Making life work!

Abby had her port put in on Thursday morning. It is a short surgical procedure but she needed to go through recovery before coming home. The site is very painful for  48 hours. We kept her medicated for pain.

The home health care nurses came in the evening and set up her chelation.

The back pack was heavy and her site was sore.

We had her take it EASY and REST.

The good news was by the next morning the bag was significantly lighter because it had infused overnight!

She did better and better each day!

On Saturday eve the nurse came back and unhooked it.

I am an RN with an expired license. I may learn how to do this without having to have a nurse visit and then again, 

I may not.

Sometimes it's just nice to be Mom...

As a nurse- once you learn it, it is so simple and doable.

BUT the whole experience is rather emotional and... well...

SHE'S MY DAUGHTER...

All the nurses, Drs and support staff are so kind and helpful. They really try to make it work for us.

I am so thankful, if we had struggles with medical staff- I think I'd have to cry.

The challenges are so great already.

The other children were so kind and so helpful to Abby.

It is heartwarming to see them help her!

Luke stayed inside and played with her while the others took a break and enjoyed the nice day.

We are constantly evaluating his cough- hoping and praying to get his surgery successfully done and get him on the road to recovery!

Abby was looking much better by Saturday evening!

We celebrated St. Paddy's day with green frosted cupcakes!

They were tasty and messy!

Emma has been doing better lately!

More smiles, a little more talking and just seems to be more content!

We are going to LOVE the port and having the treatments done at home!!

SO THANKFUL!

Donor Requirements

I just want to clarify-

When a person volunteers to be a bone marrow donor they cannot specify who they want to be the recipient.

This is what happens-
You sign up to be a donor-
they send you a kit, and you swab the inside of your cheek and send it back, and then they put you on the registry in case you are a good match for anyone needing a bone marrow transplant!
(Thank you Alison and D for clarifying this!)

The info then goes into a national registry.

When a match is found they contact the potential donor(maybe it will be you?).

The donor and recipient need to match in 8 different categories (not sure what they all are) however I do know one category is ethnicity.

So Abby needs a donor that is Asian, preferably Chinese, blood type B positive, and whatever else is in the list, needs to match.

The closer the match the more likely it will work.

If the donor and the recipient only match in some of the categories the chances of the bone marrow transplant working decrease significantly.

You can donate in hopes that it will go to Abby BUT if it is not Abby's life you are saving it may be someone elses.

It is really a worthwhile thing to do!

An exact match can potentially 

SAVE A LIFE!


Even a really good match can save a life! 


The donor has to be 18 yrs- 59 yrs old.


Usually they would check the family members first for a near match BUT since Abby is adopted that does not work for us.


Thank you to those of you that have inquired about donating, have prayed, have contacted others of asian decent, and have spread the word!


She is such a precious little girl and she is such a gift from God!

The Donor Search IS ON!

We went to the play "The Secret Garden" today! I was so happy to be able to go since I was originally supposed to be at the hospital with Mr Luke.

(BTW the Drs made a good choice. He is continuing to have an even deeper cough, runny nose and low grad fever- we will be going to the DR tomorrow, so they can listen to his lungs!)

The play was fantastic! We had previously read the book (abridged version) and saw the movie!

The children were able to follow along because they knew the story!

Abby has done so well for the last 2 1/2 weeks!

She is making great strides with learning and attitude since her dental work has been done(no more rotting teeth) AND since the parasite is gone (she was on 3 different antibiotics in order to get rid of it)!

She is like a new person and it has been such a blessing!

This little girl is such a great little girl- her true self is beginning to emerge and OH MY- do we love what we are seeing!

About 2-3 days ago she started to say-

"Momma, I'm tired"

"Momma, I'm tired"

Before that she was keeping up with everyone and was not missing a beat!


There has been a dramatic drop off in her energy level.
I'm not sure if it is her hemoglobin or if she is coming down with the family cold... or both.


Hubby is with her now at the hospital. She is getting a transfusion overnight and then a port put in - in the morning.
They will return home around lunch time and then a nurse will come to our house and begin the chelation process through the port.


We are so thankful to be able to start doing this at 
HOME SWEET HOME!


It will be best for ALL the children!


Thank you Jesus!!

As you can see in the pic our little Abby is completely out of gas...

She declined gymnastics today and sat with Mom instead...

AND now for the most important part of this post-
 They have started to search for a bone marrow donor for ABBY!!


THANK YOU JESUS!!


At this time there are enough caucasian people on the list...


BUT


NOT


ENOUGH


PEOPLE OF ASAIN DECENT...


Thank you to the many families that have offered!
The problem is-


The donor must be 18 years or older.


PLEASE encourage the Asian (especially the Chinese) population near you to volunteer to donate!


