Abigail was in the hospital until late Monday night. I was impressed at how well things went. There was a cancellation and surgery was earlier than expected. She had to have her bone marrow biopsy in both hips because her bone marrow was so crowded they struggled to get what they needed in just one side. It turned out (if I understand this correctly) that about 70% of her bone marrow cells were cancer. It is a really high percentage. Her bones hurt because of all the crowding. She looked so awful for that first 24 hours that it was hard to believe she was the same girl that was playing just a few days before. I tried to find photos to show the progression over the 5 days. It took 2 platelet & 2 blood transfusions to get some color back into her face--even then it is still pale. She got her first dose of chemo during the surgery. They did a spinal tap to see if the cancer was in the fluid and then added some chemo back in for good measure.
With the chemo comes steroids which cause her to swell & retain water. She came home from the hospital about 4 pounds heavier than when she went in.
24 hours after surgery (she is holding her O2).
She was so happy to be held by Aunt Cassie. It allowed her parents to eat, shower & have a much needed break.
This is the first thing we could get her to eat (thanks Aunt Jeni & Uncle Shad!) followed by
Ramen of all things.
I had the nurse take the picture to show how much space she left me on her bed! I was expected to lay with her on only about 8 inches of mattress. I chose photos that show her smiling, but this was pretty rare. She screamed anytime someone in scrubs entered and she was sure the blood pressure machine would be her death. She had to have me lay right next to her with my arm over her or her leg over me. It broke my heart that she was so scared & clingy. To all those who make blankets to donate to
Primary's THANK YOU. This was one of her soft blankets that was donated. The hosp. ones are so scratchy for kids that we used the donated ones.
Sunday night Abigail was allowed to leave the unit (no kids allowed) for a few minutes to see her sisters, cousin & uncle. Here is my brother shamelessly feeding her fruit snacks. No wonder she loves Uncle Clinty!
We are so grateful to the staff that took care of her. We were able to get to know some of them and feel really blessed for their gentle touch and sincere concern for her. We also want to thank everyone for your help and outpouring of love. We feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people praying for us. We have truly felt so much peace as a result.
I took the kids to therapy this week because James was being tested by an OT for issues with writing. I had to take a picture of this pose of Corban. His therapist calls it "The Playboy".
Saturday, Josh and I juggled our schedules to take all the kids on dates. Since I was already taking the kids to an event for the siblings of chronically ill kids, Andrew and I had a date playing around with Spiderman...
and eating an unhealthy lunch. We both had a really good time. He has been amazing since things started with Abigail and I have been very surprised at how good he has been. 
I don't have the wrestling pictures with me but I am hoping to post them later. At their first wrestling meets, Nate & James both wrestled twice. They both lost the first match but made up for it by pinning their opponents in the first round of their 2nd matches. Both of them! At one time we were trying to watch both wrestle at once. Since they had only had 3 wrestling lessons I wasn't expecting them to do so well. I was just hoping they wouldn't get wounded their first time out. Now they are sold on the sport and poor Gabby spends a large portion of her after school life in a Half-Nelson. 
