Live from hospital... or sort of

I will do official updates while we're here, but if you want to stay the most updated, then bookmark this page.  Or check it often.  Or keep it open and stare at it every second...  I'll be posting/tweeting as we learn, experience, and navigate through this round.

We're going to be checking with the doctors to hear more of the medical explanations for what she's going through and what they expect to happen over the next few days and weeks.

Perhaps more importantly, I'll be posting cute photos and other goodies from while we're here.

Tweets by @ajpassman

Update 10/26 :: move

It happened! Rather, it didn't happen. No hospital visits between Rd 3 and 4.  Actually, this is the longest time we've been out of the hospital since we found out about Immy's tumor. Overall, she has felt great and has even been able to be out and about. We noticed she was a little warm tonight, actually, but it hasn't turned into anything.

Some big things have developed over the last week or so:

1. We moved. For the next year, we'll be living in Lilburn aka Thrill-burn. We're renting, which works out perfectly to be close to family, navigate through this with Imogen, and take the pressure off finding the perfect house.
2. My fabulous mother issued an official 30-day prayer challenge via Facebook, as a reminder to pray for Immy every day until her scan, which should be around Nov 15. I'm in. You can join it here.
3. Also, Carrie Martin, a dear friend of ours, is a stud cyclist. She and her team are doing an endurance race of some sort (I'm not a mountain biker, can you tell?) and are looking for sponsors, as they're dedicating each mile to raise funds for Imm! I don't entirely understand, but if you email her at carrie@gfc.tv, she'll explain it. My quads are tight just from the conversation.
4. Thank you for your prayers. I'm so blessed as each one rolls in. It doesn't matter if you're across the street or in Germany, each prayer is precious and saved. If you'd like to send Imm a prayer, it's imogenclairepassman@gmail.com.  I'll share one with you for the next post.
5. I promise, a t-shirt design is coming soon, or details for ordering the shirt you've already seen are coming.

So, we're heading in for Round 4 tomorrow, and if you're just joining us, here's the scoop:

• Round 4 is supposed to be our "halftime" of chemotherapy. The original schedule calls for 8 rounds, with MRIs and body scans scheduled halfway through. Hard to believe it's already upon us, but here we stand. Due to the way Imogen's body has been hit up to this point, the oncologists think that the tumor might have been unaffected by the chemo, so the chemicals just had healthy good cells to attack, out of spite or something. So, the second batch of 4 rounds might not happen. We're praying it's because she'll be healed! The docs are saying because the tumor may be mature (chemo only works on active/malignant cells.)

• Round 4 is supposed to be brutal on Tiny's body. Over the next three days, Imm will take combinations of three medicines. One is new, and the other two have hit her hard in previous rounds. Carboplatin (sp) is the first one, and I remember because it's like reverse carbs for my daughter's energy and appetite. Cytoxin is the other one, and it remember it because IT HAS THE WORD TOXIN IN IT. Anyway, because of the severity of the treatment, they're admitting us through all three days, and Imm will be monitored through the whole round. We'll kick off just after lunch tomorrow, so keep us in mind.

As soon as a get some time at the hospital, I want to share with you the beautiful pictures and videos we have from the past couple of weeks. Until then, thank you for loving and supporting us with your prayers and gifts. In spite of it all, and maybe because of it all, we feel truly blessed.

Update 10/19 :: Picture party

It's been quite a few days since I've posted. Believe me when I say that's GREAT news.

 We're going on days 12-14 from the latest round of treatment. If the first two rounds were anything to go by, I'd be writing this update from the hospital.  I'm at home with Imogen in my lap, so yay!

Here's the latest: no fevers so far.  We just got the latest counts from Imogen's blood counts, and her white counts are very low.  It doesn't mean that we need to go to the hospital, but it means that her little immune system is very vulnerable.

We're in our house hunt frenzy mode.  We didn't find the perfect house in Kirkwood, so we're going to take some time and rent for a bit, most likely in Lilburn.

