Isadore had her very last spinal tap, her second to last round of steroids and vincristine, and started her last month of Methotrexate, 6-MP, and Bactrim. Due to low blood counts (not sure why), she has been on 1/2 dosage of chemo this last week and WOW the energy! We can't wait to see her completely done. July 10th here we come!

Izzy is a Texas fish!! She is swimming like a pro and is determined now to master the art of diving for sinker toys--working against the fact that her body naturally wants to float. We'll blame it on the steroids :)

Just a couple of cute shots of my girl, Izzy. Every day we are amazed at her strength and spunk and can't wait for these last couple of chemo months to fly by! Watch out Kindergarten, here she comes!

So close to done!

Izzy had her second to last spinal tap. I'm guessing she's had close to 30 of them. We're so close to July 10th we can taste it. She wasn't thrilled about the PJ getup this particular hospital has for her, but sweet and submissive as usual and thrilled that they let her keep the yummy smelling breathing apparatus.

I found Izzy all dutied up in red one evening--hot date or something :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Izzy!

Saying "happy birthday" to Izzy is extra special having once questioned whether or not she'd experience 5 years old. She's our cancer survivor and we'll forever think of the black day that was March 9, 2007 when we celebrate her life.

She came down the stairs as a new 5 year old, completely dressed with no blankie in sight (big girl stuff, you know) and grinning from ear to ear. That grin only stopped once the whole day and that was to blow out her candles. With a holiday party at pre-school (in which she traded with a boy to get her own gift back again :), her favorite dinner, swimming with Abbie, and a b-day bash with the Strattons, she knew she was the woman of the day! You really can't get much sweeter or more loving than this girly-girl!


Mmmm....cake....good!

Zoo

So Izzy's bladder infection went promptly away with the antibiotics. She continues to have little issues like this off and on, but nothing that keeps her down. I have been amazed at her all of a sudden looking and acting so grown up and strong. For so long it seemed like she and Ryan were both 2. But within the last couple of months Izzy has skipped a few shoe sizes and 4T clothes--just in time for her big 5 year old b-day next month. She wrestles with Lorin and jumps on the trampoline like a wild woman. She also rides her bike every chance she can get and can't stand going slow. All of these things seem pretty normal for a kid, but for Izzy not being fatigued and weak is a blessing we count every day!

gorilla face -->

Going to the Zoo in November and having to strip down (see below) because you're too hot has been a really fun change-up for us :) I was lucky Ryan couldn't figure out how to get the onsie off.

Angry!!

OK, I've got 5 minutes to post. I've got to get this out of my system.

Izzy has had bladder infection symptoms going on since Sat. I tried to take care of them myself with home remedies I have been given. Monday was her appointment and I told them there at which time they took a urine test. I called back later that day wondering about the results and 2 days later I finally had to call and basically chew the receptionist out for her to let me talk to somebody (the same somebody that never called me back when I was told they would.) So, finally I got to talk to a nurse and sure enough her urine test was positive for bladder infection. IT IS THURSDAY!! She has had burning, constant urination (sometimes as close as 10 min intervals) and wetting herself often for 6 days and I never got a call back!!!! A LEUKEMIA PATIENT WITH AN INFECTION....HELLO DALLAS CHILDRENS!!!!!! Anybody home??? Angry!! Starting antibiotics tonight. Angry I'm not still dealing with my favorite doctors and nurses in Michigan :( Thankfully Izzy has been amazing and continues to smile through it all.

Done. Thanks for listening.

Weekend Fever

We made a quick (of course quick is relative) ER run last weekend for a fever. Thankfully her ANC was really high due to us taking her off her chemo for the week since her counts were really low at the beginning of that week. Now she's doing really well again. I have seen her go from 3T clothes to almost growing out of her 4T clothes (that should be lasting a whole year) just over the summer. It's great to see her body finally trying to catch up. Here are some fun shots of what she's been up to:

McKinsey Kickball party--face paint being the best part!

Pumpkin patch with Aunt Jenny.
Blow-up slides with sisters. Hmmm, not really wondering where she got those germs :) She had a great time though!

Sleeping at the BYU vs. TCU game. I might as well have been too with how aweful we did :( I mean...go cougs!