That is some great news Chrsitine. Thanks for the update!!!!!

Nikki is battling through fevers, but the docs called them good fevers. Her body hasn't had healthy cells in a couple of months, so it is adjusting. The good numbers are on the rise.

One of Nikki's friends, Sawyer, from the first time she went through this a couple years ago passed away a year ago. Karen and Bob are remembering him at this anniversary. This is a pic of Nikki and Sawyer from 2 years ago:

Pray long, hard and often!!!

___________________________________________

There is alot to tell you about today. I wish I could say it is
all good but the truth is we don't know all the answers yet and
that is always scary. We will be taking Nikki downstairs very soon
for a CT scan and she is going to the OR first thing in the
morning. If I don't get back on until tomorrow, please just keep us
in your prayers and we will keep fighting. Nikki is being so brave.
Karen

Day +15 and ANC 650
Posted 2 hours ago
The last two days have been very hard for Nikki, but I will start by saying that she is stable and so far all the tests have been reassuring. We will continue to wait for more results over the next few days. Yesterday the fevers continued, she became more dependent on the oxygen, and the skin rash became worse as the day went on. She has needed platelets and blood. The pain has been managed and again the continuous dose decreased. The concern happened late yesterday afternoon when we got a chest x-ray and it was abnormal. The doctors needed more info which is why we did a CT scan of her sinuses, abdomen and lungs last night. I think she got done with the scan shortly after midnight. She now has Infectious Disease docs and Pulmonary docs looking at her. Then this morning she went to the OR to have a bronchial lavage done. Basically we needed to look in her lungs and also culture to be sure we are not missing an infection. As that procedure was done and Nikki was in recovery they decided to do a skin biopsy of the rash as well. Unfortuneately, Nikki was starting to wake up and the procedure caused her pain. They took a sample from her back where the rash is the worst. This is to check for GVHD. She got back to the room around 3:30pm. Just trying to let her rest for now. She has another fever now of 104.7 and is breathing rather labored. We just stay the course for now until other results say otherwise. The info from the docs today is that the CT scan looked better than the chest x-ray. Nothing mentioned about the abdomen or sinuses. They believe it is still inflammation from the Engraftment Syndrome that is causing the breathing issues. The skin rash can either be the syndrome or graft versus host disease. Either way it is something that can happen with the transplant. And remember we want alittle GVHD this time so it has a graft versus leukemic affect. I will admitt that yesterday and this morning, Bob and I did not know what to think. But we are reassured atleast for the moment. A super special thanks to the doctors, Bethany and Melanie for the great care.

Believe it or not, even with all the madness I did get out for dinner with friends while daddy was here yesterday. THANKS SO MUCH -- Jill, Jen and Natalie. I needed that.

And one more thing. Check the message board. We are asking everyone to think or pray for Nikki tonight at 9pm. That will be awesome! So, we continue to take one day at a time. God Bless you all for the love and support. Karen

<<>>>>

Forever "53'

Always and forever "Thinking of Nikki"...

Our "Guy"

I just got home from working all day,and just seen the post,and we are still praying for Nikki,my heart breaks for Bob and Karen,It just seems like I'd love to do more,but I know God hears our prayers and will take care of Nikki and her family,so me and my family and my church family will be praying hard,and you're in our hearts............God Bless Ya'll...........................................

During the night, Nikki has been taken to the ICU. The doctors have increased her medicine, pretazone and a new mediction for Nikki's lungs. She having a very hard time. If these meds don't kick in, she will be on a ventilator. Please pray!!!!

Nikki is in our thoughts constantly. Come on Nikki, kick this thing in its rear end. Extra prayers sent.

Cancer sucks!!!!!

We will all be praying for Nikki. We all hope that she will get better soon.

Christine, I meant to ask you how she was doing when I saw you and Mark today, but we got sidetracked. If I don't happen to see you this Saturday at the track, you can always leave the Thinking of Nikki sticker with my Uncle Kevin. Sorry I missed you this past Saturday.