That's about it for the updates. I am more than happy not to have a lot of medical information to update you on.  I want you to get your money's worth out of this blog, so here you go.  Pics of the kids!

NEXT UPDATE: A lot of you have asked about #TeamImogen shirts, so I'm going to throw out a couple designs, and you can vote on which one we go with!  I think we'll need at least 20 people who want one to make it worth the printing.  Stay tuned.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Update 10/9:: rd 3

I can't emphasize enough how well Imogen has done over these last three days. We still have more to come, but I'm happy to report no sickness, no fevers, and minimal nurse-kickings (only 3!)

Now that round 3 is done, we have our fourth round on Oct. 28. There's been a little bit of a development in the schedule, as well. 

The original plan was to do four rounds, pause for scans and imaging, then four more rounds. Here's what we heard today  out oncologist came in to talk about how tough the last cycle was for Imogen. They expect kids to have a much smoother time on this kind of regiment, meaning one of two things:

1. She's an outlier, and her little body doesn't handle it well. 

2. The tumor is so mature that it can't respond to the chemo, meaning her body is absorbing the full force of the treatment. 

So, they now have serous doubts as to whether we will continue with rounds 5-8. We're not really sure what to hope for, besides this: maybe the meds don't have anything to attack because the tumor has disappeared. 

We're still praying for healing, but we're also preparing for anything. It's hard watching the poison demolish her immune system, and we don't want immy to suffer unnecessarily if the chemo is as ineffective as a Braves player with RISP.* Of course, we don't want a risky surgery, either.  

So join us as we pray for a good report, and that we'll know what to do, come what may. 

We're still in process of moving, so if you and/or a friend can come help Saturday, that'd be a great service to us. 

So, we rejoice that Imm's spirits are up. And her appetite. This was her expression for tonight's late-nite snack. She's giddy for the slice of cheese coming her way. 

*had to [runners in scoring position]

Update 10/6 :: Round 3 tomorrow

Sorry. I've been a bit lax in my updating.  But I'm not really sorry, because there hasn't been much to report!

The last few days have been great.  Imogen has been feeling a lot better since we've been home, with NO FEVER.  Basically, they let us go home because she seemed like she was fine.  And she's been getting her appetite back, too– she eats more spaghetti than I do.  Maybe she's making up for lost time.

One bummer.  Imogen's nose is a bit runny, so I think she may be coming down with a cold. Depending on how she feels in the morning, that could derail the chemo schedule.  It all depends.

So, the next three days will be spent mostly in the hospital.  We'll go in tomorrow and stay the night for Day 1, then start on Day 2 first thing Tuesday.  How she's responding will determine whether we go home Tuesday.  Either way, we have Day 3 on Wednesday, which should only take an hour because that day's meds don't require hydration.  

In addition to all this, we are praying that this chemo is actually doing something to the tumor. We have this round and another in three weeks' time, then we will do more body scans to get a look.  I would hate it if she's been through all this, and the tumor is too mature to respond to the chemo. And by respond, I mean die.  I want it to die. 

In other news, we're getting into crunch time at the house. Many have offered to help, and thank you to the ladies who have come already to box stuff up. For anyone with an average amount of muscles, we'll be clearing out the rest of the garage and basement on Saturday, starting at 9am.  I'll buy you pizza.  Oh, and by muscles, I mean arms. 

One cool thing: I updated my phone, and I didn't check Imogen's inbox for a couple of days.  I can't explain the gratitude I had for you all when I checked it and saw 63 unread emails.  The prayers you are writing to Imogen are not merely sweet wishes and kind thoughts toward her; they are the embodiment of hope and encouragement to us.  So thank you.  If you'd like to email Imogen and let her know you're praying for her, we really do appreciate and cherish them: imogenclairepassman@gmail.com.

Here's Immy eating a bagel today:

Tammy and Aaron NOT doing something illegal:

A cheeky Aaron:

And Imogen being beautiful: