It's February Eve

Hi everyone, long time no post. I wanted to wait until I had some updated info to share. Today Elijah had his catheter put in place for his stem cell transplant. It went relatively well, except for the part when he woke up during the procedure because the anesthesia wore off. Needless to say, he had some choice words for all within earshot. Upon realizing he could feel the doctor shoving the catherter in the veins in his neck his "locker room" mouth came out of hiding. That would explain why the doctor looked so shaken when he came to get me after the procedure was over. (lol) Fortunately, the pain has subsided and the "locker room" mouth can retreat for another long hibernation.

We met with his main doctor this afternoon and he explained, in detail, what Elijah would be facing with the transplant. Of course Mr. Alexander's whole attitude was, whatever, let's just get this show on the road. Doc said Elijah's, lungs, liver, heart and kidneys functioning perfectly. He even said his kidneys are actually working above normal. After the transplant we just have to make sure he is careful to not be around any bad germs so that his immune system can come back strong.

Today I had a brief moment (in between dr.'s appts.) when I started feeling bad about our boys having to deal with this at such a young age. God sure has a way of gut checking you when you need it. About 10 minutes after I was wallowing in my self-imposed pity party I heard my computer say *ding*, indicating that I had a new e-mail. I saw that it came from L'il Eli's room mom so I clicked on it assuming she'd be telling me what I needed to bring for whichever party they're having this month. Sadly though it was an e-mail informing the parents that the father of a fourth grader in another class had passed away from cancer yesterday. I remember when he was diagnosed the year before. So after I stopped crying for this family I realized how lucky we are to still have Big Eli here. We're lucky that he's responding so well to the treatment. We're lucky that he's strong enough to go through this transplant which WILL put the cancer into remission for, prayerfully, several years. We're lucky that we have so many friends and family that are stepping up to the plate and helping us. We're lucky that we have so many people praying for us. We're lucky that we're learning how precious life is and not to take things for granted because none of us are promised tomorrow.

February is the month that will get my husband back on track. Come March he'll be getting back on his feet. It's funny how things work out. He's on pace to be full strength come football season. I know he looks forward to donning the purple and silver and leading his little Wildcats back to the championship. I'm just ready to see him feeling good and off medication. I'm ready to see his swagger full-time and not just on good days. I'm just ready.

I want to end this entry with an update from Erin about her marathon she ran in honor of my husband and Cecilia Romanski, enjoy...

Hi all

I just want to send a note of thanks for the support you all gave for the P.F. Changs Marathon in Arizona. We alll survived,had a lot of fun and finished at or better than our goals. It was very emotional. I cried for the first two miles until I finally got ahold of myself. It seemed almost everyone was running for someone. People had written names on their arms and legs and had pictures of their loved ones pinned to them.I was nervous that I might not finish the race.Then I realized what I was doing was so very insignificant compared to what Cecilia and Elijah and their families have already been through and a strange calm came over me.I knew I could do it.I thought a lot about the two families during the race, especially at mile 17,18 and 19 when the pain started to set in.I felt strong and proud to be helping in some way no matter how small. So I thank all of you who donated or reached out to someone who is in need.I feel for me the race has really just started and I can continue to reach out and make a difference and let The Romanski and Alexander families know we are here for them.

Sincerely

Erin Bresnahan.

Here's a quick update: On Tuesday Eli had his fourth of four scheduled chemos. Once again his numbers looked good. The only one that was a little off was his red blood cell count, but that's just because he's going through chemo. He's gained weight and he's on track for his last procedure. In a couple of weeks we'll start preparing him for his marrow wash (marrow transplant using his own stem cells). He'll be out of sight for several days because his immune system will be weak as he recovers from the procdure, but the hope is that this procedure will further ensure his chances of a lengthy remission from the myeloma.

He played golf again on Thursday (now the 3rd time in a week) and he's conducting business as usual in the meantime.

The kids are doing well. L'il Eli has lots of baseball tryouts going on and Evan is glad X-mas break is over so he can get back to playing basketball.

I'm hangin' in there. I took the t-shirt biz on the road again this week and worked on orders as he received his chemo on Tuesday. It's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have the internet or a phone in front of you.

Thanks for listening, thank you for the prayers, and as always,

PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING!!!!!!!!

