#HealingForHaylie-Post 74

Haylie update - Dec 22

Just wanted to give another update on how things are going this round. I’m so happy to report that she is doing so much better! The first week of delayed intensification really kicked us in the teeth. We found out that it was actually the steroids that were making her feel just awful. She was on them for 7 days and off for 7 days. By the end of the 7 days off she was feeling almost back to normal and getting her energy back. She was also sleeping through the night again which was an incredible blessing for both of us. She had to go back in for more chemo meds on Friday, vincristine and doxorubicin. The doctors have told us that her hair would all fall out again after the first dose, but she just had the third dose and it hasn’t fallen out yet. Yay! She told me all she wanted for Christmas this year was her hair. I know we still have a few days until Christmas, but I really think she will keep her hair for Christmas. It just might be our Christmas miracle this year. 

We got her labs back on Friday, and they weren’t quite what we were hoping for. Her levels have began to drop with all the chemo. On Monday, her ANC was over 2200. Yesterday, they had dropped to 720. We figured they have been dropping about 300 points a day. If she drops below 500 she is considered at risk and we aren’t allowed to go out in public again. So we will be home bound until her levels come back up. Her doctor ok’d her going to her friends party but told us no where else. We left the hospital and were able to make it to her sweet friend Morgan’s Christmas party where she was able to see her so many of her friends. It made her day! She was so determined to make it to that party, even though she felt awful and nauseous after her chemo. It’s amazing what you can will your body to do.

Well, we kind of broke the rules of staying home today since she was feeling so good. We drove to my Aunt Melloy’s Christmas party and we were able to see all my cousins that I haven’t seen in so long. It felt like Christmas again. It was good for the soul. Sometimes I think the reward we get from being around friends and loved ones helps more than the risk we take to be there.

On Friday, she also started the steroids again. We were expecting to get knocked down pretty hard again, but so far she is doing great. We are praying the next 6 days go just as well as she continues the steroids. We are thankful that this will be the last time she must take this high of a dose in her treatment. The steroids are designed to get her blood and ANC levels up. Praying they do their job without the side effects this time. She continues to amaze me everyday. I included some pictures of touching moments this week. I love Brennen giving her a hug goodnight to make her feel better and Peanut snuggled next to her in bed. Those two are inseparable.

Thanks for all the continued prayers. Love you all.
#HealingForHaylie

Taking it like a champ.

Getting chemo...

About to get her port accessed.

Christmas party!

Getting sweet hugs from Brennen to make her feel better.

Found Haylie and Peanut both asleep.

#HealingForHaylie-Post 73

Haylie update - Dec 13

I am sitting in Haylie’s room as she tries to sleep and I finally have a chance to give an update. I have to be honest. It has been a really tough week. Much worse than I was expecting. It is so hard to watch her go through the pain and side effects of the really strong chemo. She told me that she hates chemo worse than cancer. She started the last bad phase of her treatment last Thursday. She was just so sick by that afternoon. Saturday and Sunday she was just so weak that we couldn’t go anywhere. We missed all the events we had hoped to make, the Nutcracker, the baseball Christmas party and church.

Monday was by far the toughest day for me. We had to go back in for her next chemo shot and Haylie had simply had enough. She was laying on the couch and I told her we had to get dressed to go and she looked me in the eyes and simply said NO. I told her I know she didn’t feel good, but we had to get ready so we aren’t late and she just said NO again. Y’all it was such a struggle. She had reached her limit and frankly I was close to the line myself. It is so hard to force your child to get dressed and get in the car to go back to the hospital to get more pokes and shots and medicine that have awful side effects.

We made it, but just barely. I just had to sit down and pray for strength. I ended up giving her a long speech about how marathon runners say the last few miles are the hardest. We are in the last few miles and they are proving to be the hardest. We are almost there, we can’t give up now because we are so close to the finish line. I think I was telling it to myself as much as to her, but it worked. She got up, got dressed and in the car. She really amazes me. She doesn’t even realize how strong she is becoming.

