Team Mal Journal

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Okay so today we arrived at Emory around7 a.m for labs and a biopsy. Her liver enzymes were better however the bilirubin had gone up from 4.1 to 6. Dr. Ram started getting her ready for the biopsy, the first step is to use an ultrasound machine to locate the liver and the point of entry. Immediately, Dr. Ram noticed that her bile ducts looked dilated and different than he remembered from the previous one. So, the biopsy was cancelled and an MRI was ordered, Mallory was worked in and the MRI was done at noon. We stuck around Emory and waited for the results, which did show that she appears to have some blockage in segment 8 of her liver. Dr. Ram now wants to do an ERCP, which is a procedure used to check for a blockage. If a blockage is found a stent will be placed. We arrived home about 4:00, Emory has already called and the procedure is set for Friday at 7:00, Mallory will be put to sleep for the procedure which should be outpatient. Please pray for everything to go well and for Mallory to start feeling better! Thanks Lisa

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

http://www.northstarchurch.org/follower click on this link to watch video from Northstar, I encourage you to watch the entire video but if you are limited on time and want to see Mal"s part, start watching at about 25 minutes into the video and watch for about 7 minutes...to hear what Marlon says before and after Mallory speaks.

If you just want to see the video, here is a link:

http://www.vimeo.com/14780062

Biopsy tomorrow....praying for good news!!!! Oh yeah...Mallory says...ROLL TIDE!!!!

Friday, September 3, 2010

It"s Mallory!

I went to Emory this morning to have labs and saw Dr.Ram. My labs were slightly better than on Tuesday. Dr Ram wants to do a biopsy next Wednesday. With my strange "fascinating" case as he called it, he feels the only way to really understand what is going on with my liver is to do biopsies, so he can look at it and do tests directly to it. He thinks that by then we should have a good idea about how the cyclosporine may work and whether the prograf has been toxic to my liver. Also, he will be testing for autoimmune biliary disorders. Auto immune hepatitis has been ruled out but since I have a history of bile duct issues he wants to explore this option. Still don"t have "answers" yet but should have a better picture after my biopsy next week!

Thank you so much for your prayers. I truly believe prayer changes things!

Thanks, Mallory

Friday, September 3, 2010

It"s Mallory!

Thank you so much for your prayers. I truly believe prayer changes things!

Thanks, Mallory

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Hello everyone! Mallory went to Emory today for labs. Dr. Ram called me this afternoon to tell me that her numbers have gone up again. Her liver enzymes are both over 100 and her Bilirubin is now 4.5. So…now what? Well, because the last biopsy indicated possible drug toxicity likely caused by the prograf he has decided to stop the prograf and try another medicine, cyclosporine. Tonight she will start the new meds and discontinue the prograf. This is the first time in over 4 years she is not taking prograf and yes this does make me a little nervous! Mallory will go to Emory Friday morning for labs at 7:30 and a clinic visit with Dr. Ram at 8:30. If her liver numbers are still going up Dr. Ram wants to do another biopsy to compare to the last one.

I wanted to take this time to thank all of the team mal followers for continuing on this journey with us, we could not do it without the wonderful family and friends that we have supporting us and of course, GOD. We all know that we serve an awesome God, he ALWAYS answers our prayers, ALWAYS!!!

Driving home from work today my thoughts were going crazy trying to understand this rollercoaster of a ride we are on, wondering yet again, WHY? Then I remembered a conversation that I had with Mallory, I think on more than one occasion. I know we are not supposed to question God and his plan that he has for us, I am sure you will all agree sometimes it is easier said than done. However, I was really struggling with why…….why did God pick Mallory for this to happen to, why my daughter. Mallory is a wonderful and caring person, so why, why her? Why not another daughter…why not the daughter that is not a wonderful and caring person…why not a BAD person?

Well, my Mallory had a great answer for my question, she explained it like this. “God picked me because he knew I would do good things with my experience. He knew I would take care of myself and this liver and make good decisions. He knew I would use my experience to bring people closer to him and to influence other people to be organ donors. Anyone else chosen to be in my situation might not use it for good things”. I thought…okay this sounds like a good answer to me.

Wow, isn’t she one smart young lady. And, guess what? She was right!! Many people have come closer to God, many people have decided to become an organ donor…because of Mallory!! I am so very proud of her and the person she has become and she never gives up!!

