Saturday, January 31, 2009
Checkin in
Luke had so much more energy today and was able to get up and walk around the unit a few times and have a ton of visitors (thanks so much to everyone that came by). We are settling in for the night-Luke says he is going to make me watch Pink Floyd- The Wall....we will have to see about that. Just taking everything a day at a time but today was great and Luke seems to be feeling pretty good considering what all he has been through over the past week. Although each day will be different our hope is he has more days like today! Keep up the thoughts and prayers!!!
Friday, January 30, 2009
call light
Ok so I am totally taking one for the team here--
Luke was attempting to get into bed with all of us doting all over him and between what Luke was doing and what I was messing with we managed to rip, literally rip, the call light in half. One half in my hand with exposed wires and the other half in the wall with exposed wires.
So far the nurse, the health care tech and the maintenance guy have come in and Luke has made sure to point a finger in my general direction and tell them it was my fault :)
gotta love it!
Luke was attempting to get into bed with all of us doting all over him and between what Luke was doing and what I was messing with we managed to rip, literally rip, the call light in half. One half in my hand with exposed wires and the other half in the wall with exposed wires.
So far the nurse, the health care tech and the maintenance guy have come in and Luke has made sure to point a finger in my general direction and tell them it was my fault :)
gotta love it!
Friday evening January 30
Everyone, Luke is doing good this evening. Was able to shower after his chemo and eat a little tonight. Has even had had a little to eat. He did commet that the MDA cheesecake did not compare to home. The good news today was was he does not have the "high risk" chromsome.
Passing along a shot of Luke and his tubular maze and with Kendall his personal nurse. Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.
Chemo begins...
Luke has received his first doses of chemo (2 meds) and is feeling well so far. He has been up watching movies or surfing the web....so far so good! One of the meds makes him pee red/pink and I know you all can only imagine how entertaining he finds that haha!
contact luke
Hi All-
Just wanted to let you all know MD Anderson has a sweet deal where you can send Luke an e-mail or message and they will print it out and put it in a sealed envelope and deliver it to him. That way if any of you dont want to go through one of us (you are still more than welcome to do so). You can follow the link-hopefully it is right- and send Luke a note of encouragement as he begins his chemo today!
http://www2.mdanderson.org/sapp/contact/message.cfm
Update soon
Kendall
Just wanted to let you all know MD Anderson has a sweet deal where you can send Luke an e-mail or message and they will print it out and put it in a sealed envelope and deliver it to him. That way if any of you dont want to go through one of us (you are still more than welcome to do so). You can follow the link-hopefully it is right- and send Luke a note of encouragement as he begins his chemo today!
http://www2.mdanderson.org/sapp/contact/message.cfm
Update soon
Kendall
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Lou-ass update
Hey guys-
This is my first blog post ever so bear with me as I am not one with words! First of all I wanted to thank each one of you for the tremendous amount of support and all the prayers. Everyone has been amazing. I know we have said it a few times but visitors are more than WELCOME we just want everyone to be aware of Luke's increased risk of infection so no one sick should come, and also that his energy and pain levels change from one minute to the next so he may say he is ready for a visitor and then ask to have no one in the room when you show up. So please be patient and know that he does want to see you but the way he feels is constantly changing. Also- Beth had mentioned it earlier but I wanted to ask that no one call Luke on his phone (at least while he is in the hospital), the best way to chat with him would be to call Beth or me to find out if he is up for talking and then he can call you back or we can give him a message. We only say this because Luke has felt obligated to answer his phone when he is awake, even when he feels awful and he wont turn it off so it wakes him up. Please send him e-mails or chat with him online if he is on- or come by and say hi but right now please no calls to his phone.
The last few days have been crazy and I think we are all still in a state of shock....hoping to wake up from some sort of nightmare (although after receieving the diagnosis I am happy to say we are no longer sitting in a small hospital room in Miami where all we got was untreated pain and a bit of sarcasm from Luke). MD Anderson has been outstanding, the doctors met with us for over 3 hours yesterday and again today for over an hour, we have never felt rushed in our meetings or made to feel like a we are just a number. Today the doctor went over the "plan of care" as we say in the medical profession. The next month is going to be very intense but it is important for all of us to remember that this is a 3 year treatment process and Luke needs all the encouragement that we can all offer today and 2 years from now.
It was a day jam packed with procedures but Luke tolerated all of them well. He had a bone marrow biopsy in both hips, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and a PICC line placed. He also had an echo done to establish a baseline heart function and multiple Xrays. The first dose of chemo was given into his spine and was done during the tap but tomorrow he will start all the IV chemo. Just an FYI (as i was confused too) the chemo was given through his spine b/c studies have shown that at some point leukemia patients develop leukemic cells in their spinal column and/or brain so they do chemo on all patients prophylactically in their spine b/c it is not a matter of if it will happen but when.
