PROVERBS 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths STRAIGHT.
Showing posts with label Amelia's bonemarrow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amelia's bonemarrow. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Blood Donation and Bone Marrow donors wanted!!

Please consider this!!!!!!! Click on the picture to open it in a new window at a larger scale!!! PLEASE HELP OUT!!! There are so many children in need of blood and blood products, also if you are considering being a bone marrow donor Please Contact Suzy Potter @504-939-6909 or Via email @ spotter@thebloodcenter.org please you will never know how much a little goes a long way especially in saving someones life!!!!!



Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Counts...

We got Amelia's counts back...They are stable and will get us a ticket for another month.
Counts are
Wbc 3.4 (White Blood Cells)
Hgb 8.2 (hemoglobin)
Plt 24 (platelets)

ANC 850 (Absolute Nutraphil Count, Immune system) they like to have this abouve 1000 and Not below 500.

I have asked her doctor about a drug that might keep her counts up. The problem is they are not sure what they can do to the out come of a bone marrow transplant. Marshall was on a harsh one for years, but we had no choice with him as we could not find a match for him. Below is what the Dr sent me back about my question when I asked him how low would we let her counts get and can we try Danazole an androgen known to help with the Hgb.


"This is a good question. I dont know the answer on the danazol; it might be ok these days but Im hesitant to give. The good news is that you still have time as Amelia's counts have stayed up there longer than I expected. Ill keep my fingers crossed that she can wait. Id first use the G CSF (Neupogen) if I had do for her ANC if <500 but you are right that only the danazol has a chance for helping the platelets (although there is a new drug these days we might try). If she needs it, Ill see if I can get it for her. Nonetheless, Im hoping that the new policy starts July 2011 and I bet she can make that date. John"



So this is where we are today still needing you to pray for her, she has the sniffles right now and a cough...
I am thankful that her counts have remained stable, I just really pray that they can stay that way till all of this insurance stuff can be deciphered!
I'm hoping to get up some recipes later today....They were YUMMY!
Blessings,



Friday, July 30, 2010

update....

OK so I know it's been a while and I figure I'm in need of a serious update. But honestly there isn't much to tell. I'm still waiting to hear from the doctors about Amelia's bone marrow biopsy results....I just called and they didn't answer so maybe by the time I finish this they will be there and I can relay the results.
SO let me back up a bit, a few weeks ago, I learned a little something about the Obama care insurance that will be kicking in soon, all of it in our favor...just again our insurance sucks, but not in the way that you would be thinking. Here let me see if I can explain this well. As of 9/23/10 any insurance policy that renews after that date CAN NOT put a cap on their insurances, meaning bone marrow transplants among other things. So in other words, we will no longer have a $300,000.00 BMT cap, thus meaning that Minnesota can not refuse us. Here is the catch for us though, our insurance policy doesn't renew until 7/1/11 a year away...that is where the prayers are seriously needed to help keep Amelia as healthy as we can so we can make it to July. And any one in the FA world know that a year in FA can be a lifetime!!
I am putting it all in Gods hands, I know that He has the power to do this. He has shown us a glimmer of hope for a reason, I truly believe that!
Amelia had her biopsy last Thursday and again did great, was up and running and playing in no time and only took Tylenol at the hospital and that was it. She is so strong at such a young age. She is truly a trooper.
On other fronts of our lives there isn't really much else. The kids are gearing up for school to start which will be on Aug 9th. They have one full week of summer to enjoy. Marshall and Amelia are both ready for school to start, Nate, well he could take it or leave it! He's just all boy and wants to be out side playing in the dirt. With some kind of creature would be even better for him. We celebrated his birthday, we went to Chuck E Cheese. He had a ball. So all the kids birthday are done till next summer. Here are a few pictures of his birthday cake......







Ok just called the hospital and still nothing, well the report is in but the regular nurse is on vacation so, the nurse that answered wanted to have the doctor call me since he would know what he was talking about. So know I sit and wait for him to call back and pray that I can understand him, if not I will have to call them back on Monday and talk to the regular nurse, Michelle who will translate for me. ( in case I for got to mention the new Dr is from India, and well he is a great doctor and very through and knows his stuff, but I can't understand everything he says)

I also finally emailed Dr W in Minnesota back asking him what prompted him to send me that email...he just emailed me back saying he would try to call me tonight at 6...waiting on pins and needles!

Keep praying...please, and thank you....

Blessings,

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Cincinnati......

I will keep telling myself things happen for a reason, things happen for a reason, God is in control. THINGS HAPPEN FOR A REASON!

