Sunday, August 14, 2022

Andrew's Adventures...

So many have kindly asked for an update on the the boys trip, Andrew's health status, etc, so here is a quick recap:

***Please forgive any grammatical errors, I'm too tired to proof read this post... thanks for extending us grace 😃.


By David:

Andrew and I flew I to Denver late on a Wednesday and were able to stay the night at one of Kristi’s friends from high school who lives in Denver now. Andrew had dialysis at Denver Childrens Hospital on Thursday morning and then we drove up to Breckenridge after dialysis. On our way, we stopped at Beaver Ranch Disc Golf course and enjoyed playing and hiking all in one. Breckenridge was amazing and the weather was between 50-70 degrees the entire time. We took a chair lift up to the base of Peak 8 and enjoyed a day of alpine slides, mountain coasters, mini golf, rock climbing, and crepes. On Saturday, we had to leave Breckenridge at 5:00 am and drive down the mountain to go back to the hospital for Andrew to get dialysis. Then, we stayed in Golden, CO for two more nights. Andrew rested a little after dialysis and then we went on amazing 5 mile hike with some views that were outstanding. I was really proud of Andrew for being able to push through a hike like that, after he had just received dialysis that morning; he is usually pretty worn out on dialysis days, but he powered through. The next day, we went zip lining and whitewater rafting and although the snow had already finished melting, thus causing the rapids to be a little smaller, it was still a ton of fun and perfect for Andrew, since he needed to avoid getting wet anyways. The next day we flew back home. It was a great trip for Andrew and I and allowed him to feel like he was at least able to do something this Summer. 









By Kristi (with a little help from David :-):

One of the toughest decisions we have had to make in a long time deals with realizing we just don’t have the time and bandwidth to properly care for a horse any longer (thanks to the brutal dialysis schedule). Otto has become like a part of the family and we all love getting to be out at the barn and have time with him; however, the amount of time we have available is just non-existent and we realized that it isn’t fair to Otto and financially isn’t smart for us to continue investing in the costs to board Otto. We ran this by Andrew and committed to praying about it for many months and Andrew came back to us himself and realized that it is probably the right thing to do. Therefore, we began looking into options for how we could best get Otto to the right place for the next phase of his life, while also wanting to see if there is anyway that we could still possibly see Otto. 




In a way that only God could’ve played a hand in, we reached out to Reigning Strength Therapeutic Horsemanship (this is where Grace first started doing therapeutic horse back riding lessons) to see if they were in need of a horse. Not sure they had a true need, but what we do know is that the owners of the barn have a heart bigger than a horse… their barn was full, but they were willing to give Otto a two week trial and see if he would work out as a therapy horse. Otto did great in his trial (we aren’t surprised, seeing the way he took care of Grace when she would boss him around the arena over the past 3 years, gave us all the confidence in the world in him), so they agreed to take ownership of Otto (he now has a super cool job as a therapy horse in one of the cleanest, coolest, and kindest barns you’ve ever seen) AND Grace even gets to ride him for her weekly one hour lesson. We still get to see Otto each week and Grace gets to ride him, but we also get to know that Otto is getting loved on and worked regularly and we no longer have the financial responsibility of owning him and feeling guilty for how infrequently we are able to make it out to the barn. It seems to be the best possible scenario to a very difficult situation. Praise the Lord!!!  Thank you Reigning Strength!!!


Andrew just started 8th grade on Monday the 8th. He is happy to be going back to Logos and joining his friends again for another year, but less excited about doing homework. Initially, he was rather frustrated that he is unable to play football at school this year (because of his catheter and fistula); however, the football coach asked if Andrew would be willing to be the manager. Andrew was hesitant at first, but after thinking and praying about it over the Summer, he came back and said that he would like to still be a part of the team in some manner and was actually looking at it as an opportunity to serve the team, like it’s his ministry.  After going to practice for a few days this week, Andrew said that he has enjoyed getting to be on the team and actually feels like he gets to still participate a lot (just without all the contact). When picturing the manager role, we envisioned him just getting water for the players and lugging equipment around, but it’s been so much more (in the best way). We are beyond grateful for those coaches. 



