Hi Everyone,
As some of you know, Bonnie had her 3rd chemo treatment yesterday. This was about a week later than originally planned, due in part to her recent stay at the Scripps Spa and Resort. Dr Banerji thought it would be a good idea to delay the treatment by a week, in order to give Bonnie more time to heal and increase her white blood cell count. Oh ya, he was also in Hawaii on vacation:)
Since Bonnie was released from the "spa" she has spent time resting and recovering along with the normal routine of getting the girls ready for school, raising dear Charlie (little terror) and keeping the house running. Geez - doesn't sound like any rest time to me. I'm tired just typing this!
Now that the recovery phase has started, let's keep the prayers going so she has a fighting chance of avoiding another infection and landing back in the spa. This is something to avoid at all costs, so we also want to remember to avoid her kids and the house altogether if you or your kids have been exposed to any illnesses, etc.
As the summer winds down and the kids get in their last dose of sunshine and fun, we can officially turn our thoughts to Christmas. What??!! Is she crazy??!! I thought that too when I went to Costco 2 weeks ago and saw Christmas decorations up. I'm a huge Christmas fan , but come on. Really? It's August and hot as you know what outside!
Enjoy the rest of your summer!
Heather
Hi Everyone,
Today brings good news! Bonnie is finally home after a long and "luxurious" stay at the Scripps Memorial Hospital (aka: spa and resort). Since last Sunday night, Bonnie has been confined to her "suite" and tied to her dance partner (aka: IV drip holder), while being injected day and night with numerous bags of various cocktails of antibiotics and God only knows what else. After staying with her for a couple of nights, she no longer had any overnight parties due to her condition having taken a turn for the worse (see previous post).
On Thursday, things really started to look up as her white blood cell count greatly improved, she was no longer neutropenic and did not have to be subjected to a restrained diet. Once the doctors decided on her post-release protocol, they were able to comfortably release her yesterday.
Before she left I was able to at least get Natalie up there for a quick visit. It was nice to see her with her mom, as both of the girls have not been able to visit much at the hospital. This is a strong family and the girls are hanging tough! Thanks to all the family friends who help the girls stay occupied and stick to their schedules.
Tom also did a great job in getting the house disinfected and prepared for her return. Good Job Tom!!
Now that kids are returning to school, and are exposed to more germs (as are we adults) we all need to be extra cautious when considering a visit to her. If you have been exposed at all to anyone with a cold or any type of illness, let's delay the visit.
All joking aside, Scripps Memorial and the staff there have been phenomenal. Every time I have been there with Bonnie, I was so relieved to see that she was getting care from some very special people who genuinely love what they do and who they care for. I know she feels the same way. Needless to say, there all enjoyed her company!
Now, that Bonnie is home, she is committed to resting and recovery. For this reason, we are still limiting the amount of visitors to ensure maximum rest time. This has been an exhausting ordeal and incredibly taxing on her body. Her oncologist has rightly postponed her next chemo treatment by one week in the hopes that her body will recover more and she will be in a stronger place to handle the chemo.
S
he will also have to continue her antibiotic therapy and most likely with a daily visit to the doctors office to administer the drug. Those nasty bugs she caught are tough ones to kill off.
In the end, after all is said and done, she is still very fortunate to have caught this cancer early and to be able to receive great, quality care. It's no longer the cancer we are concerned about, it's the overall process that's proving to be the most challenging. You all know Bonnie - she's a soldier and she will soldier on like always. Going thru it with a smile big enough to cause you not to notice the missing hair, the port in her chest and the exhaustion behind her eyes.
Thanks for tuning in and continuing to support and pray for bonnie. I and the family thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!
XO, Heather Gregory
Hi Everyone,
Well, the last few days have been pretty eventful - and not in a good way:(
Sunday brought a new and more intense fever to Bonnie's ever growing list of side effects of this nasty illness. Around the middle of the day she started to feel really poorly and was directed to the emergency room by Dr. Banerji. She arrived there around 6pm and continued to feel worse by the minute. By the time I got there at 9:30pm, she was still in the emergency room and they were looking to get her on some fluids and admit her. After a much too lengthy stay in the ER, we were moved to her room (aka: Suite) at around 1:30am. She was in a lot of pain from the fever, which was really difficult for her on top of everything else. They immediately put her on a heavy dose of antibiotics and gave her some pain meds. Long story short - it was a really rough night.
The next morning (Monday) brought sunshine and an early morning visit from Dr. McDreamy. Luckily I got ZERO sleep the night before so my hair and makeup from Sunday still looked great! Oh - back to Bonnie. After weighing the options and seeing her condition, it was mutually agreed that he would remove the expanders later that afternoon. This is was very wise decision and one that I personally wish had been made the last time she got a fever. But.....so once I got back to the "spa" last night at around 7pm, she was just coming out of recovery and was looking pretty good.
The night went on to be pretty uneventful, with the exception of the excitement caused by Dez getting engaged to Chris on the Bachelorette. Boy, didn't see that coming! The pain had subsided, thanks to the meds keeping her stoned out of her mind. Bonnie was able to sleep and dreamt of french fries and a pass to go home today.
Unfortunately, we woke to some bad news. Her white blood cell count was just short of void. Almost without any to speak of. This meant that she is highly, highly susceptible to infection. She actually had become "neutropinc". She had contracted two types of bacteria - one that usually comes from hospitals (go figure) and has been a problem from the beginning (maybe from the expanders) and one that your body makes but wasn't as harmful as the other one. They called in an infectious disease doctor who has changed her antibiotics and is now restricting her to her "suite" and keeping her there until possibly Friday.
Because of the severity of the risk, there will be no visitors at the hospital and possibly the same for when she comes home. She can't have any plants or flowers around (they can carry bacteria) and she can't eat any foods that are not cooked and no leftovers more than 1 day old.
Despite this setback, she still is marching on and entertaining the hospital staff and anyone else that will listen to her.
I know this all sounds scary, but the good news is, the expanders are out and white blood cells can regenerate quickly. Let's hope she's out of her suite by Friday!
All of this is too reminicent of when my daughter was in ICU fighting for her life with bacterial meningitis. Having to wear a full haz mat suit with goggles and all, and "oh by the way, her skin is too sensitive and painful to touch", was something beyond comprehension. As my Callie made it through, so too shall Bonnie. We Manson girls are tough cookies and it'll take more than stupid Cancer to knock her down. Stupid cancer....
Stay tuned for more!
XO, Heather
