Praise, Requests and Pictures

Very good news today about Abby. She has ZERO Leukemia cells in her bone marrow now, so the chemo is working properly. Her doctors are very optimistic that she will be in remission in 2 weeks. Her liver problems seem to have corrected as well and what we thought were going to be serious complications, appear to be less serious than they suspected. Her doctors are still waiting for results from one liver test, but we are very encouraged by the results that we already have.

Now the purpose of the chemo is to 1) find any Leukemia that is "hiding" elsewhere in her body, 2) keep the Leukemia from coming back (this will take 6 months), and 3) for 2.5 years of treatment (chemo), keep her "Leukemia-free". After decades of medical history, they know this is the optimal treatment time to achieve the 90% cure rate they now have for her type of Leukemia.

That's all great news for the big picture, but... poor Abby had a REALLY tough day after the bone marrow aspiration and chemo. She has been throwing up and going to the bathroom non-stop, and just looks pitiful. Her hair appears to be starting to fall out. She hasn't moved off our lap all day.

So rejoice with us that she seems to be heading towards remission, and pray with us that her little 28lb. body will endure the discomfort and quickly recover.

Would you please pray that:

• Praise God for the healing that has already taken place
  
• For relief from her stomach problems. She has lost 3 pounds this week.
  
• That the liver tests would come back negative
  
  
  This picture was taken on Wednesday at the clinic. The chemo was making her so sick.
  
  
  The rest of the pictures were taken last weekend. Abby usually has a few days were she is feeling better, in between rounds of chemo. She is such a sweet girl, even when she is feeling bad. We are praying that she will have some good days this weekend.

Samrawit has a reunion this weekend. A lot of the older kids from her orphanage will be meeting on Saturday about 9 hours from us. Sami has talked about seeing the girls for months. The plan is for Michelle to take her, if Abby is doing OK. Please pray that Abby will have a good weekend, that things will go smoothly at home and that the reunion will be fun for Samrawit. Please also say a prayer for me (Michelle). It is going to be so hard to leave Abby, but it is important for all of our children to know that we love them and that we are going to take care of them, even in the midst of caring for Abby.