It's Denise Finally With An Ella Update

Hello….this won’t be a very long post as it is late and I am looking forward to bed but I really wanted to get on here a say a few things. First of all……thanks so much to Heather for getting the word out there so quickly about Ella so that the prayers could begin ASAP!!! Secondly, I wanted to tell everyone THANK YOU SO MUCH for all of your support. I have to admit that I have really been pretty strong so far but one of the few things that has brought me to tears on this journey so far has been the OVERWHELMING support of my friends…..most of which I have never even met. When I got on the computer at the hospital this morning and saw all of your comments as well as how many of you did posts on your own blogs so that others could be praying for Ella, I wept. I can’t remember a time when I have felt such love…..thanks again.

Now for a quick update to Heather’s update. Since I last spoke with Heather, they decided to start Ella on chemo tonight!!! I guess she has some fluid around her heart and they are worried it could be leukemia cells and don’t want the extra fluid to cause her blood pressure to fall so they wanted to start the chemo right away to see if the fluid will decrease. If it doesn’t, then they will have to look at aspirating it directly. They have also decided NOT to put the broviac line in until after chemo is completed in 4 days unless a problem arises with the femoral line.
Surprisingly, I came home tonight. I hadn’t planned on staying in the hospital when I left my house on friday and therefore have some loose ends to tie up at home and also needed to spend some time with Abbey and Emma who hadn’t seen their mom in a couple of days. I asked the doctor when he thought would be the best time for me to come home and he thought tonight as she was just starting the chemo so there shouldn’t be much action. My mom came and stayed with her for the night. It was hard to leave her as she hasn’t wanted to be with anyone but me but I knew she had to get used to being with other people as I will have to leave sometimes and daddy is working tonight so it was grandma’s turn. She settled in for the night pretty easily so hopefully I will be able to rest peacefully tonight.

As for Ella, she is doing OK!! Yesterday, they sedated her to put in the femoral line, do a lumbar puncture and do the bone marrow biopsy. She has been really out of it since and pretty fussy. We finally figured out tonight that her bone marrow site is really sore. She wouldn’t sit up in her bed and we couldn’t figure out why until the nurse touched it while checking the bandage and she flinched. She definitely hasn’t been herself since yesterday and this was all since before starting the chemo so I am not sure if she was just starting to feel sicker or if it is just the repercussions of the surgery. All I know is that when I look at the pictures below, she looked just fine and healthy until we got into the hospital and they started messing with her. But we know this is all to make her healthy again so we will trudge along. And you have no idea how good it is to know that we have a village of people at our side. We have been blessed with visitors everyday so far and I hope that doesn’t change as I think it will really help keep my spirits up. THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!!! Here are a few pictures of our journey so far.

Ella weighing in at 24 lbs 9 oz at the clinic

before we knew this would be a long hospital stay :(

Getting comfy in the hospital bed while
watching Baby Signing Times

Opening her first gift from my friends Margie and Mary

Awww...a kitty cat!!

Someone is probably messing with her again...she is DONE

with everyone touching her!!

Notice the petechiae (red spots) on her face from all

the intense crying and the bruised arm

Hanging in there

Here comes the nasty stuff!! Notice Ella lying down in

the background

YUCK!!!

Thankfully daddy remembered to bring her baby doll from

home. Also notice one of the two beautiful blankets that

we have already been given at the hospital.