Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Chemo is DONE. . .Wahoo!!!

Lauren had her very last chemotherapy dose today. It feels so unreal right now, it's hard to believe she is done with her treatment. She has been such a trooper, and an AMAZING patient (especially for a 2 to newly turned 3-year old).
The staff were so cute at the hospital today and even sang a little song about being done with treatment (to the tune of Happy Birthday To You) and sent her home with a few gifts. It was SO cute! Lauren had fallen asleep in my arms during her treatment which made me want to bawl. . .I don't get many down times to just soak in all that has happened, so she wasn't the happiest camper when we woke her up to take her dressing off and needle out. She got excited to see the little stash of gifts. They chose just what she would have chosen. . . a new Barbie, Tinkerbell bath set, cuddly teddy bear wearing a Cinderella crown, coloring book and crayons, and a soft cozy new blanket. Brady was SUPER excited to help her break it all in to. They could hardly wait to get in the bath tonight.
Well, the next step is weekly blood draws at home for 2 weeks and then another chest x-ray and abdominal ultrasound + blood and urine labs again in 3 weeks. If everything remains 'clean' she will be able to go to monthly appointments for a year and probably get her port out the end of October. She will have to get sedated to get it removed, which will be a new experience (other then her surgery of course). She has to stay on her antibiotics for another 3 months (YIKES. . . 8 months of total antibiotics!) and get no live-attenuated immunizations for a year (6 months for Brady and Courtney) so we will have a bit of time before everyone can catch up on their shots.
We are so grateful for each and everyone of you, who have helped us out in ANY way. We have been so blessed to be thought of and cared for so tenderly. There have been so many amazing people who have touched our lives forever. THANK YOU!!!!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Final Week Coming SOON!!!

This Wednesday should be Lauren's last chemo day as long as her ANC is at least 1000. It seems hard to believe that it is almost over, 5 months ago we were just getting started. Wahoo! It will be so amazing to have her treatment over, then we can all get back to 'normal' life and she can get back to just being a kid :)

Brady and Lauren have a love-hate relationship. Fortunately this morning it was love! They played tea party with real water and had some much fun. Kids can be so easy to please at times. . .
Courtney LOVES babies! It is so cute to see how excited she gets when we hand her a baby.Lauren's ANC was at an all time high at 2600 this past week (Wed. Sept 22), so she actually got to go to preschool! She was super excited and LOVED every minute of it. She has been talking about her Miss Wendy's for weeks. I know she can't wait until she can go every week.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Courtney is now 9 months! My how time flies. She is as busy as ever and such a GOOD baby. Even though she doesn't crawl yet, she sure gets around by scooting and rolling. It's so amazing to see the ground she covers. She is teething again, and her front teeth are almost out. She is such a joy to have around and the kids LOVE her (sometimes too much;)

Lauren did ok with her lab draw today. Her ANC is the highest it has been post surgery. . .a whopping 2000! Hct is going strong at 35%, her platelet count is a little lower at 135,000. Counting down the weeks until she is done. . .only 2 more weeks!!!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Scans Clean!

Just finished week #15. . .
Lauren had her abdominal ultrasound and chest x-ray, both of which were clean (no cancer). Her ANC is back up so she could get her treatment, and even her Hct is on the rise. Poor thing got sick again this time though, but thankfully we got home from dropping Brady off to Kindergarten just in time! The Dr. thought it might have been a fluke last time she was nauseated and vomiting (the day after chemo) but she did it again this week too the day after chemo. . .not really thinking it's a fluke. A little Zofran and she is feeling much better! She gets lab draws at home for 2 weeks and then (drum roll) her last doses of chemo in 3 weeks! YAY! It's hard to believe she is almost done with her treatment. She will get another set of imaging studies (CT vs US) 3 weeks after therapy and then every 3 months. The recurrence rate is pretty low thankfully. Only 1 out of 10 will reoccur, so hopefully she will be one of the 9!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

Long Overdue

I am a bit behind. . .just a tad bit busy lately, so here are some updates below for the end of summer. 1st I'll start with Kindergarten (the most recent adventure).

Kindergarten It's hard to believe we have a kindergartner! Brady started at Beacon Heights Elementary School this past week. 2 days down and many more years of education to go! His teacher is Miss Mary. She is a recent graduate, but seems very nice and enthusiastic. He was super excited to start, so lets hope the excitement continues and he settles into school.

Trial Lake was beautiful as usual. . .Brady, Courtney and mom spent 2 nights there while Lauren and dad stayed at home. It was nice to be able to stay in grandma's tent too. We got to do some fun fishing with the help of Greg. Overall it was a great trip and SO nice to get outside. I even came home to a clean house!
This is the Place Brady has been able to go to 'This is the Place' a few times this summer with his grandma's and papa, and had a blast. It's only $2 per person on Wednesdays so I thought it would be nice to get of the house and do something fun! It was a super hot morning, but the kids had a blast. Brady got his usual shave, they both made bracelets, and Lauren's favorite part was riding the ponies (5 times!). Then we headed to PCMC for Lauren's weekly appointment.
Snowbird This time was super relaxing because my mom had all of my siblings and their families take turns coming up, rather then having everyone there at one time. There were walks, water workout (for me), Bingo, and swinging at the park to name some of the fun things we got to do. I would have to say it was one of the most fun, relaxing times. Once the kids were in bed we got to play games and watch movies with yummy popcorn and cookies right out of the oven. Thanks mom!