Playing with Big Sister

The girls had a nice time after school today and all evening playing with their "new" kitchen. Thanks to Ron and Bonnie for cleaning the girls' kitchen and dishes which had been used in the outside play house and were in desperate need of a good cleaning. The Polly Pockets enjoyed being played with as well. Kerstin had another good day today. She is starting to eat and drink more and has kept everything down! No headaches today. She did get her dressing changed (not fun) and labs drawn here at home. Her ANC has dropped from over 3,000 on Monday to 600. The chemo is definitely taking effect. Her hemoglobin is low, so we will get to go to St. E's for a blood transfusion in the morning. Keep us in your prayers and also consider donating blood or platelets in Kerstin's honor. What a wonderful gift to give!

Feeling better today

As you may be able to tell by the previous post, Kerstin is feeling much better today. She didn't eat a huge amount of food, but was able to keep everything down. She did get a headache late this morning and actually allowed Mom to give her some Tylenol. (I think she figured out that Mom and Dad are right - it makes you feel better - don't tell her we said so!) The visit from Abby really did a lot to cheer her. She also had a great time with her sister and Mom at our first Candlelighter's meeting. We all enjoyed a nice meal. The kids got to play and make an ornament while the parents had a meeting. Kerstin made it through the day without a nap, but was really wiped out at bed time. Thanks for checking on us!

A visit from Abby!

We had 2 special visitors at our house today, Abby and Kristi! Kerstin met Abby at Children's Hospital when we were there in October/November. They became fast friends and had a lot of fun together at the hospital. One of the best things Abby taught Kerstin was how to shoot water at the nurses with syringes. It was so nice to see Abby and her Mom today when they were in town for a doctor visit. They even brought us lunch and stayed to play and chat a bit. We are blessed to have such wonderful friends, old and new! 

What goes down just keeps coming up!

Kerstin hasn't felt very well today. It started at 4:30 this morning with a headache, neck ache and some vomiting. She hasn't really kept anything down today at all. Kerstin is having a stubborn streak and doesn't want to take any extra medicine for nausea or a headache. She has chosen to take a number of naps as she has just been pretty wiped out.
We got to visit the Infusion Center at St. Elizabeth's for a scheduled blood draw today. Her ANC is over 3000 which is great! She didn't need blood or platelets either. We expect that the chemo she got last week will start to bring her counts down in the next few days.
Thanks for all of your continued thoughts and prayers sent our way. It means so much to us! Stay warm!

Candy Cane Lane

That's not the real name of our street. It's known as Candy Cane Lane though because every Christmas everyone that lives on the street puts up lighted candy canes in their yards. In addition to the candy canes, some of the home owners go "Clark Gridwald" as well. (Click on the title for more pictures.)

Snow Angel and New Teacher!

When you play in the snow, you just have to make a snow angel! Kerstin and Mom got to meet her new Home Bound teacher, Mr. Knobel. We think he is pretty great already. He is planning to meet with Kerstin every day. He will work closely with Mrs. Swiatek to help keep Kerstin caught up with all of her kindergarten friends. What a wonderful blessing! 

Playing in the snow

Kerstin has been begging to play outside in the snow, so we finally got out there for a bit today. Mom got to pull her around on the sled. Big fun! 

Christmas Tree

We put the Christmas tree up tonight. Little-by-little we are getting the rest of our inside and outside decorations up.

We Made It Home...Finally

Kerstin got discharged on Wednesday about supper time, but it wasn't soon enough to beat the snow storm that hit the Lincoln/Omaha area. We heard lots of reports of wrecks along the interstate and bad driving conditions, so we found a hotel and settled in for the night.

By the time we slept in, packed back up, chiseled the car out of the block of ice it was incased in, it was 10am when we got on the interstate. By then traffic was light and the roads had been cleared. Made it home in an hour and started the unpacking routine.

As far as Kerstin, her bone marrow biopsy came back clean. She is in complete remission. (Yea!!!) We are not scheduled to go back to the hospital until Dec. 27th for another 2-3 day stay. It will be good to spend Christmas at home.

Helicopter Landing

Kerstin has a good view of the helicopter pad across the street. There are not too many landings, but she got to see one today.

Learning to Swallow

It's not a very action packed picture, but it only took Kerstin one try to learn how to swallow. This new skill will help quite a bit in taking her medications now.

Playing Golf

... the card game. Kerstin has really been getting in to playing cards lately. She is getting pretty good at Golf and solitaire. Kerstin and Jeff got in a few holes of golf before bed time. (Kerstin got a few mulligans.)

Round 2

Kerstin is back in the hospital for her second cycle of chemo. She started the day off with a bone marrow biopsy and then up to the 6th floor for more pampering by the staff. The plan as of now is to be discharged tomorrow night. Two days and one night sounds much better than three weeks.

Thanksgiving 2005

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (a day late) The Leaf family did something on Thanksgiving that they haven't done for a long time: stay home and goof off. It was a very nice day for us. We slept in. Some friends from church brought us Thanksgiving dinner (Thank you Kruegers). Watched football and cartoons. Then Grandma and Grandpa Leaf stopped by to say hi and have a piece of pie. After the grandparents left, Kerstin's Uncle, Uncle's girlfriend, and Cousin came over. The girls showed us their own rendition of "One More Angel in Heaven" from "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". Then all the ladies had to show off their new holiday scarves.

