The Waiting Continues

We were all ready and geared up for the next admission on Tuesday morning, but Ainsley's white blood cells had other plans.  Her system is still too low to begin the next phase of treatment.  It takes a lot to get prepared to be in the hospital for 4 days, so it is a roller-coaster of emotion and effort to get things ready and packed, arranged for the other kids, for Jenny and I, pack Ainsley's bags, Hudson's bags, coordinate which of us will be staying with her when...(I hope my highschool English teacher is reading this, because that was a run-on sentence like no other) 

As Jenny, Ainsley, and I drove away from the hospital on Tuesday we talked about that roller-coaster.  Last week, I felt a let down and Jenny felt almost relieved.  This week that changed, and I was the one that felt relieved and Jenny felt let down.  At least we weren't both down at the same time right?  As we drove away Ainsley laughed and said (with a HUGE smile) "See, I told you guys I didn't have any bone marrow today!!!"  That girl keeps us laughing!

Next Tuesday we will try again.  The good news is that she is making platelets and red blood cells.  Now if we can just get those healthy white cells to grow...

This is a picture of our dear friends the Biorns!  Oklahoma Strong T-shirts and Ainsley's Army bracelets!  Very fitting for what the State of Oklahoma is facing as a whole and for what we are facing with Ainsley.  We love and miss you guys and are so thankful!  This picture put a HUGE smile on our faces!

Ainsley got to go to church today and she loved it!  She stayed on one of our laps the whole time except for when she got to go up and "fish" to choose the next Primary Song.  She slept for about 1.5 hours of the 3 hrs.  It was so nice to have the whole family back together at church.

Tuesday will be another attempt at a bone marrow sample and then 4 days in hospital for IV methotrexate.  Words is this one will make her more ill than others have, and it has to be monitored much more closely (hence the 4 day admission).  If her numbers aren't high enough then they delay it another week, until she climbs back up.  Once it starts, she'll be inpatient in the hospital for 4 days of every 2 weeks for two months. 

Otherwise she has done well so far.  She is excited for the Barrel Race, which has been rescheduled for June 22.  Saturday ended up being beautiful by morning, but it was the right call to cancel because the horses wouldn't have had a safe arena due to mud, local rivers were in flash-flood warning stages, and we'd still be pulling cars, trucks, trailers, and probably flip-flops and lost shoes out of the mud bog that would have been created in the parking-lot (translation=field).  It would have been messy.  Hopefully this will also give us time to give a sample into what the silent auction will entail, because I will be honest, there have been some pretty amazing things donated that I think you are all going to LOVE! 

Barrel Racing Postponed

Hey Everyone! 

We are sad to say that the recent downpours here in Tulsa/Owasso/Collinsville areas have left the rodeo grounds too saturated to carry on with tomorrow's Barrel Race for Ainsley (June 1, 2013). 

Announcement will be made in the near future for the rescheduled time and day.  Thanks for you support! 

Ainsley's Army

Not Quite There Yet...

Ainsley went in to the hospital this morning for a bone marrow biopsy, lumbar puncture, and to be admitted for 4 days of chemotherapy.  She was brave!  But when the lab results came back, her marrow wasn't producing enough to start on the next part of the journey.  So we have to sit in a holding pattern and try again next week.  Each new round of chemotherapy will deplete her bone marrow in an effort to slow the reproduction rate of the cancer cells, but if it gets knocked down too far, then it cannot grow the normal blood cells that you need.  That means we have to wait another couple weeks at least to find out if she is in remission or not.  We were so hoping to get the sample today and find out the answer in the next few days.   It is all just part of the journey! 

Today, while preparing the hospital bag for a 4 day admission, Jenny packed 2 hair combs.  We laughed as we tried to figure out which of the 4 of us might need a comb? 

Angels for Ainsley's Leukemia--Benefit Barrel Race

A friend of mine is putting together an benefit barrel racing event for Ainsley!!!  Thank you Carmon!  It is taking place at the Collinsville arena.  Here is the flyer!  Please share and pass it around to friends and family.

