Hey all
Abby is right near the end of this pulse of chemo. She still has a nasty cough and bit of the left over cold. The doctor never called for a CAT scan of her sinuses, instead they just put her on a type of Amoxacillian for 21 days. She's been on it for about 11 now but it doesn't seem like she tolerates it very well so right after we refilled the prescription they took her off of it... Anybody need an expensive bottle of liquid antibiotics? Actually, don't answer that. I probably shouldn't be the antibiotic dealer for you all.
Abby's been up and down for this round. Some days are great and some are harder. She mostly has just been a little duckling of sorts, always wanting to follow up around and be held. She should finish up her Dexamethasone (steroid/hungry pill) tomorrow morning.
It was nice that this last time she didn't have to get a spinal tap. Actually she will only have about 3 more until she is done! I think she does a lot better these weeks when she hasn't had the spinal tap.
Other than that, things are relatively normal for our life. School is starting for me and the kids are back on Monday so that's been a little crazy. Anna has decided to carry over some of her "terrible twos" into the 3 year old realm, but not too bad. And Lily... well, she's just doing the baby thing. Finding out that she can control, somewhat control at least, her hands and smiling all the time. Tiffany is doing great being a mom of 3 and no hairs have turned grey as far as I can see. It definitely can be challenging but, for the most part, I think we do OK.
Till my next entry... bye!
PS, Erin & Rich H. I haven't been able to find any contact info for you guys. email me if you can.
schreiberm @
gmail.com
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Monday, July 31, 2006
Door Prize of a Cold
So lately things have been tiring to say the least. Our whole family got sick with some summer cold except for Lily. We've been plugging away at life even with the colds and when we have time we rest a bit to try to get healthy.
To be honest, I'm not used to having so many people in our family sick! That is a rare occurrence around here. I think other than the chemo side-effects, nobody had a cold for about 10 months after Abby was diagnosed. I bet we've only had a couple colds all last winter too. Anyway, I guess this is normal, it just doesn't feel like it. I was a bit discouraged that the first time we took Abby out with out a mask she got this cold and then gave it to all of us. I know we should probably still have her wear a mask when she's around a bunch of kids but sometimes I just want her to feel like a normal little kid at a birthday party. It's kind of hard to eat cake with a mask on too!
So, I guess she got the normal experience... party, cake, snotty kids, lots of fun, and a little door prize of a cold for the way home. Who knows, maybe she got it the day before at the store, or just from one of our friends that she visited.... oh well she should be over it soon.
Next Monday the 7th will be her next pulse of chemo, I don't think she gets a spinal tap this time but I can't remember for sure. If she does get one it will be the last one for at least a couple months. I think she will do a lot better with out the taps every month. That seems to knock her on her back pretty quickly.
Well, there's the update. see ya.
To be honest, I'm not used to having so many people in our family sick! That is a rare occurrence around here. I think other than the chemo side-effects, nobody had a cold for about 10 months after Abby was diagnosed. I bet we've only had a couple colds all last winter too. Anyway, I guess this is normal, it just doesn't feel like it. I was a bit discouraged that the first time we took Abby out with out a mask she got this cold and then gave it to all of us. I know we should probably still have her wear a mask when she's around a bunch of kids but sometimes I just want her to feel like a normal little kid at a birthday party. It's kind of hard to eat cake with a mask on too!
So, I guess she got the normal experience... party, cake, snotty kids, lots of fun, and a little door prize of a cold for the way home. Who knows, maybe she got it the day before at the store, or just from one of our friends that she visited.... oh well she should be over it soon.
Next Monday the 7th will be her next pulse of chemo, I don't think she gets a spinal tap this time but I can't remember for sure. If she does get one it will be the last one for at least a couple months. I think she will do a lot better with out the taps every month. That seems to knock her on her back pretty quickly.
Well, there's the update. see ya.
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The count down in my mind.
So it starts, the count down in my mind.
It's always been there, ever since we started this journey but now I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I'm planning my curriculum for school right now, well I'm suppose to be, and as I've been looking over the calendar my eye keeps getting caught by the word February. I don't know if I can really explain it but as my eyes hit that spot on the calendar a million images flood through my head. Images of Abby in the Hospital... all of those images. Images of her bald head and puffy face, and the images of how Anna has changed and how a new baby has joined our family. Images of friends bringing more meals than I could ever count for almost a year. And those crazy images of Abby playing in the back yard with a backpack full of methotrexate. ---As you can image it is hard to plan my curriculum with all of these non technology related images flashing through my head.--- So here I am blogging.
February, I still don't remember if it is the end of Feb. or the beginning but that doesn't really matter. What matters is she will be done! And with that date in sight, the count down begins. Last night as I was picking up my sleeping daughter to take to the bathroom and give her 6MP I realized that she is a lot heavier that when I started doing this. Her hair is in full bloom and we actually had to give it a little trim just last week. Ahh the change. She'll be 5 here before we are done... 5! Crazy. Wasn't she just 2.5 yesterday? Crazy.
So, T - 7 months... what will we do with ourselves?! Well, I guess if I don't get my planning done then I'll be doing that when she is done... so, on that note, back to planning!
