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!! ❤️

May 30th Addie Update

Update... Our first week home was almost a success, Addie had been feeling so good, only wanted to be outside and play, play, play!! We took a little turn last night and she started running a fever... Which was expected at some point over the two weeks we were home, more of a surprise if she wouldn't have! So we are now at Covenant (praise Jesus we can be here and not all the way in Iowa City) they have been wonderful here!! She is on close watch and visitors are limited... Basically just Mom and Dad! She is tired and definitely not feeling good, praying that she will perk up quickly and her counts will come back up so we have to spend the least amount of time here, but likely a week due to how low her counts are! We also got another piece of bad news... Seems that is all we get with Naughty Randall, he is the worst of the worst, which we already knew and expected. Her NMYC was amplified, which they expected and is pretty typical for stage 4 Neuroblastoma!! What that means is that her tumor is aggressive and much more likely to return!!! The good news... I try to always find that in all this yuck, is that she has been virtually pain free since the chemo, rarely have had to give her any pain medication!!! That is a great sign that things are shrinking!!!! Pray, pray that our little sweetheart stays tough and kicks this thing so hard it never returns!!! Prayer and hope is all we have during this time... please Jesus take this away and away forever!! Thanks for all your love and support!!!

Home

Addie is doing so well... Better than I could have ever imagined considering what she has already gone through!! She went from the healthiest girl (never needing to have an antibiotic) to already over 50 beads on her Beads for Bravery necklace! She is such a strong willed, happy girl! Since we have been home all she wants to do is be outside... two weeks in a dark hospital room explains why! Home has been hard for Mommy. It feels so normal and life is so far from normal... I have to remind myself to take it day by day and remain hopeful that our Heavenly Father will heal my beautiful little girl and take this all away!! Why did this happen?! I will never understand why but I have to trust that we will all come away from this horrific situation a better, happier family with three perfectly healthy girls!! Please Jesus let this be the case, let me watch my baby girl grow up... I can't imagine a life without her, nor do I allow myself! A life without my Addie Bean is a life that I do not want to live!! Thank you everyone for all of your prayers and support!! Thanks for the lovely gifts for the girls and the gift cards, money and food! We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!! Please continue your prayers for our sweet Addie... Lots of love ❤️

May 24th Addie Update

Should be coming home today :) first round of chemo is in the books!! She has been doing so good... Just our normal wild woman with a pole attached "the robot!" She is getting a transfusion today, so she will only be wilder :) It is scary and overwhelming to come home but we are so anxious to have our family together again!!! Life will forever be different but different isn't always bad... We talked with a man the other day whose son was diagnosed last year with stage 4 Neuroblastoma (just like Addie), whom I am positive was sent here by God to talk with us... He brought us comfort and peace with Addie's diagnosis and encouragement that life doesn't get worse but better, because you have such a better appreciation of life and your family!! Please continue to pray that Addie stays strong and her spirits stay up and mostly that "Naughty Randall" (the Neuroblastoma) will be gone forever!!!! Thanks for all your love and support!! Cedar Falls here we come :)