So you wonder how you can help. First and foremost, you can keep praying, on bended knees keep praying! You can also leave Mallory a note of encouragement here on team mal in the guest book from time to time. She loves hearing from all of you!!

I will update again on Friday after we know more about what is going on. Thanks again and have a good night. Lisa

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

So, Mallory had labs today. Her blood counts and kidney numbers were good however her liver numbers were up. The liver numbers had doubled since last week, her BR is now 2.9. I spoke to Dr. Ram and he has decided to increase the prednisone back up to 15 mg per day. The plan is for Mallory to have labs again on Monday and to see Dr. Ram next Friday the 3rd. Mallory has been feeling pretty good other than she is just really tired. Please send up a few extra prayers for better numbers next week and for things to stable out!! Thanks Lisa

Monday, August 16, 2010

Just wanted to give everyone a brief update. Mallory has been doing pretty good the past few days. Dr. Ram emailed me on Friday and is reducing her prednisone again beginning today, 10 mg per day!! Today is also Mallory"s first day of fall classes at KSU so please wish her luck. Labs will be again next Tuesday so we will update again after we know the results. Hope you all have a great week. Lisa AKA NANA!!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Labs were greeat! Liver numbers returning to Normal!!!! words of praise being sent up to GOD! THANKS for everyone who prays for me and supports me!!!!!

YAY!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Hello everyone! So, I talked to Dr. Ram today about everything that is going on. I will try to explain this as best I can, it is a little confusing. To quote Dr. Ram, “The biopsy results were perplexing and has quite a few of us scratching our heads”. They are still kind of treating her as a patient with auto immune hepatitis, although all tests have for this have come back negative. Another thing they are thinking is drug toxicity from prograf, the biopsy showed no “true” rejection. They are seeing some unexplained signs of bile duct injury, maybe from inflammation.

The plan right now is to make some adjustments to prograf, cellcept and prednisone (all help to suppress her immune system) and get labs again on Wednesday. Based on labs we might see some more medicine changes. Dr. Ram has a couple of different scenarios as far as medicine adjustments to try to get things back to normal.

Her liver numbers are still a little high and so are the kidneys numbers but as of last week they were stable, so that is good news. Because she is on so many immune suppressing drugs right now it appears the yeast in her esophagus might be trying to rear its ugly head again. Dr. Ram is calling her in a medicine to rinse with to try to get this under control. He is also giving her a new medicine, Questran, to take daily in hopes of getting this horrible itching under control. He also decreased her prednisone from 20 to 15 mg each day.

Thanks for checking in and we will update again later in the week. Please keep those prayers going!!

Lisa AKA Nana

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Hey, Mallory here.

Had labs this morning and everything is pretty much the same.Dr Ram is out of town so i guess no changes can be made til he is back. my INR (clotting factor ) is really low so ive been bleeding alot with the tiniest cut. Not to be debbie downer but Iv e been pretty miserable the past few days- this heat makes me itch, my stomach has been upset and i have just been tired! Im ready for izzie to get better so that i feel better already!!

But anyways when i have more news ill update more.

Thanks for checking in,

Mal

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hey Everyone this is Mallory.

I went to Emory this morning for my biopsy. It went fine, except that I was a human pin cushion. I got stuck a total of 11 times. We came home around 1 or 2.

This Afternoon, Dr. Ram called with my results. The GREAT news is there is no chronic rejection or loss of bile ducts. YAY. He did say there is a good amount of inflammation and he has no idea why. A few months ago I was tested for Autoimmune Hepatitis, and the tests showed negative, but Dr Ram says the findings look alot like it. So overall, the doctors are scratching their heads and have no idea what they"re dealing with. He is going to request slides of my previous transplants to look and see if he can figure out a pattern, maybe.

As for now, he wants to restart the cellcept. The goal for me is to get on a good combo of cell cept and prograf and be down to no more than 5 mg of prednisone. So ultimately we have no idea what is going on.

I guess my only hope for a diagnosis is to find Dr. House, lol!

Thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray!