It's always been there, ever since we started this journey but now I can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I'm planning my curriculum for school right now, well I'm suppose to be, and as I've been looking over the calendar my eye keeps getting caught by the word February. I don't know if I can really explain it but as my eyes hit that spot on the calendar a million images flood through my head. Images of Abby in the Hospital... all of those images. Images of her bald head and puffy face, and the images of how Anna has changed and how a new baby has joined our family. Images of friends bringing more meals than I could ever count for almost a year. And those crazy images of Abby playing in the back yard with a backpack full of methotrexate. ---As you can image it is hard to plan my curriculum with all of these non technology related images flashing through my head.--- So here I am blogging.
February, I still don't remember if it is the end of Feb. or the beginning but that doesn't really matter. What matters is she will be done! And with that date in sight, the count down begins. Last night as I was picking up my sleeping daughter to take to the bathroom and give her 6MP I realized that she is a lot heavier that when I started doing this. Her hair is in full bloom and we actually had to give it a little trim just last week. Ahh the change. She'll be 5 here before we are done... 5! Crazy. Wasn't she just 2.5 yesterday? Crazy.
So, T - 7 months... what will we do with ourselves?! Well, I guess if I don't get my planning done then I'll be doing that when she is done... so, on that note, back to planning!
Friday, July 14, 2006
Amazing...
Doesn't this picture just say it all?
Yup Abby just got done with her steroid and chemo pulse and once again could eat a whole box of donut, maybe even a bakers dozen, by herself. The hunger effect is starting to wear-off now but lately it hasn't completely worn off until a couple days before we start it all over again!
Anyway, just a short post to show you that picture... but while I'm on the amazing point... you all are amazing and we appreciate all of your support, prayers and comments! So many amazing things! Maybe another post on that soon.
Yup Abby just got done with her steroid and chemo pulse and once again could eat a whole box of donut, maybe even a bakers dozen, by herself. The hunger effect is starting to wear-off now but lately it hasn't completely worn off until a couple days before we start it all over again!
Anyway, just a short post to show you that picture... but while I'm on the amazing point... you all are amazing and we appreciate all of your support, prayers and comments! So many amazing things! Maybe another post on that soon.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
Low Key?
I don't blog much anymore because things are pretty low key. I guess that is a good thing. The funny part of that is that "low key" for me is probably a bit different than it is for other families. I guess I just don't know what is blog worthy anymore. I'll just write it all down anyway and you can all tell me it is good info or not.
See, Abby starts her monthly pulse tomorrow, Monday, again. This time will include the steroids for a week, the spinal tap with Methotrexate, and a shot of Vincristine. Abby hasn't been feeling very well with her tummy so this one might be a bit more difficult than normal. She just threw up this morning and is now resting in bed. Maybe we will have to put her back on the Zantac again.
Abby still has her rash on her face and sometimes it looks pretty good while other times it looks like teenage acne. We took her to our family doctor, the doctor that diagnosed her, and he said the rash is actually all over her body and only getting red on her face. When it gets really red it might be a secondary infection of the rash and we could get some stuff for that if it persists. We'll just have to talk to Dr. Smith again about it. It is probably from one of the chemo drugs so there really is nothing that we can do about it. We can't very well take her off of her chemo for a rash huh!?
Both Tiffany and I are just chronically tired. Usually it is not a problem but when Abby starts getting up often during the night, like last night, and Lily is up a lot to eat then it can get pretty rough.
See what else, oh, we took a trip to Idaho to visit the family... 3 kids + 1 Van + large quantities of coffee + stops for gas = a 12 hour drive (13 if you miss the turn off near Salt Lake... not that that would ever happen). Anyway, it was a good trip and girls had a blast.
So that is about it for now. We have some friends coming in on Monday, and my folks + my grandma in on Thursday and then I leave for 4 days on Sunday... like I said, pretty low key. :)
See, Abby starts her monthly pulse tomorrow, Monday, again. This time will include the steroids for a week, the spinal tap with Methotrexate, and a shot of Vincristine. Abby hasn't been feeling very well with her tummy so this one might be a bit more difficult than normal. She just threw up this morning and is now resting in bed. Maybe we will have to put her back on the Zantac again.
Abby still has her rash on her face and sometimes it looks pretty good while other times it looks like teenage acne. We took her to our family doctor, the doctor that diagnosed her, and he said the rash is actually all over her body and only getting red on her face. When it gets really red it might be a secondary infection of the rash and we could get some stuff for that if it persists. We'll just have to talk to Dr. Smith again about it. It is probably from one of the chemo drugs so there really is nothing that we can do about it. We can't very well take her off of her chemo for a rash huh!?
Both Tiffany and I are just chronically tired. Usually it is not a problem but when Abby starts getting up often during the night, like last night, and Lily is up a lot to eat then it can get pretty rough.
See what else, oh, we took a trip to Idaho to visit the family... 3 kids + 1 Van + large quantities of coffee + stops for gas = a 12 hour drive (13 if you miss the turn off near Salt Lake... not that that would ever happen). Anyway, it was a good trip and girls had a blast.
So that is about it for now. We have some friends coming in on Monday, and my folks + my grandma in on Thursday and then I leave for 4 days on Sunday... like I said, pretty low key. :)
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Living with a Celebrity
Well Abby's cute face is in the paper again from our involvement with relay for life.
