June 22, 2006

We are enjoying our summer and not having to be in Iowa City nearly as often, but I will try to post since we are still having blood draws and AFP tests. And, we hope that you continue to remember Leah in your prayers. A normal AFP is wonderful, a miracle, but in order for her to be "cured" it will need to remain normal for at least five years. So, we certainly are on the right road, but not close to the end yet.

Monday was a blood draw day at Covenant. Leah's counts are coming up as expected. Her hemoglobin is lower 9.8, compared with 10.5 on last Thursday. This seems to be the case, though, for her with this combination of chemotherapy. Her hemoglobin drops later than the other counts and is still not very low by their standards. Her platelets that were at 32,000 on Thursday were at 85,000 on Monday, and her white count is back to normal. So, we hope we are done with GCSF shots forever. We still need to have her electrolytes checked weekly and her port flushed, too, but will do that next Thursday when we are in Iowa City.

Next Thursday is another big day. They will do a CT scan of her entire chest region- lungs, and abdomen to check liver regeneration and to make sure there are no spots on liver or lungs. So, please pray for everything to look normal. We will no doubt have another AFP test and then see where things go from here. UGH!

Leah is having a great time and appears to feel pretty good. She has been running around and has every moment jam packed with activity. Yesterday we went to Olive Garden, Barnes and Noble and to the movie Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties. The movie was cute (despite horrible reviews it was just right for Leah) and Chloe even made it through her first movie. We also visited Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Daryl, made cinnamon rolls, did some computer work, had a stroller ride, a nap in the afternoon, and managed to stay up until 11 again. Today Leah has been cleaning (while Chloe undoes everything) because my co-op student from high school is visiting this afternoon. Leah is pumped up for this visit and has the day planned yet again. She even wants to take her bike to the bike trail to ride while I push Chloe in the stroller. She is starting to get a bit of fuzz growing in. Some spots look pretty dark to me, and others look blond, so it will be interesting to see what comes in. I know she wants blond hair, but we will take whatever we get and be happy with it.

I have been enjoying having some time off, too. I feel like I missed out on a lot of fun things with Chloe this past school year, and she is talking up a storm and has lots of silly ideas. I am finally finishing my knitting project I started last summer. Now it will be a sweater for Chloe, though, instead of Leah. I am also being pushed (by Leah of course) to get caught up with scrapbooking. So, someday I have to get that mess sorted out.

Again, we thank everyone for the prayers, emails, cards, and phone calls that keep coming. Please continue to keep Leah in your prayers as we face another Iowa City testing day next week and are hopeful for God's continued healing here on earth.