Love, Mallory and Izzie

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

This afternoon we went to Emory to meet with Dr. Ram, one of the doctors on the liver team. The appointment went well and we have a plan in place. Mallory’s liver numbers were down a bit today except her bilirubin was up a little bit. So, next week on either Wednesday or Friday she will go for a biopsy. In the meantime, Dr. Ram will be reviewing her past records to get a better grip on her health. He is also planning to look at her MRI and biopsy done back in March to make sure they are not missing anything. The biopsy done back in March showed possible signs of chronic rejection, this is the first we heard of this as we were told it was inconclusive!! After the results of the biopsy are back Dr. Ram will decide on a treatment. If the biopsy report does not reveal anything I am sure there will be further testing. If the report shows any signs of rejection he will probably need to increase her prograf and possibly trying Imuran, assuming she can take it, a special blood tests has to be done first. He really wants to get her off the prednisone. We basically suggested that the docs need to think outside the box when it comes to taking care of Mallory. We also told him we would like to make sure nothing falls through the crack and that we need to be aggressive in finding what is going on and the treatment. Dr. Ram suggested to Mal that he be “in charge” of her so we don’t have 5 doctors wanting to do 5 different things and she agreed to this. We all left the meeting feeling better and ready to get Izzie back in shape. Oh yeah, we did also talk about Mallory’s “coordinator” and this will be addressed. Please pray for Dr. Ram to get this figured out, find the right treatment and get our girl back on track again!!! Thanks for checking on Mallory. Be sure to leave her a note in the guestbook so she will know who all her TeamMal fans are. Xoxox Lisa aka NANA~~~

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Well, it is so hard to believe that 4 years ago today Mallory received her 1st gift of life!! It is now about 4:30 p.m. here and it was about this same time that Dr. Heffron came out of surgery to tell us how things went. Mallory"s life as well as ours has forever been changed due to events over the past 4 years!! However, with that said I don"t think any of us would have done anything differently. Yes, Mallory had a pretty tough 4 years but it does beat the alternative, she is ALIVE!! We have 2 very generous families to thank for that!!! As Mallory"s mom I can honestly say that I am beyond proud of her!!!! Mallory, sweetie I love you and am so proud and thankful for the wonderful young lady you have become. Thanks to all you wonderful Team Mal followers and please continue to pray for Mallory. On Friday she got a call from the liver team and her liver numbers had gone up again, her white blood count was better so the shot did help with that. We are a little concerned that she just cannot get stable and stay that way for a long period of time so after much discussion we have decided to call her doctors on Monday and ask for a meeting. Mike, Mallory and myself will meet with them and voice our concerns. We will update again some time next week. Happy Anniversary to Mallory, we all love you!!!! Lisa AKA NANA

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Hey guys.

So thursday i went and got my shot. Later on in the day i started feeling the effects and was really wishing they would have let me wait til i got back in town. Thursday night Joe and I flew up to cleveland for his niece"s birthday. It was an interesting trip, I dont really need to go into details, but I am glad to be home and free of pain. I will go for labs this week again. Please pray for my liver to be doing good, and that the shot of neupogen worked so hopefullymy White count is higher!

Thanks for your continued prayers

Love Mallory

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Please say a few extra prayers for Mallory this morning, she is going to Emory at 10 for that dreadful shot to boost her White Blood Count. Praying for NO pain and good results!!! Lisa

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th Everyone!! So, Mallory went on Friday for labs, her white blood count is still very low and her liver numbers were slightly elevated. The docs have stopped the Cellcept, doubled her prograf and doubled her prednisone. She will go back again on Tuesday for labs and the docs will reevaluate at that time. She has been feeling pretty good these days and her summer class is going well. Oh yeah, for those of you that have not heard yet, I am going to be a NANA!! Michael and Angela are expecting a baby!! We are so excited!!! Thanks for checking in on Mallory, we will update again later in the week!!! Lisa

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hey, its Mallory

Things are going well. I had labs done last week and my liver numbers were stable, and kidney numbers have improved! My blood counts are still low, and my white cell count has gone critically low, but the doctors want to check labs again this week and see if it has improved before they act on it. I am going to have labs again on thursday and will let everyone know how they go!

Mallory

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mallory here.

I have had this persistant cough for about a week and a half so i went to the dr yesterday. Turns out I have bronchitis, so I started an antibiotic for that. Im pretty nervous, the last two times I went on an antibiotic, My liver numbers went up and I had some mild rejection so I am praying that this will relieve the bronchitis and not mess up my anti rejection medicines!

Thanks for checking on me. I am having labs on Friday!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Hey everyone. I am feeling better some these days! My throat feels completely better now. I have been really dehydratedm, I went to clinic on Tuesday to get some fluids and they helped me a little.Liver numbers remain stable.. Also, labs showed my blood counts were pretty low so I started on an Iron supplement. Im hoping that will help bring my energy level up some.