In case you can't read my writing... Andrew "wants to be a pilot when he grows up" (this passion developed as a result of an amazing opportunity he had thanks to some amazing Triumph Over Kid Cancer donors 🧡)


In regards to dialysis, this has definitely been a tough… really tough season for the family and feels like someone is out of the house all the time.  Andrew had his fistula surgery in July and it is almost ready for them to begin accessing; however, there is one small area that is a little too narrow, so they scheduled an appointment with Interventional Radiology for Monday, August 22, in order to go in and dilate that one section. Then, hopefully they will be able to start accessing the fistula shortly after that is completed. 


Once the fistula begins to be accessed, Andrew will have to wait about 3-5 weeks for the nurses to figure out the right locations to gain access and ensure there are no issues whatsoever before they will decide to remove his catheter. Andrew will be elated when he finally gets his catheter out. Then, the training is supposed to begin for both parents to learn how to do dialysis for Andrew at home. Here is where it gets very tricky though and we could use a lot of wisdom on what we should do. The doctors stated that the training process for parents is typically a four week process and we would have to go up to TCH everyday (except Sunday) for four to five hours each day. With two other kids and jobs, we have no idea how we could possibly work this out. Plus, that means Andrew has to be up here everyday as well. Therefore, it might just be one of us doing the training, or there is another option as well, but this will require a lot of prayer and God making things happen. 


In April, the plan is to begin the conversation about the possibility of Andrew being a candidate for a kidney transplant. The reason we have to wait until April is because that will be two years from Andrew’s last radiation treatment and they want to see how Andrew’s tumors are functioning at that point. There will still be a lot of doctors that need to be convinced that a transplant is an ethical option for Andrew, but it helps that Andrew’s oncologists are on board, specifically his adult oncologist in Denver. Once that discussion begins, Andrew’s doctor stated that it is still a five to six month process until transplant would actually happen, but that still doesn’t sound too bad. In just over a year from now, Andrew could possibly be getting a transplant… which is crazy to consider (crazy as in evidence of a big and good God) since transplants are typically not an option for someone with “active cancer” (remember Andrew still has two small spots that light up). This is fantastic news, but it is far from a done deal, so please be praying for this. Lastly, we are trying to decide if it makes sense to go through all the training to do home dialysis if it will only be for a year or less. Pray we can make the right decision for that as well. 


David went back to work as a college counselor at a private school in Houston on Friday. Can’t wait to see how God uses him in his student’s lives this year. 



Grace made him take a pic with the white board too🤣!  This is David's second year as a college counselor at the Tenney School in Houston.  He "wants to be an awesome Dad and Husband" when he grows up.... good news is that he's already achieved that goal! 


Your prayers and support are what continue to sustain us, so thank you for not giving up on us! We are so very grateful for each of you!!! Please keep the prayers and praises coming!!!


The Rosses 


In His strength and for His glory

Monday, July 4, 2022

Hurting and Hoping

We (once again) would like to apologize for our lack of presence on the blog or social media, life has been more busy than ever (more on that in a moment) and when I think about posting I don't even know where to start in the way of an update.  In a nutshell, we find ourselves in a strange place... kinda like we are trying to balance a wonky teeter-totter that on one end keeps us on our knees begging God to show us how to walk our precious children through so much heartache and frustration and on the other end... also on our knees, we are praising the Lord for His goodness, faithfulness, and the deep love and loyalty our family has for one another/how much we love to be together.  It's that very love and loyalty that breaks our heart when one of our own takes one hit after another and all you want to do is make them smile, make things suck less, and rescue them from all the disappointment. 


In the way of updates- praise the Lord, Andrew's cancer is stable (just a few tiny spots lighting up).  On the other hand, dialysis is kicking our butt (3 days a week, 4 hour sessions and that doesn’t include the commute both ways, and after each dialysis session Andrew is wiped out and typically needs a nap)…. it’s stolen Andrew’s summer and any level of spontaneity we use to enjoy (just picking up and going somewhere, sleeping in, going to eat anywhere we want, jumping in a pool or lake to cool off, and so much more)… but God… we trust that He is working things out, He is near, and He is good, so we will fight to keep our eyes on Him, praying diligently for His hope and perspective on our circumstances.  Despite how it can feel at times, I know God isn't picking on us, but instead He has chosen us to a level of intimacy with Him that will refine us and reveal more about His character.  It's an honor, but not the kind of honor that feels luxurious.


