For those who were wondering...

For those who were wondering about Hana Allen - she's doing well. She is through surgery and is now nearly at 1 week post - op. She is managing things pretty well but there are some prayer requests from the family - 1. Hana is having bladder spasms from the surgery which are extremely painful! please pray they subside soon. 2. Please pray her recovery continues smoothly and uneventfully - they are beginning to remove her from tubes/pain meds etc and she was actually up and walking for the first time today. 3. Pray that Heather is able to manage her duties solo until her sister gets to Cincinnati on Wednesday as Heather's hubby had to return home. 4. Pray that no one else at home experiences any more issues! Two of Hana's siblings experience broken bones recently and their chores have been done by others' They are deamed healed and back to normal chores and school but really, they don't need any more issues!!!!! Yep, she's still my HERO!!!!

Despite the Rough spots, Blessings Abound.

Yesterday was an incredible day - despite some of the roughness of the last two weeks, God continues to show our family what a loving, caring and providing Father He is. There is a charitable organization called the Janet Vargas Memorial Fund which pays for the some fun events for the kids at UNM Childrens Cancer Center. Yesterday was the Cliff's Amusement Park Day so we went and had an absolutely fun time. It was a day to go be a kid and have fun - leaving all the seriousness of this disease behind! I could have cried just seeing the kids have so much fun all day. Aside from getting to ride rides for free from 12-7pm they also provided lunch of Pizza, Subs, chips, sodas, and goodies. It brought a huge smile to my face and tears to my eyes seeing these kids who I am used to seeing so sick while they are getting treatments etc. just smile and have so much fun. I would LOVE to have had pictures but I forgot my batteries for the camars (DUH!!!) If you would like to have more information about this group - see their website: www.jvmf.org .
Along with this fun day we got a call from my mom that someone had donated a large sum of money to our family for medical expenses. Again bringing tears and smiles!!!!
I have a few prayer requests for everyone.
1) Someone we know is having some issues in their life. Please pray that God would just use this difficulty to bring them all closer to the Lord. I can't be specific but I know they could use a lot of prayer right now to carry them thru.
2.) A family who I don't know but family members do know have a Grandbaby who is very young (under 1 year) who is going thru a lot of MAJOR medical issues. He has almost constant seizures and has to have a feeding tube among other medical things. This is a heartbreaking situation for the family and they have been in and out of hospitals since he was born. Please pray too for this family to be upheld during this and that God's miraculous hand of healing would be on this little one.

I Feel Like Crying.

Here we are, back at UNMH, presumably for our last treatment. We've been doing
Chemo since around 3:30pm (they decided that if we start earlier we might get to go home earlier - I agree!!!) Alyssa and I were changed into our jammies just relaxing and hanging out
I'm beading and Aly is watching NCIS. I had just hung up the phone from talking to my family and saying goodnight. In walks in admitting and they want us to pay a $150 copay. ARE THEY KIDDING? At 9pm? IN my jammies just before Alyssa is going to get sick from the chemo (usually 3 hours after the last drug is administered though we started early tonight.) Talk about catching someone unawares. I mean, this is our 4th admission and they've never ever done this before so why now and why this late at night (turns out admitting is open 24/7) I guess they've changed policies and they are being asked to make sure folks pay their copays when they check in - hence the episode leading me to be escorted down to admitting at 9:30 at night. It's not that it that big of a deal but I knew these things were coming and I guess it caught me off guard. After the stress of the day - I just feel like crying. I just want to be here with my precious daughter to help her through these rough spots......not running around UNMH late at night paying bills. GRRRRRRR!!!
On a more positive note - this is our last treatment, Alyssa got the Suite (the Princess is getting the royal treatment) You should see this room - It's HUGE. It's got two windows and two extra beds in it. Very roomy...apparently this is the room the kids request (hm. no one told us that we could request a room!) Anyway. We also ran into K. Yep he's here again (every week are his treatments) he updated us on his lung surgery (the last time we were here he was coming out of surgery) and it turns out the nodules were nothing more than some scar tissue (praise GOD!!!!)
and he only has 5 more treatments after this one because his last evaluations showed a 90% or more reduction in cancer cells (another Praise!!!!!) I am Thanking our Father for answered prayer for K. I also heard that M is doing pretty good as well. GOOD NEWS!!!
Well, we are going to try to hit the hay soon and hope the anti-nausea drugs keep the nausea at bay and we can get some sleep!
Please pray for our friends the A family - their daughter is going to have to go back to Ohio for another "reconstruction" and to help her be better able to care for herself. It apparently is going to be a MAJOR surgery for this little 5 year old - they will have to spend about 2 months in Ohio for the surgery and recovery. i know this will be hard on the family and on this precious little one. Please pray for them all. Also, they have a young pregnant goat who is having some problems and they are very worried about their little one. This a very beloved family pet. (all of their animals are of cours - like ours!) Please pray they are able to find out what is wrong with their doe and that she will be fine and deliver her babies safely in one month.....
thank you all for letting me unload. Just had to get that off my chest.

