Encouraging news!

We received some very encouraging news this morning. The bone marrow sample taken Monday showed only .25% leukemia cells--a huge drop. Joella is definitely responding to chemotherapy. I'm not sure of her exact percentage of leukemia cells when she was first admitted, but it was at least over 25%. Her doctors are hopeful there will be no leukemia cells present by the end of this month. I had no idea the chemotherapy could be so effective so quickly, but it looks like the long-term treatment of leukemia is more about keeping the cancer cells away than continually killing them.

They have also identified the bacteria present in her blood culture--moraxella catarrhalis bacteria which is often present in the ears, nose and throat. Joella had an ear infection shortly before we ended up at Children's Mercy, so this bacteria could very well have come from her ear infection. The doctors keep telling us that Joella is her own worst enemy. With an extremely low ANC, the bacteria naturally present in her body can become a huge problem. It will take another day to determine a specific antibiotic to treat this bacteria, and then I will need to be trained on administering this IV antibiotic at home. This is a very overwhelming thought, but I keep telling myself that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (Phil. 4:13)

Joella has been fever-free since yesterday noon, so her nurses finally allowed her to leave the room. The first thing she asked for was, "Car!" We borrowed a ride-on car with a parent push bar from the playroom, and we made several laps around the floor, Joella beeping her horn continuously. We played for a while in the playroom, and Joella seems to have regained some strength. She was standing on her own at several play centers but still won't take any steps on her own.

During her time in the hospital, Joella has lost over two pounds. During chemotherapy, it's very important for her to maintain her weight, so now the focus has changed to "get as many calories as possible" without being overly concerned about the "quality" of the calories. This is a huge change in thinking for me, but Joella has been enjoying some foods she doesn't get very often at home. Whenever the cafeteria tray arrives, she says, "Pizza?"

Thankfully, the steroid she's taking increases her appetite. Last night I awoke at 1:30 a.m. to Joella pleasantly jabbering to herself. I got up and she said, "Mommy, guac!" "Seriously, Joella?! It's 1 a.m.!" We didn't have guacamole, but we did have chips. Chips sounded pretty good to me too, so we had a mommy-daughter middle-of-the-night snack fest. That was fun.

We have much to be thankful for. God is clearly at work through all of your prayers.