Sick Day

Abby had a rough day today. She woke up this morning and said that her stomach was hurting because she was hungry, so Maegan got her some Frosted Flakes to eat. She ate the cereal, and then said that her stomach was really hurting. We thought that she was constipated because she hadn’t “taken care of business” since yesterday morning. So I take her into the bathroom, and as she starts to sit down, she starts dry heaving. I grab the trashcan and give it to her in case she needs to throw up. I ran to the kitchen and got a large pitcher and brought that to her just in time for the Frosted Flakes to return. All she wanted this morning was her Grandpa Miller, so he came down and was there when she got sick, and she then came out and snuggled in with him for a while until they both started falling asleep. Grandpa had worked all night so he went home to bed, Maegan and Mary-Beth and Emily got dressed and ready for Church and Abby and I went in and laid down in the bed so she could rest. She didn’t sleep, but she was able to relax for a while. She got up right after the girls left and threw up a little bit more. By this time, she was ready to get out of bed, so she laid down on the couch and we watched football for a while and she napped on and off. At 11:30, she threw up again nothing but stomach acid. She was able to rest then, and started to feel a little better. She tried to play Dora on the Wii, but that only lasted around 5 minutes before the movement started to upset her stomach again.

We are just wondering if her stomach problems are due to the chemo or if it was just a stomach bug. I am leaning towards a stomach bug because after resting, she seemed to get better and by the time she went to bed this evening she was doing pretty well. Before Maegan and the girls got home from Church and then Cousin Carson’s first birthday party, I gave Abby three crackers to see how she would do with them. She got them down as well with some juice and didn’t have any problems. She said that her tummy hurt some but then felt better as well. When Maegan got home, the little girls at some chicken noodle soup and Abby had a small bowl. She ate the entire bowl and did really well with that. She seemed to be doing really well and was able to keep her medicine down as well. I had her stay up for a little while just to make sure that she did not throw up her medicine. She did alright and so we took them and they passed out in bed. Being the worrier that I am, I turned the baby monitor on very loud so that we can hear in the living room if she gets sick or calls out for us. I just hate seeing her sick and hope that she has a better day tomorrow.

We are thankful that yesterday she had a good day. Jackson Chiropractic held a joint benefit for Abby and Brody. We went over there in the afternoon and had a great time. We were able to meet Brody for the first time and we were excited to meet Brody and his brother and sister. They are a really strong family and we hate that they are in this same boat that we are in. At the same time, it is good to have another family that we can talk to who really understands what we are going through and we know what they are going through. It is one of those things where you hate it that there is another family going through this ordeal and trial, but it is good to have someone to talk to who really understands.

The past few days, both Maegan and I have been struggling with the realization that Abby really is sick. Friday night, I was awake from 1:30 until the girls woke up around 6:30. Every time I closed my eyes, my mind would just play tricks on me. I would just start picturing the worst case scenario and then start kicking myself because we have been told in Abby’s blessing that she would beat this. My spiritual side was battling with my physical mind, and I had to continue to fight to keep my spirits up. Overall, I know it is just a step we have to go through to get Abby better. We just have to fight to keep our spirits up and to be strong for Abby. She has been so strong throughout this ordeal and has not complained once or asked “why me”. If she can be so strong, we also need to be strong. We can and will do it!