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On June 1, 2010 our two year old, "Little Air Bear," was diagnosed with Childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) Type M7. After enduring 146 days at Primary Children's Hospital, Erin is now in remission and living a full life at home with our family. Her strong will and constant happy smile is an inspiration to us all. Through our difficult circumstances we found great strength and peace in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for checking in on us.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Being a Kid Again

Erin's ANC is 2400 today!

On June 1st, when Erin was diagnosed with AML,
her ANC (fighter white blood cells) was 900.
The highest ANC reading we have had since diagnosis is 1400.
It is such a blessing to have her home.
It is a blessing that she can feel like a normal kid for awhile.


Grandma & Grandpa Hughes came for a little visit.
We loved relaxing with them.


Our family has been on a lot of walks around the neighborhood.
Erin is always saying, "let's go outside."


Dad is the best at pushing the kids in the swings.


To kill time while we waited for Erin's repaired line to dry,
we spent 4 hours at SLC's Hogle Zoo.
The carousel seems to be the highlight of the zoo!



This afternoon I talked with one of our nurses at Primary Children's and she told me that our team of doctors are really impressed with Erin's blood count recovery.  Her blood work is normal.  Normal like a normal healthy person. 

Because she is doing so well, they would like to admit her back into the hospital earlier than planned.  We are scheduled to have a CT scan, Bone Marrow Aspirate, and a Spinal Tap done on Thursday, September 16th and then, that afternoon, Erin will be admitted for her 4th round (of 5 rounds) of Chemotherapy.  As odd as it may sound, I asked the nurse if we could be admitted earlier.  We just want to get this all over and done with.  Doctor schedules won't let us in any earlier, but the 16th is better than the 20th.  

It is being together as a family that helps us heal.  Erin is completely joyful today.  She is so energetic and happy.  She is a different kid than she was just a few months ago.  Thinking back to when she was an infant, we used to rave about how we were the most amazing parents because our baby not only began to sleep through the night at 3 weeks old, but she also took so many naps during the day that she was hardly awake - ever.  She continued this for most of her life, sometimes taking 2 naps a day and still sleeping 11 hours in the night.  Now we know that she was just so worn out because the Leukemia was taking over.  It is so much fun getting to know our new little energetic Erin!

I am so thankful for all of your prayers and the service you have so graciously given to our family in this difficult time.  Thank you!

7 comments:

  1. 2400! WOW! Way to go Erin!! I hope you guys get out and do some fun stuff this weekend.. enjoy those high counts while you can (sometimes it feels like they last 2 seconds). Lets plan a hospital play date for the girls- we will be going into clinic on the 20th (count dependent) will you guys still be there?

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  2. Hurrah! That is wonderful! Way to go, Erin!!

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  3. How awesome!! It's like Christmas - hearing about counts that high! :)

    We'll definitely come visit you guys when we go to clinic.

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  4. I love the first picture of her on this post - so happy!

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  5. I'm so glad to hear she's doing so well and having fun. Its great to hear about her amazing progress!

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  6. Chelsea & Briana, we'd LOVE to see you and your darlings when you guys come to your clinics. We start chemo treatments on the 16th and we'll be there for roughly 28 days.

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  7. We are leaving today to spend the weekend at Bear Lake! We are so excited. It is truly like Christmas to be together and have Erin so healthy!

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