Counts Back up

Good news. Kateli's counts were 900, so we resumed Chemo treatment today. She is still battling a cold and has a deep cough from time to time, but other than that she seems to be doing well.

Tonight I got to watch the kids while Marleny had a girls night out. I took the kids out to the park where we had dinner and played on the swings. Katherine was talking up a storm the whole time. On the drive to the park she was interogating her brother, "where is mommy?". That is one of her favorite questions these days. Joshua didn't reply so she just kept asking. She usually asks me that the entire time that Marleny is away, so I was enjoying not being the one on the hot seat for a change.

Joshua is crawling all over the place and really enjoys standing up. Actually, he seems to really enjoy everything. That boy smiles all the time and laughs at everyone. He has the gift of making you feel good about yourself- he smiles when he sees you & laughs at your jokes. It is a blessing to have such an easy going son during this difficult time.

A hiccup in the chemo road, and a trip to the Urgent Care

Well, Wednesday morning Kateli's blood work showed that she is neutropenic again. Her ANC is down to 224, so we are delaying her chemo for the next week and hoping that her numbers rise so that we can continue with the treatment.

She's been a bit under the weather since about Sunday, but it had just been a mild cold--runny nose, and cough. This afternoon, after nap time I loaded up the kids (one in the stroller, the other on my back in the carrier) and the dog and we went for a walk, and a stop to the park in our neighborhood. Kateli seemed to be feeling fine, before we left...but that changed while we were out. About 20 mins into our stay at the park, she said "mami, home" so we packed up and walked home. Kateli wanted to ride the backpack, but the entire trip she acted so tired and sleepy. We got home, and both kids lost it. Joshua was in tears, Kateli was screaming and feeling a little warm. I took her temp, and she had a low grade temp. She also informed me that she hurt in her ear, and would not stop poking at it and screaming. SO, I made a call to the doctor's office to see how we should proceed. I knew for sure, she had to have an ear infection and I wanted to nip in the bud before it got out of hand, especially knowing that her counts were low. So, we made a trip to the Urgent Care clinic. The doctor checked her out and informed us that she doesn't just have infection in ONE ear...both of them are RED!!! My poor baby!! She had not complained one bit, until this afternoon but she must have been in some major pain. We are at home, and praying that she doesn't spike any fevers overnight, or the next few days.

Please pray for her recovery from the ear infections, from the cold and that her numbers rise so that she is not so susceptible to infections.

As always, thank you for keeping up with our progress.

Once again, good numbers and we continue on...

Kateli has been doing marvelous. God continues to amaze us through her strength, how well she is tolerating all that she is going through and her high and happy spirits day in and day out. We went to clinic on Wednesday as is customary, but this Wed was a full day. In clinic Kateli had a spinal tap to administer intrathecal chemo, she was given another chemo through her port; we came home and she took her normal meds at home and also started another 5 day cycle of the steroid. So, by the end of the day she had taken in 4 chemo drugs, 1 antibiotic, a steroid and a bit of pepcid, just to prevent her belly from getting too upset at us for all those medications!! We dreaded the arrival of our clinic appt, because we went in knowing all that she would have to take that day, and it was difficult to digest (literally)! But, once again SHE is amazing!! She is so strong. She is so resilient. She just bounces back and is Kateli through it all!! How wonderful it is to know that God is watching over her, providing her and her little body with the strength needed to withstand this harsh treatment! How amazing it is to witness God at work first hand with our beautiful little girl! She gives us strength. Her smiles and her perseverance give us so much encouragement in this trial that we are in.

I do want to ask for prayer for her, though. Over the last two days she has come down with something. We think it's a cold, and are hoping it's just mild. She has not been running any fevers, but she just has doesn't seem to be feeling well. Though you ask her if she feels okay, and she'll look you in the face and say "yeah" with a HUGE grin!! Please pray that this is a mild cold and that it clears up fast, without any complications.

Thanks for keeping up to date with our ongoings!!

Numbers are good for another week

Praise the Lord. Katherine's counts are where they should be, so we are continuing with treatment as normal. The schedule is becoming routine. I hope we don't take for granted how good it is to be on schedule. Katherine is doing awesome, she really has a lot of energy like the Katherine we're used to. Her hair is growing back, although our nurse preps us by saying, "it will fall out again".

Please begin praying now for our appointment next week. Kateli will get many medications on Wednesday (6 including a spinal tap). It seems like a whole lot for a person to handle, especially a little one like Katherine.

We had a fun week this week, celebrating Marleny's birthday. She is ## years young now. We had a fun surprise visit from her sister Marta, brother-in-law Misael, and niece Daniela. I'm sure Marleny will post some pictures when she has an opportunity. She took some great one's of the kids.

Another good report

New feature on the blog this week- check out the translator gadget on the right. Since Marleny is asleep, I don't really know how well this thing translates into Spanish. For all of our multi-lingual visitors- give it a whirl and let us know how it reads in other languages that you know.

As Marleny mentioned this week's appointment was just a CBC blood check. Kateli's counts were above 700, so we're continuing on schedule. We had a fun time at the hospital today. We got to meet the helicopter crew for life flight and Kateli got a stuffed animal from the pilot. We stayed to watch them take off, which Kateli really enjoyed.

