Smiling again

Well she is smiling for the first time in a few weeks. The headache is finally gone. Thank you for praying. Chelsea read that the medication for nausea can cause headaches. Once she was off of it for about 12 hours the headache improved and today she went to the chiropractor for an adjustment and it is completely gone. She is smiling and laughing and having giggling fits at times. It is wonderful to see her feeling well. It is very difficult to watch her suffer. As a parent you just want to fix it and you can't. Please also pray that her scoliosis will improve. She has not been able to put her brace on in 6 weeks and the curve seems to be getting a lot worse. This could also be contributing to the headaches. Thank you again for praying God is good.

How can you keep your faith? wig picture too

Many have asked us how we can keep our faith when God has allowed our child to have cancer. Many ask if we are angry with God. We have been a little sad watching our child suffer while battling leukemia but never angry with God. We know as born again Christians that our time on earth is short. The bible says that if you know Jesus as your personal savior, you will spend an eternity in heaven with God. James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brethren, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. We are obviously not jumping for joy -this trial is a long and serious one but we know that God our heavenly father loves us more than anyone on earth and he wants what is best for us. As a family we are focusing on Gods answers to our prayers which have been wonderful. The fact that she had no symptoms of leukemia when she was diagnosed and the fact that a doctor who also had leukemia as a 14 year old helped diagnose this all is evidence of Gods goodness. We also prayed that her blood sugars would normalize and they did. She met the goal of being in remission within 4 weeks which often correlates with complete cure. We see Gods goodness everyday through human acts of kindness. Our church family has been bringing our meals since Colleen was diagnosed, the numerous cards and letters of encouragement, and strangers even offering their support. This week the Dearborn Police Department gave us a monetary gift which came at the perfect time. Every time the checking account is a bit low God sends what we need to get by. We really appreciate the Dearborn Police Departments willingness to help us. We were very touched by their generosity.

In conclusion, we know that if God were to take Colleen today, she would spend an eternity in heaven with him.Trials are Gods way of molding us into who he wants us to be. Perhaps he will use Colleen to help someone else when she is healed. The Lord has a master plan for each of us. He does not promise us an easy life but he does promise to stand beside us and help us through difficult times. We are at peace knowing that you all are praying and God is in control.

Colleen began the second phase of chemotherapy on Friday. It is called consolidation. She got chemotherapy in the IV and in the spine on Friday. She got a really strong chemotherapy (cyclophospamide) name included for our nurse and chemistry friends who may be interested. She has been extremely tired today but perking up this evening. She will require 3 injections of Cytarabine daily for 4 days per week and is getting mercaptopurine orally every day. So far she is not having any pain in the feet after the spinal this week which is also an answer to prayer. She is having significant headaches please pray that they will go away. Thank you for praying.

Dalmation hat picture

Colleen has been off the prednisone for a few days now and is beginning to feel more like herself. Her cheeks seem to be shrinking so she is also beginning to look more like herself. She is having pain in her feet not sure if this is from the spinal tap or just a side effect of the chemo. She has slept on the couch for a few nights- her feet hurt too much to walk up the steps. She is taking some morphine which eases the pain some but i guess it is still quite painful. At times she feels like they are going to come off. Not sure what this is caused from but the pain is improving each day. Her appetite is dwindling quickly. She is wearing the dalmation hat my mom bought her most of the time because her head is cold and it is made of a thicker material.She did venture out with her new wig yesterday to run a few errands with Chelsea. She has to have another spinal tap with chemotherapy on friday. Please pray that the foot pain will be relieved and that she will have added energy to get more of her homework done. She has just been too sick to do much this last few weeks.

Officially in Remission

Colleen had her last bone marrow test until her treatment is done in two and  a half to three years. Praise the Lord. I was wondering how often she would have to endure this test. She has had 3 in the last month. It seems that as soon as the pain is gone it is time to have another one. It was such a relief to hear the doctor say no more for a few years. Her bone marrow test showed less than .01 percent of cancer cells officially considered remission. Her treatment does not change she still needs two years and 5 months worth of chemo to make sure the leukemia cells are eradicated. We are elated that she responded so well to the chemotherapy because the quicker kids respond the more positive their outcomes are most of the time. Thank you for praying God has consistently answered our prayers for Colleen.

