We're having another boy

Today we found out that we will be having another boy join our family. We were able to take all of the kids but Buddy to see the ultrasound. He is in the 2nd grade musical and they had a performance for the school this morning. I think all the boys thought it would be a girl and had just given into the idea. When they announced that it was going to be a boy Jackson was so excited. I went to school to have lunch with Buddy to tell him what we were having and when I told him he nearly jumped out of his seat. He ran over and told his entire class. Josie on the other hand wasn't so excited. She sat there and tears started pouring down her face. My heart broke for her. I know that one day it won't be so bad today she is having a pretty hard time with it. We are excited to have a new baby join our family at the end of August and I know that he will be a sweet little angel.

Rain in Katy, TX

We had a massive rainfall here in Katy. There was more rain than I have ever seen in the five years we have lived here. I was at the grocery store and recieved several calls from people who knew that I was out warning me to be careful on the way home. I didn't think too much of it because the roads were pretty clear when I went to the store even though it was raining. Luckly, Wes took photos so that we could remember it. We have a great drainage system here and so the water didn't stay standing for long but while it lasted it was bad. On my way home there were stalled cars all over the roads. I was in Wes' truck and so I didn't have any problem getting through. There was so much standing water that it was over the curbs and into the grassy areas. It was crazy. I have honestly never seen anything like it before.

Briana Update 4/17/2009

Teri arrived safely at the Burbank airport this morning and had a happy reunion with Eric and Leyna. They went to the hospital and spent the balance of the day with Bri (noon-7:00 p.m.).

Bri’s was doing better today but was still draining lots of fluid. The dr. said the fluid is being generated by the liver as it recovers from the trauma of Monday’s surgery and heals. Teri reports that Bri’s stomach, legs and feet are swollen. But that’s to be expected as long as the liver isn’t working at full function, after all, the liver is the body’s master filter. With 40% of it being removed and the trauma that’s been imposed on the portion that remains, yes, the filter’s experienced a tremendous shock that will affect its function. Over time, drainage should cease and the edema (swelling) throughout Bri’s body will subside.

Bri was able to wash her hair for the first time this week. She wasn’t thrilled with the two-in-one shampoo/conditioner provided by the hospital. When Teri offered the shampoo and conditioner she brought from AZ, Bri was quick to take her up on the offer.

One of Bri’s former high school and volleyball club teammates, Ale (Coquelet) Ray, lives in our ward. She’s the Beehive advisor. Ale coordinated a service project in which, over the past few weeks, she told her Beehive girls stories about Bri – as an athlete, a friend and a mother. She showed the girls pictures of Bri and her family. Ale helped her girls make a Care Package – the girls donated books for Bri and her children; wrote personal letters to Bri; included candy for whomever might like it; and other things that I don’t recall right now. Ale was so excited to have Teri take the package to Bri! Although Teri hasn’t told me about the details, I imagine eyes filled with tears of joy and appreciation as Bri saw the gift of love from a long-time friend who took time out of her busy life to say, “I Love You.”

I spoke with Bri for a couple of minutes early this afternoon. She sounded stronger than I thought she might. She was glad to be out of ICU. Today, although she was still weak and fatigued, she walked 3 laps around the hospital ward. Yup, she’s still an overachiever. J Reminder, Teri will let us all know when Bri feels strong enough to take phone calls.

Eric is exhausted. Teri says Cedars-Sinai hospital is 1½ -2 hours each way from Bri’s home. With all he’s been through this week, Eric invited Teri to go to the hospital to spend the day with Bri, tomorrow. He’ll stay home with Kami and Leyna and get some much needed rest and relaxation.

Thus far I’m not aware of any date the dr. might have in mind for Bri’s release from the hospital.

The Lord’s blessings are being evidenced each day as Bri’s strength and attitude continue to return to normal. We recognize the role of ministering angels in her recovery. We’re so grateful for righteous grandparents, cousins, other family members and friends on the other side of the veil who continue to petition the blessings of heaven, and provide service to, her.