Maybe back to the Hospital

If all goes according to plan - we will be back to the hospital tomorrow. Of course you know how plans are - I came down with this nasty cold on Monday morning and Alyssa complained of a sore throat this morning. I've been giving her EmergenC and Zicam. Trying to hedge off this thing. I've been Cloroxing the house and being on the kids about hand sanitizer, not sharing cups and stuff - IT isn't working! How frustrating. I have a call into the clinic to see what they want to do about this so I don't know if we will be going in or not. I know Alyssa doesn't want to go but we both want to just get the last treatment (we hope) over with!!!! We already have a follow up CT scan and a follow up chest Xray scheduled for the week of May 4th. WE did have our blood draw this morning so I expect the clinic will wait to have those results before they make a decision regarding her treatment. Please pray that this cold never really takes hold for her and that she can just go get this over with. I know it would be horrible to have this cold and go into the hospital and have to deal with a cold AND all the chemo side effects. Plus I guess they'll keep us in isolation too to make sure no one else gets exposed to this nasty thing. For those of you praying for my Ultrasound results - I still haven't heard back from Dr Spafford about the results. (NO news is good news??????)
On a positive note - my buck had two more kids yesterday - twin blue eyed doelings out of Camino Alegre's Tinker Bell who is also out of our lines (CBF Entei X CBF Serendipidy's Laikla).
The family who had the babies is excited and they have 3 more does due to Storm - could have a whole slew of blue eyed doelings since that seems to be what Storm is throwing this year!!!! I know Camino Allegre is considering selling some of these babies so if you want some blue eyed does out of good milking lines - here's your chance!!! I promise I will get pictures when I can and post them - I should do a whole page of Storm's offspring so folks can see them!!! He sure is a producer of does! I am very happy with this little buck. He will remain her for at least one more year if not much longer. He and some of our does will be showing at the May show (May 2 &3) at the Expo NM Livestock Pavillion.

Hair and other fun things

First off Alyssa wanted me to ask my readers - which wig looks best on her. The purple highlighted pictured here (ignore the washed out look - she doesn't really look THAT white. Just the camara flash!)

Or the Walnut bobcut seen here? She thinks she knows which one she would rather wear but she wants my readers to give me their two cents.

Saturday my cousin's daughter and her mother in law came by with this LOVELY (I'm NOT coveting my daugter's quilt) lap quilt that she can take with her to the hospital during treatments etc. I know a lot of love went into this beautiful quilt!!!! On the back, they had family sign it with well wishes for Alyssa

Here she is reading one of them (I suspect trying not to cry!) What a beautiful, thoughtful, personal gift.

I again and WAAAAAAY behind on Thank you etc. To P&P Jones for the cupcakes and fun easter goodies for my kids - you made their day!!!! Oh, and before I forget again - if I have one of your pans, containers and you want it back - please let me know - I have a huge pileup of pans etc and need to get them back !!!! Along with Thankyou notes that I keep forgetting to get to folks.

I'm BAD.

Prayer Request - Today is my ultrasound on my thyroid and I'm a bit nervous please pray there is NO growth and we can wait a little longer. I really do not relish the thought of me doing surgery right now either!!!Also, Aaron and I are feeling like we are coming down with a cold!! we are taking Vit. C and other stuff but please pray we can hedge this off and the two younger kids and Alyssa do NOT get this!!!! NOT good timing!!!!!

Been Awhile.

