HOME IS THE BEST MEDICINE
I am a little behind on the blog and for that I am sorry. It has been one week being HOME and Addi is doing better than ever. She still has a lot of healing to do but it is amazing what being home will do for you! It’s really great seeing her smiling, playing and eating. She has played with every toy in the house, eating everything in sight and smiling and happy like our precious girl! To say home was the best medicine for her would be an understatement! She is standing and trying to walk. (her therapists would be PROUD!) Walking has been harder and she’s needing assistance but a few more weeks and she will be running. Her little legs are so thin and weak but the way she’s eating, they won’t be for long.
As we left the hospital last Friday, I broke down in tears and wept for about 15 minutes. They were not tears of sadness but tears of complete thankfulness. Just 4 weeks ago I sat in the ICU and a couple of times it went through my mind that I may be planning Addi’s funeral. I can’t thank God enough for saving her life. God is so good and our miracle girl has once again fought and God has saved her. If you don’t believe in miracles…..look at this precious face and BELIEVE! If you don’t believe in God….look at this sweet face and know He is REAL! She still has more to overcome but God will see her through!
I wanted to address something that continues to be a topic people are addressing because I just can’t answer every message. Addi is cancer free praise God! We rejoice in this and know that it is a miracle especially since she had not responded to some of the chemo she was given in the beginning. Addi is cancer free because of the grace of God and the knowledge from medical professionals that have researched and have proven methods to cure this beast called Neuroblastoma! In order to KEEP Addi cancer free and to fight the chance of reoccurrence, we must continue on the PROVEN course of treatment that her doctors and the experts have seen work and pray that God will continue to heal and have mercy on her with minimal side effects. We have prayed more about this than anything and know that we can’t CHANCE Addi’s life by not giving her any further treatment or give her natural supplements that may or may not work. We do not want to see her suffer but we DO want her to live and the proven treatment plan is her best chance at life. So many people have their opinions about her treatment but I respectfully ask that you trust us with how we choose to treat this cancer for this precious baby we love! Did you know that the-5-year survival rate is around 40% to 50% in children with stage 4 Neuroblastoma? Did you know she has a 60-80% chance of reoccurrence? Yeah….that’s why we aren’t taking ANY chances with anything that’s not proven to work!
Miss Addi had a wonderful visit with her oncology team on Wednesday. They were amazed at how well she looked and how well she’s doing. Everything checked out good except her platelets so she had a transfusion before we left. We discussed her treatment plan going forward and right now it looks like it will be radiation and then more chemo because her body is just not strong enough right now for much more than that. We will have to wait until she’s stronger to even begin this but hopefully in a few weeks the drain will come out and she will be ready for radiation. So ready to get that over with. She will have scans every 3 months to ensure she does not have a reoccurrence. If a reoccurrence happens then we will have to talk about stronger more aggressive treatment. Please pray that NO reoccurrence happens. I have all faith that God has healed her but I also know that God has given the medical professionals the knowledge they need to KEEP Addi cancer free……So we will follow the plan (PROVEN plan) the doctors have given us and trust God with Addi’s life.
She had her first follow up appointment Thursday with her Hepatologist and he was very pleased with her progress. She had an ultrasound as well and it showed very little fluid in her stomach which is great news! I think he was expecting her to be back in the hospital but obviously he doesn’t know Addi. She’s a tough little girl with thousands of prayer warriors praying her through this. He hopes the PleurX stomach drain can come out in a few weeks which I’m excited about. She HATES for me to drain her stomach and it causes some pain toward the end of the draining because of the suction. She starts screaming before it even starts because she knows it’s coming.
God is so good and we are so extremely thankful for this first week at home . When I sit back and think about how this could have turned out, it makes me very grateful even on the hard days. I’ve learned that even in the midst of a storm there is always something to be thankful for. Find JOY in the waiting and KNOW that God is there with you in the storm and will never leave or forsake you. I thank God that I got to bring my sweet Addi home because their are many families that will not. Please pray for the families of these cancer kids and for the kids who are fighting. Hold these families and warriors close to your heart and in your prayers. They truly need it!
Continue to pray for sweet Addi and that she will continue to get stronger with NO setbacks. We’ve had enough of those to last a lifetime. Have a great weekend and don’t forget to make lots of memories with your kiddos!