Love ya,

Kimberly

Hi folks! What an amazing start to the new year it has been! Elijah is feeling better than he's felt ever since he caught that cold back in November, so much so that's gone golfing twice this week! Tomorrow we go in for the last round of chemo before they begin preparing him for the stem cell collection and transplant. With all of that being said I'm going to keep this update short while we have some words from a freind of mine, Erin Bresnahan. Erin's husband was Eli's coach in Indy and Oakland and once she was informed of his condition she contacted me about some plans that she and her friends had to bring awareness to others about multiple myeloma and cancer. Oddly enough we know another family that has been affected by this same cancer, Bobby and Cecilia Romanski. The Romanski's are in the same battle as we are. Cecilia was diagnosed with mulitple myeloma last year too. In her honor (and now Eli's as well) they want me to share this with you:

Dear Friends and Family,

As many of you know we have all decided to try to undertake a task that we were very unsure, and still are, that we could achieve; we decided to participate in a marathon/half marathon event in Arizona on January 15th. Erin and Kiersten are running in the full marathon, Barbara and Tiffany are running in the half marathon, and Annette, Nancy and Van Tri will be walking in the half marathon. We have chosen to do this in honor of our dear friend Cecilia who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in July. She is not only an inspiration to us with her courage, strength and determination, but also always a dear friend, confidant, and someone who we all aspire to emulate.


Of course for those of you who know and love us, we missed the sign-ups for the official Team in Training fundraising event. We are trying to still make a difference by asking for all of your help in our fight against cancer by asking for your donations in Cecilia’s honor. As we run/ walk on January 15th we would love for all of you to make a donation to one of the listed cancer foundations below. You may call, email or snail mail a donation to any of the following foundations:


AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY
P.O. Box 22718
Oklahoma City, OK 73123-1718
www.cancer.org
1-800-ACS-2345


LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY
Donor Services
P.O. Box 4072
Pittsfield, MA 01202
www.leukemia-lymphoma.org


As we make our way toward our ultimate goal, which is the finish line, we ask that you help in a more important goal which is raising money for the research in all of our fight against cancer. We thank you all for your help and support in our endeavor.


With much love,


Annette, Barbara, Erin, Kiersten, Nancy, Tiffany and Van Tri

This is a message for my friends and family who posted comments to my blog. I am embarrassed to admit that I had not received them until tonight. My friend Erin sent me a message and it came through my e-mail. When I clicked on a link in her e-mail it allowed me to view the other 37 messages that have been left for us since November. I am so sorry. I told y'all I wasn't computer literate. Now I have to go back and read the darn directions on this thing. Shoot. Keep posting messages, now that I know where to look for them I will get them. By the way, I'm in a better mood today. Elijah is doing well. He was actually out all day looking for new clothes and running errands. The man ain't slowin' down. Let me run. I am going to sleep early because tomorrow the kidlets go back to school.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

Love ya, Kimberly

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone, I just want to go on ahead and put it out there:

2006 is going to be great year!

Last year, well before Elijah got sick, I told people that 2005 was an emotional year for me because we were celebrating our 10 year anniversary and renewing our vows. I was feeling extra mushy at times and people even teased me about it. I was so wrapped up in planning the service, writing our vows, and wondering what my new ring would look like. But that was last year and things have changed. The Alexander's spent New Year's Eve at church and brought in the new year with a prayer.

Elijah is feeling about as good as can be expected. He is getting tired of feeling uncomfortable and isolated (we're all so paranoid about getting him sick that we keep our distance). He knows that he's headed in the right direction, health wise, he's just ready to be there already. I'll be scheduling the final chemo tomorrow. Then we'll set up his time for his bone marrow transplant. That won't happen until the end of February. My dad will be back to help with the boys so I can help the big man down the final stretch.

Please keep him lifted in prayer. No, please keep us lifted in prayer. I was telling my uncle Mike that Elijah's spirit is better than mine. I am still a little bitter about all of this. I know life is not fair, I know God doesn't put anything on us we can not handle, I know this is God's will, I know that if I trust in the Lord everything will be okay, but I still have an attitude. I'm just going to have to work on that. I just needed to get that off my chest and put it out there because it's the truth.

Thank you so much for the phone calls, the wonderful Christmas cards and pictures. You all have some beautiful families. Hug the kids, kiss your spouses, tell them how much they mean to you because you just never know. When I went to the doctor's on Friday (because of that bad cold) I reluctantly ended up at the E-Care center I first took Eli to when we were trying to figure out why he was in so much pain. I walked past the chair my husband was sitting in when he told me he felt like he was dying. Being in that place brought back some strong memories I wish I didn't have. At the same time though I appreciated that place because if it wasn't for the doctor's honesty Elijah would have gone home instead of going to the hospital and he may not have made it through the night. But he did. He's still here and he's still fighting and we're going to make 2006 'da bomb! (smile)

Love ya much! Kimberly