I seem to be back to the catch up gang and that means other things suffer a bit. Including this blog. I just happen to have a moment while cooking dinner to update everyone. Last week was fairly uneventful except for Alyssa's side effects sending her up and down in the pain, headache, tiredness and lethargy departments. We were able to hedge the effects of the Vincristine on Friday with a prescription of Percocet (one is all it took and she only took Tylenol after that - she's like her mom - doesn't like the strong drugs and the wierd way they make you feel).
The friday appt wasn't as long as the last time and I feel like we are just getting the hang of it all.
To think - we figure things out and we are almost done and I hope I NEVER have to use my knowlege AGAIN!!!!! This week, despite dipping blood levels she seems to be on a much more even keel and we actually got quite a bit of homeschooling done (not everything but still!)
I got a phone call from a dear fiber buddy who has been praying for us since this all began and she said her 70 year old brother was diagnosed with the same thing - PLEASE pray for their family as well!!!!! I also need to catch up on some thank you's as well - To CH and family, SN and Family for the yummy meals you provided for us on Friday and Saturday - such a huge blessing to us to not have to worry about food for a few days! To DM and Family and SN and Family for the lovely flowers and gift card for Alyssa (PS - look at our website - link to right of this for cbfnigeriangoats and check out the upper right hand corner photo!!!!) To K,M and Family for the pizza night money!!!! Thank you so much!
WE are still on a high from the news that Aly is in remission - it is so nice to think everyday when giving shots, going thru blood draws, watching that date for the next treatment looming that really there is a light at the end of the tunnel!!!!!
Thank you all again for your prayers, support, and blessings - we could NOT do this without All of you - LS - thank you again for coordinating EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Chemo Update - We are going home!!!

Hope this isn't another false alarm but Dr. Mathew just came in and said he thinks he can write the ticket out of here today - Alyssa looks great and has NO nausea and vomiting. He wanted her to eat something and keep it down (she did have two slices of pizza and two fruit cups last night and kept it down) so she just ate a fruit cup to see if she can hang. He doesn't want to send her home and then her get sick and have to come back. We don't want that either so we will see if she can keep down the food so we can GO HOME!!! Guess I best consider packing and getting ready just in case. Maybe I can make a trip to the car to dump non essentials. It has been a much easier treatment than the last one - they said that does happen. Most people do better after the first treatment. Dr. Mathew said he couldn't feel anything in her neck either. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!!!! she actually looks good compared to where she was last time at this point in the treatment protocol. Our next check in date is April 17. We have clinic this coming Friday where she gets the 2nd Vincristine dose and has to be on Prednisone, GCSF, and Bactrim for the next week or so plus lots of blood draws etc. Alyssa wants to come back on Thursday night for the Teen support group so hopefully we can do that.
Thank you to everyone who has been bringing food to my family and taking care of us thru this
what a nice thing to be able to be at the hospital and not have to worry about my family at home - that they are well taken care of!
Please pray that she will not get sick once we get home and that this time around it will be a bit easier to take. We seem to be getting into a routine and figuring this all out (once we've got it down- we might be done!!! - But that's a praise report!!!!!) Also continue to pray for K and his family. They are still here and I know he's recovering from his lung surgery.
Blessings,
Deanna

Deep Breath

Today we get ready to go back in for Treatment set 2. The biggest thing is that her blood counts be above 750 today - they were 704 on Monday. she has been having so much fun with her best friend and they are leaving today so I know that this will be hard. But we have stuff that will keep our minds off of heavy hearts. Just gotta get it all done in time.
Tomorrow is the PET/CT scan at 10am. We are supposed to check in at clinic after the PET/CT and then off to the PSCU to prepare for treatment. I hope we are prepared this time a little better. We bought drinks and some snack food that should be fine for her tender tummy.
I still have to go get Sprite. Then we have to pack bags (but need to finish laundry first!!!) .
The other kids will go to Grandma's. This weekend at the goat show is also the Fundraiser -
They are having a Silent Auction - if anyone wants to go - it is at the Livestock Pavilion at Expo NM. You can enter in thru gate 6 turn right immediately and the white building strait in front is the Pavilion (there is parking behind the building) Follow the sounds of goats hollering!!!!
It is not to late to donate if you want to the silent Auction - as far as I know Linda, Sandy, Heather and Donna are still taking donations.
Prayer Requests - I have several today- that the blood counts today are high enough for her to begin treatment tomorrow. (over 750) and that the CT/PET scan shows an 80+% in tumor reduction and no active cells so she doesn't have to do radiation or more chemo. Please pray for a friend of mine - I can give no details but just lift her and her family up and that God's peace and strength will just be upon them for the difficulties they are facing. For another friend who had to file bankruptcy due to the housing market insanity- for their peace and God's provision for them to get back on their feet. That the medications would work for Alyssa and that this Chemo won't be as hard as the last one was.
Praise Reports - her spirits have been high from her getting so spend 3 wonderful days with our friends. It really has been a boost for her.
Thank yous - To everyone who is praying for her to get thru this treatment, for those who are fasting for her tomorrow at Saturday during her treatments - Your devotion and support are soooooo appreciated! To my goat buddies who are putting on this fundraiser for us. Thank you all so much. SR for giving our little Pepper a home! The J Family for just coming and holding us up these past few days - for your distraction and shoulder to cry on. REALLY needed that!!!

