really enjoys going, and I am glad.
David is really getting the hang of online school. He is doing quite well. He is catching up quite fast. He is a great kid, and he tries so hard. Please continue to pray that he is able to get completely caught up with his peers. He really enjoys the Elluminate sessions. So that is how the school situation is coming along.
Tonight David showed us his new trick. The picture shows what he can do with his leg. Isn't it freaky!?!? When we got home from the support group meeting he was already home (Jennifer took the boys) and he showed us his new trick!! I about threw up when I saw him do it! He said it doesn't hurt at all when he does it; he can just feel the skin twisting. He is so goofy; he said it is kinda sad that he is getting the knee fixed!! He liked freaking out the kids at Bible Study! He like freaking out the adults, too. He is such a goofball. Jeremy and Lucy are coming over for dinner tomorrow night, David can't wait to show them what he can do!! Isn't he funny? Just had to tell you what he can do now. He said, "If the knee has to be broken, I might as well have fun with it!" And having fun he is!!!!
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Have a good evening and a good night's sleep tonight. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
P.S. Check out the new pictures!!
Monday, October 19, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Good afternoon.
It is a beautiful day!! It is VERY windy, rainy, and gorgeous! All the beautiful leaves on the trees are almost gone. The wind has a way of removing all of them! But it is still a beautiful fall, so far.
We only have one more week with the broken knee!! Yay! I got all the paperwork today for David's surgery. It is to start at 10:00am on Monday, October 26. He is scheduled to be discharged on October 31st. We aren't holding our breath on that one, tho.......We know how David works! Hee-Hee! But that is the day he is scheduled to be released. We probably won't be home in time to greet the Trick-or-Treaters, though. By the time we get released, check out of Family House, and fight traffic~~~~we for sure won't be home before well after dark. But that is ok. Noreen, we are staying at the 10th street Family House. I wish we were at the Irving St. one! And I assume David will be on 7 long; that's where he was last time. That is the oncology floor of the Children's Hospital; and he is still a cancer patient; his surgery is 'cancer related;' so that is where I assume he will be. I am sooooo bummed that we will miss seeing you, again!! Hopefully we will be able to meet up soon!
I am sorry I didn't update over the weekend. A friend of mine graduated from a trade school, so she and her husband treated Bryon and I to a night (Saturday) at the El Dorado in Reno. The four of us had a really good time. But it made for a busy weekend. When we got home last night we were pretty tired. The girls took great care of David. I know I can trust them, so I don't worry about him when Bryon and I are gone. Of course, we don't really get a chance to get away much~~~don't have the money! So we really appreciated my friend doing that for us.
Friday I ended up making two more apple pies; actually Rachel helped me make one of them; so now I have four apple pies in the freezer!! All ready for the holidays!
Since I know God cares about all the details of our life, I have another prayer request for you. Please pray for our pets. We are just leaving the Chihuahua's and the cats at home; and we have to board Berlynn. She just can't be trusted to be home all day. The Chihuahua's will be lonely, but fine. They have the doggie door and the whole outside, plus the inside, so I don't worry too much about them. They don't destroy stuff. The cats are fine, too. But Berlynn, the German Shepherd, isn't trustworthy. So we have to board her. I didn't want to have to (it is quite expensive), but we just don't have much choice. I know I will be able to relax more and just focus on David if I am not concerned about what the dog is destroying at home! The dogs are used to me and David being home all day; for the most part; and Berlynn stresses too much when we are gone all day, and that is when she gets into trouble!! Please pray that they will all be ok, and that we can afford the boarding. Jeremy and Lucy will check on the dogs daily; and quite a few of my neighbors are home all day and will be watching the house; but that won't stop Berlynn from being a 'Holy Terror!' LOL Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Have a good day, and a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
It is a beautiful day!! It is VERY windy, rainy, and gorgeous! All the beautiful leaves on the trees are almost gone. The wind has a way of removing all of them! But it is still a beautiful fall, so far.
We only have one more week with the broken knee!! Yay! I got all the paperwork today for David's surgery. It is to start at 10:00am on Monday, October 26. He is scheduled to be discharged on October 31st. We aren't holding our breath on that one, tho.......We know how David works! Hee-Hee! But that is the day he is scheduled to be released. We probably won't be home in time to greet the Trick-or-Treaters, though. By the time we get released, check out of Family House, and fight traffic~~~~we for sure won't be home before well after dark. But that is ok. Noreen, we are staying at the 10th street Family House. I wish we were at the Irving St. one! And I assume David will be on 7 long; that's where he was last time. That is the oncology floor of the Children's Hospital; and he is still a cancer patient; his surgery is 'cancer related;' so that is where I assume he will be. I am sooooo bummed that we will miss seeing you, again!! Hopefully we will be able to meet up soon!
I am sorry I didn't update over the weekend. A friend of mine graduated from a trade school, so she and her husband treated Bryon and I to a night (Saturday) at the El Dorado in Reno. The four of us had a really good time. But it made for a busy weekend. When we got home last night we were pretty tired. The girls took great care of David. I know I can trust them, so I don't worry about him when Bryon and I are gone. Of course, we don't really get a chance to get away much~~~don't have the money! So we really appreciated my friend doing that for us.
Friday I ended up making two more apple pies; actually Rachel helped me make one of them; so now I have four apple pies in the freezer!! All ready for the holidays!
Since I know God cares about all the details of our life, I have another prayer request for you. Please pray for our pets. We are just leaving the Chihuahua's and the cats at home; and we have to board Berlynn. She just can't be trusted to be home all day. The Chihuahua's will be lonely, but fine. They have the doggie door and the whole outside, plus the inside, so I don't worry too much about them. They don't destroy stuff. The cats are fine, too. But Berlynn, the German Shepherd, isn't trustworthy. So we have to board her. I didn't want to have to (it is quite expensive), but we just don't have much choice. I know I will be able to relax more and just focus on David if I am not concerned about what the dog is destroying at home! The dogs are used to me and David being home all day; for the most part; and Berlynn stresses too much when we are gone all day, and that is when she gets into trouble!! Please pray that they will all be ok, and that we can afford the boarding. Jeremy and Lucy will check on the dogs daily; and quite a few of my neighbors are home all day and will be watching the house; but that won't stop Berlynn from being a 'Holy Terror!' LOL Thank you for your prayers.
Thank you for checking in on David and the Koury Klan. Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Have a good day, and a good night. God bless you all. We love you.
Kristi and the Koury Klan
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