Click here or go to:
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS01/606110328&SearchID=73247352768480
The Luminaria ceremony was very nice again, emotional but nice. I do want to say "thank you" to everyone who bought a Luminaria! Abby had a whole 40 feet of bags with her name on them! Thank you for honoring her that way and especially thank you for your support of the American Cancer Society by buying one of these.
Well, I'm pretty worn out still so I'll write more about the experiance later.
See ya.
Mark
Click here or go to:
http://coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060611/NEWS01/606110328&SearchID=73247352768480
The Luminaria ceremony was very nice again, emotional but nice. I do want to say "thank you" to everyone who bought a Luminaria! Abby had a whole 40 feet of bags with her name on them! Thank you for honoring her that way and especially thank you for your support of the American Cancer Society by buying one of these.
Well, I'm pretty worn out still so I'll write more about the experiance later.
See ya.
Mark
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Celebrity Daughter
Quiet. Not something that I'm used to lately. With 3 little girls now these moments are few and far between, unless I want to get up super early.
Abby is back on chemo again this week and to be honest I'm not looking forward to it. You would think by this point I would be fine with these weeks, and usually I am, but for some reason this week is different. Maybe it is all the attention that Abby has been getting lately. The picture and article in the paper, the Team in Training weekend stuff and the upcoming Relay for Life event this weekend. Now don't get me wrong, it all been great stuff but it has also unpacked a lot of things that I think I had forgot about.
I got to speak this weekend, with Abby of course, at the Team in Training event. In the email they asked if I'd get up and say a few things about how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society had helped up out and I said sure. I imagined that it would be a big long table with a handful of runners there and I would just stand up at the table with Abby and say something. Instead it was a big conference room with a stage and podium that I got to speak from... That's ok, I'm flexible. Abby and I went up there and she leaned into the mic and said, "I'm Abby and I have Leukemia." Just encase some of them didn't know. I guess I just wasn't ready for how those words would bring back so many emotions. To say it myself is one thing, but to hear it from the lips of my daughter is a whole different thing... a very uncomfortable sentence really.
And though the reason that we were there was hard it really was a great weekend for our family and Abby. The girls got gifts, we were put up in a very nice hotel room with a great view, the pasta dinner event was fun and Abby loved talking to all the runners. She was especially great at handing out candy and pretzels to the runners at mile 25! Tiffany got to get up early with Lily and got to get a Starbuck's in the lobby (yes they had one in the lobby of the hotel!) and just reflect on life in the quiet of the morning.
So, even though it brought back some memories and emotions that I would rather not ponder on, it also brought joy and hope to a lot of the people that were involved with last weeks event. I'm sure her little speech and chubby-cheeked smile will do the same for the people this weekend at Relay for Life... how can anyone not smile back at that little face!
Off we go into the decadron week, pray that it will be a good one.
Abby is back on chemo again this week and to be honest I'm not looking forward to it. You would think by this point I would be fine with these weeks, and usually I am, but for some reason this week is different. Maybe it is all the attention that Abby has been getting lately. The picture and article in the paper, the Team in Training weekend stuff and the upcoming Relay for Life event this weekend. Now don't get me wrong, it all been great stuff but it has also unpacked a lot of things that I think I had forgot about.
I got to speak this weekend, with Abby of course, at the Team in Training event. In the email they asked if I'd get up and say a few things about how the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society had helped up out and I said sure. I imagined that it would be a big long table with a handful of runners there and I would just stand up at the table with Abby and say something. Instead it was a big conference room with a stage and podium that I got to speak from... That's ok, I'm flexible. Abby and I went up there and she leaned into the mic and said, "I'm Abby and I have Leukemia." Just encase some of them didn't know. I guess I just wasn't ready for how those words would bring back so many emotions. To say it myself is one thing, but to hear it from the lips of my daughter is a whole different thing... a very uncomfortable sentence really.
And though the reason that we were there was hard it really was a great weekend for our family and Abby. The girls got gifts, we were put up in a very nice hotel room with a great view, the pasta dinner event was fun and Abby loved talking to all the runners. She was especially great at handing out candy and pretzels to the runners at mile 25! Tiffany got to get up early with Lily and got to get a Starbuck's in the lobby (yes they had one in the lobby of the hotel!) and just reflect on life in the quiet of the morning.
So, even though it brought back some memories and emotions that I would rather not ponder on, it also brought joy and hope to a lot of the people that were involved with last weeks event. I'm sure her little speech and chubby-cheeked smile will do the same for the people this weekend at Relay for Life... how can anyone not smile back at that little face!
Off we go into the decadron week, pray that it will be a good one.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Cancer Kid with a Cause
Cancer Kid with a Cause
Photo by V. Richard Haro,
of the Fort Collins Coloradoan
To buy the image from them click
here
This picture is from the Coloradoan and appeared in today's paper. Check out the full article here here or at the coloradoan.com site under the lifestyle section for June 2nd.
Well as you know from the last blog entry Abby has a full agenda this month in the journey of not only fighting her own cancer but also helping others join in being part of her journey and a future cure!
Tomorrow we drive up to Steamboat Springs to help cheer on all of the Team in Training participants (the Leukemia and Lymphoma fundraising and awareness event). Abby is the Honoree and will just sit there and give them all that look at the pasta party to get them motivated! I think it might just work! Actually we are honored and excited to be a part of this year's event. It has been a great opprotunity to get to know people from all walks of life that just really want to help out with raising money for Cancer research, Leukemia and Lymphoma in particular. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) has been a great resource to us and even gave us some money to offset the cost of all of our expenses last year. Really great organization.
