Sunday, June 28, 2009

Second verse, same as the first...

About 3:00 in the morning I headed up to PCMC with Kaidan. She had another fever, 102.8. We got home around 8:30. Her counts are still great, even a little better than yesterday. I'll update more soon.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Emergency Room and Irish Dance Feis...


Kaidan danced in her first Irish Feis (pronounced "fesh") today. You would never have known by looking at her that she had been in the ER until 3:00 this morning...
Yes, you read that right. When I was heading to bed I decided to check her temp because she had been a little warmer than usual all day and sure enough...she was over 101. I took her up last night and Nate stayed home with the others. We were there for about 4 hours, so that's not too bad, considering it was the ER. Her counts were still good, so we were able to come home after they gave her IV antbiotics. Her ANC went up a little bit to 2900, and the rest of her counts went down, but they were all still in the normal range. If she gets a fever after 1:00 a.m. we will have to go back....
Kaidan was telling me that she doesn't like going to the hospital, but she does like going to the hospital. She was saying that she enjoys getting some one on one time, and lots of attention from doctors, nurses, visitors, etc. She was being so funny. I was thinking this morning about how it kind of is nice, just because when you go up with her you get to see a different side of Kaidan. She's so mellow (usually) and she has a different sense of humor about her. I'm sure it's just because she's alone and not competing with the others for attention, but in a weird way, it is nice.
The Feis was great. Kaidan had a huge support system, as usual. A big THANK YOU to all of you who were able to make it. She loved every minute of it. Her dance school, Crawford School of Irish Dance, did a "special" for Kaidan, they are donating all the procedes from that dance to us and they made her a beautiful quilt. I don't have the words to say how grateful we are for that. It not only made Kaidan feel incredible, it makes Nate and I feel truly humbled. We are so appreciative, I don't think I could ever come up with the right words to express what it means to us. Not just this, but everything that our family and friends have done for us. We are so thankful.
I'll update again soon...

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

chemo day!! only 4 left...

First of all...Sadie Huish is almost finished with her battle. Her hospice nurse told her family today that she has about 48 hours left on Earth and then she will be living forever with Jesus and her Heavenly Father. Please pray for her family. I am so sad, even though I don't know them personally, Nate and his family do. It's heartbreaking. I hope it's okay that I post her website here. If you'd like to visit it, just to know who you are thinking of and praying for.

www.sadiehuish.blogspot.com

While I am silently celebrating how close we are to the finish line, I am also mourning for another family. It's hard being part of the cancer world. I cannot even imagine the emotions they are feeling.

Today at clinic went well. Kaidan's counts are still very high. I am glad, because I think it saved her from the flu that went around, but they are now going to increase her chemo. I'm a little nervous, but we'll be doing blood draws weekly to monitor her. I hope she tolerates it well. It's a catch 22, because I do hate chemo, but I hate cancer more. I want to give her the best chance at full recovery, and it's a little scary to think that she might not be getting enough chemo to do that. Hopefully she'll continue to do well with this new dosage. She was on 25% with 2 chemos, and we are just increasing one of them to about 42%. They'll increase the other one based on her blood counts in the next couple of weeks. We have next months IV chemo, sedation with a lumbar puncture, chemo in the spinal fluid, and IV chemo the next month, and then 2 months of IV chemo. After that she will be done with chemo!! I can't believe it is that close. It's very EXCITING!!

Kaidan did fall yesterday while she was riding her bike. She banged herself up pretty good and really hurt her wrist. It's not broken, but she's in quite a bit of pain. Hopefully it will start to feel better in the next day or two.

Porter has another ear infection (both ears), so he's on an antibiotic to get him through until July 6th when he will see the ENT doctor.

I'll update again soon.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

doing good...

Kaidan is doing great. She hasn't gotten sick. Her only complaints are the stomach issues that seems to go hand in hand with her chemo schedule. PCMC called yesterday and said they had changed their plans and they will now be treating all the kids that are still on chemotherapy that were at Camp Hobe with prophylactic Tamaflu. I'm glad about this, even though I think Kaidan is fine, I would always rather be safe than sorry. So, I have to run up to Primary's to get the prescription today and get her started on it.

Everyone else is okay. Preslee is doing much better. The boys are sick, but they'll survive. I'll update again next week.

