Authors: Meghan Redenbach
Tuesday, January 27
Meg was feeling good again today. She stayed home because there has been a lot of sickness at school. We went to basketball tonight. Pretty quiet night.
Wednesday, January 28
Another good day. We didn’t have to do anything today!
Thursday, January 29
Another good day. The nurse came in the morning. I called for results of blood work and it was good news. NO shot until next chemo. Meg was so excited. It was a quiet night.
Friday, January 30
Meg went to school for a half day today. She then went back to school to catch the bus to go to the basketball game. We met her back at the high school and watched the boy’s game. Erin gave us the shirts that she and Heidi designed to sell for $15.00.
(This was the beginning of a benefit that was to be held for Meghan in March. All money raised would go into a fund to help with any medical and related expenses.)
Saturday, January 31
Meg had plans for the whole day. She had Isaiah come over to watch movies. Nick was home so we went out and ran errands. Meg and Isaiah went out in the snow to play; they were out there for about ten minutes. Isaiah ended up staying for dinner and to watch the hockey game on TV. It was a late game.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Today is Super Bowl day! Nick got home from work around 5:00 p.m. Debbie, Dan, Lindsay, and Jonathan came over for the game around 5:30. Earlier in the day we went to breakfast in the morning at the Towpath Café in Middleport. Isaiah was working. Isaiah took shirts to sell and a sign to hang for Meghan’s benefit.
It was a fun night. Meg also went to her cousin Joey’s hockey game. He took her into the locker room to meet the team. She was in “AWE”. They said she could drop the puck at the next game, but she has volleyball pictures, so it will have to be a different game.
Monday, February 2
Meg had a good day today. The nurse came and her blood work was good. We got a call from Meg’s PE teacher and coach, Michelle that Matt Pearl from Channel 2 News wants to come and interview Meghan, Mike, and me. Then he wants to go to the high school and talk to coaches and teammates. Meg was excited. Meg didn’t have school today so she and Jordan went to the movies.
Tuesday, February 3
Meg stayed home today because Matt Pearl was coming at 1:30. Mike stayed home, but I went to work until 12:15. Nick went to school. Matt showed up around 1:30 and interviewed us all for about two hours, and then he went to the high school for the games.
Wednesday, February 4
Meg went to school today for a whole day. She was a little tired, but it felt good. She received more work and her new tutor, Mrs. Budziszewski, stopped to see what Meghan had as far as work. They talked and got themselves on the same page. I have a bad cold and hope to get rid of it by Friday. Mike thinks he is starting to get sick. Meg worked on homework tonight.
Thursday, February 5
The nurse came in the morning. Meg stayed home because she had to collect her urine all day. We had her drinking like crazy. We went to her cousin’s hockey game because the team had a gift to present to her. When we got there the coach had Meghan come to the locker room to have her picture taken with the team and received her gift. They gave her a $150.00 gift card to the Boulevard Mall. After the game we stopped at Burger King. Isaiah came with us. When we got home we all went to bed because we had to get up early to be at Roswell.
Friday, February 6
We arrived at Roswell at 8:00 a.m. They weren’t really happy with the amount of urine she put out, so we have to wait until 11:00 a.m. to see how much more she can go. Mike and I have really bad colds and are trying to stay away as much as possible. Deirdre is probably going to come up and stay with Meg tonight so our germs aren’t around. Deirdre is here now!
(
Deirdre writes)
Successfully kicked out Mom and Dad and quarantined them to their house! 5:30 p.m. Meg received Emend pill at the same time as Zofran. She ate popcorn. 6:15 p.m. received first bag of chemo. 7:15 The “Big Daddy” six hour bag of chemo…Finished at 1:30 a.m.…
Saturday, February 7
(
Deirdre writes
) Meghan had a great, restful night. She survived the “Big Daddy Bag” and never even woke when they disconnected it. In the morning she had a couple of doses of meds for nausea…She likes to ward it off at the first sign—she has been very successful so far.
She got a nice long nap after nibbling on some dry Frosted Flakes and having her Benadryl. Bethany has arrived with all of Meghan’s favorite munchies, and she requested Saltines.
I’m enjoying my “Cancun Vacation” but will soon let Bethany take over for tonight’s shift. I’m passing the torch!
(By the way Nancy and Mike…I love Meghan as if she were my own! Thank you for letting me have a little quality time with her! Never hesitate to ask for my help…always know that I am here for you all, whenever you need me!) Bye-bye for now!
