Monday, January 31, 2011

So Much to Be Grateful for!!

There is so much to be grateful for! My mind is racing with so many thoughts and emotions. The past month has been a whirlwind, with sad and happy moments mixed together. There have been tears shed, but so much joy as we have watched Jessica make huge improvements! There have been many lessons learned with the knowledge that there are many more lessons to be learned. There is definitely a new perspective on the blessing of life. And then there is just the LOVE. The LOVE felt and so freely shared by others. Our family has been overwhelmed by all of the love and support we have been given by our family and friends and even people that we don't know! Thank you to all of you for supporting us on this journey with Jessica. We can't help but be filled with Faith and Hope because of the love we feel from everyone!

BFF:
Jessica and Caleb, Best Friends Forever!
Through difficult times there is always peace and comfort to be found in the knowledge of our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Knowledge that they know us individually and understand perfectly what we are going through and that they will provide the strength we need. Their plan is perfect even though it may not seem to be at times. Our Saviors arms are always outstretched. This picture shared with us by good friends has brought much needed comfort and peace! It looks so much like our sweet Jessica. We know that the Saviors arms and His angels are around her always!

Jessica's smile and those eyes tell it all. She has a love for life. She is strong and she will fight this cancer hard! She is a wonderful example to us all. There are other amazing little fighters that we have met at primarys, have read about, and even close friends that we know. Children are so strong! They are a strength to each other and to all of us. We have felt so much love & support from these other children and their families!


What would we do without our families! Annalise (9), Caleb (3), Alyson (7), and Jessica (4). Just hanging out before bed. Annalise & Alyson had set up "rotations" for them to play together. Jessica's brothers and sisters are a huge strength to her. Our family has been amazing! Jessica's grandparents, her aunts & uncles, her cousins, and even great aunts & uncles have been so wonderful! We would not have made it through the past month without the help of our family!



A special thank you to Mandi Gubler for starting this blog. I never would have thought to do something like this and it has been a wonderful way to share Jessica's experience with others. And also a great way for me to keep a journal! To my sisters for posting for me and keeping things up to date, thank you. I love you all! How grateful I am for a close family. A family that sticks together no matter what! I hope that I can now keep up on the blog! Thank you to all of those who have worked so hard and spent so much time in fundraising efforts for Jessica. That was something that I struggled with at first, but please know how much it means to our family! For all of the packages and notes, words of encouragement and hope, visits to the hospital, thank you! Thank you just doesn't seem to cut it, but know that we love you all!!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Update 1/25

Jessica must have had a lot of energy she needed to release after leaving PCMC. The day she left the hospital this is the game she wanted to play. She pedaled her little heart out for quite some time.


Jessica and her cousin Kate who was so excited to finally get to see her.


Jessica has been doing great being back at home. She is eating better and getting some of her energy back. Chandra was actually quite happy when Jessica and Caleb had a little sibling fight, it made things seem a little more back to normal. :) Jessica has a home health nurse that comes to their house a few times a week to help check Jessica and make sure her vitals, etc. are what they need to be. During Chemo they have to be extra careful at checking for fevers. Anytime a fever lasts over an hour they need to get to the hospital so the doctors can find the cause. This is what happened yesterday. Jessica seemed fine, but the fever didn't go away. After talking to PCMC, the doctors in St.George admitted her to the hospital where she will be monitored for two days.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Jessica is HOME!

Jessica, Chandra and Jacob arrived home this evening! It is so exciting to see the Schmitt family reunited in their home in St. George. Jessica's immune system is very weak due to the chemotherapy. It will be very critical for Chandra and Cody to keep germs away from their home. You all know how welcoming Chandra and Cody are. It will be an adjustment for them not to be able to have visitors. Chandra has been trained to take care of Jessica's needs. Between PICC line care, feeding tube care and medication administration, Chandra will be very busy.

On the drive home.



Finally home!


(Pictures from Aunt Lydia's phone.)


WELCOME HOME JESSICA!

Red Robin

The Red Robin fundraiser was a lot of fun! So many people came out to eat great food in support of Jessica. The turn out was truly amazing. Thanks to all who came and especially thanks to Jan Harmon for getting this event rolling.









Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Jessica

Jessica has loved having her Aunt Sara's ipad and her Grandma's itouch! It has kept her very entertained!


Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Update 1/18

Jessica just continues to improve. Yesterday she wanted to get dressed in "real" clothes and walk down to the hospital play room. This was a huge step! It really helps when there aren't so many tubes coming in and out of her little body. She started eating a little bit better, but with the new chemo she is more nauseous and doesn't really want to eat anything anymore. Today they are going to put a small feeding tube back in. She started the strong doses of chemo yesterday and so she has to be monitored in the hospital for 4 days. After that they are hoping to come home. After a month in the hospital, it will be so nice to see Jessica, Chandra and Jacob in their own home! Jessica will need to be at PCMC every three weeks for this chemo. However, if everything goes well with the treatments they will be home in between! The doctors said they will continue with this chemo until it is time to remove the tumor. When the tumor is out they will reassess what the next step will be. Even with all the throwing up and nausea, Jessica continues to be in good spirits!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Update 1/14

Jessica is now breathing on her own! When she was first in the PICU she talked a lot about food. However, with all the tubes, medicine, chemo, etc. she hasn't wanted anything to eat since being on the 4th floor. Chandra always eats in front of her to try and get her excited to eat and it finally paid off. Yesterday she asked Chandra for one of the chips she was eating and she also ate part of an orange. We are hoping soon she wants to eat all that good food she was longing for in the PICU! Jessica's condition has definitely perplexed many of the doctors. She is not a typical Wilms Tumor patient, so it is still taking time for the doctors to come up with an exact treatment plan. As of yesterday, they are still planning on removing the tumor in 6 more weeks. Also, heavier doses of chemo will be administered the first of next week. Initially they were going to hold off the chemo until her chest tubes were out, but they have decided not to wait.