We also played outside on the playground waiting for the lab results. We sent the stuffed animals down the slides and watched them tumble on the ground. Kateli said, "Silly, silly daddy". She cracks me up.

Thank you for your continuing prayers.

It's been a while...

since the last blog entry that we posted. I'm sorry. Life just seems so busy these days, I don't know that there are enough hours in a day to get things done that need to get done, much less those things that are on my "want to do" list. Anyhow, enough of excuses...let me just update you.

Well, like they say, no news is good news. And that is what we have on our end. Kateli has been doing GREAT!! It truly amazes me each day to see how well she is doing, how well her body is tolerating the meds, and how upbeat she is about life in general. She is zealous about EVERYTHING around her. She loves her mommy, daddy, and "baby josua" among MANY MANY other people in our life right now. There is not a bit of sadness, discouragement, or disillusionment in her with all that she is enduring at her 29months of age. Tomorrow marks the 3rd anniversary since her diagnosis and we are truly blessed by how God has been working in all of us, and continues to do so each day. Over and over He continues to show us His faithfulness and His love for us and for Kateli. Her heart is so full of joy, her face glows with never ending smiles, and her laugh sounds like music to our ears. She loves to giggle, she loves to be silly, and lately her deal is pretend play. I know it's a stage. She is at that age right now, but it is so sweet to watch her pretend to be a mommy...oh, and is it ever so humbling and eye opening. She definitely SEES and HEARS all around her, and she pays such close attention to all that I do. She is like a "mini-me mommy" to her baby!! Good thing, I try to be a good mommy!!

Last Wednesday our appointment at the clinic was to check her blood counts. It was a short appointment and we got home with good news. Her ANC was up at 900, so there was no need in delaying her treatment. This Wednesday we go back again for yet another blood test. She will not get any meds in clinic, but we are continuing the daily chemo at home, among other meds that she takes at home with us. Please pray that her counts continue to stay about 750--even higher is a plus!!

Thank you so much for visiting our blog and staying up to date with our little girl's progress through this journey. We truly appreciate your concern and your continued prayers for her and our family.

We're back on track...

Kateli's treatment is back on track. Her appointment on Wednesday went well. Her counts were back up, her numbers went from 200 to 858!! Thank you all for ALL of your prayers for our little girl. We have completed the Consolidation phase and have moved on to the next phase, which is Interim Maintenance. We are continuing the daily oral chemo medicine, she has to take the steroid again for 5 days at atime, and the doctor wrote a script for the new chemo med she'll be taking once a week. All the while, we continue to give her the antibiotic three times a week, and the pepcid to settle her belly after all these meds!

Please pray:

• That we can keep the med schedule straight, and that we are diligent about her medications.
• That she continue to tolerate all these meds as well as she has been. She is doing great. It is amazing to see her strength!
• For energy, strength and rest for all of us. We're going through a very difficult sleep phase with Kateli, that we're constantly worn out. She's having trouble, not only falling asleep, but staying asleep all through the night. She wakes up kicking, screaming and crying, with her eyes closed!! She's having night terrors, or nightmares. It's difficult to get her back to sleep. She is sleeping in our room now. We've pulled the crib mattress into our room and she will be sleeping on that, instead of our bed, but last night was rough. She wants no one but mommy to hold her foot all the time...I do, until she falls asleep, but I'm having trouble obliging in the middle of the night!! Please pray for me, that I would be understanding and know what to do.

Low Counts delay next phase

Katherine had low white blood count and low ANC (200) this week, so we have to delay the treatment until her counts increase. We will try again next Wednesday. The nurse informed Marleny that this is common when kids are going in between phases. Her ANC count has to be above 750 to resume the treatment, so for now we wait. Please pray for Katherine that she remains healthy during this time while she has low blood counts. Also pray that her counts would rise, so that we can continue with treatment next Wednesday.

No News has been really good news

We apologize for not updating the blog in over 2 weeks! The lack of news is because Katherine has been doing extraordinarily well. The last 2 weeks have been a blessing because Kateli has only had to take 1 Oral Chemo daily. Today marks the end of Consolidation, and tomorrow is the start of Interim Maintenance- the Calendar on the right side of the page shows the details of what is given when. If you double click on the medication name, I've put a little more information about what it is.

We had the pleasure of traveling to STL this weekend for Dan's cousin Jack's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding in a beautiful setting. Kateli had loads of fun with all of her cousins and 2nd Cousins. She was mobbed with affection- which was a nice break for mom and dad.

The only struggle we've been dealing with is sleepless nights, and possible night terrors on Katherine's part. Not really sure if that's what they are, but she's been screaming and kicking a lot in the middle of the night. Our little girl can hit pretty hard!

Pictures in the last few days

Thank you all for your continued prayers for our family and our little girl. This is going to be a short entry; I wanted to post some pictures taken recently so you could all see how your prayers are being answered. Kateli is AMAZING!! She does not cease to amaze us with her strength and her happy heart. In the midst of this trial, our little girl presses on smiling, giggling and being the silly girl that she's always been. Thank you Lord for the way that you made her...so strong, full of courage and with a smile that lights up a room. Enjoy!