Prayers Answered & Needed

Here is an update on prayers that have been answered and some that are needed:

Answered prayers:

• Anya's overall condition has improved dramatically this week and she was moved out of ICU back to the main pediatric wing.
• Because of Anya's improvement two of her least favorite things have been discontinued; breathing treatments and chest x-rays.
• Anna and I have been able to communicate in a tender and gentle way despite all of the pressure and frustration.
• Anya's spirits are getting a little higher each day. Tonight for the first time she prayed with me about her condition.
• The doctors continue to be encouraged by all of Anya's test results, especially the fact that the leukemia has not infiltrated the spinal chord.

Prayers needed:

• Continued strength for Anna and I to be tender, patient and forgiving in our communication with each other.
• Healing for Anna and the two younger kids who came down with upper respiratory infections this week. As a result I am needed at the hospital 24 hours. I came in Friday morning and cannot leave until Anna is well enough to relieve me. Because Anya is immuno-compromised Anna cannot return until she is feeling better. Please pray that God would heal them quickly and I'd have God-given endurance until Anna can return.
• Complete healing for Anya's little body.
• Guidance on housing situations and our upcoming move, etc.
• That the procedure Monday will go well. They plan to place Anya under sedation in order to place a port in her chest (to be used for IV's throughout her treatment) and to obtain a bone marrow aspirate to see the progress of the treatment over the course of the first week.

We have seen the effects of your prayers in so many ways. Keep it up!

God is Able

We are rejoicing because our housing situation is finally coming together. My brother and his family, who were living with my parents, got keys to their new apartment today! The electricity isn't able to be turned on until Monday yet my brother intends to try and start getting some things moved in this weekend.

My parents are looking into the option of purchasing a bigger home about 3 miles from their current residence. It would allow them to have their own room downstairs and give us three bedrooms and a living/playroom upstairs.

With all of this change we could use some help moving, cleaning, and with meals. We are also hoping to have a garage sale to simplify the unpacking process. We don't have specific moving dates yet but I will post them once decisions are made so we can round up a crew of trucks and men to move and women to clean and perhaps help with childcare.

Another cause for prayer: Esther, Isaiah, Eliana (my brother's daughter), & I are all sick with a head cold. Israel stayed at the hospital this evening to give me the opportunity to get a full night's rest with the hope that I will be recovered tomorrow. Since Anya is immunocompromised she is not allowed to be around people who are sick. We are asking God to heal me so that I can be with her at the hospital tomorrow and to heal the kids for both their benefit and Anya's.

I wanted to echo Israel's "thanks" to everyone who is praying for us, to those who have sent gifts or cards, to those who have prepared meals, and to everyone who plans to help in the future. I am especially grateful to those who volunteered to buy Anya's bedding - she will love it! I also appreciate my dear friend who is gathering the pictures of those praying - she even framed a copy of Ps 27 to hang in Anya's new room. I could go on and on but the bottom line is that we feel God's support through our dear friends, family, & the body of Christ. I trust that He is able to uphold us through these next six or more months of intense treatment.

Summary

I'm so grateful to my wife for her inspiring and informational posts this week. But for those of you who are rushed and can't read through all of it, or are just joining us and want the edited version here it is:

History: On Friday, June 15th Anya (3.5 years old) was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the most common form of childhood luekemia. ALL is a cancer that starts in the bone marrow where blood cells are produced and spreads rapidly throughout the body. Thankfully the doctors believe that they caught Anya at an early stage because her white blood cell count was low (below 50,000) and because she was only symptomatic for two weeks. They have since learned that the leukemia has not spread to her spinal chord, vis a vis her brain, and this is extremely good news. Chemo and steroid treatment started Monday, June 18th.

Prognosis: The doctors are very optimistic about Anya's chances for longterm survival and health. Treatment will be in several stages that become gradually less intense. We are currently in the first stage, called Induction, a 4-6 week process of intense chemo and steroid treatment aimed at destroying literally millions of leukemia cells. This process hurts the body in a variety of ways so in addition to chemo and steroids Anya recieves a number of medicines to offset the various side effects of the cancer treatment. At the end of the Induction phase (late July) the doctors will know even more about Anya's chances, although right now they give her about 75-80% chance to be "cured". With ALL a patient is considered "cured" if the leukemia can be placed and held in remission (below 5% of white blood cells being cancerous) by the end of the intensive phases of treatment (6-9 months). Treatment will last from 3-5 years, at which point, if Anya is doing well and the leukemia is still in remission there is only a tiny chance that she would ever relapse again. Rather, we could expect her to live out a relatively normal and healthly life and lifespan.

