Michaela's Valentine's Day -- back in the hospital

 
Well, we were able to enjoy being home from the hospital for a week, but a bacterial infection landed Michaela back at Children's Hospital.  Because she has no immune system right now, any form of infection or virus can be fatal.  So when she spiked a fever above 101 on Valentine's Day, we rushed to the hospital where she was immediately admitted.  The doctors have determined that Michaela has a Strep G infection in her blood, and will need constant IV antibiotics over the next 2 weeks.  Beyond that, they will only allow us to go home when her white blood cell count starts to rise.  Unfortunately, the chemotherapy she receives keeps her white blood cells from growing, so we may be here for quite a long haul. 


We've been so blessed by help from close family and friends who have pitched in to deliver us meals (even in the hospital!) and special gifts and treats for the girls, spend time with Madeline while Jon tries to get to work for a few hours each day and I stay with Michaela in the hospital, and one kind soul even covered our front yard with helium balloons for Valentines Day (picture above).  We are beyond grateful to the folks who are showering us with God's love during this time.  Children's Hospital has now become somewhat of a second home for us.  We are getting to know some of the other families in the cancer ward (some with stories so heartbreaking I find myself standing at the shared refrigerator crying with them).  We are getting to know the regular nurses well.  And we are discovering the best hours to eat in the cafeteria (1-4 a.m.). 


Michaela is doing well considering all that is happening in her little body.  She continues to be weak and exhausted, but she has been very sweet with the nurses and doctors who constantly come by to bother her.  She can't have visitors beyond immediate family, but one of her parents is always with her through the night and day.   I am amazed at her fighting spirit, and she has become my hero.  Big Sis Madeline has been a wonderful support for her sister, and has had a very positive attitude about the change in our family life.  She's enjoying a lot more play dates these days and a lot less school time (other than the anatomy study the whole family is engaged in as we learn more about leukemia).  Baby Werner is doing well through all of this and is due to be born sometime in mid-March.  We are hoping we will be home from the hospital by then, but if not we are getting our contingency plans in place.  


We are relying on God's strength to get through these weeks at the hospital.  We know this is the best place for Michaela, as she can be constantly monitored and cared for by the amazing doctors here.  But the days are long and difficult and we struggle as a family to make sense of all of this.  Nevertheless, we trust in God's faithfulness even through the fire.  For how can we claim that He is good only in times of plenty?  No, He is good ALL the time.  As the song says: 

"Blessed be Your name 
When the sun's shining down on me  
When the world's 'all as it should be'  
Blessed be Your name!  

Blessed be Your name  
On the road marked with suffering 
Though there's pain in the offering 
Blessed be Your name!"