Beyond Crazy

There is no way to adequately describe what the last 5 weeks of my life have been like. It has been constant go, go, go and all I want to do is not go. We really haven't accomplished a whole lot, but just getting up every morning is an accomplishment in itself right now. On top of all the post-cancer stress with Annabelle and the new diagnosis craziness with my dad, we decided to finish up a remodeling job at my parent's. What were we thinking!?! Josh was working insanely long hours and then would come home and help out on the remodel until he went to scout camp for a week. Once he was gone, Jay and I took over and then Josh finished things up when he got back. No rest for the weary around here! But it is done (mostly) and it turned out great.

We've had lots of family visiting to see my dad and give support. It has been so wonderful to have time with them, but I sure wish it was under different circumstances. My dad finished his first induction round of chemo and the following bone marrow biopsy did not show the results we were hoping for. It did stop the progression of the disease, however, it didn't kill the leukemia by any measurable amount. "Induction" chemo is meant to induce a remission of the disease. That doesn't mean you are finished with the treatment protocol, but the purpose is to wipe out the cancer. Annabelle's "induction" consisted of 6 rounds of chemo. AML treatment is ideally 1 round of chemo. Since the first time didn't do it, he underwent another round of induction chemo, which finished 1 week ago. He will have his next bone marrow biopsy on the 13th and the hope is that he will be in remission at that time. There are lots of possibilities for the future but we won't know the options or plan until we get the results of the biopsy. Please continue to pray for him and for our family during this difficult time. It seems so unreal, and sometimes unbearable, that this is the sequence of events in my life right now.

In the midst of all the chaos, we did force ourselves to do something fun with the girls for Layla's birthday. I can't believe my baby is 3 years old already. The girls had a blast at Splash Montana. Now that we've had a chance to spend time in the water, they are both little fish. They never want to get out!

I love my baby doll so much!

My big sister fish!
My two cancer fighters with matching hair. Dad's is almost gone now and Annabelle's is getting longer.

Josh and the girls are already in Utah spending time with the Yates family. I stayed to be with my dad for a few days and then I will head south tomorrow. Annabelle has her first set of 3-month followup scans on Monday, the 20th. This will be our first time back to PCMC since she had her line removed in May. We are both excited to see some friendly faces there, but it will be so different to be there just for outpatient visits. I feel confident that Annabelle's scans will be clear because I can't imagine Heavenly Father giving us that to deal with as well. I truly believe that!