Abby's Journey Archive

The last few days have been really great for Abby, she's been cheerful and feeling great, with a lot of energy. We've had some wonderful family times, including getting out for bike riding yesterday before the Arizona storms arrived.

Today we went to the oncologist for a followup to check her counts--she is neutropenic now, but her hemoglobin and platelets look OK, thanks to the transfusion she got earlier this week.

Late this afternoon though she started to get warm, and by 7:00 PM or so she had a real fever of about 103. A page to Dr. Abella was returned and we were to bring her in.

Thank God a bed opened up in Peds at BDMC, otherwise she might have had to spend the night in the ER.

Abby was not happy that a return trip to the hospital was imminent. Interestingly enough she took a lot of comfort when we reminded her that God doesn't do things by accident--maybe her visit to the hospital is because He has someone that needs to meet her to learn about Jesus?

We're praying that this visit will be like the others, with her temp returning to normal in just a couple of days. She is already on Cefepime, and is having blood cultures done to make sure she doesn't have an infection in her port itself.

Abby had her regular, post-chemo transfusions yesterday. Fortunately, she was not at the critical range so we were all glad to have had the whole weekend to enjoy being together.

So far.....no fever, so no visits to the hospital! Thanks for praying. You can continue to pray that Abby will stay as healthy as possible while she is neutropenic.

We will keep you posted about her counts and also when her follow-up MRI is scheduled.

Once again I am lamenting not having the time to send out Christmas cards. Last year, we were busy adjusting to a new baby and this year…well you all know where my time has gone. Anyway, I wanted to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas and blessed holiday season. The pictures here are a few of the special memories we have enjoyed already this season. I pray that you all will enjoy wonderful times and treasured memories with your loved ones.


I’ve been spending time over the past few days trying to sift through baskets and bins filled with papers, cards and notes. It was such a touching and encouraging experience for me. I am completely amazed at how many precious prayer warriors have been interceding fervently on our behalf over the past 8 months. I was also a little saddened by the realization that we never even had the time to thank so many of you for your notes, flowers, help, support and encouragement following the death of C.R.’s mom in March (it was on my to-do list for summer break). So, please know that we are so very grateful for your help and encouragement.


Reflecting on the notes, cards and emails people have sent us has been a great reminder to me of how God has always been faithful to us throughout our journey with Abby’s cancer. We've heard people ask how we are able to deal with the challenge, pain and fear associated with having our child diagnosed with and treated for a life-threatening illness. Some have commented that we have "amazing faith". Well, we want to be sure that everyone knows that we don't have amazing faith. We serve an amazing God. There have been so many instances where God has clearly guided us and taken care of us. Not to say that we haven't had times of discouragement. But we have also felt confident that God is aware of everything that is happening. He has given us peace and encouragement more than we could have imagined.


One of the bible passages that has been special to me is Psalm 29:10-11.

"The Lord rules over the floodwaters. The Lord reigns as king forever.
The Lord gives his people strength. The Lord blesses them with peace."


Our relationship with Christ has brought us through the past 8 months. It has also taught us the beginning of what God really means when he discusses Joy in His word. I can't even begin to do justice to the meat of that lesson from Him, but our pastors at our church have talked several times about this over the past few months, the most recent of which was on December 12th by Pastor Nathan (http://faithchurchaz.org/audio/2004-12-12.mp3). We may not know what is in store for us in the future, but we are confident that God will be with us through the joyful and the difficult times.


We will be thanking God for all of you this weekend and we pray that your celebrations will be memorable.


God bless you all!
Amy (for all of us)

Well, we pulled into our driveway at 9:30 this morning. Abby's stem cell infusion went well yesterday. Today we start neupogen and watch her counts go down and up for the next week. We'll keep you posted.

Our oncologist isn't concerned about her counts today, though her pattern has been that each day after her chemo her hemoglobin count drops a full point. This puts us in scary territory by Monday, our next oncologist appointment. If she needs blood on Saturday or Sunday the only option is a trip to the ER. We'd sure like to avoid that.

Abby's last bag of chemo was taken down at 9 last night. She is on the medication they give her to protect her bladder now until her discharge later today. Her potassium levels have been low this time so they want to be sure that is stable before she leaves.

The Child Life staff is throwing her a "Yea Party" at noon today to celebrate being done. It will be good for her. Her spirits are a little low today...she is very homesick and I am certain that she knows that although her chemo is done, this isn't really the end. She is not looking forward to being neutropenic and her neupogen shots. So, pray that we will be able to turn her focus off of her fears and onto God. He has never left us and we are confident He will continue to carry us through the rest of this.

We'll post from Tucson after her stem cell infusion.

Abby is tolerating her last round of chemo pretty well. As C.R. mentioned she had some vomiting when they gave her a dose of decadron both last night and early this morning. But, other than that, she seems to be doing fine. When she received her decadron this afternoon, the nurse infused it with more fluid over a longer time and Abby had no problems with it.

Keep praying that Abby will have a decent appetite and that she will be protected from any virus/bacteria she might encounter at the hospital.

Thanks!

Ahh, what a wonderful feeling. We brought Abby in today for the last of her 4 chemotherapy treatments. Her attitude was so sunny and cheerful, you could really tell that she was excited that we were finishing up.

So far she is doing well, other than acute nausea brought on by the decadron dose they give her just before they start the first chemo drug. We hope and pray that will be the only emesis episode this time around.

Now that the holiday season is really upon us, we hope you and yours will have wonderful opportunities to share, give, laugh, and love as this year draws to a close. Thank you again, as always, for praying for us. It has made all the difference.

Abby's counts are back up to normal so we can enjoy a whole week (maybe longer) without any oncology appointments! She is most excited about the fact that she gets to stop her neupogen shots.

Thanks for praying! God Bless you all as you prepare for this wonderful season.

Abby is still neutropenic, but her counts indicate she's on her way back up again. We spent the day at the hospital yesterday so she could get red cells and platelets again. She wasn't too low, but they wanted to be careful.

Abby will probably start her final round of chemo on December 19. We think we know her pattern enough to predict when she will end up in the hospital so we're praying that starting her chemo right before Christmas will ensure that we aren't in the hospital ON Christmas. Please pray for that...actually, we're praying for no hospitalizations this last time (although we are enjoying the opportunities to make connections with people).

Have a great weekend!