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We especially send our thoughts and prayers to those who were confined to hospitals, and to all the families that could not spend this day together.

God Bless You All.

Kerstin's Got A Date...

...with The Anchor. We got the call today that she is scheduled for her next marrow biopsy and round of chemo on Nov 29th. They are telling us that she will be able to go home the evening of the 30th as long as there is no reason to keep her. No U-Haul truck this time, we think just an overnight bag will do it :)

Home School'n

Just because Annie and Kerstin aren't at school, doesn't mean they aren't teaching and learning. In the hospital Kerstin got 45 minutes of school time M-Th. We are planning on doing at least that much when she is home. 

Pink Ribbon

Kerstin stopped on the way home from seeing the puppies to pose by one of the pink ribbons. (Thanks again Ron and Bonnie.)

Puppies

Kerstin got the "ok" to visit the puppies next door. The mother is a Golden Retriever/Poodle mix, and she was bred with a pure Poodle. (There are three males and four females for sale if anyone is intersted.)

Better Safe Than Sorry

Kerstin came in to our bedroom this morning and says, "I don't feel good." Turns out she was running a fever and didn't look very good either. We got ahold of the on-call doctor and she advised us to go to Children's Hospital ER for some blood work. Depending on what the blood work shows, she either goes straight up to 6th floor for admission, or back home. Turns out her ANC is over 1700 (which is great) and everything else looks good as well. They took blood for cultures and we'll know the results tomorrow. By the time we got to Omaha Kerstin's fever was gone and she was feeling better. The doctor says if the fever comes back, give her some Tylenol. So, we feel a little silly getting all the bags packed and driving up to Omaha, but... better safe than sorry. It was a good learning experience. I'm sure there are more ahead of us as we become more educated about the disease and Kerstin's individual signs and symptoms.

Doing What Girls Do...

...playing dolls and talking on the phone.

Kerstin's Bakery

Kerstin fills some of her spare time baking cookies.

First Night Home

Kerstin (and Annie) slept all night. Jeff got up a couple times just to look in on Kerstin and her sister. It was so nice not having "the anchor" beeping or the nursing staff coming in to check on her throughout the night. This morning Jeff and Annie got to prepare and mix up all of Kerstin's morning meds for the first time. We can see that there will be some trial and error until we find a good system. The day is off to a good start. Now we just need to tackle that truck load of stuff we brought home from the hospital yesterday. Thanks again to everyone for your prayers and support.

Kerstin is Home!!!

Dear Friends and Family,

There is no doubt in our minds that prayer is very powerful. Kerstin is getting to go home about one week earlier than originally expected! Her counts came up fast enough, and she has been without a fever long enough that the doctors feel she has recovered enough to get rid of “the anchor”. She is not without limits though. The doctors have placed criteria on where she can go, who she can be around, etc… It all kind of depends on her counts. (The counts if you’re wondering are her Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC). There’s some math involved. ☺)

We are looking forward to getting her back home and letting life return to some sort of normalcy (whatever our new normalcy will be). Cards, letters, emails and telephone calls are welcome, but we will not be having too many visitors for awhile. We are sure you all can understand.

Once again we give thanks to God and to all of you for your prayers and support.

Jeff and Annie Leaf

Hair

Kerstin is started to get frustrated with her hair. It is falling out all over the place and getting in her face, her food, etc. Combing it helps get rid of the loose ones. She isn't ready for us to help her cut it all off yet. It won't be long now, and it will all be gone on its own. It's kind of a bummer, but we know that when she is well again, it will all grow back.

Ice cream anyone?

Kerstin did a super job taking her medicine yesterday and today. She got to pick this ice cream parlor from the prize box. We have already had a lot of fun scooping and eating special frozen treats! Her counts keep climbing a little each day. She got another headache this afternoon, but fell asleep before we were able to get her some Tylenol. Grandma Clarice and Papa Gene are here for the next few days. More knitting lessons? Keep praying for her appetite to increase and for good cooperation. :) Annie

Pink Ribbons

Our neighbors tied pink ribbons to the trees that line our street. It is small acts like this that truly touch our hearts. Thank you Ron and Bonnie.

Struggles

Just wanted to let you know about some of the difficult things Kerstin faces each day. She takes oral medicine at least twice a day, sometimes more if she has a fever. Unfortunately, we are still struggling to find the best way to get it in her needy body. Mom is not enjoying this daily battle. She also takes a variety of meds through her IV. As we have already mentioned, her hair is falling out all over the place and gets in her face, food, on her clothes, pillow, etc. Since she has been getting fevers off and on, she is not allowed to leave the room, even to go to the playroom. Cabin fever has started to set in for all of us. She doesn't really want to eat or drink anything. When she is hungry, she isn't sure what sounds good to eat. The chemotherapy messes up her taste buds. Today she got a bad headache. After some Tylenol, she was able to get some rest. She is a tough little girl, although a bit stubborn at times. Each day we try to find something fun to do or laugh about. This morning while changing the bedding, we had a little pillow fight. She is a fighter. Pray for strength and patience and for those counts to go up so we can get home. Annie

Information Angels

Dear Friends and Family,

We have been blessed once again by some members of our church family. Monty and Julie Scheele have generously offered to be our "Information Angels". If you have questions, need something delivered to us, or just want to help, feel free to contact them. Of course, if you just want an update on how Kerstin is doing each day, feel free to keep checking this web site.