I also want to praise God for taking care of problems before they arise. My employer shorted me 40 hours of pay this week and just the time the bank account had 25 dollars in it, a check came for 2 months rent for the rental. Needless to say this was greatly appreciated so no checks bounced. When we had the foster children this happened about 4 times when we were just shy of meeting a bill and he always provided enough to get by. We thank him for providing what we needed to meet our obligations.

Goodbye rainbow hair

Today was a milestone day. Colleen decided it was time to say goodbye to the rainbow hair. We actually had a lot of fun. No tears or regrets just laughter and fun. Chelsea proceeded to shave off the sides of the hair and then it was quite funny watching her try to spike the middle into a spikey mohawk. Who knew how hard it was to spike a mohawk. I never thought it would be so labor intensive. After spiking the hair, Cydnie decided to shave off the middle but the clippers got stuck. We decided it was safer to wet the hair down so it would not pull on Colleens scalp. She now is sporting a rainbow GI Jane haircut. She was experimenting with scarves after the hair was taken off. We are so proud of the way she is handling all of this. The fact that she is able to endure all of this at the ago of 14 with such grace and character while continuing to honor God is just inspiring us to carry on and get through  this trial stronger as a family and stronger in our faith. God is so good.

Chelsea states that it is too late to help me upload videos and pictures but check out Colleens Facebook and I will post the videos tomorrow.

Blog name

A week or so before Colleen was diagnosed with leukemia another lady at our church was diagnosed with Breast Cancer . In order to recognize both  the varsity teams decided to put a yellow ribbon on their shoes for Colleen and wrote leen on God on it and a pink ribbon on the other shoe with Myles of hope written on it. We were very touched by their thoughtfulness. It was very creative and touching we shed a few happy tears over it. This is where the name for our blog was taken from.

Colleen gets really sleepy after her chemo treatments for about 2 days. On Sunday she resumed being her normal smiley self. We are happy to see her smiling again. This friday is another round of chemotherapy but this time she will be placed under anesthesia, a needle will be placed in her spine and the chemotherapy will be placed inside of that needle and it will be removed. Being a nurse i sometimes assume that others know what a bone marrow biopsy is but many have a puzzled look when  i mention it so for those of you who are not aware, I am going to explain the procedure. While Colleen is sleeping under anesthesia, a large needle is placed in her hip bone and the contents of the bone marrow are taken out. It is then looked at under a microscope or placed in a special machine to determine how many cancer cells are remaining. During the last bone marrow the doctors expected to see one percent of cancer cells under a microscope but to their surprise none were visible. There were one percent of cancer cells remaining but this was only detected with a high tech machine. This time doctors are expecting to see less than .01 percent of cancer cells. We look forward to seeing very good results. God has exceeded our expectations consistently and we are expecting great things. Thank you for praying! Please pray that Colleen will have little or no pain after the bone marrow test. Thanks again!

answer to prayer

Colleen went to the clinic on friday for bloodwork and chemotherapy. Her blood sugars have been so low that we had to quit giving her insulin. She is still on the high doses of the prednisone but the doctors are very perplexed as to why this is happening. Normally the blood sugars stay high until the person goes off the prednisone. For 3 days Colleen has not needed any insulin -the blood sugars have been normal even though she is eating everything in sight. The prednisone gives you an insatiable appetite. I prayed specifically that God would correct the sugars so Colleen would not need the insulin but was praying this before we came home from the hospital. I believe God answered our prayer but on his timeline. God is good. Hopefully no more insulin will be needed. This is just one more example of Gods goodness.


