Busy as always, but staying sane and happy! We've had a great year together going on trips to Disneyland, Monterey, San Francisco, Sand Mountain, Cancun, Puerto Vallarta and of course enjoying our time at home...phew!
We've had a decent year in our battle against Faith's Cystic Fibrosis. She is nice and steady with her weight gain and height growth (must be the brie and crab she enjoys!). In September she cultured Pseudomonas (PA) after a 2 year span of not culturing it since her first time, which means 2 extra 25 minute treatments every other month FOREVER (until there's a more convenient/efficient treatment available...or a cure) now since this is her second round of it. PA is a common bacteria that is found in soil and water, essentially unavoidable for people with CF at some point in life. We were hoping of course to keep it away for as long as possible and it's something that you or I could easily fight off, but thrives on tissue that can't heal itself well. It's hard to make sense of it, but it basically adds an hour more of treatment time every day for a month, then break the next month and start again the next, etc. We're doing this in hopes that the bacteria, which is currently non-mucoid PA, does not turn into mucoid....much harder to treat. We are still incredible grateful for having no hospital stays yet and are very appreciative of her wonderful Sutter care team!
After our last update came Halloween and oh, how Faith loved that! She got to pick out her costume at the Disney store...Cinderella all the way...."with a big poofy dress and a crown and a wand and long hair." We didn't do the long hair, but she did get plenty of glitter! Brooke was Tinkerbell and though she didn't quite grasp the concept of door to door, she was happy as a clam once she had that first piece of candy and joyfully sat in the stroller to watch the kids run. Faith and cousin Qwynci kept racing each other to the next house trick or treating...when they were done, all the kids checked out their candy and stripped off costumes in exchange for cozier PJs.
November was full of birthdays and gatherings...we saw family and friends often, always a blessing to be able to get together and have no one be sick! Our family pictures were taken by http://www.katieelmerphotography.blogspot.com/ she's awesome!
Brooke is growing, learning more words and giggling with big sis everyday. On her terms, she enjoys cuddling, having one hand on her for comfort and saying "Cheese" really big when the camera is around. Her temperment is improving greatly as we learn to understand her strong will. Faith continues to be an incredibly happy, smiley young lady who amazes us often by the things that she says and her ways of interpretation. The other day we were tasting home made cookies from the family women's tea while sitting on the kitchen counter and she came up with all sorts of cute comments. She found a chocolate truffle, took a small bite and said, "Man, this one's good you should try it!" A couple of nights ago we drove down the Rocklin street of Christmas lights and she said so many things, but the best one was "Oh, look at that house, this is SO lovely!"
And I think our favorite quote of the year came just the other day when sitting in the backyard with daddy enjoying the firepit.... "This is my best life ever!"
Please SAVE THE DATE for GreatStrides Saturday, May 2, 2009 and join our team of family and friends walking and fundraising, along with many other teams, for better medications and an eventual cure for Faith and the thousands of others battling CF. We continue to be grateful of your enduring support and prayers. They are always welcome. May we all keep in our hearts the meaning of Christmas and have a happy and healthy New Year!
We've had a decent year in our battle against Faith's Cystic Fibrosis. She is nice and steady with her weight gain and height growth (must be the brie and crab she enjoys!). In September she cultured Pseudomonas (PA) after a 2 year span of not culturing it since her first time, which means 2 extra 25 minute treatments every other month FOREVER (until there's a more convenient/efficient treatment available...or a cure) now since this is her second round of it. PA is a common bacteria that is found in soil and water, essentially unavoidable for people with CF at some point in life. We were hoping of course to keep it away for as long as possible and it's something that you or I could easily fight off, but thrives on tissue that can't heal itself well. It's hard to make sense of it, but it basically adds an hour more of treatment time every day for a month, then break the next month and start again the next, etc. We're doing this in hopes that the bacteria, which is currently non-mucoid PA, does not turn into mucoid....much harder to treat. We are still incredible grateful for having no hospital stays yet and are very appreciative of her wonderful Sutter care team!
After our last update came Halloween and oh, how Faith loved that! She got to pick out her costume at the Disney store...Cinderella all the way...."with a big poofy dress and a crown and a wand and long hair." We didn't do the long hair, but she did get plenty of glitter! Brooke was Tinkerbell and though she didn't quite grasp the concept of door to door, she was happy as a clam once she had that first piece of candy and joyfully sat in the stroller to watch the kids run. Faith and cousin Qwynci kept racing each other to the next house trick or treating...when they were done, all the kids checked out their candy and stripped off costumes in exchange for cozier PJs.
November was full of birthdays and gatherings...we saw family and friends often, always a blessing to be able to get together and have no one be sick! Our family pictures were taken by http://www.katieelmerphotography.blogspot.com/ she's awesome!
Brooke is growing, learning more words and giggling with big sis everyday. On her terms, she enjoys cuddling, having one hand on her for comfort and saying "Cheese" really big when the camera is around. Her temperment is improving greatly as we learn to understand her strong will. Faith continues to be an incredibly happy, smiley young lady who amazes us often by the things that she says and her ways of interpretation. The other day we were tasting home made cookies from the family women's tea while sitting on the kitchen counter and she came up with all sorts of cute comments. She found a chocolate truffle, took a small bite and said, "Man, this one's good you should try it!" A couple of nights ago we drove down the Rocklin street of Christmas lights and she said so many things, but the best one was "Oh, look at that house, this is SO lovely!"
And I think our favorite quote of the year came just the other day when sitting in the backyard with daddy enjoying the firepit.... "This is my best life ever!"
Please SAVE THE DATE for GreatStrides Saturday, May 2, 2009 and join our team of family and friends walking and fundraising, along with many other teams, for better medications and an eventual cure for Faith and the thousands of others battling CF. We continue to be grateful of your enduring support and prayers. They are always welcome. May we all keep in our hearts the meaning of Christmas and have a happy and healthy New Year!
Warm Wishes,
Stephanie, Morgan, Faith & Brooke
