Good News

Great news :) her scans showed improvement!! Her MIBG scan showed less uptake and decreased activity and "Naughty Randall" has shrunk and by the sounds of it quite a bit!! Praise Jesus!! We are still waiting on her bone marrow biopsy!! 

We will get all the specifics this weekend and I will let everyone know the details... But by what we have heard so far it is great!!

Thanks for all your prayers!! Go Team Addie 😊 

On a side note... Her counts were amazing again today and she has been in such a good mood and feeling so good!!  God is so good!!

Happy Birthday

Our Little Miss is three years old!!  We couldn't have asked for a better day!! So many things lined up perfectly to make her day a success!! She didn't need a G-csf shot, she was home, her counts were "normal," and most importantly she was HAPPY... All answers to prayers!!  

We celebrated with a family birthday party at Grandma and Grandpa's, a special thank you to them for having all of us and for cooking!! Her only request was a monkey cake, a small one and a big one... She is obsessed with "naughty" monkeys, we can thank her Daddy for that!

So blessed to be this little girl's Mommy!! Here is to many, many more wonderful birthday celebrations for our Addie Bean!!

The girls and I made birthday tie-dyes to wear... It was really fun for the girls to do and they actually turned out pretty good!! We will definitely be doing it again!!  I will try and post a picture of the whole crew sometime!

Scans

Scans are underway!! 

She was in such good spirits this morning and I only heard a few times,  "milky warmed up Mom!" There were a few tears after she was told no, but for Addie a few tears is nothing... That girl can really throw a tantrum and we didn't have any of those this morning!!! She requested McDonalds, a Hershey's bar, Cheetos, cheese crackers and milky warmed up when she wakes up!! We have everything but the McDonalds which we will get on the drive home! My wonderful Momma and niece, Kaylee, came yesterday so they could make the trip back and forth with us!! It is nice to have company!

The times when she is taken away from me are the hardest!! Fortunately, we had our favorite sedation nurse, Holly, and a very nice Dr. taking care of her today!! 

We won't hear about the results until Monday and once we know I will make sure and update everyone!!  He hears our prayers and we are going to get some good news :)

We were met with good news... Her labs came back from this morning and no more shots!! Her counts are high enough, which means no shots on her birthday... Praise Jesus!!

My Girl

I love this Little Miss more than imaginable! Thank you Lord for letting me be her Mother!!

I love this picture... My sweet little baby!! Taken by her Aunt TT ❤️

Stem Cells and Home

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!! That is the tune we were singing today leaving the hospital!! 

Our day started with hearing that Addie's counts went way up... Her ANC was over 1000, YAY!! We also heard that her stem cell collection would be today!  

I was definitely overwhelmed with the stem cell collection... keeping a very busy two year old in a bed for over three hours (not during nap time) would give any Mom anxiety and then I also get the stress of the actual procedure!

The procedure was very rocky the whole way through.  There were multiple points during her collection that we thought her lines were not going to work and that a catheter in her groin would be needed, but once again the Lord prevailed and prayers were answered!!  

We were taking a break for the second time after 2 1/2 hours of collecting to put what I refer to as Drain-O in her white lumen/line (Cath-flow or TPA is what I think it is technically called? It is a chemical that breaks up clots in her line and removes blockages).  Her white lumen tends to be a bit finicky and today was no exception.  It was clogging and causing the machine to shut off.  It was also causing the machine to collect at a very slow rate.  We were told that if the Cath-flow didn't work this time we would have to put the additional catheter into Addie's groin to finish the collection, a surgery that would have added risks and also added pain.  

There is a maximum amount of blood that can be removed during a stem cell harvest.  Addie's collection was going very slow and because of this we were going to exceed that maximum amount before we reached our targeted amount of stem cells.  It definitely isn't beneficial for a little lady who is already struggling to maintain her hemoglobin and platelet levels to have excess blood removed.  