Next weekend Abby is going to be one of the opening ceremony's guest speakers... I'll probably do most of the talking for her but who knows maybe I can work on getting her to say a sentence in the microphone or two even! That is part of the reason that she was featured in the story today. Diane, the second picture down in the article, is the event chair for Relay for Life and she called up a few weeks ago to see if Abby would do this. Diane fell in love with Abby last year at the event... as did a lot of people I may add. I think it is that little cubby cheeked smile. Anyway, we are excited to be apart of it again this year and help the American Cancer Society raise money and provide awareness too.
To do our part in raising money and awareness we are trying to get as many people to buy a luminaries as possible for Abby. They set these bags out at the beginning of the ceremony in honor or memory of people who have or have had cancer. When it gets dark they light them up. Some are decorated with pictures, others just a name... the whole track is lined up with them, pretty amazing, pretty surreal too. So many people are affected. I just never knew.
Anyway if you want to be part of this event and can't make it or just want a way to help out go to this link and purchase a luminaries, by clicking on the "light the way to a cure", in honor of that little girl up there in the picture or someone else that you know that has had cancer.
Thanks everyone for checking in!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Time to Blog..
Wow, with 3 girls now how will I ever find the time to blog? Even if I have the time I might have used up all of my word by that time with all of the relating that will have to go on now! :) Anyway let me tell you about a few of the things that are going on in our life right now.
Abby is going really good. She still has some hard days during her chemo pulse every month but even with that she seems to be doing a lot better. She gets another spinal tap in a couple weeks and decadron too but it should be a short time. She actually started her chemo pulse the day before Tiffany gave birth to Lily and even with all of that craziness she did really good. We just sent her off to our friends house with a box of cheerios before we went to the hospital. That was pretty funny.
See... Abby is going to be a celebrity for the next couple weeks. Most of you know that she is an honoree for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT) race program. We have had a few social events to meet the participants during this season and now the race day has come! Abby, and the family too of course, will be trekking up to Steamboat Springs to cheer on the racers to finish the marathon or 1/2 marathon. We are excited!
Also, the weekend after Abby is the child guest speaker for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event in Fort Collins. I'm going to try to get her to say something but we'll have to see how that goes... I may have to do most of the speaking. I'll write more about this event in another post. Abby will be on chemo that weekend so pray that she is up for doing this! It is a great program and so I'm excited to help out with it and Abby truly loves being part of it. Last year she just kept asking to go back over and over again.
Well that's all for now!
Abby is going really good. She still has some hard days during her chemo pulse every month but even with that she seems to be doing a lot better. She gets another spinal tap in a couple weeks and decadron too but it should be a short time. She actually started her chemo pulse the day before Tiffany gave birth to Lily and even with all of that craziness she did really good. We just sent her off to our friends house with a box of cheerios before we went to the hospital. That was pretty funny.
See... Abby is going to be a celebrity for the next couple weeks. Most of you know that she is an honoree for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT) race program. We have had a few social events to meet the participants during this season and now the race day has come! Abby, and the family too of course, will be trekking up to Steamboat Springs to cheer on the racers to finish the marathon or 1/2 marathon. We are excited!
Also, the weekend after Abby is the child guest speaker for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life event in Fort Collins. I'm going to try to get her to say something but we'll have to see how that goes... I may have to do most of the speaking. I'll write more about this event in another post. Abby will be on chemo that weekend so pray that she is up for doing this! It is a great program and so I'm excited to help out with it and Abby truly loves being part of it. Last year she just kept asking to go back over and over again.
Well that's all for now!
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Vincristine from a Flower...
So I'm in DC this week for the Milken Educator Awards and since Tiffany was not able to come I took my friend Chris. Today, while I was learning all about the Milken Family Foundation and what all of these cool teachers do, Chris was tromping around our nations capital... He went to the Botanical Graden near the Capital Building and on his tour saw this flower.... The Madagascar Periwinkle. What you are looking at here in this picture is most likely the reason Abby, and so many other Leukemia kids are still with us! Vincristine is made from this flower. The even crazier part of this is that Chris learned from the guide that Vincristine can't be synthesized. It can only be extracted from this plant! Crazy!Here is a little blurb from a site I found on the web talking about this flower and it's cancer fighting compounds, "...more recently, 2 alkaloids in Madagascar Periwinkle leaves, vinblastine and vincristine, were identified as active anti-cancer agents that could be used in chemotherapy. Vinblastine is used for patients with Hodgkin’s disease and vincristine is used for children with leukemia. With the introduction of vincristine, the survival rate for children with leukemia jumped from 20 to 80 percent." From 2o... to 80 percent... Wow! You can read more about it here.
So anyway, there is your fact for the day. Don't just be looking at pretty flowers anymore, they might just be one the you could fix your aching back with... or at least your kid with A.L.L.!!!
Well, back to the conferance... you can check out more about the conference and how the week is going on the conference blog found at this site.
Buh bye!!
Friday, May 12, 2006
Pictures of a Lily
Hey all,
I put together a little website for Lily's pictures that we have so far.
I hope you enjoy them all!
