Friday night, Dom and Dana got to go out for a few hours together. I think they even caught a movie. This connection time was a much needed relief. Thanks Jeff and Lee!
Just spoke with Dom.
Last night was very hard for the Orlando's.
Everything is really starting to wear on them: Fatigue, stress, seeing their precious daughter hurting, etc. Dom & Dana are just overwhelmed right now. They need connection time as a team together, but aren't getting it. Dana is sleeping at the hotel. Dom is sleeping at the hospital (and not getting much sleep due to interruptions, etc.) They really could use your continued prayers.
New Info today on Natalie's condition:
Natalie's blood sugar is high, so they are administering insulin. This results in monitoring the blood sugar hourly, e.g., finger pricks for a 2 year old every hour. This is very unpleasant.
Natalie also have very low platelets. Doctors can give her more, but they are hesitant to give her too much as her body can build an immunity to them. Find out more about what platelets are and what they do here.
Natalie is also having stomach/gas pains, which can be very uncomfortable for a 2 year old. She needs to eat regularly but has a low appetite and the combination of pain meds can make her constipated. So the result is an uncomforatble little girl who is probably scared, not knowing what is happening to her.
Dana & Dom are definately in need of your prayers today!
They ask that you would pray for 2 very specific things:
- Endurance
- Sensitivity with each other
They are getting hit with fatigue, mixed with not getting any relational time to spend together, and the stress of this entire situation.
Special Thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas who have regularly been up helping and to Lee Danzler who has been going up regualary to give them assistance. There may be others I haven't named, but thank you to all who have helped.
New info in today. I spoke with Dominick on the phone yesterday to clarify about Natalie's treatment. It turns out she has had her first round of treatments. There are several different drugs that they are giving Natalie, with the most intense being the chemo therapy, make you nauseated, potentially lose your hair kind. Nat will probably be getting that drug on weekends, and as I understand, on Saturdays. But we will see, things may change depending on Natalie's response to the therapy.
She responded pretty well to this first round. She didn't even throw up. That is certainly a praise.
As the treatment continues, please pray for little Natalie. Being poked and proded is no fun, and if you can imagine a 2 year old trying to understand the strange feelings certain drugs may bring on, then you know how disorienting it is for her.
All this leads to the next area of need. Dom said he found out today that Natalie's white cell count is low, so it looks like they will be in for at least 2 more weeks. Dom and Dana are both super tired and as you can imagine, there is strain on their relationship with all the stress.
- Please pray for Dom and Dana to be united and to get time together.
- Please pray for Nicole to continue sleeping well (as she has been.)
- Please pray for Endurance for their families.
- Please pray for Natalie to respond to the therapy well.
- Please pray for continued financial help or consider helping since they will have to secure housing and daily food for another 2 weeks.
- Please pray for Natalie's roomate. Another child going through therapy. That little one was throwing up all night last night. This keeps the Orlandos up all night with nurses, etc. coming in and turning on the lights and talking at normal levels.
I am going to add a donation link on this site soon for those of you who want to donate to Natalie's care. It will be serviced through PayPal and go directly to Natalie's bank account. More on that soon. In the meantime, you can contact Heather Hughes about financial donations.
Lastly, Please remember to post your comments, questions, or prayers to Dom and Dana. As they get time, they will get your messages of care and that is such a huge encouragement to them. And tell your friends about this site. The more people who know and pray the better.
Just got a call from Dominick. Here is the update.
The last couple of nights were on and off rough. Natalie has had a fever, and it is unconfirmed if it has subsided as of yet. Dominick didn't mention it on the message.
He did mention that the doctors have inserted a "PIC line" into Natalie's chest. The purpose of the pic line is to be a direct delivery system. You can find out more by following the link.
Unfortunately there was a complication with the PIC line. According to Dom, it went up toward her neck instead of directly into her heart, meaning that the line may not serve as a direct line any longer. This is yet to be determined by the doctors. As a result, Natalie has not received any Chemo treatments yet to my knowledge.
Additionally, Natalie received some pain medication (I assume due to the procedure), and it has caused her to be a bit grumpy and in Dom's words "tripped out."
It is a frustrating waiting game for Dom and Dana as the hospital is short staffed due to the holiday. Please pray for this situation. Dom described it as things "are not firing on all cylinders."
However, to end on an up note:
A great praise from Dom is that they did a spinal tap to check for Leukemia cells in Natalies spinal fluid and brain. They expect there will be some, but the core they tested revealed none.
This is wonderful, becauase it means that the cancer is not as advanced and it places Natalie into a lower risk category.
Thank you Jesus!