3/30/2011

Today Isabelle had a great day. She played for about 20 minutes every hour to hour and a half. (It was nothing crazy like running, but she was in a good mood) She had quite a bit of stomach pain today, but the medicine def. helped. We got her new SPF 50 hats in the mail today, which she made sure that everyone had some kind of hat on. She didn't want to take her medicine today and she was crying the whole time. She just kept saying, "but it tastes like throw up!" It was sad and hilarious at the same time. Our friend Amy made us a shutterfly album of the family and Isabelle loved it. Her favorite part of it was the pictures of herself, lol. She also had some clothes come in that we ordered which she was excited about. I think she tried everything out at least once. (She is moving to size 5 now, which is crazy to me because shes only 3.5 yrs.) Isabelle told me that she had a great day today, which was so nice to hear. She has her leukemia story book, called "I'm Still Me" almost memorized. It is like she starts reading me the story. It is so cute.  She is so strong and has been so brave through all the pain that she has gone through and is still going through. I am so proud of my baby...

3/29/2011

Today has been the best day that we've had all week. (For Isabelle this means she was in a halfway decent mood all day, and she was able to walk around a little bit.) We put about 15 stickers in her sticker book and she was very tired after that and had to rest. A couple hours later she walked around a little bit and looked through her cabinet that has all of our crafty-type stuff. She decided that it was time for me to take her nail polish off and redo her nails. I haven't had a chance to put the stickers on because she became tired from the exertion.
She has eaten almost a normal amount today, which was a nice change. I've been having to give her tylen. because she has been having a lot of joint pain. (Associated with the vincristine chemo.) She has also been dizzy.

Update from this evening: She actually got a burst of energy this evening and was playing ring around the rosy with Sabrina. She had this burst for about an hour! It was so nice to see. Hopefully it stays this way for the rest of the week. (Her Friday chemo is going to bring her back to a down.)

3/27/2011

Isabelle didn't have the best day today. All morning she felt sick. She ate 3 pieces of bread today and drank 2 bottles of pediasure. She had a good half an hour where she actually wanted to do her workbook and put Easter window clings up. She then took a 5 hour nap. When she woke up she was feeling a little better and ate some pickles. It looks like we are going to have a late night tonight.

This is a site where I ordered Isabelle a doll that is bald. The doll has a wig too! Its supposed to help with self-esteem with losing their hair. I think she's going to love it!
http://www.komfykids.com/

3/26/2011

Today wasn't a great day, but it was good. Had many highs and lows for Isabelle. She didn't eat much and she had a lot of nausia today, even with her medicine. She was asking me a lot of questions today about her leukemia and about her hair. She thinks Abel has leukemia too because he shaved his head. She told me that she didn't want to taste her "tubey" medicine and that it was gross. When they put anything in her port line she sometimes will taste it and its not pleasant. The lotion and shampoo that I bought for her head has really helped. Its a brand of California baby for super sensitive skin. (it has no fragrance or chemicals)

Day at the clinic

Woke up at 5:30 am to get ready to go to the clinic. We left at 7am and didn't have nearly as much traffic as we normally do, but it still took us well over an hour to get to the clinic. Isabelle was very cranky and tired because she couldn't sleep on the car ride. (the sun kept shining in our faces) They quarentined us when we arrived, just in case she was still sick. She was very cranky and started screaming and crying saying she wanted Coconut, our dog. This went on for about 10 minutes before she asked if we could call her  on the phone. So we called the house and Abel pretended to put the dog on. Isabelle then started crying even harder, telling the dog how much she missed her. So then we video chatted with Coconut.That seemed to make Isabelle feel  a lot better until she realized that she couldn't throw a toy to her, lol. So she had Abel throwing toys for Coco to fetch. It was hilarious and it cheered her up. We video chatted for about 20 minutes. The doctor came in and said her counts were low, as usual, but not low enough for a transfusion. That was great news because it meant a shorter visit. She got both sets of her chemo and seems to be doing ok so far.
She goes back next Friday to the clinic at 8:45 to have her blood counts checked and then 11 am she goes to the hospital for her "procedure". It is going to be a looonnnngg day.

Before we called Coco

After we called Coco

on the way home

Good Week

The past few days have been really good compared to what we've had lately. She is starting to get more energy and has been smiling more. Tomorrow she gets more chemo and a tranfusion. I just wanted to thank everyone who has helped us out. The support has been amazing. I can't even say enough to express our families gratitude. Isabelle is pretty much needing around the clock care and we have been, so busy. We are probably going to lose our house in GA because with all of the new expenses we don't think we will be able to keep up with the second mortgage. (We've racked up at least $3,500 in medical bills in the past couple weeks, which we haven't seen most of them yet. We're spending so much in random "stuff" that she needs that I can't even list) Abel is seeing a lawyer on Thursday. The food we've been getting has been wonderful because we really haven't had time to cook anything. All the babysitting offers has been wonderful. We are just so grateful. They said things will start to slow down after the "Induction" period is over which will be on April 4th.

Home again

Isabelle did ok at the hospital today. She at lunch and was alert. Her blood level was good, but her platelets are low. They changed our Friday appointment to a morning one because she will probably need a platelet transfusion before the chemo. They said we could go home around 3pm, so we did. After we were home for about 20 minutes Isabelle perked up. She wanted to go outside on the swing, so we did for a little while. Sabrina was so happy we were all home. Isabelle ate dinner too. She was still pretty weak, but was actually able to walk around a little bit. Gave both girls a shower and had to be very careful not to get Isabelles port site wet. Her hair is getting really thin now and shes losing quite a bit of it. Earlier I told her we were going to cut her hair a little bit and she got upset saying that she wants long hair like mommy. So, I'm going to cut my hair. I'm not looking forward to it and haven't had short hair since I was like 15, but I think it will make Isabelle feel better. I'm going to donate my hair to locks of love, so its not wasted. It feels, so good to be home. Hopefully we can make it until Friday without another visit.