HUGE MAJOR AMAZING PRAISE!!!!!

This morning, just a few minutes ago, I gave Gabriel his very last chemo!!!!!

END OF TREATMENT is ON!!! Praise an amazing Lord!

God is Good ALL the time!

Exciting Week for Gabriel

This week, Gabriel had his last IV chemotherapy treatment. He had his mediport taken out last month, so this time they had to do the blood draw, and chemo administration into his arm. It was the first time he's had an arm poke since he was first diagnosed in the hospital. That was a nightmare. I am so thankful we're past it. Later in the week, he'll be done with chemo altogether!! PTL! Gabey's been in treatment for more than 3 years. It is a little nerve wracking though, because we won't have the umbrella of protection that the chemo gave. He will be getting his blood counts checked every month after this, to make sure the Leukemia isn't coming back.

a little catchup

HAHA, here is Smokey in his Christmas Outfit. :):)

My butterflies survived for such a long time. I still have one left, his new name is Methuselah.

We just had a mini tree this year. I was looking for minimal stress.

Here's Giddy putting the stockings on his arms.

Gabey on his favorite rock at school.

Has anyone seen the movie Parenthood? (i wouldn't recommend it now, but there was a little boy in it who put a pail on his head and was banging it into the wall.) that's my giddy.

Gabey and Daddy setting up Gabey's new DSI that he got as a Christmas present from the Cleveland Clinic.

all prepped and ready for his quarterly LP and MTX treatment in the OR.

Christmas craft

Giddy did great with the crafts. We gave them as presents from them.

Giddy in his Christmas sleeper!

This is the present Gabey gave me, he's such a sweetie.

Such Low Counts

We need prayer this next few weeks. We went to Gabey's monthly appointment, and his counts came back severely neutropenic... 360. It was a real shock, and my stomach has just been in a knot, every time I think about it. The past few months they kept upping the doses, and a few weeks ago, he got sick, and I'm sure that was a big factor. We've been to the mall this week, he even was digging in the back yard when the weather was nice a week ago. Eek. I just have to thank God, and pray that He continues to protect Gabey.
He's going to go off chemo for 2 weeks, and go in for an appointment to check how he's doing. He'll probably be fine by then. Soo, we have to remember to be strict again for a while, so we can keep him from catching anything. I'm so glad he's energetic, and feeling just fine. You'd never know anything's wrong.
Pray that his body will build back up, and that he won't get any fevers, or catch anything. What a time for it, viruses going around like crazy.

if u would like to help

We used so many credit cards, and stuff for last year, being with Gabey in the hospital, and medicine and stuff. Those haven't been kind.

Also, the medical bills from Fairview and Cleveland Clinic have just kept building, and a lot of them are in collections now.I know I haven't asked recently, but if anyone wants to donate to our paypal... at the donation button on the side of Gabey's blog....
http://gabey-leukemia.blogspot.com/
we would be so grateful.

God is good, and we will plug away.

Going to Consolidate

If I can do it, I'm going to try to consolidate my blogs. I want to paste the posts here, and close them out.


I'm going to try to move them chronologically, so the posts go in the date they were posted. Wish me luck.

It's been a While

I've missed you. I haven't been able to blog for a while.
A lot has been going on. i'm going to paste a few exerpts from my message board www.super-babies.com for you....


1/25
i've had this pain for too long, and i've talked myself out of getting it checked too many times.i'll let you know how it goes on monday, and if they find anything out.it's not just muscle pain, it's more than that, and it's just got me worried.the sides of my stomach are tender to the touch, and the whole area around my lower back, and hips just hurt all the time.


1/28
went in to the ER on saturday night, and got all the tests done, the urine, blood, and CAT scan. they all came back ok, but i might have a UTI, they found white blood cells in my urine. i'm still going to the dr. today.

it was a really bad night, i had the worst tension headache, and wanted to puke all night. i had to drink all that contrast for the Cat scan, and it tasted like bile. they had the hardest time getting my vein for the IV, and they poked i think 7 times- and blew out 4 of the veins. it was horrible. i got through the CAT scan and THEN puked. i was so glad i was able to keep the stuff in til after.
i got home around midnight, and just went to bed, i didn't even have the energy to take any meds until 3am, so i had the headache until then.

i was so relieved that they didn't find anything in the CAT, i was getting myself so worried that it was my appendix or cancer or something. so, now i can go to the dr. and get more info.

these are the bruises from some of the IV attempts. These are from the veins that blew out. They were pretty swollen, but they're healing nicely, even though they look horrible.



1/28
i went in today, and my OB dr. did a pelvic exam, and we talked. my reproductive organs are in great shape, so that isn't it.

i'm so thankful!

but... that means that my questions aren't really answered. he said i might want to go to a GI dr. to get checked out.

1/28
i decided to call my family doctor when we get our taxes this week, and try to get in right away. then she can refer me to a GI dr. that she recommends.

it's pretty bad, i'm all bloated and gassy all the time, and my whole middle section just hurts.

you would have been proud of me though, i actually drew pictures, and brought them with me, when I went to the ER, and my OB. my family doctor is a sweetie, and she'll work with me, i'd rather see her than a dr i don't know. then she can order the tests and refer me etc.
i'll let you know later this week what's going on.
i have a feeling it's something with my intestines.

