Saturday, February 27, 2010

Life Lately...


Changing diapers, clinic visits, cooking, giving medicine, kissing boo boos, washing hands, taking temperatures, giving hugs, cleaning up, giving baths, snuggling, washing clothes, dancing, staying warm, nursing, cutting nails, reading, folding clothes, praying, taking pictures, cleaning, watching olympics, kissing cheeks, coloring, tickling, rock band, carpooling, make believing, laughing, and loving my five favorites :)!

Been busy with everyday life, but overall things have been good. Abbey has been feeling great, other than a fever one day last week that had us in clinic for an extra day for blood cultures and antibiotics. Must have been another little virus, but she's past it. Her numbers have been great and her body is handling being back up to 100% dose chemo at home beautifully. We are thankful.

God continues to bless us abundantly. We are thankful for the joy that He has given us through this trial and trust that in about a year we will be past this chapter of our lives. As time goes on and the shock of Abbey's diagnosis has past, we ask that you continue to pray for complete healing for our Abbey. Thank you.

Monday, February 15, 2010




Friday, February 12, 2010

Sleepy Medicine & Dancing...


This week sure flew by (which is a good thing when you have a little girl on steroids for much of it)! Last Friday went fine at clinic. It was a long day, but Abbey was a trooper. We got to clinic at 10:30. Her blood looked good and her ANC was nice and high. Her oral chemo that she gets at home daily has been at 75% dose for a while now. Once a child's ANC drops below a certain number two times while in maintenance phase, they adjust the chemo until they see their numbers recover for a certain amount of time. It's kind of confusing, but Abbey has not been up to 100% dose since the summer. This past Friday, they raised the chemo that we give her at home back up to 100%. It feels good to have her back up to the highest dosage as we pray for each and every leukemia cell in her body to be being killed. They assured us that kids do just as well when they are on reduced doses because each child handles the chemo differently and they adjust their medication according to what their little bodies are doing, but it just feels better to know that her body is handling the tougher stuff better, in hopes to wipe away this disease completely and permanently. So, all that said, right now Abbey is exactly where she should be with her medications.

After we got her medication figured out, she was given her vincristine through her port and we were free to go to sedation. Her sedation time was at 1:30, but once we got there we learned that they were running behind. She ended up not getting her "sleepy medicine" until 2:30. She woke up a little after 3 (after getting her lp and spinal chemo) and finally was able to eat. Abbey was smiling and so patient as she waited for them to come in. It truly was amazing to see her that day. My mom, who came with us that day asked Abbey if she took a happy pill that morning. Abbey commented on how nice her nurse was and said that she liked getting her sleepy medicine so she could take a nap. It's totally a 'God thing' to see this child go through these days with such ease. Me on the other hand was getting frustrated that this little girl had to wait so long to eat or drink. I don't eat when Abbey can't eat so by that point, I was hungry and getting a headache and knew she too had to be starving. I needed some of Abbey's patience and grace that day :). It's over though and everything went fine.

Abbey did pretty good on the steroids this week. Her appetite picked up like normal and I did notice some swelling this time in her face, but overall she handled them well. Her vincristine caused a little difficulty in her walking the last couple days and she has fallen a few times while running around. The chemo's that she gets in her port take full effect around 7 - 10 days after she gets them so once she fell the other day, I immediately knew it was from her chemo. It seems to be getting better and it's something that isn't permanent, but that wears off with time. It's always a reminder though of all this tough stuff going in her body and that none of it is without side effects.

And now for some fun updates :). Jacob lost his two front teeth over this past week. The first one came out late one night. He was in bed for the night and came out into the living room because he said his belly hurt and he tasted something yucky in his mouth. Turns out, his gum was bleeding around the tooth and he twisted it and it came right out. The second one fell out at school... at lunch. He was just finishing up his last bite of his pb&j sandwich and he said he felt something in his throat. He said he felt like he was going to throw up, then he realized he swallowed his tooth. Poor guy! I can't believe he's loosing his teeth! He's growing up fast.



And these pictures below are from one of our 'dance parties'. You will often find Jim blasting music in the kitchen and dancing with the kids while I make dinner. They just love it (as you can see in their faces). If you look closely at the pictures, you can see Jim starts with his normal clothes on (long sleeves) and as the dancing goes on, he gets hot and is down to his t-shirt. He gets quite a workout and works up a sweat as he goes all out with his moves :)! You can also see that Abbey had an outfit change too... what can I say.. she's a girl ;)! Even Caleb got in on the action this time. He will soon be asking daddy to dance with him too. Jacob skipped dancing this time to play the drums. Fun times in the Colbert Home and memories that we will all remember forever!








And lastly, isn't he just delectable :)! Have I mentioned that I am so crazy about this baby?!

Thanks for checking in! Have a great weekend ;)

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Chemo Day Friday


Tomorrow (Friday) is Abbey's chemo day. She was supposed to have it last Friday, but because of her fever and sickness last week it was pushed back to tomorrow. We have to be at clinic at 10:30 for her to get checked out and accessed. She then will get vinicristine in her port. Her sedation time is for 1:30 so after we are done with everything at clinic we will head over to the sedation unit. It will be a long morning since she can't eat at all until she wakes up from her procedure which won't be until about 2:30. We talked today about exactly what she wants to eat when she wakes up. I always have her food ready for her, right by her bed as soon as she opens her big brown eyes :). Tomorrow evening she starts her steroid pulse for five days, twice a day. Please pray tomorrow for everything to go smoothly. High numbers and a peace for us all, especially our brave little Abbey. Thanks.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Our Little Sunshines :)

Three posts in a week... can you believe it?! I'm on a roll!!

Yesterday we all wore yellow for a little girl named Avalon. She is a leukemia survivor who has had many bad, lasting side effects from her chemo. Yellow is Avalon's favorite color and her mom had asked for people to do something with yellow and take a picture of it and send them to her. I was trying to get on here yesterday to post about it (but never had a chance) with the info so you could do it too. If they do it again, I will be sure to let you all know. Avalon's site is http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/avalonhavan if you get a chance to stop over there and encourage her and her family.

Here's the pics of our clan from yesterday :)

Caleb - 3 months
Micah - 2 years
Abbey - 4 years
Jacob - 6 years

Doesn't yellow just make you smile?! Hope you have a happy day :)