Abbey is in Remission!

We just got off the phone with the doctor, and we are thankful to let you all know that there were 0% cancer cells found in Abbey's bone marrow today!  Abbey is exactly where the doctors want her to be at this point.  They explained to us that although she still has a long road ahead with treatments, chemo and medications, the cancer is under control (in remission) and she is responding exactly as planned to the treatments thus far.  God answered all our prayer requests for today... every one!  

The doctor let us stop the steroids today (which was a day earlier than we expected) and she will have a break this week from most of her oral medications.  They told us that she should start feeling more herself, sleeping better and eating more normal once the steroids start to come out of her body.  We can't wait to see her smile more, hear her laugh again, watch her play, and just be our Abbey. 

The next phase called 'Consolidation' will begin next Friday.  We will be back at the clinic on Monday to check her blood and see if she needs any transfusions and then Friday she will have two more doses of chemo.  This month will be a little easier than last month.  Although she will continue to have about the same amount of chemo, she will not be on the steroids at all so she will have less day to day side effects. 

Tonight we are thanking God for how far we've come in one month and are praying for God's strength as we continue on. There are no words for Jim and I to express what it feels like to see our little girl go from 95% cancer cells in her bone marrow, down to 0%.  Our hearts are slowly being pieced back together and we are not looking back, but looking forward to see how God is going to continue to work in her body and in our lives.    

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

James 1:2-4

Friday

This Friday is a big day for us.  Abbey will have her bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap. They want the cancer cells in her marrow to be less that 0.1%.  Her scheduled time for the procedures was set for 1 p.m. which is late since she can't eat until it's over so we talked to our nurse last week to see if she could try to move it up.  This morning I was praying that the time would be moved up to 11 a.m.  We have to be at the clinic two hours before the procedures for them to check her blood and for the doctors to do a complete physical on her so 11 was the best time we could have gotten since the clinic doesn't open until 9.  Well, this afternoon our nurse called and said that Abbey's procedure time was moved up to 11 a.m.  I thanked her and told her that I had been praying for that exact time.  That was one of those moments where we were comforted by how intimately involved God is in this situation.

Friday is her last day of this first phase of her treatment which is called 'Induction Therapy'.  Friday will also be her last day of the steroids so we are very much looking forward to her being off of those.  The nurse told us last week that Abbey will start to feel much better once she is off the steroids.  We are so excited for her to feel a little more like herself.  Saturday morning couldn't come soon enough.  The next phase of her treatment is called the 'Consolidation Therapy'.  We are so thankful that this first, most intensive phase is over.  The cancer cells in her body have been aggressively attacked and she has been through a lot.  It has been hard, but we are so thankful that her body has responded so well and that her cancer cells have gone down significantly (and hopefully they will find none in her marrow on Friday).  It's also been amazing that she has had no fevers or other serious issues up to this point.  We feel blessed.

We're not exactly sure what the next month is going to look like for her.  The doctor told us last Friday that they would be able to tell us what medications she will be on and what her chemo will be like once the test results come back.  We feel pretty confident that she will be under 0.1% so if that's the case then next month looks easier than this month, but until we know for sure we are trying to not look too far ahead. Jim asked if we will know the test results Friday night or if we might have to wait again until Monday.  The doctor said that it is out of his control so we might know Friday night, but we may have to wait over the weekend.

Please pray with us for the following things...

*  For Abbey on Friday morning that she will be o.k. without eating before her procedures.

*  For her blood to look the best it's looked so far.

*  That the procedures would go perfectly smoothly and it would all be routine.

*  That she would come out of the sedation easily and feeling good.

*  That her bone marrow would have 0% cancer cells.

*  That we would get the results Friday.

*  That she would start feeling better on Saturday after stopping the steroids.

*  For a good week next week.  For her to feel good and have more energy and for her to be happy and comfortable.

Thank you guys for praying specifically for her and us this Friday and next week.  We feel so blessed to have so many of you asking for us to give you specific prayer requests.  We know you all are praying with us and God has been faithful and has answered (one of these days we are going to post a list of all the answered prayers so far :)  It's amazing!

Here is a verse that we have been reading often:

Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.  

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We will post the results once we know...

Our Weekend

Friday was our clinic day.  Abbey was a trooper and did a really good job getting her port accessed.  Her blood looked good so she didn't need any blood or platelets.  Her platelets were on the low end of normal.  They haven't been that high since she was diagnosed so we know her bone marrow is starting to produce healthier blood on its own.  She had her chemo and seemed o.k. with it while we were there. Jim ran into another family that was on the floor in the hospital when we were there and they have a three year old little girl named Leah who was diagnosed with ALL one week before Abbey was.  Jim saw Leah and he said she is very swollen and sick like Abbey is.  Her mom said one thing to Jim.  She said "we just want our little girl back."  It's so hard to see how sick these medications make them, but we need to continually remind ourselves that being this sick will eventually make them well again.  Please pray for Leah and her family too as they are on their own difficult journey with leukemia.  

 When we got home Abbey started complaining of stomach pain.  She would fall asleep for a while and then wake up crying of stomach pain.  This went on for a few hours.  We were concerned so I called the doctor and he said it can be normal to have stomach pain after having that kind of chemo.  At around midnight she woke up and started throwing up.  We both got really nervous so Jim called the doctor again. He told us to take her to the ER so my mom came over to be with the boys and we headed to the hospital.  By the time we got there, she was o.k. Very tired, but not throwing up anymore.  After monitoring her for a while, they sent us home.  We didn't get home until after 3a.m. so we were exhausted.  We're not really sure what caused her to get so sick.  It could have been the chemo, but she's had that chemo four times before and never had that reaction.  They thought she might of had some sort of infection, but she had no other signs of infection since then so we are just thankful that she's feeling better.

