Good Evening,

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. We have had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We are grateful that we didn’t end up in the hospital so even if we hadn’t just finished a meal of great food with our family it would be a day to be truly grateful.

Tuesday night Sharmi spiked a fever. She wasn’t acting sick in any other way, so I felt confident that it was just due to the flu shot the day before.  I was sick at the thought of having to take her to the hospital.  They would have kept her for three days to monitor her and to culture her blood to see if there was a viral reason for the fever. While I was typing the last post for prayer, I left the water running for the bath and by the time I got back to it we had run out of hot water. I think this was divine intervention.  I would not have made the bath that cold, yet I had no choice but to put Sharmi in and try it. She was a good sport and stood in it for awhile. When she got tired of standing she would sit down for a moment and gasp at the cold water. She eventually was able to sit down and play. We made a family time of it with the whole family crowded into the little bathroom. During her bath her fever spiked to 101.6. (She is supposed to be in the ER within an hour of her fever reaching 101.0) With tears I called my parents again to tell them we had to go.  Mom suggested a smoothie, so I blended some frozen bananas with soy milk and took it to her. Shortly after she started drinking it she started complaining of being cold and begging to get out. We felt her head and her fever was gone. We were so relieved. I called my parents back and they said that they had stopped everything and prayed non-stop since our last conversation. Her fever did go back up and it bounced up and down around 100 degrees for several hours. We finally felt comfortable enough to put her to bed around 10:00.

It was such a hard several hours that by the time Sharmi was in bed I was drained. Chantel wouldn’t sleep so I found myself walking laps around the dining table just sobbing. I was so worn out and upset, but so grateful that tears were dropping on my carpet instead of them building up in a hospital where I can’t let Sharmi see me cry. I have never been so grateful to be such an emotional wreck. The next morning Sharmi woke up and the fever was completely gone. We were so grateful that we didn’t take her to the hospital.

The next day to add to the crying we took Chantel to the doctors for her first set of shots. Sharmi has certainly learned to be sympathetic she patted Chantel’s tummy, explained the bandages to her, and told her it would be OK.

Two days earlier when I got my flu shot she said, “mommy, it won’t hurt. I will hold your hands.” And then when I was done she said, “You were so brave mommy.” She is such a comfort and support to me.

Well, I have a hungry baby so I better run. Have a great holiday weekend.  Thank you for your prayers.

Cheris

If any of you happen to be checking this site, we need your prayer help.  Sharmi has a fever over 101 which means were are supposed to take her to the hospital to be admitted.  She isn’t acting sick so I think it is just the flue shot that she got yesterday.  But the protocol is that we will be there for three days if we take her in now.  I am going to try giving her a bath first.  Please pray that her fever will break.  She doesn’t deserve to miss Thanks-giving. 

Cheris

Hi Everyone,

I hope you had a great weekend.  We had a pretty good weekend here.  Yesterday Sharmi was feeling well enough that we were able to go to church again.  And in the evening we had a big party with some new friends, old friends, family and work associates.  We were celebrating Dean’s 41st birthday.  This was our first party in our new house.  It felt great to feel like we are starting to have a life instead of just survive.   We will be gone much of December, so I put Christmas up already.  I also needed the festive feeling that Christmas lights and nativities bring into a home.  And since I have been listening to Christmas music for more than a month to cope with the lack of sun, it didn’t really feel too early for Christmas.  :)  By the time the party ended and we got Sharmi to bed it was after mid-night, but she had a wonderful time playing with the girls.  I am amazed and how well she plays with older children.  She had a blast!  (Other then falling on the floor and pulling a chair on top of her, which resulted in a bump on the front and back of her head.) 

I was just looking at the pictures that are posted on the web of Sharmi during delayed intensification.  It is amazing that I have already forgotten how hard those days were.  Even when we are going through it the reality doesn’t always hit home.  I remember walking into the bedroom where Dean and Sharmi were sleeping shortly after she lost all of her hair, and I was shocked to see that my little girl was bald!  It hit me in the heart as if I had just learned for the first time that she had cancer.  I just stood there and watched them and cried.  It might sound funny, but the most comforting phrase that people have said to me these last several months is, “I can’t even imagine what you are going through.”   No one lives this pain more than Sharmi and I but it still doesn’t seem real to me sometimes.  There are times that even I can’t imagine what I am going through.  I thank God for numbing it for us so that we can continue to get up each day and do it again.  We can face the harder times because some of the past nightmares are dimmed by the fog. I am so grateful to Him.

Thank God that there are times that aren’t so hard.  I am pleased to report that last week got better.  We went to the doctors on Tuesday and Sharmi’s blood count were up to 1200 so they started her chemo again.   However, since she was still a little low, they only started her on 1/2 of the previous dose.  We will find out how well she is doing with it tomorrow when we go back in.  

