Little Air Bear

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Babies and Walks

Little Air Bear has a new little sister!

(she was wearing a mask because she had a cold)

Part of the miracle of having a new sister is the awesomeness of ViaCord's Sibling Connection program. Through ViaCord's program we were able to save the stem cells from our new baby girl's cord blood and we banked it, along with some cord tissue, in hopes it could save Erin's life. If Erin's Acute Myeloid Leukemia were to relapse she would need a bone marrow transplant. If our new baby is her perfect match (our other two kids were not) then instead of using a bone marrow donor off of the Be The Match registry we would use our new baby's cord blood for the transplant.

Isn't science amazing?!

Our family is in love with our newest addition. We are now a family of six!

It was so much fun having the kids see their new sister for the first time, but funny enough, the kids spent most of the time pretending to be doctors rather than oohing and aching over their sister. There's something that has to be said about our family who spent 146 days in a hospital room during cancer treatment: The kids LOVE to play with all the medical gadgets. Our new baby had several "doctors" all trying to take her blood pressure and check her heartbeat.

Besides having a baby, we have been actively raising awareness and raising funds for the upcoming 2nd annual CureSearch Walk in our area! Up to now, our team has raised $4117.09! We are getting closer to our goal to raise $5000 by Saturday. We only have 4 days left!

Click Here To Make a Donation

to Team Cache Valley Cancer Kids

in honor of Little Air Bear

So far this year, our walk has raised $104,609! Our goal was $90,00 and we have exceeded it by nearly $15,000 already!

Thank you so much to all of you who have donated this year and in years past. We appreciate so much that you have been willing to help us raise money for childhood cancer research. 100% of your donation to our walk will go directly to childhood cancer research. Just 30 years ago there was no cure for childhood Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Now the success rate is near 60%. That's good, but not good enough. We hope that through raising funds for research we can get that cure rate for AML and all other childhood cancers to 100%!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

We're in 5th Place

Right now, Team Cache Valley Cancer Kids is in 5th place out of 69 teams for fundraising! I'm feeling competitive and I think we could get 1st place. Help us reach our goal to raise $5000 for childhood cancer research...right now we're at $3727.09.

Please donate $10 today in honor of Erin.

DONATE HERE

Every dollar donated goes to childhood cancer research, nothing is kept for administrative costs.

We only have 24 more days until our CureSearch Walk.....please donate today!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

21 Month Clinic

Our drive down to Primary Children's Medical Center was pretty uneventful. It's weird how we go there for the same labs we've been doing in our hometown lab, but it's always waaayyyy more emotional for me to go to Primary Children's. If I was just going to the local lab I'd hardly bat an eye, but driving down to PCMC gets me thinking about how horrific it was to be thrown into childhood cancer with my sweet little air bear. I got a little teary eyed as I recalled some of those emotions the first time we took her there after learning that abnormal cancer cells were found in her blood. These are feelings and emotions that will never leave, most of the experience is pretty blocked, but there are some that will remain with me forever - which I think is good - we need to remember the bad with the good to be able to learn and grow from our experiences.

We got to Primary Children's and took a picture by the "Rainbow Horse" that Erin loves to greet.

We got to the lab right on time only to find out that no one was expecting us. As sometimes happens, you don't get put in the computer. Hematology/Oncology didn't even have us down on their calendar. Everyone was really accommodating and after an hour of figuring out registration and getting paperwork faxed to the lab we were finally able to get Erin's blood drawn for her CBC.

Last time Erin was a star during the poke and blood draw, only shedding a tear and not having to be restrained. This time she was a real stinker! It was four against Erin: Me, two nurses, and a child life specialist and she was still screaming and thrashing. It's amazing they got a good poke and blood draw done!

But, all was better once we got to the Hem/Onc Clinic and got the usual Cheetos, Root Beer, and Chocolate Pudding.

We got a real treat when Dr. Barnette bounded into our room. We haven't seen him since Dec. 2010 when Erin finished treatment. He was one of the Oncologists who cared for her during treatment, but he's not our primary Oncologist so that's why we never see him anymore. He had seen Erin's name on the list for today and was so excited to see her. Erin doesn't remember Dr. Barnette, she was only 2 when she last saw him and now she's 4, but he will forever remain in our hearts. He is amazingly fun and energetic at all times. I bet it is VERY rewarding for a Pediatric Oncologist to visit past patients who have remained in remission from their cancers and see them grow and be healthy.

