Back pain, family time

Elizabeth is having a lot of pain as the skin on her back heals from radiation. The lower half of her back looks like a severe burn and it breaks my heart to see it. We've tried so many creams and bandages that the doctors have recommended and it seems that she might be over the worst of it now. Elizabeth never complains, as usual. She's making awesome progress on her walking. We haven't even brought the wheelchair in from the garage since we got back from Seattle. She gets very tired after only a few minutes of walking and can't walk evenly due to the weakness in her left leg, but she's back to working with physical therapy at home to improve both those things. We had a wonderful weekend of family events. My parents came down and we had 2 awesome days with extended family for the baptism and baby blessing of 2 of Elizabeth's cousins. Just seeing her get back to some normal things and enjoying life and spending time with her brother and cousins she loves make me feel like we can continue to bear this. She's supposed to start 2 day chemo on Tuesday, but her counts were so low last Friday that I think there's a good chance we'll have to postpone it until Friday. Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We keep you in our prayers as well! We love and appreciate you!

We made it!

The past 10 days have been completely exhausting...mentally, physically and emotionally. I'm so grateful for my amazing family (especially my husband and parents) and friends who have carried Elizabeth and me through this difficult time. We are home! Thank you everyone for the many texts of support and encouragement and the wonderful welcome home! Many prayers and miracles got us here! We enjoyed home church and building fort with Michael this afternoon. Elizabeth's having a great time with her siblings! We have a little break in chemo and I intend to enjoy every second of it!!!

One more week... I think...

Chemo was started so late on Friday that it will run until Wed, so, needless to say, we won't be flying home then. We think we will fly home Sunday instead. This gives Elizabeth a chance to recover for a few days after her chemo ends. 

Never been so excited for chemo

Thank you for the prayers💕Best news! Elizabeth made counts and we will be done with chemo and radiation on Tues!! 

(As long as radiation goes as planned...there's always that😝🤪...but I am sooo happy about chemo!!)

Holding on to hope

Elizabeth's platelets just barely too low to start chemo 😭 She did have a good jump.in 2 days, so they're checking again tomorrow 🙏 We keep praying for a miracle because this is literally our last chance to come home on time! If she makes counts tomorrow we would admit on Friday and she would get done Tues, the same day as radiation, and we can still fly home Wed 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you to the many prayers on her behalf!! We appreciate it so much!

HOPING to come home next week...

Elizabeth's platelets were too low to start chemo tomorrow, so they're checking again on Wed and now we are PRAYING so hard that she can admit Thurs so that she's not stuck here doing chemo when radiation ends on the 16th. We are sooo ready to come home!! Hope everyone is having a good Monday😍

Prayer answered

We loved having Dave and the kids here this past week. It was so wonderful to have a few days together. Dave drove home yesterday and my mom flew down to be there and help him for the next several days. She's an angel! We got sunshine yesterday and a rare opportunity to relax at home a little after radiation. It's been a very intense week of long hospital appointments days, including today. We had our weekly Dr/nurse appointments at radiation and then blood work and more appointments at the hospital clinic. Elizabeth's platelets were too low to start chemo tomorrow (as usual) and so we're planning to start 5 day chemo on Tuesday. On a very happy note, Elizabeth was set to get a feeding tube today because her weight had dropped so much, but when she went to her clinic appointment today she had gained enough weight that she was able to avoid it. Horray! We've been praying so hard for this because it means a lot to her and this was an answer to prayer! Some people don't mind a feeding tube, but she really wants to avoid it, so she is eating lots and lots of burgers and pizza and Haagen-Dazs ice cream and working hard to make the most of her days off chemo. (She's not a fan of Boost shakes so far, but I keep trying.) We are still praying for more weight gain. 🙏 I am also praying for the proton center to stay on schedule so that we can go home on the 17th. I keeping telling myself that the 17th isn't too far away, but it doesn't quite feel like it's close yet because we have so much treatment left to go through here in Seattle still. Thank you, as always, for your prayers and support. You're all helping us keep afloat in so many ways! 

Long hospital day

Elizabeth had to get 2 units of blood today, so it's been a very long day of treatment for her. We had to come to Seattle children's early this morning and get her blood drawn (so they could type and cross it for the transfusion) and then we drove to radiation in north Seattle and then right back to Seattle children's for her to get the blood. It's never fun to spend 4 hours at the hospital on a non-chemo day, but this was especially disappointing because it's the last day of Dave being here with the kids. It's been wonderful to have our family together for a few days and for Elizabeth also enjoyed time with our family dog, who has really missed her as well.

On a happy note, today marks exactly 2 weeks until her proton radiation is done! Yay! Elizabeth and I are so ready to be back at home in Utah! We are praying (hard) that there are no software delays at the proton center and she can get her radiation on every single scheduled day and go home on time! Thank you, as always, for your prayers and support. We love you!