While we were in the hospital waiting room I nearly lost it while watching The Incredibles. Seriously, Disney’s the Incredibles. It was the scene where the Mom was flying the plane over the ocean and they were being shot down by missiles. I could see the desperation on her face and hear it in her voice and I felt the same way at that moment. The enemy was attacking her, just like I felt he was attacking me. At the last minute, the Mom aborts the cockpit and rushes to shield her children as the plane explodes. I knew that a mother would do almost anything to protect her children and she was helpless in that moment. I felt so helpless too. I felt there was nothing I could do to make Haylie feel better as she laid there in pain about to get more. When the Incredibles Mom was yelling at her kids to pull it together, I felt like she was talking directly to me. It was all I could do to not burst into tears. I guess Haylie and I were both emotionally drained after being so sick over the weekend. We are running on fumes again, getting very little sleep at night because she is in such pain. I think I had about 4 hours combined sleep that night and not much more since then. I feel like we are back in the newborn stage. We got through the sleep deprivation then, and God will get us through this as well.

The rest of the week has been about the same. She is just so weak, but getting stronger. I found out it is the high dose steroids that are making her body ache so badly. She finished the last dose for a few days today so I’m hopeful that she will feel better tomorrow. She does have Peanut by her side to make her feel better.

We go back to the hospital in the morning for another round of the bad stuff. 😩. We could certainly use your prayers. I plan on celebrating the end of this phase in a big way. It will be a huge accomplishment for all of us. The harder the challenge, the greater the victory. We are almost there...8 weeks to go.
#HealingForHaylie

#HealingForHaylie-Post 72

Haylie update - Dec 6

I’ve kind of taken a Facebook break for the last 2 weeks. Today we are back in the hospital to start the 4th phase of treatment, delayed intensification. We are sitting here waiting for her blood counts before she can get her spinal tap and begin chemo. This phase will be a lot more intense than the last one so we are trying to prepare ourselves. We tried to get all the fun Christmas stuff done early while we were off for the 2 weeks, in case Haylie isn’t able to get out much in the coming weeks. We had fun, but man did those 2 weeks go by fast. I’m thankful that yesterday Haylie’s sweet teacher opened her classroom for Haylie to get to have lunch with some of her friends at school. It meant so much for Haylie to see her friends again. we also had a chance to go see ICE and get our pictures with Santa. The kids also wanted to have a fancy dinner on our China so we did. They set everything up and we decided we should celebrate more often. 

Although the timing isn’t the best for this phase (being over Christmas) we are excited that this is the last bad phase. We even got a calendar with her last Erwinaze shot listed. That is very exciting to us. It is still 8 weeks away, but we are thankful.

I was trying to text my parents and Michael’s parents the other day when a text message popped up that I never sent. It was a great reminder for me that I needed to see at the time. I was sitting in the ICU and the doctor had just told us how bad Haylie was and how long the treatment would be when I wrote it. It would have been June 1st. It was a lot for me to handle at the time. So much was unknown. I look back now and see how God has gone before us and answered so many desperate prayers. Here is the text message...

“Sometimes I think God is giving me more than I can handle. We just met with oncology. She has T-cell ALL leukemia. It is the worst kind. They have to be way more aggressive with it so she will get much more chemo and drugs to fight it than those patients with the other types. We need prayers and a miracle. We will definitely be in the hospital for at least a month and treatments for min of 2 years. This is a chance for God to show up big.”

God has shown up big for us and has brought us so far. We have so much to be thankful for. Please keep us in your prayers as we begin this next phase. Love you all.

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or troubled for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9
#HealingForHaylie

#HealingForHaylie-Post 71

Haylie update - Nov 20

So thankful! Haylie just finished her last chemo treatment in this phase of treatment! Yay! We will now get a 2 week break!!! Hallelujah!

Today’s treatment took a lot longer than we expected but all went well. Since it is thanksgiving break, both Michael and Brennen got to go with us. Our appointment was at 10:15 this morning so our plan was to get her chemo quick and head to lunch. So much for our plan...we left after 3:00 😬. We were all a bit hungry so we headed to Olive Garden to celebrate, her choice again. Unfortunately, Olive Garden had to throw out all their salads due to the E Coli outbreak, so she didn’t get her salad but she did get chicken Parmesan, soup and breadsticks. Boy, this girl does love her salads. 😂

Tonight has been pretty rough. She had her largest dose of methotrexate yet today and her stomach is in major pain. She ran a low grade fever for a while which made me very nervous, but it has finally gone back down to normal and I rejoice that we will not be having to make an emergency trip to the hospital. We are praying that her tummy feels better tomorrow.