We also made a trip to the wig shop today. Colleen wants to embrace the rainbow hair for a few more days but will be going back to the boutique to have her wig fitted and the remainder of the hair removed on thursday. She was very brave today- no tears- no worries. Please pray that her spirits will remain high even after the hair is gone. She chose a really beautiful wig and was pleased to see how natural it looked. Laura  also brought over some beautiful scarves for her to wear. Thank you Tally family for your kindness. Thank you for suggesting the wig boutique it was a good experience. We are grateful that Colleen is able to remain positive and smiley most of the time. She is tired from the chemo but we are thankful it is not making her nauseated. Another answer to prayer. Please continue to pray that Colleen will remain healthy and not have to be admitted to the hospital. Thanks again for praying.

Sick Hair Day

Before I went to bed last night,Chelsea was bleaching Colleens hair and when I got up this morning Colleen was in the kitchen with colorful hair dye on her head. I went to work wondering what I would see when I went home for lunch. To my surprise, the multicolor hair is not as crazy as I thought. It actually doesn't look bad at all. I am glad that Colleen can maintain her sense of humor at such a serious and stressful time. Dr. Hubbard, Colleen wants to know if she can color her hair this way when she returns to school in the fall.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know I have plans for you,"declares the Lord,..."plans to give you hope and a future."

Clinic Visit venturing out

Colleen had a visit at the clinic today. She needed a platelet transfusion so the clinic visit took about 3 hours. She then was able to stop by the school to briefly see her classmates. She ventured out yesterday to meijer because she is developing a bit of cabin fever. I was working so i told Chelsea to make sure she wore her mask and not to let anyone cough on her or allow her to touch anything . After they were back from the store, i called to make sure she had not been contaminated. Chelsea stated, mom she did not get coughed on, nor did she touch anything or lick the floor. I found this quite funny. It is hard to let her leave the house i feel like putting her in a bubble or locking her in the closet Hee! Hee! All kidding aside please pray that God will keep her free of infections. Her face is beginning to get round and the swelling is setting in from the steroids but this should improve after the next 2 weeks when she will be done taking them. Our next bone marrow test is next friday the 17th of February. Please pray that the cancer will respond well to the chemotherapy. I met another little girl today who just completed her treatment for AL Leukemia and is doing well. Her name is Trista please pray that   she will continue to do well. It seems that everywhere we turn God is assuring us that Colleen is going to do well.

Some Good News

Colleen had another bone marrow test on friday. This is where bone marrow is taken from the hip bone with a very large needle under anesthesia and placed under a microscope to see if there are blast cells or cancer cells. When the marrow was placed under the microscope there were no visible cells. Two separate physicians cautioned Len not to be too optimistic regarding this test. Most often at least one percent of cells are visible under the microscope. Len told them that there would be no visible cells but they were cautious because at best there are usually some visible. We had been specifically praying for remission within this first month of treatment. To their surprise no cells were seen. There were one percent of cells detected with a special test. Less than one percent is indicative of remission. Remission does not change the course of treatment but children who respond well to the chemotherapy usually have better outcomes. Praise God it was no surprise to him. Thank you for praying for Colleen. God is so good- he is answering our prayers. Please continue to pray that she will remain free of infections and that she will not have much pain from the next bone marrow in two weeks.Thank you to each of you who have sent a card or said an encouraging word. We so appreciate the support of our church family who have been bringing our meals this month and the dearborn police who have offered their support and many others. What a blessing to know that others care.

January 18, 2012

Many of you have inquired regarding the circumstances surrounding Colleens Leukemia diagnosis. This update is detailed for those of us who want details but if you are not detail oriented please skim over the technical part and be amazed at Gods grace during this time.

