Challenges and Requests

The start of the school year has been a cause for celebrating the miracle that Kate is back in school. Being back in school, however, has opened our eyes to a new challenge. We have seen a difference in Kate's ability to recall information. On two separate occasions Kate has expressed a frustration that she felt like she could not think clearly or focus on her tests or recall information she had studied and knew well. I observed this first hand, when reviewing with her for a test. After the first incident, we happened to be by chance having labs done that afternoon and found that her hemoglobin had dropped, as well as, her sodium level (her sodium was 127 normal is 135). The nurse practitioner said the low counts may well have contributed to this feeling of not being able to think. Interestingly, I talked with a friend and she shared that her mother's sodium had dropped to 120 and when taken to the ER the doctors thought this woman was having a stroke based on the state of confusion she was in. We are currently limiting Kate's consumption of water, so as to not dilute her sodium. Last week, I read the labels on everything at Wal-Mart trying to find a variety of drinks and foods high in sodium. Meanwhile the majority of health concerned folks are looking for foods and drinks low in sodium:) Gatorade is one of the highest sources, but Kate says you can only drink so much Gatorade:) In addition to the recall issue, over the past six months it has been necessary for Kate to take some proficiency and placement tests. We recently learned that she did not do well on these. This is not typical of Kate's normal academic performance. For a girl who has always taken advanced and college prep courses, observing this difference in her normally high academic performance we are wondering what is going on. Given all that Kate has been through physically with treatment it is understandable that she may not have been able to perform to her usual potential on a given day. I talked with the radiation oncologist and it is his hope and feeling that she is still experiencing some acute side effects from the June radiation. He stated that she has been through alot with the high dose chemo and then radiation again. He's hoping that we will see an improvement with time. We are praying to that end. He had told us back in 2004 before Kate's first radiation that some patients may experience a change in cognitive and processing abilities, usually seen about a year after treatment. His feeling is that we would have seen change from the 2004 treatment before now and it would have been a gradual change, not a sudden change. He also does not feel like such side effects from this June's radiation would have already shown themselves already.

Kate has not felt great for about a week now. Fatigue, nausea, lack of appetite, headaches, make her days more challenging. She desires to be in school and has not opted to stay at home. She got out on the weekend to do things with friends, but her strength and energy limit the amount of time she can spend at any event. She reads her body well and knows she can only do so much.

Although she is feeling very tired, her hemoglobin level was reasonable in yesterday's (Sept. 10th) counts. Sodium, however, had dipped again to 127.

Thus our requests are on going:

~that Kate's sodium level would stabilize
~for wisdom for her medical team addressing the sodium issue
~that these issues will indeed be of an acute nature and short lasting and that we will see an improvement in Kate's ability to think clearly and the ability to recall with the ease she has been used to
~ongoing prayer for the ability to think clearly and recall what she has studied
~that God will protect Kate's brain from long term, long lasting effects of radiation
~Kate's nausea has returned. Last week and again this week she has had nausea daily, with no relief even with the increased dose of her steroid.
~I don't think you and I can fathom how exhausting a day of school in the heat and humidity, with the added stress of nausea and fatigue must be for Kate's weakened body. She falls into bed at 9:00 or 9:30pm. Friday night she went to bed at 7:00 pm. Please ask that her energy and strength would be renewed daily.
~Kate will take her first set of SAT's on Saturday, October 6th. Given Kate's struggles in thinking these last two weeks, we have enlisted two teachers to tutor her and help her review and get her mind thinking in the mode of such standardized tests. Hopefully this will help her recall and also build confidence.

Thank you for your on going prayers for God's touch on Kate's health. The wonderful thing in the midst of the academic challenges of the last two weeks was hearing Kate pray and seeing how heavily she leaned on God and how confidently she sought his help. How we rejoiced together and thanked God when she received great scores on her two tests last week.

Leaning on his arms of grace,
Elaine