Many thoughts and prayers for Nikki and the Deniker family...

As someone who has spent way too much time at the hospital let me say that taking a little time (even 15 minutes or so) is very important. You must keep yourself healthy in order to be with them. My wife and I would take turns and at least run out to get a milkshake or something. You need to keep your sanity!! More prayers sent!

Here is Karen's entry from last night. Nikki had to go on the ventilator.


This update is going to be very difficult to write. Last evening Nikki started to have even more trouble breathing and another chest x-ray was done. This one looked worse and she was evaluated to go down to the ICU around 2am. We went down around 4am and it has been a very hard process to watch. We tried to do BiPap to help her breathe and she did that all night. Her O2 saturations where good but the rate of her breaths and heart were too much. By AM we seriously talked about intubating and putting on the ventilator so she could rest instead of letting her crash. So as hard as it was I watched my daughter have procedures done that no mother should ever have to watch. Be intubated, have an NG tube inserted, get sutures to the back skin biopsy site, and have an A-line inserted. There are more IV pumps and more monitors everywhere. My world once again was crashing down around me. So many things happened today that I can not think of it all right now. We did talk to many doctors and nurses about every little step. Settings on the ventilator started low then got higher and then this evening are being weaned as Nikki is finally comfortable. She was heavily medicated earlier but now is just enough to let her rest. The nurse and I just repositioned her and Nikki was helping. She is doing extremely well with the whole process and is communicating with nodding her head and using her right hand/arm. As hard as it was earlier to see her so unresponsive, it brings good tears to my eyes now as she tries to joke and tell me to turn her music up. Speaking of music, Miss Watson wrote the words to the song "Brave Little Soldier" on the message board and I just love it. It is by Dolly Parton and sounds so much like Nikki's current battle. The thing to remember is that she will never give up and neither will any of us until we win this battle. Although I do not know the exact number right now, I can say that her WBC count and her ANC has again come up. The ANC is almost 1000 and this is good. The results from tests are still good. We also started a new drug today to help the inflammation in her lungs. So we take one hour at a time until we move back to 9B. God is watching over Nikki as he answers our prayers one day at a time. Nikki is our brave little soldier that will not give up.

One of the Denikers friends posted the lyrics to Dolly Parton's "Brave Little Soldier" on Nikki's CarePage. I'll have to look the song up to hear when I get home. Here are the lyrics, dead on with a zero for how brave Nikki is:

I'm a brave little soldier
I must be bold and strong
A brave little soldier
And I must carry on
I'm a brave little soldier
A brave little soldier
I'm a brave little soldier
I must fight, I must win
I'm a brave little soldier
Through hell and back again
I'm a brave little soldier
A brave little soldier
Per rum, pum, pum
Per rum, pum, pum
Per rum, pum, pum, pum, pum

Ye though I am marching through the valley filled with fear
My steps are sure and sturdy and my aim is straight and clear
The enemy is stalking me just waiting for the kill
Like David slewed Galiath
I will claim this battle field

I'm a brave little soldier
I must do what I can
I'm a brave little soldier
And I must take a stand
I'm a brave little soldier
A brave little soldier

Marching, marching onward
Searching out the light of truth
I did not start the war
But it's a battle I can't lose
Faith will be my armor
And love my sword and shield
I must defeat the enemy
I will, I will, I will

A brave little soldier
I must be bold and strong
A brave little soldier
And I must carry on
A brave little soldier
A brave little soldier

I'm a brave little soldier
A brave little soldier
Brave, little soldier

At times like these I feel so helpless,and I can't imagine what Bob and Karen must be feeling,and I know that by Gods power this little angel named Nikki is going to be healed,because my God said he would never put more on us than we could stand,I'm not a family member,I'm just a person who heard of Nikki's situation through the good friends of the family(Ma B & Chuck T)but it has become as if I know this family personally,so my heart is heavy today at this news,but I'm going to keep praying and praying and asking all that I know that know the word of prayer to pray with us for Nikki,I want to say something that would comfort this family,but in times like these no words can I find except for you all to know I my family and Chruch family and all my friends are Praying for you all.......God Bless You All.....................................

