"The only people that don't fall off horses...

...are people that don't ride them!!"

These were the words of  wisdom shared with us Tuesday evening.  

She was at her riding lessons this week & we ran to get the car washed!  When we got back, her instructor was on the John Deere at her house, not at the barn.  That was our first hint that something was wrong.  Then, I saw Miss P's head by her.   Uh oh!  So, we got to her & Miss P started crying and had Coban wrapped around her wrist!!  Turns out that her horse bucked her off....After some tears & hugs we got in the car & came home.  It wasn't swollen or anything at all, but it hurt to move it or to touch it!  We reached out to our friend that is an orthopedic surgeon and they gave us some pointers on how to take care of it!  They told us to keep an eye out for swelling!

My Prince reached out to the parents of twin girls that are on the A&M & Baylor Equestrian teams for advice or words of wisdom to share with Miss P!  They are the ones that shared the opening quote!!

Miss P remembered hurting herself one other time and our friend, Lindsay, who is an ER nurse, recommended something orange that helped her pain.  We were clueless and so we called Lindsay.  She was just as confused as we were.  Well, due to the pain she was in, we found some kiddie ibuprofen in the cabinet....turns out it was orange and exactly what she remembered!!!  She propped it up & iced it before bed, and then was fast asleep!!  She woke up yesterday morning able to move it better, but still in quite a bit of pain.  So, doc's wife recommended that we call & get an x-ray!  She only took pain meds once while at school!

We got to the doc's office and she was showing off how well she could move it.  Thus, we started wondering if she even needed to be there.  However, we checked in & got called back!!  The nurse took a quick history and then took her for x-rays!

As you can see, there isn't much swelling at all!

Maybe a tiny bit of swelling when she turned her wrist!!

Can you see the hairline fracture at her radius?

Well, our girl has her first broken bone!  She has a Colles fracture!  It is basically a fracture of the radius from the fall.

You can see it a bit better in this one!

Getting the cast put on...

She chose green!!!  She says it will match the horse's stuff!

Excited?!?!?!

She chose a green cast and was so excited for all of her friends to sign it!!  However, she will have this cast for a week & then they'll remove it & put a new one on her.  They cut the sides of this one so that there is room for swelling and then wrapped it in another bandage so that it won't fall off...so, we'll see how they managed with the signatures today!!

Here is the cast, wrapped w/ another bandage!

She's not had any pain medicine since yesterday at school.  So, she's one tough cookie!  When I spoke with her teacher last night to tell her about the break, she was so impressed that Miss P had been so tough with it being broken!!!   She slept through the night without asking for any pain meds, too!!!

We'll see when she gets home tonight how she's doing!!  Her biggest frustration is that the doc won't let her ride again until it's healed.  She's already asking if she can go out & brush the horses & do stuff in the barn, if she can't ride!  So, we're going to have to figure something out for her....

Please pray that it heals quickly so that she can get back on the horses & can get back to playing with her friends.  They say to expect at least six weeks and so that puts us in the Summer!!  Thanks for reading and praying!!!  

#HealingForHaylie-Post 92

Here is Haylie’s Good Morning Texas segment and several pictures I got of the live taping! I still can’t believe we made it after how bad she felt yesterday. Thank you everyone again for the prayers. I really think that is the only explanation on how we made it through this morning. She is incredibly strong and used every ounce of energy to be there, but we were living on the prayers. I am so very thankful we didn’t have to cancel. She really wanted to do this and was determined to not let the steroids and chemo ruin her day. 

I found out it is the steroids that are causing all the problems and that we will have to take them once a month for the next 2 years. 😩 At least now we know the effects, and will do our best to not plan anything during steroid week. One of the other moms today told me they called their steroid week, hell week. That is definitely not a good sign. Thank goodness we still have her wheelchair, and she agreed to ride in it to the studio. She laid down on the couch in the waiting room until right before the segment to save her energy. Once it was over, she crashed, but she made it through! She fell asleep in the car on the way home and is asleep on the couch now. Tomorrow is our last day to have to take the dex so I’m hoping she will have her energy back by Friday to have a wonderful time at the Gala.
#HealingForHaylie

Video to watch

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Haylie update - April 21

I have been wanting to get an Easter picture of our family all dressed up for church, but it’s been a tough day and it just never happened. I got ready, but Haylie had a really hard day, so we never even left the house. She has been doing so good these past few days, which is why today completely blindsided me. Her first week of school was great! She was extremely tired when I picked her up after 1/2 a day, but she was so excited to be back and doing good. 

