To help navigate through the entries made to this site, we have created links to each of the entry days.

Entries 1- 8 have moved to the DeLisi Email Archives

Entries 9-18 have moved to Page2 of the Email Archives  

Entry 19 July 1, 2001 Treatment Day 47
Entry 20 July 2, 2001 Treatment Day 48
Entry 21 July 4, 2001 Treatment Day 50
Entry 22 July 7, 2001 Treatment Day 55
Entry 23 July 14, 2001 Treatment Day 62
Entry 24 July 25, 2001 Treatment Day 72
Entry 25 July 26 Treatment Day 73
Entry 26 July 29 Treatment Day 77
Entry 27 July 30 Treatment Day 78

Hey all.

Just a quick note to notify you that tomorrow we will begin the first of Ariana’s inpatient chemotherapy stays. We wouldn’t dream of beginning something like this without asking for your support in prayer. We will be admitted in the AM, will have a spinal tap with chemo given in her spinal fluid, and will be given a 24 hour infusion of a very high dose of Methotrexate. This is the medicine that commonly gives nausea and mouth sores. The medicine given in her spinal fluid can cause problems with her mental function (long term more so than immediate). We will be there for 3 days barring no complications. I will begin my normal responsibilities of residency starting tomorrow as well. While I will still be present for all of the “big” stuff, I will be gone most of the time, esp during the day. Fortunately, this is a rather light month, so I will be eased in gently. Also, I am done with my intern year, so the frequency of call is much less (Praise God).

Ways we would appreciate you to pray:
1. good tolerance of Methotrexate (i.e., protection from both short term and long term side effects)
2. no complications for spinal tap under sedation
3. grace for our family to balance demands of residency with this new phase of treatment
4. His continued Peace in the present moment

Thank you so much for your prayers. We appreciate each one.

Craig for the DeLisi’s

Well, we are home today, not at the hospital after all. We went this AM with the expectation of being admitted for the three days, but when they drew blood, they noted that Ariana was neutropenic (low white blood cell count). This could be from the chemo or from exposure to a virus. This just reminded us why we continue to take precaution for infection with her. Methotrexate is not given unless the counts are higher. They want us to come back on Thursday to see if her counts are up and get admitted then if they are.

I (not Tonya) left the clinic frustrated and angry. I wish I could say it was because of her situation, but it wasn’t. It was because I was frustrated that I had planned my schedule around all this 3-day admission, which would now cover 3 new days. If we go in on Thursday, I will have to rush to a presentation that I am giving that afternoon. I am also on call all day and night Saturday. These are both things that would have been avoided had we gone in today. As I fumed in the car on the way home, I looked back at Ariana in the seat smiling and laughing and realized how selfish I am. She matters much more than my schedule does, even if it means missing important things here and there. I remembered that I am so thankful that she is in remission and doing well. I have a feeling that this long treatment regimen is not going to be a neat and tidy thing. I think there will be plenty of surprises. Tonya and I (especially I) will have to learn to go with the flow.

Please pray Ariana’s counts to come up soon and for protection from infection during this time as well. Please also pray for my heart to b changed to not place my plans over the good of my family.

Craig

Tomorrow will we try again to get Ariana admitted to begin her Methotrexate treatment. We want to be sure that you continue to join us in prayer. This will begin a new phase of our family’s dealing with her illness. Up until this point, I have been around full time. This admission, I will have to leave daily for clinical duties with the residency. Also, I will be on call for the last day of the admission. Please pray for grace to deal with these new changes, especially for Tonya, who will receive the brunt of the new load. Also, I forgot to mention that Ariana’s chemo drugs are toxic to the baby in Tonya’s womb. She isn’t supposed to change diapers if possible (if she must, she has to wear these thick chemo gloves). The Methotrexate is the most toxic of the drugs she is on and it is secreted in the urine. Please pray for protection for the littlest DeLisi during this time and the treatment ahead.

Here are the pray requests from the previous email:

1. good tolerance of and respose to Methotrexate (i.e., protection from both short term and long term side effects)
2. no complications for spinal tap under sedation (at approx 10:30 central time)
3. grace for our family to balance demands of residency with this new phase of treatment
4. protection for little BIB (“baby in belly”)
5. His continued Peace in the present moment

Our love to you all.

Craig for the rest of us

it may not be Yankee Stadium, but hey…we’re in Tulsa, after all…

Hello Family of God~

Praise the Lord….we’re home a day early! Ariana’s Methotrexate level had to be lass than .2 by 9PM tonight and she was at .17 at 4PM….the doctor was not expecting this….praise the Lord again…He knows all the little details! I (Tonya) am shocked and thrilled since Craig was on call tonight and the thought of being at the hospital without him is VERY SCAREY! Usually he handles the medical issues and I focus on the emotional needs of Ariana……it was quite overwhelming doing both today for the first time! :-)

Anyways, the stay was just as expected except for Ariana pulling out her port access by stepping on it. It has been weeks since she was attached to the IV poll and it took her a few hours to readjust (and a few feet of extension tubing). Pulling it out was painful for her, but the nurses came to her aid in remarkable speed! They are fantastic!

