After some minor disappointments yesterday Anya had a really good night last night...praise the Lord! She is still in ICU but her breathing has improved, her blood counts are improving, and the doctor says her chest x-rays do not show deteriation. She was released to start eating and was able to sleep for several hours last night.
Israel spoke with the doctors today and they are optimistic. Preliminary results from her spinal tap show that she does not have developed leukemia in her spinal cord - a major piece of good news! The plan is to continue with the chemo treatment for a week - including a shot in her leg on Friday - and then to take another piece of bone marrow for testing to see if the leukemia is responding. While under sedation for the bone marrow test the doctors also intend put a pic line in through her arm so that she doesn't have to have as many "pokes".
We are hopeful that little Anya can come home from this first stay at the hospital within a week and a half to two weeks. Of course she will have to return for her next bouts of chemo but it will be nice for her to recover at home (my parents' house) for a bit. It is my dream to have a girly room all prepared for her with pink or purple painted walls, pretty bedding, and cheerful decorations as a sanctuary for her to be distracted from the pain and encouraged. Fortunately my parents have two single beds that we can use - one for her and one for whomever will attend to her throughout the night. But we could use some new bedding because she cannot use the toddler bed she used in KC. I spent some time today looking online for something soft that she would like - looks like the Tiddliwinks Blossom Quilts from Target would be her favorite.
While not everything has gone perfect for Anya we are happy to report these victories - your prayers are working! I was encouraged this morning with some more scripture from the Psalms: "The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him." (Ps 28:7) and "The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, And the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace." (Ps 29:10,11).
There are so many things that we'd like to share - more details about Anya's treatment, progress, and prognosis and more of our own thoughts and feelings. But it would be impossible to capture the depth of information that surrounds us and the swirls of questions and thoughts going through our minds. But we want you to know that we appreciate all of your prayers and emails...may you be blessed by God for being such faithful friends. And keep the pictures coming!
(Some of you may want to know more about ALL childhood leukemia. If so, visit http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/leukemia)
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