Loving Life

Kate has always maintained her happy, positive disposition (except maybe for those few months of steroid rage) and that trend has continued. I realize that I have neglected to post for the last 2 months, which is probably due, in part, to the fact that we had a baby last week and due, in part, to the busy holiday season. Still, I feel the need to update you with her progress.

As the year winds down, and the holidays approach we celebrate the birth of our Savior. I can't think about His birth without thinking about His death and sacrifice for us. It is for this reason that I am so grateful to Him. It is also a time for thankfulness. Kate's amazing progress through her journey to a cure, tops the list of my reasons to be thankful! I thank Heavenly Father each day for bringing her into our lives and for allowing us to keep her here until a good old age!

Her last clinic visit was wonderful with continued good news of an ANC at 1500. Her worst curse is a never ending cold with accompanying hacking cough but if that is the worst of the winter, we'll take it!!! On her last clinic visit, 2 weeks ago, Kate wanted to make her "nurses and everyone" cookies, so we found this cute recipe in a magazine and went to town. She happily bopped around the clinic sharing her goods with all those she cares about and who now feel like family. She has also made them another Christmas gift, fun bookmarks, and can't wait to bring them to the hospital next week.

Kate remains a tender hearted, loving little girl who shares her sunshine with those around her. How blessed we are to be in close proximity!

Still Great News

So Kate went back to clinic on Oct 9th for her lumbar puncture, chemo and IVIG. Her blood counts are nearly identical to one month ago and they even had to increase her dosages of medication to account for all her growing! She continues to do so wonderfully, that at times I have to remind myself that we aren't out of the woods yet.

We allow the doctors to pour toxic chemicals into our child's blood stream and inject it into her spinal canal and brain because it is what will save her life. That being said, it is so comforting to see that she is keeping up physically despite the treatments. Academically, Kate is reading at a second grade level and she is a math whiz, with the subject coming as easily to her as it does to Jackson. While that may seem like a little thing to other Mom's, it gives me some hope that all of these drugs won't have left her "damaged".

This week we did have some terribly sad news of the cancer variety. One of Kate's closest friends called us this week to say that they had another friend diagnosed with pre-B, the very same day we were in the hospital getting Kate's treatment. This little 3 year old will be treated at Egleston and be on the same protocol as Kate, so hopefully we'll be able to be of some support for them. I know that for us it was unbelievably helpful to be able to talk with people who had walked down the road that was so foreign to our family. One thing we have learned from all of this, is that there are so many wondeful people in the world who are ready to lend a hand, a shoulder or an ear at any time (and that's a lot of body parts) :) I hope to be one of those people for others.

Another One Down

The posts have been few and far between because Kate is trucking along very well and we haven't had tons to report. Today was a great clinic day for Kate. She started out with the dreaded finger poke but braved through it. It is kind of funny how she views that as the worst part of her trips to the hospital and not the nausea, lumbar punctures or port accesses.

Her hemoglobin, hematocrit and platlets were all nearly within normal ranges and her ANC was 1500. They are going to keep her chemo doses (Vincristine and Methotrexate) where they are (at %75 strength) for the duration of her treatment because her blood counts are right where they should be. We are also so happy that since beginning the monthly IVIg transfusions Kate has been doing remarkably well - No fevers and barely any colds.

Despite being premedicated with Tylenol, Zofran (anti-nausea) and IV Benadryl, Kate still had a little reaction to the IV Pentamadine (antibiotic) today. She told me that her mouth/tongue felt "funny and wiggly" but gratefully no swelling developed so we kept on. The IV Benadryl worked like a charm and Kate slept for the entire 5 hours there waking up only 15 minutes before it was time to go. What a blessing to sleep away hours of treatment with the only sign of trauma being bed head!

She's set for another 4 weeks until we go back for her lumbar puncture, IV chemo and transfusions.

Clinic Visit

Kate's clinic visit was same as usual except that I wasn't there today (at home with Jackson who has a fever). I'm pretty sure they'd frown on me bringing in a child with a fever! Her counts looked good with an ANC of 1500. Accoding to Jason, she received the IVIG, antibiotics and Vincristine without any problems so all in all, it was a great day!
She doesn't have to go back for treatment for another month either. Kate was asked to participate in the Neal Boortz radio telethon next Thursday so we'll back for that though, remember this? She had a lot of fun on the radio before and I suspect she'll ham it up again. You can listen online so when I more details I send them your way.

First Grade

If you can't tell, Kate was very excited to begin first grade yesterday.

She has a few friends in her class from last year but is just as excited to make new ones this year.

Her teacher is Ms. Herndon and according to Kate, "she is so sweet". I have also heard that she keeps the kids focused and engaged which pairs nicely with being "so sweet". We are all looking forward to a great year.

More Updates

We made it back from Utah in time for many doctor appointments. One of which was Kate's monthly chemo treatment plus antibiotic and IVIG transfusions. Her ANC today was 930 and the rest of her counts were very good. The best news of all was that her lumbar puncture was perfectly clean today. There were no bad or "atypical" cells at all, so that fleeting worry has been put to rest.
There was nothing different about the procedure for this treatment than the last but Kate was very nauseous and sick for it. I never cease to be amazed at how quickly she bounces back from her sickness though. She was pretty much feeling well the next day and wanted to go to the pool. She is happily enjoying the last 2 weeks of her summer before beginning the big 1st grade!

Treatment Update

Kate is doing well still. I realized that I hadn't posted much on her progress for the last month and decided to get to it. Kate went to the clinic two weeks ago and her ANC was an astounding 2300. Her Hgb and platelets were normal as well so they kept her chemo at the %75 dose. (Remember, they cut her chemo in half after her last hospitalizations when her counts were so low and are slowly building her back up).
Today we went for her long treatment day. Kate'sANC was lower at 1100 but that is still great. I think it might be lower because she has some diarrhea and junky cough (always) so she's fighting a little with those cells. Today she had a Pentamadine transfusion (antibiotic), Vincristine (chemo) transfusion, and IV Ig (immunoglobulin) transfusion. It was a long day but the premedication with Benadryl and Tylenol (so she doesn't have a reaction to the IV Ig) helped her to blissfully sleep several of the hours away. Because her counts came down they are going to keep her at the %75 strength chemo dosing and see how things look next visit.
One kind of scary news today was that her last spinal tap revealed 1 blast in the cerebrospinal fluid. The blasts are bad cells and in large numbers mean that she has relapsed. Our doctor and nurse told us not to worry about it because it is mostly likely just a precursor cell and not a bad thing but it is SO hard not to worry. I am comforted that they don't want to do another spinal sooner than scheduled and that she is asymptomatic. I am trying to remind myself that if they aren't worried then I needn't stress. So, the next LP will be on July 17 and we'll check out the CSF then. If you are so inclined, a special prayer couldn't hurt!