2 more weeks!!!

Until we find out if Bella is finally in remission! Well okay, 2 weeks from yesterday is the Bone Marrow biopsy and 2 weeks from tomorrow until we will have the results. Most parents dread the days their children have surgeries and are put under but its so common in our new world it is just another something we deal with. Monday October 22nd we will go in, they will put her to sleep, stick a needle in her hip and withdraw some bone marrow. They will then send this sample to a special lab in Washington, one of only a few labs that do this special test. Results are usually in within a few days, so they are assuming we will have them on Wednesday October 24th and you can bet I will be waiting by the phone. If results are negative and she is in remission we will start the next phase of chemo called Interim Maintenance. It last for another 8 weeks and begins with a minimum of a 4 day stay in the hospital where she is given high doses of Methotrexate. This happens every 2 weeks. She also receives oral chemo every day and some more Vincristine. Everyone may think I'm a little crazy, but I requested that we be inpatient on Halloween. Why you ask? Because hospitals can be fun. They are always trying to make the children happy and do many things to ensure they have a good time. Not to mention, I don't have to worry nearly as much about her getting sick. That new round is schedule to begin Monday October 29th on Leo and I's 4 year wedding anniversary. I guess we will be eating cafeteria food for our anniversary this year. Not that I can complain, they do have pretty good food!

~Reading books together~

Last week Bella had a good week. She finished up her 6th week of chemo in this phase, had her 3rd birthday and gained back the last pound she lost! She received so many wonderful presents from everyone and what she loved most of all was opening them and telling us it was HER birthday! We celebrated at home with presents, lots of singing (mostly her singing to herself "Happy Birthday") and some cake.

~Happy 3rd Birthday~

 We went back to the clinic for counts on Thursday. Hemoglobin was down to 7(they transfuse at 8) so a transfusion was needed. It was already mid afternoon so we decided to come back the next day to get blood, but first she needed to be accessed so that they could take blood and send it in for a cross and type.  This port access was awful. Usually I hold her down while the nurse accesses her. This time it took me and 2 other nurses. It didn't help that we also decided to give her her ARAC chemo shot at the same time. When they finally got her accessed, they couldn't get blood return so they had to re-insert the needle. Finally we got blood return. They left her accessed so that we didn't have to go through all of this again tomorrow. Little did we know that sure enough we would. We got there at 11 and they couldn't get blood return. So we had to remove the bandage, take out the needle and try again. No time for the numbing cream and I opted out for no freeze spray because last time we used this we had a positive blood culture and positive swab from a port infection. I'm not saying that the spray was to blame, but hey you never know! They re-accessed and immediately got blood return. Woo! I'm pretty sure I jinxed us at the previous clinic visit when I told the nurse how surprised I was that we hadn't had any issues with her port, because it is a very common issue with kids not getting blood return and such. But we got it to work and her transfusion was under way.

~All of her Hello Kitty goodies~

 The weekend was uneventful and before we knew it, Monday was upon us. Back to the clinic for counts and week 7 of chemo. Accessing the port went much better this time. She didn't even cry when the nurse inserted the needle. Platelets had dropped to 19, so we needed a transfusion before we could receive chemo. I had a feeling we would be needing them. She had a ton of bruises all over body caused by low platelets. Usually she gets petechiae and this was a first with the bruising for her. Good thing was her ANC was 740, so she was finally not neutropenic. Bella also had a visitor today, Aunt Becky! She came and hung out with us and watched over little sister Gabbi. 

~Everyone aboard the ship~

After the transfusion she got her Vincristine through her port and her PEG shots in each leg. Daddy came too after all the hard stuff was over and we were on watch to make sure there was no reaction from the PEG. After our watch was over we went and watched the trains that were finally up and working again! Since being diagnosed, the trains have not worked. They were under some type of construction, so when Bella saw they were working, she got very excited! She loved watching them.

~Look at the choo choo's~

 Finally we headed out, but not before getting 2 special visitors. Tanner Ridge and Reece Nevaeh. They hadn't seen Bella since right after diagnosis and they had a birthday present for her. A Build-A-Bear named Sugar Booger (Bella named him) that sang Happy Birthday and a Cinderella Halloween costume! Both girls napped on the way home from a long day at the hospital.

~Sleeping Beauties~

We are back again on Friday for another count check and then Monday for another dose of Vincristine. Thank you everyone who continues to do so much for us. I know there are so many less fortunate people going through this battle alone and I thank God for each and every one of you.


"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, he hears us.' ~1 John 5:15