FINALLY...

Kaidan’s chemo went well on Wednesday. Her counts are good, her ANC dropped slightly to 1500, but that is still great for her. She always has stomach issues for a week or so after, but other than that she is doing well. We had a meeting with the management of the Hem/Onc department at PCMC and discussed all the problems we have had. It went very well and I think Nate and I both feel better just knowing that they know. Hopefully things will change a little bit. We did get a new doctor, Dr. Wright. We are really happy about that because she has always been very pro-active. She is the doctor who finally scheduled an MRI for Kaidan’s legs, she is the one who told us about the enzyme testing for Kaidan’s low counts, and she is the one who prescribed the miracle anti-nausea medication when Kaidan was struggling with the tough chemo. This alone should make our last 4 months run more smoothly than the previous 24. Next chemo is Tuesday, August, 18th. This will be Kaidan’s FINAL back poke. Then she’ll have 2 more months of IV chemo and it will be party time!!

We have the party scheduled now (this should be the FINAL date change) for Friday, October 23rd. Please save that date, even if it’s just a few minutes to make a stop in to our party and tell Kaidan hello. I am hoping this will be a great event!!

It is also time for the Ducky Derby for the Utah Make a Wish Foundation. We have set a goal of $1000 again this year. Each duck is $5 and comes with a chance to win a car. Please support us, every $5 donation helps. You can donate by going to the Make a Wish website www.makeawishutah.org and clicking on the Ducky Derby link. Then click support someone you know who is selling duckies and search my name, Mystee Sudbury. We are so thankful for all the support we received last year, please help us out again…$5 and you could win a new car (and have the satisfaction of knowing you are helping to grant wishes)!!

Thanks again…We love you all!! Hopefully I won’t need to update until August 18th. Look for new pictures on our shutterfly website www.thesudburyfamily.shutterfly.com. I’ll be trying to get those up in the near future. I’ve got some cute ones from the last couple of weeks.

good counts and ear tubes...

I have been lazy in the updating department...sorry.

Kaidan had labs drawn Wednesday and her counts are still great!! Her ANC stayed at 1700. Maybe...just maybe we have found the right dose for her!

We had yet ANOTHER issue up at PCMC. To make a long story short...I went up on Thursday to pick up some of Kaidans meds and I could tell the pills were not her normal pills. It turns out that the pharmacy gave us pills that were 2 times the dose they should have been!! So, we will be having a conference next Wednesday with the management to discuss all of our problems, concerns, thoughts, etc. I hope it goes well.

Porter had tubes put in his ears today. He did great. He was cranky when he woke up (I believe because he was cranky when he fell asleep), and he's still quite sleepy, but he's doing good. I hope this is the answer to his never ending ear infections. (I asked the nurse yesterday if we would get to stay with Porter until he had been put under and was asleep and she said yes, but as it turned out we only got to walk him to the corner and then he went the rest of the way with the anesthesiologist...crying.)

I cannot begin to explain how excited I am to be done up there. I don't know that we could handle much more.

Chemo is next Wednesday, the 22nd. I'll update again after that.

wednesday blood counts...

Kaidan's blood work looked good again today. Her ANC dropped a little bit more, down to 1700, but that is still great for her. Her hematocrit was 39. I was surprised to see it that high because she's been so tired lately, but I guess we can blame it on the hot weather and late nights.

We are heading to the lake this weekend. We have a family reunion Saturday and we'll spend the rest of the time waterskiing and having a great time in the hot sun.

I was thinking back on the 4th of July 2007. That was the day Kaidan got to come home after being diagnosed. WOW!! Shortly after that we went to the lake with Kaidan puffy from being on steroids and covered in plastic wrap to try and keep her PICC line clean and dry. We didn't get to come home from that trip, instead we had to go to the ER for a fever Kaidan got on the drive home. I can remember the feelings...being a "new cancer mom", scared of just about everything, and having no idea what the future would hold. That is when we learned to live for the moment. I'm so, so grateful that we are here, 2 years later, getting ready to head up to the lake. This time, we won't have to wrap Kaidan in Glad Press and Seal, she'll be able to swim with no worries. She isn't swollen from steroids (but I'm sure she'll still be begging for bacon! That's one side effect that didn't go away when she stopped taking those crappy things.) We can only hope that we will get to come straight home when we are finished having our fun; a weekend with no fevers would be absolutely FABULOUS!!

I'll update again next week.

blood counts and ear tubes...

Kaidan is doing well. She has been extremely tired the last few days, but I'm hoping it's just from the hot weather and late nights. She hasn't had any more fevers.

I received a call from oncology yesterday and they wanted to know what dose of chemo she was on. They had conflicting information in their notes and they weren't sure what we were doing!! I can't believe the mistakes they make up there. I'm glad that I'm pretty on top of it, otherwise who knows where we'd be. They also wanted to increase her to 50% (they thought she was still at 25%), but I said no. Her counts are dropping, and just because they are still a little higher than they'd like (Kaidan's ANC was 1900, down from 3200, but they want her between 750 and 1500)I don't think we should jump to increasing it with as sensitive as she seems to be with the higher doses. Anyway...we are drawing labs tomorrow and we'll go from there.

Porter is going to be getting tubes in his ears next Friday, the 17th. This should relieve him from his constant ear pain and infections.

We are now planning the "PARTY" to celebrate the end of a very, very long 2 1/2 years on Friday, October 16th. I'll update with more information soon...

popsicles and blood counts...

First of all...check out this picture!! I absolutely LOVE it!! It was my sister's idea to take it yesterday afternoon when we were all outside eating popsicles. It doesn't get any better than this!!

Secondly...Kaidan's counts are still great, however, they are dropping. Her hematocrit (healthy red blood cells) and platelets (clotting) are great at 36.2 and 315 respectively. Her white blood count was above 4.0, but it's now at 3.4 (still really good for a cancer patient), and her ANC has gone from 3,200 Sunday morning in the ER to 1,900 today!! That is the count we watch the closest. It is Kaidan's immune system. 1,900 is a great number, the doctors want it to be around 1,500. If it gets below 500 she is automatically inpatient if she gets a fever. I'm hoping her counts will stabilize and they will be great again next Wednesday, but this is a very familiar trend and I'm worried that she is going to bottom out because we increased the dose of her chemo...remember, this chemo is a delayed effect drug, so it takes about a week for it to affect her counts. She just started it last week, so next weeks labs will be the true test. I'll keep you posted, in the meantime have a wonderful 4th of July!!

P.S. We are in the beginning stages of planning an "END OF CHEMO PARTY" (I'm trying to think of a different name for it). I want this to be a celebration for Kaidan, for all she's been through (simply amazing that she still smiles), but also for the rest of us. I would like to celebrate the simple fact that we made it, we are still sane (I think), and we are a closer family than we ever have been! I want it to be for Preslee, for the awesome sister she has been. And, last but not least, I want it to be for all of you who have supported us, loved us, and helped us through the hard times!! We couldn't have done it without each of you, so...THANKS!! We have tentatively set it for the 17th of October, but that is the deer hunt I have just learned, so we might be changing it, but for now that is the plan. Put it down on your calendars and I will be giving more info as we plan it.