When i left the hospital tonight Luke had a temperature and was in excruciating pain from his LP and intrathecal (into the spine) chemo. They are treating his pain well and apparently his pain should decrease as the leukemic cells get their asses kicked when steroids and the IV chemo are started.
We will continue to update (now that i know how) and keep everyone in the loop. Again- we want to really encourage visitors but want everyone to know this is a long battle and he will need more support than just this week. Feel free to call or e-mail Beth, Kate or me if you want to see or talk to Luke. We would love for you to contact us and don't hesitate to do so as we see it as a way the 3 of us can help Luke out and make sure his spirits stay high!
Love you all and thanks for all the prayers and support!
Kendall
kendallnovick@gmail.com
720 841 7749
This is my first blog post ever so bear with me as I am not one with words! First of all I wanted to thank each one of you for the tremendous amount of support and all the prayers. Everyone has been amazing. I know we have said it a few times but visitors are more than WELCOME we just want everyone to be aware of Luke's increased risk of infection so no one sick should come, and also that his energy and pain levels change from one minute to the next so he may say he is ready for a visitor and then ask to have no one in the room when you show up. So please be patient and know that he does want to see you but the way he feels is constantly changing. Also- Beth had mentioned it earlier but I wanted to ask that no one call Luke on his phone (at least while he is in the hospital), the best way to chat with him would be to call Beth or me to find out if he is up for talking and then he can call you back or we can give him a message. We only say this because Luke has felt obligated to answer his phone when he is awake, even when he feels awful and he wont turn it off so it wakes him up. Please send him e-mails or chat with him online if he is on- or come by and say hi but right now please no calls to his phone.
The last few days have been crazy and I think we are all still in a state of shock....hoping to wake up from some sort of nightmare (although after receieving the diagnosis I am happy to say we are no longer sitting in a small hospital room in Miami where all we got was untreated pain and a bit of sarcasm from Luke). MD Anderson has been outstanding, the doctors met with us for over 3 hours yesterday and again today for over an hour, we have never felt rushed in our meetings or made to feel like a we are just a number. Today the doctor went over the "plan of care" as we say in the medical profession. The next month is going to be very intense but it is important for all of us to remember that this is a 3 year treatment process and Luke needs all the encouragement that we can all offer today and 2 years from now.
It was a day jam packed with procedures but Luke tolerated all of them well. He had a bone marrow biopsy in both hips, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and a PICC line placed. He also had an echo done to establish a baseline heart function and multiple Xrays. The first dose of chemo was given into his spine and was done during the tap but tomorrow he will start all the IV chemo. Just an FYI (as i was confused too) the chemo was given through his spine b/c studies have shown that at some point leukemia patients develop leukemic cells in their spinal column and/or brain so they do chemo on all patients prophylactically in their spine b/c it is not a matter of if it will happen but when.
When i left the hospital tonight Luke had a temperature and was in excruciating pain from his LP and intrathecal (into the spine) chemo. They are treating his pain well and apparently his pain should decrease as the leukemic cells get their asses kicked when steroids and the IV chemo are started.
We will continue to update (now that i know how) and keep everyone in the loop. Again- we want to really encourage visitors but want everyone to know this is a long battle and he will need more support than just this week. Feel free to call or e-mail Beth, Kate or me if you want to see or talk to Luke. We would love for you to contact us and don't hesitate to do so as we see it as a way the 3 of us can help Luke out and make sure his spirits stay high!
Love you all and thanks for all the prayers and support!
Kendall
kendallnovick@gmail.com
720 841 7749
Luke update
They knocked Luke out for today's bone marrow and spinal fluid. As he came out from under the happy juice Luke's nurse was connecting up some monitoring equipment. For no apparent reason Luke gently extended his right hand and placed in on his nurses left cheek and said "you're an angel". His nurse then proceeded to ask him questions to check his coherence. She asked Luke what he preferred to be called to which he replied "anything is better than asshole". He remembers none of it but apparently his subconscious sense of humor remains.
Day #2
It's about 12:30 in Texas and Luke is done with his procedures for the day and headed back to his room. In typical ladies man fashion, even under the influence of aneasthesia, the nurse working with him bent down to hook up is pic line and he caressed her cheek and called her an angel. I know this shocks you all.
