October 15, 2021

Lord willing, Lucy will be discharged today! First she has a lumbar puncture in the morning. Please be praying that goes well and that her attitude is good when she wakes up.

Most of this week has been pretty good. Lucy has been feeling pretty well and had a pretty good attitude most of the time. It's been such a blessing. We've been able to do some crafts, read some cards from people, watch movies and walk around the unit.

There are some times, though, that either the anxiety or the steroids she is taking get the best of her. The steroids make her feel out of control and even when she tries to fight it she doesn't always win. It breaks our hearts to see her struggling so much. There isn't any medicine that can counteract the behavior effects from the steroids. Please pray for our dear girl as she fights through this. And pray for wisdom for us as we try to guide her.

Also, please be praying for her eating. She is doing ok, but the doctors really want her to start gaining weight. For a girl who has always been very thin by nature, that is a tall order indeed. Pray for us to know how much to push and when to relax about it.

Lord willing, we will try to make a short trip to Flagstaff between doctors appointments this coming week. It will only be a couple days, but we are excited about it. Please pray for Lucy's protection as her immune system will once again be very low.

Thank you so much for all your love and support! We have the very best community a person could imagine!

Prayer needs:

- For Lucy's reaction to the meds and steroids to be minimal

- For strength and faith for her to control her anxiety and attitude

- For us to have wisdom and strength to parent her well

- For Lucy to eat well

- For her protection as she once again braves the outside world with no immune system

- For patience and compassion from all of her cousins and us adults as she fights through the ups and downs of coming off chemo

- For peace over the daily shots I will have to be giving her again

- For safety and a good trip as we (hopefully) travel back to Flagstaff

- For the coordination of all the doctor appointments and PET scans and blood draws to work out

- For us to be witnesses and honor God through this well!

Something fun:

A friend mentioned that she named her IV pole "the octopus" when she was in the hospital as a kid. So Lucy decided to name her IV pole after the evil octopus in the "Penguins of Madagascar": Dave. So now we take Dave for walks and we fuss at Dave when he gets stuck. I really wish we could paint him blue. Do you think they would notice?