Lily & More

First, the "More":

* Hannah's blood counts remain stable & have been trending upwards. We took a trip to Kaiser on the evening of December 1st b/c Hannah wasn't feeling well. Not sure what was going on but she just was not herself & we wanted to get her blood levels checked to make sure everything was OK. Her blood counts came back higher than they have been in a year!!!!! Not normal yet but higher than they have been. December 1st was the actual anniversary of her going into the hospital last year. To say the least, I felt so sick to my stomach making the drive to Kaiser Fontana. Talk about a "WHAT IS GOING ON NOW?!" kind of feeling. It just felt like the whole nightmare was starting over. A complete relief to get her blood counts back & have positive news. I am so grateful to the Lord for this time at home & her being better than she was a year ago!

* There is a blood drive this coming week specifically for a little boy, Noah, that was diagnosed this Fall with the same thing that Hannah has, Aplastic Anemia. What better gift can you be giving this Christmas?? Hannah has probably had close to 100 blood & platelet transfusions since last December. Blood and platelet transfusions are what sustain life for these kids while waiting for their bodies to either respond to treatment or get a bone marrow transplant.

If you can't donate blood but have not signed up for the bone marrow registry, please stop by so you can register for the bone marrow registry. All it takes to register is a swab of your cheek. Noah's family is aggressively looking for a bone marrow match. A bone marrow transplant is the only CURE for this disease.

Here is the information: Blood and Bone Marrow Registry Drive on December 9th at 4630 Wheeler Avenue on the corner of Baseline Road and Wheeler from 8am to 2pm. To donate blood, you may make appointments by emailing mkech@roadrunner with your name, phone # and preferred appointment times. They will be taking appointments in 15 minute increments with the last appointment at 1:45pm. No appointment is necessary for the bone marrow test.

Now, on to the most precious baby from all of China, LILY:

We received a letter MONTHS & MONTHS ago in the midst of all the hospital stays with Hannah. The entire letter was in Chinese so I didn't know who the letter was from. I put the letter aside & forgot about it. Friends just translated the letter and it was from Lily's foster mother in China. A beautiful letter. I do believe that Lily was very loved baby for the first 53 weeks of her life. I don't know how she could not have been considering how she has always been so full of joy & engaging with others.

While Lily was in foster care there was another adorable baby in the same home, Meredith, now living in Colorado. Meredith's mom & I are planning a trip in January for our precious China girls to reunite. It is such a special gift that Lily & Meredith have each other from their beginnings in China. A letter also came for Meredith's family ... Margo, I promise I will figure out which one is your letter & send it this week!

I am sending a letter back to Lily's foster mom with some pictures that I put together of Lily these past few months. Here is a look at the other pictures I am sending.

Truly, I got the prize with this precious girl ... thank you, Lord!!!