We got our check-up visit with Dr. Verma (whom we LOVE) and all looks good. She recommended we bank our upcoming baby's cord blood and I was excited to tell her we already had the kit ready to take to the hospital with us in 3-4 weeks. Of course, we all hope that we won't need the cord blood for Erin (if she relapses we would use the cord blood stem cells instead of doing a bone marrow transplant), but it is wise to collect it if we are capable of doing so.

Erin's blood work looks great! Apart from having many colds and coughs and a broken collar bone (pictured below), she has remained relatively healthy these last 3 months!

Our next clinic visit will be at Primary Children's in December for our 2 YEAR....did you hear me scream that?....TWO YEAR post treatment follow-up!

As we were leaving the building, Erin asked if she could throw a coin into the pond. She threw her penny into the pond and made a wish on it. As we walked to the car she asked me if we could drive to Disneyland instead of going home. I said, "no, it's too far, but we'll go again someday." She said, "Darn it, that's what I wished for!"

Labs from 21 Month Clinic

White Blood Count 8.2 (normal 6.0-17.0)

Hematocrit 40.4 (normal 34.0-40.0)

Platelets 273 (normal 150-400)

ANC 2900 (normal 1500-8500)

Previous Labs from 18 Month Clinic

White Blood Count 8.6

Hematocrit 43.6

Platelets 311

ANC 3660

Previous Labs from 15 Month Clinic

White Blood Count 9.2

Hematocrit 43.6

Platelets 317

ANC 4200

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Cuteness

A little bit of cuteness.

Little Air Bear has been in remission for nearly 20 months now and I think she looks healthier than ever before. She will have her follow-up blood test and physical at Primary Children's at the end of August.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The Miracle Kid

This was posted by a young lady facebook friend in Colorado named Brittany.

"I was Diagnosed with AML(Acute Myelogenous Leukemia) at the age of 15 on December 12th, 2000 and was given 3 WeeksTo Live!!!!! Or a 5-15% chance of Survival!!!!! I was told that all Children/teens/Young Adults Diagnosed with AML at that time that only 30% of us would stay in remission for 5 Years or over and that 70% of us would relapse and die within that time period!!!!!

I underwent two extremely intense and aggressive rounds of Chemotherapy Treatment!!!!! My first round was 35 Days from December 12th, 2000-January 17th, 2001 (the day that I was officially declared IN REMISSION AND CANCER-FREE)!!!!! I then was given a 3 week reprieve to go home and rest, recover and recuperate!!!!! I lost all of my hair and had every side effect that you can possibly imagine or that most people can't even fathom!!!!! On February 5th, 2001 (My Parent's 17th Wedding Anniversary) I went back into the hospital for another 45 Days from February 5th, 2001-March 21st, 2001 for the 2nd Round of Chemotherapy!!!!! I was released for the final time on March 21st, 2001!!!!!

I am now coping with, handling, facing, dealing with and confronting having long term side effects that will last me for the rest of my life!!!!! I am happy to tell you that on Friday, January 13th I celebrated my 27TH BIRTHDAY!!!!! Just 4 Days Later on Tuesday, January 17th, I Happily, Finally and Proudly Celebrated 11 YEARS OF BEING CANCER-FREE!!!!!!!!!!

In the entire hospital where I was diagnosed and treated (even in the departments where I was never even a patient) I have become known formally as "THE MIRACLE KID!!!!!!!!!!" I have truly beaten and defied the odds and have proved my doctors as well as every single fact and statistic wrong even when they stacked everything against me!!!!!

I AM A CHILDHOOD CANCER SURVIVOR/WARRIOR/CONQUEROR!!!!!!!!!!! TODAY IS MY 11 1/2 YEAR CANCER-FREE ANNIVERSARY!!!!!!!!!!! I ALWAYS CELEBRATE MY 1/2 WAY MARK BECAUSE IT LETS ME KNOW THAT 6 MONTHS ARE DONE WITH 6 MONTHS LEFT TO GO!!!!!!!!!! IT REMINDS ME THAT 50% IS DONE WITH 50% LEFT TO GO BEFORE MY ANNUAL CANCER-FREE ANNIVERSARY WHICH WILL BE ON JANUARY 17TH, 2013 (12 YEARS OF BEING CANCER-FREE)!!!!!!!!! THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING MORE FUN AND ENJOYABLE FOR ME AND NOTHING THAT MAKES ME HAPPIER THAN PROVING MY DOCTORS WRONG, PROVING THE FACTS AND STATISTICS WRONG AND BEATING AND DEFYING THE ODDS THAT HAVE BEEN STACKED AGAINST ME!!!!!!!!!!! CHILDHOOD CANCER CAN SERIOUSLY KISS MY BUTT!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE THAT CHILDHOOD CANCER!!!!!!!!!!!"