AmberLee Jensen

Clean Bill Of Health!!!

admin — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 20:05:00 +0000

I am going to be posting pretty much everything on our family blog now. I will keep AmberLee’s blog accesible but I will no longer be posting there. Thank you everyone that read and made comments. It was a huge boost to our moral to hear from everyone while we were going through everything.

I should have posted this last week, but I have been slacking a little bit. I am trying to rededicate myself. Two weeks ago she had a petct scan, and last week we got the results back and she has been pronounced clean of cancer!! Everything was normal. It has been a tough road and we have been so blessed.

She has been doing pretty good since she has been home. The only obstacle is getting her energy back which has been a very tough thing to overcome. Also she has been having a reaction, which is common, to always be cold. It doesn’t matter what the temperature is in the house she has 3 blankets on her. According to the doctor’s it should pass in a few months.

She had a bone marrow biopsy yesterday and we’ll find out about that next week, but everything points to the positive. I will keep things up to date as much as possible.

The Start of a New Beginning!!!

admin — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:46:10 +0000

My Dad made a comment the day we were coming home that really struck me. He said it’s like you guys are starting your life together all over again. It is so true. It just has a different feel being home together. Everything is put into a whole new perspective. I see everything through different eyes so to speak. All the things that I took for granted before I’d like to think I am not now. For example right now Brennan is helping AmberLee with her nightly IV. She has to flush her lines before she starts and Brennan likes to push them in for her. It’s moments like this that I think are taken for granted.

AmberLee is doing well. She has been a little tired from the move, and has also been very cold which we don’t quite understand yet but it is something we are going to be bringing up at her next appointment. She is very excited to be home and be able to be with her family again. It was definitely a long 3 1/2 months. It’s nice to just be able to sit outside on our own front porch together and watch Brennan ride his Tricycle he got for his birthday.

To answer Josh’s question (comment he left on the last post) Her appointment was Thursday and as soon as we got down there on Friday we were packed up and gone by 3 in the afternoon. There was no reason to stay any longer than necessary. You can imagine she wanted to get home as soon as possible.

As of right now we don’t know how long she will be on the IV’s. I just asked AmberLee that and she said, “Until they tell me to stop.” So as long as she has to do the IV’s she will have to keep in the port. She will also be going down to Salt Lake once a week for follow up appointments until further notice. Her mom will be taking her down to those, because I will be working.

All in all it has been a good first weekend home, just for the simple fact that we’re home.

The End is in Sight!!

admin — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:53:59 +0000

This Saturday is the day! She has her final appointment today and if everything goes well she will be home on Saturday! It will be so awesome to have her home and to be in our home together again. The one downfall to the whole thing is that Brennan has had so much fun living with his 2 cousins Zachy and Kyler. They play together everyday and have become very close. They will be heading back to Texas for a few months and then when Tad is deployed they will be back for a year and some change.

One thing I forgot to mention is that AmberLee is finally off the prednizone. That is a blessing in it self. It takes a toll on your body in more ways than one. Also her hair is starting to come back in. It’s still a little thin on top so she is shaving it until it comes in normal. She is so excited to come home.

I also want to send a special thanks to Sister Udy and a few other sisters in the Relief Society. They came over to our house last week and helped me a ton in getting the house ready for AmberLee to come home. The house has to be dust free for her to be able to stay there and they did an amazing job! They have been amazing! As has the entire Ward. Thank you all so very much!

With AmberLee coming home this Saturday, from what I understand, she will have been released to go home faster than anyone ever has from a bone marrow transplant from LDS hospital and their program has been in operation since the late 1970’s. I know everyone’s prayers has played a major part in that. Thank you all for everything you have done.

Also I want to thank Focus Services, AmberLee’s work. Without all they did for us we would never would have been able to make it through like we did. If ever there was a company to work for that is sincerely interested and willing to take of there employees it is Focus.

Man this is turning into a thankamony. I guess while I’m at it I’ll continue. All those that donated money and time in whatever capacity thank you so much.

