WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2006 08:42 PM, CST

Well, another tough day. I've been really tired today. I can't explain how tired you are when you're on chemo. It's hard to even roll over.
My headaches have eased up today. I did have one tonight. I spoke with the nutritionist about my headaches and he suggested I back off the carrot juice. My body is really toxic right now. I'm not doing the juice thing today or tomorrow. I want to feel good for Em's party.
Tonight has been really tough for me emotionally. I'm having a tough time keeping my spirits up. I feel and look horrible. I don't have any energy at all. I need a lot of prayer right now.
Kelly, it was awesome talking to you this morning. Thanks for all the scripture. I'm headed to my closet shortly to do my quiet time and reflect on everything you said. And yes...I do my quiet time in my closet. It's the only place that I can hide.
Stef, thanks for calling and checking on me all the time. It's hard to be depressed when I have you to cheer me up.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, Nancy and Gary for hanging out here all day. I'm sorry I was so out of it. Mom, where do I start? Thank you for making cup cakes and allowing Emily to destroy the kitchen during that process.
January, I would love to talk to your friend. I could use the encouragement right now. Oh, tell Kevin A.K.A Spaceman I said hello.
I'm on board with the Bazooka socks. We will be jumping in style. I miss all you guys.
Debby and Jennifer, you go girls. I heard you guys walked 6 miles today at the mall. I'm so proud of you. Stef, I don't know if that would work for us. We would walk a little, eat a little, and shop a little.
Keep posting.
Blessings,
Kristina

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2006 08:56 PM, CST

Well, I'm up and out of bed. This has been rough. I'm not sure where all the side effects are from...the shot or chemo.
This diet is really kicking my bootie too. Stef, I'm sticking to it the best I can. It probably wasn't the best idea to start an all natural diet the week you start a new chemo. I've been praying a ton and I'm getting through it.
Thanks for all the sweet posts. You guys have no idea what they mean to me. Mel, thank you for asking for prayer that I would feel well enough for Em's party. Thanks for thinking about her. I'm not missing that for the world. It's not every day my sweet little girl turns four. She is so excited!
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Schlegel for helping us out with the girls. I really appreciate it. They love spending time with you both.
Stef, where do I start? Thank you and Katie for spending all Sunday juicing for me. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull that one off. I'm having a rough time with the tomato and beet juice. I'm working up to it. I am able to get most of the carrot and apple down. It should get easier and easier.....I hope.
I haven't had much of an appetite on this chemo. I'm really having to force myself to eat and drink.
This has been the toughest week of my life. I do have such a peace though.
I'm sorry I haven't talked to anyone. I have literally had my phone off the hook most of the time. I've never had headaches like these. I pray the worst is over.
John is giving the girls a bath and we're off to bed.
Keep posting!
Blessings,
Kristina

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2006 09:14 PM, CST

This is John again. Kristina asked me to make a quick post. Her head hurts, her bones hurt and she's nauseous. She is just trying to take it easy until this passes. This is definitely the most aggressive chemotherapy she's taken to date. We just pray that this is an indication of how well it is working.
She would like to get back on her normal routine as soon as possible. But right now the rest is more important. Please pray that all of these symptoms will go away and that the chemotherapy is working.
And keep posting! She is reading the posts periodically and they really encourage her.
John

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2006 05:18 PM, CST

This is John. Kristina is resting. This Doxil is tough stuff. It has really hit her hard today.
Please pray for Kristina's quick recovery from this round of treatment. Her head hurts badly and her bones are very achy as though she has the flu. She has very little energy.
Now for the good news. She has, as many of you know, really adjusted her thinking in the past few days on how she is going to approach the rest of this journey. She has a fighting mentality and, more importantly, a trusting mentality. She is convinced that God can and will heal her. We are going to do everything we can on this end from a nutritional standpoint, a physical support standpoint and a prayer standpoint. The rest is God's work. But we believe as the Roman centurion believed in Luke 7 that God will answer her plea for healing and that we can trust Him fully for it. Please join us in showering the throne of our Lord with requests for Kristina's healing.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement. Keep posting! It really helps Kristina.
John

