Mindy moved to ICU

Mindy's condition unfortunately worsened yesterday and she was moved back to the Intensive Care Unit. She was placed on the ventilator early this morning to assist with her breathing and her doctors are doing testing to determine the next course of treatment. Mindy is resting comfortably at this point and hopefully building the strength and endurance to overcome this latest obstacle. Your continued prayers and support are so appreciated at this time.

Mindy begins her 2nd round of chemo

Mindy underwent a second procedure on Tuesday to remove fungus from her sinus cavity and tolerated it well. She was given a transfusion of white blood cells and remains on anti-fungal medications in an effort to stop any further growth. She began the second round of chemotherapy yesterday so please continue to keep those positive thoughts and prayers going her way.

Update from Dan

The following post is an update from Dan:

It’s been a constant fight with new things every day. As you know, the battle with the lungs and the treatment of chemo has left Mindy with no immune system for over 3 weeks and that is not a good thing because we all need an immune system to fight all of the bad stuff that goes on in our bodies. Well, a few days ago, Mindy complained of some numbness in her left cheek. The numbness turned out to be a problem/infection in her sinus cavity. Then the concern became about a fungus that was showing up. Surgery was performed on Thursday night to determine how far it had spread and what type of fungus it was with the major concern being eye and brain. They did a biopsy of the fungus and now know the type. During the surgery, they removed everything they could in and around the sinus cavity in an effort to keep the fungus from growing. The doctors are also treating the fungus with an aggressive anti-fungal medicine to kill it. So killing and stopping the fungus is Mindy’s new battle. Once she conquers this battle, she will begin a second round of chemo and resume her fight with leukemia.

Please continue to keep Mindy and her family in your prayers.

Slow and Steady...

Thanks to all of you that are keeping up on Mindy through your calls, cards and reading of the blog. Mindy's progress at this point is measured in baby steps as she is still very weakened. We all want Mindy to make a quick recovery but it is important to realize that this will be a slow process, with incremental improvements in strength, mobility, appetite and energy.

At this stage, there may be days when the blog is not updated but be assured that we will post any significant news of Mindy's progress as soon as possible.

Continued progress!

It was another day of progress for Mindy. She is getting a little more of an appetite and gaining the strength to sit up and even get on her feet a bit. After days of no appetite, Dan came into the room to find her sitting up and eating steak and a baked potato. Now if we could just sneak in a Dos Coyotes burrito, we could speed this process up and get her back to her fun & funky self! (Dan is looking pretty funky in this picture too...)

Signs of improvement...and humor...

Mindy had a good afternoon yesterday. She did some physical therapy and was awake and alert throughout all of it. She is getting a little stronger which is a huge relief to everyone, especially Dan. To quote Dan, "Tomorrow I'm going to encourage her to bench press 10 ounces!" Thank goodness, he's still got his sense of humor.

Not much change

As expected after 2 weeks on a ventilator and a round of chemo, Mindy is exhausted, weak and has little appetite. The doctors are trying to get her to eat a little to build her strength and move around a bit more but these simple things are not so simple when your body has been through what Mindy's has. Some comforting news is that Mindy is not experiencing any pain or nausea so hopefully that will allow her to heal and gain strength faster.

For those of you wanting to send cards, they can be sent to the Trinidad's home and relatives or friends can bring them to Stanford with them when they visit. Please know that your cards and messages are much appreciated but, due to Mindy's weakened condition right now, they may not be shared with her for a little while. If you do not know the Trinidad's address, please send an email to katiez@surewest.net and it will be forwarded to you.

Dan and the boys would like everyone to know how much they appreciate all of the love, support, prayers, positive thoughts and energy that you have shared.

Mindy holds strong through the weekend

Mindy was moved from ICU to the oncology floor over the weekend which should provide a more sterile environment during this critical time. As expected, Mindy is weak from the chemo but hanging tough in true Mindy style.

First round of chemo completed

Mindy has completed her first round of chemo and is doing pretty well. She is still off the ventilator and is more alert and able to communicate. Dan has been filling her in on what has happened over the past 2 weeks and the battle she has ahead of her and the reality of what she is facing is beginning to sink in. She has episodes of confusion and Dan described her mood as somber – understandable given her circumstances. He also said that Mindy is touched and grateful for the support, prayers, and messages that have been pouring in from everyone. She has a very long tough fight ahead of her and will continue to need that support from all of us.

Toward the middle of next week, the effects of the chemo will peak, having effectively wiped out all Mindy’s cells, both good and bad, in the hopes of stopping the aggressive reproduction of the cancer cells. At this point, Mindy’s immune system will be in a very vulnerable state and it will be critical to keep her away from germs. They are currently trying to move Mindy from ICU to the oncology floor to ensure a more sterile environment. If all goes as we hope and pray, she will then begin producing good clean cancer-free cells. After about 2 weeks, another bone marrow test will be done to determine if that is true.

Correction to last blog

As a correction to the last blog, Mindy is still undergoing chemotherapy to wipe out the cancer cells so it is premature to see new cell growth at this stage. She is just beginning her battle with leukemia so please continue to keep Mindy and her family in your thoughts.

No more ventilator

Mindy has been taken of the ventilator and is breathing on her own! This is great news and we hope a sign that she has turned the corner. Preliminary signs show that she is beginning to produce new cancer-free cells. Thanks to all of you for your continued support and prayers - one can only believe that the positive energy from all of Mindy's friends, family, and extended support network are paying off. Keep on fighting, Mindy!