Current situation: Our family has relocated to Toledo Ohio where we will live with Anna's parents during the 9 months of intensive treatment. Although Anya will be sent home within the next two weeks we can expect to be in the hospital 1-2 days per week for the next 6 weeks, and at least one day a week for the 6-9 months following that. This is if the treatment goes well and Anya avoids infection, etc. At the end of 9 months we hope to relocate to Kansas City and resume our ministry there . At that point Anya will need to go to the hospital for at least a few days each month.
After being transferred to ICU on Friday night Anya has improved steadily the past few days. Today Anya is being transferred out of ICU to the regular Pediatric Wing. The improvements have been across the board. She went from having to wear an oxygen mask to now breathing on her own. Her stomach, swollen from an enlarged spleen and liver, has shrunk several centimeters and no longer appears stretched to the limit. Her blood counts are all holding steady or improving and all of the tests that the doctors have run have been negative, which in the medical world means good (go figure!). She is sleeping better, eating very well (partly due to an increased appetite from the steroids), and interacting with us quite a bit more. She is in constant discomfort and frequent pain that we manage with Tylenol and morphine as needed. She is being extremely brave and a good little patient despite the constant prodding, procedures, etc. I am very proud of her. The last few days she has even initiated some silly games and conversations with me.

This got much longer than I hoped, but I can't sign off without saying one more thing. THANK YOU to all those who have surrounded us with love, concern, and prayers! We have been amazed at the outpouring of support we have recieved. Each day I recieve emails and calls, often from people I do not even know, offering their prayers and help. We love you all and cannot express how much your love has meant to us.

Israel

God Bless Your Inheritance

Anya was able to sleep for a good part of last night but probably only because of the morphine. The pic line site is still "burning" her therefore we weren't able to discontinue the morphine until this morning. The doctor guesses that the "burning" sensation is a result of damage to the bone during the procedure.

As a mom who doesn't even like to give her kids Tylenol, giving Anya so many drugs including morphine is difficult for me. I spoke with the nurse and she said that we don't have to fear her getting addicted to the pain killer but rather that she may develop a tolerance for it. Since we have a long road ahead we hope that the pain can be controlled with something else today to prevent even this lesser of the two evils.

The doctors had intended to give her the chemo drug that is injected directly into the leg muscle this morning at 11am. But her blood counts weren't good enough so they are going to give her another platelet transfusion this afternoon and hopefully give her the shots this evening.

Some good news - it seems that Anya's tummy has shrunk one centimeter or so which may mean the leukemia cells are responding to treatment. The doctors hoped this would happen within 5-7 days after the first treatment (done on Monday) so it looks like we are on schedule. On Monday they intend to sedate Anya again to do another bone marrow aspirate to get a better picture of the leukemia's response and also to put a pic line in her arm so they can take the one out of her groin.

Points of prayer:
1. The results of the bone marrow aspirate on Monday are very important. According to the doctors, if the leukemia cells have responded well to treatment at this point, Anya has a better chance for the future.
2. "There is no relationship between the severity of side effects and how well treatment is working" (Childhood Cancer, Darr). So we are asking God to prevent side effects from nausea to pain to infection to organ damage to make this as easy as possible for little Anya.

And my personal prayer for Anya for today comes from Ps 28:8,9 "The Lord is their strength, And He is the saving refuge of His anointed. Save your people, And bless Your inheritance; Shepherd them also, And bear them up forever."

I pray that God would save Anya, His inheritance, and be her strength. I ask that he would be her Shepherd to lead, guide & comfort her and to bear her up forever - both now while she is sick and throughout her future. AMEN!

Recent Picture Of Anya

Here is a recent picture of Anya - at our home in Missouri before she was sick. She loves to pick "flowers" for me.

Anya Will Declare God's Truth

The final results from the spinal tap (LP) came in yesterday and it looks like the leukemia has not spread there!!!! This is a major victory and we are rejoicing!

Yesterday evening Anya was in a lot of pain and unable to rest. It was heartbreaking to see her eyes rolling in the back of her head and to hear her cries. But around 9pm the doctors decided to give her a dose of morphine to allow her to sleep and she slept through the night until 4am! She woke up again in pain but we gave her some Tylenol to help her get through.

My prayer for her today is from Ps 30:8-10: "I cried out to you, O Lord: And to the Lord I made supplication: What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth? Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me; Lord, be my helper! and I look for the day when I will be able to say, like David the psalmist, "You have turned my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever." AMEN!

My Heart Trusts in Him

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)