I have labs next week again, so I will post an update then!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Hey everybody, just wanted to leave a quick update. Mal seems do be getting better as far as the findings from the endoscopy. However, because of the meds her kidney numbers are now pretty high. I just wanted to ask everyone to say a few special prayers for her numbers to go down!! Thanks and I hope you all have a great weekend!!!! Happy Memorial Day!!! Lisa

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Hey, it;s Mal.

I went to see Dr Ram at Emory today and got some much anticipated answers. Apparently from the scrapings that they did in my esophagus, there is yeast there but more prominently there were sores from HSV 1 virus (Herpes Simplex Virus) which is the virus that causes cold sores. So its like I have cold sores and a yeast infection down my esophagus... which definitely explains why swallowing is so painful!! Also, I noticed a rash on my leg over the weekend that is painful and itchy and it apparently is being caused by the same virus. At first she said it was shingles (Herpes Zoster) but then we told her about the HSV findings in my esophagus and so she said it is more likely that, which can be anywhere on your skin and internal organs in immune suppressed patients. Since we were trying so hard to fight rejection, I became over suppressed which is what caused all of this. So Dr Ram cut down on my prednisone a little more. ( He had called monday to cut down on my cellcept) He also prescribed an antiviral medication to take which will clear up the esophagus infection, and the derm said it would clear up the leg infection too. Also I am on diflucan still for the yeast.

Because of all this I have been unable to drink or eat very much and have become pretty dehydrated. So my next step is to drink as much as I can, more as the sores clear up. Also, with not getting much water, food, AND having a such suppressed immune system I have been so fatigued and lethargic... so i am looking forward to get back in the swing of things and get the life back that Ive been missing out on!!

Thanks for all your support and prayers,

Mallory

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Hello everyone!! Mallory went on Friday and had an endoscopy done of her esophasus. As suspected the yeast infection is back in her esophagus, the area around where her stomach and small intestines comes together did not look completely normal so the doctor took a couple of samples to biopsy. Mallory will go Friday morning for labs, clinic and to get the results of the biopsy. She really has not felt too good lately, please pray that she will start to feel good again very soon and will get some answers! It seems like any time she eats she feels sick at her stomach, her throat hurts and her chest hurts. I hope we can get some answers very soon so my sweet girl can begin to feel better. I will update again when we know more. Thanks for check on Mallory and have a great week. Lisa

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

hey its mallory. i had labs friday and they looked pretty good, everything is staying stable. i will go on friday and have an endoscopy. im having very bad acid reflux and alot of pain in my chest and stomach because of it- they are going to take a look and see if they can see whats making it so bad. i will update everyone as soon as we have some answers.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Hey, it"s Mallory. i had labs again friday and things looked great!! My liver numbers are great! ALT and AST are completely normal now! I am so happy about that! YAY! I love Dr Ram- he is a great doctor! My blood counts were low on friday and probably explains my recent tiredness but as long as IZZIE is ok i am happy. Id like to ask everyone to please pray for someone. Im not exactly sure what is going on, but Joe"s friend from college, Doug, is having some major medical issues right now. He is extremely sick and the doctors at the Mayo clinic are not having success in diagnosing him. Please pray for the doctors to figure out how to help Doug! ( This isnt the first time you all have prayed for a "doug") Anyways, I am almost done with school for the semester and Will start summer school at the end of May! No changes have been made to medicine yet but hopefully ill hear tomorrow. Thanks for checking in on me, Mallory

Monday, April 19, 2010

Good Morning Everyone! Mal went to Emory Friday for labs and clinic. Her labs were stable and almost identical to the week before. Dr. Ram has decreased her prednisone to 20 mg per day and doubled her Cellcept dosage, please say a prayer that her body can handle this increased dosage. Great news...her tests for Auto Immune Hepatitis have all come back normal!! God is awesome at answering our prayers!! Mallory has been feeling pretty good just still deals with tiredness. Let"s see, not counting her daily vitamins, ie magnesium, potassium, etc. I believe Mallory is taking 16 pills per day!! She will go for labs again on Friday and clinic again in 3 weeks. Thanks so much for checking in and Happy Monday! Lisa

