Nitalia took her first treatment at 11AM and then she had to have labs drawn every 2 hours until 8PM to check the saturation of the trial drug. She handled it perfectly! We know that Jesus is with her, and the medicine that was placed into her yesterday was his. She actually slept through the session! She is so unbelievable!!!
So you could imagine our surprise when the oncology team came in and told us that Nitalia is doing so well and gaining ground so quickly that they feel it would be ok for her to go home!!!! Nitalia had a smile from ear to ear…Sue and I were so happy that we did a jig around the hospital room. If anyone would have seen us, they for sure would have sent us to the funny farm! We packed up (I have no clue how we got so much stuff in this little room) and headed home at 10 PM! We arrived back at Sue’s moms house at around 11PM to hugs and kisses from the family. Once we settled in we went out cold like we had been punched by Mike Tyson. The sleep went waaaaay into the afternoon (check out the sleepers).
Well today was a day of rest, and I think the rest of the weekend will probably follow suit. We are all exhausted.
Please keep up the prayers. Nitalia will be getting her treatments every Monday and Thursday at CHOP, and will be in therapy the rest of the weekdays. We need to get our second wind…we are in the 5th round of a 12 round fight…and we plan to come out champions! (cue “we are the champions”, Queen)
“Champions know that success is inevitable; that there is no such thing as failure, only feedback. They know that the best way to forecast the future is to create it. (Michael J. Gelb)”
“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)”
Sending each and every one of you our love and hugs!
Hi All,
Today was a good day.
It started with Nitalia (and Sue) sleeping until 10AM! She was beat from the surgery. She was NPO all day yesterday, so she woke up with the appetite of a 450lb lineman. She ate pancakes, french toast sticks, scrambled eggs with cheese, and cream of wheat! She washed that all down with a cranberry juice and a pumpkin spice muffin! It was hilarious! Sue and I just watched as she devoured this breakfast of champions!
The day continued with a bath and a quick escape from the room…we hot footed it over to the play/craft area (Nitalia wanted to paint). On the elevator over to that area we met up with two Navy officers dressed in their Navy best. One of the officers said to the other, “We got us a fighter here”! “This one is a real soldier!”
Nitalia smiled and I took the purple bracelet off of my wrist and gave it to him, asking him to keep Nitalia in his Prayers. He responded with a “Yes Sir”…Then he reached into his pocket and proceeded to kneel down next to Nitalia, handing her a coin about the size of a half dollar. He said: “Nitalia, this is my Chief Petty Officer Coin. This was given to me when I became Chief Petty Officer. Its been in my pocket since 2005, and I want you to have it. Your a soldier, and your gonna be ok…In fact, I’ll be at your wedding!”
It took all of me to hold back the tears…Sue lost it. Tears were just streaming down her face. What a gesture of love. This was such a special moment.
Say hello to two more of Nitalia’ angels, Chief Petty Officer Garrett Milo and Chief Petty Officer Walter L. Evens Jr.
God Bless You Both! What you gave my daughter today was much more then a Chief’s coin, You gave her a boost of courage from one solider to another! I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Nitalia was so much stronger today. She walked with some help from PT, She spoke with some help from Speech and she ate waterice with some help from Rita’s (Thanks Aunt Meesi). There are so many stories to tell about our days here at CHOP. and I plan to post them all on this site. The Dr’s, Nurse’s, and Staff are all incredibly caring. They all know our girl by name. It’s funny, we will be going down a hallway and a nurse will say “Hi Nitalia”. Even though we never met her. A look to her wrist revels a purple bracelet! They are all over the hospital, from Dr’s to Janitors…They all are sporting her bracelet which says:
“TRUST IN JESUS, THERE IS NO DECEIT IN HIM”
God is here with us, we can just feel Him. Praise The LORD!!!!
Hello Everyone,
It’s been a rough week. The Bible says that all of Gods children will experience trials during their time on earth. Some more then others, none the less, trials. We thank the Lord for walking with us during this incredibly tough season of our lives. We thank Him for bringing all of you into our lives. Nitalia is going to have a port placed today, so we ask that you all say a special prayer for her. Ask God to be with her during the surgery, and that he guide the Dr’s eyes, minds, and hands. We ask Jesus to supply the strength from the Holy Spirit and the courage of Michael the Arch Angel to Nitalia. He has put this in our path, it’s not just coincidence that we were in Philadelphia when this all happened. God placed us here with a precision only He could supply. Our girl is in the best hospital with some of the best Dr’s in the world…no coincidence about it. We have become friends with people that can influence and steer Nitalia’s treatment strategy. Nitalia was selected to be part of a new study here at CHOP. This study shows great promise in destroying the cancer. Again, no coincidence. All we can say is Thank You Jesus!!!
Our prayer is that Jesus guides the Dr’s, controls the medicine, and continues to show his faith inspiring Love and Power through Nitalia.
“She shall live and not die to give glory to God!”
Sending all of you our love…
UPDATE: Nitalia is out of surgery, and everything went perfect! Hallelujah!!! She is snug as a bug in her bed, hungry for a good ole’ Philly Cheesesteak and a Rita’s Waterice!!!
