Quick update & Prayer Request

Elizabeth continues to recover from her low counts at home. We have been home for almost a week now, and thankfully, haven't had to be re-admitted in spite of a few minor set backs.

Elizabeth has been running low grade fevers, but they have seemed to stop (although she's been on a lot of tylenol for tummy aches and generalized body pain, and that always masks a fever). Her diarrhea has lessened, which is a huge blessing. The IV antibiotics that she was on while inpatient make her already constant diarrhea nearly unbearable, so the fact that her bowel movements are returning to her normal is great.

We spent the morning at CHLA getting blood drawn. Elizabeth's ANC is way up (yay for GCSF!) and she is no longer in a critical low count state. However, Elizabeth's bilirubin is way up. On Saturday Dad noticed that Elizabeth was looking a little yellow, and sure enough, she is at 2.5 (up from 0.6!). We don't know what is causing it, but we are hoping that this repeat jaundicing (last time was while inpatient in July) is related to all the IV antibiotics she was on recently (just like in July). We hope it is not a sign of near future liver failure or chemotherapy toxicity that could stop her current (and future) treatment.

Elizabeth is doing well otherwise, though she is irritable and tired. She misses school terribly (but has enjoyed her new princess sticker workbook from Angel Pat), and I'm thankful that her counts will no longer be an immediate hindrance to getting back to school. She is getting used to her semi-bald head (she still has bangs and some hair on the very top of her scalp... Dad calls it a "very bad comb-over" out of her earshot, of course) and just loves the soft pink cap that Angel Janet sent for her. She is still insisting we get some kind of fake hair for her, though, so I'm exploring all the options.

The bad news is that her AFP is up to 72,000. We had gone from 91,000 to 66,000 to 58,000, so this increase makes me sad. It is also, however, indicative that her thalidomide/etoposide treatment was having some effect on the cancer. She has been off treatment since 11/16 (due to the low counts), so the AFP rise isn't surprising--but it is still disappointing to me anyway.

My prayer request for you all is this:
Please pray that Elizabeth's body will stay strong enough, long enough.
That we will find a treatment that keeps her alive and happy.

Also, we have a friend who is currently inpatient (since Thanksgiving) who needs some prayers, too. He is only a few months older than Elizabeth and is fighting leukemia. He was only a baby when his 15 year-old brother lost his fight against the same disease. Tonight please add an extra prayer for Jacob, and all the rest of our babies fighting for their lives.