Prayer Requests

I have so much to update, but so little time. I can't postpone any longer. I need to share a couple of stories with you. They are stories of people close to our hearts. They were close to us at Chelsea's time of diagnosis with leukemia, so they will always be special to us.

Our pediatrician ordered labs for Chelsea on Tuesday September 25. I took her at noon only to get a phone call at 3pm that her blood sample had clotted. In for another CBC we went that evening. Frustrating to say the least. This delay would assure that we would have no results until the next day. One more night of wondering what was going on with Chelsea.

Wednesday morning we awoke and attending therapy as we always did on Wednesday mornings. Chelsea stumbled through her physical therapy session. I'll never forget her attempting to walk on a gymnastics mat. She couldn't keep her balance and kept falling to catch herself. I looked at her physical therapist and said, "look at her. She should be getting better at walking." I told her I was worried. I was scared ... of leukemia. She looked me in the eyes and told me not to worry, Chelsea would be fine. I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy, worrying for no reason, but she was right. Chelsea would be fine, it would just take some time. I pulled out of therapy that morning with my baby girl, cell phone by my side, waiting for a phone call. As I turned onto the main street, my phone rang. Chelsea's pediatrician called. Within minutes we began our journey with cancer.

Now, a year and a half later, I find myself attempting to write a letter to this physical therapist. I want to tell her thank you for supporting us through Chelsea's treatment. Thank you for the prayers, the words of encouragement, and for believing in Chelsea and our family. I also find myself telling her, don't worry. YOU WILL BE FINE. I am still in shock since hearing her news. I am scared for her, but I am confident she can beat this, she can battle this cancer and win. While her cancer is lymphoma, different than Chelsea's leukemia, her battle will be similar. She followed us every step of the way. I hope Chelsea's strength and courage inspire this dear friend. I can't wait to see her join us on the other side of this journey.

Please say a prayer for Chelsea's PT who will begin chemotherapy tomorrow.

Now fast forward to diagnosis. We were admitted to our children's hospital Wednesday afternoon. The next day I took Chelsea to the playroom where we met the first of many families taking the same path as us. It wasn't a veteran cancer family though, it was a new diagnosis, just like us, a mother and her daughter Victoria. Victoria was 7 years old and had just been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, the day before. We shared our stories and our girls played. Victoria was so sweet and loving to Chelsea.



In the coming months we spent a lot of time at the hospital with Victoria. She and Chelsea were often inpatient together. She is kind, generous, and happy. She would never hurt a soul. Unfortunately she is now hurting. Please visit her site, leave a comment, say a prayer. Victoria will forever be part of our lives.