OK with that said....we are going to transplant in Cincinnati, Oh. The next month is going to be a complete whirl wind! We have never been there before so we don't know what to expect.
This is the email I got earlier today:
Kelly, as it appears that I cannot change the decision about the insurance coverage here, I need to get you to connect with Dr. Stella Davies at Cincinnati Children's to first verify insurance coverage there (preliminary review looked promising). If you indicate that it is OK, I will send her a medical summary on Amelia and my proposed treatment plan...I will also ask her office to connect with you to get things going. You will need to sign a form that transfers the donor search. They will get the form to you. They will keep me informed I am sure. Again, I'm sorry this has happened. Just know that I tried. John

At least he is sending over his proposed treatment plan...

Some have asked if I am OK with that, well to be honest it doesn't matter where we go because what ever is going to happen is going to happen weather we are in Minneapolis or Cincinnati! It is in Gods hands and His will, will be done! That is what I have to trust in.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Excuse my while I vent....

OK back to fucking reality....
This is the letter that I just received from the financial coordinator from Fairview/University of Minnesota....

3/3/2010

Hello Kelly,

We spoke briefly on the phone on Monday and I wanted to do a follow up email with you regarding the insurance benefits for Amelia.
I spoke with Blue Cross of Louisiana Transplant Case Management this morning in regards to the limitations on the Transplant Specific Lifetime Maximum.
As you know under the Blue Cross policy there is a major medical lifetime maximum for Amelia of $5 million, however there is a Transplant Specific Lifetime Maximum of $300,000.00 which would include all of the transplant stay and post transplant stay for all services and all providers with UMMC, Fairview.
Unfortunately with the estimate for an Allogeneic BMT for Pediatrics, I would not be able to financially secure based on the $300,000.00 for Amelia.
Also you had informed me as well as the Transplant Case Manager at Blue Cross that the Employer Group is unwilling to allow for more transplant coverage.

I did contact the prior authorization dept. at Louisiana Medicaid today and they informed me for any non emergent out of state services to be approved medically, a Referring Dr. with Louisiana MA would have to write a letter of referral with supporting documentation for Amelia to come to UMMC, Fairview and this would then be reviewed by the Louisiana State Review Board to see if they would allow for coverage for Amelia to come to UMMC, Fairview for transplant services.
Unfortunately UMMC, Fairview and most likely all other providers of services (UMP, Home Health, Pharmacy) are not enrolled with Louisiana Medicaid and would not be able to bill for services rendered.

The medical approval and financial approval are two separate processes, so if Louisiana MA were to approve Amelia to come for BMT at UMMC, Fairview each provider of service would have to negotiate a contract with Louisiana MA for payment and every provider of service would have to approve the agreement with Louisiana MA.

I have sent an email to the BMT Coordinator and I will send the email to Dr. Wagner as well.
At this time I would not be able to financially approve any services for Amelia at UMMC, Fairview other then an initial consultation.

If you would like a letter regarding our financial requirements to secure an estimate for transplant for Amelia I can definitely put that together for you and send to you through email. Please let me know if you have further questions regarding this email.

Thank you,

Beth

Beth Beamish
University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
Transplant Financial Case Manager


So in an effing nutshell....She is not going to transplant where the best doctors are...period.
We don't know when and we don't know where..what we know is that her counts keep falling and she needs a bone marrow transplant before something really serious happens!

Keep praying, please keep praying!!
I promise I will get back to the vacation, after all I will need the great memories to take me away from this hell of a night mare.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

My Sister's Keeper....

I did it, I probably shouldn't have...but I did! I watched My Sister's Keeper. It was a pretty good movie. Every one warned me...make sure you have plenty of tissues...it will make you cry through out the whole movie. Well I didn't have the tissues, I didn't cry through the whole movie....(am I cold hearted?) I don't think so...I just have/am living that movie. The only part that I cried in, is when the sister died. Not because she died and not because of the movie. But because....I REALLY don't want to be that mom. Meaning, I don't want to loose my child, I just don't know if I could ever let go or get over it. When I tell you that I am scared....scared doesn't even begin to describe the fear I have...the tears that I have shed when no one is around. I'm not ready! With Marshall we didn't have years to prepare and know that this was coming, we went, it was our only hope and chance. With Amelia we've know for 9 and half years now..does it make it any easier to know that far in advance....HELL NO, I think if anything it only makes it worse...you know it is there and you are continually trying to push it away....make it go away. I so wish that I could make it all go away. I know that she too is scared and not knowing what to expect, I can tell it is bothering her in the way she is acting. I am praying to be the mom that she needs me to be and the strong one in front of her and yet cry my eyes out behind closed doors...

Please pray for her we had counts done this afternoon..as soon as I get the results in I'll post them.
Thanks again....