Admission to the event is free.  There will be concessions, bracelets, and a bake sale, so come and add some calories to your midline ;-)   There will also be a silent auction.  The exhibition rides will take place between 900 am and 1100 am.  The main event starts at noon and will carry on through about 600pm.

Please share this and send it around.  Come and enjoy this great day.  Bring your family!

A New Haircut

Here they are!  BEAUTIFUL!  (but I'm the biased husband and father...but come on, you know it's true!  These ladies are GORGEOUS! ;-)  This actually happened last week, Mother's Day.  Ainsley decided she wanted to cut her hair and wanted Jenny to as well.  Jen didn't miss a beat and out came the clippers.  Looking good ladies!  That night, Ainsley asked me if I would cut my hair as well, and I said of course!  So here's the new look for me:

The haircuts were an interesting process.  Ainsley had stated many times over that a bald head meant boy.  So we weren't sure how supportive she would actually think it was for Daddy to cut his hair with her (although I wanted to!)  She and Mommy had talked about it for a couple of months now and they looked so beautiful when it was all finished.  I was greatly relieved when Ainsley asked me to join her!  Thank you to all that have joined her, she has loved seeing the pictures Uncle Jeff, Uncle Talmage, Doug, Tanner, Braydon...Sharp looking fellas!

The other day her platelets dropped to 7k, the lowest they have EVER been.  They were normal (100k to 300k) on Friday and by Tuesday they were 7k.   Remember that platelets keep you from bleeding, so she started having the same types of bruising that she had when they first diagnosed her.  She was doing a bit better with a transfusion and they were up to 25k a few days later.  Still not enough, but an improvement.

On Saturday June 1st, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, there will be a charity barrel racing event held in Collinsville (10 minutes from our house) to benefit Ainsley.  We are so grateful to Carmon and Cindy for putting it together.  FREE attendance...so bring your family and watch.  I'll post the flyer some time soon on here as well. 

Honest Feelings

Alright Moms and Dads out there...you know the situation:  ___ year old daughter walks in with a clearly disgruntled look on her face and you ask "what is wrong Honey?"  She continues to scowl at the world and says, with a slight bobble of the head, "Nothing."  My response is usually some variation of:  "Well, tell your face that."  It doesn't necessarily change anything, but it seems to make me feel better ;-)

So Thursday night, I got a taste of my own medicine.  Things were pretty hectic around the house, I was finishing a call shift and was falling asleep trying to help Meili with her homework, and something spilled on the couch.  Perturbed, I got up to help clean things up.  As I came back to sit down, Meili said, "Daddy, are you ok?"  I quickly said "I'm fine" and I saw in her eyes that similar look that I give her when she brushes my questions off... So, I stopped, looked her in the eyes and said "Mei, everything will be fine, but I'm feeling pretty down right now."  She smiled and gave me a hug.  It was a nice moment with her and actually felt pretty good to admit that the burden felt heavy. 

Ainsley and I are in the hospital.  She had another fever.  She's on antibiotics, IV fluids, and is perking up.  She had been getting treatments Tuesday, Wed, Thurs, and Friday.  By Thursday night she was pretty wiped out.  Friday they gave her a blood transfusion and more chemo.  By Friday night she was back in with the fever.  We are hoping to go home tomorrow.  

We just learned that for the months of June and July, Ainsley will be hospitalized for 16 days.  So far most things have been outpatient, with a few overnights.  This marks a big shift because it will be 4 days in a row, then a week and a half off, then 4 days, repeating throughout the 2 months.  

I heard two quotes the past few days that I have really liked.  I'll attribute them to the people that I heard them from, but they may have told me who they heard them from and I just forgot.  1) Mandy wrote Jenny and I a very uplifting letter.  We loved reading it.  She and Trevor are such great friends to us.  She said "the grass is always greener where I water it."  Simple and true.  2) Tiffany and I were chatting and she said  "it's none of my business what other people think of me."  It made me laugh.  

St. Francis Children's Hospital pulled one of the most brilliant moves I have ever seen in life this week:



Yep, those are the window washers!!!  They have been here all week washing the windows!  Coolest thing ever.  So here are our 4 super heroes:  Ainsley, Spiderman, Batman, and Hulk Smash!  Can't wait for the windows to be dirty again!