T Minus 9: Prayers for Radiation

Just a quick post to update you on the plan, let you know what the schedule for the week is and what you can be thinking about and praying about for Abby & Anna as well as the rest of our family.

Overview:
We're a bit nervous to get started.  Abby is doing good, not cold, good spirits and fun to have at home.  It's going to be hard to give that up and start this all back up again.  But, pretending that she is well doesn't really work either, so, off we go.  In other news, our house looks like a small pharmacy. Tiffany and I are both on antibiotics for sinus infections, Lily just came down with a chest cold tonight and Anna is still recovering from her last cold.  The focus is now shifting from keeping Abby well to keeping Anna well too!  So, Lily has a room to herself tonight and Anna is in our room on the floor.  Pray she stays well and that the rest of us get better soon!

Schedule and Specifics:
Tomorrow Abby starts Total Body Irradiation (TBI). She has marker all over her torso so they know where to aim and where to not aim as much.  There are a lot of possible long-term side-effects with radiation. And then short term ones too like nausea.  If I could selectively aim the X-Rays at just the cancer cells and miss everything else that would be great, I'm praying that every ray would land on a cancer cells and the rest of the rays wouldn't cause any damage.

• April 5th, 6th, and 7th: 8am-9am and 2pm-3pm she'll be getting radiation
• Pray that she will be comfortable while she's in there all by herself.
• Pray for no longterm side effects from this treatment (the list is below)

Here are the specific side-effects that we are most concerned about: 

• Pituitary and Thyroid gland damage can occur (they create all of the major hormones like cortisol, growth hormones, sex hormones, and more) -please pray against that damage.
• Liver and Lung damage (they block out some of the rays to these area because they are more sensitive). Pray against this damage and for a speedy recovery for other organs too.
• Brain function -can cause you to have a loss of memory, attention, and other cognitive functions can be impacted.
• Fertility -most girls become infertile after this procedure from damage to the eggs, but some bone marrow transplant survivors still have had children, pray she could have that option somehow in the future.
• Pray that mouth/intestine sores will be minimal if any and nausea will be minimal too.
• That mentally she will be peaceful during and after these procedures.

Sickville and beyond:

• Pray that Anna stays well and Lily gets over this cold quickly.
• That all of us can sleep well during this next week and beyond.
• That Tiffany and I can recover soon.
• That Abby has minimal nausea, pain, sores, and other side-effect from the radiation and Chemo which is on the 8th-11th.
• That Anna stays well until the transplant (and through recovery too)

That we all will have as much peace as we can, that we can walk in a strength that isn't our own and that we will not doubt or have fear about the coming weeks and months of this journey.

Thanks all,

-The Dad