Delayed, again

On Monday, March 25, I headed back over to Seattle for another rigorous week of classes and appointments. I got on the 6:45 P.M. ferry and had this fantastic view of the sunset! We do live in a beautiful place! Upon arrival, Daniel met me to walk me to the vehicle. We then took off, Craig asked me what kind of food sounded good for dinner. I know he asked me because of how sick I've been, but I just didn't care. So, Anna hinted at wanting Mexican food and we all agreed. After taking a wrong exit, we went to turn around. As we turned into a parking lot to make that turn around, we realized that it was what we were looking for! We asked some people who were coming out of the restaurant how the food was and how clean it was, explaining that we must have clean for our daughter and why. They said they have been going to Mr. Villa for eight years and love it! So, we went in and ordered. The food was FABULOUS!!! Everything is made fresh daily, even the tortillas! They happened to have a small group singing that night and Craig went up to them between songs. After a bit of time, they announced that they would be singing a special song requested and dedicated to Anna Houston. They said that they would wait until after the song to tell everyone why. Of course, this put tears in my eyes as often happens with me these days! Upon finishing our meal, the owner of the restaurant came to us and said that the couple who were sitting across from us had paid for our meal! Again, tears. And the owner had sopaipillas made up for us to enjoy! It was a great evening!

Anna's appointments were generally early in the day and ended around lunch time. The classes were a bit overwhelming as we learned how to care for Anna after her transplant. She will be taking immune suppressant meds and will need extra care for a whole year. We learned how to prepare her food as well as how to physically care for her. Craig went on home after a couple days to get some work done and spend a bit of time with our other children. Meanwhile, I took Anna to her appointments and then we hung out. Anna and Daniel enjoyed the basketball court down the street from the Ronald McDonald House. The fresh air was refreshing and the exercise great!

Thursday we had an appointment with the G.I. doctor. He is a specialist on the liver. Back in January, I started noticing Anna's eyes were looking a bit yellow. This concerned me because the meds she was on can cause liver damage, so I called and asked for her liver to be checked. It turned out that her bilirubin and liver enzymes were both considerably elevated. However, her ultrasound showed a normal looking liver, for which we were relieved. Well, fast forward to Thursday's appointment, and Dr. Macdonald said that that week was the first week since January that her liver numbers were in the normal range. He was pleased to see the numbers going down, but wanted to see good numbers for a few weeks before subjecting her to the liver damaging chemo. We were a bit discouraged but knew that we would find out for sure the next day what was going to happen when we met with our transplant team doc, Dr. Woolfrey. Friday's meeting went well. Anna looks really good! Her body is in great shape for transplant, but we need to wait and let her liver "cool down" a bit. The Gleevec and Nilotinib caused some liver damage, but her liver was repairing itself and as her Dasatinib is working well to beat down the cancer cells, we have the time to wait. Going into conditioning (chemo) now would put Anna at too high a risk for liver failure, and once we begin, there is no turning back. Again, we were a bit discouraged as this process has been stop and go from the beginning, but we do know and rest in the knowledge that this is all in God's timing, not ours. So with this news, our next appointment was cancelled and we were free to go home, until April 30 when we will begin intake all over again. This time won't be as long as we don't need to retake all the classes, but there will be plenty of blood work to be done! We do still need to go in for weekly blood draws and checks until then and will probably be seeing Dr. Irwin for that.

We have been looking at all of the positives that this delay has for us: We ALL got to go home and be together as a family, we ALL got to go to church on Easter Sunday, I should be getting over my "all day" sickness by the time she is going through chemo, and Anna will get to start out in a new room rather than start in an old room and be transferred half way through, Dr. Woolfrey will be the attending doctor while Anna is at Children's (the docs have a rotation and this will be her turn!). We know that God has a plan and a purpose for everything. And we are thankful for a bit of extra time together before everything begins.....

Please pray for our housing situation. There is a possibility of a six bedroom house for us to rent. The owner desires to lease it to us from April to August. And then he plans to try selling it. It is unfurnished, so we will need to move some of our things over, and the house needs a little bit of elbow grease to be ready for us. We are seeking the Lord's direction in this as we desire to keep our family as close as possible during this four + month journey. Thank you all for your continued love, support, and prayers! We are humbled by everyone's desire to be a blessing to our entire family!!!