A letter to my mother

My dearest mother,

I want to tell you how lucky I am to have been placed here on earth under you r care. I am grateful to have had this time to be able to express the things that so often go unspoken. You leave behind a legacy of strength, compassion, generosity, motherhood, excellence, pride in your work and most of all Love. Love of family, love of life of laughter and a supreme love for the Savior. You taught me to have patience with my daughter as you have had with me. You taught me to love my husband with all my heart as you have loved my father. You taught me to be honest to never take anything that was not rightfully mine. You taught me to strive for excellence in all that I do. You showed me support in all aspects of my life. I hope that I have made you proud. I wand to say Thank You for loving and supporting me although I know that I could never begin to express my gratitude. I only hope that I can pass along these things to my daughter so that your legacy lives on. I love you and will miss you terribly.

Love your Daughter,
Keely

Mom passed away this morning at about 2 am. All of the family was able to be with her in her last days and were there to care for and comfort her. She will be missed but has earned her rightful place in heaven. When we arrived in Utah a couple of days before her passing I was able to read this letter to Mom. I am so grateful that I was able to express my love for her while she was still here.

Obituary of
Robinette Zoe Koford Wilkinson
(1944-2011)

Tremonton-Robinette Zoe Koford Wilkinson died peacefully March 23, 2011 surrounded by her loving family. She had fought a good battle with leukemia. She was born March 15, 1944 in Sacramento, CA to Marion George and Naomi Geneva Christesen Koford. She was raised and educated in the Sacramento area graduating from Hyrum Johnson Senior High. She met her sweetheart and Eternal Companion Keith Evan Wilkinson and they were married August 14, 1962 in the Idaho Falls LDS Temple.
Together they raised three children and made a wonderful life in California. In 1995 they moved to Tremonton, UT where she held various jobs until she became employed by Lazy Boy. She retired from Lazy Boy. Her first love was serving as a Wife and Mother. She was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She served faithfully in various callings all her life.
Robin is survived by her husband Keith Evan Wilkinson; son, Kevin Robert (Diane) Wilkinson, Daughters: Kimber Rose (Blake) Gibbs and Keely Dawn (Manuel) Flores; seven grandchildren: Bryce Allen Wilkinson, Collin Robert Wilkinson, Hannah Naomi Wilkinson, Whitney Rose Macfarlane, Garrett Dean Gibbs, Hyatt Drew Gibbs, Isabel Geneva Flores; and sister Karen Ann (Gerald) Robertson. She was preceded in death by her parents.
Funeral Services will be held Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. at the Garland Tabernacle 140 West Factory St., Garland. Friends may call Friday, March 25, 2011 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Rogers and Taylor Funeral Home 111 North 100 East, Tremonton, and Saturday from 12:30-1:40 p.m. at the Tabernacle prior to the funeral services. Interment will follow in the Garland Cemetery.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.rogersandtaylor.com

Home and comfortable

Mom has been home since last Thursday and has had too many visitors to count. She is fairly comfortable and has had only the occasional bout of nausea. She is not eating much but every so often will come up with a special request...She made Dads mouth drop the other day when she asked for a Big Mac. So we got her one. The only real discomfort that she has had is the swelling and pain in her knee. Her orthopedic surgeon who replaced her knees came to the house and drained some fluid off the joint and she felt much better. For now we are trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She and Dad have had several phone calls and have enjoyed catching up with friends and family. We were able to get her to a family portrait session on last Friday which went very well. We are so grateful that she was able to get there. We will so cherish those last memories of us all together and are trying to make the most of the time that we have left. Please continue to send love and prayers our way. Much love -Keely

Going Home...forever

I guess on some level I knew the day she called me to tell me that the cancer was back that this was the beginning of the end. After an exausting 35 days in the hospital she was sent home yesterday (Thursday). We got into town and when I walked in to the hospital room she said "I am going home...forever." She had 40% blast cells in her marrow when she went into the hospital before the chemo and she now has 42% after the chemo...there are no options for a bone marrow transplant since she has to be in remission for that to happen. So........she has come home to live out her remaining days in the comfort of her own home surrounded by those that love her. She is in good spirits and would love to see people. Phone calls are great too.