Monty and Julie can be contacted at:

Monty and Julie Scheele
5021 Elk Ridge Rd
Lincoln, NE 68516
email at mscheele@neb.rr.com
home phone 402.420.5592

Thank you and God bless you all,

Jeff and Annie

Get Klicked for Kerstin

Kerstin's Uncle Brian has generously decided to take family Christmas portraits at Sheridan Lutheran Church as a fundraiser for Kerstin. In this picture, Kerstin's friend and Sunday School teacher, Jorie, is working at the sign-up booth. For more details about how you can "Get Klicked for Kerstin," call Uncle Brian at (308) 995-6183 or Monty and Julie Scheele at (402) 420-5592. Thanks so much, Brian! We love you!

Sandart

Kerstin and I had fun with our friend Lori doing some sand art on Friday. McKinsey and Aunt Debbie got to make a few creations today, too. All you do is peel one sticker at a time and sprinkle (or pour as Kerstin likes to do) on the sand! A very fun distraction! Annie

Knitting Lessons

Kerstin and Aunt Debbie did a little knitting last night and this morning. They are currently working on a Barbie sleeping bag. This skill may come in handy for making hats since Kerstin's hair has just started to fall out the past few days. We are finding hair on her pillow, her shirt, and just about everywhere. She doesn't seem too concerned about it. All of her friends on this floor don't have hair either. McKinsey and I did find some fun hats at the mall for her. :)

Cabbage Patch Slumber Party

McKinsey and Kerstin found some time to have a Cabbage Patch Slumber Party. Kerstin was pretty sleepy most of the day, but after getting some blood and a dose of tylenol, she started to feel much better and was ready to play. By the way, we are now in Room 607, a positive air-flow room.

School time with Aunt Debbie

Aunt Debbie came for the weekend and got a chance to do some M& M math with Kerstin. Of course you get to eat them when you are done!

Silly Dr. Ben

Kerstin and her favorite (sorry Rachel) Medical Student, Dr. Ben, are horsing around. Dr. Ben has a pug, too!

Birthday fun

Annie got to spend her birthday with Kerstin! Lori brought us a delicious lunch and an awesome cake! The Cavett stafff showered her with cards. What a special day!

God is so good!

Jeff was able to come and hang out with Kerstin and I for the day. Kerstin is feeling so much better the last 2 days. She has been eating a little bit here and there, and we are so glad. She has been fever-free for over a day now! God has been so good to us. We know that all of you that are praying for us has made a huge difference! Please continue to pray for strength, healing, and lots of patience! We love you all!
Annie and Jeff

My own laptop!

Kerstin was thrilled when Mr. Sibert offered to let her borrow a school computer. He installed all of her favorite games. (Don't tell her they are educational!) T. J. are you jealous??

Donut for breakfast!

Kerstin finally ate something this morning - half a glazed donut. I know it doesn't sound like much, but we celebrate even the small successes. We are looking forward to a good day.

A better day

Although she has only had a few bites to eat, Kerstin felt a lot better today. Her attitude has been more positive as well. We kept busy with school time, a goop activity, painting, and even organizing the "drawer of fun." She is still taking antibiotics because of her fever, but they have changed them to a different kind. Unfortunately, this new type needs to be taken orally, along with an antacid, and her usual dose of less than delicious Atra. When you don't feel like eating, you don't really want to take more "yucky" medicine. We had ourselves quite a battle at noon today, but Rob in Child Life helped us create a sticker chart which we hope will help for future doses. :)

Pink Goop

Janet, the art therapist, and her practicum student, Jamie, helped Kerstin make goop today. What color? Pink, of course! It was a bit messy, but a lot of fun!

Going For A Walk

Kerstin was ready to get out of the room tonight and feeling well enought to take a little stroll. She can go out of her room as long as it is after visiting hours and she wears a mask. A friend on this floor taught her a trick with a syringe (squirting the nurses), so she is loaded and ready to go.

Connect Four Champ

Kerstin took a break from napping to play Connect Four with her Great Uncle. Kerstin won 3 out of 4 games. Sorry, Uncle Al! She's had lots of practice.

Numbers and Colors

Today for "school time" Kerstin worked on counting by 5's and making colors. She picked up quickly on the counting. She had fun using food coloring to identify colors, and make new colors from other colors.

Sunday Night

Kerstin had a fairly good day today. She finished the last of her chemo this morning and now she is in the recovery phase for this cycle. It sounds like she got some of her appetite back and managed to stay awake most of the day reading books and playing. It's a nice change from yesterday. All we can do is take it day by day.