Sunday, February 8
(
Bethany writes)
Meg took a few “power naps” and fell soundly asleep just after 2:00 a.m. The excitement from the Sabres’ shoot-out loss to Ottawa still lingered in the air. At 5:23 a.m. the nurse woke her up to draw blood and Meg dozed off back to sleep. At 8:40 a.m. Dr. B woke Meg to clip her stitches. Afterward Meg was “up and at ‘em” for the day. Trevor came to visit and the GUITAR HERO challenge began. This was followed by a walk to the cafeteria and some vanilla ice cream. Chemo began at 11:07 a.m. After two hours of hydration, Meg was on her way home and looking forward to going shopping with Mom later this week. Three down and six to go!! I am already looking forward to my next overnight visit with Meg at Roswell.
Monday, February 9
(Mom writes)
Meg had a great night. She was hydrated and got up for the nurse. After the nurse left she went to school for the day. When she got home she took a long nap. She played Guitar Hero all evening to practice for when she challenges Trevor. She was in bed early.
Tuesday, February 10
Meg had another good day. She was hydrated through the night and went to school until 1:00 p.m. It is School Spirit Week. She was home by 1:15 and sleeping by 1:30. She napped until 4:00. Chuck and Dee and Jonas are coming for dinner, and then they are going to the meeting for Meghan’s fundraiser. We get to watch Jonas and can’t wait. We will hydrate Meg tonight for the last night.
Wednesday, February 11
Meg felt really good today. She also went to school for a whole day. Isaiah came over before he has to leave on Thursday for Georgia. Meg went to bed kind of early. She was tired from going to school all day.
Thursday, February 12
Meg went to school around 10:30 a.m. today because she had to wait until the nurse came. We went to volleyball practice tonight but had to leave a little early because her cousin Amanda had her cheerleaders dedicate a cheer and dance to Meghan. It was awesome. When we got home it was almost 10:00 p.m. Meg got her shot and medicine and went to bed. Mike and I were watching the ten o’clock news when they broke in to tell of an airplane crash in Clarence Center. There were fifty people killed. It landed on a house on Long Street. They are calling it “The Crash of Flight 3407.”
Friday, February 13
Today was a very somber day due to the plane crash. Meg went to school today again and was looking forward to tonight and going to watch the Sabers game in a suite. Carly’s Club invited all four of us to see the game from Ryan Miller’s Suite. We had salad, pizza, popcorn, chicken fingers, and pop. The game was awesome. They tied it up with 3.9 seconds left and then won in the shoot-out. We all had a lot of fun. Everyone was really nice and friendly.
Saturday, February 14
We all got to sleep in today except Nick; he had to go to work. We took Meghan over to Trevor’s house to hang out and go to the movies. She was really looking forward to this. We dropped her off, and she didn’t get home until 11:00 at night. She had fun. She had her shot and went to bed.
Sunday, February 15
We all slept in again, except Nick. He had to work! We had another hockey game tonight in the suite that the Folckmers gave us. We got to the game about an hour early. There were so many different kinds of food in the suite, and the people who were in the box were awesome. We took home a lot of food. The only bad thing was the game was horrible and they lost. We all went to bed when we got home.
Monday, February 16
Meg woke up pretty early today. The nurse came, and she knew right after we were going to the Boulevard Mall. Jordan came with us to the mall, and Meg had a great day. Everything she wanted they had in her size. We had lot of fun. She has been wearing her new sneakers all night. Jordan is staying overnight.
Tuesday, February 17
We are on winter break from school this week, so it’s not as hectic. We do have to go to the girls’ basketball game tonight to have our pictures taken by the Union Sun and Journal. There will be a huge article about Meghan and the upcoming benefit in Sunday’s paper. We watched some of the basketball game, and then I ran home to pick up Jonas while Chuck went to the benefit meeting. Dee was out of town. We had a blast with Jonas. Meg and I both went to get our hair done!
Wednesday, February 18
Today was another good day for Meg. We had to go to the LCTV TV station to do a half hour live interview about Meghan and her upcoming benefit. Carole came with us to talk about it and all the different items that will be there. We all were nervous wrecks. We received copies of the show, thanks to Bethany and her always being one step ahead.
