I am back at the hospital getting chemo again.  I am hoping that my platelets and red and white blood cells will stay high enough so I can be home for Christmas.  Once my platelets drop I have to come back to the hospital for a continual drip of platelets until my bone marrow starts working again.  I had  a transfusion of platelets about 2 weeks ago and had 21 bags. Can't wait to see how much that cost.  Thanks for all your continued support!  I love you all!  Merry Christmas!

Consolidation

I came back to the hospital on Thursday for 5 days.  This is called "Consolidation" and I get a high dose of chemo for 3 hours every 12 hours.  This will continue for 4 months.  I am suppose to go home either Tuesday or Wednesday.  I will then come back every other day to the hospital to check my blood levels and get transfusions.  I am feeling pretty good, just tired right now.  As my levels start to drop this may change again.  Thanks again for all your love and support.  Love you all!

The Doctor felt like my levels had come up enough to come home.  I got to come home and it feels wonderful.  I am very weak and tired but it feels amazing to be home.  Hopefully I can keep all infection away so I don't have to go back into the hospital.  I have an appointment on Monday for another bone marrow biopsy.  This is to determine if the new bone marrow that I am producing has any cancer cells.  I will then start another round of chemo as a preventive.  I will keep you posted what we find out.  Thanks again for all your love and prayers.  I love and appreciate you all!

Dance Day fundraiser

I want to thank everyone so much for having this dance day.  You dancers rock!  and their moms too!  and all the family & friends!   You all rock!   I feel so very blessed to have so many amazing people supporting me in this Leukemia fight.  I feel of all your love and support.  I love you all!

The last few days have been very hard,  I have had high fevers, lots of bone pain from the bone marrow starting to build again,  I have been on a 24 hour platelet drip for days.  But today things have really been looking up,  My levels are starting to go up. My platelets are 38 all the way up from 5.  Normal is 150-400.  But everyone here thinks this is amazing!   If the levels continue to go up and I don't have any fevers they will let me go home soon!  Thanks so much for all your continued prayers and support.  I love you all!

So the doctors are saying I will be here at least another week maybe 2.  My bone marrow hasn't started producing like it needs to yet.  My platelets are very low and my body is not accepting the transfusions they have been giving me.  The blood bank should have a closer match by Monday.  I am very tired right now because my levels aren't coming up yet.  

Many of you have asked about donating so I finally have the info for you:

AML is a cancer of the blood and I have already received some blood transfusions to help keep my body functioning normally.  I will definitely need more in the future.  You can donate blood at ARUP,  We can’t guarantee that the blood will be for me, but it can replace the blood that I have used and will be given to other patients in need.  You can visit their website, www.utahblood.org, or contact them at (801)-584-5272 to set up a donation appointment.  This is also where you can donate platelets. 

 A donation account has been set up in my name “Niki Kearns Donation Fund” at Wells Fargo Bank account #7888206351.  This money will go to helping us pay for this expensive treatment and follow up.

Thank you for your continued love and support!  I love you all!

BIOPSY RESULTS

So I just got the best news ever.  The results came back from the bone marrow biopsy and it is CLEAN!   It truly is a Miracle. The Dr said with the type of AML I have that you usually have to have at least 3-4 times of  Chemo.  I am so excited.  I have received 2 bags of platelets today.  My body is rejecting that I have received so far.  They may have to do some molecular search to get a closer match.  I do have a infection in my blood so I  am receiving antibiotics.  So from here they  have to get all my levels up which may take some time.  Then for the next 4 months I come to  Huntsman 3 times a week for chemo.  Thanks so much for your continued love and support.  I truly believe I just received a miracle!  

Update

Since the chemo was finished, Niki has been getting platelets and blood transfusions each day.  Saturday night she had a fever so they are trying to figure out why, but this can be very normal.  The hospital is still not allowing visitors, except for immediate family.  The second bone marrow biopsy will be taken tomorrow.

Niki is such a trooper!  She is still feeling pretty tired and experiencing the side effects of chemo, but her spirits are good!  Thanks again for all your prayers and support!!!!

Last Day of Chemo - Round 1

Today is Niki's last day of Chemo for round 1.  She will be done at 1 a.m. and is still very tired and weak.  Another bone marrow biopsy will be taken on Halloween.  We also found out today a bone marrow transplant will not be necessary for right now.  She is so thankful to everyone for their love, prayers and support!

Visitors

Well today is day 5 of chemo and my mom is now neutropenic. Because of that the hospital staff has told her that she can not have anymore visitors until her white blood cell counts are up quite a bit. My dad says that he is more than happy to take some visitors though. They must be available from 7:30-3:30, Monday through Friday and be willing to travel back and forth from Tremonton, Grantsville, and Riverton on a semi-regular basis. A valid electrical license will be necessary to see him however. We are so very grateful for all of your prayers and know that she is definitely receiving the blessings from them, so please keep em coming!! She loves all of you and considers this trial to be such an incredible learning experience for all of us.

