Nash Family Blog

Life

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for.  First and foremost that Leah is beating cancer.  I am thankful that she is home and we were together as a family for the holiday.  Initially we thought we'd still be in the hospital at this time.  I am thankful for the days with no home health and no clinic where we can have a normal day (or at least what is considered normal these days).  I am thankful for each of my 4 beautiful children and the life that they bring to our home.  I am thankful for the healthy and early delivery of Aaron.  I am thankful for my amazing husband.  I am thankful for Debbie who has moved in with us for the last month.  Her help has been immeasurable.  I am thankful for all of our other family who have sat with the kids, brought food and prayed.  I am thankful for the meals from our church and the enormous support from the MOMS Club women.  But mostly I am thankful for the prayers that have been offered for Leah.  She is home today and doing well because God has heard and answered those prayers.  We have been truly blessed.

As for life around here....

Leah had a relatively easy day in clinic last Monday.  She will get another set of labs done today by home health and if her levels look ok then they will leave her alone until clinic on Monday.  There is a chance we may have to go to outpatient for plasma over the weekend, but we're praying that her levels have held and it won't be necessary.

Pray for Leah on Monday since that will mark the end of our Induction Phase.  She will undergo another bone marrow sample and spinal tap procedure.  We pray that there is no leukemia cells found.  After those results come back we'll be ready to proceed with the next phase of treatment.

Leah Isms:  (she's cracking us up)

*My food needs to be cool when I get it or I'm going to have a complete meltdown.

*Mae and Isaac can't come in my room because it is closed for the day.  Come back when it is open.

*And when asked at Thanksgiving dinner what she was thankful for her response was "the food!".  I think that was the steroids talking.

One Little Two Little Three Little Indians

The Best Day So Far

Today was Leah's best day so far.  She was upbeat, talking, and wanting to interact with us instead of sitting in a chair all day.  She even colored and did some home school today.  It felt like having my girl back.  I am extremely thankful for today.  Her Aunt Shawn had some hats made for her for when her hair falls out and here are pictures of her trying on 2 of them:

In other news:  We had snow so I sent Mae and Isaac out to play.  Mae loved it, Isaac I had to shove out the door and he wouldn't even step off the porch.  

We spent the day doing so many things.  We made Jonah Shakers, read books, colored and wrestled.  I spent the day enjoying my kids.  They are such blessings!

11/20

Leah is in a little better spirits today.  That may be in part to the money under her pillow this morning :-) .  She took a little power nap late morning and of course woke talking about food and what was for lunch and dinner.  She even felt like doing a little school work today.  We did about half a lesson before she just got too tired.  

Well it is lunch time so I'd better get in there before we have an upset little girl.  :-)

Funny Leah

We just asked Leah what she wants the tooth fairy to leave her.  Her response : "Maybe she will leave me a bucket of macaroni and cheese".  

Leah 11-19

It seems like time is just flying by and so much happens that if I don't post for a day or so then there is just so much to say.  I'll try to run down the highlights about Leah.

She had a long day on Monday at clinic but handled it with grace.  Everything went smoothly with her plasma transfusion and her bone marrow procedure.  Dr. D'Orazio called that evening to let us know that the pathologist saw no blast in her marrow and she is officially in remission!  Needless to say we are thrilled and we thank God for healing and protecting our little girl.  Thank you all for your prayers and support.  She had another visit from home health today for weekly labs.  

Leah lost her first tooth this morning (with a little help from mom).  I guess the tooth fairy will be making an appearance tonight.

Leah's appetite is just through the roof because of the steroids.  The challenge has been to get what she wants on the table in a timely manner and cool enough for her to eat.  If it is too hot, or not just right, then we have a very tearful and emotional girl to deal with.  She is also craving particular foods (right now cheese or anything with cheese) and repulsed by others (fruit and most sweets).  It is an adjustment for us all but we only have about 10 days of steroids left in the induction period and hopefully she can come off of them for awhile.  

Despite feeling bad for so long she continues to have a gentle spirit about her.  She is one of the joys of my life.  

Well everyone is down for naps - even maw-maw - so I am going to finish the lunch dishes and prop my feet up as well.

Long Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be a long day at the clinic.  Her labs came back today showing still low plasma levels as well as low blood.  In addition to having the bone marrow sample taken and the Vincristine administered she'll have plasma and probably blood transfusions.  The plasma takes 3 hours and the blood takes 4 hours to receive.  We'll be there all day.  Please keep her in prayer as she has a long and stressful day.

The Last Few Days in Photo

Long Night

Leah had her first set of labs done yesterday by the home health nurse.  She was a real trooper and handled it with such grace.  They ended up having to access her port twice for blood draws but she never complained (and even said it didn't hurt - of course we apply a numbing cream to the site before they stick her).  Anyway, her plasma count was low as well as her ANC level.  The ANC was at 210 (anything below 500 is high risk for infection).  At 5pm we got a call telling us to go in for a plasma transfusion. A VERY long story short: we got home at 12:30.  

Monday we'll be heading in for our first clinic visit.  She'll have her Vincristine (chemo) through her Charlie (what we call her port line) and she'll also have a bone marrow sample taken.  They'll give her a mild sedation for the bone marrow procedure which means she'll have to go without food for a little bit prior.  That is not easy when you are on steroids!  

But that is the rundown.  In general family news:  Leah's first tooth is about to come out.  Aaron slept 7 hours the other night without waking up!!! And it is chaotic life as usual around here.  It is a beautiful thing.

Goodnight to all.

The Things That Make Me Smile

The steroid that Leah is taking makes her extremely hungry - ALL THE TIME! :-)  This afternoon, just before I was going to start cooking dinner, I was trying to engage her in conversation.  No matter what I said or asked she responded with some comment about food.  She was cracking me up.  Then as I cooked dinner Isaac was hollering about something, Mae was singing a song she made up about Mermaids and Leah just kept saying "boy that smells good", "I sure am hungry", "I can't wait to eat", "It's going to be yummy".  I had to laugh.  These are the beautiful moments in our house.

Leah was actually in our bedroom at 6:10 this morning and said "mom, I'm ready for my eggs".  :-)