Click here or go to:
http://www.i-netconsulting.net/Lillian/
I'm going to go sleep some more!
:)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Abby has a new little sister!
Hey all,
Abby and Anna have a new baby sister.
Lillian Christine Schreiber, 6lbs 4oz, 18.5 long, almost 3 weeks early! 11:51am May 10th, 2006
We just started Abby on her monthly chemo pulse yesterday so pray that we get some sleep this week! I was going to title this blog, "Chemo, Contractions, and Christine... Lily Christine" But I figured just to post it out their as it is!
I'll try to get some pics up soon. Long labor, Tiffany started some stuff a couple days ago and then really got going last night. We went in from 11pm until 2am then the they kicked us out and said it was probably just her body getting ready.... not too much sleep later, and a bunch of crazy big contractions, we decided to go get checked at the clinic and they said to go to the hospital!
2 hours later, Lily was born.
Have a great day, off to take more pictures!
Abby and Anna have a new baby sister.
Lillian Christine Schreiber, 6lbs 4oz, 18.5 long, almost 3 weeks early! 11:51am May 10th, 2006
We just started Abby on her monthly chemo pulse yesterday so pray that we get some sleep this week! I was going to title this blog, "Chemo, Contractions, and Christine... Lily Christine" But I figured just to post it out their as it is!
I'll try to get some pics up soon. Long labor, Tiffany started some stuff a couple days ago and then really got going last night. We went in from 11pm until 2am then the they kicked us out and said it was probably just her body getting ready.... not too much sleep later, and a bunch of crazy big contractions, we decided to go get checked at the clinic and they said to go to the hospital!
2 hours later, Lily was born.
Have a great day, off to take more pictures!
Monday, April 17, 2006
Ohhh the Big blog blood drive
Well, I've been hinting at it for a while now and now we are going to pull the trigger. Here's the deal, give blood, get a limited edition, hand drawn, refirgerator worthy, signed... well kinda signed picture from Abby and Anna.
Now you may be thinking, "will I really get a limited edition, hand drawn, ya da ya da ya... Picture from Abby?" Well, the answer would be a big stinkin' YUP! one of a kind I may add.
Now you also might ask, "How could I get one of these limited edition...ya da ya da.. pics from Abby?" Well, once again I'm glad you asked and I also may add that I'm glad that you are so concise.... Well, here's how it works. You go to your local blood bank, ( just check the yellow pages, call your hospital, doctor, or just Google it), and then give blood. Once you are done and you aren't feeling light headed anymore, come back to this site and post a comment on this blog entry. When we see your name, we'll look up your address, if we don't have your address please post it or an email. We will then get Abby to draw you something nice, personal, and using a lot of red colors to remind you of this event that you took part in!
We would like to have people give at least as much as Abby has used since this whole thing started. I'll have to calculate but I bet it's up in the teens- 20's. While you are at the blood bank you might want to have them see if you are a good canidate to give platlettes, Abby used a ton of those too! Maybe you could become a monthly donor! That would be really cool! We'd have lots of pictures coming your way in that case.
Here's an added bonus... no, not ginsu knifes... but close... if you really want to help people and get a color picture of Abby, signed I may add... go give blood like the rest of us, and then check into this http://www.marrow.org/HELP/join_the_registry.html . This is the national bone marrow registry. Pray that Abby never needs a bone marrow transplant, but lots of people do. Leukemia, Lymphomoa, and lots of other diseases can be cured by a bone marrow transplant. If you really are willing to give bone marrow to anyone that needs it, then get on this list. If you do, please comment on this blog and we will send you not only a drawing, but also a signed picture of Abby! Talk about a deal huh!
Well really, if you want to help, go give blood. Give it on Abby's behalf if you want and know that what you are giving is saving someones life just like someone elses donation helped save Abby. Remember the retinal hemorrage? Donate some platlettes... Remember how Abby was short of breath and couldn't walk very well? Donate packed red blood cells.
There you have it the Big, Blog, Blood drive. Drawings and pictures will be sent out as soon as someone jumps on this one.... PS... I already got my picture 2 weeks ago when I donated... Wait... I get them all the time... Anyway, the gauntlet has been thrown down.
Now you may be thinking, "will I really get a limited edition, hand drawn, ya da ya da ya... Picture from Abby?" Well, the answer would be a big stinkin' YUP! one of a kind I may add.
Now you also might ask, "How could I get one of these limited edition...ya da ya da.. pics from Abby?" Well, once again I'm glad you asked and I also may add that I'm glad that you are so concise.... Well, here's how it works. You go to your local blood bank, ( just check the yellow pages, call your hospital, doctor, or just Google it), and then give blood. Once you are done and you aren't feeling light headed anymore, come back to this site and post a comment on this blog entry. When we see your name, we'll look up your address, if we don't have your address please post it or an email. We will then get Abby to draw you something nice, personal, and using a lot of red colors to remind you of this event that you took part in!
We would like to have people give at least as much as Abby has used since this whole thing started. I'll have to calculate but I bet it's up in the teens- 20's. While you are at the blood bank you might want to have them see if you are a good canidate to give platlettes, Abby used a ton of those too! Maybe you could become a monthly donor! That would be really cool! We'd have lots of pictures coming your way in that case.
