Candles in the Wind

I saw this quote elsewhere but had to share it with you.

"Children with Cancer are like candles in the wind who accept the possibility that they are in danger of being extinguished by a gust of wind from nowhere and yet, as they flicker and dance to remain alive, their brilliance challenges the darkness and dazzles those of us who watch their light."

That is so my baby girl.

Auntie Mimi is here!

My sister, Amy, who is a teacher, is up here from Arizona. She is going to be staying for the month of June to help me with Hannah and the boys. The new chemo is pretty rough and it will be so nice to have some in house help. Also, because she is a teacher, she is helping us with what Hannah should be learning and the best way to do it.

So, with the break from Children's this week and my sister here, I have been able to work more. When I got home today, Hannah got her laptop out and told me she was busy "working"! Plus, she looked at one of the note card's I gave her and let me know that I got the job. So, I got that going for me! Here is a picture of Hannah at her office.

Small Victories!

The back poke, they give some of her chemo drugs directly into her spinal fluid, went much better this Friday! I talked with her Dr. about the reactions she has been having, which usually got me the vague "Some kids just react that way" answer. This time, I came armed with information. We went over in detail the medicine they were using for her anesthesia. Turns out, they were giving her a pain medication called Alfentanil that sometimes causes aggression in kids. So, we skipped it this time. She took longer to awake but she woke up happy. No wild eyed screaming, kicking, and throwing things. She also didn't break down later in the day as she did previously. She slept most the afternoon but she was a happy camper the rest of day and now....

A WHOLE WEEK OFF!!!!

Our next visit isn't until Friday. Our job this week is to keep her healthy so that her blood counts stay up. We need that to start the next round of chemo. Please keep us in your prayers and thank you so much for all the prayers thus far!!

Spinal Tap Results

Hannah's doctor called today with the results from the spinal tap. They were testing the fluid in her spinal column because of the severe headache she had last week. They were thinking it might be aseptic meningitis or that Leukemia cells were in her spinal fluid, where they had previously not been.

The test results came back with NO cancer cells in her spinal fluid!! It did come back with extra white blood cells there, so Dr. Chow said they think she did have inflammation there, which is the aseptic meningitis. They gave her medicine for that as soon as they suspected it when we were in Children's so, we are good. She hasn't had another headache like that since, either, thank god.

Anyway, that's the news! One more back poke tomorrow then we get a whole week break from the hospital while they wait for her blood counts to go up. The next Friday starts round two of some really crappy chemo treatment. Hard stuff, but we will make it. Looking forward to a normal week! :-)

Fun pics

Hannah is having a pretty chill day, playing puzzles and legos. I have been getting some quotes and emails done. (Thank god) I thought since I was on the computer, I would share some random pictures I like.




Hannah playing at Children's last week



Hannah taking a picture of me taking a picture of her!



Hannah wailing on the drums at Grandma Patty's house





My three, hugging on little Aiden, who came over to play.

Mmm Dinner!

I wanted to say thank you to Kathy Henderson who has organized scheduled dinners to be brought to us and to all the families who are making us dinners! It has been such a blessing. Especially, now that Hannah is having such a difficult time wanting to eat. There are days she doesn't want a single thing we have in the house, but when dinner from her friends arrive, why that was the food she had wanted all along. She is pretty funny about it. As if I had just misunderstood some previous request!
Everyone has been so sweet, bringing drawings for Hannah and sometimes special drinks for the boys and I.

Good appointment

We had a doctor appointment today to check her blood counts and to find out the spinal tap results from Friday. This is the test to find out if Leukemia has made it to her spinal fluid. They didn't have the test results back yet and said they would call as soon as they are in. I have to say that I do not enjoy the wait! However, her blood counts are on the rise, which is a good thing and she did so well having her port accessed. We got the nurse with the British accent this time and Hannah loves her! She thinks the nurse sounds like Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. I have to admit she does!