Thursday, February 19
We didn’t have to do much today. Meghan was home all day. It was kind of nice to just chill at home. She went to Courtney’s to sleep over. We also went to volleyball at night.
Friday, February 20
Today Meg came home in the morning and we had “chocolate pedicures” to go to at 1:00. We had Deirdre come with us. She and Chuck have been doing so much we feel we owe them big time, along with Miss Maclam. Mike and I went to dinner at Cammarata’s and Meghan went to the boys’ basketball game with Courtney.
Saturday, February 21
Today Meg stayed home to do her homework all day. It is back to school on Monday. Jordan came over in the evening to spend the night because Meg has a volleyball tournament in Pennsylvania on Sunday. Jordan is coming with us. Mike and I had the (East Amherst Fire Company) Installation Dinner at Transit Valley Country Club. We stayed a little too late. We took Chloe
(the family golden retriever)
to the vet in the morning.
Monday, February 23
The nurse came in the morning, and all Meg’s counts were good. Meg went to school. Chloe hasn’t been feeling very well, and we will be taking her back to the vet if she doesn’t start feeling better. This was kind of a quiet day.
Tuesday, February 24
Today Meg went to school again. Miss Dewey came at 3:45 p.m. to tutor Meg in Spanish. Matt Pearl from Channel 2 News came again tonight to do more interviewing. He was there from 4:00 until 6:45. During the interview Chloe decided to throw up everywhere, even on Matt’s extension cord. He was okay with it. I will be calling the vet in the morning regarding Chloe and bringing her back. Deirdre and Chuck dropped off dinner and Jonas while they went to the benefit meeting. That kid is a scream.
Wednesday, February 25
Meg went to school again. I came home from work and took Chloe to the vet. Mike went with me. We didn’t get very good news; she would have to have surgery. After Mike and I talked it over we decided to have her put to sleep. I didn’t want to see her after the ultrasound, because it would have been too hard for me to say good-bye. Mike wanted to see her, so I went to the car crying all the way. I could see Mike through the window bending down petting her. He finally came out about fifteen minutes later. He looked at me and said I should pick her up tomorrow night after surgery. My “Gentle Giant” couldn’t put her to rest. It was a terrible thing to decide. We went to the boys’ basketball game in the evening. We wondered what Chloe was doing at the vet.
Thursday, February 26
Meg stayed home from school today to chill. She worked on homework, cleaned her room and whatever else. I went to work. I called and checked on Chloe after her surgery. She was just coming out of her anesthetic. The surgery went very well. They wanted me to call at 4:00 p.m. and then she could come home. I went to get her. She was very groggy. Meg went to an auction with Trevor and his mom; she said it was very interesting. Mike went to a benefit for a guy he works with who has cancer. He got home very late. Nick went to the girls’ basketball game. I stayed home and did wash and packed to get ready for Roswell on Friday (tomorrow). Chloe was very groggy all night.
Friday, February 27
We arrived at Roswell at 8:20 a.m. When we went to sign in there weren’t any beds, so we had to wait in the clinic rooms. A lot of sick kids came in and needed to stay. They were canceling surgeries due to no available rooms. We will be waiting until 1:00 to see if we need to come back.
Well, there are no rooms available, so we have to come back on Saturday morning. We went home around 1:30 p.m. Meg got home and went to a pet store with Trevor. We chilled all night with Chloe, who is feeling much better.
Saturday, February 28
I called in the early morning to make sure they had a room for Meg, and they did. We got to Roswell at 8:45 a.m. They need to get her urine to the right pH and then they will start chemo. They gave her Emend at 2:15, Zofran at 2:25, Mesna at 3:40, and chemo started at 4:00 p.m. Olivia and Brittany came to visit with Debbie. Trevor and Judd also came to visit. Meg didn’t feel well starting around 7:30 p.m. She had her nausea medicine and went to sleep for the night.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Meg slept most of the day. She has decided that she needs to do that because she gets so sick to her stomach. Christie came up at 9:30 a.m. and stayed to visit until 11:30. Meg stayed awake for most of the visit. She brought coffee for me and donuts for Meghan. Bethany came at 12:15 and stayed until 6:00 p.m. She brought me souvlaki salad and chili. It was awesome. Meg had a rough evening throwing up a little. We are not sure if it was the blue Icee that Bethany gave her (haha). She was feeling a little better after that, but still nauseated. She slept well, besides having to get up for the bathroom.