Updates

So over the last two weeks Mom has had five days of Chemo staring on the 22nd of January. This time she did have lots of side effects such as itchiness, redness and swelling of the hands and feet, infections, nausea, vomiting, upset stomach and such. These symptoms have begun to subside, they have been giving her Atavan to keep her from thowing up. They have kept her on antibiotics and she keeps running a temperature. Dad and the docs have been having to force her to eat since she has no appetite. She has lost another 15 lbs through this process. She has lost some of her zip and personality but has still been plugging along. They have been monitoring her to check for blood clots and fluid buildup. She has had 5 units of blood and 3 platelet transfusions since her blood count is so low. She is in the Nadar phase where her body is at its lowest point and, without tempting fate, she can only go up from here. Her sister Karen has been tested to see if she is a potential marrow donor, so the docs are discussing a transplant for her. Lots of stuff going on and lots more to come. This has been a really rough round and she really needs everyones love and prayers and good thoughts.

Well this sucks!

So after only 4 short months...here we go again. I had hoped to never again have anything to post on this blog, but as you can see here we are again. Mom has been doing well over the last few months, feeling good and even traveling a bit to see family. Last month, in December when she had her monthly blood work done they found a little something strange, so they did a bone marrow test and sure enough they found some blast cells again....cancer...again. She got the news on Thursday and was headed back for the hospital on Friday. When they arrived for prep to start Chemo again the Drs. wanted to get her Central Line in and when they did the procedure they somehow knicked her artery and she started to bleed and they had to stop. This is something that sometimes happens when they pull out the guide wire. Lucily the body is able to heal itself fairly quickly. They decided that they would put in a pick line in her arm instead. All of this was quite an ordeal so they waited untill Saturday to start the Chemo. This time around, because somehow one of those little buggers survived in her marrow, they will have to use a different type of Chemo. I talked to Mom today and she says that she is a little sicker this time around and has had a couple of bouts of nausea and vomiting. Nothing that she can't handle though. Today, Monday, was day three of treatment and she feels much better today. They are giving her atavan (sp?) to help with the nausea. A good friend of the family, Carrie Delgado, brought in dinner and Mom was able to eat a bit of soup and felt pretty good. So for now we will take this day by day and see how she does. As always your prayers and thoughts, calls and visits are needed and appreciated. Love to all.

Remission

Its been 6 months and 8 days since our lives were turned upside-down with the big "L" word. You always think that nothing like that could ever happen to your family but when it does its devestating. The Lord works in mysterious ways and I know that this trial in our lives was there to strengthen our family. Moms progress has been very steady and good over the last couple of months. She has traveled this road with such grace and has shown a strength beyond anything I could have imagined her capable of, comforting us when we broke down. But all of that aside today was a GREAT day, Kim traveled to Salt Lake with Mom and Dad today to her last Dr. appointment and it could not have gone better. The Dr. removed her central line and now she only has to wear her mask in large crowds or where there are sick people. So she will still use it for the next little while during cold and flu season. During her consult the Dr. told them that she has all of the best possible set of circumstances in her favor. She is officially in remission and she has the correct combination of mutated chromosomes that will give her a 55% chance of being CURED!!! The likelyhood of a relapse of the cancer is low but if it were to occour it would happen in the first 18 months to 2 years. If after 5 years she still shows no signs of any cancer then they will consider her cured. So for now she will fall into a routine of monthly bloodwork and evey 3 months she will have a bone marrow tap and they will just keep monitoring her. So keep her in your prayers and once again thanks to all who have prayed, visited, called, emailed, facebooked, and everything else you have done. Much love to all. I love you Mommy!

Still swollen

Well things are not going as swimmingly as I previously reported. The swelling has not gone down as much as I had thought. Dad says that Mom had been really sick and tired for those first few days in the hospital. She also has a blood clot in her neck area from the problem with the central line that they moved. so they are giving her even more yucky medicines to help with those issues. She finally felt good enough to get up and walk some on Sunday morning, but still isn't feeling really good.

Round 4

Well after several days of being home, since June 12, Mom went back to the hospital once again on Wednesday June 23rd for another round of Chemo. This time there was a bit of a "hang up". Mom had an infection in the area of her central line. They found that the wire inside the line had slipped out of place and I think they said it was twisted. So they tried an antibiotic and it gave her an allergic reaction. So they had tTo remove her central line from its location on the right and move it to the left side. hey also gave her a different antibiotic and within hours the swelling in her chest and neck had gone down significantly. So they were able to finally start this round of Chemo on Friday night. So please keep her in your prayers as I can assure you that they are working. Love to all!

