September 26, 2006

We are finally heading home. We wanted to thank all of you for your efforts in trying to help us arrange a private jet to get us there. The response we had was unbelievable and we really appreciate all your help.
As we were about to leave yesterday for a 20 hour or more dreaded car ride we got a phone call from Corporate Angels with a flight for us today direct to Vero Beach. I couldn't believe it. They are not allowed to disclose what corpoation has made this possible for us but they have made this trip just for us, what fantastic people.

Samantha had quite a few seizures yesterday and we are so thankful we were not on the road for that. Please pray we get home safely without any events!! Thank you all once again for all your efforts, love & prayers.
love,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, SAMANTHA, and Baby Jason too.

September 21, 2006

We have had quite a few eventful days here in Texas. Samantha has been having some trouble once again with seizures. We have been making some adjustments to level her out again as she was really doing better the past two weeks. Hopefully we will see an improvement by the weekend and hope to get home sometime tuesday.
In the middle of all that chaos we welcomed Samanthas new little brother, Jason Edward, to our family. He was born on Tuesday evening and is doing well. We were discharged from the hospital today and are glad to be back with the rest of our family. We are still working on a way to get everyone home safely without exposing the baby to to many people and hope to have final plans by tomorrow. Please continue to pray for Samantha and the safe return of our family to Vero Beach. Thank you for your continues love and support.
Love,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, Samantha, & Jason too!!

September 13, 2006

Samantha is doing well, getting stronger every day. She is very happy to have Christopher here in Texas with her. He keeps her busy and it is great for her to have someone to play with. Today we took them to the Aquarium and she actually walked through the whole place. Although it was not that big it was a lot more than she has done in a long time and handled it well. We all enjoyed being out for the first time in a while and they had some pretty neat exhibits there.
We have still been going to the clinic daily and it looks like she will be discharged early next week. When we are able to come home she will continue her treatments there. This of course will depend on the arrival of her little brother, as we can not travel until he is born. We were at the doctor yesterday and he plans to induce labor on Monday if it does not happen before then.
We have been inquiring about a private jet to get us home as we do not want to expose a new born baby to a public airport or put Samantha through that commotion. Driving may be difficult as we will have to make to many stops but need to get home in a timely manner because of Samanthas lab schedule. We are asking if anyone has a connection to facilitate this for us to please let us know, it would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you all for your continued prayers & support.
With love & hope,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, & Samantha

September 10, 2006

Samantha is on day 11 of her new treatment and is doing pretty well today. She had a rough few days with vomitting and being very unsteady on her feet. She had a drop in her potassium because of all the vomitting and had to start a supplement. She also had her steroid increased which seems to be helping as well. The doctors are hopeful that if they see improvement with the increase in steroids it could be an indication that she has some intercranial pressure which would be from the tumor responding to the medicine. We are sharing that hope with all we have and are working once again to get her stronger and rebuild her appetite. She did a little better today than yesterday and with any luck tomorrow she will show some more improvement.
We are still not sure exactly when we will be heading home. Hopefully we will know more this week. Please continue to pray for her.
With Love,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, and Samantha

September 2, 2006

Samantha is on her third day of her new treatment and seems to be tolerating the increase every day. Her MRI of the spine came out negative which of course was a huge relief. We had a PET scan done yesterday but have not received the results yet. She has had very long days this week and is quite tired but is looking good and still smiling.
The next two days will be quick visits to the clinic to have her medication bags changed by the nurse, see the doctor and have some labs drawn. Her results from yesterday looked real good. Her platelets have recovered tremendously (they are higher than mine) and her white blood is above 4 which we have not seen in many months. We met with the nutritionist yesterday and got some ideas of how to keep her sodium low and potassium up. Her appetite seems to be coming back but we have to watch everything she eats. The medicine she is getting is known to increase sodium levels but it is easy enough to balance it out with her intake.
Kurt and I have been learning how to pack her medication bags, flush her line, program her pump and administer emergency meds through her port. It has been a little overwhelming but as we do it each day it should come pretty easy. We hope so anyway.
Baby Britton remains content where he is and so far no signs of labor. We are hoping for another week or so of training with Samanthas meds before he makes his debut!! Not to long though... as Samantha should be done here around the 20th. We would like to be able to get home as soon as she is through but obviously won't be able to travel unless the baby is born. Christopher is at home with Grandma & Grandpa and seems to be doing good. We all miss him terribly and wish he was here with us.
We will continue to update as we progress and as always please keep the prayers alive for Samantha.
With Love,
Audra, Kurt, Christopher, & Samantha