Karen's newest update. Nikki is fighting! Nikki is so brave!! Please keep the prayers coming, all the prayers are working!

Day +17 and ANC 1767
Posted 14 minutes ago
Just wanted to give a fast update about how Nikki is doing. Things are slowly improving and she continues to be brave and fight to recover. Her last chest x-ray showed improvement and they continue to wean her from the ventilator. She is on minimal settings now, which is wonderful. Fevers are still around but not as high. The rash has also improved. The bloodwork today all looked good except for her billirubin number which is now high. They already did an ultrasound to check on the liver since it is enlarged and tender now. This could be VOD which is another thing that can occur with transplants. If it is, it is managable at this point. I will update more later, but wanted to send out the positives of this morning. One hour at a time as God watches over our brave little soldier. Karen

This is Karen's latest update! Thanks so much for the prayers! We need that miracle!!

Doing well.
Posted 9 hours ago
Not much more to add tonight and that is a good thing in the ICU. Nikki is actually pretty awake tonight, but tried to pull her tube out. I take that as a sign that she is ready for the breathing tube to go away. That's my Nikki! She recieve blood and platelets this evening and will be getting some lasix now to get any extra fluid off. She had her ventilator settings lowered again and is doing well with the change. Also, the ultrasound of her liver was negative for VOD and we will just monitor. Praying for a restful night for Nikki so she can be even stronger tomorrow. I will try to add a video of the song Brave Little Soldier. I hope it works. If not it is Jill's fault since she is telling me how to do it. LOL. Goodnight and God Bless! Karen

That sure made the tears flow.
I'm praying hard for Nikki and for my buddy who is having his surgery Thursday.

She is one tough little gal,I just got home and was looking for more updates,and as I sat down,my knees and legs were aching,and then I get to thinking of this sweet little girl that is having all this trouble and I feel plum ashamed of myself for complaining,so I just pray some more for Nikki,hurry and get better girl,you never know Mannie (my little boy,he's 7)and I may sneak off up that way and see you all up around Pittsburg,now would'nt that be something to see two old country boys in the big city,but I bet Ma B or Chuck one would show us around,but for now Still praying for Nikki,God Bless.........................................

Prayers sent from my family.

This is Karen's latest update:

Day +18 and ANC 2623
Posted 14 hours ago
I am sorry that it has taken me awhile to update. First thing is I am struggling with emotions today and very tired. Nikki did great until around 2:30am when her O2 sat dropped from retaining to much fluid. I woke up to about 10 people around her bed. They had to increase her ventilator settings and push the lasix to make her pee. I think I went back to sleep around 4am and my wake up call was the nurse yelling "no!" around 6:30am because Nikki was pulling the breathing tube out. It is ashame that we had this set back because they were planning on pulling the breathing tube out today until everything happened. Now we just wait for them to start to wean the settings again. So, the good news is they are saying she had mild GVHD of her skin which is what we wanted. The bad news is we are still concerned about her liver and questionable VOD. If her liver labs do not improve we will be giving her a new drug soon with more side effects and more concerns. I am on information overload about now. I am sure there is something I would like to pass along but just cannot think straight. We are okay but it is just not fast enough for me. Nikki is moving all over the bed and playing Wii in her sleep again. I think she hit a home run at one point as she was swinging at the ball. She always mananges to make me smile. I did get to see Ashley for a short visit today. How hard to tell her that she can't see Nikki. She too gave me some smiles this afternoon as I keep fighting back my heartache tears. One hour at a time today. Please God- let us see more improvement going into tomorrow. Let us see you working miracles on my precious Nikki. Amen. Karen

Our beautiful Nikki is fighting with everything she has! Nikki is so amazing! With all the prayers, Nikki will get over these little bumps to get her over the top and be home soon!!

Sending prayers & thinking of Nikki!

Thinking and praying for Nikki all around Cana,Va.prayers are being prayed,we love you Nikki..............God Bless..................