Next steps- Andrew still has a good 4-6 weeks until his fistula is ready to be used for dialysis (please pray it works perfectly as quickly as possible) and another 6-8 weeks for David and I to get trained on accessing his fistula to be able to do dialysis at home. Once his fistula is functioning well, he can get the catheter in his chest out, unfortunately, that won’t be in time to enjoy summer activities before school starts. Even with a fistula, Andrew still can’t play football and he will probably always struggle with getting tired easily because dialysis dries him out so much (they pull off so much fluid off, it leaves him borderline dehydrated all the time). 


Also, dialysis patients struggle with growth, this is something Andrew is very concerned about and it doesn’t help that he’s a Ross (we don’t make big people as it is). He’s only 4’10 and just keeping weight on him is very hard. Will you please pray Andrew grows (a lot). 


Andrew hates having to wake up at 5:30 am three days a week, especially on Saturdays; he also has to see all sorts of other specialists to monitor for risks associated with severe kidney failure. All this to say, he has very little free time these days, which has meant he can’t golf as much as he would like and he only makes it out to the barn to see his horse once or twice a month (we use to go three to four times a week). 


The intent of this post is to be as transparent as possible about what our lives look like right now, in hopes that you will know how to best cover us in prayer (your prayers are what sustain us!). This is a super hard season in life, but God is still on His throne… only in God’s awesome economy can your circumstances suck, but true joy and expectant hope, co-exist. We have so much to be grateful for, especially when we reflect on allll that God has done in the lives of His people since the beginning of time and even more specifically, in our lives.  An attitude of gratitude gets us through each day. 


Abby and I just returned from a week in Seattle, where she got to play up an age group in a showcase tournament, with some precious teammates and families. Her team went all the way to the finals, but lost in over time. Great soccer was played, lots of college coaches on the sidelines, great memories made with great friends, and one on one time with my girl was absolutely priceless. 







Abby’s team went to pk’s in the semi final game (the winner moving on to finals) and Abby was up to take a pk in the “sudden death” round (if you miss it or it’s blocked, we lose) and Abby was SUPER nervous because she naturally didn’t want to be the reason the team didn’t move on. Praise the Lord, she made it, but after the game she said “that might be the most nervous I’ve ever been in my life… I was even more nervous than how I feel waiting to hear Andrew’s scan results.”  I know she will text us constantly asking for updates when we are at Dr’s appointments with Andrew, but I guess I didn’t realize just how much she worries about him. Between that, and Abby wanting to FaceTime Grace every minute possible, it was a time to rejoice in the love of siblings and the way suffering unites hearts in a powerful way. At this point you have probably seen or witnessed (in some way) Abby’s resilience, selflessness, grit, selflessness, deep faith, selflessness, and love for her family, but this story was a peek into her heart and mind. 



Grace went to Pine Cove Camp in the City (day camp) this week and it was awesome… awesome that she is such a big girl, can make friends/connect with others so easily, and have an absolute blast doing pretty much anything (especially learning about Jesus in the most fun environment ever). 


Another super sweet moment was when we went to pick up Grace's yearbook at school for a yearbook pick up/signing party and I thought we would run in and grab it and head out (since we had big plans waiting for us when we got home... Frozen Monopoly 🤣), but it took waaaay longer than expected because so many precious kiddos wanted Grace to sign their yearbook... further evidence that Grace is the coolest Ross by far and that little experience sure warmed this mama's heart!



I hope this post isn’t a downer in anyway, but instead that you would see into our hearts (the super painful parts and the super grateful parts) and know that we are hurting, but full of hope. Hoping doesn’t mean we ignore reality. I think Lisa Terkeurst said it best, hoping means “we acknowledge reality in the very same breath that we acknowledge God’s sovereignty — His absolute ability and power to work as He sees best.”