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Hello fans! (LOL) It"s Mallory here and just thought i would update. I went and had labs again on friday and things are looking better!!! I amstill on alot of prednisone but its slowly being decreased and I think the cellcept is working well! I go to see Dr ram friday and going to talk to him more about lowering prednisone! Ill update again when I know more. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support through everything! I couldn"t do it without my family and friends, you are all angels to me =) Love Mallory

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Hello everyone, today has been a good day. I went to emory yesterday for a clinic appointment. My liver numbers are slowly going down for the most part! Dr Ram Decided to lower my prednisone a tiny bit. Also, he decided to start me on cellcept, which is another immunosuppressant drug. I was on it briefly after my first transplant, and never put on it after my second, so i am hoping this medicine can help fix everything. Still not 100 percent sure whats going on. The looks of my inflammation slightly resembles signs of rejection, and slightly some signs of Auto Immune hepatitis. I guess what we are going to be doing for now is try the new medication and i will keep getting labs weekly to track my progress. My kidney numbers are also somewhat on the rise, but were hoping that is only because of the prednisone dosage being high. So i am trying to drink as much as I can while I am on it! Thanks for checking on me!! I"ll update next week after labs, or before then if anything changes. P.s. Happy Easter! Also, be sure that you"re an organ donor!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Hey everybody. Today is the first day of April and you know what that means..Its Organ Donor Awareness Month! If you aren"t an organ donor by now, put it on the top of your to-do list. The following links offer information about organ donation and how to become a donor: http://organdonor.gov/ http://www.gatransplant.org/ http://www.unos.org/ http://www.donatelife.net/ Thanks guys!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Hey everyone, Its Mallory. I don"t have much of an update because I haven"t had labs or gone to the doctor yet. As far as the extra prednisone goes, It could be worse. I am definitely feeling it but trying to just be patient with myself and other people! I am feeling soo tired but i think i am feeling better overall! Anyways, i go to emory friday so I will update after that. Thanks for your prayers and keep em going! Love Mallory

Thursday, March 25, 2010

I just got a call from emory. They have reviewd my biopsy. they said that it looks very similar to mine from november (non-specific inflammation) and is likely attribued to rejection. luckily it is not acute rejection so i do not have to go in to emory. I will be treated by taking 40 mg of prednisone per day (not excited about this) and we can see if it is helping next week when i have labs again. Please keep praying for my liver to get better, now that we have a better grasp on what is wrong. Please pray for the sanity of everyone around me (AND MINE) while i am taking this high dose of prednisone!

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Hey everyone,Mallory here. Today was quite a rough day. Went in for the biopsy and had labs, they were all pretty much the same a little higher though. So after I settled in it was time for my IV. After 4 nurses and 6 sticks, they finally got one. The nurses all felt so bad. Then since my clotting time was too high they decided to give me a dose of DDAVP to help my clotting. So the biopsy was underway and when the Dr gave me the local anesthetic i started feeling really lightheaded. They checked my BP and it had dropped to 70/30! So they stopped for a while and were going to get me fluids but dr ram wanted to get it done since the anesthetic wears off fast he didnt want to have to give me more. after that it was pretty smooth sailing. I had some pain but got medicine for it. I have to go back next week for clinic. Hopefully someone will call me tomorrow or Thursday with the results. Thanks for your prayers and please keep them coming! Mallory

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Yesterday Mallory went for labs, her liver numbers were stable, Bilirubin had gone down to 2.2 and her potassium had gone up a lot, which is good news. Last night she had a horrible headache and was even throwing up, but is much better today. She will go for a biopsy on Wednesday of this week so we hope to know more about what is going on. Please keep the prayers going and thanks for checking in. Lisa

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Mallory went yesterday for labs, her bilirubin had gone up to 2.9 and her other liver numbers were pretty stable. The doctors want to check her labs again on Friday and have also scheduled her a biopsy for Wednesday of next week. The MRI she had last week showed some inflammation in her liver, so with her numbers not going down they need to investigate further. Dr. Ram wants to make sure they are not missing anything and try to figure out just what is going on. Her potassium was low also so they want her to double her daily potassium. Yesterday when Mallory went to clinic she met an older couple from Dothan Alabama, the lady is 72 and had a transplant at Emory 19 years ago and is doing great! Mallory loved talking to her and her husband, so sweet!! Well thanks for checking in and we will update again after we get lab results on Friday. Please continue to pray for Mallory and her doctors!! P.S. If you have a quick moment, leave Mallory a note in her guestbook. Lisa

