Prayers for Audrey

Our prayer over the last two days was answered. Audrey's platelets are on the rise and nearly doubled. We are thankful for this and relieved from  the fears low platelets can bring. With that said, we have faith even in the midst of our fears and anxiety. Audrey will have chemotherapy again this Monday. Thank you to all of the people who donate blood and platelets. It is truly life saving. Holding onto this verse from the book of Psalms 20  We wait in hope for the  Lord ;      he is our help and our sheild Psalm 33:20 We can hold onto God's truth through this journey. God is good.

This morning Audrey had lab work done close to home. Her labs overall looked good with the exception of her platelets. Her levels had dropped significantly from the last time she received chemo and had labs done. Low platelets are to be expected and a side effect of this type of chemotherapy she is receiving. Audrey went down to Children's this afternoon to have a platelet transfusion. With Audrey's history, low platelets and bloody noses are not a good combination. We were thankful Audrey could have the platelet transfusion quickly to hopefully remedy any potential threatening bleeds that might occur. She does very well with everything, her biggest concern was getting her snack bag packed for the trip down and back. Next steps are to have labs done again on Wednesday. Our prayer is that her platelets will have gone up. In the event that they have not, we will pursue another platelet transfusion. Again, we have much to be thankful for. Of course we are always thankful that we h...

Audrey was able to complete her proton radiation simulation this morning without anesthesia! This is a huge praise and answered prayer! Thank you to all of you who prayed with us and for us this morning. Andrew and Audrey are on their way home and should be home by dinner. With that said, it looks like the radiation oncologist would like treatment to start January 17th. We have been in contact with a local realtor, so we will likely pursue a rental property during that time.  Audrey will have another MRI in the coming weeks before her radiation treatment begins. There are many unknowns and really we can let our minds spiral out of control with everything, but God's truth tells us differently. Do not be anxious. We continue to lean in on our faith in Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who is preparing a place for all who know Him. He will change your life for the better. He will be your peace. Revelation 21:4-5  4‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ o...

Audrey finished up another round of chemo yesterday. She tolerated everything well, but has said her belly hurts. She is still eating and drinking well, so we are thankful for that. She has  the next Monday off! Audrey has her proton radiation consult this Thursday down in Cincinnati. This will be a day trip down to get everything started. We are still unsure of when her radiation treatment will start. Audrey is very excited for her Christmas party today at school. We are thankful she is able to be a part of that :) Thankful for many things. Most of all we are thankful for Jesus. 

Audrey had another follow up ENT appointment this morning. Her doctor said everything looks good and is continuing to heal. He will continue to monitor in the coming months to make sure everything is heading in the right direction. There is a small space on her palate that is continuing to heal up. We are thankful for Audrey's recovery, which is a huge praise. As for radiation, we are going to pursue that route. We will know more in the coming weeks, but it looks like the sooner we do it, the better. With that said, as stated previously, proton radiation will likely occur towards the end of January down at Cincinnati Children's. Audrey is finishing up another week at school! We were able to see the Christmas lights at Kingwood this week, which is an annual family tradition for us, always fun. Audrey will have another round of chemo this Monday, December 20th and then will be off the following Monday. Thank you again for praying. Audrey is a superstar and we are than...

Audrey started today at school and then headed down to NCH for chemo. We are thankful Audrey is now home and sleeping peacefully. Today we had a brief discussion with Cincinnati Children's hospital and Audrey's oncologist to determine what radiation would look like and potentially when and how long. Audrey's medical team is in favor for proton radiation and it looks like they would like things to begin late January 2022 and would finish up some time late February. This would require we temporarily "move" to the Cincinnati area. We  haven't made an official decision yet. We are asking that you join us in praying over this. We have been advised that radiation would be highly favored to gain local control of the localized cancer cells and could potentially kill them. We have also been told the odds are not in our favor since Audrey's cancer relapsed, but only God truly knows Audrey. We just hold onto each day with her and make decisions as they come praying t...

After a verbal discussion with Audrey's oncologist this afternoon, we came to a determination that Audrey will begin chemotherapy this Monday, December, 13th. This particular type of chemo is an outpatient infusion. With that said, based on Audrey's pathology report and MRI results, Nationwide Children's hospital, Cincinnati children's and OSU all agreed that proton radiation therapy is recommended. They came to this determination because the reoccurring cancer is localized and in the same location where her previous cancer started. Therefore, the goal is to again make an attempt to kill the bad cells. We have not yet had a conversation with Cincinnati children's, but will likely begin talking about radiation and what that might look like if we decide to go that route. We of course need to pray about it, as these things all have negative side effects and are not decisions that come with ease. Audrey has another ENT follow-up appointment on December 16th ...

Audrey is doing very well and is going on her second week back to school. She is absolutely loving it and enjoys talking about her friends, singing songs from the school day and reciting letter sounds. This past weekend, Audrey and two of her siblings were able to spend time with the grandparents, which Audrey has been asking to do for quite some time. We were thankful her health was at point that allowed her to do that. At this time we have decided to pursue chemotherapy, which will likely begin in the coming weeks. This treatment will be outpatient and will be on Mondays, 2 weeks on, 1 week off. This type of chemotherapy will still compromise her immune system, so we will likely have to get lab work weekly and be cautious. Trying not to get ahead of ourselves. Audrey's oncologist is currently having conversations with the radiology team to see if and what type of radiation treatment to consider. We haven't made any official decisions on that yet. Everyday we thank...