Saturday and Sunday were both good days with her.  She is feeling pretty good.  She was coloring today and more interested in toys and activities that we would bring her on the couch.  She will be on the steroids until Friday and then on Friday she will have another bone marrow biopsy, and two doses of chemo, one by IV and one injected into her spine.  It will be a hard day, but after Friday, she has a one week break from all medications.  We are really looking forward to that!  On Friday they want the leukemia cells in her marrow to be less than 0.1%.  She was close to that at the last one, so we feel pretty confident that she will be where they want her to be that day.  Please pray that it is below 0.1% so they can stay on the normal schedule of treatment and not have to increase her chemo and medication.  So far everything has gone as planned (except for our one trip to the ER) so we are thankful for no big bumps in the road thus far.

Tonight Jim was reading a book to Jacob in his bedroom.  Abbey was laying on the couch just about to fall asleep and I was sitting next to her watching the baseball game (we could hear Jim reading). All of a sudden she got off the couch by herself and starting trying to walk into Jacob's room.  I helped her in there and we sat and listened to the story.  It is so hard to see her like this, but so encouraging when we see those little signs that it's still our Abbey in there.  Jim had a big smile on his face as he read the story and we all sat in Jacob's room together.  It was a few minutes of "normal" and it was good.  The nurse told us that once Abbey is off the steroids, we will see our Abbey come back.  We are very much looking forward to her feeling more herself.  

Thank you for all your encouraging words as we struggled to get through last week. Each one lifted us up and we so appreciate you all.  Some of  you are our closest friends and others we've never met, but you're all dear friends to us.  We were reminded by a book that we just started reading that our God is God of the mountaintops and Lord of the valleys.  Thanks for going through this valley with us and helping us keep our eyes up.  

The last couple days have been hard for us.  Although Abbey's numbers are good, she is getting sicker from all the medication that she is on.  The last two days it is rare for her to be off the couch or to see a smile on her face.  The medication that she is taking most is the steroid and there are many side effects.  They told us that children on this steroid have personality changes and it has been very hard for us to see our sweet, happy Abbey not be herself at all.  She is very swollen and having pain in her fingers and pressure in her eyes.  We are struggling as we watch her suffer.  Please pray as we get through one more week of the steroids.  She will be stopping that medication at the end of the month for the time being (she will be on and off it for the whole treatment), but will be starting another medication for the month of November and we are praying that it will be a little easier for her body to handle.  Her hair is also really starting to come out today.  We aren't sure exactly what our next step should be with this and are kind of just waiting until we have to take it off.  It's hard.  

We find ourselves talking about the past and longing for things to just be normal again.  We always have enjoyed going to fall festivals this time of year and bundling up on cold days to go out and play in the leaves.  Abbey had just started a tap class on Friday mornings a few weeks before she was diagnosed and it's hard on Fridays to be sitting in a clinic where she's hooked up to an I.V. instead of watching her jump around with her tap shoes on and be a three year old. We miss watching her and Jacob ride around in his jeep with big smiles on their faces.  We miss normal and it hurts. 

This is hard to write as I'm sure it's hard to read, but we need to be honest as we go through this journey and we're asking you to continue to pray for us and especially Abbey.  Our hearts are so heavy right now.    

Tomorrow is her treatment day so we will be at the Ireland Cancer Center at 10a.m. She will have her port accessed for them to draw blood to see if she needs platelets or blood and then she will get a dose of chemo.  The thought of more medication in her little body is hard to imagine right now.  Please pray for a peace for her and us as we go through our day tomorrow and strength for the remainder of this month.      

Abbey's Treatment

After our encouraging news yesterday from the doctor, we have had many questions from people concerning Abbey's treatment and why she would need to be on chemo for 2 1/2 years if the leukemia cells in her bone marrow are already down to 0.2%.  That is an excellent question and we had the same question.  We spent some time talking with the doctor about just that the other day.  The doctor explained to us that there are still cancer cells in her blood and body (and still in her marrow at this point even though it's way down) and from past experience and research they have found that this length of treatment is necessary to make sure each and every cancer cell is gone and that not one is left to quickly multiple and invade her body again.  He explained how cells are 'hiding' all over our bodies so although we are thrilled that the cancer cells in her marrow are down to 0.2%, we still have a long journey with chemo and treatments to make sure that down the road this is gone and never comes back.  She will continue to have intensive treatment for 6 months (although the medications will change and some new ones will be introduced and others will be stopped for the time being and then re-started at a later date) and then the next two years will be less intensive, but she will still continue to be on medications and have chemo at certain times.  Another interesting thing that they mentioned to us is that if Abbey was a boy the treatment would be 3 1/2 years because of the extra boy part.  That really put it into perspective for us.  They treat with chemo and medications for a whole extra year just for that small part on a boy to be sure there is not one cancer cell left.  So, we are thrilled that her bone marrow is looking so much better, but we know we still have a long road ahead of us before we can say she is cancer free.  We know we'll get there though and we see God working in miraculous ways.

