Updates & Prayers for Kenzi

Five rounds of chemo done and one more to go before surgery! This is a big milestone that we've been working towards and I can't believe it's almost here. Kenzi's last round was 2 days and not as smooth as it has been in the past. She receives so much fluid as part of the chemo and had a bit of fluid overload. She had some laboured breathing on the first night, due to some fluid in her lungs, but the doctors and nurses were quick to give her medicine to correct that. Wes and the other kids came down on Saturday and brought Kenzi's bird along, so we were hoping we would be discharged that day, but it didn't happen. They wanted to monitor her one more night and then on Sunday before we left she needed a blood transfusion, which takes about 3-4 hours. It was Father's day and we were anxious to be together, so it was difficult to be patient. Once we were discharged it was so wonderful to be all together. We spent a quiet afternoon together and headed to a beach ...

We have been in Vancouver for just over 2 months now. I thought as we went, we would find a routine and kind of adjust a little, but to be honest, I think it's just getting harder to be away from home and have our family separated. We will try our best to be all together when we are able over the summer months and just try to find joy in the small things. We discovered a beautiful little pond at a park down the road and Kenzi loves feeding the squirrels. It gets her out of the apartment and gives her something to look forward to.  Kenzi continues to amaze us with her progress. She seemed to have more energy and a better appetite after the last round of chemo. We pray that it will continue as we move forward. She goes for an echocardiogram and blood work tomorrow. If her counts are up and all is well, she will start her next round of chemo on Friday. This is just a 2 day round, so we should be discharged on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. After this there is only one more 5 day round ...

Some people have been asking about Kenzi's brand. Wes's second cousin has organized this online store to help support our family through this time. Kenzi helped pick out the logos and I must say, they look incredible. For those of you who don't have Facebook, please copy the link below to have a look.  We are so blessed to have this army of support behind us. Please continue praying. I will share an update on Kenzi in the next few days https://prayersforkenzi.itemorder.com/sale

Another round has come and gone smoothly. Kenzi had her central line inserted last Thursday and her PICC line removed. They intubated her for this procedure, which they haven't done in the past. They said they prefer to do that when they are working so close to her neck/airway. Everything went well and now Wes and I are learning how to flush this new line and do the dressing changes. She did well with this round of chemo; not quite as tired as the last time and not a lot of nausea or anything. They gave her a blood transfusion before she left the hospital on Wednesday because her hemoglobin was low. We are thankful for each round that passes with her still feeling relatively well. Wes and I have been trying to switch out more, so we can spend time with all the kids, but it's difficult to find a balance that includes time together. We haven't been at home in Vernon together for 2 months now and have spent less than 24 hours together in the last week. With summer break coming...

Kenzi is half way done her chemo treatments before she has surgery (the Lord willing). Don't get too excited, she has even more chemo after surgery, but we are thankful for progress being made. She did well after her last treatment and had way less jaw pain this time around, which is an answer to our prayers. Our doctor said she can hear more breath sounds on the left side, which is amazing news! They expect that it will take longer for her blood counts to recover as we go, because her bone marrow won't be able to bounce back as quickly with each round. She receives a shot in her leg each day between treatments to help with that. I'm sure many of you have seen the "Love is in the hair" campaign that some of our family members have been doing; this is one of the medications they are raising money for. There are some programs that help cover that costs, but even with that help it adds up quickly, so a huge thank you to all of you who have donated to that and to our ...