The doctors continue to be happy with Lucy's body's response to the chemo. She got her last lumbar puncture this morning for this round. She has finished most of the chemo drugs for this round as well. The next three days she will be tapering off the steroids.
Lord willing, if everything goes well, she will be discharged on Friday. We will have a ten day break to recover and then she will repeat this past week of chemo in the hospital. For the break we are planning to stay with my sister and then switch to Banner Desert Cardon's Children's hospital in Mesa. We might be able to come back to Flagstaff for a short visit after her next round of chemo, so possibly mid October.
Lucy has been struggling with an upset stomach from the chemo, but thankfully she has still been eating well for the most part. The steroids make her hungry, so the poor girl is faced with intense hunger, no appetite, and tummy pain all at once. She is persevering though. Emotionally things have been rocky at times, particularly because the steroids have a tendency to mess with her moods. We are praying for the wisdom and patience to guide her well through this.
Lucy got a hair cut yesterday to help with the transition to losing her hair. It was hard for her. But her hair cut is really cute. We've had to work through our identity being from God and in our heart and mind, not in our appearance. It's a good reminder for all of us.
Many moments are good and we have fun doing crafts, playing with Legos and watching movies. We got to have David visit for a few hours on Sunday. And today Josiah gets to come for a visit with my sister again. These visits are so encouraging for Lucy. She is learning to face the many difficult procedures with courage. I feel like she has needed to mature far beyond her seven years in the past 3 weeks.
With her immune system being nearly nonexistent right now, infection of any kind is a very real concern for our time at home. Our caution needs to be balanced with our consideration of her mental health. It's so important for her to feel normal as much as possible. Please pray for protection for her and for us to be wise.
All of the love and support we have received from our church family and extended community has not only been a huge support for us but a witness to the people we interact with in the hospital. John 13:35 says they will know we are His disciples by our love. May that be abundantly true in this case. Thank you for participating with us in this.
Prayer needs:
- For protection for Lucy's body during our upcoming break
- For encouragement for Lucy's heart during this break
- For JD to catch up on sleep
- For everything at the hospital the next few days to go smoothly.
- For our witness here with our wonderful medical team.
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