We are honored that you continue to fight right along side of us. THANK YOU for never giving up hope and for always leaning in!!! We love and appreciate you so very much!!!




Wednesday, June 1, 2022

Update on Andrew

Overview and update from David:

What a crazy week! Andrew was admitted to hospital real early on Sunday morning, after spending the entire night in the ER. Abby had her final soccer game in New Jersey at 11:30, where they won 2-1 against a strong team from Georgia. Abby and I were able to get on an earlier flight out of La Guardia. We landed at 8:00pm and drove straight to TCH before visiting hours were over at 9pm. Abby got to see Andrew and I was able to relieve Kristi so she could go home and actually get some rest. 

Andrew’s blood pressures continued to stay high through Tuesday afternoon, but since then, they have started to stabilize and have remained at the right levels for the last 24 hours. 

The doctors ordered an ultrasound yesterday and the results on that did not reveal anything that was of concern to them (praise the Lord). Andrew also had his regular dialysis on Monday, then he was taken down to dialysis yesterday as well, but only for a two hour session to see if they could pull extra fluid off his body, in the event that was causing his blood pressure to rise. 

Thankfully, Andrew didn’t have any negative response from having extra fluid pulled off. The doctor’s plan for today is to have another dialysis treatment and in the progress, try and pull more fluid without making him feel sick in the process. They’re wondering if they initially had his dry weight too high and that his body had been holding on to too much fluid this whole time and that is what has caused his blood pressure to spike (we are learning that dialysis is a crazy balancing act). 

The plan is to keep him through the night tonight and see how his body and blood pressures respond to the extra fluid being pulled off and, Lord willing, the plan is to let Andrew go home tomorrow. 

Thank you for continuing to pray for him!!!


Kristi’s specific prayer request and praises:

PRAYER REQUEST- all the things, but especially for Andrew’s heart, he’s literally had one thing after another ripped out from underneath him… he can’t swim (because of the catheter), no contact sports, he has to miss a lot of golf and visiting his horse because of an inflexible dialysis schedule. Most recently, he was super bummed that he couldn’t go on a mission trip with our church (can’t get dialysis in a rural area), but he was looking forward to going to a camp in Tennessee with the dialysis unit at TCH instead (he would be there with kids from all over the country that are also on dialysis). He was suppose to leave this Saturday, but the Dr’s aren’t comfortable with him going anymore because they will be in the middle of nowhere and he needs to be close to a hospital in case he gets into trouble with his bp again. 

We are trying to find something, anything, we can do this Summer to give Andrew something to look forward to. Please pray for wisdom as to what we can do to make my boy smile and for life to suck a little less. 

PRAISE- God is still on His throne and we continue to see His hand in the details… David and Abby getting on an earlier flight and Abby having a great weekend of soccer despite her concern for Andrew. Andrew and I had some rich time together (hard conversations and quality time) this weekend, his bp has been more stable over the past 12 hours, Abby’s beyond generous heart that is always willing to serve her family, and the joy Grace infuses into the hardest days.  

THANK YOU!!! We are exhausted, but not without hope! #butGod #hopeon #AndrewsArmy #FIGHTLIKEAROSS

Grace doing Grace... worshiping with her whole heart!


Sibling snuggles in the hospital!

We have received a lot of questions about how to order a new Andrew’s Army shirt (I know a lot of kiddos have out grown theirs), here is a link and thank you for always representing Andrew 💚

Saturday, March 26, 2022

Andrew's Kidney Update

 David's words- We haven't been on here in quite some time, but don't worry, we do have a couple unfinished blog posts sitting in drafts from months worth of information. Needless to say, those will probably never get posted and we will just fast forward to what is going on right now.  

As of late, Andrew's kidneys are pretty ruined from all of his radiation treatments.  We were hoping his biopsy would reveal that there was something else going on and it would be something that was able to be treated.  Unfortunately, Andrew's doctor informed us this week that it was definitely from radiation damage and that we need to decide what type of dialysis we would like to have Andrew begin.  