Beauty from Ashes.

AS most of you know my day yesterday started out yuck (Ashes) but it certainly improved. I called the Dr. and he said the exposure was so minimal in his eyes that we didn't even need to come in (unless of course we see a strange rash - blisters) But he doubts that she was even actually exposed. PHEW!!!! After church (which was awesome we hadn't been in a while and it was soooo nice to see everyone!) my inlaws came down to visit - Alyssa was so happy to see her cousins (again - it's been at least 3 weeks). I went to my SWNDGC show planning meeting and got home around 5:45 to our friends from Texas whom we are so incredibly glad are here!!!! and 3 baby goats. This is Z4 - a doeling who looks like her older half sister Twinkle Lil Star (this one has a white spot on her belly and a frosted muzzle.)

This is Z3 - the little bucking who looks more like his mom than the other two. He is a chocolate Chamoisee - I will band and sell him as a pet.

This is Z5 - the last doeling and so pretty - Did not expect this color/pattern at all (Dad is black with a white band )

Here is the whole crew inspecting the baby hut with heat lamp - it is cold and windy here right now - should have known Joie would kid the minute the weather turned UGLY!!!! I stuck the other 2 mommas in waiting in a fenced off area of the kidding pen as Dixie was looking a little off last night - I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we had another set of babies VERY SOON!!!! She lost her mucus plug last night.

For everyone who called and commented - Thank you - Aly said I was blowing things out of proportion but seriously - who can blame a mom for not wanting to inflict more pain and stuff on her child who has already been thru so much - feelings are what they are - I had them - maybe I just needed a good cry!!!! So my day started out with a few ashes and were blown away by the beauty of a bunch of HUGS from our heavenly Father!

Prayer Requests - For our friends who are going thru cancer treatments themselves - LORD uphold them thru the treatments and the good days and the bad days - what a blessing to be able to see them and know that you are just strengthening them in their walk thru this disease.

Also for M&M B who lost their Grandmother to Lung Cancer this past week - Give them strength and your words to comfort their family this week during the funeral.

Praise Reports - The Joyce's got here safe and sound after a 10 hour drive (T only had 4 1/2 hours of sleep the night before so we are glad they are here and safe!!!) Their being here sure has put the biggest smile on Aly's face - just the "medicine" she needs. And of course the babies.

Thank Yous - I have to thank profusely the W family for blessing us yesterday - BEYOND MEASURE. You guys are so incredibly sweet for your gift and I am humbled!!!! Also Thank you to the SWNDGC - seeing you all yesterday and being a part of this group is truly a blessing.

YOU all made me cry with your generosity and caring! Aly appreciates it so much!!!