Here's an added bonus... no, not ginsu knifes... but close... if you really want to help people and get a color picture of Abby, signed I may add... go give blood like the rest of us, and then check into this http://www.marrow.org/HELP/join_the_registry.html . This is the national bone marrow registry. Pray that Abby never needs a bone marrow transplant, but lots of people do. Leukemia, Lymphomoa, and lots of other diseases can be cured by a bone marrow transplant. If you really are willing to give bone marrow to anyone that needs it, then get on this list. If you do, please comment on this blog and we will send you not only a drawing, but also a signed picture of Abby! Talk about a deal huh!
Well really, if you want to help, go give blood. Give it on Abby's behalf if you want and know that what you are giving is saving someones life just like someone elses donation helped save Abby. Remember the retinal hemorrage? Donate some platlettes... Remember how Abby was short of breath and couldn't walk very well? Donate packed red blood cells.
There you have it the Big, Blog, Blood drive. Drawings and pictures will be sent out as soon as someone jumps on this one.... PS... I already got my picture 2 weeks ago when I donated... Wait... I get them all the time... Anyway, the gauntlet has been thrown down.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
A Good Wed, Thurs & A Good Friday
Happy easter all!
This chemo week has been really good. Before it started I kept hearing the good weather forecast and considering how much I've used that analogy in the past I was hopeful that since it would be a sunny week, that maybe Abby would do good... My hopes and prayers paid off and aside for a few gusts of wind, outside and in, all has been relatively calm here.
We dyed some easter eggs this week and the girls have been eating them all up! Abby eats about 3 a day! I guess that is better than a bunny mac and cheese craving! As for the steroids and cravings... she really has done great. Lots of wanting to be held, and lots of resting but not a ton of requests for food constantly as has been the norm in the past.
See, we've bumped Abby up to a 3/4 dose of 6MP and 1/2 of the oral Methotrexate. We'll check her counts again in a week and see where they want to set the medicine back to. Abby's been trying to chew up her Decadron instead of swallowing it up... she says it taste "yucky". She used to swallow it on the first try, good for a 4 year old, but of late she's decided to chew it instead. We'll have to work on that.
Well, only 3 more Decadron pills to go! We will be done this round on Easter morning.
This chemo week has been really good. Before it started I kept hearing the good weather forecast and considering how much I've used that analogy in the past I was hopeful that since it would be a sunny week, that maybe Abby would do good... My hopes and prayers paid off and aside for a few gusts of wind, outside and in, all has been relatively calm here.
We dyed some easter eggs this week and the girls have been eating them all up! Abby eats about 3 a day! I guess that is better than a bunny mac and cheese craving! As for the steroids and cravings... she really has done great. Lots of wanting to be held, and lots of resting but not a ton of requests for food constantly as has been the norm in the past.
See, we've bumped Abby up to a 3/4 dose of 6MP and 1/2 of the oral Methotrexate. We'll check her counts again in a week and see where they want to set the medicine back to. Abby's been trying to chew up her Decadron instead of swallowing it up... she says it taste "yucky". She used to swallow it on the first try, good for a 4 year old, but of late she's decided to chew it instead. We'll have to work on that.
Well, only 3 more Decadron pills to go! We will be done this round on Easter morning.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Yet another Spinal Tap Tuesday
Hello all!
Abby just got done with her spinal tap and Tiffany and the girls are on there way back from Denver. Tiffany also had to take Abby down yesterday for an eye doc appointment. So where to start....
Well, Abby is doing much better, the counts have come back up and she started back on her meds (at 1/2 the dose) about 5 days ago. Her counts were still good today and they started her on her chemo pulse... (Decadron, Vincristine, spinal tap Methotrexate). They will be increasing her oral meds back up towards normal too. Tiffany said that she did really good with the tap this time and hopefully she won't be too grumpy for this coming week.
Yesterday Abby went down to the eye doc for another follow up to her corrective surgery. He said her vision is fine and her eye drift is pretty much gone. He was going to even have us take the glasses away and be done with them but we've noticed a bit of eye wander when she is tired or on more chemo so he said to stick with the glasses until she grows out of them. At that time she will be done! Yippie! Also, her glasses have a 1 year warranty so we took them in to have them looked at and they are going to replace them with a new pair since they aren't holding up the best. Nice to get a new free pair of glasses!
Anyway, that's it for now... I'll post some more stuff here soon.
Abby just got done with her spinal tap and Tiffany and the girls are on there way back from Denver. Tiffany also had to take Abby down yesterday for an eye doc appointment. So where to start....
Well, Abby is doing much better, the counts have come back up and she started back on her meds (at 1/2 the dose) about 5 days ago. Her counts were still good today and they started her on her chemo pulse... (Decadron, Vincristine, spinal tap Methotrexate). They will be increasing her oral meds back up towards normal too. Tiffany said that she did really good with the tap this time and hopefully she won't be too grumpy for this coming week.
Yesterday Abby went down to the eye doc for another follow up to her corrective surgery. He said her vision is fine and her eye drift is pretty much gone. He was going to even have us take the glasses away and be done with them but we've noticed a bit of eye wander when she is tired or on more chemo so he said to stick with the glasses until she grows out of them. At that time she will be done! Yippie! Also, her glasses have a 1 year warranty so we took them in to have them looked at and they are going to replace them with a new pair since they aren't holding up the best. Nice to get a new free pair of glasses!
