The story so far...

Scarlett had been limping slightly for about 2 weeks. They thought maybe she was bothered by some misquitoe bites that she had been scratching. She also fell and they thought maybe she hurt her knee. They wondered, but she did not act like she was in pain.

Sunday, Oct 2 she could not stand up at all so they took her in for blood tests. The doctor phoned them right back to say that her platelettes were very low and to come right in. Jarman's phoned us at this point which was our Sunday night at 10:30 - their Monday afternoon. They first said possibly a bone infection, then maybe just an infection from the misquito bites. But 2 days later her platelette count had dropped so much that the doctor said bone marrow for sure. More tests and the doctor said 95% sure of Leukemia.

By now we were all saying get her home to Canada. Lance's work started immediately on flights. Her count kept dropping so they gave her a transfusion (Lance has same blood type) so that she could make the 2 day flight. They were supposed to spend Wed night in Vancouver because all the connecting flights were full but they had a great tail wind and landed an hour early in Vancouver and ran and caught a flight to Calgary. A really great blessing, because of their concern it would have been hard to spend the night there with only a 1 hour flight between them and Calgary. They phoned and let us know and we took off. They even beat us there by a few minutes. They were so happy to be back in the country. We spent till 4 a.m. at the hospital with them and by 5 the next afternoon they had concluded that it was leukemia for sure.

We picked up Adam at the airport as he was flying in because Nikki was reporting her mission on Sunday. The weekend was very difficult and joyful to say the least. They are thrilled with the facility and the staff who have kept them constantly updated and are watching little Scarly-Marly very closely.

Monday she had surgery to put in a line of some sort (sorry I am forgetting the true medical word) by her heart to take blood etc. so they don't have to keep poking her little arms, which are already pretty beat up.

Today, Tuesday, they took a bone marrow sample and a spinal tap and injected her first dose of chemo. More tests and more results to wait for. She starts her full treatment on Friday. The doctor spoke to them for about an hour and a half today about all of the side effects and symptoms to watch for.

It seems that every day there are new things to learn and look for and new concerns. Her oxygen is low so they think maybe a lung collapsed in surgery on Monday, which is not uncommon, but she has not woken up enough for them to get her to do some deep breathing. Just so many things going on.

The Jarman family has been there this week so I will probably not go up again for a few days. They live farther away and won't be there as often as I can go. Bobbi and Lance are exhausted and Isabelle is confused. They would never want to offend anyone, but have asked for no visitors for awhile for a few reasons. First, once she starts chemo, the staff said that they will be very strict about limiting the visitors because they just can not have any of them get sick at all. And secondly, Bobbi and Lance need to be strong for Scarlett and Isabelle and they feel quite drained with too many other things going on. Plus they have medical staff coming in very often to speak with them about a variety of things. They are not sleeping well at all either. It is just ongoing and exhausting.

They are so grateful for 2 things. First of all, she says that she knows what is happening in Southern Alberta. She said, "Mom I know what people are doing and it brings us a lot of peace and comfort. I know they care for you guys and for us and that they are praying and thinking of us. It really means a lot and please thank everyone."

They are also so humbled to be staying in the Ronald McDonald House. It is fabulous and caters exactly to what families in their situation need. Meals, activities for kids, nice quiet rooms with washer and dryer and just across the street. They are allowed to stay there as long as they want. So far neither one of them has hardly even left her room but after Jarman's leave, one of them will stay there with Izzy at night.

We have a deep comforting hope that all will be well. Not easy - but well in the end. Thank you, thank you - we feel of your love and support.
I will try to add a bit each day after I talk with her. www.scarlettjarman.blogspot.com