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 09, 2006 08:01 PM, CST

Well, today went really well. I was in a little pain this morning, but it was tolerable.
I met my sisters in Christ and they read scripture to me and prayed with me. It was AWESOME! Thank you all so much for being there with me. The scripture and devotionals you guys shared were awesome. I love each of you so much!
Rhonda, it was AWESOME seeing you! You're as cute as ever.
My brother, Stef and I met with Dr. Toomey (Raefsky's partner). He didn't see any reason to not go forward with Doxil. The bone scan didn't show any active cancer in my bones. Praise God. They're still not sure where all the pain is coming from. Thank you Stef for sitting with me for 3 hours. It was nice to have you there to laugh with. You're right. I've go to stop fretting so much. Debby, I'm trying so hard. I'm glad you struggle with that too.
I know God is going to take this pain from me and Doxil is going to work. I hand this completely over to Him. I pray that this is His battle. I would just mess it up if it was mine.
I've been praying and praying about my diet since June when I was diagnosed. I haven't had a peace about it. Stef and I spoke with a lady June that I mentioned in my journal last night. She gave me so much HOPE. I thank God that He put her in my life at the right time.
I've decided to do an all raw food/juicing diet for 90 days along with supplements. My weight is up and I feel led to do it. For the first time I have a peace about it. I prayed that my nurse and oncologist would support my decision and they do. Praise God!
Stef, has decided to do the diet with me. I love her. We went today and bought everything to hopefully get started on Saturday. Please pray that I will continue to have a peace about this.
I'm back in fight mode. I can't wait to see what God is going to do next. He is an amazing God and I give Him all the glory.
I go in the morning to have the neulasta shot to help with my white cell count. I really hate that shot. It makes me feel like I have the flu. Please pray the side effects to that will be minimal.
I love all the posts. Thank you all so much for the encouragement. I don't know what I would do without all of you. I love you all so much.
Blessings,
Kristina

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 08, 2006 09:17 PM, CST

I’m sorry I didn’t journal yesterday. I was in so much pain. Today has been a lot better. I went and had the MUGA scan and my heart is strong enough to start Doxil. I will start that in the morning at 10:30.
My sisters in Christ are going to meet me at the hospital at 9:30 and pray over me. I’m looking forward to that. What a precious time that is for me. I’m just ready to see what God is going to do with this next chemo. I give Him all the glory.
Thank you June for talking to me and Stef last night. You’re an inspiration to me. I really needed some hope and God used you to give me that. I was so convicted about my FAITH.
Alan, thank you for your message tonight. You have no idea how much I needed to hear that. God is so good.
Thank you Nancy and Gary for keeping the girls for us. Thank you mom for hanging out with me today. It was a lot of fun.
Lisa, thank you for taking care of Abby tonight. You’re truly a blessing to my girls. Would it be wrong for Em to stay in your class until she starts going to the youth group? :
-)
John, we sure are missing you. Please be safe. We can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
Teri, are you ready for the task at hand? Details to come!
Thanks for all the posts. You guys are AWESOME! I really needed the encouragement. Keep posting.
Blessings,
Kristina

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2006 09:17 PM, CST

Hello everyone!
Well, I'm glad today is over. I was hurting so bad this morning. I was prepared to go to the ER. I was done with all the pain.
Stef took me to have the bone scan and to my Dr. office to get the results of the scan I had on Thursday and MORE DRUGS. Thank you Stef for driving all over Nashville. Also, thanks for just listening. I don't know what I would do without you.
Sara (my nurse practitioner), gave me some better pain medicine and it has made this afternoon a lot better. I was starting to go crazy from all the pain.
My blood pressure was really high today, but they think it's due to all the pain I was experiencing. I will continue to take my blood pressure medicine until we can get it under control.
I go back to see Dr. Raefsky's partner on Thursday and I will start my new chemo as well. I'm not sure what to expect. They said it may cause some nausea and I'll probably be tired for a couple of days. This chemo will also make my white cell count drop. I will have to be really careful around anyone that may be sick. I say bring it on. I'm ready to get started. Please pray this will work.
Thanks for all your prayers and posts. It was nice to come home and read so much encouragement. You have no idea how much I needed it.
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Schlegel for giving Emily such a fun day. She hasn't stopped talking about playing at the park. I really appreciate all you guys are doing for me right now. Are you sure you're up for Abby tomorrow night?
Mom, where do I start? Thank you for being everything to everyone in this house. Please continue to pray for my mom. She is AMAZING!
Keith, thanks for your post. Your little sister isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I just had a little setback. I'm back in fight mode. I'm just going to assume that God's will is for me beat this. Until He lets me know otherwise.....I'm fighting this with all I have. Oh, Emily wants to know if we can have Sam? :-)
I hope everyone had a GREAT Monday. I will keep everyone posted on how this week goes.
I'm off to give two little girls a bath.
Blessings,
Kristina