Outlook is Great!

admin — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:02:09 +0000

AmberLee had her appointment with the Doctor today and everything is going great. She will finally be able to get off the prednisone on July 13th, and it’s still looking great to go home the end of this month. She also has Brennan down with her right now, and she’ll have him until Sunday night. She is starting to get her energy back and her hair is some what starting to come in. She is still shaving it until it comes in thick or she’ll look like an under watered chia pet. I can’t tell you how nice it will be to be back in our own home together again. It will be awesome. Also AmberLee’s mom is going to be getting a break and my mom is going to go stay with AmberLee for a week while she’s at girl’s camp. I don’t know if I’d consider that a break, but it will be fun for her to go camping and get away for a while. She has been so amazing to stay with AmberLee this whole time! Well that’s about it. Thank you all and I will post again soon.

Pretty Uneventful

admin — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:49:59 +0000

Well, I know it’s been a while since I last posted but in my defense it has been pretty uneventful as you see by the title. She is continuing to get better. Hopefully going to go home within the next month. It will be so nice to have her home. It has been so hard for Brennan and I not to have her with us all the time. What a blessing that you take for granted sometimes.

She still has her days where she just has no energy. Also the nausea is really bad in the mornings and she hates taking the medicine for it because it knocks her out. It’s a lose, lose situation. She did have a checkup today, and everything looked good. Nothing to report in other words.

It’s Brennan’s birthday on the 24th so we’re going to have a small birthday party for him down at her apartment. We are excited for that. He is doing so well. Speeking more and more everyday. I will be posting more pictures soon.

If there is anything in particular anyone wants to know feel free to post a comment, and stay on me about it and I will do posts answering your questions.

Thank you all,

Busy Times…

admin — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 06:18:09 +0000

This post is a long time coming. I apologize for not posting sooner. Things have been so hectic lately with work and also it makes a big difference that we don’t have internet here in the apartment. I wrote a majority of them while I was in the hospital. I will try to remember everything I need to post, but most likely I wil forget something so I apologize for that. It will be posted later.
AmberLee is doing good. She would say great, but she has had some difficult trials placed in her path. The side effects of the medicine are starting to show and they are difficult to bear in more ways that one. First off, one of the side effects of prednizone gives you a moon face, chipmunk cheeks, whatever you would like to call it. That as you can imagine has been very difficult for her. It would be for anyone. It is changing the way she looks but she is still as beautiful as ever. The positive is that it is not permanent. As soon as she goes off the prednizone her face will return to normal. Another side effect of the prednizone is achey joints. She already has a small amount of arthritis that manifests in storms but the prednizone is magnifying that and not waiting for the storms. She woke up last week I was here and she thought she had done major damage to her knee. We iced it, put daniels ointment on it and everything. Eventually it began to feel better. Then the next day it was the other knee. It is getting a little better now. Not so unbearable. She is also having severe acid reflux that is keeping her up some nights. I know this sounds horrible, but it isn’t unexpected so they have ways to help her deal with it and she is comfortable most the time.
She had another checkup last Tuesday and everything for the most part went well. She got there the first time and all the immediate tests were good, but when they got back to the apartment they received a call and they wanted her to come back to the hospital. When she got there they told her that a virus that she had been taking an experimental drug to prevent was showing up. I’m going to do a little background on this for those who don’t know what I’m talking about. There is a virus that 70% of all people have had. It is very similar to the cold (don’t quote me on that) and your body can fight it off, but the difference is that after you get this virus you will have it for the rest of your life. A normal immune system will keep it at bay and you’ll never even know that you had it let alone still have it, but a suppressed immune system, AmberLee, could end up being fatal. AmberLee was tested for this virus and was found to have it. They gave us a choice to try an experimental drug that has shown great success at stopping this virus from resurfacing. We decided to donate her body to science and give it a try. The one catch was that they needed to see the effects from both sides. The way they did this was by flipping a coin. You either received the medicine or a placebo, and that gave them the data they needed. Anyway back to the story. When she found out that this virus had resurfaced they also told her that she had received the placebo. She now has an IV she is taking twice a day to fight the virus. Everything is going well so far and no signs of any problems.
How about we flip to the good side of things. Everything else is going so well that she has been given the okay to go to restaurants and movies (matine’s only). You can imagine her excitement. She has already been to quiznos, we went to Chili’s last night, and we even went and saw Shrek yesterday, bad movie to start with but it was still fun. She has been in heaven. She is also getting a lot of her energy back. She stills gets very tired quickly. Nothing compared to the hospital though. So that is a good sign.
As I said, all in all everything is going good, and we are optimistic to come home on time. Thank you all, and we love you.

