(photo from Praying for Layla Grace Facebook group)This beautiful baby is Layla Grace. She is 2 years old and she has cancer. I stumbled across her story last week and I haven't been able to let go. She's been fighting neuroblastoma, a horrible childhood cancer, for almost a year. Last month, her family learned her cancer was worse and there was little else doctors could do. They brought her home to die. Her parents have a blog where they've been writing about Layla's journey and they have 45,000 people on the Facebook group "Praying for Layla Grace" and 35,000 people following their story on Twitter. I am one of them. I can't get this little girl out of my mind. I constantly check for updates to see how she's doing. This sweet girl, who I don't even know, has really affected me. Her story has brought me closer to God -- I find myself praying for her as hard as I pray for Mike, and I thank God for my own sweet girl and her health. Layla's story has made me stop and just reflect on how blessed I am and to get some perspective on what is really important. There were times this week when Julia was under my feet, making messes everywhere. I was getting so frustrated because I had a million things to do. And then I just stopped and thought about how Layla's mom would give anything to have her daughter under her feet, making messes everywhere. I just stopped and got down on the floor and played with Julia and held her so tight. So I'm posting this to remind me that this is what matters. The dishes can wait.
We got some GOOD news today. Mike had his CT scans this week and saw Dr. Neel today. The lump in his neck has reduced. His chest is stable. The liver, they aren't really sure. If there was growth, it was minimal. So those two chemos he had a month and a half ago that started this whole ordeal were working.
But Mike's weight has dropped a lot this past month. He's down to 150. A skinny minnie. Dr. Neel wants him to gain some back before he returns to chemo. So in the next couple weeks, he's going to be eating A LOT. He's already started. On the way home from the doctor, he stopped and got a foot-long meatball sub and a Shamrock shake. Lord, I hope the efforts to fatten him up don't rub off on me...
So within the next three weeks, he should be returning to chemo. They will probably try to tweak the dosages to avoid a repeat of last time. But in the meantime, we are feeling incredibly blessed.
That's what we're doing, chugging along. Mike is feeling much better these days and is ready to return to work on March 1. Can you believe he's been out a month and a half? Crazy.
I'm ready for him to get back to work too, so I can have the remote back. (kidding...)
Last week, there were a few setbacks with his walking. His feet and knees were swollen and for a few days he was in a lot of pain. He saw some doctors, got some meds, and is back on his merry way.
He had to postpone his CT scan though because of the feet/knee thing, so that takes place tomorrow and we see Dr. Neel at the end of the week.
And as you can see, a certain someone still isn't leaving Mike's side:
We are so happy having Mike home. He continues to feel better every day and is making progress. He's eating more and moving around better. Julia and I even dragged him out to lunch the other day.
We saw Dr. Neel on Tuesday, just for a follow-up. He says Mike is still way too weak to get back on chemo right now. He wants to him to spend the next two weeks or so recovering. He'll get a CT scan next Friday and then we'll decide what to do next.
He did remark that the lump in Mike's neck feels like it has shrunk, A LOT. We're not going to get our hopes up, because we thought for five months that everything was OK and it turned out the cancer was growing. But you can barely see that thing.
So if there's a miracle to be worked, it will be that the tumors have shrunk enough from this one round of chemo that he won't have to go back on it for a while. Fingers crossed.
She hasn't left his side for a second.
It's rumored Mike's coming home tomorrow....
At first I didn't really think much of it when he told me Dr. Neel said it to him this morning. But when I was at the hospital this afternoon, both the nurse and the physical therapist mentioned it. It's written in his chart. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that nothing goes wrong or flares up overnight.
He had his knees drained Monday to ease the problem from gout. So he's been moving more. He's eating more and talking more. All of which are good things.
It will be so nice to get him home. It's been a long 17 days.