Jim and I have had some conversations (one yesterday) about what it will be like once she completely beats this and it is over.  We have wondered if for the rest of our lives, we will always be thinking that this might come back and if at each blood test that they do on her, if we will be holding our breath in fear that it is going to come back in her body.  Last night, Jim got the mail and there was a photocopied paper from a dear friend of mine down the street with a page copied out of her devotional Bible for us.  It was a story about a girl who is now a teenager, but when she was three years old just like Abbey (she had a brother who was 5 and an infant sibling... just like Abbey) she had leukemia.  She fought leukemia for a few years, but she is now completely free of cancer and it said this exactly "she is at no higher risk than those who've never had it."  Those words were a gift from God last night to us.  How awesome that my dear friend just happened to be reading exactly that on the day that we needed to hear those words so badly.  God is speaking to us through His people and giving us hope as we are on this hard journey.  The end of the story talked about how this little girls whole community rallied to pray.  They had family and friends standing by them in every way they could.  God healed her and in the process many lives were changed.  We see that happening with our Abbey and are excited to see how God used this story in many lives when this is said and done.  Those are God moments for us.  We have had many and it is so awesome for us to remember how much God is with us each step of the way.  When we get scared or overwhelmed, we talk with each other about how He is giving us these things to remind us that He is in control of all things and cares for us so intimately...  We are so thankful for these reminders and we know they are from Him to give us the strength to persevere.  

 We heard amazing things about the Church service at our church on Sunday.  It was a time of celebration for changed lives and a time to learn about God's healing power.  It also was a time as a church body to be unified through caring for some of their own (us).  They watched the video from the head shaving night and committed to pray for Abbey by going to the front and getting a bracelet that says 'Praying For Abbey'.  After church my sister dropped some of the bracelets off at our house and we got some pictures of the boys with them.  We also shaved Jacob and Micah's heads the other night.  Jacob told us that he wanted to do his head to make Abbey feel better when she looses her hair.  We are expecting her hair to start falling out this week.  We have noticed a couple very small bunches coming out and both times that happened, our hearts stopped.  Please pray that God will help us through this next difficult time and that He will give Abbey and us a peace about it.  Also, please pray that God would continue to protect her from any infections in her body.  She was having some bleeding after going potty last night and the doctors are going to be watching it closely.  Please pray for healing for her bottom and no infections or complications as a result of it. 

Here's a couple pictures of her biggest fans... her brothers, Jacob and Micah.  Jacob is wearing his orange bracelet that says 'Praying for Abbey' and Micah is trying to eat his :)  They love her dearly and have been amazing as our world has been turned upside down.  Please continue to pray for them too.  We love you guys... thanks.

  

God Is So Good!

After a long weekend of waiting we just got the results from our doctor.

They wanted the leukemia cells to be less than 5%......  The cancer cells in her marrow are at 0.2%..... that's less than 1%!  He said that is fantastic and we couldn't have asked for anything better at this point.

Clap your hands, all you nations;

shout to God with cries of joy.

How awesome is the Lord Most High, 

the great King over all the earth!

Psalm 47:1&2 

Praise God, we are so thankful!!

The pictures are some of the posters that we've received with Bible verses and words of encouragement.  Thank you!

 

Update

We talked to the doctor a little while ago and unfortunately, we will not know the exact percentage until Monday.  When we left yesterday, we were told that we would know by last night.  The machine was really backed up yesterday and then today her marrow did go through the machine, but the pathologist that reads the results was gone and will not be back until Monday.  We were sitting on the edge of our seat all day, waiting for the phone to ring.  I finally called the doctor tonight and he explained what was going on. He did say that he looked at the results and although he is not a pathologist, he feels that she is where she should be at this point.  He would not give me a number (even though he hinted to one) and said that on Monday we will know that number for sure. He said that we should be celebrating at this point though since Abbey has had no bumps in the road.  She has not had one fever, seems to be handling all the medication/chemos like a champ and we know the leukemia cells are coming down. Our hearts are filled with praise as we are encouraged by our talk with him.  We of course will be very happy to know the exact number, but we were thankful for his report.  God is moving guys and healing our baby!!  We'll let you know as soon as we know :)

Still Waiting....

We haven't heard from the doctor yet today about the exact percentage of the leukemia cells in her bone marrow.  We are sitting close by our phone waiting....

We wanted to do a quick post though to invite you to our church tomorrow.  If you live in this area and don't have a home church we know you'll love Grace.  We have been going there for four years and our lives have been changed.  You got a little preview of the type of people that go there from the head shaving night and we feel so blessed to be a part of such an amazing group of people that love God and love each other.  Our church is called Grace Brethren and it is located in Macedonia at 1066 E. Aurora Road (which is Rt. 82).  Tomorrow is a special, combined service that will be at 10 a.m. (there are usually two services, one at 9:30a.m. and the other at 11:00a.m.) but tomorrow is a little different.  There have been some really awesome things going on in peoples lives lately and you will hear stories of changed lives and also there are some people getting baptized, which is always a really neat thing to experience.  We talked yesterday with our pastor (Jason Haymaker) and he also told us that they purchased 500 orange leukemia bracelets that say 'Praying For Abbey' and there will be a time at the end of the service where they will show the video of the head shaving night and also give bracelets to people who will commit to pray for Abbey.  We are so thankful that they are doing this for us and look forward to hearing about the awesome service tomorrow.  Click HERE if you want to see the church website.  We continue to be blessed by so many of  you keeping up with our story.  There were almost 400 hits again on our blog yesterday and your comments have been an encouragement to us.        

Update

The doctor called us at midnight to give us an update on the results from Abbey's bone marrow biopsy.  Earlier he explained to us that once they have her marrow, they will first look at it through a microscope with their human eye and see how much if any leukemia cells they see.  Then, the marrow goes through a machine and that machine is able to tell them the exact percentage of leukemia cells (there are microscopic cells that can't be seen with the human eye).  Well, the machine is backed up so her marrow has not yet gone through the machine.  He did look at her marrow in the microscope and did not see any leukemia cells at all!  That of course is very encouraging and the best news that we could've gotten from him just looking with his eye.  We are thankful and encouraged by this news!!!  He told us that he can't give a percentage number at this point though since the machine can see everything including the microscopic cells and that tomorrow her marrow should go through the machine so we should know the exact percentage.  We are so relieved right now and are just resting in this news. 