I was not sick nor was I too tired. The nurse techs and my mom helped change diapers so I wouldn’t have to touch the urine (with Methotrexate in it). Ariana didn’t tee-tee on me (due to the high doses of fluids in her IV) because my mom bought us the expensive overnight diapers in the next size. Yippeeee! Mi-Mi (my mother) helped out with Charis and that was a BIG blessing….he loves playing with her! I was hungry most of the time but that was okay since Ariana eats small amounts all day too…..sympathetic pregnancy I guess…..actually, most likely the chemotherapy :-)

Oh ya, I almost forgot…..we got the room WITHOUT a view…..well, it actually has a wall for a view. This was the first room we were ever in, and we asked to switch a few days into our fist stay so Ariana could see the moon, clouds, and airplanes. BUT, this time there was a guy cleaning the windows on a “blue swing” (as Ariana called it). It was LIVE entertainment for her! As he smoked and cleaned and went up and down she would wave and say “hi man cleaning the window.” :-)

Thanks for all who prayed and fasted. Craig will be emailing later with future dates for fasting. Right now the next admission is scheduled for July 26th. This will be the day the grandparents leave after Ariana’s birthday party and that alone will be an adjustment! Thanks again family of God! You guys are the greatest…..Craig and I could not travel this road without your prayers, fasting, and support!

Please pray for (1) No mouth sores (2) No nausea (3) No vagina irritation
(or burning like last time)

In His Grace,
Tonya, Ariana, Charis, & B.I.B. (Baby in Belly)

Just a quickie to say that our little Munchkin is doing great. She is excited that she is about to celebrate her 2nd birthday. She has been acting like herself with plenty of energy to go around. Other than one sore on her lip, we haven’t noticed any problems with the Methotrexate. Her blood counts were lowered by the treatment (again neutropenic :-(), but this is to be expected. She starts a short (one week) course of steroids again, so here comes the appetite and pseudopregnancy! Thank you so much for the continual prayer for her and us. As the next hospitalization approaches, we will let you know when to pray. We will ask people to fast for her during this time (and future hospitalizations) as well.

May our Abba (Father) bless you,

Craig

We go in for Ariana’s next round of inpatient therapy this Thursday (26th – 28th). We want you all to know so that you can please pray. In fact, we would love for any of you who feel led to fast a day for her during this time. Here are the ways you can pray:

1. Ariana’s continued healing
2. uneventful lumbar puncture under sedation
3. no complications from Methotrexate therapy
4. physical and emotional stamina for us (mainly tonya) while in the hospital (have it ever mentioned that hospitals are lousy places to be?…ironic, huh?)

That is all for now. Know that we love and appreciate each of you.

Please let us know if you want to fast and on which day.

Love,
All of us

Please pray for wisdom on when/how to do the admission early next week. I have a one day course on Monday that I cannot miss. I also start on a very hard rotation on Wednesday. The longer we wait to go in (i.e. Tuesday), the more of the hospitalization that will take place while I am on that rotation. So that makes Monday sound better, but that means I would have to miss her spinal tap under sedation (which I NEVER want to miss).

Once again, we are learning flexibility. We are so thankful that she is doing so well, and we praise God daily for that. Just walking out the day to day realities and details gets exhausting and frustrating sometimes.

Thank you for those of you who offered to fast. We would love for you to still do so when she gets admitted (if this is still conducive for you). Right now it looks like she will be in either from mon – wed or tues – thurs. please let us know if these are a possibility.

We love you guys.

Craig for the rest of the crew

We are going to need an extra “helping” of God’s grace during this admission for a number of reasons. First of all, this will be the first one we will be doing without grandparents help. That means, most likely, that Charis will sleep at the hospital with us. I WILL be missing Ariana’s procedure tomorrow, which absolutely tears me up. Finally, I will be starting a really hard rotation on Wednesday while the kids are still in the hospital. There is other logistical stuff, as well, like tonya not being able to change ariana’s diapers while in the hospital because of the medicine she gets (because tonya is pregnant). Anyway, please pray.

1. Ariana’s continued healing
2. uneventful lumbar puncture under sedation
3. no complications from Methotrexate therapy
4. tonya’s protection from ariana’s urine (sounds funny, I know)
5. physical and emotional stamina for us (mainly tonya) while in the hospital to balance all of the things mentioned above

thanks ya’ll.

The Lord bless you,

The DeLisi’s

Ariana’s white blood cell counts are still too low (neutropenic). We will go back on Thursday and attempt admission again :-(.

Craig

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