A long 5 days!

Emma has comleted 4 days of chemo and will finish tomorrow and be discharged in the early afternoon. She has done very well and has had no side effects. Her IVIG infusion was great and she didn't have a reaction. They will be doing blood work tomorrow to check all of her counts to make sure she is good to go. We will still keep her in the house most of the time because of the flu, but the dr. said that she is as protected as she can be. She will start her neupegen shots on thursday to help boost her white count.

We are so excited to go home! Emma gets 2 weeks with no chemotherapy and then she will start up again with 7 weeks of outpatient. 5 of those weeks she receives an oral chemo which is taken at home everyday. This chemo usually doesn't cause her to be sick, it's more of an inconvenience because she has to take it before bed on an empty stomach. Well, she is used to getting a bottle at bedtime so we have had to move some things around. Whatever works I guess.

On a different note, Jonny's uncle John Griffis is still in a medically induced coma at presbyterian hospital. The doctor's have done all that they can do and said that the swelling in John's brain needs to come down. We had an awesome prayer with family and friends, and believe that God can still perform a miracle in John! We continue to pray throughout the night for a complete healing of John, just like he did in Emma. God is Good and he will be with us through it all.

Everyone remember to tell your family and friends how much you love them on a daily basis! Stay close to your family and friends, but most of all, stay close to God.

Please pray for:

John Griffis

John's family, pray that God will give them peace

Emma's last day of chemo

No side effects, short or long term

She will stay in remission

A restful 2 weeks off of chemo

Emma's chemo and Great Uncle John

As Emma was being admitted for her 5 day in-patient chemo treatment, her great uncle John Griffis was across the walkway at Presbyterian Hospital being treated for a head trauma. He was roofing saturday morning and fell off the ladder and hit his head. Luckily his son was there and called 911. He was rushed to the emergency room where he underwent surgery and was stable. After the CT scan this afternoon they realized that there is still bleeding and swelling of the brain. He is currently in a coma and they will repeat the CT scan tomorrow morning to see if there has been anymore damage. Our family gathered around his bed this afternoon and had a healing service. We are praying for a complete healing of John's body. Please pray that he fully recovers from this. Pray for his family who have very heavy hearts right now and are still in shock. It is not easy to see your family member in that condition. Pray that God gives them a peace in this situation. God has already given our family one miracle and we are ready for another one!!

Emma is on day 2 of chemo and is doing very well. She has had no side effects from the chemo and is now receiving an IGIV transfusion to help boost her immune system. This is a 6 hour transfusion and can have the same reactions as a blood transfusion or platelet transfusion. She is 2 hours into it and so far so good! She is getting extremely restless in the hospital because she is not able to crawl around and cruise on the furniture here. She has a catheder and is hooked up to fluids, so she can only go so far without risking pulling those out. She will have 3 more days of chemo and is scheduled to go home on wednesday. Please pray that she continues to have NO side effects from the chemo here or at home. Pray that the Lord protects her brain and organs from long term side effects from the chemo. Pray for a restful stay at the hospital for Emma and our family.

Pumpkin Patch and More!

Emma has been feeling GREAT this past month, and ever since she started the maintenence phase of her chemo. She has had only 1 day of nausea, which is just amazing. She is developing great both physically and mentally. What a blessing! God continues to hold her and protect her little body. We are thankful everyday!! She is cruising around the furniture like a pro now and is a very fast crawler. We think she will probably be walking by Christmas if not before. She is very vocal now, but we don't understand what she is saying most of the time. She has a love for music, especially worship songs. She even dances when she hears the music and daddy has taught her to head bang : ) I think her new favorite video now is Barney's top 20 music countdown. Thanks Great Grandma Ruby!!

Her appetite is off and on now. She has eaten some solid foods like rice and chex cereal, but still struggles to get it down. But it is a start! Her favorite food is yogurt, especially white chocolate strawberry : ) This is my favorite also! We used to share, but she can now eat the entire 6 oz. Her weight at her last check-up was 15 lbs 6 oz. We can't wait until she is 20 lbs so she can be moved to the forward facing car seat.

We visited the pumpkin patch yesterday and had a blast. She loved the petting zoo(although we did not let her touch the animals). She also went on a pony ride, hay ride, and walked through the hay maze. She then helped me pick out her pumpkin! It was a great day!

She has 2 more weeks of outpatient chemo and then she will be inpatient for 5 days with a stronger chemo. She has had the chemo before, so we expect everything to go great. After that she will have 2 weeks off and then 7 weeks of more outpatient chemo. During that 7 weeks she will get 2 spinal taps. After the 7 weeks she will have 1 more inpatient stay for 5 days and then she is done staying in the hospital!! Woohoo!!! Then she has only 9 more weeks of treatment before she is done for good. WOW! We are looking at the end of April.