 

Abbey got a book called 'Psalms For Young Children' today (thanks LoRussos) and Jim and I have both been reading and meditating on the verses tonight while waiting for the news.  Psalm 4 (kids version) says

God, when I'm in my bed

at night, I think about you.

And then I'm not scared of

anything.  I can fall asleep

quietly and in peace.

Tonight as we go to sleep we are going to rest in the fact that the doctor saw NO leukemia cells in the microscope.  We are going to rest in the fact that when we think about and meditate on God, we won't be scared. We will fall asleep quietly and in peace tonight. 

One more verse...  Psalm 34 (kids version)

I will pray to God every day of my life.

I want others to know how great God is;

I want others to sing to God with me.

With God, I have everything that I need.

With God nothing is missing.

We could not go through this without our God!  We have everything that we need since we know and love Him.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you for praying so hard with us today!  We are thankful for this news and will let you know the exact percentage when we find out tomorrow :)  

 

We Are Encouraged

It is hard to believe that it has been two weeks since Abbey was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (A.L.L.).  It has been a whirlwind for us and we know for many of you too.  We have learned so much over these couple weeks.  We have learned so much about this disease that we are fighting.  We have seen how quickly it can invade a body and the long process to get it out.  We have learned how a sweet little girl can go through so much pain and uncertainty and still love, trust and smile at simple things. We have been reminded of what's really important in life.  How precious each day is.  We have seen strength in each other that we never knew was there.  We have watched our boys adjust in ways that we thought was impossible.  We have seen our family, friends and complete strangers do extraordinary things for us ordinary people. We have experienced our God in a whole new way..... on a whole new level.  We have been forever changed.  

We have been encouraged....  God is using our Abbey to touch lives.  Our lives have been blessed and we know many of yours have been too.  It isn't easy.  It's actually excruciating at times, but we are confident in our Savior's plan for us.  We know He has a plan and purpose for this and we are clinging to Him to see what that is.  And God has used so many of you to encourage us.  Last night at our Church, there was a 'shave your head to support Abbey night.'  People showed up to either shave their heads completely or cut their hair to donate it to "Locks of Love".  We attached some pictures from the night (we weren't there, but our friends sent us some pics) and we were encouraged by this event.  We can't believe the things that people are doing to support Abbey and us.  We have gotten countless cards and gifts from people across the country that we have never even met.  Packets of pictures from classrooms in other states.  We want you all to know that God is using you to help us get through each day.  Thank you.  We prayed specifically for all of you tonight, that God would bless you all for how you have blessed us.

Tomorrow (Friday) is a big day.  Abbey has another bone marrow biopsy and the doctors want the leukemia cells to be 5% or less.  We are going in at 10a.m. for her to have a platelet transfusion and to see how her blood looks.  Her procedure is at 2p.m.  Please pray for the following things...

*Abbey won't be able to eat after 6a.m.  This normally wouldn't be that big of a deal, but with the steroids, it is going to be very difficult for her.  She is almost always hungry so to go that long will be hard.  Pray that she is o.k. with not eating.

*Pray for a peace for her as we go back to the hospital.

*Please pray that her platelets and blood look good and she needs no transfusions.  They told us she definitely would need platelets on Tuesday and she ended up not needing them.  They were surprised :)  thanks God!

*Pray for no side effects to her chemo tomorrow (she is getting a dose before her procedure through her IV)

*Pray for the doctors doing the procedure.  That they would do everything exactly right.

*Pray for the cancer cells in her bone marrow to be less than 5%.  

*Pray for her to wake up o.k. and not have much pain.

*Pray for us as we wait by the phone all night to get the results.  Pray for a peace for us.

We will be praying in the waiting room of the pediatric sedation unit.  Some people are going to be meeting there at 1:45 to pray with us while she is back for the procedure.  If you'd like to join us, that'd be great, otherwise, please be praying at 2 o'clock.  Thank you... we will know the results from her test at some point tomorrow evening.  We will post them when we know.  Love you guys :)

A Few More

These pictures were taken the week before she was diagnosed...

We're keeping our eyes on her maker :)

Old Pictures

Here are a few pictures of Abbey from this past summer.  We thought we'd add them so those of you who don't know her can see a little bit of her sweetness.

ICC

Today was Abbey's first day at the out-patient clinic.  We didn't tell her we were going until right before we left because we are learning that if we tell her too much in advance about anything unpleasant (we saw this in the hospital a lot) then she has too much time to think about it and ends up ruining more time.  So, we told her right as we were walking out the door and it seemed to be good because she was distracted by being on the move and didn't get too upset about going back to the doctor.  They gave us a cream that we can apply on her port site two hours before going and the cream numbs the area where the needle is put in.  

She did amazing today.  She fussed a little when they were getting the needle in, but it was much better then we expected.  The nurses and doctors were wonderful there and we totally feel like these people are holding our hands each step of the way.  Her counts looked really good... better than they expected.  She did not need blood or platelets today and the doctor was surprised.  

On Friday she has her bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap.  We will have to go in early that morning for platelets and they will again check her to see if she needs blood too.  We will find out her procedure time tomorrow and we are praying for a pretty early time slot.  She can't eat anything until after it's over and the steroids that she's on are making her EXTREMELY hungry. We've never seen anything like it before.  She is eating more each meal then she used to eat in a day.  The doctors said they've seen it a million times before... a little girl who used to eat like a bird (that was Abbey) gets put on these steroids and starts eating like a football player. Anyways, it will be very hard to hold her off eating too long so we are praying that she can get her platelets very early in the morning and then get her procedures done right after.  

