Seeking prayers for Ari

5 days ago my niece Arianna (she is my brother Travis' daughter) was diagnosed with a cancer called LCH. There are 2 types of LCH cancer; single and multi symptom. Single LCH has a survival rate of about 8-9 out of 10. However, with multi symptom (and she has every single symptom) the survival rate for kids under the age of 2 is less than 50%.

About 4 months ago, Ari broke out with sores all over her head. Haley took her to the Dr. They said that it was cradle cap. They told her to bath her every night and then massage olive oil into the scalp. Haley did this, but it wasn't getting better. She took her back to the Dr. and they said cradle cap is a fungus and that they need to just keep fighting it. That was 4 months ago. (She still has the cradle cap.)

Then 2 months later over the 4th of July weekend they noticed that Ari was drinking a ton of water. This very quickly increased to 1 gallon of water a day. They took her back into the doctor. They did blood work. They told them that because of the water, they couldn't get an accurate blood test and that they needed her to fast for 12 hours. After the fasting she increased her water intake to 2 gallons of water a day. Travis and Haley spent the next month in and out of the Drs. office having blood test after blood test done. The Dr. couldn't figure it out. Ari was starting to show signs of lethargy and sickness. They ended up taking her to Primary Children's in SLC. They were only in the ER for about 2 hours. The Drs. instantly diagnosed her with having a kidney malfunction. They told them that for whatever reason she drank too much water and that "drowned" her kidneys putting the kidneys in a reverse osmosis function. To fix it they needed to cut her off from all water. They said it's going to be really hard, but you have to be strong and not give in. Travis asked why she was so lethargic and "sick" acting. They said, the water intake was washing away all of her nutrition and she was basically starving to death. They said if the parents couldn't get her nutrition back then they would have to put a g-tube in. Travis asked if she should have a scan done of the brain. They said no because they were certain this was what was wrong and they sent them home. They went back home and took her off water. It was REALLY hard because she acts like she is dying of dehydration. She got worse each day. They took her back to the Dr. in St. George and Ari had a double ear infection and both ear drums had burst. That Dr. again did more blood work. A few days later Ari broke out with a rash all over her body. The Dr. got the blood work results back. She called Haley who was on her way to cub scouts and asked for her and Travis to come to her office right away. Haley said, "I am on my way to cub scouts. Travis is home with Ari. I will call him and tell him to bring her in." The Dr. said, "No, I don't need Ari. I need to talk to you and Travis." So they went in to see the Dr. She told them that she thought Ari had leukemia. She had arranged for them to be admitted into Primary the following morning. So that night they drove to Salt Lake. The next day they started the routine tests; Chest x-rays, blood work, ultra sound, MRI. They also discovered that she was severely anemic so they did a blood transfusion. She also had bone marrow retrieved to determine what type of leukemia she had. Well, the bone marrow came back negative and the MRI came back showing lesions on her brain. This turned the Drs. towards diagnosing it as LCH. The next night in the hospital she had trouble breathing. She dropped down to 40% oxygen. They did an ultra sound on her lungs to find that they were filling with fluid. She was moved during the night to ICU. The Drs. were waiting for a biopsy of the cradle cap to confirm LCH. When her lungs were filling with fluid they told them they had to act now. They weren't waiting for test results to confirm LCH. They had to actively treat her for LCH with chemo right away. So within 2 days they were faced with:enlarged liver and spleen fluid in the lungs, lesions on the brain, distressed kidneys anemia blood disorder, pituatary gland malfunction. She has had 5 blood transfusion in the last 5 days. She has had 2 platelet transfusions in the last 2 days. Her platelet count should be 150, but hers is 8. Basically, in her case the LCH has attacked every organ in her body except for the heart. We have to hope that it doesn't advance to the heart because they said when it does that they can only assist her in a pain free death. We also have to hope and pray that her liver can endure. It is under alot of stress. They test it every 2 hours because if it shuts down that too is fatal. They had to quit giving her tylenol, but they are giving her oxycodine now. She was started on steroids and a low dose chemo to see how she does. As needed they will possibly have to jump to a higher dose and more aggressive chemo. They said the trick is to beat the cancer quick enough without killing her and before the cancer beats her. Her odds are slim, but not impossible. I am so proud of Travis and Haley. They have been so strong and so positive, but I know it is taking a huge toll on them. We appreciate everyones prayers and support. We love you all.

Liz has setup a site dedicated to Ari. It will chronicle her journey so that we focus on her recovery and remember to pray. DON'T STOP PRAYING. Prayers can bring miracles. Please share the site address with anyone who is willing to pray for her. http://www.prayforari.blogspot.com/