We appreciate your love, prayers, supportive thoughts and testimony.

Rick

4/14/09 Update on Briana

I just spoke with Briana at 8:45 this morning. Rick is so much better at passing along information than I am, but he’s teaching this morning and I wanted to let you all know as soon as possible what is going on with Briana. We didn’t speak long as the doctor came in to check her so we had to hang up.

I asked her how she felt and she said “Lousy!” She had a bad night and she told me this is the worse pain she’s ever experienced – much worse than her last surgery. She does feel like she’s a lot better this morning because they are giving her lots of medicine and keeping her pretty much sedated. She says she feels like she’s been sleeping for 24 hours but definitely needs more!

She said they are keeping her in ICU for at least another day. Her platelet count is really low and she is draining blood. They apparently have had to give her numerous transfusions.

She expounded on what Eric told us yesterday regarding why the surgery took so long. She said there was so much scar tissue that they had to cut through to get to the liver that it took them a long time. The doctor said that because there is so much oozing going on still, if he had it to do over again, he would not have allowed any type of chemo for several weeks before the surgery as it’s definitely having an adverse affect on her.

The doctor found quite a few adhesions and little tumors on her liver that didn’t show up in the scans and, as mentioned yesterday, ending up taking about 40% of her liver. He performed ablations (?) – I believe that’s burning out some of the tumors. He did tell her once she’s home, he wants her to have a “chemo holiday” for a while to build her up before they do any more testing. He wants her platelets to regenerate first.

While he was in Florida recently at a cancer convention, many surgeons thought that you should only take out “X amount” of the cancer and then go back about 6 weeks later to take out more. He told Eric and Bri that he disagreed with this theory and thought he should remove any and all cancer he could find at the time – which is what he did. He doesn’t want to go back in later and he says he removed every bit of cancer he could see. Bri says she’s very grateful for his way of thinking!

Again, she is doing a lot of sleeping and they don’t want any phone calls or visitors at this time while she’s in ICU – which will be at least another day. When they release her to another room, and she’s feeling up to it, Eric will take her cell phone up for her so she’ll be able to receive calls on her cell phone at that time.

If you have any specific questions, please let me know and I’ll find out from Eric.

We thank you for all your love, prayers and concern in Bri’s behalf. Eric told me he and a Bishop in the area gave her a blessing last night because she was in so much pain. We know she’ll be fine, especially because of all your love and support!

Love you lots!

Teri

Update on Briana after liver surgery

Bri’s liver surgery was completed at 2:30 p.m. (CA time). She was in for a total of 7 hrs. Eric reports the dr. said there were no bad surprises.

The operation was delayed approx. 1½ hrs. because her white cell and platelet counts were too low – a common side-effect of chemotherapy. Regarding this issue, the dr. said that if he had it to do over, he would have had the chemotherapy dr. remove one of the chemo cocktail medications 2 weeks earlier and by so doing, her counts would have been better.

Anyway, after giving her some medications and time to pump up the white cell and platelet counts the surgery began. The dr. went in through the scar from her Nov. 2008 surgery.

Of the three lobes of the liver – left, middle, right -- the dr. removed the right lobe and a portion of the left lobe and none of the middle. The right lobe had some active cancer. The left lobe had traces of an old, dying cancer. In total, the dr. removed 35-40% of her liver and then dressed it with an anti-adhesion dressing. That would be similar to a job-skin which is used by burn patients to prevent heavy scarring that can lift and become disfigured. This was done so that if at any future date Bri needs an additional surgery, scar tissue from today’s procedure won’t be an obstacle.

The dr. was happy to find that after conducting a thorough internal examination, there was no sign of any cancer anywhere outside the liver.