They will put them on the 


NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY.


Whether or not they will be called to donate- only God knows...


BUT please please encourage them!


ABBY'S life depends on it!


They are truly giving the gift of life!


I have sent a letter and photo album of Abby with her forever family to her orphanage.
In the letter we asked IF by chance they know of any family members...
 I know it's a huge "shot in the dark" but we had to try...


Miracles DO happen with GOD!


We also encouraged others in China that knew Abby to get on the 


NATIONAL BONE MARROW REGISTRY

 OH PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

Spring Has Sprung!

We have been blessed with beautiful weather!

It's not all bad not having surgery today!

It was such a nice day- 65 degrees! 

 And it was such a pleasure to finally enjoying the fresh air and some outside play!

We still have some left over ice and snow on the north side of the house.

So then... what do you do?

You go sledding!

In shorts!

All of the children were filled with a refreshing energy!

It was such a blessing!

In fact Ava even...

learned to ride a bike today!

She was so ready and eager to try!

This is Ellie's bike.

Her bike is actually smaller BUT with training wheels.

We still need to figure out the bike situation at our house!

It's a little wet and sloppy BUT so so much fun!

I think we will have quite a few new bike riders this year!

Anna and Abby are quite bonded!

It is so cute... except when anna decides she wants to wear Abby's outfit!

Then Abby is totally baffled and comes up to me with a questioning look and says "Anna"?

Everyone is cheering Abby on! She can ride a tricycle BUT a bike is new to her!

It's all in the pedaling!

Ava also learned to jump rope today!

She was thrilled with her new talents!

We were too!

YES, Luke is looking quite short!

What a cutey!

He does have a cough, a clear runny nose and a low grade temp.

The Doctors made the right choice.

We are rescheduled for Wednesday, MArch 28th.

IF he is not doing GREAT by that time we will once again... reschedule.

God has a plan and we need to trust him.

Emma has smiled so much today!

Which of course makes me so happy!

The weather and activities have agreed with her!

We sat outside on the front patio and I read to the children!

Ahhhh, what a wonderful life it is!

Surgery... cancelled...

UGH...

We were at the hospital for 3 hours...

It was supposed to be for a blood draw, a tour of where we will be the day of surgery...

And then Luke coughed...

And he coughed again

and again...

Then they took his temp. It was 100...

This morning I heard him cough. I had hoped I was only hearing things OR that it was another child...

We have been so healthy all winter but Emma caught a cold a week ago. She is fine now but then Ellie got it. I tried to keep some distance between the kids, use paper towels for wiping hands along with other germ fighting substances.

BUT wouldn't ya know Mr Luke is the next one to get the potential cold.

No runny nose, no other symptoms but a few early signs that some upper respiratory thing is happening.

Another UGH...

His xray was clear but they don't want to take a chance. Of course we don't either but we had everything in place to proceed. Okay we will go with plan B. Not sure what that is yet but we will figure it out...

The minute we got home, I nebbed him!

I want to be on top of this so it doesn't get really bad. Hoping it never develops and we can get back on the calendar asap

They were also concerned about the sores on the sides of his mouth. They have been there since the dental work was gone and he keeps picking off the scabs? Not sure what they are?

One more

UGH!

Thank you for your prayers! Save them and I'll keep you updated on the new date!

Upcoming Surgery

I am trying not to be nervous...

The Drs seem to feel comfortable with their plan.

I just wish he didn't have to have open heart surgery...

It is so intrusive, cannot be taken lightly and recovery is hard...

He is such a delightful little boy! 

We are so blessed to have him in our family!

He got his haircut last week. Along with Emma, Sarah, Ava and Sam.

They did an okay job- but he is so cute no matter what!

Surgery is Tuesday, March 13th- at 7:30am.

Please pray that all goes well, the blockage is cleared, the surgery is uneventful and the results are good!

We have a few children with colds in our house and we are trying to keep them away from Luke. We want him healthy and ready to go on Tuesday morning!

God Bless YOU sweet boy!

We love you so much!

Luke is admitted on Tuesday and Abby will be admitted on Thursday. She is having a chelation, transfusion and a port put in so the next chelation can be done at home! (YAY)

I'll be hopping between floors and children. My sister will also be coming so she can stay with one while I'm with the other one!

After this our hospital time should decrease significantly! 

Thank you JESUS for your blessings!

We FOUND Him!!

Thank you Jesus!!

A family is looking at his file now AND there is another family that feels called to adopt him!

Please pray that this sweet boy gets scooped up soon and that he is right where YOU Dear Lord want him to be!!

He needs to come home and he needs to medical help asap!

Keep praying friends!!

HE hears your prayers!