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Its really sweet when you have a doctor like this:


I can only imagine how hard this must be. I wish I could just make this go away for you. Once must be enough. Repeat in 2-3 weeks. No contact sports and no skating or biking for now. J

This was his e-mail to me earlier, but it still doesn't stop the pain, but to know that he is a wonderful doctor who is dedicaded to making the lives of children better. He is also a great friend!
My eyes are swollen and my head is hurting!! Gotta pick myself up and keep moving forward!
Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your way acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight!! Proverbs 3:5-6

Everything happens at the time God chooses. Ecclesiastes 3

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Not the best of news....

Here is a copy of the email that I just sent out:



Greetings Friends and Family,

We got Amelia's counts done again today. They are obiviously not what we had hoped. Some were up and some were down. She is still fighting a cold however but they were not up enough to impress the specialist in Minneapolis. This was his repy to me:

"If the ANC is <500 then we need to give GCSF. Otherwise, we should wait. I think we should be prepared to go to transplant as planned but we can always delay with GCSF and transfusions for a little while. GCSF wont be harmful as far as I know. John"

So as you can all clearly see, 2010 will be a transplant year for us. We are not sure if it will be March, April or May...There are a few things here at home that need to be taken care of before we go and of course a donor must be found and narrowed down to that one perfect match.
We have had 9 years to prepare for this, as I am not sure that one can ever truly be fully prepared to watch their child suffer so. But we have always know it was a WHEN not an IF!
I just ask that you all continue to keep us all in your prayers as we embark on a new journey. It will not be easy, but I have faith....F fantastic, A adventure, I in, T trusting, H HIM. I know that God will be with us every step of the way and just like before He will be there to carry us threw the difficult times. I have never questioned Him on why my kids and why we have to go through this. I have been given a blessing in my children and know that God would not give me more than I can handle.
I want to thank you all in advance for all that you all have done and continue to do for our family, some of you have truly been a God send and I know that you will be there for us when needed in the future.
Thank you to each and every one of you.
Hugs and Blessings,
The Bennett Family
Kelly, Tyren, Marshall, Amelia and Nathan
PS please feel free to pass this on, I know there is power in prayer!

This email would have been sent to many of you had I know your email addresses, but I also want to thank many of you for being there for us some of you are very faithfull followers from our Caringbridge days. Thank you for being there as we embark on another long and hard journey!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Prayer Request...

I know this is late, but if you could please remember Amelia in prayer tonight and tomorrow morning. We are going to go and get Amelia's blood counts done some time tomorrow. I am nervous....I want them to be up and the last week a bad dream! I will let you know as soon as we find them out!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Well it was a very busy day today. Ty went to the doctor today and he is healing...We go back in three more weeks and he will probably schedule a MRI on the knee. The only problem with that is we might not get the best results considering he has metal in there and it might make it difficult to see what is going on in there. A big part of it will depend on him and how it feels when he starts to put weight on it. So the news there was rather encouraging. Friday we are off to talk to an attorney, we have been contacted three times from Allstate insurance (the lady's ins.)We just need to cover all our bases and will not settle anything till he is back at work!

After we finished with him at the doctor we headed to get Amelia from school. We have been putting off getting them done, not for any particular reason. Just the less you know the happier you seem...well so I thought that would be the case. Anyway off to get the blood. One stick was all it took with very little digging. I wasn't planning on getting her results till tomorrow, but our pediatrician called from her cell phone. That right there in its self is a heads up!!!! He counts were not the best at all. They all took a turn down ward!
Platelets 23 {normal should be well over 150}
White blood cells 3.5 {normal here is usually between 5-7}
Hemaglobin 9.5 {normal here is 12 and above}
ANC 770 {to fight infections it should be 1000}

I emailed the specialist in Minnesota, NOT THE NEWS I WANTED TO HEAR FROM HIM!!!
this was his reply:
" recheck in a week. Obiviously I hope this is temporary but if not up I might need to activate the donor search. I'll hold for now John"

My head is spinning once again my world is being turned upside down, not the words I wanted to read. I can't stop crying my stomach is in all kinds of knots, my heart aches. I know we have to do what we have to do, but I am scared to death here. I don't want to see my baby suffer and I don't want to loose her!!
I can't let her see me crying!

It's also been an emotional night as we have learned of another FA adult patient who lost her battle unexpectedly today. She will truly be missed in the FA community!

I will pull myself together and storm the heavens with lots and lots of prayers! I have to go for now I can barely see the keyboard. I will try to give a better info update tomorrow.


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Greetings friends and faithful followers,
It is again that time of year...Amelia's annual bone marrow biopsy. We will again be having it done here at Ochsner's Hospital tomorrow. Please say a prayer that they only have to stick her once to get the IV in!! Also say a prayer that the results are the same or better than they were last year. I will do my best to update as soon as possible. I will be updating on Facebook and twitter so you can look on the right hand side of the blog to see how she is doing.
Thanks in advance for your continued prayers for my little girl!