Time for more Tears

Yesterday I took a meal to someone and the caretaker had shingles. I was exposed before I knew. and the worst part of it all was I FORGOT this was a risk. I woke up at 3 am feeling that
forboding but couldn't figure out why, then it hit me like a ton of bricks - I unknowingly put Alyssa at risk. Sure it was unintentional but could still be serious (Thank our dear LORD her counts are higher ) so I have to call the clinic first thing this am to see what we need to do.
I just sobbed last night. I know it is my responsibility to protect her and I put her in harms way and it feels just HORRID. I realize how very vulnerable she is and how incredibly easy it is to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. When I was crying it woke Aaron up and she was awake (says she is soooo excited about her friends coming in that she couldn't sleep) and she came in.
She is so easy going - like it was no big deal = TOO ME it is a big deal. She will probably have to go in for another shot today or tomorrow to cover her. I still feel horrible over this. But she said to me - MOM, you just can't help but be nice - it's OK. I guess I'm doing as well or being as brave as I'd like everyone to believe. I just feel so helpless to keep her safe - I want us to live as normal a life as we can and when she's feeling so good and looking so healthy I see how easy it is to make mistakes that could be serious - no amount of handwashing, sanitizing, cleaning, can make you 100% safe. I talked to my mom once about her going thru Chemo and about folks "making you an invalid" I don't want to do that to my daughter - when she's feeling good and her counts are good I do want her to try to live as normal as possible!!!!! At the same time I see the desire to keep her safe from all harm, to not let her suffer any more than she has to in order to get her cured and back to normal. IT is a hard balance to strike and it hit me like a ton of bricks last night. I think I am feeling sad on top of it because she's loosing her hair and I know what that means to her and there's nothing I can do to stop it(short of supergluing her hair to her head which she said is unacceptable) and that she is already showing signs of being apprehensive about going back into treatment this coming Friday (can't we just ignore that friday is coming and live for the moment!!!!) and I can't tell her "naw, Honey, we can just skip it!" SKIPPING it is NOT optional but it is so hard to see your daughter going thru something that makes her that sick and that much in pain - to sign on the dotted line and OKAY this for her when you want to keep her from being sick and being in so much pain. I am not sure what is worse: the trepidation of not knowing what will happen or having the knowlege and expectation of the past treatment. *sigh*. Thanks for letting me pour my heart out, I'm still brushing away tears as I write this - my heart is being ripped out of my chest but I try to be strong at home for her and the rest of my family. I am just feeling so bad right now I have to get it out somewhere.
Prayer Requests = that God would protect her from shingles and that we can get right in for the shot if need be. Also for a young man M who is going thru Leukemia - technically he is cancer free according to his APS Liason who is a friend of mine but he's gone thru some pretty major treatments including full body radiation and a bone marrow transplant. Pray for his family and him. He is still suffering vomiting and nausea from the treatments despite them ending months ago and also for those who work with him. I know my friend is awesome and that he's gettng what he needs in school etc despite having to work thru this!!!
Praise Reports - the Joyce's come to town today and our babies are due soon - I moved the 3 due does to the front kidding pen and it looks like the storm will be here right on time!!!! Since my goats always seem to kid when there is inclement weather - it's perfect.

MORE prayer Requests

Hi,
For those of you who read this often please keep my cousin's Mother in Law in your prayers today. She is going in for her first Chemo treatment today for Breast cancer. She also doesn't seem to have the family support we do aside from her own hubby and my cousin and her hubby/family. But she's a tough lady and I know with prayer and God's hand she will make it thru. It just makes me ache because we know first hand what she's going thru now and I wish I too could be there to help her out but she lives in another State!!! I pray God grows a support system for her that way He has for us. He is good and merciful and know she will be fine thru this tough time. Also pray for another dear friend's stepdad who is being released from the hospital tomorrow. He has been in for nearly 3 weeks (maybe longer) and also doesn't have a lot of family around for him so we want to keep him in prayer too!!!

Also, I heard a rumor that we have more family members with red streaks in their hair -I hope we get a picture of that too!!!! Thanks guys for showing your support for Alyssa is a VERY big way!!!! I know not everyone wants to color their hair with bright red streaks!!!

Sometimes you take the good with the bad

We've had 3 of the most awesome days in a row. Alyssa is feeling pretty good overall (no nausea, no bone pain, no headaches etc.) and her blood counts are up again so she is more or less back to living a normal life.....but just when you think you have a handle on things - WHAM! Surprise - another side effect bites you in the UM derrier!!!! She is beginning to notice a small amount of hair loss - again the reality of living with this disease is staring her right in the face. Granted - not much of the hair on her head is gone but she said she noticed "more hair than normal on her shirt today" and she noticed she hasn't had to Shave as much as normal. She now knows that we might be staring hair loss in the face. IT is not pretty. (I still say she's beautiful - hair or no hair but still I know from everyone I've talked to who has been thru it - this is the hardest part, even if you aren't a very vain person!!!!) It's just so OBVIOUS that you have cancer when you loose all your hair.
On the upside she felt good enough to attend her last Starbase La Luz Academy Science class on base today and it was a glorious spring day to be out and about. She also went with her friends the Sedillos to a book store and Target - she got to have fun and that was worth it all!
Now countdown to the Joyce's visit is first and formost in her mind!
Prayer Requests - They said it was possible that her hair could just thin - pray this would be the case but if it is not - just for the wisdom to make it as easy as possible on her (like her siblings NOT teasing her) . Also that the Lord would guard the Joyce's health so that they can come for the visit which would just make Alyssa's day!!!!
Praise Reports - For all the many blessings we've received - WE haven't had to ask for anything - God is just putting in folks hearts and things are being taken care of - it makes it so much easier to know we don't need to worry - we just need to go before HIM with our needs and He is such a loving God who pours out His grace and mercy on us.
Thank you's - to all the folks who send cards daily - they keep our spirits high!!!! Also to the P Family for the gas money - what a blessing!!!! We Thank God for that blessing as well as all of your prayers.

