Back in hospital

It is Sunday night and we have spent all afternoon in the ER at Lewis Gale hospital. Fran has been having pain in her lower left back and for the past three days it has been getting pretty intense. She called her physician this after noon after church and she suggested we go to the ER to rule out some things so we did. After a CT scan, EKG, and blood work nothing showed up which is great but still we don't know what is causing the pain and swelling in her feet and legs. The ER doc decided it would be best to keep her overnight to moniter her and giver her a blood transfusion. And to help with the pain. Hopefully we will have some answers tomorrow. I'll keep everyone posted.
Charlie

Overdue update

Sorry for the delay in getting this out, a lot has happened since the last post. Fran is doing well. She is eating and gaining weight. She still has to stop and rest periodically but that is to be expected. She is retaining fluid in her legs and feet which we are concerned about, but she is on medication and she is elevating her feet (as one Dr. said keep your toes above your nose).

Our other news is that Robert, Emily and Ben are back home! Last week Fran was feeling well enough to spend several days with Natalie and Jordan to help them make curtains for their new home. Then we went up to pick up our African clan last Sunday. They arrived early Monday morning and we brought them home. They are staying with us for the time being until Will can find somewhere to go.

We go back to Duke on August 5th so I will wait to update you then, thanks for checking in.

Charlie and Fran

About the same but OK

At least that is what Duke says, Fran asked if she is supposed to be feeling so poorly and they say YES especially because of #1. the intense chemo she recieved prior to stem cell transplant and #2 the transplant itself. Fran went to her Dr. here in Roanoke this past Tue. and all the numbers are goin UP UP UP. Everyone is please with that obviously. Sorry I haven't blogged recently but there has been nothing to report other than the fact that Fran just feel UCKY. But knowing this is normal hopefully is a little consolation. Duke said it usually take 6 months to a year before feeling somewhat normal again. I felt horrible for a week following my nasal surgury, I can't imagine feeling that way for 6 months!
Maybe the Lord was telling me a little about how Fran is feeling. I sure didn't like it!
Fran has goten out the past two days thanks to Samia and Connie. She goes back to Duke on Monday for a check up and hopefully she will feel like riding along to Lancaster PA on Tue and Wed. to see a play up there. We'll wait and see.
Thanks again for all the prayers.
Love, Charlie and Fran

Feeling like she should

Sorry I haven't had anything new to say over the past several days. Fran has been feeling just YUCK. No appetite, no strength, no energy, no nothing. She did go to the Dr. for her weekly blood letting and she happened to see the Dr. in the hallway. He was pleased with her blood work, and he said that it just takes time to begin feeling better. She has been experiencing some congestion so she got an antibiotic and cough medicine for that. He white blood count was down a little probably due to infection. Other than that everything was fine. So we continue to try to make it through it. Fran's sister Genie is here from Richmond, which is always good. She is a big help and a joy to have around. Fran did feel like (or should I say just went)to Will's Hidden Valley girls soccer game and she saw them win with 30 seconds left in the game so that was good. I go tomorrow morning for my "nose job" to remove nasal polyps. Genie will drive me and bring me home. Fran says she is going to the hospital but I hope she won't. We'll see. Thanks again for the prayers. We just need patience Lord!

Mixed Emotion Day

Fran has had a good day. The kids and grandson left for Africa this afternoon, and yes it was sad but that was expected. It wasn't as bad or as difficult as we had expected. Emily called from Dulles and said Ben had been an angel and had stayed buckled in his seat all the way to Washington. It will be interesting to hear how the 17 hour flight to Jburg went. After seeing them off at the airport Fran and Natalie came home and napped and I worked in the yard. Then the three of us went to Applebees for dinner. Will had a previous school engagement. We are back home and ready for bed. Thanks for all the prayers regarding today. I will post again on Sat. unless something comes up. Thanks for checking in. Charlie

Another busy day

I don't know how Fran is doing it but she spent most of the day at Grandin Court with her girls preparing Wed. night supper. Needless to say it was a big success. Now we just need to get through tomorrow. It will be tough - Natalie is coming in, Will is taking off from school. We're all going to meet at Robert's for breakfast and then take them to the airport. Lots of tears but we will make it.

Till next time. Charlie

Great Dr.'s report

Fran has had a very busy day today. It all started by going to Kroger to finish shopping for the church's Wed. night dinner that her team is fixing. She then went on to church to start cooking. At 1:30 Samia took Fran to see her Roanoke Dr. She had her blood work done and he is thrilled with her numbers. They all are coming up very fast. While this is great news she is still having difficulty eating, as in not being able to eat much at all. The Dr. said all this will wear off and she will start feeling better soon.

Following her Dr. appt. she then went back to church to work some more. She is supposed to go back tomorrow at 11:30 to work some more but we will see how she feels.

On another note, we were hoping to be able to see Ben tomorrow. He has been running a fever for the past several days and we were hoping that it would stop. We had our hopes up this morning because he had not had a fever for 8 hours, but then Robert called again this evening and said it was up again tonight. Needless to say there were more tears, but God knows best, hopefully at least we will be able to see him Thursday when we take them to the airport here in Roanoke.

Thanks again for checking in.