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!!