2/4
gabey's sick. he's got a sinus thing going on, and yesterday he had a fever, so we had to take him into the doctor's....

praise the Lord, his counts were high enough that he didn't have to be admitted. it's the rule for fevers that if their counts are below 1000, they get admitted for 2 days automatically. phew, his counts were wonderful. so they just gave him an antibiotic, and we were able to go home. they did a culture with his blood, and will let us know if we need to bring him in again for a different antibiotic.

he is just really under the weather poor thing. draining and runny nose like crazy (clear though, thankfully) and he's coughing from all the draining. his lymph nodes are swollen, and he's got fluid in his ears.
i've been giving him benedryl, and tylonol, and he has been sleeping really well. we have the humidifier fish tank next to him here in the living room, and we have him sleeping in our chez, so he can be elevated.

Here is gabey with his new fish tank humidifier.


2/3
i felt like the yellow car toddler bed was getting too small for gabey, and i've been on the lookout for a twin carbed. the step 2 ones are about 300.00, and the little tykes are almost that much, i think.
both are selling on ebay for over 100.00-200.00

i found one on craigslist for....

$50.00!!!

i'm about to upload pics.
I found it on saturday night, and emailed them right away,and we picked it up yesterday! i didn't want it to slip out of our hands, it was too good to pass up.

we need a twin mattress, but i just put comforters and pillows around the toddler mattress for now.
He adores it!


i don't know what brand it is, but it's nice and sturdy, and looks so nice.

i didn't ask, but it came from a smokey home, but that smell will wear off easily, it's mostly plastic anyway.

Party was on the News

Mother Holds Annual Christmas Party for Sick Children in Honor of Late Son

cleveland clinic christmas party
Cleveland, OH - Every year a remarkable woman puts on a big bash at the Cleveland Clinic for sick children - in honor of her son who died from cancer at the age of four.19 Action News Anchor Catherine Bosley has details.
You'll need a version of Windows Media Player 7 or higher to view the video. If you need to download it, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/mediaplayer/en/default.asp. The video player is supported by Microsoft IE 5.0 and above.

Christmas at the Cleveland Clinic

This was so nice of the cool people at the Cleveland Clinic to put together this party for the kids. The place was packed, and all the children looked so happy, and excited. They were getting amazing presents, and seeing their friends, the nurses and doctors. I wasn't there with Gabey when he sat on Santa's lap, so I didn't get to take a picture, wah. He had a good time, and just played with his toys, and with Daddy. I had a field day, running around, giving presents to Gabey's doctors and nurses. I gave some of my photography. I forgot a few people, so I'm going to try to bring in some more for them when we go for our appointment on Thursday.

Pictures from our visit with Uncle Jim and Aunt Jeannette

We had such a great weekend with my Uncle and Aunt. They are such wonderful people and we always have such a nice time when we see them. Jeff was all ready to move to Texas when we visited last. LOL.

Gabey's counts were high enough that we just had a fantastic time without worrying about him getting sick.

We met at the Hotel, and hung out with the whole family, and then we went to dinner at the Boneyard. Gabey got really tired, and Jeff took him home, so Chrissy brought me home.

Uncle Jim and Aunt Jeannette went with Jeff to sunday school to watch Andrew get baptized, and then stopped over here. Aunt Pat came over, and we all got to visit.









This is a photo of Gabey doing a craft on his new Cars tray.


Here is a picture of Gabey and Daddy with their hair buzzed. Gabey is losing his hair, and it's easier with it so short, it's not making such a mess. His head is so smooth.

Counting Days

We're counting the days....
for Gabey's "Delayed Intensification" to be over, and....
for Gideon to make his appearance.

We have about a month for each.

I can't do the blog like I want, because I'm pretty uncomfortable at the computer, and can only sit here for a few minutes without getting pain in my left leg. :(
I miss my computer, and I miss my computer friends.

My Dad's Wonderful Donation

My dad has had a braid down his back for years, and yesterday, he pulled it into a braid, and had my stepmommy cut it all off, so he could donate it to Locks of Love!!!
I tear up just writing this! I'm so proud of him! He was praying so hard for Gabey, and told God that he would do this, and the next day was when we got the results that Gabey's leukemia cells were now less than 1%.
He believes with all his heart that it was God's way of telling him that He was pleased with Daddy's decision.


This is a collage he made up after he cut his hair.

Go See my other BLOG!

I posted amazing news this morning about Gabey's test results from Thursday!! Go check it out! (hee hee, i'm keeping you in suspence.)


This is Gabey eating Cheetos. He says "Wowweee" after just about every cheeto!



Here are some cute Gabey baby sweetie feet!!

Link to Gabey's Blog page

I really want to keep this blog as my main blog about all the happy times we have as a family, so I decided to make another blog to keep everyone updated on Gabey's Leukemia.

http://gabey-leukemia.blogspot.com/

This blog will contain our medical updates on how Gabey's treatment is going, and also prayer requests, and needs that we have. Thanks so much everyone.

shock

i guess there's no way to go about this blog gently, and those of you reading the news for the first time will be as shocked as we were.

last week we went to the urgicare with gabey, thinking he might be dehydrated. we mentioned some pain he had in his leg, and they took some blood tests, just in case of infection. they found some abnormalities, and sent us over to cleveland clinic hospital.
after some more tests, we've learned that our sweetie has leukemia.

it's been a very long emotional week. we're just clinging to the Lord right now to get us through. He has shown us that He is near, and has answered many prayers as we've gone along.
we've been in the hospital since last monday, and were just released last night. it's good to be home. we're pretty drained.

i still want to keep this blog about the happy times we have as a family, so I'm going to make a new blog to keep you updated with prayer requests, and needs, and news as his treatment goes on. it's a 2 1/2 year treatment, and praise the Lord, the type of leukemia he has is the most common and best treatable. it has a 90% cure rate.