December 23, 2010, 5 year old Hailey was diagnosed with Aplastic Anemia.
Hailey loves horses, and is already talking about becoming an oncology veterinarian!
Please join us for the First Annual "Out Of The Chute" Art Event!
Saturday, August 20, 2011
To learn more, please go to: www.ToLoveAmerica.Blogspot.com

Back In the Saddle

Hello Everyone! Please accept our apologies for doing what the media does all too often...when a breaking story breaks it is all you hear about until you are blue in the face but at some point it blows over and you don't always get the closure you were waiting for. A final report is still not something we can offer but an update is definitely deserved.
As most of you have probably figured out we are past the 100 day mark. We aren't out of the woods yet but we are inching closer and closer to freedom. With the arrival of 100 days Hailey was able to drop several of her medications, including her nose spray, and part of her mouth care, which were biggies. We are now allowed to go to Children's ONCE a month for tests. The blood draws remain a weekly task but we are permitted to go to a lab here in Fort Collins and the doctors have agreed to let Hailey use some numbing cream before the pokes so as not to feel the hurt, Thank God! Not only does the cream numb the vein it allows me to go on hearing without the assistance of hearing aids and Monday morning heartbreak.
Since October 14 th, day 100, Hailey has had a battery of follow up tests all of which have come back with pleasing results. Her bone marrow cellularity was reported at 65%. This is 15% higher than what the doctors would've been satisfied with, 15% lower than that of your average 6 year old but still better than expected at this time. We'll take the 65% any day over the days of less than 12 % productivity. Good bye transfusions, good rid-dens peticeai! Hello energy and colorful cheeks, welcome back long eyelashes, hair and eyebrows. Most recently it was declared that her asthma is gone, as well as the spot they witnessed on her lung right before transplant, it was a bruise after all, from the placement of her first broviach. The EKG, ECHO, CT scan tests, and x-rays all came back with nothing to report.
Frank Lloyd Wright was credited with saying " the longer I live the more beautiful life becomes." How true, how true! I must admit though that due to some unforseen and heart wrenching experiences after our release form the hospital, which I won't go into, there was time when I would've disputed that wisdom. After changing my perspective I am now able to whole heartedly agree to the testement of the beauty of life.
For a long time I was not able to see what all of you saw from the beginning. Being in the ring of fire we were so focused on the task in front of us and getting out of the hospital, that the notion of losing a child was not an idea that was allowed to enter my mind. As time goes on we are all healing at our own pace and in our own ways. Everyday is laden with so much gratitude that there is finally little room for fear, loss of control, sadness or self pity. Building snow forts, making holiday crafts, visiting with grandparents has left little time to wallow in the not so distant past. We continue to take it one beautiful day at a time, balancing between a little work, a lot of play, and a fair amount of at home schooling. Emily continues to be dependable for a daily dose of humor and Hailey doesn't stop at amazing us with her wisdom.
There have been a few highlights recently like Halloween trick or treating at Children's and in the neighborhood, or Emily's wedding to our 10 year old neighbor Mitchell. Evidently he wore a pink tuxedo, with a yellow daisy pinned to the lapel and Emily donned a Dora dress. Oh to be trapped in the mind of a 3 year old. The big event was last weekend when our friends Brad and Sheila brought Harley, the horse that Hailey used to ride, for a visit. Due to the amount of fungus at a farm that is one of the biggest places we were warned to avoid. Not to be deterred and tired of wanting any longer Brad and Sheila washed Harley and loaded her up in the trailer. "You can keep the girl away from the farm but you can't keep the farm away from the girl!!!" was their thinking. Dumb-founded in the only way to describe Hailey's reaction, eyes wide, jaw dropped, and dead silence. She ran to that horse and loved her and hugged her. After 7 months of not even laying eyes on Harley there was no shortage of emotion and no time wasted standing around, there was a horse to be riden. Hailey was back in the saddle. I can still hear the clop of the horseshoes on the asphalt and see the triple take that one of our neighbors took as she drove by our cul-de-sac. Both girls were giddy with joy but they weren't the only ones, Harley had a fair amount to be joyous about too, it isn't often that a rodeo horse is hand fed carrots, and apples or gets to graze on fresh green grass.
Horses don't belong in the city but children don't deserve to be held at bay from the things they love most. As the old saying goes, "Where there is a will there is a way." There is always a way, and along the way you have the opportunity to learn a lot. We certainly have.
This Thanksgiving it is our hope that each of you will be thankful for not just the big and obvious things in life but for the little things that are the glue in holding the big things together, the things that make your life what it is. Blessing come in all shapes and sizes. Remember when you say your prayers not to overlook the gifts that aren't wrapped in eye catching paper, for those are the ones that hold the keys to the purest joy.
Happy Thanksgiving! Please count yourself among our blessings, we do.
Love, Team Texeira