November 30th

Not too much to report again. They re-evaluated mom and decided that she can stay another 2 weeks in the rehab program. Basically, the evaluate her on a weekly basis and check with her insurance to see if they will cover her another week based on her progress. So she'll be there another two weeks at least.

Other than that, I really don't have anything else! She's eating pretty well and plugging along in physical and occupational therapy. We are trying to get all of her medical bills together and give them to Social security so she can get disability quicker so we'll see how that goes.

~Lindsey

November 27th

Mom's count is back up around 4,000. So she doesn't have to wear the mask when outside the room and we don't have to wear the mask when we visit her either. So if you'd like to come and see her, go right ahead. She's feeling better but she's taken a few steps back in the strength department. But that's expected with the lower white count.

I took her a Zaxby's Chicken Fingers Kiddie Meal yesterday and she ate the fingers and some of the fries, so that was encouraging. And Rob played with the toy that came with it, which was amusing for me and mom. :) I also printed out the most recent comments from the past week or so and read them to her. She was glad to hear from you all. And Meredith, I actually chanted the Krista Cheer you wrote. She had a good laugh at that!

We've started the process of getting mom on disability but they are saying it's going to take 6 months! So pray for things to speed along in that department so we can get her some financial help. Thanks to everyone who has been so generous in that department. If it weren't for you guys, her bills wouldn't get paid! Mom is so lucky to have so many people who care about her.

I put a counter at the bottom of the website so I could see how many people check the website each day and I was overwhelmed to see that around 75-100 people check in everyday! It's great to know so many people are thinking of mom and wanting to know how she is doing. Thanks to everyone who has lent a shoulder to lean on in their own little way; whether it be a card in the mail or a visit to the hospital or even a comment on the blog. We are all so grateful for the support.

~Lindsey

November 26th

Not too much to report today. I'm about to head up to the hospital to see her. Her white cell count is extremely low. They told us it needs to be around 5,000 and she is at 1.5! So lot's of prayer for her count to get back up to a healthy level would be great.

Also, since she's so vulnerable right now, we're requesting that everybody hold off on the visits until her immune system is strong enough to defend itself again.

Other than that, she said she feels better, even if her count isn't that great, so that's good news. Thanks for checking in on her!

~Lindsey

November 24th

Well mom did stay in the hospital yesterday. Stu and I dropped by in the a.m. on the way to Stu's family gathering and then we came back in the evening...along with the rest of the fam. It was a packed house in there. At one point, there were 10 of us visiting at once! We brought her some tasty Thanksgiving leftovers. We had enough to feed the nurses :)

Mom's white cell count is down from last week's chemo, but they are starting with those special shots that help boost it so hopefully she will be feeling better soon. Last time it took a few days before we got her back up to a good count, so she should be back to normal around Monday of next week or so.

I'm going to print out everyone's comments so she can read them and hear from everyone. Thanks guys!

~Lindsey

November 22nd

Well we've been back and forth with if mom's going or if she isn't (going home for a few hours for Thanksgiving). We said no yesterday and then yes last night. Then mom called today and said the chemo has made her feel lousy and she's not really up to it now. So now we are back to her staying in the hospital. But who knows. It could change again....

I forgot to mention yesterday that her blood clot seems to have disappeared so praise the Lord for that. I'm sure everyone's prayers really made a difference.

Thanks for all the comments! It was good to see everyone's still checking in. Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have much to be thankful for.

~Lindsey

November 21st

Sorry so long!!!!! I've been so busy with work and the holidays..... But I thought I'd give the page a facelift of sorts. Maybe give it a little Thanksgiving-esque feel.

Anyways, mom is doing well. The chemo went fine and she didn't get sick from it at all. We were trying to see if she could come home with us for Thanksgiving, just for a few hours, but for insurance and liability reasons, we aren't going to. Also, if she's well enough to leave, then she should be able to check out of the hospital for good and she just isn't quite there yet. But we're working on it!

Her appetite has improved somewhat, as long as it isn't the food they've got there! So anything you think she may like, feel free to bring it by.

The account is up and running at Regions and you can just ask for the account that has mine and Pat's name on it for the benefit of Krista Cadenhead. I'll try and get the last 4 digits of the account and that should help them figure out which one it is.

Not much to report other than that. Please remember to leave comments. She loves to hear that people have been reading up about her. :) Just click the comments link below, type your message and then select the "other" button when it asks for sign in information. That way, you don't have to have an account to leave a message. You can just type in your name and be done with it.

Thanks for checking in.

~Lindsey

November 15th

Mom is getting her chemo today and I think it's the R-CHOP that she was supposed to get every 21 days, but they held out until this week so she could get more strength back in rehab. She squeezed my arm with her right hand yesterday and there was some oomph in it! She really has gotten alot of her strength back in that right arm. Her left side is still noticeably weaker, but it too has improved.

They x-rayed her leg last night and found a blood clot in her left calf. So please pray for that. They are treating it with a higher dose of the anticoagulant that she was already getting as a preventative measure. Due to that and also the chemo, she is on bed rest today so she gets a break from the rehab.

The special account we have setup for her will be up and running after lunchtime today. Again, it will be at Regions Bank and you should be able to access it by simply giving mom's name to the teller and letting them know its a special account for donations. Pat, her sister, and I will be the signers on it if they still need more information to locate the account. Also, paypal is still an option. If you have any questions, you can email me at lindseyckirk@gmail.com with anything related to mom and her illness or anything at all.

Thanks for checking in with us. :)

~Lindsey

November 13th

Well mom says that she is really disappointed in her inability to walk so we really need everyone to pray that mom is able to do that in the upcoming days. If she could just get to walking again, she can come home from the hospital so make sure you are praying for her in that aspect.

