Tonight I've been in a contemplative mood. Listening to music, thinking about our life: past, present and future. Sometimes it is just hard to believe that Abby has/had cancer... I've been watching this slide show of Tiffany's favorite picture on her computer screen saver. Lots of memories there. Lots of pictures of a puffy-faced Abby. Of a bald Abby. Of an Abby with a "peach fuzz" head. Crazy. I look at those old pictures and I just have a hard time that that is and has been our life. Just very surreal. I'm glad I have these posts to re-read and pictures to look at to remind me and bring the highs and lows back to my mind.
Anyway, on the Abby (present tense) front, things are going good. She still is complaining of not feeling good. Her appetite is sometimes good and sometimes not good. She was running a low fever the last couple of days but I think that is gone now. IgG can give you a fever and also make you achey so who knows. She is a bit stuffy again and the cough is back but we are just watching it to see how it all pans out.
We don't have to go to Denver this week... that is nice, it seems like I've been down there every week lately! Other than life just keeps moving. It's a wild ride in so many ways so we just are holding on tight to see where it all goes!
Later all.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Sinus news
Hey sorry for the delay in the Sinus updates but here is the scoop:
Abby had another CAT scan (CT) and chemo last Friday. Dr. Smith looked at the CT Monday and said that they look really good, a dramatic improvement.
The Ear Nose Throat (ENT) looked at them on Tuesday and said that they look good. I'm not completely sure what the ENT said we got the info second hand from a nurse at our clinic.
If the sinus infection comes back then they will need to do surgery to clear it all up.
So, Abby is off antibiotics and we are just waiting to see how it all progresses. We're still doing the nasal rinsing as much as we can remember to. Abby is doing better with it now and even Anna gets involved by standing next to Abby and telling her it will be alright... pretty cute.
Abby goes down for IgG again tommorow and we are praying that that will give her the immunity that she needs to fight off any colds or reoccurances of the sinus infection.
See what else... oh Chicken Pox is going around our church so Abby can't go to Sunday school anymore. Once the last case has surfaced we will be able to go back 21 days later. We are trying to be positive about it but it is still a bit of a pain especially since they have a vaccine for Chicken Pox now. If everyone had the vaccine then this would be less of an issue... oh well.
Abby just finished up her last Dexamethasone (ie. grumpy/hungry) pill for this chemo round. She is doing pretty good, a bit tired but good.
That's it for now.
Abby had another CAT scan (CT) and chemo last Friday. Dr. Smith looked at the CT Monday and said that they look really good, a dramatic improvement.
The Ear Nose Throat (ENT) looked at them on Tuesday and said that they look good. I'm not completely sure what the ENT said we got the info second hand from a nurse at our clinic.
If the sinus infection comes back then they will need to do surgery to clear it all up.
So, Abby is off antibiotics and we are just waiting to see how it all progresses. We're still doing the nasal rinsing as much as we can remember to. Abby is doing better with it now and even Anna gets involved by standing next to Abby and telling her it will be alright... pretty cute.
Abby goes down for IgG again tommorow and we are praying that that will give her the immunity that she needs to fight off any colds or reoccurances of the sinus infection.
See what else... oh Chicken Pox is going around our church so Abby can't go to Sunday school anymore. Once the last case has surfaced we will be able to go back 21 days later. We are trying to be positive about it but it is still a bit of a pain especially since they have a vaccine for Chicken Pox now. If everyone had the vaccine then this would be less of an issue... oh well.
Abby just finished up her last Dexamethasone (ie. grumpy/hungry) pill for this chemo round. She is doing pretty good, a bit tired but good.
That's it for now.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Hope
It's been a long couple of weeks. Abby is up and down. Good mornings and still mornings when she thinks she is going to throw up or just "doesn't feel good"... as she puts it. She really doesn't like having saline water rinsed up her nose either. I bet it feels like getting pounded by a wave in the ocean while all the salt water goes up your nose. I never did like that sensation. Anyway we haven't been doing the salt water wash lately and in the last couple of days I think we've started to just loose hope a little bit resigning to the seemingly imminent surgery to clear this thing up. I mean why put Abby through all of these nasal rinses if she is just going to have it all scrapped out in a few weeks? So, as you can see our hope is definitely waning.
Tiffany read me a quote this morning that brought me to tears and renewed my hope a bit so I thought I should share it with you all...