A GREAT day

Today is just one big praise report!!!! Today started out with me getting a walk, getting all my chores done more or less before we started school and the home nurse came to draw blood.
The nurse got there and we got it the first try (accessing the port is obviously NOT an exact science!). We sat down and got everyone's school more or less done. I say less because we have so much catch up with Alyssa that indeed it will be a while before we can say we are there.
Then we got the rest of chores done, and the nurse called with blood results - the counts are going back up - HAPPY DANCE !!!! For many reasons - 1) this means that she is done with the shots (GCSF) after tonight, 2) Alyssa gets to go to town with her buddies the Sedillos and 3) our friends the Joyces get to come visit this coming week and Alyssa will get to see her cousins after 3 weeks of not seeing them! WAHOO!!!!!!!!!! I haven't seen such big smiles plastered on Alyssa's face for so long - that alone was cause for celebration! Oh, and on a minor note - I fit into size 16 jeans - a personal accomplishment
Prayer Requests - I know this may seem a bit lame to some folks but those who know me well will understand - Please pray that the Nigie babies are born healthy BEFORE the 27th. I don't want to miss my babies but i also want them to be healthy so it is a balance. All three girls look great and are going to do fine I'm sure! On the other side of it all, Of course if they need to be born on their due dates that is fine as I have the most awesome neighbors willing to pinch hit for me.
I forgot some more thank you's - Thank you KC and LM for the cute Jammies for Alyssa - she will look smashing her next hospital visit. SO cute. Thank you to the T family for the lovely card today. Also H &B for bringing us goat grain when i forgot to get the right grain after buying the wrong stuff. My goats thank you too!

Ups and Downs

Yesterday was another rough one. On top of our (they said 5-10 minutes!) so called short visit to the Dr., Alyssa had a rough reaction to the treatment. First we went to ABQ with Dad and had our appt at around 10:00am. We showed up and ended up waiting around 20 - 40 minutes just to be seen. Met a new Oncology Dr. - Dr. McKinnel (spelling?) and talked to him about a lot of issues etc. We finally made it up to the Infusion suite - It was cool!!!! They have snacks for the kids and individual TVs for each station (they can play XBox orPlaystation or watch movies of their choice) It is decorated Star Wars and has big picture windows looking out. When they came over to try to access her port (no this is not a thinly veiled reference to some Star Wars thing) they informed me I was supposed to have applied the Emla - ( this was our first time and no one told me I was supposed to do it!!!!) So we ended up waiting ANOTHER 4o minutes waiting for the Emla to work. Then, they finally got her port accessed, and it took WHOLE 10 minutes to do the treatment. SO, it took a whole 3 hours and 40 minutes for a 10 minute treatment. HMMMM.

We went to Grandma's and about an hour later she started hurting(in Alyssa's words this was disabling agony NOT just cramps or something!!!) Thank you Joyce's for the meal you had at our house because we would've eaten around 10pm with the way things were going if I had had to cook. She is doing better today thankfully.

PRAYER request - The little guy in the infusion chair next to us was another heart rending experience. I do not know what kind of cancer he has but it is not what Alyssa has. He is 3 years old and looks like he is about 18 mo. He has a double port thru his belly button and he was about as cute as they come. For a little fellow he took the whole thing pretty well. MOM was a trooper - she just cuddled with him - they were there probably for WAY longer than us (they'd already watched Shark's Tale when we got there and were popping on Cars and were settling in for a nap when we left. I am constantly reminded that God has really had mercy on us thru this ordeal and that we are blessed beyond measure. Please pray for little E and his family!!!!!

