And He said unto me, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

#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




Tuesday, November 20, 2018

#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





Monday, November 19, 2018

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!!!!

Thursday, November 8, 2018

#HealingForHaylie-Post 69

Haylie update Nov 6
Sorry I am so late posting this. Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes to Haylie. I read all the messages to her and she was all smiles. It certainly made having to be at the hospital getting chemo on her birthday so much better. She baked cupcakes and had fun handing them out to the doctors and nurses at the hospital.

We did have a small surprise party for her when a few friends were able to stop by for ice cream cake after school. She was feeling pretty yucky from the chemo so we ended up staying home that night and took a rain check on going to Olive Garden. We did make it out to her favorite restaurant on Saturday and it was fun to have her Grandparents and cousin Sage here to celebrate. 
 
She had one more celebration today when we were able to have lunch with a friend in Rockwall, at of course... Olive Garden. Overall, it was a fun and memorable birthday. Thanks for all the love.