That was a moment of faith....

Esther had an appointment yesterday where we dropped off her 24 hour urine collection that will take a couple days to process, so no news yet on her kidneys. She's feeling better, throwing up on and off, so she could use prayer to eat and gain weight.  We are scheduled to go in for her 3rd antibody treatment on May 14th.

Last month was Missions Month at our church.  The final Sunday they showed some videos of what God has done over the last year within our church community and through the world, specifically in Nepal where our church funds a children's home for orphaned children, keeping them from the nasty trades of trafficking and crime.

We didn't get to go to hear all the stories of God's kindness in Ft. Collins, but I'm sure it was encouraging! Our church body has been an incredibly support to us this last year with daily help like laundry, mopping our floors, and meals as well as have done some big, eventful things to help us, like helping to replace our floors (moving all of our furniture, tearing out old floors and coming back to move everything back in) and buying books for gas cards for all of the driving we do.  We are so thankful for this body of people who love Jesus and want to love like him.

They made a video about our family, and my favorite part is when Anthony talks about his moment of faith.  It wasn't anything big or crazy, but just a moment of coming to God honestly.  One friend warned a side effect of this video is leaking eyes, so you might want to grab something to deal with that....


Victorious Is Her Name: The Bravery of Esther Alvarado from Summitview Community Church on Vimeo.

Huggable Hope Sewing Day

Do you remember the adorable dolls my ever so amazing sister, Robin, makes? Here's a reminder...

Yes. I know. Be still, they are beautiful!

There was a great outpouring of support for Robin's idea to give the dolls away to the little girls and boys staying at Brent's Place. We had hoped to have a production day shortly after the first batch of dolls were delivered, but you know, since Robin has been busy taking care of, teaching, and loving her family AND my kids when we've been away, a little more prep time was needed.

This is the first batch of dolls.

As you can see, these sweet dolls bring hopeful comfort and delight.

Jamie said over and over, "Que bonita!" How pretty.

Ginger loved the cowgirl hat and boots just like hers!

Please join us for a day to cut, sew, stuff, and stitch love for the future owners of Huggable Hope Dolls.

WHEN: Saturday, May 18th from 10am-3pm (this is NOT a required time frame, more like an open house thing! If you can help at any point during this stretch of time, just drop in and that would be great!)

WHERE: Summitview Community Church, Room 106, 1601 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins, CO

WHAT: If you can sew please come! If you know nothing about sewing, but have nimble fingers to: embroider, turn out limbs on dolls, cut out patterns, iron seams, stuff dolls please come!

BRING: If you have the following items, please bring them!

• Sewing Machine(s)
• Shears
• Iron/Board (if a small one)
• A friend! If you know someone who might want to help, bring them along.
• I will provide all the materials for the dolls.

Visit the Facebook event for futher details for the sewing day and to share with your your friends. You can also email huggablehopeproject@gmail.com.

 

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Concerts, Snow, and Strangers in the Grocery Store

Sunday afternoon we made the trip down to Denver because our friend Katrina, and her friend, Benj Heard, were playing a special concert for the kids at Brent's Place. If you haven't had a chance to download her EP, it's free and so worth it! No pressure to tip, but if you do it, it's ALL being donated to Brent's Place. Here's the original details...

Esther was a bit star struck and didn't want to be in the picture.

She warmed up a bit later on

Benj is Katrina's writing partner and they also sing together. They were in town playing music from their duet, The Likes of Us, at a wedding, so it was a perfect opportunity to see Brent's. Last summer Benj was very kind to share a song he had written for a two year friend in his home state who had cancer. "Love is Here" is on his own EP, Without a Parachute. Both of these albums are also for free on Noisetrade.

The kids loved visiting and had a great time seeing some of the friends they have made there, including some of that good ol playground silliness that ended up with Rourke and Collin tormenting the girls. It was hard to keep a straight face because those boys were so good at it.

Esther had an appointment in Denver today. It took me an hour to drive 17 (mostly on the interstate) miles, so I decided to call and see if there was any way we would do the lab work, etc. locally in Ft. Collins. That worked out and we were able to see Mr. Buhwaandin (Brandon), Esther's favorite local phlebotomist. He is SO good with kids and has never done a bad poke.

This is Anthony's view in FTC...ours was much worse on I25

Well, the lab work worked out, but the results were a bit of a bummer. Esther's white count is pretty high right now indicating her body is fighting something, and there was still some issues in her urine. It's likely the UTI is still present. We have another appointment in Denver on Wednesday to redo the labs and see what's next. They don't want to start her at home meds until she's healthy enough, so we're delayed at least a few more days.

I just love how God works out circumstances. Because of the snow Esther and I ended up at the grocery store--she never goes to the grocery store. While I was checking out, we met the neatest stranger who is actually quite familiar with this road. He came up and told Esther he had to wear a blue mask like hers for a long time. I practically squealed "really?!" People usually stare with a raised eyebrow thinking that Esther is the one who will get them sick, especially now that her hair is growing back. So...to have someone know what the blue mask is for was really cool.

Cody is three years out from a transplant following AML (leukemia). He had to have two transplants, the first one didn't work. His sister was the donor, but she was a bit too perfect match. His second transplant worked out better. So next time you see Cody at the JFK King Soopers, tell him hi. His treatment was in Denver, but at Pres. St. Luke's. It's great to see someone on the other side of all this!

