Our life is nothing short of an adventure...

Wind in our hair and screams of delight but also unpredictable turns and unknown outcomes. We are a family of six; Dave, Susie, Nate, Jake, Sam, and Bella.

God has been faithful in our marriage and through the birth and blessings of our boys.

God has been faithful during our adoption journey and united Bella with us in May of 2008. We were privileged to visit with Bella's birth mother; therefore, Bella's family in Guatemala will always be dear to our hearts.

On October 16, 2008, Bella was diagnosed with ALL Leukemia. We are now battling the disease with 2 years and 3 months of treatment. We believe God will continue to be faithful!

Our family is committed to living life to the fullest...even on the hard days. Thank you for checking in and journeying with us!


Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Week 3 of Delayed Intensification

I do not like to post with out pics, that is one of the biggest reasons I do not post more often. I know I enjoy seeing pics on all of your blogs, so I assume you are looking for the same thing. However, I do want to keep you informed on Bella's progress as I know you care and your friendship and prayers mean so very much to us.

Bella's most recent chemo treatment was last Thursday, her next chemo is scheduled for Friday afternoon. She continues to baffle the Doctors with all her hair, she thinned out a tiny bit more last week, but it's still hanging in there and I am dolling her up every day with piggy's and bows. Overall, she is happy and eating REALLY well. Of course, she only eats about 5 foods, of which only 2 are really healthy for her. McDonalds chicken nuggets are her favorite! We make at least one daily trip to McDonalds for a 4 piece chicken nugget, the last 2 days, I have been there twice! Her other 4 favorites are deli turkey rolled up, pizza, apricots and eggs, that's it. Unfortunately, she has had a few effects from the chemo, not to worry, its only circumstance, a side effect of the chemo and she only has 6 weeks left of this chemo and were done and back to bone marrow aspirations! She has been nautious and making her wonderful gagging sounds again, she also has diarehia and it burns her little bottom pretty bad. I change her diaper as soon as I realize its there, but it still get's her pretty good. Bella's Oncologist invented a prescription diaper creme that the hospital calls "Magic Butt Cream", and it truly is, clears things up really quickly for her. Next week she gets a break from chemo before starting up again. Her counts are expected to drop so we will be laying low at home and allowing her little body to recooperate. We do our part in keeping Bella safe from earthly attacks to her immune system, but we take great comfort in knowing that we have done our best and the rest is in God's care and His promise is restoration, protection and healing.

The boys are great, busy in basketball, music and school. We are all starting to count the weeks till Memorial Weekend when we "open the cottage". I am on my 5th week of training for the 5k and I really am starting to get in to this. I actually find my self thinking through out the day when I will get to run, I can see why this gets a little addicting. I can now run 3 miles with only 4 minutes of walking breaks and this is only because the "trainer" tells me too. I am not burning out, so I want to stick with what I have been told to do. Courtney and Jen, you too keep me going, it can do 25k's and marathons, I can certainly handle 3.2 miles. I have also started back at Real Estate, slowly but surely.

I will update this weekend with pics and a video of Bella laughing, its so cute, she laugh's non stop at her boys.

Blessings

18 comments:

Vanessa said...

Thanks for the update!! We pray for Bella everyday and i'm so glad God has his hand of protection over her!!

Anonymous said...

MY oldest only eats 3 foods so i do understand the picky eater stuff!!! LOL

Praying for you guys!!!

hugs,Lesslie

Brent Riggs said...

So wonderful to hear how well she is doing. We hope our readers will continue to keep up with her through our blog and your badge.

Thank you for caring about Abby. We appreciate you...

Brent (Abby's Dad)
www.riggsfamilyblog.com

Robyn said...

I am continuing the prayers!!

~ Lisa @ AbidingThere~ said...

We're glad you updated, even without pictures! So glad Bella is doing well and sounds like you guys are all great. :)

Alex and Sam said...

so glad bella is doing much beter than the doctors anticipated, thats wonderful news!!! continuing to pray!!

alex

Michelle Riggs said...

I am so happy Bella is doing so wonderfully. I can't wait to see more pictures and video.

Praying always,

Cheri said...

As beautifully as you write, I LOVE reading thoughts and facts about what's taking place in your life. Don't get me wrong, I love seeing your famiiy's faces but you should post anytime even without pics. Didn't know you had gone back to work! WOW! I don't know how you juggle your operation but you are good at it!!!! Call me when you have time. Donnie is out of town through tomorrow, and it's quiet around here!!! love.

Gail said...

I don't know about the others but I don't mind posts without pictures. I am alwasy happy to hear about Bella's progress and treatment. I'm continuing to pray for all of you.
Gail

Jack said...

Glad to hear Bella is doing well. God is good. We continue to pray!

Momma said...

So glad to hear Bella is doing great. I agree with Cheri (comment above) I love pics but enjoy reading your post just as much. Can't wait to see Bella's beautiful face on the video.
Praising God she is doing so well.
Much Love,
Angie

Heather said...

So glad to see that nothing out of the ordinary has popped up.Expected can be dealt with.And Zoey and Bella are on the no hair loss plan.We are heading into her 2nd to last round and still ... head full of hair.Praying God continues to cover you all with His amazing grace.Bella is simply amazing and that wonderful spirit she carries will carry her through her days.

jajbs said...

Thanks for the update. We are praying for Bella and your family every night before bedtime.

My dream is to do a marathon someday. You will have to share your training tips with me.

check my blog... I've given you a blogging award!

amanda

One Busy Momma said...

Glad her hair is hanging in there! My dad went through 2 years of chemo and kept all of his hair...so it is possible.

Glad to hear she is eating!

Think about you often and pray for healing.

cancersucks said...

Eating during chemo is difficult...so if it is chicken nuggets morning noon and night at least she is eating. Sweet girl! Praying and thinking of you.

Pineapple Princess said...

Isabella and I ate chicken nuggets today in Bella's honor. They were yummy, but we wish we could have shared them with you two.

I love your updates, pictures or not! I am always in constant conversation with God for your Bella. You guys are so close to my heart.

XOXO

Courtney said...

HI. Sorry I feel like I have been so out of touch. Thanks for the update on Bella. I think of her daily and pray for her. Kiss her for me. Tell her to hang in there. Sounds like she is doing good. Hey, thanks for the shout out. I am so happy you are doing a 5k. Good for you. Yes, running is a little addicting. I am starting to love it. Crazy. Yes, we got a ton of snow. Yikes. I am so over it. I can not wait for Florida and to see Stella's reaction to the beach. I bet your family is excited to open the cottage. I can't wait to see the pictures when that time comes. Something to look forward too. The kids Spanish cd was made for us by a friend. Do you want me to burn a copy for you ? I tried to look it up on line but could not find it. I think it is called something like Juguemus A Cantar. Keep up the running. I am so proud of you. you go girl .....

Maddy said...

What a thoroughly delightful family.
Best wishes