No Chemo Again.

I have been worried sick about today's clinic visit... We went in this morning, Mimi got her port accesed and 15 minutes later one of the nurses came to me with the results. NO GO one for more week. Again like last week all her other counts went up just not her Neutrophils (ANC) it is at 420 this week.

Mimi is also complaining of hip pain on one side as well as some "butt" pain. As soon the Oncologist heard that he ordered a bone marrow aspiration to be done on Tuesday to see what is going on instead of waiting until next Friday. They would have done it today but Mimi ate breakfast and due to anasthesia she has to be on an empty stomach. I am really hoping that her counts will just get better by Tuesday and she won't have to have the procedure at all...

She is feeling really good playing and being a crazy monkey with her sisters and buddies that came to see her today, you would never know she is fighting this battle...

So again PLEASE keep Mimi in your prayers.

Thank You.

Those two words just do not sound like enough to say to all the friends and family that dedicated time, donated raffle prizes, money. Thank you to the troopers that ended up playing even though the tournament got rained out! The support and love from everyone is overwhelming... Dan and I wonder how will we ever be able to say THANK YOU. So I hope this reaches most of you. We love you all, you keep us going.

Mimi was a bit bummed he could not attend the party, but she gave me her scrapbook to have people write in it. I brought it home and she insisted I read all the messages to her before bed she LOVED all the messages and especially the drawings.

Below are some pics that I was able to take and even pictures of me, which is very rare...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Rain Rain GO AWAY!

Come some other day... Today was suppose to be Mimi's Golf Tournament but it got rained out... Mimi says Booooo!

But wait! Dinner, raffle, and live music is still on!

Ichabods Tavern
460 Memorial Drive
Chicopee, MA
at 6PM

We hope to see you there!

Ugh... Delayed One More Week.

I am calmly freaking out. I think.

We went to clinic today to get the delayed chemo but after a quick blood draw two DRs came in and said we have to wait another week. They are not TOO worried since her HGB (red count) went up and so did her platelets but her Neutrophils are lower then last week. To top it off Iza got a caugh last night so now she is wearing a mask at home since we want Mimi's counts to go up. If they don't go up when they check next Friday they might be checking her bone marrow, which means "sleepy medicine" for Mimi. So please send prayers and good thoughts and lets get those Neutrophil guys to come UP UP UP!

Today's Counts:

WBC - 2.08

HGB - 10.3

HCT - 28.8

Platelets - 200

Neutrophil - 510

On a good note now Iza and Mimi are MATCHING again since they both lost a tooth this month!

We "HEART" Fall

Such a great time of the year (of course second to summer), there is so much to do!

Pumpkin picking, decorating, hay rides, apple cider doughnuts, Halloween parties, harvest festivals, picking leaves... the list goes on and on. I feel since we missed out on the last month of the summer we are making up for it in the fall.

Right now Mimi is feeling pretty good, she is not on any daily pills except the antibiotics three times a week. She woke up Saturday morning and said "Mommy did you give me my pill last night??? I don't remember taking a pill? Did you forget?" I assured her she did not have to take it, once she made sure I was sure, she was happy that I won't have to wake her up anymore, for a little while anyway.

This past weekend we had a Halloween Party at a bowling alley, the clinic had the whole place rented in Mimi's words "A Party for all the kids who HAVE to go to the clinic and their families". Iza was Dorothy, Mimi was Diamond Castle Barbie Princess, Magi was a Fairy.
It was such a great time, bowling was fun although the whole turn taking thing went out the window, arcade games were a hit although the girls finally realized that you can't just pretend to play on those you really need money, and best of all they decorated cookies can we all say SUGAR RUSH!!!

Chemo delayed for a week.

Today was clinic day, Mimi was suppose to get chemo (Vincristine and Methotrexate) today but her neutophils were low (borderline) so she has to come back next Friday. So we are a week behind schedule... She is feeling pretty good right now they are all still running around like crazy monkeys after a day with friends. I am predicting an early bedtime today here, as well as their little friends houses. Thanks for coming over girls!