 

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Got Bling?

For Christmas Lydia and Frannie received a longed for gift from their Uncle Booey (a nickname given by Frannie) and Aunt Lexi. A lunch date complete with an appointment to get their ears pierced!  Since Christmas time was a bit crazy, the date finally happened a little over a week ago.  Their cousin, Delaney, was also given this sweet gift.  Here's how it went down......

All three girls are very happy to have their ears pierced.  I do feel bad for lying to Frannie.  I told her over and over she didn't have to do it if she didn't want and she kept wavering back and forth, but it was kind of neat to see her realize she could do something that might hurt. "I did it!"

And hey, there is a perk to cancer...magic cream!  We use EMLA to numb Esther's port site before her butterfly needle goes in and Frannie and Lydia reaped the benefits of the supply I keep in my purse.  I wish I'd thought of it for Delaney, but it is neatly filed in the back pocket for when the next batch of girls turn six!

Speaking of bling...a friend of mine has organized a Lia Sophia fundraiser.  It's just in time for Mother's Day or Graduation gifts.  There is a great special this month...you can get 4 items HALF OFF when you buy two at regular price.  The 50% discount is applied to the MOST expensive pieces...not a bad deal.

You can order online until Saturday, April 13th, or if you're in Ft. Collins and want a fun girls night out or would like to see the pieces, the party is this Thursday.  Email me and I'll get you the details.  Here's the online ordering info...

You can get your Mother's Day, Graduation and Prom gifts online and 100% of the profits will be given to Esther's family. You can go to www.liasophia.com/melisa and click on 'browse our jewelry' and then input the hostess first name Esther and last name Alvarado. You can share this with your friends and family no matter where they live and we will ship the items to them. The monthly sale applies to this show as well, get up to 4 items at half off when you purchase 2 at regular price - the MOST expensive are half price.

They did it!

Home, and a week's delay

In clinic today she said "I don't fweel so well."

We did make it home on Saturday evening. I posted it on facebook, but realized lots of people praying for Esther aren't facebook friends with me...sorry!

It was a bit of bumpy ride out of the PICU with some out of my comfort zone advocating and working out a diagnosis of a UTI...which I knew would happen because of the Foley bag. Esther is on antibiotics for the UTI and it will hopefully clear quickly, please pray for that. It's her weak immune system's first need to fight infection and there are lots of things that could go wrong.

Because of this infection and some low levels amongst her electrolytes, her treatment will be delayed a week. This is a four week cycle, the first week she is inpatient, the next two she takes some other medicines at home, and the fourth week has some preparation for the next inpatient cycle. Since we can't start the at home medicine this week, everything is backed up a week.

As Anthony and I were talking about it, he was commenting that now her last inpatient treatment would be the first week of July rather than the last week of June. She will still have two months of treatment following that last inpatient stay, but there is an end in site. I think we've been focusing on that end a little too much and that has made the days in between very, very long.

How often in life are we living in the future? I think goals and end of treatment dates are things to look forward to or motivate us, but our hope can not be fulfilled by an uncertain future. The boundaries for our days right now include a longer treatment. These verses came to mind....

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalm 16:5-6

You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Psalm 139:5

God holds our lot. When I am trusting and hoping in a date on the calendar, I am not pursuing my chosen portion. I quickly forget that even in the midst of a difficult road, the lines God has given me fall in pleasant places, and that His hemlines feel constraining, but His love unbound by anything on this earth.

The only thing that is real today is that God is enough for today.

Some things to pray for:

• Esther to heal and fight this urinary tract infection
• The other four kids have colds, we've been having them wear masks and have kept Esther in her room away from them, please pray she doesn't get it.
• For us to find our peace in that Jesus has given us these hemlines and that we would rest in them.

• Esther is so, so weary. These last two rounds of antibody therapy have been much harder than we expected and aside from her transplant, harder than any round of chemo. Pray for her endurance, for her eat and drink, for her to laugh and smile. Pray for us to encourage her and that she would believe that encouragement. The other day she said she wasn't brave because she cried when we had to de-access her port. She is so brave, far braver than I.

 

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5 Hour Nap = Midnight Bedtime

Esther did very well today! She was tired...and took a five hour nap. It is nearly midnight and she's still awake... Oh well, the nap was needed.

She's still pretty puffy from lots of extra fluid and because she was out for 5 hours, laying on her left side, she's looking a little like Popeye tonight. The extra fluid will go away over the next week and is totally normal under these circumstances, but here's her puffy smile.

We should be going home tomorrow night!

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Slow, Slow Day

So far everything is going better than the doctors anticipated. Esther did just spike a fever, but that is very expected with IL2. Monday's problems didn't start until the end of the infusion, so I'm headed to bed just in case it's an early morning.

 

One of Esther's other beloved nurses stopped by for a bit today and they read "The Hiccupotomus." Esther has said she wants to be a nurse like Miss Rebecca. If so, she'll be a very good nurse. Another gift this week has been warm meals delivered three nights from Brent's Place. It was so nice to see friends today, and thanks for the hugs!

 

Thank you for holding us up.

 

 

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