"There are three ways of committing suicide---taking my own life, letting myself die, and letting myself live without hope. This last form of self-destruction is so subtle that it often goes unrecognized and therefore unchallenged. Ordinarily it takes the form of boredom, monotony, drudgery, feeling overcome by the ordinariness of life.
We begin by admitting in the inner sanctum of our hearts that the Christian calling is too demanding, that life in Christ Jesus is too sublime. We settle into a well-worn groove and lose the stuff of gospel greatness. We become like everyone else, fail ourselves and the community by failing to respond to the living, vibrant, magnificent image of Christ that is within us waiting only to be expressed."
We started the nasal washes again this morning. That's all I have to say to that :).
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Navy Academy
Well I'm at the Navy Academy in Annapolis Maryland right now for a tour and it's been a great experiance. They have a great program... I wish I had gone here when I went to school, really neat place here. Maybe one of the girls will want to come here some day. They have great vision and the students here are incredible.
Anyway, Tiffany is home with the girls by herself so pray that the girls are good for her. It sounds like Abby is still up and down depending on the day and time of day. I'm still praying that she does good. We will go on down and get another CAT scan next Friday at CHOA's new office... yep CHOA, Abby's clinic office, is moving to a new location. We will still do most of our hospital stuff at Pres/St. Lukes. The office is moving further south to Littleton Colorado, the drive will be about another 1/2 hour but that shouldn't be too much of an issue. It is a bit hard to say good-bye to the place that we started this whole journey in but I'm sure the new place will feel like home too.
Anyway, I'm tired so I'm going to go rest... the Navy works your hard out here. Pray that Abby's Chemo and CAT scan go well next week.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Bedside Blog
Sitting here at CHOA listening a mom of a patient and a teen age patient talk about cancer. It is a common occurrence here, different chemo drug references flying around and medical terms. IV benadryl or oral and the effect of it is the current topic of conversation out there in the hallway. Just a few minutes ago it was all about treatment end dates... wait, I just heard the conversation change to crack and heroin and how one of the kids is like she is on PCP when she is on steroid drugs... I concurr with that statement! It's an interesting mix of conversations here, some comforting some depressing. How are your counts? How did the IVIG make you feel.
Speaking of IVIG or IgG (gamma globulin), that is the reason that we are down here again. We actually are here a week early because Abby hasn't been herself lately. She wasn't too bad until after the last treatment and then she just went down hill. Wanting her blanky all the time, eating a ton, and throwing up in the morning a couple times a week. Cough, green snot, and just the overall blahs got us in here quicker.
Dr. Smith was wondering if she had a sinus infection and he wanted to get a CAT scan of her sinuses like he did last year. Last year they were all clear, this year... not so good.
I figured it wasn't good news when he called me back to his computer to check out the pictures from the CAT scan. When the ENT (ear nose and throat) doctor, came in with us I really figured it wasn't good. The ENT gave me a nice drawing of where all the sinuses are and how they should be all air and look black on the CAT scan. He then proceeded to show me how, in the pictures of Abby's sinuses, they were all gray and white with very little black in most of the cavities... not good. What it is is a major sinus infection. Honestly I can't believe she just walks around with it and self medicates with her blanky and by sucking on her fingers... getting held by us when she can. If you've ever had a bad sinus infection then you know what she must feel like. The think is she doesn't really know how to describe it... she doesn't really know what a headache is probably. She just knows that, in her own words, "I don't feel good daddy". Makes me sad. But now we know so we can treat it.
So, she'll be on antibiotics now for 3 weeks and then get another CT (CAT Scan). If that shows that it is all cleared up then great... if not, then she will have to have a sinus surgery to clear them out and see what type of bug the infection is so they can then give her more antibiotics, IV antibiotics if it gets to that point, that are targeted for the specific bug.
Dr. Smith is optimistic since we now know why she hasn't been feeling good. He is giving her a 30% chance that the antibiotics will clear up the infection. The ENT is very nice, was very helpful, and draws a great picture of the sinsus cavities... but he only gives her a 15% chance of the antibiotics clearing it up. I hate percentages so I'm just going to pray that it clears up and that the antibiotics help it all clear up.
He told me a bunch more stuff about surgery, the risks, the potenial complications, and some what if scenarios for people with a supressed immunity but they aren't real pleasant, so I'll keep them to myself for now.
