October 26, 2006

AFP = 3.6

Not as low as last month, but Dr. Rahdi still says all is good. It is well within normal limits, there is a variation depending on time, growth, and many other factors.....and it is not increasing exponentially, either. They did not take any other blood levels today. I was all ready to find out her hemoglobin and platelet levels, but apparently they feel she is doing well. We did not even have an x-ray of her chest like they said she would get each month. We did meet with the surgeon (Dr. Lawrence) because they are planning on taking her port out. Surgery is scheduled for November 6. That all seems encouraging at this point. However, they are quick to point out that there are no guarantees. So, please keep praying--for Leah's complete healing here on earth, and for a low AFP (of course we would like next month's to be lower so there is not an upward trend). While there were the normal people at the hospital that Leah enjoys seeing, she was rather cranky and tired today, so it was not a very exciting visit. We did see James briefly. Tom and Mary Lou took care of us in Clinic. Dr. Rahdi and Dr. Lawrence both saw Leah. They still think she looks great.

Other than that....we dropped Chris off at the Cedar Rapids airport at 8 AM. As of now (7:45 PM) he has not checked in to his hotel in Austin. His flight out of CR was delayed, and he had to find a different flight to take from Chicago to Austin, so I am rather curious how his day has gone. He has meetings all day on Friday and Saturday and then has part of Sunday free.

The girls are both staying with my mom and dad tonight. Originally Leah was going to spend the day Friday with Anna and AJay "helping" take care of Drea. To get Leah off to Readlyn and the other two to Karen's would have made my day rather hectic from the get-go. So, Leah was planning on spending her first time overnight with Grandpa and Grandma Behnke. Somehow this transpired into Chloe also going along--Leah has big plans. Today she kept telling me "Tina, we are going to have a discussion" when I brought up these plans. So, now my parents get to have a hectic morning. It is just Reeve and me. Nice in some ways, but lonely, too. I am not used to it being so quiet.

Just a few days ago I decided to clean out my emails that have been collecting for almost a year now. As I went back and read some of the messages we received shortly after Leah was diagnosed last November not only did it bring back a lot of memories, but it also reminded me how fortunate we are to have so many people that care about us and have taken time to reach out and tell us that. We might not get back to everyone who emails, but we certainly appreciate every message we receive. It is amazing to us that almost a year has elapsed. We certainly did not know what our future held and are grateful that we are still all here a year later and that Leah is feeling well. That being said, we are also becoming more aware of what a long journey cancer is. Originally it seemed that chemotherapy and then surgery would be all that was needed. Obviously we were very naive and probably only absorbed what we were able to at the time. As the months have passed we now know that even being "off treatment" does not mean the journey is done. The worries remain and the future is still uncertain. We remember other people who have gone through treatment for cancer and how we wrongly assumed that once they were off treatment they were cured. It was easy for us to put them out of our thoughts at that point. Unfortunately we now know from firsthand experience how wrong that attitude was. We continue to pray fervently that Leah remains in remission and her body continues to be cancer free. We certainly do not take a single day for granted anymore. So, please continue to keep Leah in your prayers. We receive great comfort from that fact that so many people are praying for her continued health.