December 18th, 2011-ER, Clinic and stuff.

Sorry for the late post. This has been a long week!

Ella and Adorable Bunny

I caught a cold last week, which means Ella ended up catching a cold. I have been so worried about her catching something from school and when she does get sick, it's from me. Ahhhh!  Ella spiked a fever of 102.2 last Sunday, so off to the ER at Loyola she went with daddy. Her white counts came back good- which means she has the ability to fight the cold, so they gave her a heavy does of Antibiotics and let her come home.  I can't tell you how grateful I am that her counts were good! Josh saw me crying when Ella and Steve left for the hospital. He asked me if I was scared. I told him yes, because I never know what is going on inside her body, but I have to trust that God will keep her safe. That night he cried when he was praying for Ella before bed. He prayed for her to be healthy and for the cancer to go away. He really wanted to stay up until they got home from the hospital, but since we didn't know how long she was going to be, he fell asleep.
We went back to clinic the next day for a second round of antibiotics and since we were there, they also gave us her chemo 1 day early to save her from being accessed again and having to come back for another clinic visit.  She still isn't 100%, but she is definitely better.  Thank you to my Facebook friends for praying for Ella this past week! And Thank you to nurse Theresa who advocated for us to get chemo and not have to come back!

Ella missed school all week. She was pretty bummed that she had to miss the Christmas Party at school. When I told her she couldn't go, she said "momma, cancer is stinky!" I know baby, I know. I hate when she has to miss part of being a normal 5 year old because of cancer. It pisses me off! Then she acted out how she is kicking cancers butt. That part was endearing. I told her to kick it good, and she said "I am momma!".

Charles Tillman from the Chicago Bears has a foundation that supports terminally ill children. He came to Loyola to visit a few weeks ago and very generously donated backpacks filled with goodies, signed autographs and took pictures with all the families. Ella's favorite part was that he gave every kids a Build A Bear in a Bears uniform. She was so excited to get the Build A Bear, and she ended up with 2 because her brother handed over his immediately. Now that he is 8, he is too big to be seen with a stuffed animal! .Mr. Tillman remembered that I spoke at his breakfast earlier this year and even took a few minutes to talk to us about how he plans to grow the breakfast for mom's next year. He is very grounded and down to earth for a sports figure. Very kind. Thanks Peanut!

Ella dressed up for the movie.

Everyone have a Very Merry Christmas this year. I can't help but reflect where we were this time last year. Ella was in the throws of hard core chemo and her Aunt Carrie rented out an entire theater so she could see Tangled. Her hair was so thin, but we curled it and got a crown on her head. It was a good day.
Thank God for your blessings, realize everything you have to be grateful for, laugh even if you don't want to.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Blessings~Steve, Katie, Josh and Ella