Thank yous - I think I am not only WAY behind but forgetting several folks - I am going to try to catch up here: Thank you J&J M for the check today - what a huge blessing that was It will really help out for all the copays etc. Also D&D for the money you sent Alyssa - I'm not sure what she's saving for but she's squirreling the money away for something special. Thank you T family for the books you gave Alyssa - she's read them both now and I just finished the Kathy Reichs book. Thank you TG for the fiber fix - can't wait to create! Thank you so much Aunt J for rescuing me yesterday - I would NOT have made it thru the whole day yesterday at the hospital with all three kids (Do you think I would learn my lesson by now - this happens everytime I go into UNMH!) Thank you B Family for the YUMMY looking dinner you brought tonight and AGAIN - thanks to all of you who keep us in your prayers and lifted up to HIM for strength and wisdom! Oh, and Aunt N. for the information today - we are going to look into it!!!!

Settling back in

Boy is it nice to be home. WE are trying to settle back in here at home which isn't easy - life doesn't take a break just because you are gone - laundry is still piling up while you are trying to unpack from the week at the hospital. And of course there is all the regularly scheduled life things - like Karate and 4H. I still am not 100%unpacked and we sat down and worked on getting some school done - didn't finish and Alyssa didn't do hardly anything - I think she's trying to play the "I can't do school - I have cancer" card which the Dr., nurses and social workers all said would happen. They said make her go back to normal as soon as possible. Guess what she'll be doing today. Our schedule was thrown off some by the blood draw (first time with the home health nurse). The first nurse came and had trouble accessing her port for the blood draw (tried twice - OUCH!) Then she called her supervisor who had to drive out from ABQ - we waited about 40 minutes for her. She tried twice and finally had success the second time. Boy am I glad I don't have to do that - though I probably could - if was aweful just watching Aly's face thru it all.
So after a full day - I took the younger two to Karate and got home and cooked dinner (after one week off you'd think I'd be spoiled but it kind of felt good to do it again) and when Aaron got home we had two meals - haha - we were generously given a meal from Aaron's work - Pot roast and veggies - so we had a feast!!!!
Trying to remember to give her meds when she is supposed to have them is a bit on the challenging side since my brain is still not functioning normally from all of this. But we are managing - Poor kid - while I was giving the Neupogen shot she just looked at me and said I'm SICK of all of this. Aaron is trying to get her to see the positive side of this and mommy is trying not to give in to "the face" you know - puppy dog eyes and quivering chin.
Prayer Requst - For the W Family and the C Family who are also going thru cancer - the husband has Leukemia in one Family and the wife in the other. Just pray for God's strength to be poured out on these families. And His peace to be on them as they walk thru this trial as families!!!! That we can get back to more or less normal soon.
Praise - Despite the drama getting the blood - her blood counts came back normal and high (which they said was from the Neupogen so it wasn't surprising - they said the counts will drop)
Thank you to the H family at Aaron's work for the yummy meal, the Joyce's for the awesome card which brought the biggest smile to Aly's face yesterday and for the two super nice nurses for finally getting the blood so we don't have to drive into the clinic twice this week!!!!!

Finally Home!!!

WE got a call this morning - Dr. Winter will be in for rounds in 1 hour and he's planning on releasing Alyssa - WE flew up there - Super Grandma stayed with Aly for the night again and
it is so nice to A) see Aly smile B) Hear her voice C) Have her HOME!!!!!!
What a great day. She says she is feeling much better and is eating a little bit and drinking her smoothie. (Doing Big Time Happy Dances) .

Now I just have to remember when to give her all her meds and make sure we are on time for all her appts.
Our precious neighbors Bob and Geri are providing dinner (PIZZA) and we are just planning on
staying home and having a quiet family day today.
Thank you all for your prayers - they worked.
PS - Please continue prayer for that baby I talked about yesterday - we do not know what he has but his family isn't around a lot and I am gathering he's been there since he was born!!!!!!!
Poor little baby. We all were ready to volunteer to hold him while we were there.
I met a young man there from Alyssa's teen group (I'll call him K) please keep K in prayer he has a Cancer in his bones and is in for treatments too (been there all week also) and he is going in next month for surgery on his lungs. I gather he is being raised by elderly grandparents.
Lift him up to our dear LORD too - he's a sweetie - he came by to see how Aly's treatments went and when she got to go home. What a doll!