Just as we placed the Cath-flow the nurses received a call from the doctor stating that Addie's blood test had come back and her stem cell circulation was through the roof!! It was so high in fact that the amount we had already struggled to collect (far less than what was planned) was going to be more than enough!!! The amount they require is 20 and Addie had 197... Praise Jesus, what an awesome God we have!! 

So to sum up a very long and wordy story... Stem cell harvest was a success, more than a success, a VICTORY!! Hopefully the beginning of many victories along this road to defeat Naughty Randall!  

Please continue to pray that Addie's scans on Friday show profound improvements and that her bone marrow biopsy shows no circulating cancer cells!! Also pray that she would have minimal pain following the biopsy and that she would feel good for her birthday and the few days she has at home!!

Overwhelmed

I am so overwhelmed right now with thankfulness!!! My heart overflows ❤️ With thankfulness and love for all of YOU, for my amazing family, and for our Heavenly Father!

I can't begin to tell you all how much I appreciate everything that everyone has been doing for us!!! It is unbelievable how much love and support Addie and our family has received!! The word thank you just isn't enough... I wish there was a way I could hug each and everyone of you and tell you in person how much all of your support means to me!!

Thank you, thank you!! We are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing and giving people!! Thank you Lord for these kind and caring souls you have placed in our lives, you continue to shower us with Your blessings and make Your love for us known!  

Go Team Addie ❤️

Fever Free

Addie has been fever free for 48 hours and feeling good!! She had to have a blood and platelet transfusion, which are both par for the course.  We are waiting for her counts to come up and each day brings us closer to that magic number of 500!!   Her stem cell harvest will likely be today or tomorrow and then she has her scans on Friday!! We will basically be in Iowa City all week either inpatient or outpatient.
Yesterday was a great day!! Grandma Carol and Gracie came to stay and the girls got to play all day together!! I feel so much peace when we are all together as a family, whether it be at home or here!! The hardest times for me are when we are separated!  Who would have thought two months ago that the bulk of our summer would be spent in a hospital room!  Life can still be good and happy... It is all about what we make of it and choose to focus on!!
Please pray that her stem cell harvest will go as planned and that her scans show vast improvement... Most importantly pray that Addie is someday free of all of this and can grow up a healthy child and live a long and happy life!!!
Thank you everyone for all your love and support!!

The girls found some hats and wore them all afternoon while riding their bikes.

Pink Cheeks

Addie is doing good!! She is in very high spirits and riding her bike around the halls.  She has had to share "her" bike this time which has been interesting.  She had a blood transfusion (all expected following chemo) last night and is feeling like a million bucks this morning, she even has some pink in her cheeks :) 

We will likely be here for at least a few more days waiting for her white count to rise!! So far there has been no reason for the fever other than her counts being low... Praise Jesus!!  

Fever City

Well the fever is here! We got one extra day at home which we are very thankful!!  Addie started running a low grade fever around 8:10 last night and we were in Iowa City being admitted by 11:00.  She is feeling good, other than the fever.  Her spirits are good and she doesn't act or appear sick, praise Jesus!  Praying it is nothing and solely due to the fact her counts are low!
Please pray that she doesn't have any infections and that we will be out of here in three days!  That is the minimum amount of time for a fever!  To be discharged she will need to be fever free for 24 hours and have an ANC above 500, otherwise it will be a five or seven day stay! We need her healthy for her stem cell harvest this coming week !!
Prayers and lots of them please!!

Does this cutie pie look sick to you?! 

HOME

God is good, so good!! We are still home... yesterday was the day last round that Addie started running a fever and had to go back to the hospital, but here we are today still at home!! Praise Jesus!!

Her counts are very low, uncomfortably low but she is still very active, happy and NOT running a fever.  I thank Jesus for everyday we get to be home with Addie and up to this point we have had a lot of them!! 