I'll keep you all posted as we go. Pray for the antibiotic that she is on to be the best one for this bug and to not give her any major side-effects like intestinal stuff. Thanks.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Ahh the fall
Ahh... I love the fall! Bright colors on the trees, orange pumpkins, and all the fall festivities. It has been typical Colorado weather lately, sunny and 80 on Saturday followed by low 50's and 30's at night last night. Crazy.
Abby just finished another round of treatment last week. Dexamethasone for 5 days ,which made her quite hungry and grumpy this time, Methotrexate Monday's and the normal nightly 6-MP plus the one does of Vincristine. Tiffany's parents were here for most of the week and that was really helpful.
We did light the night on Friday and Robin and I went over with Brianne to check out the acoustic Ninja (www.acousticninja.com) and Brianne stayed for the headliner. The Light the Night event was fun, but registration was a bit confusing. It seemed like you had to donate $100 just to register but you didn't really have, it was just a suggestion. Kind of threw me off. Anyway, the walk was good but Abby got tired and whiney about 1/4 of the way into it so we just waited until they all came back around and let her rest. She got tired easily this round, kind of weird. Made me sad but that will have to be another post.
Overall, this round was great. Abby did ok, and it was full of fun activities. Hope this finds you all well.
Abby just finished another round of treatment last week. Dexamethasone for 5 days ,which made her quite hungry and grumpy this time, Methotrexate Monday's and the normal nightly 6-MP plus the one does of Vincristine. Tiffany's parents were here for most of the week and that was really helpful.
We did light the night on Friday and Robin and I went over with Brianne to check out the acoustic Ninja (www.acousticninja.com) and Brianne stayed for the headliner. The Light the Night event was fun, but registration was a bit confusing. It seemed like you had to donate $100 just to register but you didn't really have, it was just a suggestion. Kind of threw me off. Anyway, the walk was good but Abby got tired and whiney about 1/4 of the way into it so we just waited until they all came back around and let her rest. She got tired easily this round, kind of weird. Made me sad but that will have to be another post.
Overall, this round was great. Abby did ok, and it was full of fun activities. Hope this finds you all well.
Monday, October 02, 2006
light the night
Hey all here is the info for Light the Night, the Leukemia and Lymphoma's annual blood cancer awareness/ fundraising event.
It is in Old Town Fort Collins this Friday the 6th. The festivities begin at 5pm until 7pm, the walk starts at 7pm. I think we will show up around 6pm ish if you are looking for us. If you are going to come let us know and we'll look for you too. I'm not sure if we'll walk since Abby just started chemo today, we'll see how she feels.
So far so good but we did just give her the first of the grumpy pills at dinner. The doctor visit went well today. Tiffany took down the whole little herd of girls and they did fine. Abby got a flu shot and her Vincristine so we need to get our flu shots now too. Abby's stomach hasn't been feeling to good for the last couple weeks and she's been throwing up about every other day in the morning so we started her on some new medicine, Carafate. We'll see how it works, she's only been on it for 2 days and she didn't throw up this morning so maybe it's working.
Other than that, it's the same deal around her just with some added fall colors... ahhh I love the fall!
Till later
It is in Old Town Fort Collins this Friday the 6th. The festivities begin at 5pm until 7pm, the walk starts at 7pm. I think we will show up around 6pm ish if you are looking for us. If you are going to come let us know and we'll look for you too. I'm not sure if we'll walk since Abby just started chemo today, we'll see how she feels.
So far so good but we did just give her the first of the grumpy pills at dinner. The doctor visit went well today. Tiffany took down the whole little herd of girls and they did fine. Abby got a flu shot and her Vincristine so we need to get our flu shots now too. Abby's stomach hasn't been feeling to good for the last couple weeks and she's been throwing up about every other day in the morning so we started her on some new medicine, Carafate. We'll see how it works, she's only been on it for 2 days and she didn't throw up this morning so maybe it's working.
Other than that, it's the same deal around her just with some added fall colors... ahhh I love the fall!
Till later
Sunday, September 24, 2006
New End Date :(
I have to tell you, my heart sunk when Dr. Smith said, "looks like that will be May 13th. I'll write that down up front so we don't forget." You see, they've been saying Feburary for a while and I wanted to get the specific so I asked... Let me back up a bit.
