Thanks for prayers

Ally has two more treatments down for this week. She had two more radiation treatments as well as two more ARA-C chemo infusions. She got to see Dr B on Tuesday when we were in clinic. She has been having a lot of pain and trouble with her right foot. She limps all the time and says it aches and hurts even when she is sitting still. He decided to do an x-ray and I guess it showed that some of her bone is deteriorating. They had a fancy word for it, but I was rushing into radiation when I got the call about this and didn't write it down. The culprit for this problem is her steriods. I guess they can cause bone loss. So if it is not better by next Tuesday (which I really doubt it will be) then they are going to do a bone scan on her. For now, she has us wrap it up and I try to limit her walking.

We found out her ANC is 700, not too bad, but definitely on its way downward. After the four doses of chemo this week it should drop very low. In fact, I told him my worries about the weekend...like what if she would get a fever?!? And he told me that she would probably end up having to be inpatient. So we just have to all pray really hard that doesn't happen. Because we have so many people coming to the event. I seriously think we could go up towards 600 people.

Every night before she gives her Mommy her kiss goodnight I make her recite three times: "I will not get a fever. I will not get a fever. I will not get a fever." She thinks I am crazy. Well she knows I am crazy anyway. I am calling it the power of positive thinking.

So so so many people are supporting us by coming on Saturday night. I get all choked up just thinking about it. Wait until you see how many fine people have contributed things for us to auction off and raise money for our cause. We have all kinds of services that people are donating (an orthodontic package!)...tickets to huge sporting events...dinners/food...vacation homes...sports stuff...jewelry...purses...Ally even handmade a huge pottery bowl over the weekend that we will be auctioning off. It is really cool too.

I get extremely emotional even thinking about how I can thank all of these people. I am not sure I can even do it. When something so bad can happen to us, but then we can take it and turn it around and do something so good. That's what life is all about. Jerad's dad has this poster about priorities hanging in his kitchen. I always remember it. It says something about how at the end it doesn't matter how big the bank account is, or how many hours you worked, or how many clients you had, but rather how you made a difference in the life of a child. He is right. And in fact that is his priority. (and by the way, Happy Birthday John/Dad/Grandpa)

My heart is especially heavy tonight as we learned one of the "hospital family" has had her cancer return. For the fifth time. You read that right...FIVE. She has Wilms Tumor (a fancy word for kidney cancer) and it is devastating news. She is just about Ally's age. Likewise, I mourn for those suffering and those we have lost. Our friends who lost their daughter to leukemia in the fall (Ashley) are coming to our event. How brave of them and how grateful I will be to have them there. We will remember all the children (and adults) suffering as Ally's Army Battles Cancer.