Life has been really good here, so good matter of fact that we have to remind ourselves that this is actually happening.  I still get scared daily of what is to come and what the final outcome will be but I pray and I pray and I TRUST that God will heal my little baby!!  I TRUST that I will get to watch her grow up and she will live a LONG and very happy life!  

Thanks to everyone for all your support and prayers... Please continue to pray for COMPLETE healing!! Also pray for LOTS and LOTS of good days at home, where Addie can be a "normal" kid and enjoy time with her sisters, family and friends!  Please continue to pray that her scans will show PROFOUND improvements and that she will stay healthy in between rounds of chemotherapy.  

LOTS of LOVE from us here at the Brenden house!!

Please feel free to share our site, the more people we have praying for our Addie Bean the better!!!

Round 2 Complete

We are HOME again!! It is amazing how much you appreciate being home when you have been away and also how much you appreciate FAMILY time when you haven't been all together!!! Honestly, going through this we appreciate everything so much more than we ever did or would have!! Praise Jesus for all the "normal" moments we have!!!  It is the small things that we find so much joy in!

Round two went good... We had a little fever scare but luckily it went away as fast as it came!  We almost had to stay an extra few days due to Addie's white count being low but miraculously it came up... 200 points!! The nurse and Dr. both were not expecting that and were pleasantly surprised!! The Lord knew that we all needed to be a family again... Even if it is only for a few days, we needed to be home, ALL together!

Addie is doing amazing and and she did amazing the whole week!! She has been in great spirits and has been feeling really good!! Her appetite definitely decreased this round but this morning 
it already seems to be coming back.  She enjoyed cheese crackers and a popsicle for breakfast... No judgements, if she will eat it, I give it to her :). We have so much to be thankful for, so much!!! 

Addie has a lot coming up in the next two weeks... Stem cell harvest, scans and a third birthday :) please pray all goes well for Addie over the next few weeks and that she stays healthy and happy!! Big prayers that her harvest goes well and she doesn't require an additional catheter to get them and also that her scans are encouraging, better yet... record breaking!!!! Also that we could be home for her birthday on the 29th!! 

Thank you everyone!! For everything!! We love you and appreciate you all!! Please keep praying for our little sweetheart and that someday she will be cancer free and cancer free FOREVER!!

Her Bike

It was almost a disaster upon arrival here... Addie's bike was not in the playroom!!! She has taken ownership of this little green John Deere tricycle here at the University! She refers to it as her bike and it is also how she keeps this hospital apart from Covenant... "My green bike hospital!" Before we left last time another little girl about her age was riding it and Addie didn't love that... She is still saying, "Mom, that girl ride my bike!" 
The nurses went on a bike hunt as soon as they saw just how important this bike was and in no time Veronica brought it to our room... She is now one of Addie's forever favorites :) 
We/she now make sure to keep it in her room at all times!  It is literally how we spend 85% of our free time!!

Daddy is the tower master!! So coordinated, finally those athletic skills put to good use!!

This Naughty Nancy brings lots of smiles as she cruises down the halls!

So much love to her Mommy... "Mom, I love you so much!" I never tire of hearing those words!

Our sweet little hospital visitor! Always a smile, always bringing happiness

Round 2

Here we go round 2... One more round closer to having Naughty Randall gone!! We will be in Iowa City until Saturday if all goes as planned!  Nothing major for this week, just chemo and a hearing screening.  The chemo she gets this round is the same as round 1 so hopefully she will be respond the same as last time!!  After this round we have a lot planned.  She will have her first round of scans, another bone marrow biopsy and her stem cell harvest!!! 
Lots to pray for... Pray that her little body stays strong for another round of chemo, that the chemo is killing this awful cancer, that her stem cell harvest goes as planned, that we avoid any bacterial infections, that she feels good and is her normal crazy self and that her scans show MAJOR improvements!!  They told us that we may not see any major differences yet and it may take four rounds before we can really see a difference on the scans but God is good and I think He is already shrinking it!!  She has been pain-free and that is such a blessing and a good indicator that at least it isn't growing and hopefully it is shrinking!!  I want total destruction and cancer free for an eternity :) let's go Miracle Maker... Please Jesus!!!  
So much to be thankful for, we had such an amazing week at home... Crazy just how normal it felt!!
Thanks everyone for your support and continual prayers and a special thanks for all the delicious food and gifts!! 
Lots of Love

Happy Haircut

Look at this little cutie pie!!! She had a great hair cut team... Thank you big sister and Daddy!!