Abby and I went down to the CHOA office to get the IgG therapy on Friday. It takes about 5 hours to do the whole thing so during my time with Dr. Smith I asked him when the exact date would be that Abby would be done. He said probably Feb. but that he would check. He looked at the protocol that she is on and it said that the kids are done 2 years from the start of Interm maintenance. He proceeded to look on back in the chart and said, "May 13th.", that is when my heart sank. I was thinking that they would tell me it was the end of Feb. or maybe even the beginning of March... but May? Ouch. That's like 90 more 6-MP pills and maybe even another spinal tap. That's 15-20 extra days of a grumpy, hungry steroid girl... That means that we wouldn't be done until after our celebration trip to Disney Land.
That's why my heart sank.
He left, and I started to think. I thought about all the things above and tried to gear my mind up for the new time frame. Then I started thinking... "That can't be right." I had to be wrong. I got out my trusty CHOA folder and the protocol that she is on and started reading it myself. In our book Interm Maintenance started April 19th, still not great but at least a month better, only 60 pills and probably no extra spinal tap. I thought that I might have to check the blog to see if our records where right, another good reason to keep a blog huh!?
Anyway, I finally talked to one of the nurses, and asked them to see if they could reconcile the differences in what I found vs. Dr. Smith. It turns out that April 19th is it.
So, a new end date but a firm one. April 19th. Still sounds a lot further away than Feburary. Oh well. I'm still a bit disappointed but I also want everything to be ok when she is done so an extra 2 months is probably good insurance.
Change your calendars! Now you get 2 more months of sporadic blogging! Yippee for you!
Abby and I went down to the CHOA office to get the IgG therapy on Friday. It takes about 5 hours to do the whole thing so during my time with Dr. Smith I asked him when the exact date would be that Abby would be done. He said probably Feb. but that he would check. He looked at the protocol that she is on and it said that the kids are done 2 years from the start of Interm maintenance. He proceeded to look on back in the chart and said, "May 13th.", that is when my heart sank. I was thinking that they would tell me it was the end of Feb. or maybe even the beginning of March... but May? Ouch. That's like 90 more 6-MP pills and maybe even another spinal tap. That's 15-20 extra days of a grumpy, hungry steroid girl... That means that we wouldn't be done until after our celebration trip to Disney Land.
That's why my heart sank.
He left, and I started to think. I thought about all the things above and tried to gear my mind up for the new time frame. Then I started thinking... "That can't be right." I had to be wrong. I got out my trusty CHOA folder and the protocol that she is on and started reading it myself. In our book Interm Maintenance started April 19th, still not great but at least a month better, only 60 pills and probably no extra spinal tap. I thought that I might have to check the blog to see if our records where right, another good reason to keep a blog huh!?
Anyway, I finally talked to one of the nurses, and asked them to see if they could reconcile the differences in what I found vs. Dr. Smith. It turns out that April 19th is it.
So, a new end date but a firm one. April 19th. Still sounds a lot further away than Feburary. Oh well. I'm still a bit disappointed but I also want everything to be ok when she is done so an extra 2 months is probably good insurance.
Change your calendars! Now you get 2 more months of sporadic blogging! Yippee for you!
Monday, September 18, 2006
I like the Night
I love the night times around our house. Everything is quiet and peaceful.
I have a little routine that I do every night whether I want to or not. Yep you guessed it, it has to do with Abby's meds. Every night after I make the coffee, I douse Abby's meds with chocolate syrup and set it on the sink in the bathroom. I then go into Abby's room and scoop up my daughter in my arms with her head on my shoulder. She is ussually pretty out still but yet she somehow manages to give me a couple little pats on the back as she settles her head onto my shoulder.... I love those little pats. I really have no clue why she does it, but for me it is a nice little comfort, especially on the nights that I don't really want to give her her meds; tonight is one of those nights. Methotrexate Monday. That's what I like to call it, actually I don't know if I really "like" to call it anything but none-the-less I do. Monday's are the nights that I get to tell her in her sleepy state to open up for the "big chocolate medicine". She then gets a chaser of Benadryl and some water to finish it all off. I'm sure it would actually be a pretty good tasting little dessert... well if it didn't have the chemo in it.
Know what? Methotrexate is now on the acceptable list of what you can be on and still be able to give blood. Hey, I just thought you should know. Now you do.
