Jonny and I had a scare last night. While I was flushing Emma's lines, I noticed a tiny bruise and bump on her stomach. This was almost like the one she had when she was first diagnosed. Immediately I yelled for Jonny and told him to call the dr. All of the horrible memories came back from that first day she was diagnosed. But this time I knew that it would be considered a relapse, and they would go to a bone marrow transplant next. As we were waiting for the dr. to call, I started to pack our bags for the hospital. I don't know why, but it was my first instinct. Emma's primary dr., Dr. McNall, called back and said that she wasn't worried about the bruise. She said that if her lymphnodes were swollen and she had that bruise, she would be worried. But Emma's lymphnodes were fine.

She said that it would be almost impossible for the blasts to grow that fast, and since her cbc was clear on thursday, she said she shouldn't have any blasts. We felt a little bit better after we heard from the dr., but we just couldn't shake the bad feeling we had. We tried to convince ourselves that if she had a bruise anywhere else on her body, we wouldn't even think twice about it. But we are still scared. Home health care is going to come out today to do a cbc to see if Emma's counts are good enough to admit tomorrow for chemo. So we should know if her blood is clear or not for sure today.

We realized again last night that the worry is never going to go away. God has given us such a beautiful gift which can be taken away at any moment. Why have I been stressing over the smallest things this week!? God taught me last night to stop stressing out about my messy house, finances, and all of other stresses in life, and hand them over to him. He WILL take care of everything, and I can't always have control. No matter what happens, God is taking care of us. He has already shown us numerous times since Emma was diagnosed.

Please pray for:

Emma's CBC to come back clear today

Next round of chemo(No side effects, No infections)

A restful stay at the hospital(3-4 weeks)

Peace for Jonny and I

Emma stays in remission

11 Months Old

Emma will be turning 11 months old on the 29th! Wow, time has flown. I can't believe I have to start planning her first birthday party already. Before she was diagnosed, I had envisioned a huge first birthday bash with all of our friends and family. Now, we may have to settle for something small. Regardless, we have a lot to celebrate. If Emma's counts are good, we will probably go ahead with our big bash. But if they are low, we may postpone the party or just do something small. If she is in the hospital on her birthday we are going to throw a mini party with the nurses.

Emma's counts have been really low this past week. She will begin another round of chemo as soon as her counts recover. We have a clinic appointment for a CBC to see where they are at. Jonny is going to take us tomorrow which is nice because we will get to spend the afternoon together : )

Emma has had a few episodes of nausea, but all in all she has been feeling good. She is still trying to crawl, and will walk if you are holding on to her. She is able to stand on her own while holding on to the couch or crib. She is talking a bunch too! We wake up to her talking every morning...what a treat for us! There is not much else to report here. Thank you everyone for your continued prayers! Have a fabulous week!

Blood Drive and Next Round of Chemo!

Jonathan, Emma, and I would like to thank everyone for donating blood on Sunday in Emma's name. THANK YOU THANK YOU! We haven't gotten the final result from the blood bank, but I will let you know. We appreciate your donations so much! I was anemic on sunday, but am going to try to donate later this week or next.

Emma has been in the hospital since tuesday morning getting another round of chemo. She will get chemo through saturday, and we should be able to go home saturday evening. Unless she has to get a blood transfusion, then they will keep us until sunday. She will start her nupigen shots on monday to help her rebuild her white blood cells. When she makes counts, she will admit for the two days of high dose aricie (sp?) and then they will keep a watch on her. This chemo will totally bottom out her counts so we will have to be extra careful washing our hands and hers.

She has done extremely well with this round of chemo, and is acting like a normal 10 month baby. She has hit the stage where she doesn't want to sleep at night, and fought me for 45 minutes last night. I feel sorry for our neighbors : ) We are going to let NaNa put her to sleep tonight just to see if she will fight her. She is not taking very good naps either, but it is really hard on her being in the hospital. It messes up her entire routine. Plus, she is getting 2 chemo's a day which is very hard on her little body.

Please pray for:

A restful stay at the hospital

No infections

Protection for her body from the chemo

Emma will stay in remission

Garage Sale

It is 7:30 a.m. on friday and we are sitting out in the hot and humid garage having a garage sale. Emma didn't make her counts on wednesday so we are planning to admit on monday if she makes her counts today. We planned on having the garage sale next weekend, but plans changed when we found out that she would be in the hospital next week. So, with the help of Jonny's parents and grandparents we got everything ready. We have already sold our dining room table and some odds and ends. I will update the blog once I know how Emma's counts are today. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Week 13 of Chemo

Emma will begin week 13 of her 48 week chemotherapy protocol thursday. She will be receiving Cytoxin and Mesna for 5 days. This is an inpatient chemo treatment and tends to make Emma sick the first day. We will go into the clinic tomorrow afternoon for her pre-admit and then admit thursday morning. She will then get a week off and then start the Aricie (sp?) which is given twice a day for two days and then will stay for 3-4 weeks so they can keep a good eye on her.

She has been feeling well since the last round of chemo. She got a little nauseaus on sunday and had to have a platelet transfusion on monday, but other than that she has been happy and playful. We think she has some sores in her nose from the last chemo because she has been getting minor frequent nose bleeds. I think the main thing that bothers her is swallowing the blood which makes her nauseaus. God has continued to answer our prayers and kept Emma in remission. I thank him for everyday I get to spend with her and for protecting her body from this chemo. We serve a powerful and faithful God!

Jonny's golf clubs were stolen out of his truck last week along with some tools. This isn't the first time we have had stuff stolen, but the nerve of those people to actually steal a man's golf clubs! : ) So, since then Jonny has been eating and sleeping new golf clubs. It has been very important to replace every single club as well as accessories. Today Emma and I went to Golf Galaxy with him to get the last wedge to complete his set. I was also informed that you need more than 1 wedge to complete your golf set : ) He also purchased a new towel, golf balls, hat, and a cute hat for me : ) Now he just has to find time to play!

We want to thank everyone for your continued prayers! Everytime we go out, we hear from different people that are praying for her and our family. We love to talk to everyone and how Emma's story has affected their lives.

Please pray for:

Next round of chemo

A restful stay at the hospital

Continued protection on Emma's body from chemo

Our families health

Emma to stay in remission