To My Family and Friends!!

admin — Thu, 31 May 2007 19:04:56 +0000

AmberLee wanted to thank everyone for all they have done. Here is a little note she asked me to post.

To My Family and Friends!!

First, to my home ward Relief Society Sisters: Thank you so much for the beautiful quilt! It was such a wonderful surprise and pleasure to receive something that is filled with so much time and love. Every square is beautiful, and I thank everyone who put their time into making it. My son loves his Mater Pillow! He thought that was pretty cool, too! Also to our Home Teachers who have been watching over our yard. You don’t know how much that means to us.

I also want to thank everyone who has done so much for us. For all the comments left on the website, for the cards and the phone calls and all the love and support we receive from all of you. Also, those of you who have put money into the donation account, Thank You! You have made it possible for us to afford to be in Salt Lake for as long as the good Doc’s are requiring (end of July is hopeful homecoming date!!)

Everything is going very well, and I know it’s due to your prayers and your love and support. Thank you all for everything you do. You are all the silver lining this particular challenge in our life has had. You have all made this so easy to bear. I love you all very much, and I cannot thank you enough.

We will continue to keep you posted on the website. I don’t have internet access, so if you need to get a hold of me, please don’t hesitate to give me a call on my cell phone, or contact me through my awesome husband. He keeps me updated on the comments you all leave, so you’ll be able to get any messages to me through him if you don’t have my cell number.

Thanks again and I love you all!!

AmberLee J

First Checkup

admin — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:30:46 +0000

My info is very limited. I’m just repeating what AmberLee told me over the phone yesterday and I guarantee you I’ll miss something. She had to be there at 10:30 in the morning. They drew her blood and did a chest x-ray. Everything was perfect with her blood work. I t was so good in fact that she doesn’t have to go back until next Tuesday. Usually during the first month they have to go in twice a week. I will be going down to see her today and if there’s anything I missed I will repost. Last I heard she is waiting still on the results of the x-ray. I have a feeling it will be perfect.

A Change of Scenery

admin — Mon, 28 May 2007 18:06:29 +0000

It has been so nice to be out of the hospital. We are now staying in the Sky Harbor Apartments in Salt Lake. We will be here for 2 months, and then we will finally be able to go home again. It is pretty nice here. Anything is better than being stuck in the hospital.
AmberLee is doing great! She has become a pill popper. She is taking 32 a day. Hopefully that won’t be for too much longer. She is also a temporary diabetic. One of the medicines she has to take makes her blood sugar very unstable and she has to give herself insulin shots. I am doing this post from my cell phone so it is going to be short and sweet. We don’t have internet access here yet, so if you want to email her please send it through me first and I will pass it along. Also posting on the webpage will get to her. Thank you all and I will post again soon.

The Big Day!!

admin — Thu, 24 May 2007 04:38:52 +0000

Well tomorrow is the big day! I just got off the phone with Amberlee and she is so excited! Tonight is her last night in the hospital! She will be staying in an apartment/hotel for a month and then with her aunt and uncle the 2nd month. It has been a journey to say the least. Hopefully we will accomplish what we’re hoping for. The transplant was to say the least a success. Now it’s just a matter of her showing within the next few months no signs of rejection. Obviously this is out of our hands, but we are optimistic just the same. It has been tough and we wouldn’t have been able to do it without everyone’s support. Thank you so much everyone!

Just a quick update with what’s been going on in the hospital. She is now eating a regular diet, and the only IV she has connected is fluids. The doctor’s are so concerned that she is drinking more when she goes home. The funny thing is she has never been a huge drinker anyway, but they’re still concerned so she’s hooked up right now, and has to go home with IV fluids when she leaves. It won’t be too bad though. They told her she only has to do it 10 hours a day so this means she can turn it on when she goes to bed and be completely untethered during the day! She is way excited about this. They also told her she can have fresh vegetables when she gets out as long as she makes sure they’re washed thoroughly before she eats. Another high point for her.

Well one step is over, and now on to the next. Hopefully these next 2 months will go by quickly and we’ll be back in our home just like nothing had ever happened.