Her appetite is much better and her surgery to have the port installed went very well on Friday. The pray for her to be able to walk. That is our main obstacle right now.

They plan on doing chemo again this week. They said they wanted to wait 4 days after her surgery before they started that up again so probably around Wednesday she will begin that again.

Thanks everyone.

~Lindsey

November 10th

Sorry for the delay in updates! Mom's starting to eat more and more. She had half a hotdog, most of a baked potato, and a smoothie on Wednesday night, which is alot of food for her. :) Which is great great news because Tuesday night I couldn't even get her to eat a Krispie Kreme donut! You know that you REALLY aren't hungry when you refuse one of those! But we're glad to see her eating better.

She stood again yesterday in rehab and even took a step with the help of her trianers. She's doing wonderfully.

Also, she is having surgery this morning to put a port in her clavicle area for her to receive chemo and any other IV-type of medications withour having to be poked and prodded by the IV team. It is basically just a plastic opening that goes straight to her vein. It'll make it easier for her, especially since she is such a hard stick when it comes to IV's and needles.

Well that's all I have today. Thanks for checking in on her again.

~Lindsey

November 7th

They have decided to put the chemo on hold until mom completes the rehab program and is back on her feet again. She did really well yesterday and her doctor is pleased with her progrss do far in the rehab program. She was able to stand on her feet and lock her legs yesterday. Now she is saying how sore her muscles are. No wonder! But she is plugging along and things are looking good.

They are scrutinizing her food intake because hse simply hasn't been eating so if you want to bring her some chicken nuggets or something to eat, feel free because she can't stand the hospital food any longer.

When visiting on the weekends, keep in mind that they still work with her for rehab, so come late afternoon when they are finished with her. The hours for visiting are 4:30pm - 8:30 pm and thats 7 days a week.

They have reduced her pain medication again so thats another good sign. We hope to have her out of the hospital and back home with us as soon as we can.

Thanks for checking in.

~Lindsey

November 5th

Well, mom's plugging along in rehab little by little. She's running a fever right now and it's making her feel kinda icky. She was also complaining of a headache yesterday which is also keeping her from feeling her best. But her burns look great and are healing nicely. She sat up in a wheel chair and had dinner yesterday and it was great to see her out if the hospital bed.

Many of you have asked how you can help and where to send money, etc. Since mom can't work and has bills, bills, bills plus divorce lawyer fees, car payments, mortgage, yadda yadda yadda, we as a family have decided to set up some accounts and funds that people can make donations into to help mom with her hospital bills and her regular cost of living bills since she has no money coming in. Even with her insurance coverage, she's still going to owe tens of thousands of dollars...maybe even hundreds :/ I have setup a paypal account for her so if you have a paypal account, you can put money straight into her checking account just by using her email. Go to http://www.paypal.com and sign in. then click the send money button and enter her email address: kristacadenhead@yahoo.com and enter the amount of money you would like to send her. That's it. It'll take it from your account straight to hers. It will also send an email to her letting her know who sent the money. If you don't have a paypal account, you can send checks made out to her to me at:

504 Georgia Way
Woodstock, GA 30188

Also, we are going to try and set up an account with Regions Banks where you can make deposits in her name as well so I'll keep you posted about that. Thanks for all the support. We all love each of you and can't express enough how generous everyone is and has been through all of this. Thank you so much.

~Lindsey

November 3rd

Ok - They moved mom today back into rehab, so the 4:30 - 8:30pm visitation hours are back in effect. Also, she is now in room 659. Her new phone number is 770-793-6659. Please keep your calls short though because she can't hold her hand up to the phone and keep it to her ear without getting uncomfortable very quickly so try and keep the calls to around 5 minutes or so.

If you want to send her a card, you can send it to me:

Krista Cadenhead
504 Georgia Way
Woodstock, GA 30188

Or you can just send it to her regular address because I'm having all her mail forwarded to my house anyways so I can keep track of her finances and paperwork while she's away.

Memaw said they were going to try and get her walking today but who knows. I'll be up there tomorrow afternoon around 4:30pm so stop by if you'd like. And bring her something tasty to eat. That food is terrible!! Here are some things she's requested or would be able to eat:

shrimp pasta
cheeseburger happy meal
light and fluffy smoothie from smoothie king
anything from chick-fil-a (nuggets, chicken salad sandwich, milkshake)
taco bell meximelt
anything with a softer texture

Thanks in advance. I know she'll love anything you bring. Keep the amounts small and kiddie size because she can't really eat all that much so the smaller the portions the better.

~Lindsey

November 2nd

Well I went to see mom yesterday and she looks so good. It was really encouraging to see her doing so well. She was eating a chicken salad sandwich and drinking a smoothie that Nette (her aunt) brought her and was watching Dancing with the Stars. :) She is so sick of hospital food so if you are going to see her and want to bring something, bring her something to eat because she is so over hospital cuisine at this point! And she needs to eat more to get her strength back.

Speaking of which, Mom reported that they came in to work with her today and she was able to stand up and lock her knees! Isn't that great?! Such a HUGE step for her. She is still in the regular part of the hospital and not in the rehab wing because they don't have any beds open right now but as soon as they do, they will move her into one.

Her burns are healing and looked alot better last night, too. I could really tell a difference. One thing I also noticed is that her hair is starting to fall out. I was brushing her hair and it was coming out in clumps. But she didn't seem too worried. She just said, "Well, Martin (her hair colourist/stylist) is gonna have to get me a wig." And that was that.

But she has improved so much in the past couple of days. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for her -- I can really feel the power of prayer working on her and our family. We love you all and please feel free to come and see her. Once she gets put back in rehab, the visiting hours from before go back into effect and you can see her from 4:30 - 8:30, 7 days a week.

Thanks for checking in!

~Lindsey