Thursday was her doctors appointment for labs and her monthly chemo dose. She takes chemo pills everyday, but this was the port kind. I got her new chemo calendar and I totally didn’t realize that she would be starting her dex (steroid pills) again on Thursday. Haylie has not done well with steroids in the past, but this was supposed to be much lower dosage. Boy, it has packed a heavy punch on her today. She had a super rough night and she couldn’t get out of bed this morning. She was so exhausted, she couldn’t even talk to me most of the morning. There were times in the hospital that she couldn’t talk, but only made sounds and wouldn’t open her eyes. Today was one of those days.

She had been so excited about going to church and wearing her new dress. Unfortunately, it just never happened. She was in tears because well, it was Easter Sunday and she just couldn’t get out of bed because she felt so miserable. She tried so hard to get up and get dressed but I found her laying on the floor unable to even sit up. I just laid there with her for awhile. We are thankful for church online, so Michael put Haylie back in bed and we all sat around her bed and watched the service online. Not the way we planned today but it still worked. Haylie was really upset and she kept telling me she ruined Easter. I was thankful that I was able to share with her that she couldn’t possibly ruin Easter, because Easter is the most amazing gift that Jesus gave to us. He gave up his life as a sacrifice for our sins. It’s not about wearing a new dress to a church building (although, I do like that part), but it is about celebrating our risen savior who conquered death. It doesn’t matter where you are, even if you are laying in bed not feeling well.

Haylie has a big week ahead of her. She was asked to be on the Good Morning Texas show (WFAA) Monday morning at 9am to model her dress that she will be wearing to the CCF Gala on Friday. We have to get up really early to make it into the studio and I’m just hoping she feels well enough to get there. Prayers are certainly appreciated. Tomorrow will be a new day!
#HealingForHaylie

#HealingForHaylie-Post 90

12 yo shines!!

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Haylie update - April 15th

It’s a big day for us! Haylie’s first day of school!!! She has been doing all the schoolwork as a homebound student, but today she actually gets to go back to school for 1/2 days and see her friends! She was so excited and nervous both for her first day back!

I have to tell you, this was way harder for me than dropping her off at kindergarten. I didn’t cry a bit at kinder drop off, but boy did the tears fall today as I drove off. Most of it was tears of joy, she has come so far from that first night in the ICU. We really do have so much to be thankful for. God is so good!

I am so thankful for her sweet Homebound teacher, Ms Gallegher. She surprised us by getting several of Haylie’s friends to meet her at drop off. It made my heart so happy to see her friends there supporting her on the first day back and I know it helped Haylie tremendously. I was able to snap a few pictures from the car before I had to drive off and her teacher texted me several of these pictures that she took. ❤️ It is going to be a great day!
#HealingForHaylie

 

First day of school pictures.

Brennen was so happy For her and kept giving her hugs.

Thankful for sweet friends to welcome her back.

Haylie and Ms Gallegher

Haylie video

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Haylie update - April 12

We got great news from Haylie’s last appointment. Her levels were great and she has been cleared to return to school 1/2 days starting on Monday!!! She has gotten stronger everyday and continues to amaze me. So much good has happened over this last week. She had her fashion fitting for the Children’s Cancer Fund Gala and picked out her dress for the runway. She loved every minute of it too. We can’t wait until she gets to walk the runway next month!

She tried out for 7th grade cheerleading and she made the team!!! I’m so proud of her for getting out there and trying even when it was so hard. We also had so much fun at our GLOW girls mother daughter tea banquet and getting to wave at the Medal of Honor recipients as they drove by.
She started riding her bike and she was able to ride to the park on Tuesday and then made it all over our neighborhood a few days later. God is so good! She has come so far. It is so so very good for this mommy’s heart to see her active and getting to do things again.