Please pray:

Emma's health during this flu season

Her 5 day inpatient stay

No side efffects from chemo

Her growth and development

Our family's health

Happy 1st Birthday Emma!

Emma turned 1 years old today! Wow! This year just flew by! Our family has so much to celebrate today. God blessed us with such an amazing girl who has taught us many lessons throughout the year.

Emma has been doing great this month. She had an outpatient spinal tap, bone marrow, and chemotherapy treatment last tuesday. She was such a big girl and did beautifully. After her procedures, she had a kidney function test. The test came back good. We haven't received the bone marrow test results, but are confident they are good. She will receive more outpatient chemo tomorrow morning.

We started out the morning with pancakes for the birthday girl. She didn't eat any, but had fun tearing them up and making a big mess : ) Jonathan had a CT scan today on his abdomen for some discomfort he has been having. We are not sure if his kidney stones are causing the problem or something else. The doctor thinks it is partially stress. We hope to get the results tomorrow. After his test we got some chick-fil-a and then the family took Emma to the zoo. She had a great time and got to see lots of cool animals : ) We then came back and I made enchiladas and homeade guacamole. It was really yummy and we had a good time!

Please pray for:

Chemo tomorrow(no side effects)

No infections

Continued remission

Jonny's health

Home Early!

Well, our little girl has done an awesome job again! Her counts recovered so fast and she has been feeling so good, the dr. let her go home yesterday. Just 11 days after being admitted! We were so surprised and excited since we were expecting to be there for 3-4 weeks! God answered all of our prayers and so much more! Emma didn't seem to have any side effects(other than a little nauseau) and is developing perfectly. Here appetite has recovered too.

We got to come home yesterday evening and sleep in our own bed. She had a little bit of nausea last night, but seemed to be feeling great today. She had a busy day of visiting her grandparents and playing. We are not sure what her counts are, so we are keeping her away from the general public. Jonathan and I have discussed not going out much this winter so we can stay healthy and keep all the flu germs away from Emma.

Not much else going on here. I am trying to figure out a good time to have her birthday party and I really hope it works out. Thank you everyone for your prayers...please keep them coming!

Crawling!

Emma has a had a great week here at the hospital. She is able to get unhooked from fluids from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. everyday which makes a lot easier to play and have fun! She has now mastered crawling and is always wanting to move! If she's not sleeping, she is trying to go somewhere. Her being mobile is a bit challenging at the hospital because the floors are so stinking dirty : ( They have provided us with mats for the floor which makes it easier. She also pulled up to her feet and is able to walk around the crib holding on. She thinks she is pretty big stuff : )

Her first birthday is just around the corner and I have a lot of planning to do. Jonny and I decided that we want to throw a big bash when her counts have recovered. We are setting the tentative date of October 4th, but if her counts aren't up we will have to push it back. We have so much to celebrate! She even got a pink car which can be pushed like a stroller. We gave it to her early so she could use it here. We go on about 3-4 walks a day in her cool car.

This hospital stay has been extremely difficult for me. I am getting very bored and restless. Emma isn't sleeping well, which means mommy and daddy aren't sleeping well. When she first arrived here, they did meds and vitals at midnight which woke her up. Then she decided that since she was up she might as well play : ) Now, she wakes up at midnight, even though she's not getting meds, and wants to play. When we finally get her to sleep, it is 2 a.m. or after. Poor little girl is just so out of sorts from all of this. We will be ready to get home.

Her counts are very low right now, so we are being extra careful. She got a blood transfusion last night, and I think her platelets are low so she will probably get a platelet transfusion soon. Even though she is low on everything, she still has a lot of spunk. She is always up playing and talking! It is so refreshing to see her feeling good : ) God is just working through her little body daily! Thank you Lord!

Please pray for:

No side effects from chemo

Counts to recover quickly

No infections

Restful nights sleep

Protection of Emma's body from chemo and other meds

Continued remission

Relief

Thank you everyone for your prayers the other night! Emma's counts came back clear with no leukemia. It was just a bruise from being so active lately. The dr. said it is perfectly normal to react the way we did because that bruise reminded us of the first time she was diagnosed. She has started her chemo today, and so far so good. This chemo is known for causing nausea, vomiting, mucuous in her eyes all the way down to her bottom, and more. Yikes! Some of these are more common than others, but I sure pray she doesn't have ANY!

She will get this chemo twice a day for 2 days and then we wait for her to recover. She started her eye drops this morning, and hated them! We have to do these every 4 hours along with the mouthwash. This means no sleep for the next couple of weeks : ( I must have slept too much in college, and am now being punished ; )

I will update the blog once her chemo is finished and there is more to report. Have a great week everyone!