Minor Update & Thank You

First of all, I want to mention a few things that Layne hasn't. He tends to be a lot less wordy than I am and that's probably a good thing, but I'm going to keep blabbing on here either way and add a few points that, alongside the other news, seem rather minor but I feel should be mentioned:

• The chest tube in Jenni's left side is useless at this point, and they clamped it off yesterday. The doctors intend to remove it today. I asked if removing it would be more traumatic than leaving it but Dr. Katz explained that if it isn't functioning, it is more dangerous in than out (and Judi agreed). Out it will go.
• Jenni's labs are showing signs of improvement in both the blood and the kidneys. The kidneys are probably only improving because of the dialysis (because she is still on several of the drugs that negatively affect the kidneys), but the improved blood work is a good sign, in my humble opinion. Yesterday was also the second day in a row that Jenni didn't need a blood transfusion.
• Jenni's temperature dropped yesterday morning, so they put her under a heated blanket. Her temperature returned to normal, but I hope they keep the heated blanket. If she was awake and aware right now, she would want it on, so I hope it will still be there when I get there in the morning.

Now that those points are out there, I want to thank everyone who has been checking on Jenni...

• everyone who has continued to pray
  
• those of you who have helped accumulate the 7000+ visits over the last three days that I could check the numbers (and probably several times that number before Google Analytics started counting)
  
• the people in all of the 18 countries who have visited the site (USA, Brazil, Canada, Finland, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Switzerland, Panama, Israel, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Australia, Latvia, Spain, Denmark
• the people in all of the 45 states who have visited
• the 75 followers and 157 people who have signed up for email updates
  
• the people whose traffic has generated over $1500 through Adsense to help pay the family's expenses as we stand vigil nearby
• the people who have donated money, both online and in person... unfortunately I've lost count of the amount... but it has helped

 I hope I feel like updating more often. Describing this as a rollercoaster of emotions would be the underestimate of... the year? the decade? my lifetime? However, I feel confident today that things will be okay... I am not in control. We all know who is... and I trust Him.

And I want to give Layne a special thank you for taking over "updating the peeps" in the times I've been a wreck.

Introduction

Jenni has now been at Duke Medical Center for eight days. We don't have too much information on exactly what has been happening with her health, but we do know that things went downhill fast the first weekend of March and have pretty much stabilized since we arrived. We do know the following:

• She has graft vs. host disease in her eyes and mouth (not the primary concern, but frustrating for her).
• She has fluid in her lungs, and a bronchoscopy showed evidence that there had been bleeding in the lungs as well (DAH). They are treating the fluid with lasix (which will also help her kidneys, from what I understand) and the rest with steroids.
• She has CMV, which appears to be the main thing affecting her lungs.
  
• She has TTP (thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura), which is what the focus of the treatments have been on. They're treating this with plasmapheresis. The doctors seem to think that this is the driving factor behind the other issues.
  
• Her blood sugar is bouncing all over the place. This morning it was 96 (normal range) but it has been as high as 500+. They have a bag of IV insulin running at all times.
• She has extreme joint pain in her legs that no one seems to understand, but that they have treated with diloted (hope I spelled that correctly). It might be because of the increased steroids, but it might also be due to fluid buildup from her poor kidney functions.

In any case, there are so many things going wrong right now that I have probably forgotten something, so please forgive me if I have. I'm beginning this project to help fund Jenni's caregivers (short term goal) and cover any other medical expenses that arise due to her current condition (long term goal). On this site, you'll mainly find updates on Jenni's condition, but you may also see the occasional post about Adsense or my goal of making money online while Jenni is out on disability and I'm missing so much work.

Hopefully we'll be able to generate enough traffic to help pay the bills. Notice the emphasis on traffic. Although there is an option to donate at the bottom of the page, all you need to do is visit the page to help us out financially (thanks to Adsense). Thanks for everyone's support and prayers!