The doctors explained to us what they want to see on Friday in her bone marrow.  They really want to see 5% or less of leukemia cells in her marrow on Friday.  If it is more then that, they will do a repeat test two weeks later and if it again isn't low enough (at that point they want to see less than 1%), then they will intensify her treatment.  Please pray for there to be 5% or less of cancer cells in her marrow this Friday.  When we were admitted the cancer cells in her marrow were 95%.  Last Friday they were 55%.  This is our biggest request yet, so please commit to praying for those cancer cells to be dying like crazy and flushing out of her body.  

Tonight she hasn't been feeling well.  She is having a lot of stomach pains and is overall very weak.  Earlier we were playing some Christian kids worship music and Jacob was doing motions and dancing around the living room.  She was laying on the couch and smiling under her paci.  It melted our hearts to see that smile peeking through even though she wasn't feeling well.  She is a trooper!!  We are so thankful that today went well.  God carried all three of us through it and we are thankful.  He is giving us a peace that could only come from Him and we saw that peace in Abbey today as we sat at the clinic.  

Thank you Lord for being so real to us and giving us only what we can handle each day.  

Tuesday

Today Abbey will be starting her out-patient treatment.  We will be going to a building connected to the hospital called the 'Ireland Cancer Center'.  We will be spending a lot of time there over the next couple of years and we will refer to it as the ICC.  She will be having a platelet transfusion today at 11:00 and possibly a blood transfusion, depending on where her numbers are when we get there.  Please pray for her as they will have to access her port with a needle for her IV treatments.  This will eventually be something that she gets used to (at least that's what they're telling us), but we know it will be hard for her to have to get stuck again.  

We will then go again on Friday for her chemo (they will again access her port) and another spinal tap and bone marrow biopsy (she will be under sedation for those) to see the number of cancer cells still in her marrow.  Please be praying now for her bone marrow to look clean of cancer cells.  If the doctors aren't satisfied with what they find on Friday, they will have to do stronger treatment for her.  Please commit to pray with us for good test results on Friday so she will be spared the stronger therapy. 

Tonight we had a great family night.  Abbey was feeling pretty good and although she wasn't very active, she still was playing, coloring and smiling.  We did family devotions together, sang songs together and prayed together.  I peeked at Abbey while Jim was praying and it encourages my heart to see her pray.  Her hands were clenched and her eyes were shut tight.  We know God is going to heal our baby and use her in great ways!  We are so thankful that she's ours :)    

Home

We got home today (Sunday) at around 1 o'clock.  It was so wonderful to leave the hospital with our Abbey, and walking into our home was heavenly.  We came home to a very clean, organized home with new carpet throughout and best of all, Abbey has a beautiful, new bedroom!  Very dear friends of ours came in the other day, painted her room pink, rearranged it and had a painter come in and turn her bedroom into a room fit for a princess (thanks so much Samua).  It is amazing!  We felt like we came home to 'bedroom extreme makeover' and words cannot express our appreciation for helping make Abbey feel so special  and loved.  Abbey loves her new room and it will be so nice to have such a special place for her as we will be spending a lot of time at home these days. We also came home to many packages with wonderful goodies.  Abbey has a lot to do to keep her busy.  You are all so thoughtful and creative!  We got some beautiful hand knit hats and soft silk scarves for Abbey to wear once she looses her hair.  We have been bathed with love and support and we are thankful to you all.

Although Abbey was happy to be home, she had a rough day today.  She is having some stomach pain and overall just doesn't seem to be feeling very good.  She has been through so much this week.  I gave her a bath tonight and she did not want me to wash her.  She has had so much done to her little body this week and she doesn't even want me to wash her because I think she is scared that something will hurt her.  It is so hard to see her like this.  It's hard at this young age for her to understand that all this pain is going to eventually make her well.  My heart was broken today as I watched her struggle to trust us, that all these meds and pokes are to help her.  Please continue to pray for us. Tonight has been one of the hardest nights for me so far and I think it's because now we are home from the hospital, so things should be so much better, but although our hospital stay is over, we still have a long way to go until this is over.  My heart is breaking as I watch her be uncomfortable and at times in pain and not be able to explain exactly what is happening to her. We will have a break until Tuesday, and on Tuesday she will have a platelet transfusion and possibly a blood transfusion before her bone marrow biopsy and spinal fluid tap which will happen again on Friday.  Please pray for us to be able to explain to her that we have to go back to the doctors on Tuesday and again on Friday (she will have to get a needle put back into her port those days).  Please pray for strength for her and for her spirit not to be crushed that it's not over.  Please pray as we are expecting her hair to start falling out soon.  We know that is going to be hard for all of us.  Please pray for God to carry us right now.  We feel weak and know we can't do this without Him.  Thank you guys.  We love you. 

One More Day???

This morning the doctors were doing their rounds.  I stepped out to listen in, as I usually try to do.  Our normal attending doctor was off and there was a new one.  He looked at Abbey's blood results and some other numbers and he felt that we need to stay here another night just to make sure that she's ok to go home.  We are frustrated because our usual attending doctor and many other residents and nurses all felt that we were going home today, but we're glad that the doctor's are being overly cautious so we can be confident that she can be ok at home.      