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2006 11:35 AM, CST

UPDATE:
This is John.
Kristina had an appointment with a nurse practitioner in her oncologist’s office today. The results from her Thursday scan were back. The cancer in her liver is worse than it originally was at the beginning of this process. Having said that, there were only two lesions on her liver to begin with so I don’t think it’s as though her liver is covered with cancer. However, it’s concerning enough to them that they want to start her on another chemotherapy quickly.
This reoccurrence is what’s been causing her severe pain the past few days. There is also a bit of cancer back on one of her lungs—right down at the bottom where her pain is. The breast is worse than it was originally as well but that seems to be the least of their worries. Her blood pressure is still way too high at 159/100. We have medication for it but as I type this I’m not sure if she’s been steadily taking it.
Kristina’s bone scan is happening at 11:00am this morning. She has a MUGA scan on Wednesday which will determine her heart’s ability to handle the medication they’re thinking about giving her—Doxil. We are checking with other oncologists to see if this course of action is what they’d recommend as well.
Thursday she is scheduled to see the other oncologist in Dr. Raefsky’s practice as he’s out of town. Right after that appointment she’ll start some sort of chemotherapy for sure.
Kristina will have a new pain medication to start taking as soon as she gets out of her bone scan that should work better for her. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more.
KEEP PRAYING!!

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 05, 2006 06:40 PM, CST

It's Kristina. I wanted to journal and say hello to everyone.
Today has been tough. I was able to go to church this morning. Thanks Stef, Teri and mom for hanging out with me. Thanks for letting me cry. I was really emotional and having a lot of pain this morning. My church family prayed over me. Thank you guys. I love all of you so much.
I go in the morning for a bone scan. John is going to try to get me in to see a Dr. tomorrow or Tuesday to get the results of the scan I had Thursday. The pain in my lung is getting to be more than I can endure.
I'm having a really hard time emotionally. I'm trying really hard to hand this over to God. This has been the hardest thing. The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; And He knows those who trust in Him. Nahum 1:7
Thank you Nancy and Gary for spending the day with us. I'm sorry I was in bed most of the day. Thanks for taking Emily tonight. She sure loves you guys.
Please continue to pray that this pain will go away.
Stef, I'll see you bright and early. Thanks for your friendship. Thanks for always being willing to cry with me. Let's try to have a good day tomorrow. I can't wait to see that girl that thought you were my mom. I love it. :-)
Mel, thanks for the post. You're AWESOME! You really busted out this morning singing. Tell Brian that Stef and I are thinking about joining the choir. Just kidding. And who knows, maybe I'll need to take Teri and you up on your offer for the hook up! :-)
Lisa, I wanted to tell you thank you for always taking Abby for me. Thank you for making church/nursery such wonderful time for both of my girls. Also, thank you to all the nursery workers. I haven't been in nursery in a while and I appreciate everyone that serves in there.
I'm off to bed early. Kae, I may watch your movies. I promise I'm going to give them back. You can start charging me if you'd like. I've only had them 4 months or so.
Thanks for all the sweet posts today. Keep posting! I could really use the encouragement right now.
Blessings,
Kristina

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2006 11:58 PM, CST

It's John again. I just wanted to let you all know how much Kristina appreciates your prayers and all of your encouraging posts.
She has not been in a position to say much since our latest findings last week. She is just trying to spend as much time as possible resting and connecting with the Lord to give her strength.
Please continue to pray that her pain will subside, that we'll get good results from her tests next week and that we'll be able to start some sort of treatment next week. The Lord is calling us to trust Him exclusively on this. There is really no medicine or no doctor that can give us the sort of answers or assurance we need right now. It is only going to come from the Lord. Pray that Satan will not be able to influence Kristina's thought life right now. She is very vulnerable to it and he is very crafty.
We hope that Kristina can make it to church tomorrow. She would love to see all of you if she physically can.
Thank you Keith and Jenni for the great meal tonight. I know Kristina had a lot of fun. I did as well.
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Schlegel for taking such good care of the girls today. Emily is especially enjoying her time with you.
Keep praying!
John