Bald is beautiful

Well today was the big day Mom finally decided to have Whitney shave her hair off! I think she looks great and its just another step in the right direction on her path to wellness. She did not want to look at herself for a little while and finnaly Izzy took her by the hand and took her to the bathroom to take a peek. Like I say BALD IS BEAUTIFUL!!! Wear it proud mama!! LOVE YOU!!!

Build-up

So Mom has been in the hospital for "blood building" since Thursday. So we are waiting to see when they will let her go home again until the next round of Chemo. She looks great and still has some hair on her little round head. ;-) It is really good to see her and we are excited to be able to take her home sometime during the week for a few days. Timing was good for her to be able to attend grandson Garrett's high school graduation, and with any luck will be home to celebrate Isabel's 14th and Hyatt's 13th birthdays this weekend! Thank you to all who continue to send well wishes and prayers. Love to all!

Round 3

Well it has been several days since I last updated and things have continued to go very well. Monday Mom checked back into the hospital for round 3 of the consolidation treatments. This round has gone just about as well as the others. Very little adverse reaction only one small bout of nausea and upset stomach. My mom is the strongest most amazing woman that I know. She should be out by the end of the weekend and hopefully she sill do as well as the last time when she was out for about 2 weeks straight. Thank you to those of you that continue to call and visit it is truly appreciated. Love to all.

Home again

Mom got her last treatment of chemo for this round on Saturday evening and Sunday morning she got to go home again. She will be home again for a few days until they check her blood on Thursday and determine if she will need to be admitted or will be able to stay home for a few more days. It will all depend on the levels of platelets and neutraphils. In the meantime she is still feeling great and trying to be semi-normal while at home. Love to all.

Round Two

Well Mom checked into the hospital on Tuesday for round two of her Chemo treatments. These will be a series of three "consolidation" treatments over the next few weeks to finish up the overall projected long term care for her. She took the first of two "bags" of chemo Tuesday midday and the second this morning. I talked to her today and once again she is in great spirits and moving along like a trooper. Now she will have a period of 36 hours with no chemo and then another bag will be hung and then she can go home soon after that. This process will repeat an additional three times. She should be in the hospital for about six days each. Once again thank you to everyone family and friends alike for your continued concern and support. You all have made this process so much easier for all of us. Much Love!

Home Sweet Home

Today was the day.... MOM IS HOME!!!!!! This morning did not start off too well because one of the nurses delivered some bad news. She told mom that her Neutraphil levels had dropped and she would not be able to go home today....Well she was wrong and mom was devastated. She actually cried for the first time today. But all was resolved and she would soon be on her way home! She was able to surprise Hyatt and Garrett at the ball park and see them outside of the hospital in over a month. She still has about a third the volume of her hair and Kim says she feels good and looks good. SO GLAD TO HAVE HER HOME!!!!! She is very happy to be in her own bed tonight.

Almost home

Well there is more and more good news to report...Mom has been increasing her platelet levels on her own and they are now up to 251,000. She is still holding steady at 100 on her Neutraphil level but her body is still rebuilding itself. It looks like she will be heading home this weekend for a little while and get some much needed rest in her own bed. Thank you to all who have been visiting and keeping Mom in your prayers and thoughts.

Better each day

Well Mom, Dad and Blake had a consultation with the Dr. today and they tell them that everything is going along well and mom can go home soon. The platelet levels are holding and climbing on their own now and they are now waiting for the "Neutraphil" cells to kick in so that she can go home for a while. The Neutraphil cells are the ones that fight infection and she needs those before they will let her out. They say that once the start they come back relatively quickly. Once she is home they will schedule 3 to 4 additional chemo treatments of about 6 days each in the hospital. Mom's Dr. has given them a really good prognosis for a good quality of life for many years. With the subsequent treatments they may have even eradicated the Leukemia all together. We will all keep our fingers crossed and keep the prayers coming. On the down side she is starting to lose her hair much more now and Dad says it has thinned out about 50-60%. This is the only emotional part of this whole process that has been difficult for Mom to deal with. But she is a trooper and this too she will overcome. You can email Mom at the hospital buy loggin on to the hospital website at http://www.ldshospital.org/ If you scroll down on the left hand side there is a place to click "email a patient" and it will let you send her a short message. She would love to hear from you. Keep praying and much love to all.