Home Sweet Home

What a week it has been.  In a way it seems like we have been going through this forever, but it also seems like the words "it's leukemia" are still ringing in our heads. Thinking about our first night here brings us back to the worst night of our lives, but also reminds us of how far we have already come.  The doctors are telling us that we may be able to go home tomorrow.  That brings many emotions.  We of course are so ready to be in our comfy, clean home, but we also are scared to take our little Abbey home without the 24/7 care of doctors & nurses.  Abbey had a good day today (even with two doses of chemo and two procedures), which is helping our confidence in feeling like she will be o.k. out of the hospital.  She will start her treatment on an out patient basis starting next Wednesday and we will be here again next Friday also.  She will still be on several medications everyday which we will give her at home and she will have her blood tests (to see if she needs blood transfusions/platelet transfusions) on Wednesday and then her chemo treatments on Fridays.   A fever or sickness would put us back in the hospital so we will be diligent in keeping her healthy.  We are one week into our new "normal" and although we have a long road ahead of us, we know she/we are going to beat this.  With our support system (you), our God and our love for our sweet Abigail, there is no other option. Thank you for all you guys have done for us.  We cannot begin to express our appreciation and love for you all.  Just a side note...     we have had over 400 hits on our blog today.  What an encouragement to us that that many people are following her story and praying for her.  God is working miracles and the body of Christ has come together to support us like we've never seen before.  Keep praying and we'll keep recording the miracles here for you all to see.  All for His glory!!

Abbey Update

The doctor came in a little while ago and gave us an update on her progress.  He said that the cancer cells in her marrow are down.  Praise God!  He didn't give us an exact number on the reduction, but he said that he is satisfied with the results.  She will have another bone marrow biopsy next Friday, October 17th, and we will be relying on God to continue to reduce the cancer in her blood.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and we ask you all to continue to bombard heaven with your requests.  We love you all!  

Prayer Time

On Friday, October 10th, we will be having a time of prayer in the atrium of the hospital for Abbey. She will be going back for her two procedures at 9a.m. and we would really be encouraged if as many of you could come out to pray for her, us, the doctors, etc... as possible.  She will be having a repeat bone marrow test and spinal fluid test to see what is going on in these places.  We are not anticipating any cancer cells to be present in the spinal fluid since there were none there to begin with, but the bone marrow test will tell us a lot at this point.  They will compare the bone marrow from last Friday to tomorrow to see how the chemo is working in her body.  We are expecting a miracle!  God is using our baby girl for His glory and we are praying that the doctors would come out and say "we've never seen anything like it before."  We KNOW God can do that!  Please meet us in the atrium at 9a.m. and we will cover Abbey, the doctors and everything else concerning this situation in prayer.  We look forward to this powerful time of the body of Christ coming together to pray for our precious Abigail.  If you have any questions, please contact Gorrells.  Todd Gorrell - 216-536-0335 Thanks.

 

DAY 6

From Jim: October 8 @ 11:05 PM

We're gonna change things up a little and I (Jim) am going to write today's post. I'm not as great of a writer as Shelley is, so bear with me if this is choppy.

Just a quick side-note... I haven't been able to read all of Shelley's posts, but tonight I sat down and read them. And I am just amazed at the strength and faith of my beautiful wife. She inspires me and shows me all of the reasons why I married her and I love her with my whole heart. God has truly been glorified through Shelley.

Today was another good day. Abbey did not have to go through any chemo treatment today. She was a little cranky this morning and we had a difficult time getting her to take her daily medicines (she is normally a great medicine taker, but 8 different medications a day are a getting to be a lot for her to willingly take). She has to take a steroid and one other medicine twice a day. She takes one medicine three times per day. She also has to take prevacid once a day. She was being stubborn and refused to take the medicine in the morning. So, our wonderful nurse came up with the idea of taking the medications with ice cream. The doctors and nurses have said that it doesn't really matter how Abbey gets the medication down, but just that she gets them down. Even though it seems like a simple thing to do, it is extremely important that Abbey takes this medication and that she takes it at the specific times. So, after much coercion and prayer, she thought the ice cream idea was great and she took her medication. So, for now, Abbey gets to have ice cream for breakfast, lunch, and dinner... I think this will be the only time in her life that this happens! But this is still going to be one of our big prayers as our journey goes forward. Abbey will be changing medications as time goes on and she will have to adapt to them, so we are anticipating that she won't always be willing to take her medications. So, please continue to pray for her and Shelley and I as we try and get her to take her medications.

We had a few visitors today as well. Shelley's mom and step-dad who also brought Micah with them, my parents (who are in from Philly), Jacob stopped by with Samua Cherry and her son Isaac. Samua has told us that Isaac has had Abbey on his mind lately and is praying for her and he has said that he loves her. Abbey really enjoyed her time with Jacob and Isaac. We got to see some of Abbey's usual antics and her beautiful smile. She brings joy to my heart just thinking about her!

We also wanted to praise God for protecting our friends, Todd and Hilary Gorrell. They were involved in an accident last night on their way to see us at the hospital. God protected them and allowed them to walk away from what could have been a devastating crash. Satan is trying to attack us one by one yet our faith is unshaken. We serve a limitless God!

We know that He is using our daughter to do His work and to bring glory to Himself. We told Abbey this and we hope that somehow in that little mind of her's that she understands this. She knows that her Savior loves her and we know that if He can conquer death, then He can conquer leukemia in my little girl's body!

DAY 5

From Shelley: October 7 @ 9:27 PM

DAY 5

Last night our slumber party was good. Jacob stayed for the night and we stayed up until after midnight. We kind of have come to the conclusion that when we're in the hospital, a lot of "normal" will go out the window. We had snacks and watched a movie together and then laid in bed talking a while. It is amazing how sometimes we forget why we're here and things just seem normal for a while.