            About 2 weeks ago, Colleen developed severe pain in her thighs. Four days later, she developed a clear fluid filled blister on her left thigh the size of a quarter. I took her to our pediatrician who felt it was viral myositis or inflammation of the muscle caused by a virus. There was a bit of redness so she put her on an antibiotic. On Monday last week the pediatrician asked me how she was doing. I told her that she was still having a lot of pain. She then suggested she be evaluated by infectious disease at Children’s Hospital. She called the clinic and they had an appointment that day. The team of doctors included Dr Aimee  (who is a leukemia survivor)  recognized the vague symptoms of leukemia and ordered blood work based on her similar symptoms as a 14 year old when she was diagnosed. There was no clinical reason to order the blood work. Colleen is the same age as Dr Aimee when she was diagnosed. This illness is rarely seen in children over the age of 10. The blood work was repeated Tuesday am to rule out a lab error. The results still showed a low white count the cells in our body that fight infection and low platelets which cause or blood to clot.

            We then were seen by a hematologist to evaluate for any signs of cancer. There were no other symptoms of leukemia. He told me that we did not have to do a bone marrow test right away he felt this was a virus. I preferred to do the   bone marrow asap because I wanted her treated right away if there was any cancer. We had the bone marrow test the next morning and by one o’clock Wednesday the Dr called to say the results showed leukemia. Colleen was admitted on Wednesday at five pm for more testing and to begin treatment. Thursday morning she had ultrasounds, went for a spinal tap, had chemo placed in spine and had a port placed under the skin to infuse chemotherapy.  That night she got 2 different kinds of chemotherapy ( vincristine and danorubicin) in the port. She got more chemotherapy on Sunday (asparagenase or peg). She was doing well only one bout of nausea in 3 days. She was scheduled to go home on Monday but the uric acid levels in the blood were too high. Apparently this can damage the organs if not treated properly. She received medication in her port to bring down the uric acid levels. The uric acid levels in the blood are indicators of cell damage caused by the death of the leukemia cells in the body.

            Her uric acid levels came down but her blood sugar levels went up from large doses of prednisone or steroids. Prednisone kills leukemia cells in the body but has many side effects. We came home on Wednesday late afternoon but we have to monitor blood sugar levels four times daily and give multiple doses of insulin. This is difficult for a child who hates needles but she has been very brave. Colleen only has to take the prednisone for a month thank goodness.

            Colleen came home on Wednesday evening and has been tired but doing well. She went back to hematology clinic today Friday and had a platelet transfusion, and 2 more doses of chemotherapy (vincristine and donarubicin). She also had another spinal tap under anesthesia and more chemo was inserted in her spine. Colleen did very well but is having some pain in her back probably related to the scoliosis she has and not the spinal tap.

            The final results of the blood work came back on Monday and they show that Colleen has B-Precursor ALL leukemia. This is the most common cancer in childhood and has a cure rate of 90 percent. The genetic defect or mutation which caused the leukemia is also the easiest to treat.

            We are thankful that God gave Colleen this unusual blister, that there was an appointment available to see infectious disease (she could have gotten very ill if she had spent time in the emergency room), that Dr Aimee ordered the blood work, and that God helped me to insist on a bone marrow as soon as possible so we could begin treatment right away. We are also thankful for Dr Aimee’s visit after her surgery. It seemed as though the Lord sent her to assure me that Colleen was going to be ok. We also learned yesterday that most children with this illness need radiation to the brain and spine but because she has a certain genetic mutation and her only high risk factor is that she is over the age of 10 that the doctors do not feel she needs it. Praise God.  We are also thankful for each of you. We are at peace knowing that God is in control and you are praying for us often.

            Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and acts of kindness from helping to clean the house in preparation for Colleen's return home, making meals, sending cards and letters of encouragement, making prayer boards the list goes on and on. I was writing thank you cards but just cannot keep up. Just know that we love you all and appreciate your thoughtfulness. I know God will accomplish much thru this trial. Please pray for our unsaved family and friends. I will send updates to those of you who are not on face book as things develop. Len posts general updates daily on face book if you want instant information. Thank you again. Praise God for his goodness and strength during trying times! Please pray that God will help her appetite she is having pain when eating or drinking maybe a result of the port not being healed yet and pray for improvement in her back pain.

Santiago and Cabrera visited Colleen the first day she was in the hospital.