Boring is good

So Mom's Dr. told her today that she is boring! Really nothing new to report which is always a good thing. She and Dad will have a consult on the 12th and they will decide what teh next steps will be...more chemo? going home date? etc... Things are still going along swinmmingly. Mom is just a trooper. And while we are on the subject so are Dad and Kim. Mom has had many visitors in the last few days and I will update the list soon. Keep the prayers and well wishes coming. Mom can recieve emails at the hospital and I will be adding a link soon. (as soon as I can figure it out). Love to all.

Thursday & Friday Updates

Sorry about missing last night. I was already at the hospital when they asked me to spend the night with Auntie Robin so I didn't have my computer. Auntie Robin is doing pretty good. She a a few goods days and I won't say bad days but days where everything does quite go as planned. She is still struggling with maintaining her platelet count and has to have a bag of platelets today. We keep hoping that she will maintain more than the last time. Please keep this thought in your prayers. She had a little bit of a bad night starting with a small bloody nose, but even though her platelet count is low her blood still clotted and it stopped relatively quickly. Then she got up around 2 am and felt a little icky (I think that is the technical term) and spit in a bucket for a little or as she calls it retched. But that passed and finally she got to sleep only to have her IV finish and a loud beeping sound was our wake up call around 3 am. Finally we think we can sleep but were a little more awake than anyone should be at 3 am so we talked for awhile. We get sleepy and then a few hours later a nurse comes in at 7:30 to to stats and stuff. How is anyone supposed to get uninterupted sleep this way. Auntie Robin is doing well though. Her appetite is still small but is getting better. They took her off of the oxygen and she is maintaining her levels really well. The Doctor is pleased with all the progress she is making and is positive with each step toward recovery or remission. Auntie Robin still has not lost her hair but is sporting a really great "Don King" look for anyone visiting. She sends her love to all her friends and family. Keep up the prayers and positive attitudes. They are are received with love in her heart.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Well March is almost done, but here in Utah it sure don't look like spring. It has been snowing all day. It was nice to watch outside Auntie Robin's window. Auntie Robin was pretty tired today. I think all the treatments are catching up with her. Uncle Keith decided that there wasn't enough excitment in their lives and decided to wreck on his 4-wheeler. He is fine just bruised and beaten up. He stayed home today rest after his exciting evening in the emergency room yesterday. Auntie Robin got more platelets and whole blood today to help with her blood chemistry. The Doctors want to do some more rounds of chemo around the 30th day of her treatment and then let her go home for a little while until the next treatment. Hopefully everything will go well. One concern however is that Auntie Robin was running a temperature today of 100 so since her immune system is at its lowest that is being monitored closely. Auntie Robin is still in good spirits but is ready to go home as soon as they let her. We were walking the corridors the other day and she is all gloved and gowned and masked and we walked in the corridor where the elevators were and she said lets make a break for it, but I told her that just like the convicts wear orange coveralls that yellow gown is a dead give away. We told this story to one of the nurses and he said that they have snipers on the roof with tranquilzer darts so don't even try it. Thanks for all the great prayers. Blessings are pouring in with great test results. Auntie Robin sends her love.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Since Keely is in DC till Saturday, Eileen will be filling in for her. We visited with Auntie Robin today and she is feeling much better than yesterday. She ate well and her platelet count has bumped the highest yet at 44000 however it dropped but not as low as yesterday so she is retaining more platelets which is good. The 4th Doctor came in and visited her today and told her that the bone marrow transplant would not be necessary and that some more rounds of chemo would have to happen. Auntie Robin seemed pleased with the news of no bone marrow transplant but if the chemo does not do all it needs to do the bone marrow transplant is still on the table. Auntie Robin remains in great spirits and has told me of her great faith in the Lord to heal her so keep up all the prayers and great thoughts for her. She knows she has a lot of friends and family that are out there with prayers and love for her speedy recovery and health. Keep up all the prayers they are working and Auntie Robin is feeling the positive blessings.