Natalie Orlando Update

This was a great holiday. Perhaps most notably was Natalie's confidence in walking. We received a special call from one of Nat's former Physical Therapists. After some time of Dana and her chatting she offered to give free Physical therapy to Natalie until we could get the insurance issues figured out. After one session yesterday Natalie has a new found confidence. Perhaps one of the most heartfelt moments was when my mom took her to school. My mom held her hand and they walked together out the door and to the car. It has been a long time coming but I never thought it would be so sweet. I feel so blessed!

Since Natalie's birthday 4th birthday is soon approaching I was digging through some old-ish photos. I fuound this one of Nicole 365 days ago (6 months old). Now Nicole is 1.5able to say three word sentences, climb stairs, jump off the couch, walk around in mom's shoes and throw a fit (she's not too old to stand in the corner though!).

I am amazed and reminded how fast they grow up. I keep telling myself to savor every moment. because a moment can turn into a week, and a week can slip into a month, and so on...

Anyway happy birthday little sweet Natalie. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you and love you more that we can share!

Well it's official! Natalie took her first steps all by herself this evening. There were rumors (from the grandparents sector a week ago) but you never know about those people. They're always looking for the edge. Heck, according to my mom Natalie and Nicole are multidisciplinary genius' in 10 industries and counting :).

Natalie took FIVE LARGE STEPS directly toward her mom(Dana) tonight. I'll leave out the part that she was totally buck naked...you didn't hear it from me! Well I guess there's nothing left for her to accomplish but to get a job. It's a heck of a time to enter the job market strong into the recession, only 3 years old... But, I guess everyone has to start somewhere.

Missing ya'll -- Dominick

Hey all!

The latest on Natalie is that we are praying that her IV lasts the till Tuesday. This is highly unlikely but since Surgery is moving departments when they are available it doesn't' make much sense to put in something better than and IV if it's only going to be in for a few days.

If we can get the IV's to last till Tue (and we are able to have consecutive Negative blood cultures) we can put in her new port. She has to get poked every morning to draw labs, cultures and misc other tests. This is not fun and her arm is rather black and blue. She's tough though and we are enjoying our time together. Lots of Elmo, video games, hard boiled eggs and coloring.

Specific Requests:

• IV doesn't dry up, make it till Tuesday
  
• New port goes in on time
• Multiple negative cultures in a row
• Her little right ankle does not become sore because it's in a cast-like brace (keeping her foot pointed) in effort to keep IV flowing smoothly
  

Praises:

• Her counts are up and her immune system is full steam ahead at 2,000+
• Natalie is in great spirits (too good to be true)
• No fevers have surfaced for a long time

Thanks for fighting with us. I have had at least 10 good talks with people about God during our stay. It's been so Good. He's using this situation in mighty ways.

--Dominick

Hello everyone!

It's been a long time since there has been anything to report about Natalie but we could use your prayers as she is sick. We actually have (maybe wrongly so) allowed ourselves to think things are pretty much back to normal. Well to our surprise Natalie just recently has been admitted to the hospital again. But we are all doing pretty well now.

The serious condition of a bacterial blood infection is what the doctors feared Tuesday 11/18/08. Because of a fever rushed from home to the local ER. After a night there we thought we'd be heading home but we found out her immune system was nearly zero from this bacteria. This being the case we were taken by ambulance to Santa Clara Valley Medical instead of Stanford because a lack of available beds.

Also pray for Nicole who misses us. She has a cold so we are not able to see her because of the risk of getting Natalie sick. My mom has been taking care of her at her house for nearly a week.

Natalie is doing so well now. You wouldn't even know she was sick! She plays her instruments (cat piano) and the shakers, takes rides waving to the staff in her little wagon, and enjoys only the company of a bag of pretzels these days. The doctors have done a stellar job at targeting the bacteria and being thorough in her care. We are praying for:

1. Two negative blood cultures (making sure no bacteria is present in her blood.
2. An immune system rating of 500 (she's 200 now and you and I are 5,000)
3. Two consecutive days without fever.

After a tiresome and scary start we are in a great place however, we are reminded (for all of us) that we only have today. Make the most of it.

Love you all,

Dominick