Jolly Holidays

We have been flying high with Izzy feeling good this month. The 5 of us are having such a great time together! In particular we have done some really cool Christmassy things:

1. Izzy sang a duet with Lorin in our ward Christmas program. I tried to upload the video...didn't want to work. They did the cutest job, standing up there smiling and singing out. Granted there was a little microphone trouble, but they handled it really well. The first verse you could hear Lorin best and the second verse Izzy announced "I want to sing too" and took the microphone in which you could hear her best. Lorin just smiled and kept singing, so it was really cute.


2. The Ross MBA Partners Club and UofM Childlife specialists were able to coordinate a Christmas Store at the Cancer Center with donated gifts and volunteer helpers to bring some "shopping" fun to the kids who's counts are too low to go to regular stores. They were pumped to pick out something for each member in their families, complete with professional gift-wrapping!

3. Izzy got invited to go on a magical journey to the North Pole with other cancer kids throughout Michigan. Cory took her to the airport where they proceeded to board a plane that took off and landed at the North Pole. Santa and a huge celebration awaited them. She was on the 5:00 Channel 2 news tonight (about 5 seconds worth).




4. Finally, you've got to check this out http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1379704339. I have one question...who are all those cute elves?

Another Transfusion

Contrary to the way Izzy has been feeling, her Hemoglobin was at 6.1 (aka. low). So we are in for a blood transfusion today. All of her nurses and doctors are surprised as she is being very bubbly and fun. Yesterday she had a triumphant moment and exclaimed "Mom I just made it up the stairs without using my arms." A week ago I thought she was practically back to normal, but then everyday she gets stronger and does another thing that I forgot she used to do (like trying to wrestle Lorin)--it's great to continue seeing the progress. Her hair is even 1/4 inch long now! Thanks again for all the prayers and thoughts.

NO MORE SHOTS! NO MORE SHOTS! NOMORE SHOTS!

Triumph over the Biohazard jug containing all of her needles!


Monday was a day of good news for Izzy:

1. We got the call that Izzy is done with her Lovenox (bloodthinning) leg shots. She has been getting them twice a day since July 18th which is approximately 260 of them.

2. Her blood counts were up higher than they've ever been at 1,000 WBC (regular children are from 5,000 to 10,000; Izzy has been between 100 and 300 the last 2 months). We have been strictly quarantining her in our house ever since the last hospital visit.

So needless to say we felt like PARTYING! We called up friends and we all met at Jungle Java (kid's play place) and ate lots of junk food. It was very refreshing and Izzy was flying high with the chance to leave the house and play with friends.

So today we started maintenance kicking off with a spinal tap and 5 days of steroids. But all the doses are lower and should keep her counts between 1 and 2 thousand. Lots of smiles here! Happy Thanksgiving to y'all!

Feelin' Good!

Check out Izzy's smile...she's back!!!

Home! And Intense Chemo Done!

Here are some pictures to go with the descriptions of the last few days' posts:

Rash and hives

Trick or treating on the cancer floor (shortly before leaving our vampire-like blood trail :) Izzy not feeling the best here. Notice the pink cowboy boots won over the red costume matching boots.

SuperGirl all tuckered out (after this nap she started feeling much better).

Visit from the Sisters--much needed on Halloween night.

Our ice cream / popcorn / movie party to celebrate our return and end of intense chemo phase. As you can see Ryan did what she's best at and took our basement/playroom down to China Town!

Staying Here for Halloween

She really was perking up yesterday, but Izzy is feeling downright nasty today with constant diarrhea, belly aches and random fevers. The cultures are not showing anything bacterially growing, but apparently there are still spots in the body that could be hoarding an infection that doesn't show up in the blood cultures. So they don't feel good about letting her go, and honestly I don't either with how yucky she feels.

She wanted to trick or treat to the rooms with the kids though, so with some strian we were able to get her SuperGirl costume on and move her to the stroller. Things were going pretty well (she pointed to me every time she needed to say "trick or treat" so that I would say it for her), but then one of the connectors on her Port tube broke apart and we were half way down the hall before anyone realized the blood trailing behind--nice Halloween surprise. If only she had been a vampire it would have all fit together a little better, but SuperGirl bleeding? Com'on :)

We hope she feels better soon. I'll keep you posted when I can. (I'll post pictures when we get home)

Hospital Update

Izzy is having a hard time with some phlegm in her chest and a hacking cough which caused her to need oxygen while sleeping last night. Thankfully though, the bloody noses have subsided and her fever has come down a bit through the night. She won't eat anything still (I think 2 bites of pancake was all she had yesterday), but is drinking plenty of water.

So, we're really hoping that the fever will go away and that we can head home before Halloween and at least party together at home since outdoors isn't going to work for her. But just in case, we have her SuperGirl costume with us--nothing cuter than a bald supergirl, right?!! :)

As for Izzy's morale, she is chatty-chattin' with me nonstop and loving me to rub her head and feet with lotion. When she is gagging and puking she says (almost everytime) "this chemo is really so hard....I don't love it." I think that's way cute. One of the student nurses this morning was sad when she saw Izzy telling me I could go ahead and give her the Lovenox shot in her leg (still bawling) and trying to hold as still as she could. Her strength is inspiring to me.

Thanks for your offers to help--I'll be calling you real soon I'm sure :)