Mindy showing signs of improvement

Great news: Mindy's lungs are continuing to improve! The ventilator settings are going down with the hope that they will be able to remove it in the near future. Mindy is less sedated, more alert, and starting to try to communicate. In a welcome sign of our old Mindy, she was trying to communicate with Dan and when he failed to understand her, she pushed him away! She's still feisty and that's great. She is not in pain and has no memory of what is going on from day to day so hopefully she will be able to put this difficult part of her life behind her.

This afternoon, Mindy begins her 6th day of chemotherapy with only one day left to go in this round. All visitors other than immediate family are still not allowed to visit Mindy as she continues to be kept in a very sterile environment. Within 2 weeks, the doctors should start seeing the results of the chemo and hopefully evidence of all new cells coming back cancer free.

Next phase of chemo begins today

Mindy rested peacefully last night. Her doctors have seen some slight improvement in her lung condition, most likely due to the steroid treatment she was given. She is still heavily sedated and on the ventilator. Later today, Mindy will begin a more aggressive phase of chemotherapy which is to last for the next 3 days. There are many side effects to be expected at this point and they may last for the next two weeks. Mindy's condition is still critical so your continued prayers and support are much appreciated.

Mindy holding strong

Mindy is on her 4th day of chemotherapy and is still holding strong. Her blood counts are dropping, as is to be expected with this treatment, but because of this, the doctors are no longer allowing any visitors with the exception of Dan and the boys. She is being kept in an extremely sterile environment to avoid any further infection while her immune system is compromised. Though Mindy is still being kept heavily sedated to keep her body calm and relaxed, the doctors are beginning to reduce the sedation more and more so that Mindy can interact with her family.

Valley Springs Church was filled last night as lots of Mindy's friends gathered for a prayer service in honor of her. Pastor David read scripture and prayed for Mindy's continued strength, her family's comfort, and guidance for her team of physicians. Thanks to Mark DeBruin for arranging the service and to Pastor David and his staff for all their help.

Day 1 of chemo

Mindy began her first round of chemotherapy last night and is doing fine. Her doctors will continue to administer the chemo throughout the week and have given her medications that will help combat about 95% of the ill effects. They are periodically reducing Mindy's level of sedation so that she can hear the voices and feel the touch of her family and friends and she has been opening her eyes and moving her arms and toes a bit in response. For the most part, the doctors are trying to keep Mindy comfortable and relaxed so that her body can focus on healing and rebuilding.

Reminder: Prayer service tomorrow night at Valley Springs Church. See post below for details.

Prayer gathering for Mindy

A prayer service has been organized for Mindy this Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. at Valley Springs Church in Roseville. The address and phone number of the church are:

Valley Springs Presbyterian Church
2401 Olympus Drive
Roseville, CA 95661
(916) 786-7940

If you are unable to attend, please keep Mindy and her family in your thoughts and prayers wherever you may be. We hope the love and support of our community brings strength to Mindy as she fights this disease.

Mindy to begin chemo

There has still been no change in Mindy's lung condition, however, the oncologists have decided to proceed with chemotherapy. There will most likely be no change for the next few days but we will keep you posted on her progress. Your continued support and prayers are much appreciated. Keep fighting, Mindy!

Mindy's condition unchanged

Mindy's condition is basically unchanged from yesterday. She is hanging in there tough so let's hope we see some improvement in her lungs soon.

What is ARDS?

Mindy's condition remains the same but Dan wanted to pass on a website that describes ARDS (Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome) which is the lung condition that Mindy is currently fighting. A brief synopsis of ARDS follows:

Adult (or Acute) Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) is a medical condition which prevents the normal breathing process from taking place. ARDS occurs when there is severe inflammation in both lungs resulting in an inability of the lungs to function properly. ARDS is a devastating inflammatory lung condition that usually occurs in conjunction with catastrophic medical conditions, such as pneumonia, shock, sepsis (or severe infection throughout the body, sometimes also referred to as systemic infection, and may include or also be called a blood or blood-borne infection), and trauma. It is a form of sudden and often severe lung failure. Lung failure means that the lungs can no longer carry out their normal function of getting oxygen into the blood and removing carbon dioxide from the body. ARDS patients may recover in a relatively short period of time and suffer little if any damage to the lungs. More often, there is a very protracted period of battle with varying levels of lung damage which may require extensive physical and pulmonary rehabilitation. The outcome of patients at this chronic stage depends on reversing the inflammation and preventing or treating further complications, such as infection.

For more information, refer to http://www.ards.org/learnaboutards/whatisards/brochure/.

Please keep those positive thoughts and prayers coming Mindy's way. She has a wealth of love and support behind her. You can also add your personal messages to the Trinidads by clicking on 'comment' at the bottom right side of each post.

Pictures from Spring Break 2008

Ken Lynch sent these pictures of Mindy with Dan and some of her Granite Bay friends, Carolyn, Kalyn, Becky, and Susan, from this year's Spring Break trip to Cabo. It's great to see that smile on Mindy's face - keep fighting, Mindy - we know you can beat this!

Day 3 at Stanford

Mindy's condition is unchanged for the most part. The good news is that her vital signs remain good and her major organs are funtioning well. The difficult part is that Mindy's lungs are still filled with fluid and until that changes, no cancer treatments can begin. Mindy had another bone marrow test this morning and the results should be back by Wednesday. Both Dan and Mindy's families are still with Dan at Stanford. Trevor and Corey came back to Granite Bay and plan to go back to school for the week and head back down to see their mom again next weekend. Ruth and Jamie are going down tomorrow morning to spend some time at the hospital with Dan.