goooo….ANC!!!!!!

Good news from clinic town folks…..my ANC was way up to….are you ready for this….to 1800!!!  A week ago it was 100 so that is quite a jump.  Now,  I know some of it has to do with the fact that I was off of chemo for the week but I think a lot of it has to do with this "good luck charm" that was on my front door yesterday.  Can you guess what it is?  Well, I am here to tell you that it is a white blood cell (with pom pons).  Come on! Who knew they even made this stuff?  I certainly didn't!   It was the hit at clinic (of course!) and no one was surprised that it was from Ellie (everyone knows and loves her there).  After a really bummer week, it was exactly what I (all of us!) needed…a huge smile!
Thanks Miss Katie and gang and thank you for cooperating ANC.
I am oficially back on chemo at home (but only 1/2 dose).  We will see how that goes.
Goooo….ANC!!!
 

fever scare!

Well, it has been quite the week around here….
My brother and sister both caught the nasty stomach virus thing that is going on and I thought I had somehow escaped it but then Tuesday night rolled around and it seemed I had caught it, too.  Bummer!  So, after vomiting for most of the night (we are calling it "vomit world" around our house these days), I woke up in the morning with the dreaded…FEVER.  Fevers and kids with compromised immune systems (especially when counts are way low like mine are right now) are not a good combination.
So, we were ofically on "fever watch".  The good news is that my fever really behaved itself and didn't go over the dreaded 100 degree mark.  If it had, I would have been admitted to the hospital, which is never that much fun.
So, I am still not feeling too groovy (tummy pains, achiness) but I am happy to report I am not in the hospital right now and will be back at clinic this afternoon to check counts and possibly resume chemo.  Fingers crossed this fever thing stays away…….

 

chemo vacation

I would be lying if I said I didn't totally enjoy this past week with NO….I repeat….NO chemo!  That means no chemo pills every night or my weekly (6 pill dose) of a different kind of chemo and no steroids either.  Wow!  I am feeling great and am kind of excited that when I do go back on the chemo pills at home, it won't be as much as I have been taking.  My docs have assured me of that.  My body just can't handle it.  We will find out more at clinic tomorrow and I will definitely keep you posted.
 

Pete the Cat

Chloe is one proud little girl as she is learning to read all by herself!!!  

love at school

For awhile there, not so long ago, I was having a really hard time going to school.  I was pretty sad about leaving my Mom, and I wasn't feeling too great, so the walk into the classroom every morning was more or less a "crying fest".  My wonderful teacher,  Mrs. Romano, would smile at my Mom (who was also sometimes crying) and say, "everything is ok" and she would wisk me into the classroom and hug me and then everything seemed better.  So, after about a week of this same morning routine,  one morning when I walked into the classroom, Mrs. Romano pulled me aside and told me about our little secret heart.  She had made this for me and no one else knows about it.  So, when I come into the classroom every morning now, I put a sticker on my heart to remind me that I am awesome and everything is ok.  I love it and I love that no one else in the class knows about it but most of all, I really do love Mrs. Romano.  She is the best kindergarten teacher a girl could ever ask for!
 

blondes have more fun?

Nah…..but I did think it would be fun to try on a wig one day in the "wig and hat room" at Living Well!  I ended up taking this one home and when I put it on, I just feel kind of….well…..different and it makes me smile :)
 

unbelieveable support

Some of you may already know but I started spending some time at a place called Living Well in Geneva.  It is a cancer resource center for people who are inflicted with the disease and their family/caregivers.  Let's just say it is AMAZING and I love…love….love it!!!!  Actually, the whole family really enjoys it there and I have met some nice friends there who help me talk through my feelings (sometimes sad and mad)  and help me find strategies to help me get through this crazy thing called "cancer treatment".  Sometimes it is hard and I think everything kind of caught up with me and I was kind of tired of having to deal with all of this yucky stuff.
I am feeling so much better, now, though, partly because I have a new place to go to that makes me feel so much better and my "angel bear" that they gave me always makes me feel happy :)
 

 

Hold on….here we go again!

Stop the presses…..I found out today at clinic that my ANC has dropped to 100!!  Yikes!  Last time I was there (two weeks ago), my ANC was like 900 or something.  So what does that mean you might ask?  Well, right now my body has very little ability to fight off any infections…germs….or yucky stuff.  So, yes, that means I could catch a cold and end up in the hospital because I get a fever (100 or over) and the docs have to "observe me overnight…or two" and may need to give me an immunity booster.  Crazy!  So, what is the answer to help with this little problem?  You are correct if you answered "hold the chemo!".  Here we go again….you may remember that we had to hold Chemo back in December, too, because my ANC had dropped so low.  So, twice on maintenance it has dropped and Dr. Hayani told me and my mom  today that when my counts do go back up and I can start chemo again….it will be less than I am taking now.
Ok…I won't argue with that  and it certainly doesn't hurt my feelings :0
Keep your fingers crossed that I can hold on tight and get through this low ANC thing without getting sick or ending up in the hospital (aka…my home away from home).
Go ANC!  Go ANC!  Go ANC!  Fight…fight…fight!
 

school spirit

Our school had a couple of fun "spirit days" right before the holidays.  These were two of my favorites….twin day and wacky day!  These days just made school that much more fun!

 

 

Mustaches rule!

Many of you may remember an earlier post about a contest that Kaiya's Dad was in at work.  Well, guess what????  Not only did he win the mustache (and ugly Christmas sweater contest) but he also raised about $200.00 for Dr. Canner's foundation, "Face It, Fight it, Cure It".
And I got to hold his cool trophy ;)
 

 

 

well balanced

At a recent Daisy meeting, my good friend, Lesley, came to teach us all about yoga.  It was so much fun and now I think I do understand why my Mom loves it so much.
Can you say calm?  centered?  It's a whole new way of looking at the world….and things that are going on in your life.
Namaste~

 

 

new adventures

This week will bring two new adventures my way.  The first is I will have my first spinal tap (post maintenance) because now I only need to have them done once every three months.  That is a good thing although I have to admit I am a little nervous about the whole thing since I am not really used to it anymore.
Wish me luck.
Secondly, my wonderful Aunt Kristi got me my very own guitar for Christmas!  Now that is exciting!  And even more exciting is that I start lessons at the music studio that Claire takes her violin lessons at this week.  I have kind of been digging the guitar for awhile now so it should be a lot of fun.
Rock on!
 

back on the ice

I am so glad to be back to something I really enjoy, ice skating!  I started taking lessons about a year ago, right before I was diagnosed with leukemia, but my ice skating career was short lived because I didn't feel well enough to skate most days but I started lessons up again this fall and I just passed into the next level.  Very exciting!

 

 

happy haircut

I was so excited that I actually needed a little hair cut (yes, that means my hair is really starting to come in!) and Miss Mikki (my wonderful hair dresser) gave me this cute bow to celebrate the special occasion!
Helloooo hair…….:)
 

Zoo lights

 One of my favorite holiday activities I did with my family was to visit the beautiful lights at Brookfield Zoo.  And at the magic show, guess who got called onto stage?  You guessed it, Moi.  It was a lot of fun!