Continued Improvements

So the last time I posted (which to me doesn't feel that long ago) I left you with a pretty big cliffhanger in the form of a prayer request for an upcoming brain MRI.  We had that MRI on Tuesday and...


*drumroll*


NO BRAIN METS!

Sorry to those of you who assumed the worst due to radio silence.  I wish I had a better excuse, but this is probably what you should expect with me at the wheel instead of Ashleigh.  Thank you for your continued prayers, they are most assuredly working.  Not just for the big praise above, but also in lots of other ways I'll summarize in the next few paragraphs.

The rest of the week has resulted in continued improvements in Ashleigh's alertness, cognizance, energy, and pain level.  We had a catheter installed (inserted? placed? "installed" sounds too engineer-y) on Wednesday to drain some fluid around Ashleigh's right lung.  While there was some increased pain associated with that, it has ultimately resulted in her breathing much easier and getting off of supplemental oxygen entirely.

Her liver function has continued to improve, so it's no longer a concern as of this time.  Her counts are staying pretty steady thanks to booster injections and some platelet infusions.  Best of all, she's up and walking around frequently...really, more like doing laps around the floor to build up her endurance.  If you know Ashleigh you won't be surprised by her insistence to always do "just one more" trip up and down the hall before resting.

With the heavy caveat that we're still taking things one day at a time, the plan right now is to do her second chemo infusion on Monday then get her transferred to an inpatient rehab facility.  She would get lots of physical and occupational therapy there with the goal of continuing to increase her energy and independence to eventually get back home.

There are probably lots of other things a more exhaustive update would touch on, like the difficult tension between trying to plan for the future vs. the significant uncertainties that still exist around Ash's prognosis.  Or, around how the boys are handling this; for the first time, I think Noah is really in tune emotionally with the fact that something is "not right".  Of course as a 2-year-old he is pretty confused and can't understand why momma isn't her usual play-on-the-floor self...but then as a 31-year-old I have a hard time processing it sometimes too, so I can't really fault him.  Anyway, the point is there are still many many things we are praying for, like:

+ That logistics would work out for the plan I mentioned above (insurance and some doctors still have to approve this course of action)
+ For Ash's pain to continue to subside so we can wean her off the IV pump
+ For her to continue to gain strength, independence, and increased mental cognizance
+ For sweet time with family and friends, especially with the boys (we're going to try to take them for a visit tomorrow morning)

In closing, I'll leave you with a few pictures from the last week:

 The Boys visited on Tuesday with my sister (Ash's Brother and Sister-in-Law in the background)

 The great view out of Ashleigh's room

 

First Baptist Dallas's Fellowship Class was kind enough to bring their Tuesday night Bible study to Ash!  She's been a part of this group for almost 5 years now.  We're very thankful for these ladies.

Best friend from college, best friend from high school, and hair gel (Ash wanted a Mohawk).  Ash is super sad to be missing our friend's wedding this weekend, but she was nice enough to come visit Ashleigh on her way to the altar.  Congrats Kris and Dan!

Today a great friend from Florida brought Ashleigh's favorite food from Melbourne, Dakine Diegos.  My sister and her daughter visited, too.