A Daddy's heart

 Post 2 for tonight..from the heart of a daddy

I was going to try to do the post tonight and give Courtney a break, but she beat me to it. She encouraged me to go ahead and write something so here it is. Those of you that know me, know I am a man of few words. I mostly run out of words in a conversation after "How are you?" Writing though helps me to get more out. That being said, I am going to try to keep it short.

Millie and I spent the day together while everyone else did their things. We blew bubbles, had a balloon fight, watched a movie, and even changed one of those smelly diapers everyone has been praying for. She is very strong headed and I have come to believe God gave her that so she can be an overcomer! I, on the other hand, really only stand my ground on the major issues. On the little things my girls seem to always know how to get me to accommodate their wishes (I am glad I have Courtney to help me resist to those little things or they would all be spoiled!!)

One of those little things came up this evening. Earlier in the day, out of the blue, Millie wanted some grapes. Going to the refrigerator I found a package of grapes that had been there for quite some time. Most were well on their way to raisins, but I was able to sort out 20 or so that looked fairly decent. This satisfied the craving and the day moved on. When mommy came home and dinner was set out, Millie just wanted grapes again. After the 1/2 hour of explaining we had no more, I was off to Walmart to save the day. She was soooo happy that I was going to get her some grapes. It took me a little over an hour to retrieve the new "only thing I will eat" item. Just to return to a sweet little girl sound asleep in bed. I guess if she wakes up tonight mommy will have them ready for her.

While driving my thoughts of Millie's situation were everywhere. I started to focus on the Lord's will for her life. I firmly believe that cancer was NOT His will for her. Sickness and death were brought into this world by man's sin. In the Lord's prayer the second request of Jesus was that God's "will be done on earth as it is in heaven". As I continued to sort through all my thoughts I remembered that "all things work together for the good of those who love GOD". Courtney and I LOVE GOD! I do not want to imply that we love him perfectly as He loves us, but we have put our trust in His son Jesus for our salvation. We still have our struggles here on this earth, but look forward to the hope that is in us and for him to continue to grow us for his glory.

Our desire and prayer for Millie is to be healed of this horrible disease. To not struggle with all the side effects that come from the treatments. To have a story of survival to use to glorify the Lord. We hope that by sharing her journey it will somehow bring hope to others and ultimately expand the kingdom of Christ.

I'm asking or rather I'm begging that you continue to join us in prayer for Millie! Please share her page with everyone you know. Continue to share with us your love, support, and prayers on this site. It has helped in so many ways to be at the receiving end. We truly feel the Lord's presence and see him answering prayers.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His peace.

Thank you my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

~~Millie's Daddy

About Millie

 We are so grateful for each person that reads Millie’s updates and prays for her. She is such a precious blessing to our family. Many of you are learning about this because a friend shared her page with you. Some of you know us, but many we’ve never met. Millie’s story is reaching far and wide. We believe God can use her story as a testimony to his unfailing love, his goodness, and his ability to do miracles. We BELIEVE that GOD can heal Millie. We PRAY that HE will!!!!

Millie is 2 years and 9 months old. She is the youngest of 9 children, 6 sisters and 3 brothers. She is a farm girl from Oklahoma. She is sweet, sassy, super cute all rolled together.

This last spring Millie started feeling bad. Simple colds that lingered, fevers, tummy aches, and so whiny. We went to the doctor a few times with no real clear picture of what was going on. Finally in mid June a trip to urgent care started us on our official cancer journey.

Millie’s diagnosis is Neuroblastoma, a very aggressive cancer that starts in the nerve cells on your adrenal glands. At the time of diagnosis her cancer was stage 4, due to it being metastatic (spread) to her liver and lungs. They rate this cancer by Favorable or Unfavorable, she has unfavorable. They list its amplification from 1-10, good to bad. Her doctor told me they don’t give a number after 10, just saying her amplification is high. If we focus our thoughts on her diagnosis and the statistics we become overwhelmed. The possibility of not keeping our girl is overwhelming, but we know GOD is bigger than any diagnosis. So we use this time to share God’s goodness and Millie’s sweetness. Thank you for joining us on this journey.

Psalms 145: 17-21

The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.

18

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.

19

He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

20

The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.

21

My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD. Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.

Bear's smiling

 Millie is still in the hospital tonight with her daddy. Mommy got to take time to come home and hang out with most all Millie’s brother and sisters.

Before bed on Friday night Millie decided to sing to her animals. She’s too funny! This video was the best I could snag while enjoying the show.

Praises:

Hemoglobin above 11

Platelets are rising

ANC is 250ish

Doctors agreed to give oral meds a break for awhile hoping to get over her aversion.

Prayers:

ANC >500

Fever needs to stay gone 24 hours to be released.

Counts need to rise to harvest her stem cells later this month.

Bear loves me mom

 Millie is hanging out with Bear and Monkey today. She’s enjoying playing with her “buddies” while she lays here. Every so often she will say “Bear loves me mom”. Such a sweet simple truth to her. She knows she’s loved

I love listening to her confident play.

Her blood counts are still off. Hemoglobin went up some (yay!)

Her platelets went much lower since last night. She had a blood transfusion, but more blood and platelets are ordered for today. We have to stay a few more days.

Praises:

She’s happy today

She has eaten heartily and has requested a drink multiple times.

Prayers:

ANC, Platelets, and Hemoglobin to rise.

She is doing well enough to go home this weekend.

+2

Another admission

 Today has been a full and busy day. We started off strong, playing with our new baby kitty. That brought huge smiles! Mid morning our home health nurse came and drew labs. We both talked about how great she was looking. I was sure that her numbers would come back strong......

............however, I was wrong. Her numbers were super low tonight. She compensates so well when she feels bad. We made plans to go in Friday morning for a transfusion........

..........however, as things change with her often, her fever spiked and we are being admitted once again.

Praises:

Millie says “we’re happy for a good day”

she was seen quickly

Prayers:

ANC goes above 500. Currently around 90

That this stay is routine

she gets over her oral aversion to meds.

+3

Magic Chocolate

 Millie and I got to enjoy some sunshine while we waited for a friend today. She had another good day. She talked her daddy into bringing home more “Berries” meaning the fruit and yogurt parfaits. Guess this is our new favorite for now. She again took her vitamins with no problem...except she demanded more (I didn’t give in!). However, I did offer her a small piece of *chocolate*

which she gladly took. What I didn’t tell her was this magic chocolate also happened to be a laxative Needless to say, it did it’s work better than any prescription laxative and I didn’t have to fight her. Score one for mom and dad

Praises:

Nightly shots are going without too many tears

chocolate laxatives

seemingly good health this week

My fever/aches/chills are gone

Prayers:

CBC is tomorrow and will give us a true picture of how her blood is holding up this round

my skin is getting redder by the moment. Dr said it will take 5-10 days to clear.

Yogurt parfaits

 Millie had another good day. She had to accompany me to OKC for a Doctor appointment this morning. She did great, even eating really well in the car. Her favorite is McDonalds Fruit Parfait. She ate 2 1/2 of them. We actually had to stop at another McDonalds to buy 3 more parfaits. When you find something she will eat, you stock up.

As for mama, the doctor confirmed an allergic reaction to Bactrim. I’ve been having fever, chills, and aches. The ladies of Shawnee Bible Church (

Grace

) chose to bless me with a beautiful floral arrangement. Thank you ladies! It’s so kind of you to take care of mama too.

There are so many to say thank you to. We had a wonderful taco soup perfect for being sick.

*****Picture of Millie was March 2017**