First I would like to tell you thank you for all of the response I received from the last post about the comments that were made.  I was overwhelmed with the love and support I received and I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart.  You made my heart feel so much better and I appreciate the support so much.  Also, thank you to every person that sent Addi a Valentine’s card.  She had so much fun opening them.  I was so upset because she was not in preschool and wouldn’t be getting Valentine’s like all the other kids and oh how you changed that for her.  She received hundreds and loved each and every one of them!  You made this LaLa’s heart happy and I know Addi’s too!

Now on to why you come here….Addi!  Addi is feeling great and had a wonderful weekend.  She has enjoyed some time with her grandparents….Memaw and Pop.  She loves and adores them as much as they do her.  I wish everyone could witness how she reacts when seeing my mom.  They both scream and run to each other like they haven’t seen each other in months.  I will have to video it next time.  It is absolutely the sweetest thing ever!!!  Right now she is just a happy, active little 2 year old getting into everything and entertaining us all.  She is the center of attention and she knows it and sucks it up.  It is the cutest thing….when she isn’t getting enough attention, she will do something cute that we love so she gets the attention she wants.  Sometimes she will fake sneeze, call us a silly baboon or ask…is your hiney clean? (my personal favorite from the Charmin commercial with the little bear that her and WaWa started!!).  I LOVE these weeks.  They are rare but oh how we cherish them.  You would never know she was sick….if you didn’t know!

Someone messaged me and asked me if I thought Addi understood how sick she was.  I don’t think she truly understands everything that is going on.  We NEVER tell her she is sick.  I do not want to speak that over her and I don’t want her (when she does understand it all) to have a mindset that she is sick.  She has just adapted to this new life and it is normal to her.  When we go to the hospital she pretty much knows what is going to happen.  Where she used to scream when the nurses came near her, now she helps them clean her tubies or listen to her heart….most of the time anyway.  She has accepted this is her “new normal” life.  Unfortunately cancer kids just think this is how life is and adapt to it.  It is sad in so many ways and a blessing in so many ways.  Addi is SO resilient and may be down for a while but she just bounces back.  It is truly amazing to know she has so many people praying for her and helping her get through this time.  If you have never experienced Scottish Rite (yay! I hope you don’t have to) it is a wonderful hospital.  They cater to these kids with games, toys, events, etc and have wonderful people working that truly care for kids.  That is what makes the difference and I can say hands down some of the best nurses I have ever seen.  And for those that follow and I know there are a few……We LOVE our Aflac nurses!!!!

I have been busy getting us ready for a long, hard week in the hospital.  It takes a good bit of preparation.  Washing clothes, packing suitcases, making sure we have toys packed to entertain her, grocery shopping for home and food to take to the hospital and much more!  You can only eat cafeteria food so much until you are sick of it so this time I am taking some of Addi’s favorites to fix in the kitchen.  There is a refrigerator, microwave and convection oven so we are going to utilize them this time.  She is very picky at what she eats when at the hospital so I want to make sure she has food she likes.  We have used UberEats to order in food and I will tell you it is a lifesaver to get good food after being there a few days.  There are days that the Ronald McDonald house has someone like Cure bring in food and it is heavenly.  You just don’t realize how much a good meal means to you until you don’t have one!

Next week is going to be another rough week.  Immunotherapy and chemo combined all week.  I am praying that it will not be as rough on her this time as it was the last time.  After this round of Immunotherapy and chemo she will have another scan on March 7.  PLEASE be in prayer that the cancer has responded and shrunk the cancer enough to begin stem cell transplant.  I believe that this is going to work and we will be back on the right path of her treatment plan.  These little detours are discouraging and scary but God is in complete control and we are trusting Him with Addi’s life.  If, no when this works, I will assume she will begin transplant the second or third week in March.  If not, she will be admitted either March 11 or 18 for MIBG radiation.  The doctor said they do not want to wait too long in between treatments and give the cancer time to grow or spread.  NO!  We can’t let that happen.  She has the BEST doctors and nurse practitioners!  I have to mention her Nurse Practitioner that sees her every time we are in the hospital because she is so amazing.  Addi trusts her and she is so patient with Addi (and me!).  She answers all of my MANY questions and explains to me in a way I can understand.  We love you Melissa and so grateful that you take such amazing care of Addi!  Her team of doctors know her and are taking amazing care of her.  I am very confident in their decisions for Addi and know they want her to beat this as much as we do.

Keep our girl in your prayers this week.  I will try and update daily but please be patient with me.  The days are long and rough at times so I promise I will update before the end of each day.  Thank you for following Addi’s Journey and praying for her and our family.  We feel blessed to have each of you along with us on this journey to hearing the words….CANCER FREE!!

Another t-shirt campaign started.  It will end on 2/22 and shirts will ship on 3/4.
https://www.bonfire.com/store/addis-journey/