Anyway, like I was saying, I like the nights. What struck me tonight, while engaging in this compulsory routine, was the fact that she has changed a lot in the 21 months that we've been doing it. For one thing she is a lot heavier than she was, up in the 40 pound range now and tall too! But as tall as she gets she still fits just as well on my shoulder. She is more compliant in this whole process than she used to be too. I still pick her up very carefully under the arm pits, careful not to pull on the "tubie" (Broviac) that has been gone now for almost a year. Ah, I'm so glad that that thing is nothing but a small scar, in flesh and memory, now. It was a lot of work to keep it clean and not pull on it while playing. I could go on and on..
But I won't. Instead I'll enjoy this peace and cherish those little pats, a really good part of a hard routine. Maybe when all of this is done I'll get her up anyway and take her to the bathroom... just for that little Abby pat on my back.
Good night
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Only 6 treatments to go.
Hey all,
Abby took her last Dexamethasone of the week this morning. We celebrated. This week was a pretty sad week for Abby, she was very emotional and very hungry. She's almost eaten an entire box, a very big box I may add, of corn flakes this week! Last night she put down 1 large ear of corn, 2 chicken thighs, and a good helping of quinoa (did I spell that right?). When she was all done she asked if Anna was going to eat her other half of corn!
She's been going to bed early every night and constantly sucking her fingers with her blanket close by. Basically just not herself. Hopefully she'll be back to herself soon.
But like I said, only 6 more to go! Yippee! We talked about how she'll be done soon and what happens after that. She asked if she will still get "pokeys" I said, "yes, in your finger though because they'll take your port out when you're done." She said, " I don't like those kind of pokeys." I think it will be better than the port though!
So, as you can see things are going pretty good. I love the fall here in Colorado so that makes even weeks like this more than just bearable. Maybe we'll have to go check out the Scotish/Irish festival up in Estes Park today, or maybe we'll just all rest!
Abby took her last Dexamethasone of the week this morning. We celebrated. This week was a pretty sad week for Abby, she was very emotional and very hungry. She's almost eaten an entire box, a very big box I may add, of corn flakes this week! Last night she put down 1 large ear of corn, 2 chicken thighs, and a good helping of quinoa (did I spell that right?). When she was all done she asked if Anna was going to eat her other half of corn!
She's been going to bed early every night and constantly sucking her fingers with her blanket close by. Basically just not herself. Hopefully she'll be back to herself soon.
But like I said, only 6 more to go! Yippee! We talked about how she'll be done soon and what happens after that. She asked if she will still get "pokeys" I said, "yes, in your finger though because they'll take your port out when you're done." She said, " I don't like those kind of pokeys." I think it will be better than the port though!
So, as you can see things are going pretty good. I love the fall here in Colorado so that makes even weeks like this more than just bearable. Maybe we'll have to go check out the Scotish/Irish festival up in Estes Park today, or maybe we'll just all rest!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Abby is pretty good
Just a quick post to let you all know that Abby is doing pretty good.
She still has some hard days, more often mornings, but overall she is much better since the IgG infusion.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
She still has some hard days, more often mornings, but overall she is much better since the IgG infusion.
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
IgG Therapy
Abby is still sick.
She's been on one round of oral antibiotics and then they took her off of them since it was causing some tummy problems for her. Last week CHOA asked us to go get Abby checked out from our family doc her in town, Dr. Samuelson. He put her on Azithromycin to see how that would work. She has one more day of that prescription.
Yesterday Dr. Smith from CHOA, Abby's Oncologist, called to give us the results of another type of immunity test that they took blood for during the last time we were down there. She was fairly low on that one so they are recommending that we start her on IgG therapy once a month. Basically it is an infusion of gamma globulin and stuff that will boost her own immunity without increasing her white blood cell production. It is kind of like a blood transfusion and so it will take several hours to do. IgG is made from human plasma and has been used for some time now to treat people with low immunities that continue to get sick. You can read more about the therapy here or go to: http://www.iggamerica.com/patients/faq.html.
So we'll be off to Denver this coming Thursday, pray that it goes well. There are several common side-effects with this treatment but they all seem pretty minor and overall she will probably feel much better than being sick is making her feel.
I'll tell you all how it went next weekend.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
Finishing up this round...
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
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
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.
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