My mastitis is doing better.  The antibiotics didn’t seem to do much for the mass, so I have been putting a charcoal compress on it for the last several days and it seems to be working.  The mass it getting smaller.  It is a big relief for me.

Chantel is growing like a weed.  She isn’t even 3 months old yet and her 3-6 months cloths fit without much room to spare.  When I weighted her a week ago she was 15 pounds.  She is getting more interested in life, and is starting to coo and laugh.  She still appears to have gotten a recessive “mellow gene.”  We are very grateful for this as well.  However, having said that, she has been crying for the last 15 minutes.  Dean is wearing out, so I better run. 

Good night,

Cheris

Hi Everyone,

I am sure you have all had those times when you feel like you just can’t take any more.  This past week has been one of those weeks. 

Last Monday we took Sharmi to get her blood checked.  Afterwards we went across the water to my mom and dads for a change of scenery.  Tuesday morning I received a call on my cell phone from the hospital stating that Sharmi’s ANC was 77.  They stated that she must have a viral infection and we needed to discontinue her chemo immediately and keep her isolated.  They had tried to call the house on Monday to tell me this but we weren’t there.  So I did end up giving her one of her chemo’s on Monday night, but I thank God that I forgot the weekly heavy dose of methotrexate.  I had also forgotten her chemo on Sunday night.  Thankfully, God  knew that she couldn’t handle anymore chemo and He used my exhaustion and forgetfulness to protect her.

Dean was still sick from 6 weeks ago (which was probably the virus Sharmi had) so we decided to say at moms, and we sent dean to the doctors.  After the doctor heard Dean’s story she said,  ”you need something good.”  She said there is a very good antibiotic out now, but it is extremely expensive.  She stated that she was going to see what she could do.  Then she left the room and returned with a bag full of samples.  Bless her.

Tuesday evening I handed Chantel to Dad and threw my purse over my shoulder.  I felt a pop and immediately started feeling a tingling in my arm and fingers.  I have been fighting mastitis and it felt like the infection exploded through the right side of my body. (I know that doesn’t make sence but that is what it felt like, and the pain was in the same area.)  By the end of the evening it was almost impossible for me to move my right arm and I was in excruciating pain.  After we got the girls to bed I called Dean in tears and told him I needed my antibiotics (which I was trying not to take due to side effects of antibiotics.)  Bless his heart he packed up my antibiotics, extra cloths for all of us girls and some miscellaneous items and he drove over the water the in middle of the night to bring them to us.  Once again God was looking out for us because when he got to the ferry the guy told him that he had two minutes before the last ferry left and he was the last car on.  It is these little things that keep reminding us that God is here.

By the time Dean got to my parents mom had been able to rub my back and she discovered that I had a dislocated rib.  We were glad it was skeletal instead of some weird infection.  I went to the chiropractor the next two days and I am now feeling much better.  However, the chiropractor hinted that the mastitis could be cancer and he is concerned that I get it checked again.  He has no specific reason to think this, and I did have a doctor confirm I had mastitis three weeks ago.  Yet, it is a thought that still weights on a person with everything else we have been through.  So, I would appreciate yours prays for me right now also.  Even if it is just mastitis (which I think it is) and it doesn’t go away with the antibiotics they will still need to do surgery to remove it.  And so far I am half way through the antibiotics and I am not seeing any progress.  “sigh”.

We stayed at my parents for most of the week so that they could help me with the kids.  I physically was not able to lift them for a couple of days and when Sharmi comes off the the chemo (especially the 6 MP that she was on) she has withdrawal which makes her cranky, insecure, and turns her into a little monster.  I thank God for my parents every day.

Sabbath Dean and I had to get a little creative. We had promised to take Sharmi to the zoo to see the animals but by the time we got out the door we were too late.  We unfortunately have missed the zoo and other animals due to rain, special events and seasonal schedules several times already, so we took a detour to another park that were were told had a petting coral.  Once again they only have summer hours.  Poor Sharmi, she kept saying,  “I want to go see the animals.”  I looked at Dean and said, “We have to go find a pet store.”  So we drove around a little bit and found a pet store that had one cat, guinea pigs, hamsters, bunnies, ferrets, birds, frogs, lizards, tarantula, lots of fish and a few patron dogs.  She loved it.  We kept telling her to not touch anything and we bathed her in antibiotic cleaners after we left.  It wasn’t what we had in mind but it was a fun memory.

Yesterday, bringing us back to the reality that we have a sick little girl, Sharmi was crying and crying in the shower and it appears that she has a yeast infection.  She had a yeast infection for almost 10 months before she was diagnosed with leukemia and some people believe that there is an association, so this hit me pretty hard.  The devil certainly knows how to discourage us.  But God is stronger and I will take Sharmi to the doctors tomorrow and they will probably simply give her some anti-fungal medication and everything will be OK.

Today is another day and we are all feeling better.  It is still raining outside, but there is more sun in our hearts today.  :)  

Love,

Cheris