Rumble in the Jungle

Wow! Reading yesterday's thankful comments gave me goosebumps. It's so good to take just a moment, isn't it? A moment to think about blessings. And though some of you may be thankful for the blog, I'm thankful for you reading it! Your participation with this site makes you all tremendously important to Kyrie.

A couple of weeks ago, Uncle Chad and I read a little story for Kyrie featuring Chad's amazing talent to sound like barnyard animals. I'm so lucky. Today, we're happy to invite you to listen to another story: Rumble in the Jungle by Giles Andreae and illustrated by David Wojtowycz.

p.s. No Muhammad Ali impersonations on this one. Sorry to disappoint. ;)

p.p.s. Let's pray this Palm Sunday that God, indeed, has Kyrie in the palms of His hands, especially in light of her MRI Monday.

Thankful Thursdays

Even with a topsy-turvy Wednesday, our girl was feeling a bit better yesterday. She even ate better, which unfortunately means that she had a stomach full of food this morning when she got sick.

Kyrie was even a little bit more ornery, too. She pulled the tissues out of an entire box of Kleenex, one by one! I've always wanted to do that.


And Lacie says that the sedation makes Kyrie silly. Yesterday, Kyrie laughed and grabbed her Hickman line, looked at Lacie, smiled and said, "No, no ..."

Jordan and Lacie's fridge is bursting with medications, IV packs, syringes and the like. Her new anti-nausea medication, Metoclopramide, must be mixed with saline and given to her over the course of 10-15 minutes through Hickman line three times a day. She still recieves her other anti-nausea med, Kitryl, two times a day every 12 hours. And she also gets her IV food that has to be mixed and put into an IV bag, then administered through her line for eight hours day for the next week. A lot of important work for our little family.

Lately, I've been thinking about blessings and gratitude. So many people have said that Kyrie's situation has made them appreciate their lives, their children more. Very glad for that, but it's a shame that it takes a threat to make us count our blessings. It's in the same realm as when we pray our best only in times of need. And it's easy to count the big blessings: health, home, friends, family, finances, but what about the itty bitty ones? What about the ones that are so small that you don't even notice them? Are they not blessings, too?

So I thought maybe on Thursdays, we could all reflect on the past week and find something miniscule, something you might have overlooked for years, something that brings a measure of goodness or ease or personal growth. It may not be big, it may not be perfect, but nevertheless you are grateful that it's in your life.

Today, I thank God for Kleenex.

What about you?

Rescheduled

So somehow, some way, something wasn't scheduled correctly at the hospital for Kyrie's MRI this morning. Her scan has now been rescheduled for Monday, which is frustrating just because of the extra hassle and extra sedation, but hey, it gives us five more days to pray really, really, really hard.

Despite the scan snafu, Kyrie did undergo her "hearing" test this morning. Her hearing is completely gone in her left ear. All of it. And according to the audiologist, it won't be coming back. The hearing in her right ear is a little worse than her test showed nearly two months ago. Jordan said that this is a result of the chemo. The little, tiny hairs in your ears help pick up mechanical vibrations of sound waves, which then cause cells to produce brief electrical signals that are sent to the brain as a wad of acoustic information. Chemo makes you lose even those little, important hairs. Even if they stopped chemo, it's unclear if the hairs would grow back and if her hearing in that ear would improve.

Kyrie will be getting some different anti-nausea meds today. She has been sick many times during each of the past few nights and vomited in the hospital this morning, too. They've also started the IV nutrition, so that should help keep her nourished while her body fights the cancer.

We knew two months ago that this would be a very tough battle, and I think we've just arrived at the trenches. Let's dig in, buck up and bolster Kyrie, Lacie & Jordan with an armory of heavy artillery prayers and support.

At 8:30 a.m. tomorrow

our girl goes in for her big MRI. I know it's asking more of you than I can possibly reciprocate, but please remember her in your prayers before bed this evening, in your prayers when you can't sleep and in your prayers as you begin your tomorrow.

One tiny child. One almighty God.

Psalms 62:7
My salvation and my honor depend on God; He is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Tuesday News

Good news: Kyrie's blood counts are up again, which means that the Neupogen injections that Jordan gives her are working. However, it looks like we'll have to start another intravenous routine. Kyrie has always been and continues to be in the 90th percentile for her height compared to other kids, but due to the vomiting and appetite loss, she's losing too much weight. Her doctor is starting her IV food today. Pharma-Care will be bringing out a pump and a week's supply of the liquid supplements. The doctor told Jordan and Lacie that it looks like milk and is packed with proteins, fat, sugars and calories.

The chemo's side effects continue; Kyrie is still gagging without warning. Yesterday, Jordan and Lacie received more Kytril to help calm her gag reflex and hopefully lessen the vomitting. They had to wash That twice last night after she had been sick on it. Gotta love a friend like That.

And ... since Kyrie chooses to go from room to room, she now has TWO dogs set up! Check out the new pup!


Sleeping on the new dog that has Farrah Fawcett hair.


Sleeping on Ol' Reliable. (The patch is her Hickman line.)

Gearing Up

Okay, team, we've got a big week. As you read in Lacie's letter, on Wednesday this week, Kyrie will be going in for her MRI scan to check the growth or rather the reduction of the tumor in her brain. We've got two full days to send truckloads of prayers, thoughts, wishes and hopes upward to help her (and the rest of us) go onward. This will be the first scan since starting the chemo, so we'll be able to tell if her chemo is pummeling the tumor or not. And since the neurosurgeon was unable to get 100% of the tumor during her surgery, we're really counting on the chemo to tow the line.

It was a cranky weekend for Kyrie and her nausea. Good news is that she learned a new word: "room!" However now she'll say "room" and Jordan and Lacie have to take her and Dog and That and whatever else is at hand to another room. Lacie says that being upright as Kyrie is carried from room to room may help her when she feels like she's going to be sick. Kyrie is going to the doctor this morning to check her counts.

Your prayers have brought us this far. Let's keep going!

Thank You for Being With Us This Week.

A big round of applause to all those who bravely commented for the roll call! It's so nice to hear from you, the prayer warriors in the field. I have a hunch, though, that we have more than 15 people who check in regularly. ;)

*A footnote to yesterday's post: Some of you asked about Kyrie going to the mall. Don't panic. The quick trip was sanctioned by her doctor as a way to boost Kyrie's morale. He told Lacie & Jordan that she doesn't have to live in a bubble. Do something she knows as normal. Don't go during a peak shopper time. Don't stay very long. Don't touch much. Go while her counts are high. Stay away from crowds. And you know ... that day started her string of better days. Guess retail therapy really does work!

Speaking of her counts, as of yesterday, we've hit a new low. Kyrie's white blood cell count on Friday was 40,000. The results from her blood work on Monday say that it's now .5. She's still feeling okay, but for the next few days to a week, no visitors. Jordan and Lacie are still giving Kyrie the Neupogen injections to stimulate the production of white blood cells. She received her vincristine chemo yesterday at her oncologist's office. Only threw up once last night and slept for nearly five hours straight. Very good for our little trooper. And ... last night was the first night that she wanted to sleep in her room. Excellent! So that's where she and Mommy slept with her books, her toys, her dog and her 'toons.