Anyway, that's it for now... I'll post some more stuff here soon.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Counts are coming up!
Hey all,
Just wanted to let you know that late yesterday we talked to the doctor and they said that Abby's counts, immunity counts, are coming back up. 320 yesterday, so she is still neutropinic, but much better. We'll get her checked out early next week and probably be able to start her back on chemo. She is scheduled for a spinal tap, Methotrexate, Vincristine, and the Decadron pulse on Tuesday but I think we may see if we can move it back a little bit since I have a big event at school on Friday night.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and especially your prayers for Abby!
Just wanted to let you know that late yesterday we talked to the doctor and they said that Abby's counts, immunity counts, are coming back up. 320 yesterday, so she is still neutropinic, but much better. We'll get her checked out early next week and probably be able to start her back on chemo. She is scheduled for a spinal tap, Methotrexate, Vincristine, and the Decadron pulse on Tuesday but I think we may see if we can move it back a little bit since I have a big event at school on Friday night.
Thank you for all of your thoughts and especially your prayers for Abby!
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
38.... Just 38
Yesterday when Tiffany told me what Abby's ANC was she said, "38". I said, "Oh good, 3800... wow, great!" She said, "no, just 38".
So as you can see Abby still has a very low inventory in the immunity store.
So, you might ask, "what does that mean". Well thanks for asking! That means that she will be off chemo for another week and off of her weekend antibiotic. "Is there any thing else?", one might ask. And to that I would respond again with, "why yes, you are very insightful and yes there is something else." If Abby's counts don't come back up by the end of the week then we will have to take her down to get a bone marrow test again... Now that is a big if, and for that reason, I really do hope that her counts do come back up soon.
Now being that you are so insightful and questioning in nature, you may also be wondering what Dr. Smith has to say about all of this. Well, he says things like, "what's up with her counts?" That's just doctor Smith... Let me translate. "What's up with her counts?" means... (Her counts are really low and so we will keep her off chemo again for this next week. This is pretty normal during these treatments and it is a really juggling act to keep kids from being too low or too high. Her counts should come up in the next week and if they don't we'll do a bone marrow but that is unlikely as she is probably just fighting off some virus.)
So, counts again on Friday here in Fort Collins... If they are low then to Denver we go... Pray that they come on up.
Thanks again for checking up on Abby and our family... stay tuned for exciting news where you can do something and quite possibly get a limited edition and autographed picture from Abby and Anna!
So as you can see Abby still has a very low inventory in the immunity store.
So, you might ask, "what does that mean". Well thanks for asking! That means that she will be off chemo for another week and off of her weekend antibiotic. "Is there any thing else?", one might ask. And to that I would respond again with, "why yes, you are very insightful and yes there is something else." If Abby's counts don't come back up by the end of the week then we will have to take her down to get a bone marrow test again... Now that is a big if, and for that reason, I really do hope that her counts do come back up soon.
Now being that you are so insightful and questioning in nature, you may also be wondering what Dr. Smith has to say about all of this. Well, he says things like, "what's up with her counts?" That's just doctor Smith... Let me translate. "What's up with her counts?" means... (Her counts are really low and so we will keep her off chemo again for this next week. This is pretty normal during these treatments and it is a really juggling act to keep kids from being too low or too high. Her counts should come up in the next week and if they don't we'll do a bone marrow but that is unlikely as she is probably just fighting off some virus.)
So, counts again on Friday here in Fort Collins... If they are low then to Denver we go... Pray that they come on up.
Thanks again for checking up on Abby and our family... stay tuned for exciting news where you can do something and quite possibly get a limited edition and autographed picture from Abby and Anna!
Monday, March 20, 2006
neutropenic is not the best
So, though Abby has been doing really good, she is still neutropenic (very low immunity). They like to keep her between 1000-1500 in her ANC (immunity blood count) and if she drops below 500 she is deemed neutropenic. When people are neutropenic they have a high risk of infection with very little symptoms, obviously not so good. Last year, Abby was neutropenic quite often but this year she has been really good until now. 2 weeks ago, she was about 300 and so they wanted to see us in 2 weeks, i.e. today... Today they ran the blood count and she was at 100! Yikes!
So... the protocol that she's on says to take kids off their meds for a week if they are neutropenic like Abby so guess what? Yup, no chemo meds for a week! That means I don't have to wake up Abby before I go to bed and give her the chocolate coated chemo! Kind of a nice break, I don't know what to do with myself:)
Her blood counts should go back up by taking her off the meds and with it her immunity too. If the counts don't come up within a week then they will have to take her off for another week to let them recover. Dr. Smith said that they usually come back up in a week.
See, we also had a hearing test for Abby today at the hospital. Dr. Smith wanted to get a baseline since her speech isn't the clearest, just to make sure it wasn't being caused by any hearing problems. The test came back great, her hearing is perfect! Now she has no excuse not to listen to me because I know that she can hear me!
Well, that's it for now. Pray that she doesn't get the cold that Tiffany has or that Anna has. Pray that she doesn't get a neutropenic fever, over 101.5, because if she does we have to take her in to the hospital to be admitted.
Oh ya... stay tuned for information on the upcoming Abbyupdate blood drive... Oh ya... it's gonna be big!