Saturday, March 13, 2010

We are home! Mallory"s liver numbers were better this morning, her BR had gone down to 2.1 so they decided to let her go home. She is tired and still having a little pain but otherwise seems to be doing pretty good. The liver docs mentioned wanting to take her off her actigall, she spoke up and said no way that she is not comfortable with this. Every time in the past they have taken her off this her numbers have gone up. I was proud of her for speaking up!! She chatted with Todd on Facebook today and "consulted" with him. He was proud of her for standing up for herself and said that yes it is possible that this clump of stitches could be to blame for her elevated numbers. For those that don"t know Todd, he worked with Dr. Heffron over at Egleston and is WONDERFUL!! So, we are going to keep praying that things continue in the right direction. She will go to clinic and labs middle of the week so we will update again after that appointment. Have a great night! Lisa

Thursday, March 11, 2010

We FINALLY have some news. The ERCP was done very late today..4:30...and Mal was starving by then since she was NPO since last night, I was starving too if she is NPO then so am I, I cannot eat knowing she is hungry and can"t. Good news, No blockage, No stent!! The doctor did find a clump of sutures in her bile duct so he removed them. This may or may not be what is causing her numbers to be high. A few of her liver numbers had come down with her labs this morning and her bilirubin had gone up slightly. Dr. Spivey did increase her Prograf (anti rejection) medicine and she is getting IV magnesium because hers was low today. The plan now is to have labs in the morning and see what her numbers do. I suspect if they go up she will get a biopsy and if they go down they will monitor her another day or so and we will go from there. Thanks for checking on Mallory and for all the prayers!! Lisa

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Hello Everyone! Mallory was admitted to Emory today. She came in for an MRI and biopsy because her numbers are slightly elevated. The MRI showed that her bile ducts might have a blockage. With these findings the biopsy was cancelled and she was admitted. Tomorrow she will have an ERCP to check the ducts for any blockages and we will go from there. If she does not have a blockage I believe the biopsy will be done. Please keep those prayers going and thanks so much for continuing to be here for Mallory, be sure to sign the guestbook. Good Night Lisa

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Hey, it"s Mallory. I went to clinic today and found out my enzymes are elevated more than usual. They want me to come back tomorrow and have an MRI and a biopsy. I am not too worried. They numbers aren"t really high enough to alarm me, so I am kind of shocked they want to do the biopsy but I guess its better safe than sorry. I am going back to clinic on Friday and will then know whats going on. I have a feeling that they aren"t going to find much, maybe just a little inflammation. please pray anyways!! Thanks, mallory

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Hey everyone Just wanted to let you all know I am going to clinic on Tuesday. I have to be down at Emory at 7 am! Yikes! But I wanted to see one of two specific doctors and thats all that was available, so i took it! I haven"t been feeling GREAT lately but not bad either. Please continue to pray for my friend McKay, she is having a rough time right now and could use the prayers. Please also continue to pray for the family of my mom"s coworker, such a sad story about her precious grandson. Thanks for stopping by. Incase you guys have forgotten.. roll tide roll! http://www.teammal.org/images/smile2.gif

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Last week on Friday Mallory did go see an Endocronoligist at Emory. It was decided to put her back on one of her medicines that the liver team had recently taken her off. I think if they would just leave her meds alone things would stay stable for her!! She did have blood drawn for some labs but we do not have the results of those yet, we hope to hear by the end of the week. Well, that is about it for today. Please say a prayer for one of my coworkers, Connie, and her family. She lost her 3 year old grandson to child abuse this past weekend. How anyone could hurt a sweet child is beyond me. Have a great day!!! Lisa

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Hello Everyone, sorry it has been so long since our last update, keep in mind no news is good news. We are still waiting to hear from the team at Emory about getting Mallory an appointment to get her adrenal glands checked out. Mallory has sent them emails and called with no response so I emailed the coordinator again yesterday. It has been 2 weeks since they decided she needs to go, it really should not take this long for us to hear something. Mallory did go 4 weeks between labs at her last lab appointment and is scheduled to go four weeks again! She is doing well but still having a few minor issues which we hope to get answers for after her adrenal check. Thank you for checking in and please continue to pray that things continue in the right direction. Have a great day...oh and by the way the Smith family is ready for football season!!! Lisa

Friday, February 12, 2010

Hello everyone. First of all..its snowing here! yay! It is very beautiful,. Yesterday I had labs. everything came back pretty stable, but i was not feeling well so i saw DR and got some fluids. He wanted to also check in my cortisol level which may have explained my symptoms of fatigue and aching, and a few others. I had an email today from my coordinator confirming my low cortisol level. They will send me to see an endocrinologist to make sure my adrenal glands are working okay. I had a similar problem to this back in 08, and it was able to be controlled with meedication.