              -Jordan

spiritual thought from missionaries

"Believe in yourself. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things. Believe that no mountain is so high that you cannot climb it. Believe that no storm is so great that you cannot weather it. You are not destined to be a scrub. You are a child of god, of infinite capacity. Believe that you can do it whatever it is that you set your heart on. Opportunities will unfold and open before you. The skies will clear when they have been dark with portent... He who is our eternal father has blessed you with miraculous powers of mind and body. He never intended that you should be less than the crowning glory of his creation."
         - Gordon B. Hinckley

One week ago today I found out that I had leukemia.  It truly has been a roller coaster in every way.  I know that this was Heavenly Fathers plan for me and I know there are a million things to be learned from this.  First of all I can't thank all of you for all of your love and support.  It truly means the world to me.   I couldn't get through a minute without you.  There are so many little angels that have been placed in my life to help me get through this and I love you all more than you will ever know.  I have been so blessed so much already. All of your prayers are being heard and Heavenly Father is really watching over me.  I have an amazing family and I know that we will get through this.  I am on my 4th day of chemo and starting to become really tired.  I may have a blood transfusion today. We will see very soon the dr will be here soon.   Day 14 which will be around Halloween we will have a another bone marrow sample to see if I will need another round of chemo or start looking at bone marrow transplants.

I will try to keep everyone posted with how things are going through this blog.  The cell phone service doesn't work well, so I apologize if you don't hear back from me. Some messages aren't coming through.   My direct line is 801-587-4538

I also wanted everyone to have these 2 websites the dr recommend.  He told us this that some info you will find is outdated and not accurate on other websites. So try these:

www.lls.org
www.nci.nih.gov

Thank you again for all your love!  I love you all!

Chemo Started Today

Here is a little up date on Niki, Chemo has started today it was a lot later then we thought. She was having a heart rate problem that they wanted to get taken care of before, it was going up to around 220. With some meds it is under control. The Chemo she is having is a very aggressive Chemo she is hooked up to one of the Chemo meds for 24hours a day for the next 7 days. Thanks for all the support and love it means a lot to both of us.

Leukemia AML

Many of you have heard but I want to ask you all to include Niki in your prayers, we found out today that she has leukemia (aml). Niki I love you so much and want you to know that we will fight through this together.

Leukemia

Leukemia is cancer that starts in the tissue that forms blood cells (called bone marrow). Blood cells develop from stem cells in the bone marrow. These stem cells mature into specialized blood cells.

• White blood cells help fight infection. There are several types of white blood cells.
• Red blood cells carry oxygen to tissues throughout the body.
• Platelets help form blood clots that control bleeding.

Different types of white blood cells develop in the bone marrow. A stem cell matures into either a myeloid stem cell or a lymphoid stem cell.

• A myeloid stem cell matures into a myeloid blast. The blast can form a red blood cell, platelets, or one of several types of white blood cells.
• A lymphoid stem cell matures into a lymphoid blast. The blast can form one of several types of white blood cells, such as B cells or T cells.

Leukemia occurs when the bone marrow makes large numbers of abnormal white blood cells. As the number of abnormal cells increases in the blood and bone marrow, there is less room for healthy cells.

Types of Leukemia

The types of leukemia can be grouped based on how quickly the disease develops and worsens. Leukemia is either chronic (develops slowly) or acute (develops quickly):

• Chronic leukemia: There may not be any symptoms at first, because the leukemia cells can still do some work of normal white blood cells early in the disease. Doctors often find chronic leukemia during a routine checkup before there are any symptoms.
• Acute leukemia: The leukemia cells can't do any work of normal white blood cells. The number of leukemia cells increases rapidly, and the disease usually worsens quickly.

There are four common types of leukemia:

• Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL): CLL affects lymphocytes (cells of the lymphatic system) and usually grows slowly. It accounts for more than 15,000 new cases of leukemia each year. It is most often diagnosed in people over age 55. It is very rare in children.
• Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML): CML affects myeloid cells and usually grows slowly at first. It accounts for nearly 5,000 new cases of leukemia each year. It mainly affects adults.
• Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL): ALL affects lymphocytes and grows quickly. It accounts for more than 5,000 new cases of leukemia each year. ALL is the most common type of leukemia in children. It also affects adults.
• Acute myeloid leukemia (AML): AML affects myeloid cells and grows quickly. It accounts for more than 13,000 new cases of leukemia each year. It occurs in both adults and children.