Andrew's nephrologist informed us of the three different options that are available: peritoneal (which is a bag that is placed in your stomach and does the work to filter the kidneys, but it would mean Andrew has to manage a tube sticking out of his stomach [honestly, and this is David by the way, I don't fully understand exactly how this bag operates in the stomach, but it does the filtering somehow]) and the other two options are both hemodialysis, which works through the veins/arteries (one being through a catheter that is placed around the collarbone area and the other is through a fistula, which connects a vein and an artery together on his none dominant arm for treatment).

As some of you have asked us different questions about our options, we can share what we know (which is far from being very knowledgeable).  The benefits to the peritoneal bag, it provides Andrew the ability to have his treatment at home while he is sleeping at night, so in that aspect, it is a huge benefit.  In addition, it does provide a better opportunity for Andrew to be a little more lenient on this new crazy diet that has been very discouraging for him.  However, the downsides will impact Andrew's life in such a way that he is not ready to go that direction.  Andrew would have this bag surgically implanted in his stomach and he would have a tube hanging out of his body and connected to something at all times.  In addition, Andrew wouldn't be able to go into the water anymore (which is a rather normal occurrence in Texas Summers).  Andrew just isn't ready for that at this time.

For the two hemodialysis options, Andrew can receive treatment either in a facility or at home.  When we originally heard about Andrew needing dialysis, we just assumed he could to one of the dialysis centers that we see all over the place; there is even a Davita Dialysis location just outside of our neighborhood.  However, we just found out on Wednesday that you have to be 16 or older to receive treatment at one of those facilities.  There are only two pediatric dialysis locations in Houston, one at TCH and one at Memorial Hermann (both in the Houston Med Center).  Andrew would have to go there three times a week for four hours at a time.  The downside to this option is the distance and time away to get this done.  In addition, this option provides the least amount of benefit for his kidneys, since it is only three times a week.  

The other hemodialysis option can be conducted at home for four hours at a time, six days a week.  With this option, Andrew would need to have a surgical procedure to create a fistula in his wrist or forearm area (and then it takes six to eight weeks for that vein/artery to grow and expand in preparation to be accessed routinely for dialysis).  At this point, Andrew would start off having treatment up at TCH still for the first few months and during this time, Kristi and I would receive training on how to access his vein ourselves, so that we could conduct his treatments at home ourselves.  The benefit to this option is that Andrew wouldn't have something external connected to his body and he could still swim and live a relatively regular life (or at least as normal as possible with this new development).  

*****Well, I started writing this post late Thursday night and decided to go to bed and planned to finish it the next day.  Then, late Friday afternoon Andrew's Nephrologist called to tell us that Andrew's lab results from Wednesday were back and that we don't have 6 to 8 weeks to have the fistula procedure done in preparation for home dialysis. Instead, Andrew will need to go in to TCH this Wednesday and have a catheter (near his collarbone) surgically placed and then he will have dialysis on three days in a row to try and get his BUN (which was at 92, the doctor stated that 100 is his threshold as to when Andrew needs to be on dialysis; just for reference, before we went to Disney, Andrew's BUN was at 64) and his creatinine (which was at 7.0) stabilized.  Then, every week after that he will go to TCH to have treatment three times a week (likely on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday).  Fortunately, the dialysis treatment protocol is very straightforward and there shouldn't be a lot of waiting around for treatment.  The options are to either arrive at 7:00am and treatment is from 7:30-11:30 or to arrive at 2:00pm and treatment is from 2:30-6:30.  

This is Kristi...  we have been praying for wisdom as to which dialysis option we should choose and we are taking the most recent turn of events as God's way of making His will clear.  It isn't what we had planned on doing, but we trust that He didn't fall off His throne when Andrew's most recent labs showed that we don't have time and must act fast to keep Andrew healthy.  

