Abby's Army: At Home

Monday, May 25, 2009

At Home

We are all home and loving it! It will probably take a few days for everyone to get adjusted to being home (and to wash all our clothes) but we are glad to be here. We think we will get to be home for about 2 weeks before we go to St. Jude's and start the next round (chemo and/or radiation). So we are going to enjoy being home together since we don't know what the future holds for us.

Please continue to pray for Abby. She is still in pain but is having to take pain meds less frequently. Dr. Boop said it would be 2-3 weeks before she would feel like herself. We have crossed a big hurdle but there are more in the future so please don't stop praying for Abby and our family! We love you all!

"I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:6

6 comments:

TonyaMay 26, 2009 at 1:06 PM
So glad you are home!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies
justmeMay 26, 2009 at 1:16 PM
So Glad you are home!! We love you Abby. Paden and Trisha and I pray for you daily and they have asked all of their school friends to do the same. Trisha had to take a pic of you to school because so many children kept asking about you and she wanted to show you off. Just wanted you to know how special you are and that no matter what the outcome, God is in control and will guide you through. We love you, April, Paden, Trisha, Tisha Cannon!
ReplyDelete
Replies
Amanda BarberMay 26, 2009 at 1:36 PM
I'm so glad that you guys got to come home so quickly! We've missed you, and can't wait to see you back at church. God has been good!
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 27, 2009 at 5:24 AM
So glad to hear that you are home.
You have all been in my thoughts and
prayers...
Love,
Becky in Indiana
ReplyDelete
Replies
Debbie CannonMay 27, 2009 at 8:34 AM
So glad you are all home just relax and enjoy everyday God has given everyone a blessing in Abby and we will love her and be grateful. Just know we are still praying everyday for all of you.
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousMay 27, 2009 at 3:47 PM
I have just learned about Abby and my heart goes out to you. I will put Abby on our prayer list tonight at Church. You can be sure we will be praying for her. I have a little girl and her name is Abby too she sends your Abby her love and prayers. My Abby likes to sing in Church, she would love to send a special song out to your Abby, would that be possible? Love, In Christ, Crystal From: Grubbs First Baptist
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

How We Got to Here-Updated August 2010

It all started with very small seizures. We are not sure how long she had been having them but they were getting more frequent. On April 23, 2009, we took her to Dr. Baker who sent us to the ER at Arkansas Children's Hospital. An MRI revealed a large brain lesion and Abby was taken to the ICU for 3 days. She moved out of the ICU and spent a total of 8 days at Children's. We saw several doctors who were all pretty stumped by what they saw. It didn't look like anything-tumor, infection, swelling. They put her on an anti-viral medication in case it was infection. Another MRI showed no changes. Some doctors thought it was gliomatosis cerebri but some didn't agree with that diagnosis so they decided to take some spinal fluid to analyze. They had to take it from the brain though because of possible swelling. We spent another night in ICU.

After she was discharged we contacted MD Anderson in Houston and St. Jude's. We flew to Houston where another MRI was performed. They informed us that it was gliomatosis cerebri. St. Jude's called later that day and informed us that they felt it was gliomatosis cerebri. That was not what we wanted to hear-gliomatosis cerebri has a 5% survival rate. However, St. Jude's neurosurgeon, Dr. Boop, wanted to try to remove some of the tumor. This allowed for a biopsy of multiple pieces of the tumor. On May 22, 2009, Abby underwent brain surgery. Almost all of her right temporal lobe was removed. Abby had to spend another night in ICU, this time at LeBonheur in Memphis.

The biopsy results surprised us all, it was not gliomatosis cerebri, it was a low grade glioma! God had answered everyone's prayers! The plan was to begin chemotherapy to stop the tumor from growing but our neuro oncologist, Dr. Armstrong, wanted to wait a few weeks to see how this tumor was going to act. We were once again surprised-the tumor wasn't growing. No need for treatment!! And that is where we are today. It has been over a year, and the tumor still has not grown. It's still there, big and nasty, but it is quiet right now. We go to St. Jude's every 3 months for an MRI and other appointments to monitor the tumor.

Abby's Army

Monday, May 25, 2009

At Home

6 comments:

Abby Summer 2010

How We Got to Here-Updated August 2010

Followers

Blog Archive

Contributors