Better Now

After a long day the nurses used the anti- nausea drugs to bring Alyssa to a place where she is more comfortable and Yes - even chipper!!!!! Grandma is back at the hospital tonight with her
sweetie -pie. Grandma found something that Alyssa would actually eat - a croissant. YIPPEE!
I ran to the pharmacy which ended up taking an hour to pick up the last few things we had prescribed and need before she comes home. I do believe that she is feeling good enough to
not have to stay any longer than tonight. She said she's ready!!!!!! WE are praying Dr. Winter thinks so too! About Dr. Winter - he's got a reputation - not a bad one! He's the Dr. that wears bowties (Do they still make them?????) anyway, he came in today sans the bowtie and said he doesn't wear them on weekends! He's so cute (for a mature man/Dr.) And what a nice guy - he really cares about his patients. I am glad he's Alyssa's primary Dr. - NOT that any of the other Dr.s would have been less that awesome - I am absolutely sure they would be.
I took a two hour nap with Suzy and we have enough food to feed an army so I'm going to take a shower and do a little bit of the chores I need to do and then RELAX tonight.

Prayer Request - the kiddo in the room next to us is in severe pain - He/she cries a lot and you can tell they just hurt all the time. Of course the nurses try to make him/her feel as comfortable as possible but still - my heart just breaks for this one. Please pray that God would calm the pain of this little one. Also down the hall that we go thru to come and go there is a little baby who has been there at least as long as we have. I see the exhaustion of the parents - please pray for this baby as well and for the parents to be given the strength to carry on. I know this is hard on them and I just wish I could go give them a hug.
Praise - your prayers were heard - God really brought Alyssa around today and is making Grandma and mom happy with her progress so I know she'll get to come home tomorrow.
She even looked GREAT before I left the hospital around 2:30pm. I cried happy tears on the way home

Alyssa's Update

Yesterday Dr. Winter came in and gave us the whole run down on all of the meds/chemo she will be getting to kick this cancer. He is taking the least traumatic path for her and they are going to watch her close. Last night she started the Chemo and she was pretty dang scared. I can't say I blame her. She knows this is necessary but the side effects - if she gets them - are fairly daunting to anyone but I can't imagine for a 14 year old. She wanted us to take her home. I so wish I could have. I would have LOVED to. But I'd also LOVE to see my happy, healthy, fiesty teenager back. All the wonderful care, support and spoiling she's been receiving can't replace what she'd love to be doing - leading a normal life. I get a lump in my throat just thinking about it. She met with the teen group last night and the Chemo sort of took center stage so I didn't get to hear much about it. I'm sure I will find out today. I am hoping to keep it a sort of quiet day with very little visitors etc. IF she is going to have the side effects the Dr. said it would be today.
I'm still hoping they are minimal but you never know. IF she tolerates the drugs ok she gets to come home Sat which is better than Dr. Winter's original reply when asked - He said EARLY next week ! Yuck.
Prayer requests - please pray for Nik who is really having a tough time with the upheaval of his life. I never really realized how much he likes routine and "our normal life" . He is very stressed out and cranky from all this. Last night we just came home and hung for a little while with the babies which was great and then we came in, did a few things and went to bed. We all needed the rest badly and I think the late nights and early mornings of running to ABQ are getting to the kids.
Praise reports - Thank you LORD for Grandma offering to stay with Alyssa last night so mom, dad and kids could have some time. Grandma is a 30 year cancer survivor. She's been thru this and can probably understand what Alyssa is going thru better than any of us. She is awesome and has been a great companion to Alyssa and I thru this as well as just being there as a sounding board and of course her experience has made her uniquely equipped to help us all cope. She has good sound advice for surviving this intact - all of us!!!!!
Again Thank you Val for the AWESOME Boston Market Dinner you sent to us last night. It was all good and we ate ourselves silly and had some to share. Our refrige is full of leftover too so we know that Aaron has something to take to work for lunch also!
I am sure I'm forgetting someone or something - your kindness has not gone unnoticed, my brain is a little fuzzy at time from stress and lack of sleep so I don't always get folks who deserve Thanks recognized. But we do appreciate all you all have done!!!!!