So... the protocol that she's on says to take kids off their meds for a week if they are neutropenic like Abby so guess what? Yup, no chemo meds for a week! That means I don't have to wake up Abby before I go to bed and give her the chocolate coated chemo! Kind of a nice break, I don't know what to do with myself:)
Her blood counts should go back up by taking her off the meds and with it her immunity too. If the counts don't come up within a week then they will have to take her off for another week to let them recover. Dr. Smith said that they usually come back up in a week.
See, we also had a hearing test for Abby today at the hospital. Dr. Smith wanted to get a baseline since her speech isn't the clearest, just to make sure it wasn't being caused by any hearing problems. The test came back great, her hearing is perfect! Now she has no excuse not to listen to me because I know that she can hear me!
Well, that's it for now. Pray that she doesn't get the cold that Tiffany has or that Anna has. Pray that she doesn't get a neutropenic fever, over 101.5, because if she does we have to take her in to the hospital to be admitted.
Oh ya... stay tuned for information on the upcoming Abbyupdate blood drive... Oh ya... it's gonna be big!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Abby's doing really good
Wanted to tell you all that Abby did really well with her last treatment. She had a bit of the shakes coming off the Decadron and she has been pretty wired too. That is all really normal effects of coming off the Decadron. All in all, her week was pretty good. She was a bit whinny as usual, but that's just par for the course.
It has been pretty nice outside and I'm on spring break this week so we've been getting outside a lot. That seems to help Abby too, she loves to be outside!
So, other than that, not much is going on. All her doctor appointments went fine and the stomach doctor didn't find anything way out of normal. Maybe a little lactose intolerant but just borderline. We will keep her on the Zantac for another month and then talk to him again about were to go next.
On a final note... I just did our tax stuff and got all of Abby's bills in order. I won't tell you how much we spent last year but suffice it to say....THANK YOU ALL that have helped in that arena! I seriously don't know what we would have done. Next year ought to be much less since she only goes down once a month instead of weekly, or in some cases 4 times a week! We even found one day when we went down twice in one day! Crazy!
Get this... we put 6,450 miles on the van going back and forth to Abby's appointments last year!
No driving today!!! I'm going to work on the yard with the girls!
It has been pretty nice outside and I'm on spring break this week so we've been getting outside a lot. That seems to help Abby too, she loves to be outside!
So, other than that, not much is going on. All her doctor appointments went fine and the stomach doctor didn't find anything way out of normal. Maybe a little lactose intolerant but just borderline. We will keep her on the Zantac for another month and then talk to him again about were to go next.
On a final note... I just did our tax stuff and got all of Abby's bills in order. I won't tell you how much we spent last year but suffice it to say....THANK YOU ALL that have helped in that arena! I seriously don't know what we would have done. Next year ought to be much less since she only goes down once a month instead of weekly, or in some cases 4 times a week! We even found one day when we went down twice in one day! Crazy!
Get this... we put 6,450 miles on the van going back and forth to Abby's appointments last year!
No driving today!!! I'm going to work on the yard with the girls!
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Spinal Tap Tuesday again.
Hey all,
Long time no post... My friend said that I only post when things are hard. I told him that I only post when things are hard but not too hard. If they are too hard then I just want to sleep when I can! But that is fairly true. Abby has been doing very well. Stomach issues seem to have gone away for the most part. She hasn't had any more colds either!
All in all, pretty good. We went to a Team in Training event the other day at Red Robin and Abby had a blast. She is a patient honoree for the Fort Collins team this year so that was nice little get together.
Abby also just went to the Disney Princesses on Ice show on Sunday. She had a great time! The people at Disney came out before the show and gave Abby and Anna a stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. So during the show they just sat there with their stuffed Minnies and little princess wands... and tiaras watching the show. Anna was pretty much mesmerized during the whole 2 hour event and Abby asked a lot of questions about what was going on down on the ice. Pretty good time!
Now today, Abby is back to the chemo pulse. This morning she will start with a spinal tap/methotrexate push, some Vincristine, and some blood tests. She also has an appt. with Dr. Lee, the GI doc, about her tummy. And then tonight she will come back home and start the Decadron, the grumpy pill, which wasn't too bad last time compared with the time before.
Pray that she does well.
Long time no post... My friend said that I only post when things are hard. I told him that I only post when things are hard but not too hard. If they are too hard then I just want to sleep when I can! But that is fairly true. Abby has been doing very well. Stomach issues seem to have gone away for the most part. She hasn't had any more colds either!
All in all, pretty good. We went to a Team in Training event the other day at Red Robin and Abby had a blast. She is a patient honoree for the Fort Collins team this year so that was nice little get together.
Abby also just went to the Disney Princesses on Ice show on Sunday. She had a great time! The people at Disney came out before the show and gave Abby and Anna a stuffed Minnie Mouse doll. So during the show they just sat there with their stuffed Minnies and little princess wands... and tiaras watching the show. Anna was pretty much mesmerized during the whole 2 hour event and Abby asked a lot of questions about what was going on down on the ice. Pretty good time!
Now today, Abby is back to the chemo pulse. This morning she will start with a spinal tap/methotrexate push, some Vincristine, and some blood tests. She also has an appt. with Dr. Lee, the GI doc, about her tummy. And then tonight she will come back home and start the Decadron, the grumpy pill, which wasn't too bad last time compared with the time before.
Pray that she does well.
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