Grrrreeeaaatttt!!!!

After our little vacation at Key Lime Cove, my Dad (aka...Mr. roller coaster man) thought it would be fun to spend the day at Great America.  Mostly because it is right across the street, but also because my whole family really likes it there.  I thought I would try my hand at as many roller coasters as I could and earned the new nickname, "crazy roller coaster girl".  So fun!

Bear Hug

A local pediatric cancer foundation called Bear Necessities gave me a Bear Hug! They sent me and my family to an indoor water park called Key Lime Cover for two nights. We swam, played in the arcade, ate lots of yummy food and even got a special treat on the last night. It was SO much fun and my Mom even treated my sister and I to manis/pedis at the children's spa (aka...special treat). Thanks so much Bear Necessities!!!!  I had so much fun!!!

clinic…a success!

I am starting to think that my doll, Sally, gives me extra super duper superpowers because I brought her to clinic with me again today and guess what?  My counts were awesome!  So, that means that I was able to get all three of my chemos, my procedure (lumbar puncture) and as an added bonus, they also gave me my flu shot while I was sleeping after my spinal tap).  Everyone is very happy that I am feeling so well and haven't had any major problems with this page in my road map.  Keep crossing your fingers….toes….and anything else you can think of.  We are almost to maintenance….come on Sally!
 

pondering chemo

I suppose chemo is not a very fun thing to ponder about…but today is clinic day for me and there is kind of a lot going on.  First of all, I have a procedure (lumbar puncture with injection of methotrexate in my spinal fluid).  Nothing new there, although it is never a  fun day because I can't eat or drink anything at school, in the morning, or otherwise because of the sleepy medicine they give me.   And then for the escalating dose of methotrexate that they give me via my port, I am count dependent.  What does that mean, you may ask?  Well, they have to see how much my numbers (blood counts) have gone down, if they have at all, and then they determine whether they give me more of that particular type of chemo or not.  Basically, they are just waiting to see how much my  body can handle.  I also will get the good ole' standy-by…vincristine.  I think I have had that one the most since I have been sick, and luckily, it doesn't cause me too much trouble.
Hmmmm....I wonder how everything will shake out today?????
 

Beautiful

I thought our clinic was a lot of fun and everyone knows how much I like going there (sounds crazy...but it is true!) but check out this place.  Absolutely amazing and love the song!  Make sure you skip the ad at the beginning to get to the fun stuff!
I think I am going to need to ask the nurses at our clinic to step it up a notch :)
Thanks for sending it Miss Katie!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLYeDc3nNzI 

This is the most joyful pediatric cancer awareness video from a clinic in Georgia!  Saw it on TV and thought of you.  Love dancing for Chloe:)  Lumbar Puncture Limbo on Monday. 

xoxo,

Katie

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

Did you know that September has been designated as Childhood Cancer Month?  I have to say, having cancer really stinks, but the good news is there are lots of folks working hard and doing special things to not only bring awareness to this terrible plight but to find a cure for childhood cancers.  One such person is a special friend of ours who is doing something really inspriational in honor of me!
Please visit his website and consider a donation:

http://pages.teamintraining.org/il/leontri13/sgordonqen

It would mean a lot to me and other children fighting leukemia and lymphoma right now…..

 

two peas in a pod

We laugh, we play, we hang out together at clinic and the hospital, we have so much fun together, no matter where we are!  We really are like two peas in a pod……thanks for being such an amazing friend, Ellie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goal!

I have decided to try my hand at soccer this fall.  It is my first time playing and so far I have really loved it. I have missed a couple of practices because of clinic or because I wasn't feeling too hot because of the chemo but other than that I am having a ball!  Literally :)
 

 

 

 

good counts…chemo is a go!

I am back!  Sorry I haven't been blogging lately.  I have been a very busy girl and I promise I will get caught up one of these days :)
So, I have had three escalating doses of methotrexate over the past month along with my usual dose of vincristine.  I have tolderated it quite well so far so keep your fingers crossed.   Some side effects of the escalating doses of methotrexate are mouth sores, joint pain, nausea and low blood counts.  They are trying to see how much my body can take of it until my counts go down too far.  I am still going to clinic every 10 days and my next appointment will be more of the methotrexate, vincristine and an added bonus that day will be a spinal tap with methotrexate injected into my spinal fluid.  Not my most favorite time but sadly, I am getting quite used to it.  So, let's hope that I continue to tolerate my current regimine of chemo as well as I have been.
Oh…and it was nice to have Sally (my dolly) come with me to clinic this time.  She always puts a smile on my face :)
 

art smart

Chloe could not have been happier on this awesome day of painting (loves it!) at her good buddy's birthday party (loves her!).  Life is good :)

 

 

 

 

Starved Rock

Oh what fun we had at the beautiful Starved Rock!  As you can see, it gets a "thumbs up" from me ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go Cubbies!

This was the first year we haven't had our regular seats at the Cubs games so believe it or not…this was our first game that we had gone to this year!  They lost….no surprise there…but we had a lot of fun and got to sit in the box that Daddy's work has.  My favorite part had to have been the delicious food and the dessert cart.  Definitely a crowd favorite.
 

 

 

feeling blue

We are having "color days" in kindergarten as a fun kick off for the school year.  I especially liked the ensemble I picked out for blue day.  And I decided to wear a cute hat instead of a scarf.  Everyone loved it. Kind of fun that my backpack matched, too!

conincidence?

On the very same day that I started kindergarten, I had to miss 1/2 of my day there because I also started my current phase of treatment, Interim Maintenance part 2.   This phase will involve visits to clinic every 10 days and then at the end of October I get to begin Maintenance.  I am so excited!!!   Anyways, this particular visit involved a spinal tap with chemotherapy injected into my central nervous system and two other types of chemo given via my port.  Not a fun way to spend my 1st day of kindergarten but Ms. Kathy serenaded my to sleep right before my procedure. I just love her and her voice!  It was kind of a bonus :)

Kindergarten...here I come!

Well, I was all set for my very first day in Kindergarten!  I love it so much and am learning a ton!  And it is extra fun that Claire and I are at the same school now!  Sometimes we even get to see each other at recess.  Yipee!

  

                                      My good buddy, Kaiya :)  I am so happy she is in my class!

I had my "kindergarten visit" with my wonderful teacher and I got to see my classroom and meet some other kids in the class.  I also dropped off my supplies and then I had the Kindergarten Tea right afterwards.  It was a lot of fun!

 And no first day would be complete without a visit to our favorite teachers at Arbor View!  Happy Birthday Ms. Nancy!