Oct 29

Hello All,

Well, here we are the end of October and Lindsey had her last radiation treatment on Tuesday, October 26th!!!!!  We are all so thankful to have come this far.  It's been quite a journey to this point and not that we are anywhere near being done but we are happy this segment of treatment is finally over.  As you may recall from the last update, they had to delay treatment for over a week because Lindsey's white blood count had dropped to very dangerous levels.  They waited to see if her body would recover on its own, which it did after that week.  Normal count is around 5, hers at its worst was 1.7, after taking a break from the radiation for a week it was up in the 3's, which was very encouraging.  The radiation left burns from her ears down to the tip of her spine.  Also, she developed aneroxia plasia, which was brought on by the radiation.  We know that she has already lost alot of weight but she dropped even lower with the reduced blood count.  It is a vicious cycle where the nausea brought on by the radiation causes the person to not want to eat because the body will just expell it.  Anorexia plasia means that even though Lindsey might not be feeling ill on a given day, her mind and body are not used to wanting to eat food and not have a negative reaction.  When her uncle, a licensed dietician, told her that she should be on a feeding tube, "Lindsey the Determined" stepped up to plate to not let that be an option.  She is now eating even when she doesn't want to and hasn't lost anymore weight.  She eats whatever sounds good, which includes alot of Taco Amigo extra crispy, extra salty french fries!  I guess you can't get alot more fattening than that!!  We are definitely glad she is eating.  The nausea has calmed down a great amount which is a huge blessing. 

On Tuesday, at her radiation appointment, patients get to ring a large brass bell mounted on the wall in honor of their last treatment.  Josh was on hand and video'd the ringing of the bell and I will send that out when Josh gets it to me.  You may also check her FB page of Lindsey Kae Robinson Karr, as Josh will post it there as well.  Also, in honor of her last treatment and to have a laugh at the expense of the radiologists, Lindsey had Josh create a faux tatoo on her lower back which was a lochness monster at the rim of her pants and below that the phrase "Crack kills" on her bum!  You can imagine the radiologists faces when they saw that!!  If you don't know Lindsey well, or are family who have never met her this will sum it up for you.  On Tuesday I sent her a text following her treatment telling her congratulations.  Her response was this "Thanks Julie!  I'm pretty spanking happy today! I love my life!!"  It made me cry when I received it and it made me cry to type it here.  Can you believe that?!!  When you think your troubles are overwhelming I want you to remember how Lindsey feels and move forward.  We all may not have specific time lines and achievements such as Lindsey but if a girl who has gone thru what she has can say that she loves her life then there is no excuse for the rest of us.  My daughter Jessica, who lives in Canada, said "I know what is going on and what she is having to deal with it but when I talk to her on the phone you would never know what she is going thru.  She is always so optimistic and happy"  Carpe diem everyone!  Seize the day!!!