Her hair has even started growing back to the point she is no longer bald but it just looks like a really short haircut. She has gained so much wisdom and confidence these last few weeks. Middle school can be so tough, but I know she will be ok. I think I will need prayers though. Letting her take off on her own is such a challenge for me since she has needed me right by her side for so long now. The first time she rode her bike she only made it around the block once. The second time she made it twice, but got in the driveway and crashed out of exhaustion. I so wanted to run to her, hug her and pick her up but I knew I have to let her go through the struggle and learn to get back up on her own, even when it is tough. It’s a lot like watching your kid learn to walk or ride a bike for the first time, all over again. I told her she was ok and she could get back up, and she did. I felt like such a mean mom, but I know she is stronger for it now. She is more determined and stronger emotionally than ever before. Soon her physical strength with be just as strong. God really is growing all of us in big ways.
#HealingForHaylie

CCF model fashion fitting

Just got labs completed! They looked great!

Bluebonnets

1st bike ride to the park

Glow girls mother daughter tea banquet

Medal of Honor recipients

Her paintings for daddy’s office

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I have been debating whether or not to post this and I finally decided it might help someone so here goes. I wrote this post 2 weeks ago and it is amazing how far we have come since that time...

Haylie update - Mar 20
It’s been a tough week. We have had a lot of ups and downs but overall I rejoice. I think I had too high of expectations for the maintenance phase. I heard the doctors and nurses tell us we only had to go back once a month, and I was so excited, but in reality it is a lot more. It is actually twice a month on most months, but every 3 months we have to go every.single.day. for a week of chemo. This is that week for us and the side effects are really hitting Haylie hard. It was especially difficult when doctors told me they would probably be increasing her chemo because her ANC was too high. WHAT!? I thought that was our goal and a good thing? I had a super hard time understanding why they would increase chemo to bring down her ANC. There was one side of me that was just DONE. No more. My mind fought the question, do we really need more chemo? What if we just quit now and took vitamins? I was under the impression that all the cancer was gone. I prayed for clarity, for peace, for a definite answer to do the right thing.

God works in such amazing ways. He answered my prayer yesterday, although it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It’s a long story, but I feel very confident with 2 confirmations that we must stay the course. I had a really good talk with Haylie’s oncologist who was able to answer many of my concerns. Unfortunately, (ALL) acute lymphoblastic leukemia is a lot different than other cancers. If it comes back, most of the time it is resistant to chemo and the chances of survival are greatly reduced. And out of the 3 types of ALL, t-cell is the worst. Another kick in the gut. The doctor explained that if we stopped now and they didn’t get it all it would be like playing Russian roulette with Haylie. Not a chance I want to take. She went over a lot of research and studies that have been done to find the best treatment. It’s hard sometimes because so many people give you their home remedy and tell you what worked for someone they know. While I know they have the best intentions, they don’t have all the info about Haylie’s case, so we will continue with chemo for the next 2 years and I know Haylie’s amazing doctor is truly doing what is proven to give Haylie the very best chance at beating cancer.

Haylie and I went and watched the movie Run the Race last week. It was so incredibly good. So much different than I expected. I highly recommend that everyone should see it, and take tissues. I have been struggling with the question why do bad things happen to good people? Why do some have to endure such hardships? Life just isn’t fair. I left the movie in tears and realized this is our race. It’s not easy, and it’s not what I would have ever asked for, but this is what God has called us to right now. God can use our circumstances and trials and turn it into a miracle and a testimony of His goodness. It doesn’t always end the way we might expect, but he does have a purpose and a plan and the end result is heaven. I saw a quote the other day and it said “as a parent it’s my priority to help you get into Heaven, not Harvard.” That could be used in so many more circumstances. God has called each of us to run a race and it’s our job to run it the best we can, whether it’s a fun race like winning championships or a tough race, like enduring a health crisis. We are called to trust and honor God in all circumstances. I can see how much we have grown in our faith over this year. God never said it would be easy, but he did promise to be with us every step of the way. I know this is true because it certainly hasn’t been on Michael’s and my own strength, it has been His.

I would tell you more, but I would ruin the movie. Trust me, go watch the movie. It might not be in theaters anymore, but make sure to rent it or buy it. It will be worth it. In the meantime, we will continue to run our race and I encourage you to run yours.
Blessings to you all. Thank you all for the continued prayers.
#HealingForHaylie

Getting her port accessed. One of 5 times that week.

She was just exhausted on the way home.

We got all ready for church, but she couldn’t hardly walk that morning so we ended up watching it online.

Haylie and Peanut styling

Puppies!