Long Day of Chemo Today

We had to be at the hospital today at 8:00 am and didn't get done until 5:20 pm.
The treatment today required Natalie to be super hydrated and so they had to give her tons of fluid first then 30 minutes of chemo and then 4 more hours of hydration. It was a long day but we made the best of it making scrapbook pages all day. That was alot of fun and we will have a great book to fill with pictures of this journey. Natalie's friend Hallie came to the doctors office and hung out with Natalie all day. That certainly passes time better then being stuck with just me. The next four days the home nurse comes and gives Natalie shots of chemo and we don't have another appointment until next Tuesday. The next couple of weeks will be rough but we did get a new prescription today for another nausea medicine so we are hopeful that will make this round a whole lot better. Two of our favorite nurses left today. They are travelers and their time here is up. We will miss Kristie and Jodi so much. They were the best!

Just The Medicine Natalie Needed!

Natalie has had two great days! It has been so nice. My dad, sister Cheryl, and neices Dillon and Jesse are here and that must have been the medicine Natalie needed. She has been awesome! It's amazing how much you appreciate the good days when you have had so many rough days lately. I can't tell how happy it makes us to see Natalie smile, laugh and act like our Natalie.
Her treatment starts up again on Tuesday and goes for two weeks, then phase three here we come. We are so excited to begin phase three because the doctors say it is much easier. We like easier!
Thanks again for praying for Natalie to feel better ~ again He answered our prayers like we knew HE would.
Love ~ The Erwins

A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

We are so happy to be home. As much as we love the care at Banner Desert Hospital we were so thrilled to be home and in our own beds. Natalie gets to finish her antibiotics at home thanks to having the port. We are glad about that.
She is struggling a lot with eating so we pray that gets better fast. Us Erwin girls don't have any weight to lose so not eating is out of the question. We are super excited my dad, sister and two neices are coming this Thursday to see us. Hopefully Natalie is feeling good and able to spend some quality time with them.

Today was a little better. Nat is still sick to her stomach a lot and is getting sore from laying around so much. Hopefully tomorrow she will feel even better. We are here until Monday most likely. They have to get the temperatures to stop consistently and her blood counts have to come up as well. They said a weekend discharge was not likely because they have to set up the IV antibiotics to be done at home and that means at least Monday. That's okay ~ I want to know this is under control before we leave so we don't have to come right back. Until next time ~ Love Sharon

PATIENCE IS THE KEY!

Natalie had a fever yesterday morning when she woke up so we brought her into the hospital. They admitted her and today confirmed she has an infection in her blood. They are treating her with IV antibiotics. She has felt terrible yesterday and today. She has an upset stomach and no appetite. They said she should feel a lot better tomorrow. That's where the patience comes in. I hate that I can't help her and it is so hard to see her feeling miserable. I know tomorrow will be a better day. Not sure yet how long we will be here. Hopefully not too long, the bed stinks!
Please pray for quick results from the meds. and that Natalie is smiling again soon. She is so amazing!

Sorry it's been so long since our last entry. There hasn't been that much to really tell. Natalie has done a little better this week, although she has still been struggling with Nausea. She gets another spinal tomorrow morning and some chemo and then she is done for the week. Her blood counts are doing okay but that is normal and we just have to be careful that she isn't around anyone that is sick. One of the chemos is causing some problems with her walking so we went to see a physical therapist today. They gave her some exercises to do and hopefully that will help. They decreased the med. that is causing it so hopefully we will see some fast improvement. Her spirits are still amazing. Please continue to pray for her.
GOD is good all the time.....All the time GOD is good! Love ~ The Erwin Family

One day at a time!

Phase two is a bummer so far. It is making me sick to my stomach and I hate being stuck at home. Hopefully it gets better soon and I can get out a little more. I thought it was going to get easier but this medicine is harder on me then the others. It was nice this week, a nurse came to our house to give me my shot so we didn't have to drive all the way to Banner Desert everyday. We do go back to the hospital tomorrow morning to see how my blood counts are and I might have to get a tranfusion. They expect my counts to go down right now so the transfusion is a normal thing. Next week the treatment is a little less so hopefully I will have more energy and feel better. Have a great day! Natalie