This afternoon Abbey had another dose of chemo. It was two shots in her thighs and although she was very upset before and right after the shots, she settled down really quickly and was in good spirits soon after. I sometimes think she can feel our anxiety b/c all morning I was dreading this and she was just upset and crabby, but right after we all felt much better. One thing that we need prayer for is her taking her oral medications. She has always been a really good medicine taker, but it is starting to get hard because of how often she has to take something. The doctors warned us about this. They said that often time kids around her age feel like everything is out of their control except for the oral medications. They still feel like they can refuse to take them. Up to this point we have gotten her to take each dose, but it ends up taking so much time to actually get her to willingly open her mouth and swallow it. We have about 2 1/2 years of lots of medicine so please just pray for her to start taking them easier. We had a huge praise today... The nurses access her port often to take blood and administer medication in it. Up until this story I'm about to tell, she had always had to be sitting on my lap and has said ouey (ouch) the whole time they are doing it. Well, today I was on the phone in our room and a nurse walked in to get Abbey's vital signs (she is fine with this). Well, next thing I know I look over and Abbey is sitting on the couch with her arms in the air (the blood flows easier when her arms are above her head), allowing the nurse to access her port!! She was smiling and just allowing the nurse to get what she needed. Praise God for her bravery!!

I also was blessed today by a visitor of a girl that I met many years ago. She has a disabled little girl and has been in and out of Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital for years. We talked for a while about the pain of watching a child suffer. We also talked about God's great love for us through these times and were just able to relate to each other in many ways. I was grateful to have that time with her. Tonight Kendra came (thanks Kendra) to give Abbey her last haircut before she looses her hair. Her hair had gotten so long and I knew it would be easier once it does start to fall out if it was a little shorter. She looks beautiful (our camera battery died so I have none of the actual haircut, but I'll post some of her short hair tomorrow). God truly is carrying us through each day. We are exhausted at times, but feel overall that things are going well. Abbey is handling all of this better then we could have imagined and we are so thankful that up to this point everything has gone beautifully in her treatment. She has a two day break now and the next thing that she will be having is her bone marrow test and spinal fluid test on Friday. Pray for two days of rest for her so her body can be ready for surgery on Friday.

Thank you all for your amazing e-mails, posters, cards, and letters of love, support and encouragement. We have not had time to respond to each one, but we do read everyone and feel blessed by all of you. Also, thank you for your generous gifts to us and our kids. They have all been so thoughtful. You are all carrying this burden with us and it truly has been amazing to watch the body of Christ help us through this difficult time. We are forever grateful to you all! Please keep the e-mails coming about how God is working in your lives. We have felt so encouraged each night as we unwind and read your words. God's hand in all of this and we love hearing the stories. We love you guys.

Bright Spots

From Andy:
Jim sent these pictures this morning. In the midst of difficulty God's grace and mercy is evident. We are praying for his unfailing love. You can see the rest here.

DAY 4

From Shelley: October 7 @ 12:01 AM

I am struggling right now as I write this. We just downloaded the pictures that we have taken so far and it is hard to look at them for me. It has been a roller coaster of emotions and I do see God at work, but it is just plain hard and horrible to know what is happening in her little body. I really hate that it's happening. Please pray hard today (Tues.) as she is having a new chemo shot into her legs. I'm nervous for it and just want it to all be over.

DAY 4

Today started off good. Abbey woke up smiling, which was a huge blessing to us. She isn't a morning person so for her to wake up with a smile on her face after all she's been through was such an encouragement to us. She is such a trooper that just thinking about it makes me cry. I wish I had her strength and bravery. She is seriously the most amazing person I've ever met (and she's mine :) There is an organization called "Flashes of Hope" and it's a photographer that comes and takes pictures of children with cancer and their families and then gives the family a beautiful album with the pictures in it at no cost. Not only do they do all that for you, but they had professional hair and makeup people to do Abbey's hair (she even got lip gloss) and my hair and makeup. When they were doing her hair I cried the whole time. She has such beautiful blond hair and I know it will start to come out soon and I know that is going to be so hard.

The day was overall a good one. We got moved to a bigger room, which is nice since we were quickly growing out of our old room. We have a pack n play set up now in our room for Micah when he's here during nap time and that worked out great today. Abbey took a good three hour nap, which her body desperately needed. She was in good spirits and her and Jacob had a lot of moments together where it was just "normal".

There are so many amazing supports systems here on the floor and today a family life person helped us some in talking to the kids a little more in depth about what is going on in Abbey's body. There were little people, a doctor and a bone with white and red blood cells, platelets and also leukemia cells. I was able to explain that to them using the pictures and they seemed to understand a little more of what is going on. There is also a book about a little girl with leaukemia that we will read to them tomorrow. A little at a time.

Tonight we got a great meal from the Cherrys (thanks guys) and Abbey ate like a champ. She had seconds. Jacob is doing great with my in laws, but I know he is missing us at home so tonight I asked him if he wanted to stay for the night and he was all for it! We had a slumber party with a movie and snacks and I think we all needed it. Tomorrow Abbey will be getting another dose of chemo. This is one she hasn't had yet so please pray really hard for no bad side effects and that she would settle down quickly when they are done (it's 2 shots in her thighs). Also, Friday we will be having the time of prayer in the hospital while she is in surgery to see where her bone marrow is at this point so it will be a big day for us. We should know by tomorrow or Wednesday what time it will be. Please join us as we cry out to the Lord and cover Abbey, the doctors and this whole situation in prayer. It would be such an encouragement to us to join with you in prayer during these hard couple hours for us. Thank you and keep praying...

Isaiah 26:4

Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.

