Third Chemo Down

Eliana and her beloved Elmo

We had an interesting start to the week this week starting with Tuesday's blood draw with her blood numbers coming back too low to have chemo on Thursday. We repeated the draw on Wednesday and her numbers had doubled, so on Thursday, we were on our way to Cincy for her third round of chemo. It is very important to keep a consistent chemo schedule so that we can knock this out as quickly as possible.

Thursday came and went pretty smoothly except a repeat of last week's wait due to their computers are still working out some kinks. Every time I am around Cincinnati Children's Hospital, I grow more confident in our decision to have Eliana treated there. I have all the faith in the world in the doctors, nurses and staff. They treat my baby girl like a princess and answer the thousands of questions I ask with so much patience. This week, the hospital chaplain came in to spend time with Eliana and me. She was very down to earth and made me feel very comfortable. She prayed with me, we talked about our family's journey and most of all, she befriended us and I am grateful for this new relationship in Cincinnati.

Eliana again responded wonderfully to the treatment and she enjoyed eating lots of goodies, watched her beloved Elmo and napped on Mommy. During our time there, we had many visitors. We met with multiple doctors, nurses, our social worker and the chaplain. It was a busy few hours but it made the time go by quickly. We were finally ready to head home about 8pm. Eliana was very happy to see "Daddy's car" and "Bubba" after Rob and Roberto's day out on the town. The boys filled their day by visiting the Cincinnati museum and had an absolute blast. Rob was even able to complete his work related conference call while Roberto was engrossed playing with the trains. They also made a repeat visit to their new favorite hangout, Gameworks. I am not sure who loves Gameworks more, daddy or son. Eliana and I were pleasantly surprised with a pizza waiting for us in the car for the drive home.

Once home, all Sherwoods slept great through the night. Eliana woke up in her usual great mood, smiley face and ready for breakfast. She had a great day at home today but hung very close to mom and received loads of cuddles.

The day was capped off by a home cooked meal by a special friend, Angela. She has organized meals for our family a couple nights a week through the St. Aloysius Moms Group. This Moms Group is a Godly group of women that I am so blessed to be a part of. We are seriously enjoying the delicious meals prepared so lovingly. Tonight's meal was Chicken Pot Pie, Cornbread Yeast Rolls and the most amazing Banana Bread Cobbler! I must have that recipe!! I will definitely be eating a leftover piece of that tomorrow morning for breakfast.

Earlier in the week, my dear friend Emily treated us to Italian night with homemade Lasagna, Italian Bread and Salad. Roberto and Eliana really loved the chocolate chip sandwich cookies with smiley faces on them. If anything, we are not going to be losing any weight due to the generosity of all of our amazing friends. It has been a welcome respite from the take-out food we have been eating the past few weeks and we have enjoyed sitting down together as a family to eat.

I am leaving you with some pictures of Eliana and Roberto from our playdate earlier in the week with Sophie so you can see how wonderful and healthy Eliana looks. Sarah and Sophie... come back soon!

Serious cuteness!

Roberto is coco loco about his trains

Don't you just want to just eat this beautiful baby up?

Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything. ~ Philippians 4:6

Love You Back More,

Mary Beth