Half-Way Done!

Wahoo! Lauren got her 9th week of chemotherapy today. Her ANC went up to 1600 by Tuesday so she could get her treatments today. It marks the half-way point. It's so exciting knowing next week there will be more weeks behind us then left to do. She did pretty well with lots of distraction today. She always HATES the smell of the alcohol-based cleaners they use to prepare her skin, so I let her sniff gum to make it a better experience. Courtney even joined us today so Brady could have a fun one-on-one time with Grandma at "This is the Place" and the Hoogle Zoo too! Courtney was the BEST baby and even slept for an hour of her appointment! Brady had the best time ever and has been telling me all about the pioneers and all he got to do. He even made me smell his face since they 'shaved' it for him. . .I'm sure my family will get a kick out of that. Thanks mom for EVERYTHING you do!

p.s. the ADORABLE hat was made by my Aunt Arlene. Thanks to her daughters and daughter in-laws (my cousins) too for the adorable hats and yummy freezer meals to have on hand. We have been showered with lots of LOVE and truly appreciate all the help we have been given. THANKS to all who have helped us!

No Chemo This Week . ..

Lauren missed her chemo again this week (the 2nd time since starting) because her ANC only came up to 200. She gets her CBC drawn again next Tuesday to see if she can get her chemo on Wed. I think it should probably be closer to the goal of >1000. We'll have to wait and see.

Well, I was trying to get dinner in the crockpot for tonight so I let Brady feed Courtney a couple bites of bananas and rice cereal. The kids are always asking to feed her and so it made everyone happy. I told him to give her small bites so she wouldn't make a mess. Here's what I saw when I was done. . .

Yikes!!!

Lauren finished her 8th week of chemo today. . .only 10 more to go. It was a pretty traumatic appointment. She was bawling, screaming, and kicking so Brock and I had to hold her down so they could access her port, poor thing. I was super surprised her ANC dropped so dramatically, from 1900 last Wednesday to 100 today. Critically low again, bring on the masks and limited visitors :(

Her Hct is low but stable at 30%, platelets are normal, and her total WBC continues to be low. Hopefully her ANC will come up enough (has to be 1000) to get chemo next week, I hate to prolong it anymore then we have too! It's probably pretty unlikely it will rebound that quickly but we will see. The home health nurse will come draw her laws Tuesday to see if we need to go Wednesday for chemo or wait a few more days to check the ANC again.

Wahoo. . .She's 3!

Lauren turned 3 today! She had a fun day helping mom make her cake. . .a princess barbie cake with a purple dress (one of her favorite colors!). We even got cheese pizza for dinner and mint ice cream (2 of her requests). She had a fun birthday party with her family and loved playing with her cousins. She got some neat princess toys, dishes, and jewelry, a few pairs of shoes (one of her favorite things, she ALWAYS want shoes on!), she got a dress up snow white dress the other day too and has been wearing it everyday since, a barbie baby doctor, finger paints, and a mini princess CD player. All in all it was a fun success. The kids were wiped out and fell asleep only after watching Lauren's new princess nightlight for about 10 minutes. . .super TIRED!












We had fun celebrating the 4th of July with a BBQ at Papa Greg's and Grandma Jenny' followed by a neat fire work show. The kids had fun. Brady helped get Papa the fireworks to light, but was so excited about that he missed watching some of them because he was too busy picking the next one out! Brock, Brady and I also went to out neighborhood breakfast for the first time. Brady walked (yes waled) his bike in the parade, but had a lot of fun.
We spent a couple evenings with Grandma Venita and family eating dinner and just spending time together (everyone was there but Elaina and family). I even got to eat a yummy breakfast at Ruth's with Allison, Curt (and my mom) before they left for a new adventure in Switzerland.



Because Lauren's ANC was so good, we decided to head to the Dino museum this past week (Brock has been wanting to go FOREVER!). It was fun to go on a little family outing together. The kids had fun, but were done after a few hours.

Week 7

This weeks chemo appointment was the fastest yet! We were at the hospital for a short hour. Hopefully it will be this fast on the 1 drug days. Lauren is doing well and seems more energetic lately. Her ANC is a whopping 1900, Hct 30.8%, and Platelets 198,000. She is all set to celebrate her 3rd birthday this coming week. . . maybe then she will look closer to her age;)

June 2010

It's been a busy couple of weeks. . . thus the long posting. I love pictures, so it makes it even longer.

Look who's 5!!! BRADY started the day out kind of rocky. . .he threw up a couple times, no rash, fever or anything else going on. He does this every once in a while out of the blue. The day was much better after that. I took him to a couple stores (might not sound super fun, but he loved just spending time with me for a few hours since I feel like I never spend much time with him lately). We made a dragon cake this year, turned out pretty good, but I was rushed at the end (the errands took longer then I thought). He got his first bike and some other fun stuff. Lauren and he actually used the slip n' slide for the first time yesterday. . .they had a blast!





Brady @ Camp Hobe. He had an amazing time! Thanks to Jamie for taking him the first day. It was a 2 day, day camp for kids with cancer and their siblings (Lauren wasn't old enough and her ANC was also too low to go. He had tons of fun swimming, crafting, and singing. He was definitely exhausted by the end of the day.

LAUREN'S ANC went up super fast, from 100 to 1400 this week (which meant she got both doses of chemo). She did well and actually slept most of the night after, which is a change. Her Hct went up as well, to 33% so we have avoided the transfusion!
Rachelle the Child Life Specialist helps Lauren play with her dolly at her clinic appointments.

Dr. Yaish her Oncologist

Eating lunch + chem in the infusion area.

Making orange faces (how I got her to eat when she was hospitalized)

Baldies. . . Papa Mark and Lauren

Coming home. She was super excited and started to run around. She looked better then she had the couple days before. The kids were excited to see her again too.


COURTNEY started to clap her hands and does it on cue now. She rolled over a couple times too. She still doesn't spend a whole lot of time on the floor (2 big kids running around. .. kinda scary). She is at a super fun stage, learning new things and making lots of noise.
We got to see Toy Story 3 with Hope kids. Cousin Riley got to go too! It was SO nice just to forget about life for a few hours and have family fun together.

Brady on the Slip n' Slide. He had tons of fun once he figured out how to slide down it.

Lauren mostly wanted to drink from it.

Courtney watching her crazy siblings get wet. She got sprayed a couple time, but didn't mind. it was a pretty hot day:)