More on Day 1, plus Day 2 & 3

From Shelley: October 5 @ 11:47 PM

DAY 1 (Friday)
She had to be put under for three procedures... she had a port put in to do all her blood work and iv chemo treatments through. It will be great once it heals b/c they won't have to keep taking blood with a needle in her arm, but for now she is very sore there where they put it. It's like a small disk under the skin where there is a needle in there that can access blood draws and a way to give her medicine. The needle will stay there for a while and the port will be in there until she beats this completely. They are giving us a time frame of 2 years to 2 1/2 years for her to be cancer free so we have a long road ahead of us, but we are taking it a day at a time (sometimes hourly). She also had some bone marrow taken out and spinal fluid taken out and her first chemo given. After she woke after the procedures she was very sick vomiting... very sad and hard to see. Once she got over that, she was a new person. She had 2 more doses of chemo (they are all different meds... you'll get the picture as time goes on) and seemed to do well with those. We didn't notice too many side effects to those today. God has been at work in amazing ways though... I will share a story on day 2 and we are counting it as a miracle!!

DAY 2 (Saturday)
This morning was a hard morning for us. For some reason the mornings are hard and we think it's becasue when you're sleeping eveything just kind of goes away and when you wake up you realize your still fighting cancer... anyways, we heard pretty early this morning that her test results were back from the bone marrow and spinal fluid. It was hard and encouraging at the same time. The spinal fluid had no sign on cancer so we praised God for that. The doctor said the bone marrow was "full of cancer cells" so that was very hard to hear, but the doctor told us several times that that's exactly what they expected to find. They will repeat the exact same two tests (bone marrow and spinal fluid) next Friday (which will be one week after the first) to compare the two to see who the treatment is working. So, next Friday we will be having a time of prayer at the hospital while she is in surgery... Hilary and Todd or Samua will give you the details (or contact them if you're interested). Please come pray with us... we want to lift her little body up in prayer and pray that bone marrow looks much better and pray for the doctors and pray that she doesn't get sick after, etc... and also be a testimony in this hospital. She had a blood transfusion today, but did great with it and had no reaction when the blood entered her body. She perked up after that and had more energy. The other main thing that happened today was that she had a routine blood draw this evening and after the nurse takes the blood out she always has to flush the line. Well right after the draw when she went to flush the line she could not get the saline through and she was pushing hard and was very concerned about it. She then looked at the blood and saw that it had completely clotted in the containers to send to the lab so she was concerned that there may be something off on the platelets so she immediately sent the blood off to the lab for tests. She came in again after talking to the doctors and used a medication to break up the clot in the line... it worked! We cried out to God (literally) and asked her blood to be normal. They came back after an hour and said they couldn't test it b/c it had clotted too much so she needed to get more blood from the line. To make a long story short, the blood came back completely normal (or normal for what her blood should look like at this point) and they had no idea why it clotted in her line and in the collection tubes, but came back completely normal... we're counting it as a miracle!! Praise God.....

DAY 3 (Sunday)
Today was a pretty uneventful day. We had our family and many friends here and were encouraged by all. Abbey has so many new toys and activities to keep her going so that has been a wonderful distraction to her (thank you everyone... we are overwhelmed by your love). She loves reading books, coloring, playing with her little animals and princesses and just spending time one on one with us (mostly mommy ;) . She is pretty easy to distract so that has been helpful since there are often nurses and doctors in here either taking blood, giving her meds or prodding at her. I don't know if I've mentioned, but the doctors and nurses are AMAZING here! We actually feel like some of them are our family already and we can honestly say that we love them b/c they are helping get our Abbey better. They talk to us and explain things to us 50 + times if needed. We are overwhelmed with info and they know that and are constantly telling us to ask questions and to ask the same question over and over again if needed. It is comforting. The other thing I want to mention in this one is that she will have several side effects to the different kinds of chemo that she is having. Of course we all know the most outwardly visible one which is loosing her hair. The doctor told us to expect that to start happening in about a week to 12 days. Another common one with the one medication is mood swings and cranky, crabby behavior. We have experienced a little of that, but how in the world can we blame her? She can be as crabby and cranky as she wants for the next 2 years. We are going to love her through ever second of it. There are others that I will mention as we go on. Overall today was good though. Jim's parents brought up Jacob and Micah for much of the day so that was wonderful. Jacob and I (mommy) got to take off for a little while this afternoon to the gift shop and lunch. He got to get two new toys and then he picked one for Abbey. We had some good talks about all that is going on and he seems to be doing well. It is helping that he is staying at home with Grandmom and Grandpop. He would be really struggling if he wasn't at home, and although he told me today "I've been thinking about you a lot latley mommy" I think he's hanging in there pretty good. We talked about Abbey's hair loss to him tonight and we are going to shave his head and Micah's head too. They will all match :) He seemed to understand and to him he kind of acted like is wasn't too big of a deal... it's still going to be Abbey. My sister came up today with several picture collages to decorate the room (our room is seriously beautiful with posters and decorations from everyone... thank you guys) and although they are awesome, they also were hard b/c she is smiling and jumping around and just being a normal kid in the pictures and now that will be on hold for a while. Our hearts are aching at times and we see her lay fragile and sore in her hospital bed, but we can honestly say that our hearts too are thankful how God is carrying us though this and we are seeing His hand throughout the day. We have a peace that we can't explain and I seriously don't think I've ever been so close to my Savior in my life. He is sustaining us and giving us the strength that we need. Abbey has been a trooper. She's hanging in there and we feel that she is doing exceptionally well! She is sound asleep now and looks peaceful. Please keep praying for our baby...