Regarding the stomach pain that Bri’s been experiencing over the past couple of months that was localized in the scar tissue just below her sternum from her Nov. surgery, the dr. found a stitch that hadn’t dissolved. It was near the surface of the scar and resulted in nerve pain and overall discomfort. He cleaned as much old scar tissue as he could from her Nov. 2008 surgical scar and feels confident she’ll recovery very nicely.

Bri’s now in recovery and will be allowed to return home as soon as she can eat regular food – hopefully by Thursday, Friday at the latest.

The dr. said full regeneration of the liver may take up to 9 months, but Bri will experience the largest portion of regrowth within the next 6 weeks. She’ll get back on chemotherapy within the next 2 or 3 weeks, depending on her recovery from this surgery. We’re not sure if the chemo cocktail amounts or medications will be adjusted in any way. The dr.s will consult with each other as they monitor her progress.

Eric’s doing as well as can be expected. It’s been a long anxious day for him as he could do nothing but wait and pray for the dr. to do his thing.

Eric says he’ll have Bri call Teri later this evening when she’s feeling better. We’ll keep you updated as the situation warrants.

We appreciate your ongoing faith and prayers. If you have any special contacts on the other side of the veil, their petitions are also welcomed.


Rick Boulter
April's Dad

Easter Day

For easter this year we had a bunch of people over to celebrate Easter and Garrett's birthday. The Christensen's, Holloway's, Elliott's and Jill Sampson and Hannah Clarke all came to celebrate with us. We had a big bar-b-que and relaxed. It was so much fun. We had a lot of rain on Easter morning and so the easter bunny hid all of the eggs in the house. We are still finding eggs to this day. Garrett said that this was the best birthday he had ever had. Grandma and Grandpa Boulter gave him a baseball tee. The Christensen's gave him "Horton Hears a Who", his favorite movie. Jill and Hannah gave him a remote control car and water guns. The Holloway's gave him a gumball machine. And the Elliott's gave him a bunch of fun games like a bubble blower, donuts and other things. Everyone was so kind to come and help celebrate his special day. We may not have famiy here but we have great friends.

Spring Break

During spring break we played lots and lots of baseball. I'm sure that comes as a huge surprise to most. We went out to the fields with the Christensen's and Wes worked with all the kids on their hitting and fielding. The kids had such a great time. We also played lots of games and let the kids play in the yard. It was a very relaxing spring break. I can't wait until summer. Hopefully, it will be just as relaxing and fun.

Buddy's 1st time pitching

This past weekend Jackson and Buddy played in a local tournament here in Katy. Jackson started off the game as the starting pitcher. By the 3rd inning the Westside Sluggers, that's our team, was up 14-0. So, the coach thought he would give Buddy a chance to pitch. When Wes walked over and told me that Buddy was going to pitch my heart started pounding so hard. I was so nervous for him. He had never pitched before, even in practice, let alone in a game. He only pitched one inning but did a great job. He pitched to four batters. He struck the first batter out. The second batter got a single, the third batter hit the ball back to Buddy and he through it to first to get him out, and the fourth batter hit the ball to short who through it to first and got the final out. I must say we may just have a second pitcher in our family. I was a very proud mom. Jackson and Buddy both hit very well in the both games on Saturday as well as pitched. I am amazed at how much better they are getting every month. They are very fortunate to have such great coaches and team mates.

Garrett's 1st visit to the Dentist

On March 31st Garrett went to see Dr. Griffith at Kids Healthy Teeth. He was so excited to finally go to the dentist like the older kids. He did such a good job. He sat there and let them clean his teeth and took perfect x-rays. He walked through the office talking to all of the dental hygienists. It was pretty funny. The dentist said that he has great teeth. No cavities on his first visit. Hopefully, it will stay that way. As we were leaving Garrett asked the hygentist when he could come back. The hygentist told him, "in six months". Garrett said, "is that a long time?" The hygentist answered, "for you, it's probably going to be a long time." Garrett then asked him if he could come back next week. Everyone in the office got a good laugh out of that. I think that says a lot about a dentist office.