Daddy is home

Jay is back home, and we have had no more ER runs. Sarah is doing fine and has just had to go to the clinic for routine blood checks and chemo.

It is nice to have these normal days. Some might say boring, but we praise God for boring:)

Although, with three little girls and a jetlagged daddy, you might think our days are anything but normal. Just trying to get through the homeschool daily schedule, keep Rebekah from coloring on everything in sight(where does she get these writing instruments?), and trying to catch my breath as I carry my big belly from one room to the next, is enough to keep us busy.

Drop by if you'd like to visit. We would love to see you and take advantage of this lull in sickness at our house and ER visits.

We did have a fun outing to the bookstore tonight. When Sarah Grace was in-patient not too long ago, she was shocked that the library at Children's Medical Center in Plano didn't have any American Girl books. So she decided to buy some and give them to the hospital library. We went tonight and she took her money and my coupon (my new thing of not going anywhere without a coupon) and bought 8 books in all. She was so very happy!

ER round 2

We just got back from the ER tonight-yes, again. Sarah got another fever this evening, high enough to call the hospital, and they said we had to come in. It was only a 3.5 hour visit this time, and now we play the waiting game again and watch if her fever goes up again and wait to see if the hospital calls with a germ in her blood. Her blood counts have come down but only to 1900, which is still good enough to come home and continue on as normal, well normal for us:)

I am still betting this is a virus that will hopefully run its course soon!

Thanks to technology though we are able to keep Daddy posted and he is able to be in on decisions and much needed support. As we sat in our ER room in Children's Medical in Plano, Jay texted my phone from his meeting in Cambodia!

Well, off to get a little rest as you never know what tomorrow will bring:)

Past 24 hours and still clear

We have made it past 24 hours with no high fevers and the hospital hasn't called saying the blood culture has grown any bacteria. So we are out of red alert and back down to orange.

Thank you for the encouraging emails and for checking up on us. I can't believe a week has gone by already, and we just have one more week to go until Jay returns.

With the Clark Family Schedule on the blackboard in the kitchen and with a few errands and classes for the girls here and there, the time moves along nicely each day. And of course, rest time for all from 1-3pm is faithfully enforced for the sanity of all - or maybe mostly for mommy's.

We do miss seeing our friends around here though and would love to have you for a visit anytime:)

Short ER Visit-just 3 hours!

Sarah got a fever over 101.5 in the wee morning hours 3am, and after waiting an hour or so and her temp to confirm a few times, we had to call the hospital and then come to the ER for IV antibiotics and to take her blood to see what germ she has. But now we get to go home until they hear back from the lab on the blood culture results. Her ANC (good white blood count) is over 4000 which is a big jump from yesterday when it was 1390 at clinic. So it looks like her body is fighting something. I just pray we don't have to be admitted to the hospital to continue fighting it.

Sarah looks pretty good though and feels fine to go home.

I am a bit excited that we can hit Chick-fila on the way home for a chicken biscuit!

House Dish Washer is Missing

I just realized that our house dish washer hasn't been to work in a couple of days when I came into the kitchen and saw both sides of the sink with mountains of dirty dishes. Jay does so much around here that he leaves big gaps when he is gone. Which reminds me that I must go out in the freezing rain before the sun comes up to put out the garbage can (after filling it with the trash from our house). I am counting down the 13 days left until Jay gets back from Asia.

Jay doesn't just give our family practical help. He also leads our family spiritually which are big shoes to fill when he is gone as he leads our morning family devotions. I have decided to capitalize on the 'all girl' aspect of our house during this time and do a mother/daughter devotion with the girls called The Princess and the Kiss. We have only done one so far and all I can say is I managed not to lose it at Rebekah as she shuffles around whining and crying loudly the whole time, at Hannah for her extreme handicapped in focusing and listening, and at Sarah for not ever wanting to admit that there is any hint of wrong in her life (such a perfectionistic attitude surely isn't coming from me:)!). I need to pray more before we start these little sessions as I really want to model for the girls to deny self and follow Christ in his love and sacrifice.

I was highly motivated to make it to church this morning as I am the sole guardian right now, so I am all there is even when I'm being pushed to the edge. Worshipping God renewed my soul and refreshed my weary heart to continue after Jesus. After making it home in the blizzard the girls played a bit in the snow and we made snow ice cream. Thank you God for such a fun and beautiful time.

If you don't hear back from me, I am either doing really badly and have blown it so much that the growling mommy voice is all I have left, or I am doing really well and I need every once of mental and emotional capacity to keep going. I do know that by prayer and supplication, by meditating on God's words, and by keeping focused on Him - the miracle of modeling the denial of self and following of Christ will happen. And in my weakness, He is strong.

A new beginning

Today I rejoice because I am sitting at the gymnastics class not just watching Hannah, but Sarah Grace also. She is running, smiling, jumping and having fun. As this time last year she was weak, tired and sick. God continues to heal her and it brings so much joy to see her enjoying life a little.

Overall Sarah is doing really good. They have stabilized her liver enzymes, her ability to metabolize the toxicity of the chemo along with keeping a high metabolism that fights off the return of cancer cells are all really good. Her ANC is leveled at 1500 which they want so all in all we are thankful that everything is finally stabilizing. Of course, she has her spinal tap on Wednesday which is a nasty reminder that some things in 2011 will not change. She is already nervous about the procedure so please be praying for her. After Wed, we will only have 5 more to go!!! (once every three months ending in April 2012)

Also, I ask for your prayers as I start on another trip. It is ironic that I will be in Hong Kong on January 15th which is the one year anniversary of her diagnosis. It might be harder than I think but what I have realized in remembering 2010 is not just the hurt but the awesome presence of Jesus, which brings joy in the midst of the trial.