At 13 months old, Annabelle's face started swelling and her happy, energetic self became lethargic, cranky, and unwilling to even eat or drink. We took her to the pediatrician who found unnerving numbers on her blood test and a lump in her upper abdomen. After 15 grueling hours in the ER and countless tests, she was diagnosed with Burkitt's Leukemia - an aggressive form of cancer in which the cells double in size daily. The lump in her abdomen was the size of a softball, her bone marrow was more than halfway overtaken by cancer cells, and her kidneys had started shutting down.

It is the beginning of September and we have been at the hospital for almost seven weeks. For the first two weeks, Annabelle was placed on a ventilator to receive various treatments. First she was given pain, sedating, and paralyzing medications as she lay helplessly hooked up to a kidney dialysis machine for five days. She was deemed a wildcat by the doctors as her pulse and blood pressure kept splitting, causing us many scares. As the pain meds wore off, her pulse would rise and her face would turn red as she screamed internally without a single bodily movement. The kind of emotional turmoil this gives a parent is unfathomable. Within these first two weeks, Annabelle also started the first of six rounds of aggressive treatment for this aggressive cancer - 8 days of multiple chemotherapies and steroids, including preventative lumbar punctures to keep the cancer out of her spine and brain.

On the last day of round one treatment, our little warrior was taken off the ventilator and we got to hold her for the first time in two weeks - an experience we will eternally treasure. A couple days later, her older siblings were able to join us at the hospital as well, after having been away from all of us for almost three weeks - a happy and well needed reunion!

The weeks following round one seemed to be awful with Annabelle throwing up constantly, struggling with blood draws, developing awful diaper sores as her white bloods cells started to deplete, and trying to relearn how to crawl and eat. She struggled to wean off the opioids she was on and found herself constantly triggered to vomit from the feeding tube she is now fully dependent on. After about 10 days, we were excited as she started to smile and play returning almost fully back to herself, only for her to start round two.

Round two has proven exponentially more difficult than the first. She had to encounter chemo awake, throwing up almost constantly. In addition, we as her parents started to become increasingly worn down by this difficult battle and the older kids had to go stay with other family and friends. However, we were thankful she never spiked a fever which was the condition to allow us to go home. So on the final day of round two treatment, after receiving a blood transfusion, we rejoiced as we picked up the older kids and went home!!!

Annabelle loved to be at home, crawling and playing with her siblings and we all loved sleeping in our own beds for the first time in almost six weeks! We got caught up on well-needed rest and were getting used to giving her medications and feeds at home, when 24 hours after we got there, she spiked a fever. So just like that, Annabelle was re-admitted to the hospital, so quickly we got to go back into the exact same room we had been in - a great blessing in a disappointing situation.

The last week has been one of the most difficult yet. For the first three days, she had constant vomiting and diarrhea. She then started having extremely painful mouth sores followed by her diaper sores becoming worse. Her fevers have ranged from 100.4 to 104.0 as she has tested positive for staph infection, the stomach flu, and e coli in the blood. She sleeps constantly except when she is whimpering in pain. This morning her blood test reported zero white blood cells, and she still has four more rounds to endure. This treatment has been likened to a boxer being hit a million different directions so the cancer has no chance to survive, but the toll it has had on her body also has major implications.

In addition to the Burkitt's Leukemia Annabelle is battling, she also has MTHFR gene mutations which make it difficult for her body to adequately release toxins as well as Ectodermal Dysplasia which decreases her ability to release heat from her body. These issues have compounded the entire situation.

As her parents, we are constantly in pieces over her condition, praying for our little girl to be made whole in Jesus' name, believing fully she will be. However, the road there is nearly unbearable and we have only just started to also think about the financial repercussions of all of this. We do have insurance but that only covers so much and we have lost income from work to remain here at the hospital. In the coming year, we will accumulate many more expenses as she rehabilitates from six months of lost development, learning to eat, crawl, and stand again. We will also need to work fervently to rebuild her immune system. As you read this, we ask that you prayerfully consider what contribution the Lord would like you to make to this intense battle against cancer. Above all, please also continue to pray!