Thanks for all of your continued prayers.

love, Mallory

Friday, February 12, 2010

Thanks for all of your continued prayers.

love, Mallory

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Just wanted to let everyone know that Mallory will have labs later in the week so be sure to check back. Thanks and hope you all have a great week. Lisa

Monday, February 1, 2010

Just wanted to let everyone know that Mallory is still doing well. She will go next week for labs, this is the longest she has gone without labs since she became sick in July 2006. This weekend she is a leader for Thrive at our church and will be spending the weekend with a group of 6 grade girls, please be sure to wish her luck. A few prayer requests, Kelly Shaw and McKay Martin, both young ladies around Mal"s age that had transplants and are having some issues. Please also continue to pray for Ms. Juanita as she is currently having her radiation treatments in Birmingham. Well, have a great week and I will update again soon. Thanks for continuing to check on Mallory!!!! Lisa

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Hey everyone, I"d like to ask for you all to keep a friend of mine, McKay Martin, in your prayers. She had a liver transplant up in Pittsburgh when she was just a baby, and is now 22 and has had a flawless recovery. However, now she is starting to have symptoms of rejection/ liver failure and could really use our prayers! Since her doctors are in Pitt it is much more difficult for her to see them, so please remember her when you are praying. Thanks everyone!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Quick Update: Mallory went to Emory on Tuesday for labs and clinic. Her BR was 1.8, which is still slightly high, but her other liver numbers and her kidney numbers were all great. She was told to come back for labs in 4 weeks...yep you read it right...4 weeks!!! WOW, this is a first and is awesome news!!!! Clinic again in 3 months!!! Great News!! We are praying for a smooth road ahead. Thanks for checking in and have a great weekend! Oh yeah...can I get a ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lisa

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Let me start by saying ROLL TIDE!!! 17 years, yes 17 years later and we have another title!!! I believe Pawpaw had a thing or 2 to do with this!!! It is great to be a BAMA fan! Mallory is doing well. She will go to clinic this week on Wednesday for labs and to see a doctor for a checkup. She seems to be feeling much better other than continuing the ongoing battle of being tired. Her classes started again last week, she is going to try to take 3 classes and 1 online class this semester. If she can remain healthy and keep her strength up I believe she can do this. Everyone else in the Smith family is doing well. Please continue to pray for Ms. Juanita as she will begin radiation soon and will need some extra prayers. Also, Ally, Eme and Aubrey (sick kids that I keep up with) need some extra prayers right now. One more thing I would like to share, my resolution for 2009 was to read the entire bible before the end of the year. So, I bought a new one in January with a guide of what to read each day. I am proud to say I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY for me!! God Bless you all. Lisa

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Hello everyone! We finally have some results. The biopsy of her esophagus did confirm that she has yeast growing, so a medicine will be started for it. She will start taking Diflucan, which she has taken before. So far all the results on her small intestines have come back normal with a few still pending. Mallory is feeling much better so maybe some of her issues were related to the medicine that was stopped and restarted. She will go for labs again in about 10 days and see the doctor also. Thanks for continuing to check on Mallory and for the prayers!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Lisa

Monday, December 28, 2009

Today we went to Emory for Mallory to have labs and an Endoscopy done. We do not have her labs back yet but hope to get them tomorrow. The Endoscopy showed that her esophagus is full of tiny white soars, likely a yeast infection, which is probably a result of her being immune supressed. She will probably be started on difulcan, used to treat yeast infections, and she has been on it many times. They are doing a biopsy of these as well as her small intestines to look for various things. We were told we should receive a call on Wednesday at the latest to give us the findings of the biopsies. I will update again in a day or so when we know more. Thanks! Lisa

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas everyone. Let"s all remember the best gift ever given, God giving His son to be our Savior.. the very first Christmas gift, and certainly the best! God Bless everyone! Mallory