August 16th - August 19

Welcome to our blog! This will hopefully keep everyone up to date on Evelyn's progress as she battles her leukemia. We will hopefully update daily but depending on how the day goes it may not be as often. Please feel free to comment - we love to hear from everyone. I will start at the beginning :).
Friday Aug 16 - over the course of the week we noticed a lot of bruising on Evelyn's arms and legs. By Friday none of them had improved and she developed tiny red and purple dots everywhere, along with bright blue bruises and unusual shapes and places. We decided to take her in to our family doctor, Dr Deegan, in Grimsby. He was concerned and sent her for bloodwork. The results wouldn't be in until Monday so we went home to wait. That night we were waken by a phone call from Dr Deegan at 11:00pm saying Evelyn's platelets were dangerously low and we needed to get her to McMaster Hospital right away. It was a long night/morning of testing with little sleep. They first tested for something call ITP - an auto immune disorder, something very common in young kids and treated with 1-3 blood infusions. More test results came back and unfortunately that was not the case and it was looking like leukemia. Our hearts dropped with the news but we continued to lean on the Lord for strength and positive news. We were told she would have a bone marrow biopsy done on Tuesday to confirm which leukemia it was (there are two different types - acute lymphoblastic and acute myloid) and from there discuss further treatment. Saturday afternoon we were able to move out of emergency and into a room upstairs. Evelyn made quick friends with all the other patients and nurses and was often see wandering the halls, her IV not far behind. Shortly after we got comfortable in our new room we were told because of Evelyn's compromised immune system it was best for her to stay in the room, to limit the risk of infection. That night we were set up in the Ronald MacDonald House and will be sleeping/living there for the next little while. Daily bloodwork and vitals have been taken to make sure nothing has changed until Tuesday comes. After her bloodwork came back fine on Sunday they allowed us to take Evelyn home for the afternoon and bring her back after dinner. This was  bitter sweet news for us but we enjoyed every minute at home as a family then returned to the hospital by 6:00pm. The weekend was full of visitors, meeting doctors and settling in to our new normal. Monday afternoon we were able to meet with some of our doctors to go over everything and talk about the plan for tomorrow's procedures. They were able to tell us from the bloodwork of that morning they were leaning toward Evelyn having ALL (acute lymphoblastic leukemia), which is good news - it is the more common of the two and more research/treatment has been made on this one. Tonight (Monday) she was given another round of platelets and white blood cells - those need to be up for all the testing being done tomorrow. The plan for Tuesday is to confirm the type with a bone marrow biopsy and a lumbar puncture. She will also be getting an ultrasound of her heart (standard procedure) and an NG tube inserted through her nose down to her stomach to make medications easier to go down and in the future for nutrition if she needs. By Wednesday morning we should have all the results and from there we will discuss treatment. Overall Evelyn is doing well and adapting to whatever situation. She definitely has her moments but they don't usually last long and that cheeky smile is back. We want to thank everyone for your constant prayers and support - we are feeling so blessed and loved - thank you! We take great comfort in knowing Evelyn's life is His hands; that He has a bigger plan for our little girl. He is our help and strength in times of trouble.

Psalm 105:4
"Look to the Lord and His strength, seek His face always"