Counts from Last Thursday 10/08/09

WBC - 3.3

Hgb - 9.2

Hct - 27.8

Platelet - 262

Neutrophil -2300

Counts from Today 10/16/09

WBC - 1.9

Hgb - 9.5

Hct - 27

Platelet - 159

Neutrophil -670 (I think they need them to be at least 750 for chemo)

Neutrophil — The most common type of white blood cell. Neutrophils help the body fight infection. Since the most common type of white blood cell is the neutrophil, a low white blood cell count usually indicates that the neutrophil count is low. It is easier to get an infection and harder to recover from an infection when the number of neutrophils in the bloodstream is low.

Greater than 1, 000. Normal protection against infection.

500-1, 000. Some increased risk of infection.

200-500. Great risk of severe infection.

Lower than 200. Risk of overwhelming infection; requires hospital treatment with antibiotics.

The girls had a sleepover last night and woke up this morning to SNOW!

Something that I would rather not see in OCTOBER. But it is a cute pic ;)

Twin Power!

I decided to make this page a little more "pretty".

Also because Iza has asked why there is only a picture of Mimi on this page I fixed it right after she made that comment. This cancer has not only changed Mimi's life but all of us and I think Iza is having a real tough time with it and is unable to express her feelings. She has been throwing tantrums over nothing and everything, part of it might be the age but I think seeing her best buddy, her double, her wombmate go through a drastic change is huge to her. I sometimes think Iza feels Mimi's pain, Mimi is too tired to deal with it and Iza cries for her. I am amazed at the twin bond more than ever.

I have put my self in her shoes a couple of times and I cry everytime I think what she is going through... One day she is spashing around in a pool with her sisters and friends the next day her sister is in a hospital for 10 days and when Mimi came home she was tired, sad, upset and was not her usual feisty self. Since August things have gotten "better" they do have their regular "Mommy she is LOOKING at me!" and "That is my side of the couch!" those times are back and I am good with that!

Sister Power! Iza (with a SUPER SIBS Tattoo)

While Mimi was getting a transfusion a couple of weeks ago

Iza came to hang out at the hospital with her.

They watched a movie, ate lots of ice cream and confused alot of nurses :)

Fun Rainy Artsy Friday.

I was determined to do something fun with the girls today and since it was raining our options were limited but the Eric Carle Museum is always a great place to visit. We met our friends over there and had five little girls under five running and making sure everyone hears them.

Making imaginary maps out of old maps with scrap paper.

Magi talking to herself, Mimi thinking she is silly and look Mommy! ;)

Five monkeys in a neat reading space that everyone wanted to climb.

Today's Counts.

Were Great! To celebrate we had strawberries.


I don't have the exact numbers because I forgot the printout at the clinic but since her counts were good she will continue with the Mercaptopurine Pill daily for another week.

Mimi had a really good time there today for one Iza got to come with her, Daddy came to visit, both girls got a foot AND a back massage, they got to play with another little girl who was at clinic today and all the little girls got a Barbie from the child life specialist. They really go above and beyond to keep these kids happy, so much that they didn't really want to leave!

A HUGE Thank You!

We can't begin to express what this day meant to our family. The Rumbleseat Bar and Grill was a packed place on Sunday, the Motorcycle Poker Run raised over $2500 This money will be most definitely helpful for the months ahead of us there's no doubt about that. We so greatly appreciate all the organizing, donations of great raffles, amazing home made foods and delicious desserts.

It's no lie that times has been difficult for us, Mimi's diagnosis has changed our lives but we know with this strong community of friends, family and neighbors around us we will be okay.

Thank you again from the way way bottom of our hearts.

Mimi waving to over fourty bikes that showed up to ride.

Magi Iza and Mimi on a bike, it was hard to get Magi off the bikes.

Leading the Pack.

We are getting our Bikes ready! ;)

Tomorrow is the Bike/Poker Run. The girls are very excited to bring THEIR bikes LOL!
I am hoping the weather holds up so far it has been raining all day...

Friday started a little rocky at the clinic, Mimi was super nauseous but handled it really well. It was awful to see her vomit while her "sleepy medicine" my stomach was turning the whole time she was in the procedure room for her Spinal Tap. Everything went well and we were home in record time. Her counts were really good and when she heard that she said "Can I have an apple, a banana and then cucumbers with ranch?" It was a yes.

Today (Saturday) she was having a pretty good day so we had a "Daddy Mommy Iza and Mimi Date" (Magi got to hang out with Babcia and Dziadziu) We went out for pizza and saw the Pasghetti Movie (I love it that they still say that wrong) in 3-D, it was worth seeing!