Many of you have asked about transplant... under normal circumstances, that would absolutely be the next step, but the conversation about transplant in the presence of cancer, is very messy, scary, and not clear cut... well, it is clear cut, but must be approached with a very healthy discussion about the risk-benefit ratio.  We have been beyond humbled and blessed by people reaching out and saying they wanted to donate a kidney to Andrew... can we just pause there... I don't know that there is anything more humbling, transparent, and sacrificial (outside of Jesus dying for our sins) than someone willing to sacrifice their own comfort/well-being for the sake of our boy's life.  I wish it was that easy, that a transplant would solve Andrew's problem of failing kidney's, but the fact that he has underlying cancer makes it a super risky and controversial proposition.  The criteria for eligibility for transplant is 2 years cancer free... for him to be "cancer free" would be a miracle in and of itself.  At this moment, he has two tiny spots (smaller than the tip of an eraser on a pencil) still lighting up (that's a 90-95% reduction in tumor burden..... that is amazing.... to God be the glory), so he still "has cancer"... although Andrew's Dr in Denver looked at his images and said that he can't really see anything and that he would say there was no evidence of disease (that classification means that nothing is visible on imaging, but leaves the interpretation open because we all know full well that there can always be tiny metastases hiding somewhere that isn't big enough to visualize at this point).  The risk of giving someone who has active cancer a kidney is that the immunosuppressive drugs needed to prevent the body from rejecting the new kidney, can create a breeding ground for cancer (you are turning the immune system off).  If the cancer starts to grow, you have to stop the immunosuppressive drugs and that puts you at risk for rejection of the new kidney.  Worst case scenario, you are left with progressing cancer and a rejected kidney.... that's a bad deal!  Our team of Dr's plan to meet to discuss the risk/benefit ratio of the transplant conversation, so will you please, please, please pray for wisdom for Andrew's team of Dr's and for our family?!?!  

I'm not going to lie... a lot of tears have been shed this week because of the uncertain future for Andrew and our family... I literally can't even fathom how this next leg of the journey even works out, it's like I'm standing in front of an insurmountable mountain... I'm intimidated, scared (mortified really), and weak in the knees looking at this mountain, but that's what a sherpa is for right?  I know we have a good and perfect Sherpa leading the way, I just feel exposed and vulnerable as we prepare for this climb.  As I was crying out to the Lord yesterday, He reminded me so clearly "remember, we have been here before..."  He reminded me that we stood in front of a similar insurmountable mountain with Grace.  Those of you that have been on this journey with us over the past almost 10 years, probably remember when Grace had a surgical complication after her third open heart surgery and found herself in the CVICU at Texas Children's on deaths door step and almost every medical professional around her giving up on the hope of her surviving.  We questioned if we had heard God correctly (about taking a riskier road with the hope of a better long term prognosis by going to Boston Childrens) and feared that we may have literally killed our daughter.  While the situation looked grim, God reminded us that He was still on His throne and He made a way where there was literally no way.  We walked through a curling 3.5 months where Grace was life lighted back to Boston, our family was separated for too many months, Grace endured 2 more open heart surgeries, and required a crash cart more than once, but look at where she is today...  God didn't remove the Red Sea, He parted it... He didn't remove our problem, but He made a way through it, carrying us all along the way.  God's reminder spoke to this weary heart and served as a powerful reminder that He did it once and He can do it again.  

Prayer warriors- we need you in the biggest way... I thought cancer was our Goliath, but now it's like we have two Goliaths determined to crush us.  One thing I know about Goliath is that God used David, a small, shifty, nimble, expert slinger, brave as all get out, selfless boy to defeat a giant because what others saw as a disadvantage, God used as an advantage that ultimately took down a giant.  We serve a miracle working God, so we are begging you to please join us in hitting the floor in prayer for wisdom and deliverance from cancer and end stage renal disease on this side of heaven.  

Please pray for Andrew's (and the rest of our family) peace, resolve, and hope (in the One that doesn't disappoint) through this new battle and that God would do what only He can do (heal and restore Andrew fully and completely on this side of heaven).  Please pray that we continue to do ALL things in His strength and for His glory!  



Thank you for standing with us, for loving us well, and for serving us in ways that only God knows we need!  You are the hands and feet of Jesus in our lives and we literally thank God for you all day, every day! But God!!!  We love and appreciate you!!!