Abby's Journey Archive

We started off our week meeting our newest little extended family member (Baby Sienna was born to my brother Rich and sister-in-law Laura on September 13) as well as interviewing with a local TV news station. Then we ended the week with potty training so I guess you can say we fit a lot into our week!

The television interview was a wonderful opportunity for us to share how God has led us so faithfully through the past 18 months. The producer, Jeff Bills, wanted to know how a family deals with having a child in a situation like Abby's. We only agreed to the interview on the condition that we would be able to declare how our relationship with Christ has been our source of strength and comfort. Jeff readily agreed and gave us so many opportunities to share the many ways God has blessed us and cared for us. Please be praying that God will lead Jeff as he condenses 90 minutes of raw footage into a news story that will declare Christ to many people. We will notify you all when we find out about the air date.

Abby has more good days than bad days. She continues to amaze her oncologists with how she looks. Her left side is definitely weaker than her right side. Sometimes the numbness in her left fingers is very discouraging and frustrating to her. But, overall, she is handling it pretty well. Some days when she is tired, she has quite a limp, but we are thankful that God continues to keep her as well as she appears. After consulting with the oncologist, we decided to leave her Decadron (the drug that reduces the inflamation in her brain due to the tumor progression) dose at one pill every other day.

Abby has been Elizabeth's biggest potty training cheerleader this week. She is always ready with a treat whenever Elizabeth uses the potty and there is no end to her compliments of "big girl!" Of course, we're all rejoicing in the thought of ending our "diaper days".

Finally, I want to encourage you all to eat out Monday, September 26! Chili's Restaurant is having a great fundraiser to benefit St. Jude's Research Hospital. They are one of the leading hospitals in the nation working to find cures to pediatric cancer. It sounds like 100% of the profits go to St. Judes. See the website for a location near you. http://chilis.com/