She will begin the next phase, delayed intensification the first week of Dec. This next phase will be pretty intense so we are going to just celebrate the end of this phase and the progress she has made thus far. We are going to have as much fun as we can the next 2 weeks and be thankful for all of our blessings.

#HealingForHaylie

#HealingForHaylie-Post 70

Haylie update - Nov 19

I realize I haven’t gotten an update post out in a while. Sorry this one is so long. I actually typed 2 separate ones up, only to have Facebook completely reset and delete all that I’d worked on. 😩 Honestly I was just too exhausted each time to redo it. Going to the hospital 3 times a week has just drained me.

A lot has happened in the last 2 weeks. Haylie is doing really well. She has has some really good days, and we have had some rough ones, too. I think we are learning how to cope with the tough days better and it is making it easier. Nausea, vomiting and terrible stomach aches are just a part of everyday for Haylie right now, but we are learning how to better get through it all.

I read the best quote by Elizabeth Elliott the other day. God doesn’t give us what we can handle, God helps us handle what we are given. Amen to that! If it wasn’t for God giving us strength and the help of family and friends, I don’t know how we would get through this season of our life. I’m so very thankful for so many amazing moms who have stepped in to get Brennen from school countless times when I wasn’t able to make it home in time for pickup from the hospital. We have been so blessed by so many people. I’m not sure if they will ever know how much I appreciate them for all they have done for us. We were blessed with the cleaning service that came by again 2 weeks ago to rescue my out of control house. Thank you to Two Maids and a Mop! They were fantastic and ever so helpful to our family.

Haylie has had several really good days and was able to go to her school during picture retakes so that she can be included in the school yearbook. Her wonderful homebound teacher, Ms Gallegher, invited several of Haylie’s close friends to eat lunch in her room so Haylie could be a part of school for 30 mins. She even got to meet several of her teachers. It was a definite highlight for her. She had been counting the hours until she could go see her friends at school.

She also got to attend Brennen’s last baseball tournament this season. It was so cold and the championship game didn’t end until after 11:00pm. Haylie wanted to get her picture taken with the sweet baseball team that has supported her and came up with the “Homeruns for Haylie” campaign after their win, but unfortunately, she was totally drained and fell asleep on the cold bleachers in the last inning, so she didn’t get any pictures with them. Next time... She was such a trooper to sit in the cold stands for 6 hours the day after she had 3 types of chemo and a spinal tap. 😬

We were able to attend a Dallas Mavericks game on Wednesday with tickets given to us by Hope Kids. It was a fun time that we were able to make a fun family memory.

Yesterday she delivered 4 boxes to our church for operation Christmas Child to send a Christmas gift to a poor child in another country, who otherwise probably not get anything for Christmas. I love how her heart wants to help others. I think she is learning kindness and generosity from all the wonderful people that have showed it to us.

I also want to ask for prayer for another family that lives on our street. I recently found out that their 2 year old son was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and it has spread. I understand how their world has just gotten turned upside down. They need our prayers. I am going to try and meet them and offer any help that I can. We are further down the road than they are and hopefully I can share some helpful things that have worked for us.

Thank you for all the prayers. We love you all. Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.
#HealingForHaylie

Lunch with friends!

Getting prepped for more chemo and another spinal tap.

Sweet girl in recovery

Faithful Peanut always by her side

Champions!

Just finished her last shot of Erwinaze for this round!

Celebrating at her favorite restaurant, Olive Garden

All Dogs Go To Heaven....

Or that's at least our belief...

We had another rough start to our Thanksgiving travels.  This past week Maggie wasn't doing very well!  So, we took her to the doc on Friday!  While in there, B reminded me that we were in the same room that we were in when Hankie took his last breath last year before we left for Thanksgiving!!  Her liver enzymes were a tad elevated and so they gave us some meds and sent us on our way.