P.S. If anyone is interested/willing, you can register on www.marrow.org to be a bone marrow donor. It's free until June 22nd as long as funds are available. It is a commitment, but you could save someones life :)

Monday, June 15, 2009

Kaidan's blood counts are fabulous!!!

Kaidan's counts are great! Her white count is over 4,000 and her ANC is 2800. We are leaving her chemo at 25% until our clinic appointment next Wednesday. Then we can decide, together with the doctor, if we will increase the dose.

Preslee is feeling much better, today is the first day she has not had a fever. I received a call today from the doctor at Camp Hobe. Several kids that were at camp have tested positive for Influenza A (yes, this is the swine flu from what I've been told). The are recommending that all the cancer kids that were there be treated with Tamiflu as a precaution, but of course, PCMC says NOPE. Why would they take precautions?? They'll just wait until the kids get it and then deal with it. Oh well, so far Kaidan hasn't had any symptoms, and I'm VERY, VERY glad that her ANC is high (emphasis on the VERY). Hopefully, with that GREAT immune system she has had the past couple of weeks she will bypass this round of illness.

I'll keep you posted, but it will most likely be next Wednesday after chemo when I update again.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

the girls are home...

We all went to pick up the girls yesterday from camp, it was exciting. They were very happy to see us, but they had a great time!! I knew they would, but still, I was a little worried...

They had many stories to tell: Kaidan did Irish dances for everyone, she asked a couple of boys if they wanted to dance (and they did), Preslee got an award for being the most organized, they met new friends, the food was weird (hot dogs IN the macaroni), it rained every day, they weren't scared or homesick, Preslee won a poster for answering a turkey call (??), they want to go next year, and so on and so on.

I think it was a great experience for them both. Kaidan looked like a whole new girl when we got there, all grown up. Preslee was watching for us and she ran to us and gave us HUGE hugs, but we had to find Kaidan...what???...I was quite surprised, to say the least.

Preslee caught a cold while she was there, but she seemed okay. Then, she woke up this morning with a fever of 102.4. Let's hope Kaidan doesn't get that. Kaidan is absolutely EXHAUSTED, but otherwise doing great. Cash is good, and Porter has a runny nose and, of course, he's tugging on his ears...poor boy! ( and poor me:) )

I think I'll try to get Kaidan's nurse to come out on Monday to do labs, I'll update again after that.

As always, thank you all so much for your continued support and love. Please add a little girl named Sadie to your thoughts and prayers. Nate grew up with her mom, and he talks to her uncle almost daily because of work. Sadie has an incurable brain tumor and decided several weeks ago to stop the chemotherapy that was slowing it's progression. She is now nearing the end of her battle and our hearts just ache for their entire family...

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Camp Hobe (a camp for cancer kids and their siblings)...

I got the girls off to Camp Hobe yesterday morning...they were nervous, but very excited, especially when they found out they would be sharing a cabin. I thought it was great, because they were most scared about being in different cabins and it was an opportunity for them to realize how much they needed, loved, and WANTED to be with each other. I hope they are having a great time. I do miss them, and it's abnormally boring around here without them, but it should be a great experience for them both.

Kaidan was supposed to have labs drawn tomorrow, but she didn't want to have the nurse do it without me there, so we will wait until next week. I really wanted counts this week, but I worry that if I go out there to be with her she will decide she misses home and won't want to stay.

I'll update again on Friday after everyone is back home.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

blood counts 6/3/09...

Well, Kaidan's counts are still great! I'm hoping this is the right dose...finally! We'll see next week. The blood results from these chemos have a delayed effect, so next weeks results will be more accurate.

Kaidan is doing well. She is really struggling with some stomach issues again and I am now blaming that on the chemo. I've done some research and it can cause gastrointestinal toxicity. Her symptoms were almost gone until we started the chemo up again. Poor girl.

The girls are out of school and so far they are enjoying summer. I have taken a couple weeks off work, so hopefully we can do some fun things together. Next week the girls are going to go to Camp Hobe. It is a camp for cancer kids and their siblings. They are excited and a little nervous, but I think they will both have a great time and it will be good for both of them.

I'll update again next week after we get Kaidan's blood work done.