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2006 01:19 PM, CST

Here is an update from John from my appt. today:
Kristina saw her oncologist today. The Xeloda has not been working--at least on the effected areas we can see (lymph nodes). The tumor in her breast has grown as well.
She is going in today at 2:45 for a CT scan that will show us where we are on the liver, lungs and breast. She will have a bone scan on Monday that will show us where we are there. The bone scan was prompted by pain Kristina has been experiencing in her shoulder and last night in her lower back. It is caused by one of three things; 1) an unrelated shoulder and/or back injury, 2) sensitive nerves affected by the swollen lymph nodes or 3) bone cancer. A bone scan is the only way to confirm or rule out option number 3.
If there is bone cancer present there will likely be radiation and then a new chemotherapy called Doxil. It is an intravenous drug administered once every four weeks. If there is no bone cancer present, they will just start the Doxil without radiation.
Dr. Raefsky said that if the Doxil doesn't work they will likely want to put her into a more experimental scenario that would be administered at Centennial where they have many more trials. They're competitive with the MD Andersons of the world. But apparently Doxil is the no-brainer for now.
Kristina is understandably scared. Please pray for her strength physically, emotionally and spiritually right now. We know beyond any doubt that she is in God's hands and this is in His timing and under His control. We need prayer that we can submit to that and think about that instead of the myriad of negatives that could otherwise consume us.
Thank you for all of your encouragement, prayer and support.
John Schlegel

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 02, 2006 07:22 AM, CST

What a cold day it is this morning! I didn't want to get out of bed. You can tell November has arrived.
My little Cubbie said her verse last night. I think Diana and Michelle were actually able to understand her.
Stef, I forgot to tell you that when I saw Matthew...he said Missss Stina. I've missed you. It was the cutest thing.
Teri, how is Hayden doing? I've had Strep and it's no fun. I hope he will be back on Sunday night. I have to have my little singer standing behind me. We missed you guys.
Great message last night Pastor Alan!
Mel, how are you doing? I heard you had some funk. I hope you start feeling better.
Stef, you looked GREAT!!!! Are you hungry this morning? How is that juice fast treating you. Kelly, I think Stef has considered melting chocolate and drinking it. Anything liquid goes right?? :-)
Corb, thanks for sending me the juice. I'm going to try it this morning. I'll keep you posted. I know John appreciates your friendship so much. He will probably get mad at me for saying this but I hope you can go to Chicago with him.
Thanks Kae for telling me that Marble Slab had sugar free icecream. I did take Jonathan, but I didn't get any. I was very tempted though.
Well, I'm off to get everyone ready for the day. I have a Dr. appt. today. Please pray that the lymph nodes will continue to shrink. I think the one in my neck may be getting larger again. I'm not sure if I will continue another round on this chemo or not. Please pray that God gives Dr. Raefsky the wisdom to know exactly what I need.
Also, I've been having some pain in my shoulder and lower back. It gets pretty intense at times. This isn't a side effect to the chemo. I'm not sure what's going on. John and I are going to talk to the Dr. about it today. Please pray that this will go away.
Enough about all of that. I hope everyone has an AWESOME day.
Keep posting!
Blessings,
Kristina

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 01, 2006 07:08 AM, CST

Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone is having a good week so far.
We got back around 2:00 pm yesterday. I was so excited to get back and see my sweet girls. Thank you mom for taking such good care of them. It sounds like they had a good time while we were away.
Teri, it sounds like Hayden and Emma had a good time. I'm sure you took many pictures. The weather was kind of yucky for awhile.
We went to Watertown and did our traditional chili and grilled cheese sandwhiches. We all had a GREAT time. I was worn out though. Emily was bouncing off the walls. She finally crashed around 10:00 and is still sleeping. It was nice to see some of my old Watertown friends. Thanks Kristie and Mark for coming over and saying hello.
Grandma Schlegel, Emily was pretty disappointed when we came home without you guys. She can't wait to see you both. Keep us posted on where you are.
Kelly, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for taking care of everything for John while we were away. He was so relaxed! He maybe made two calls the whole time we were gone! Can you believe that? Thanks for being "him" for a couple of days.
Stef, I'm up and doing my abs workout or somewhat. I forgot how hard this workout is. I may have to modify it a little.
Well, I'm off to get ready. I have to go to the Dr. this morning and tomorrow. Back to reality. I feel GREAT though.
I can't wait to see my church family tonight. My little Cubbie has been practicing her verse. Is anyone elses three year old having trouble saying resurrection? I hope Michelle and Diana can tell what Em is saying. It sounds like she is saying election. :-)
Keep Posting!
Blessings,
Kristina