Wednesday 1/20

We are back at the hospital this week for round 10. She had chemo last night (Tuesday) and will have the same tonight (Wednesday), and then home on Thursday afternoon. We started yesterday at the orthopedic surgeon's office for a follow up appointment. He was happy with her healing and told her to work toward walking with no crutches in the next few weeks. Hooray! She doesn't need to wear a knee brace unless it makes her feel better, and he feels the foot-up brace is giving her foot plenty of support. He also took an x-ray which looked perfect! I'm so happy she got to hear from him that she is healing up, and that she doesn't have any restrictions on things she can and cannot do. So, so happy about that news. Today when she had PT, she amazed me by all walking down the hall with one crutch and even taking a few steps on her own. I don't think the physical therapist expected her to be so strong and athletic.

Today she is in good spirits, making Valentine's Day cards, and catching up on her new favorite show, "The Flash." I think everyone is relieved this the last of the three-week-in-a-row hospital stays. I know we are all looking forward to being home in our own beds for the next two and a half weeks. 

For our wonderful prayer warriors:

Please pray that her leg continues to heal and that she is able to walk on her own soon; that these chemo drugs wipe out any remaining cancer cells in her body, so she can begin to reclaim all that has been taken from her these last five months. Pray for a complete and total recovery for our sweet and amazing Madeline. 

Love you all! 

Round 9✔️

Waiting on Wednesday

Good morning! We are back at Medical City this week. We are actually in the same room as last week, so it truly feels like Groundhog Day! Chemo finished last night about 9:30 and was uneventful. Today they will do her 24 hour labs at 5:30, and then we try to entertain ourselves until she hits that magic 0.10 number. We usually get to go home Friday evening, so we are praying for the same (or earlier) this week. Madeline is in good spirits, working on school work and keeping herself busy with crafting, drawing and beating me at every card game we brought with us. 

Next week, before chemo, we will have a follow-up appointmentwith her surgeon. I feel like there is a huge disconnect between what the physical therapist she meets with here is saying and our conversations with the surgeon before and after the surgery, so I'm anxious to have my questions answered and my concerns addressed. I truly believe Madeline will make a full recovery and be able to do the activities she enjoyed before all of this. She is so athletic and determined, and I just refuse to believe anything less than complete healing. I know our prayer warriors are praying for the same.

We have to come back next week for another round, but then she will have two weeks off. We also learned this morning that next week is the last in-patient chemo for one of the chemo drugs she receives, which means an extra week at home for two weeks we thought we would be here. We also are halfway done - 9 rounds done- 9 to go.  Single- digits! Oh, such a long road! 

Wednesday

We are back at Medical City for another round of Methotrexate this week. We were able to get started early yesterday and chemo was all done at 9:45 last night. This is the one you have to clear so now we just wait for that magical number of 0.10. Usually we are here until Friday evening. The physical therapist visited this morning and was impressed with how well she is walking with her crutches. She got the go ahead to bend her knee to 90 degrees and she took a long morning stroll by the nurses station. 

That is all of my news. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers each day. We pray that the drugs do their job, they quickly exit her system with no side effects, and we are home soon. 

**Madeline cleared and we were discharged Friday night. 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  We had a quiet, uneventful Christmas at home, which was perefct. Madeline did lots of baking, we did a lot of eating, and everyone enjoyed the time off from the hospital routine. We rewatched the Harry Potter movies over Christmas weekend, and shared the Bourne trilogy with the kids for our annual New Year's Eve movie marathon. Madeline is enjoying her time at home, she is feeling good, and getting around well on her crutches and becoming much more independent. She can put quite a bit of weight on her left leg now, but does prefer to use her crutches so she can get around fast! Her leg is healing well, and she is starting to compensate a little bit more for her foot, so I feel hopeful that it won't be too much of a problem going forward. Pray that she continues to grow stronger despite these upcoming weeks of chemo. 

She will have three more rounds of chemo on each of the next three Tuesdays, and then two weeks off before the next three rounds. If all goes as planned, the last chemo will be the week of April 12th. So I just keep telling myself - January, February, March, and a little bit of April.  We are praying the chemo does what it is supposed to do and kills any small bits of cancer that might have "escaped" from her leg. The chemo this week is the one she has to clear before going home so we pray her body clears it quickly and we are home on Friday to enjoy the weekend. I'm also praying we can get started quickly on Tuesday. The last few times we have been delayed getting started, which then delayed our discharge later in the week. I'm not sure exactly what is happening or why, but now that it's happened several times, I will definitely be bugging the nurses to stay on time. 

We are so loved, and we feel just overwhelmed by the kindness so many of you have extended to our family. Thank you so much for everything. We extended the meal signup to cover us the next few months. It is so helpful as we travel back and forth to the hospital, and it sets my mind at ease that Ben is eating well. Madeline will not eat anything on the hospital menu, so most days we pack up something from home and bring it to her for lunch and dinner. We are so tired of the fast food in that area and the hospital cafeteria is under construction so we have very limited options. If you need the sign up link, just let me know.  

Happy 2016 to you all! Thank you so much for being a blessing to our family and for all of the prayers being said for Madeline. Please stay on this journey with us a little while longer. I truly believe this is the year Madeline beats cancer!! Love you all!!