You might remember that last year, when I got out of the hospital, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Pre-diagnosis pics

We were told that if we did chemo, she might live for two months.  However, my incredible hubby did the research, and she lived much longer.  We put the pups on the ketogenic diet, the same one that I was on so that we could get pregnant with Miss P, without any seizure meds in my system!

This is a pic of her just a few weeks after diagnosis and us beginning treatment!!  Thus, it was working.  Each follow up visit showed great results!!  Nothing to be concerned about...

Part of the diet changes allowed for much more raw food.  So, the two rascals got to have a real bone

They might have enjoyed it!!!

This is the day that we brought her home!!

Her sweet snuggles with her big brother, who is now much smaller than her!!!

You can see her love of snuggles!!

She even has her own fox to snuggle with....

You might also remember her Aggie connection!!

She's Miss Rev's half-sister!!!

She's had the opportunity to play with Miss Rev and just have fun!!!

Miss P got to say hi to Sis this past weekend in Aggieland!!

Anyway, we were thrilled with her progress & how well she was doing!!  She had a ton of energy and life and was running all over the place.  Then, she just kind of stopped.  Thus, we got her in to the vet because that wasn't like her.  Again, liver enzymes elevated, here's some meds, bring her back in the Monday after Thanksgiving and we'll see how she's improved!

B reminded me as we went to bed Friday evening that Hank woke up at 3am the morning we were leaving to go out of town and Hank didn't survive the next day!

So, when I woke at 3am to Maggie hacking and struggling to breathe, it was a tad too surreal.  It wasn't too long after that when B voted that she needed to get to the emergency vet.  We called the closest one open and B got in the truck and moved as quickly as his truck would allow him to go...about 2-3 miles from the vet clinic, her labored breathing stopped and he felt his pants get very wet.  When he looked down, he was covered in blood and she had passed!!  He did everything he could to make sure she knew she was loved & to make sure she was cared for...as soon as he got to the vet, they confirmed her passing.  It was a tough week to begin because I went 21 days before without a seizure and then had 36 seizures in five days.  Thus, I didn't have the energy to cry when he called to tell me, despite the pain that I felt in my heart!!

When Miss P woke up & I was awake (she's an early bird, like her Daddy, not a night owl, like me), she had a questioned look on her face!  Once I got her in my arms and told her that Maggie had gone to puppy Heaven, she shed some extra tears for me, too.  As we were eating breakfast and B noticed that Rudder needed to go outside (Maggie usually rings a little bell that we keep on the back door, to let us know), it hit.  The pain and the tears.  First, I love my husband's heart.  The fact that he sees the need and addresses it because he cares about the heart.  I often times need to hear the bell ring to know there is a need.  Not my amazing gift from the Lord, He sees a need and addresses it with all of his heart!!!  Second, I love the four-legged creatures the Lord has allowed us to love and care for...we don't feel like we had Maggie long enough...less than three years.  We had Hank for 13+ and we've had Rudder for 13+ years!  So, it doesn't make sense why we lost her so young.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding. 
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6

So, as we were sad as we got on an airplane for Thanksgiving travel in 2017, we experienced the same pain in 2018.  If you are looking for something to be thankful for on Thursday and you still have your fur babies, be thankful for them and their love!  If you have lost them and you are sad, be thankful that you got to experience such love that you would be sad and grieving!  Now, I will be selfish and ask you to please pray for us.  It hurts to lose her and it will hurt even more when we get home and reality sets in...It also hurts to have lost two of our three fur babies in the last year!!

Miss P is sad and acting out a bit.  We shared the importance of just sharing your heart, don't box up your feelings.  People around you love you and want to hold you and comfort you.  So, it was sweet tonight when in the shower, she "wrote" a song for Maggie!!!  She's been singing it to us ever since...on the way, she told us that she doesn't like Thanksgiving.  We've talked about the difference and that it's not a Thanksgiving thing, it's a death thing.  None of us like death...so, again, if you will pray for us & our grieving and mine & B's parenting through this pain and grief.

Thank you for loving our family enough to check in...

One more look at our pretty girl!!!!