A week of fun! Counts are up!

Monday, Jan 31st in the afternoon, we got the good word that Jessica's counts (ANC) were up! The neupogen shots everyday for 11 days finally kicked in! Her platelets were still quite low at 27, but no tranfusion needed. She had gotten to 18 while we were at the hospital here in St. George, so they gave her platelets then. Hopefully they keep coming up! Platelets are what give her blood the ability to clot. (For all those non-medical professionals like me) The low end of normal for Jessica is about 150. (Lots to learn!) This is a picture of Jessica with her very best cousin Kate. They were visiting from Farmington. Jessica loves Kate! When we first went to Primary Children's on December 21st, Jessica asked when we were going to go to Kate's house. A few days turned into 4 weeks at the hospital. On January 20th, the day Jessica was discharged, her first request was to go to Kate's house. Even though it was back tracking a little before heading home to St. George, Aunt Lydia and I, Jacob and Jessica, took a detour to Aunt Amelia & Uncle Jason's Home to see Kate (and everyone else too :) Kate's mom, Amelia had her fourth baby, Henry, on December 27th. There has been a lot going on in our family and through it all everyone has pulled together to give their support and love to everyone!

Jessica and Jacob have a lot of love for each other. While at Primary Children's, Jacob was a great distraction to me and to Jessica. Jacob is the best medicine for Jessica. When Jessica felt discouraged or sad, Jacob could always bring a smile to her face. What a blessing Jacob is to our family! Just another reminder of the miracle of life! What a priviledge to be the mother of 5 beautiful children. A great and very humbling, sometimes overwhelming responsibility, but truly a gift!

From left to right, some of the little Chipman cousins: Will, Ben, Zach, Abby, Emmy, Kate, Jessica, and Caleb. Big sisters Annalise and Alyson were at school, but while they were at school, we celebrated the fact that Jessica's counts were in a safe zone.

Jessica was back to her normal happy self this past week. She played with friends and cousins, and even went to her Thursday music group, which she loves! Jessica doesn't always want her picture taken, but maybe that is because her mom is constantly wanting a picture. We just have to catch her at the right moment. We have had a lot of happy moments this past week! There are always happy moments, but it has seemed a little more normal this week.

Jessica, Kate, Andrew, and Annalise frosting valentine cookies at Aunt Sara's new home. A Chipman family get together had been planned for last Monday night, but we had talked about the possibility that Jessica and mom might not be able to go. Kate and her family were to arrive just in time for the party, so everyone was thrilled. Sunday night Jessica said, "I know that my counts are going to be up, Mom." And boy was she right! We had a great time with our family!

One funny little moment I need to jot down so I don't forget. Right after we returned home from Primarys I was giving Jessica her first bath. Her hair was coming out in quite large amounts and I was just putting it on the edge of the tub. Caleb walked in and with a very distressed look said, "What did you do that to Jess for?" How cute was he, very concerned about his sister! Jessica's hair is pretty much all gone now, but most of the time she doesn't even think about it - One of the benefits of being just 4 years old.

We are now back up at Primary Children's for our 5th round of Chemo. Cody drove up with us and then he headed back home for the kids and work. Cody's mother has come back from Idaho to be with the kids. Before Cody left, we met with the Dr. this morning and then we were admitted for our 4 day stay. Dr. Afifi told us first of all that Jessica looks great, so much better than when she was last here. She then told us to plan on returning in 2 weeks, after this treatment, for a ct scan and then a consultation with the surgeon to look at a possible surgery date. So far, things are going very smoothly. Jessica is happy and has a great attitude about being back up here. Four days will be very easy after having had a 4 week stay!

Thanks again to everyone for all that you have done for Jessica and for our family!