I know many of you are wanting to visit Luke which is fantastic, we just need to lay a few ground rules and set some expectations. First, visitors are very much welcome, Luke loves you all and will love the support. And, let's be honest, I'm sure he'll love the break from his family. This first round of chemo is going to be the toughest and it will take a bit before we see his reaction to it, there will be days when he feels okay and days when all he can handle is a 10 minute visit and probably days when he wants nothing to do with any of us, please don't be offended it is nothing personal. Also (and this is the most important!) you cannot visit if you feel at all sick, no sneezing, headaches, cough, rashes, etc. My Dad pointed out that everyone doesn't need to rush to be here, this first month of treatment is just as important as month twelve or twenty, he will need all of you with him every step of the way.
Luke does have his phone and his computer but he is totally inundated with emails, texts and phone calls. Please know that he loves you all but may not respond right away or at all. If you are trying to visit please call/text/email Kendall, Dad or me. I will list our contact info at the end of this. Kendall and I will be in TX on a rotating basis and we're happy to play secretary for Luke, especially if it means he'll get to see his friends. If you feel like bringing him anything he'll be needing bandanas, scarves and (as Dad says) do-rags shortly....the more obnoxious the better.
Contact info:
Kendall - kendallnovick@gmail.com and 720-841-7759
Dad (Dave) - dmnovick@earthlink.net and 832-721-9810
I know many of you are wanting to visit Luke which is fantastic, we just need to lay a few ground rules and set some expectations. First, visitors are very much welcome, Luke loves you all and will love the support. And, let's be honest, I'm sure he'll love the break from his family. This first round of chemo is going to be the toughest and it will take a bit before we see his reaction to it, there will be days when he feels okay and days when all he can handle is a 10 minute visit and probably days when he wants nothing to do with any of us, please don't be offended it is nothing personal. Also (and this is the most important!) you cannot visit if you feel at all sick, no sneezing, headaches, cough, rashes, etc. My Dad pointed out that everyone doesn't need to rush to be here, this first month of treatment is just as important as month twelve or twenty, he will need all of you with him every step of the way.
Luke does have his phone and his computer but he is totally inundated with emails, texts and phone calls. Please know that he loves you all but may not respond right away or at all. If you are trying to visit please call/text/email Kendall, Dad or me. I will list our contact info at the end of this. Kendall and I will be in TX on a rotating basis and we're happy to play secretary for Luke, especially if it means he'll get to see his friends. If you feel like bringing him anything he'll be needing bandanas, scarves and (as Dad says) do-rags shortly....the more obnoxious the better.
Contact info:
Kendall - kendallnovick@gmail.com and 720-841-7759
Dad (Dave) - dmnovick@earthlink.net and 832-721-9810
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Just a few updates....
Hi All...So given the amazing showing of love and support our family has recieved, the sisters (with Luke's permission) decided it would be best to start a blog to keep everyone updated. I'll go ahead and throw it out there that none of us have ever done this before and we will not claim to be anywhere near the writer that Luke is. We promise to do our best to keep it current.
A little background as to the title, in case you don't know Luke, everything that is dumb to him he calls an asshat, and I mean everything from a friend, sister, and even Bailey our dog.
Here is the latest....
Luke met with the doctors this afternoon at MD Anderson. Following some blood work he was admitted to the hospital. His blood work was consistent with the original diagnosis of ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Tomorrow he will have some more tests done, these will give the doctors a better idea of exactly what we are up against. He will also have his pic line inserted which will be used to deliver his chemo which will start tomorrow as well. The first week or so of chemo will require him to be an inpatient, if all goes well he will be allowed to leave and continue treatment as an outpatient.
I just spoke with him on the phone and his biggest complant was being in the pediatric wing, I believe his exact words were "gay colors and arbitary shapes on the walls." He loves hearing from all of you and has mentioned that he is very excited to see those of you who have promised to stop by, so please do!
We are thankful for all your thoughts, prayers, emails, etc., please keep them coming!
A little background as to the title, in case you don't know Luke, everything that is dumb to him he calls an asshat, and I mean everything from a friend, sister, and even Bailey our dog.
Here is the latest....
Luke met with the doctors this afternoon at MD Anderson. Following some blood work he was admitted to the hospital. His blood work was consistent with the original diagnosis of ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia). Tomorrow he will have some more tests done, these will give the doctors a better idea of exactly what we are up against. He will also have his pic line inserted which will be used to deliver his chemo which will start tomorrow as well. The first week or so of chemo will require him to be an inpatient, if all goes well he will be allowed to leave and continue treatment as an outpatient.
I just spoke with him on the phone and his biggest complant was being in the pediatric wing, I believe his exact words were "gay colors and arbitary shapes on the walls." He loves hearing from all of you and has mentioned that he is very excited to see those of you who have promised to stop by, so please do!
We are thankful for all your thoughts, prayers, emails, etc., please keep them coming!
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