Swing Swing Swing

Yay... We have a swing set!!!
Thank you Grandpa and Grandma for an early birthday present, Aunt Erica for making a phone call and to KT's Backyard Adventures for helping us and making it all possible!!! 
We truly are blessed!! Happiness is possible even when you think it couldn't be... It is the small things that you often wouldn't even realize that make the biggest difference in times like these!!  God is always here and He is good!!

 

No more shots

Life is good here at the Brenden household!!! If it weren't for gobs of hair everywhere you wouldn't even know our little Miss was sick!! We have went through a few lint rollers!! 
She has been doing so good since we have been home... Praying that continues!!!
We did bloodwork at home Thursday and the results were amazing!!! Her immune system count was 15000, which was 5000 more than we even needed!!! Woot woot... No more shots!!! Praise The Lord!! God is good!!! She was so excited, we danced!!! :)

Home

We are home and it feels so good!!! 
I had the worst night I have had in quite some time, prayed, prayed and prayed some more and here we are, HOME!!! Thank you Jesus!!! 

Rode her bike all the way to the car

Mommy and Daddy got mani/pedis

Covenant

Fever free today and yesterday!! Yay!!! If her blood work comes back good tomorrow then we will get to come home! Fingers are crossed and prayers have been said!!! We head back to Iowa City on Monday for round 2 of chemo. We are hoping to have a few good days at home all together before it is hospital time again! She is back to her sassy self and ordering Reed and I around!! Covenant has been absolutely wonderful and I can't say enough positive things about the nursing staff and the care we received... They dedicated the whole back wing to Addie Bean so that way she could leave her room and ride her bike!!! They put caution tape down and everything, just for her!! She was spoiled rotten today by Emily... She adores her!!! Thank you ladies for making our stay as positive as possible!! The hair loss has begun. Addie doesn't seem to mind and loves to yank and hand it to us. The only time it bothers her is when it gets in her paci, haha!! Looking back, I think The Lord knew it would be best for us to be in the hospital for this time, he knew Reed wouldn't be able to handle all that stray hair around the house!!! He just hates hair!!! Comical he was blessed with all girls... He will be surrounded by hair for his lifetime! I have been struggling a bit during this stay in the hospital, just letting my fear and anxieties get the best of me! The NMYC amplification really bothered me... It all bothers me!! I try and remind myself that the diagnosis and the statistics mean nothing (Reed reminds me of this, he has been so strong and so positive), we have no control of these things (or anything) and to worry about them is a waste of time and energy! I need to TRUST that He will carry all of us through this storm and that Addie can be His miracle... He can HEAL her!! Please Jesus, heal my baby!!

      

Jun 1st Addie Update

It is a good day :) she is looking better and better each day! She still has a fever but that is par for the course we are told. She likely has a viral infection and 5-6 days of a fever is normal. We thought for sure she would need a transfusion today but her blood work came back and her Hb stayed the same... Praise Jesus!! Her white count is slowly going up also :) now we just need her platelets to follow!! She is getting back to her spunky self and ordering Reed and I around again, that is our Addie Bean! Covenant has been wonderful, we feel so loved here and well taken care of by the nursing staff and our pediatrician! Praise Jesus again... There are good things happening, lots of them!! We just have to clear our minds and hearts to see them!!! Lots of love and a thankful heart to everyone!!! All of your kind messages and prayers make my heart smile!! ❤️