A Quick Update - Day 656

From Ellie and Timmy's Momma...

We want to thank everyone who has helped out or offered to help this week.  I wanted to give a quick update on how things have gone this week.  On Monday we were initially told by the oncology department that they didn't think we really needed the referral to GI, but I wasn't really willing to take no for an answer and thankfully we were able to get Ellie an ultrasound on Tuesday morning and we met with the GI docs on Tuesday afternoon.  Basically, based on her past two weeks of x-rays from the ER and the ultrasound their theory is that her throwing up and stomach pain was due to the large amount of stool that was backed up in her intestine.  She had been having bowel movements but not enough to get things going.  So thankfully, by the end of our appointment Tuesday we had a plan - we needed to clear out her system using very strong laxatives and hope and pray she didn't continue to throw up.  We are now two full days into the plan and so far so good.  That's not to say she hasn't had some hard times due to the cramping with everything going out, but we are hopeful everything is going in the right direction.  And the best part is we have seen glimpses of our old El-Belle back in action.  She is playing with Timmy again for large portions of the day and last night she and Timmy, who have these low bunk beds, sat and talked up a storm for 45 minutes before finally falling asleep.  Normally, we don't let these conversations carry on, but it had been so long since we had heard them carry on after bedtime that we just couldn't break it up. 

She did go in for her weekly labs and chemo today.  Her counts have fallen quite a lot, especially considering she was coming off of a steroid pulse which usually raises her counts, but she was cleared to get chemo today and we are going to hope things are higher again next week.  When I asked, what they thought about the drop in labs the response was "well it's probably a virus." I really had to bite my tongue to not say something back to that line, which we've been fed for the last 4 weeks regarding her other problems!  Assuming she has a good night tonight, she will go back to school tomorrow which both she and Timmy and very excited about.  

Because our life isn't hectic enough right now, Jeff who injured his foot about a month ago playing soccer, received a phone call last night from his podiatrist with the results of his CT scan saying that he needs to have surgery done on his foot.  It turns out he has 3 fractures in his foot, one larger one and 2 smaller ones in the navicular bone and the larger one goes into the joint.  So tomorrow (Friday) I will be taking him in for his surgery which they said needed to be done ASAP.  The hardest thing is that he will be required to be on crutches for 6 weeks.  So, if you all could please keep Jeff in your prayers tomorrow for a successful surgery and speedy recovery we would appreciate it.  

Finally, if you could all say a prayer for my Grandma Betty, her husband of 21 years, my step-Grandfather Denny passed away.  He was approaching his 100th birthday next month, so it wasn't unexpected but still very hard to lose a loved one.  

I will end with a picture from Timmy and Ellie's "dance performance" from a about a month ago before the craziness of the last month began...we know she will be back to dancing soon. 

Polly