Miss Georgia was not feeling well for a few months before we moved here.  The doctors never thought much of it.  So we had a lot of days and a lot of pictures like these from January on!  I love her mad smile!! And I sure do miss her beautiful hair.

 April 25th, 2013,  at 8:30am I got a very unexpected call from Georgia's pediatrician.  I had taken her to the doctor on her birthday a week before, because she had another fever and was again complaining of leg pain.  As had happened many times before, the doctor was reluctant to be concerned, because after all she was a child, children get sick and do have growing pains.   This doctor however, was thorough, and was spending lots of time with us reassuring me and answering my questions.  As he was about to leave, he turned around and said, "If she isnt better in a week, we can do a blood test."  I glared at him. Long and hard. He finally said, "OK, we can do one today."  The rest of Georgia's birthday was spent tryig to get Georgia to perk up and feel better.  We told her we could wait to do the blood test on Friday so she didnt have to be poked on her birthday.  We took her to pick out her birthday chickens.  She was so happy.  But still sick.  The next day we did the blood test, and then she started feeling better.  By Thursday the next week, I had forgotten we even got a blood test.  When her doctor said "We got the blood test results back" I thought, oh yah! blood test! Wow, he is calling me kind of early....Between the words blood test and "the results show" I knew something was wrong.  His voice was so urgent and shaky.  "We got the blood test results back.  The results show she has Leukemia. They are waiting for you a Phoenix Children's Hospital.  Pack a bag and go now.  They are waiting to admit her."

I told him I didnt even know what Leukemia was.  He quickly answered, "cancer of the blood".
Georgia protested the whole drive to the hospital.  She didnt want to go to the doctor.  She wanted to go to Disneyland.  When we would ask her what she wanted for her birthday, it was "chickens and Disneyland".

I tried not to cry the whole drive.  I didnt want to worry Georgia.  But I did cry.  As I drove, I started thinking about all the events that had happened in the last year and a half.  My husband decided to partner with someone in a dental practice 2 hours away from where we were living in Oklahoma.  He had been doing really well working for a chain dental group there, and decided to go off on his own.  He had worked in several different offices and had always done very well.  We thought for sure if he was on his own it would only be better.  So we moved from Tulsa to Edmond.  The next year and a half was a nightmare for my husband.  We spent the last year and a half stewing over what we needed to do to fix all the problems with his office, why it wasnt working out, and why we didnt pick up on any promptings from the Lord that this would be such a bad deal.  Last August we both finally decided to sell the office and move on.  We had been living in Oklahoma so Drew would do well with work.  We were from AZ, and the economy wasnt too hot there, and the thought of struggling at work scared Drew enough to keep him in OK.  After a year of struggling he wasnt afraid of that anymore.  We decided if we were going to struggle with work, it might as well be in AZ, with family and friends.  As the last year went on our need and desire to get to AZ felt very urgent.  We both felt as if we needed to get out here as fast as we could.  Drew expedited the sale of his practice as we increasingly felt as if there was nothing left in Oklahoma for us and our lives were waiting for us in AZ.  Because Drew would now be working 6 days a week for the next month and a half, we only had one day he could move us out.  It was in March.  My mom kept asking, "why dont you wait until the end of the school year? Let the kids finish school?"  The thought was so weird to me. I considered it, and knew it made sense, but seemed so wrong.
Drew drove us out end of March.  We waited a week or so for our rental to be ready at my parent's house, and he packed up our whole house in Edmond, and drove back out here and moved us in.  Our rental is down the street from my parents.  It is much smaller than what we had been living in in Oklahoma, and not quite as nice.  I didnt even see if before we moved in.  I didnt care to.  I just felt that that was the house that would work the best for us.  I had tried other homes in the area and nothing ever worked out.    I am sure people thought I was kind of crazy moving a few houses down from my parents.  But I never gave it a second thought.
Drew spent  the next month working in Oklahoma.  The night before we got the call Drew came home for good.
I have never felt so blessed in my life, than the morning I drove Georgia to the hospital.  I have never felt so blessed in my life, than that awful day.  The last year and a half of confusion and frustration finally made sense to me.  The last year and a half of feeling as though Drew and I were making decisions on our own and completely in the dark was finally over and I could see clearly that we were not alone.  And not forgotten.  Georgia would have got Leukemia weather we were in Tulsa, Edmond, or Arizona.  But she would have been diagnosed much later in Oklahoma I am sure.  And we would have had to go through all of this on our own.  My mom is able to walk down any time of the day and watch my other children while I take Georgia to the hospital or doctors.  We get fed often and my children have so many people who love them here.  We have been so blessed.  The Lord knows each of us and our needs.  I have gained such a strong conviction that if we are doing all hat we can, and all that we know to be right, and following the Spirit to the best of our ability, the Lord will guide us.  And now I know that even in the times when we feel we are alone, we are not.

Georgia's journey fighting Leukemia has been hard.  It has been 5 months now.  5 months of chemo.  Lots of chemo.  And in all kinds of forms.  5 months of swallowing a myriad of pills several times a day. Each pill causing different side effects and yet more pills to mask those.  5 months of getting her "port" accessed for blood draws and chemo treatments.  5 months of  lumbar punctures and chemo shot up her spine and into her brain.  How many lumbar punctures has she had? I cant remember.  Too many. Each one has become increasingly difficult to bring her to.   The good news is, they tell me it will get better by January.  The bad news is, the chemo, steroids and lumbar punctures wont end until January 2016.

I havent been able to write much about our sweet Georgia.  I cant put my feelings on paper.  I hate to even try to explain her treatments, what she might be gong through, what I am going through, because my words will never do these experiences justice.  I hope by writing at least this much, It will be easier for me now to sit down and write, taking it a day or week or month at a time.