Out of 3 daughters Mimi is our middle child, older sister Iza by 3 minutes and a younger sister Magi by 3 years. Mimi was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on August 12, 2009. After 2 years, 2 months and 26 days on November 6th, 2011 she took her last chemo pill and is considered OFF Treatment! This is our story of our journey through childhood cancer.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

SUN is here! Clinic Day

It was so nice to be out in the hot sun today! I hope this weather is here to stay a while.

Mimi had a clinic visit today, Iza was very excited to accompany her sister. Everything checked out pretty good. I am pretty sure that she in fact is lactose intolerant, I am blaming it on chemo. Since she stopped having milk she has not once complained of feeling pukey or having any other GI issues. It is so nice to have a happy kiddo back!

Counts came back fine, neutrophil count was on the higher side so her MP6 (Mercaptopurine) nightly chemo pill dose was increased. It has been long since she has been on 100% of her chemo dose, I just hope her counts don't go crashing down. Think Positive!

Counts:
WBC - 5.5
Hgb - 11.9
Platelets - 218
Neutrophil - 3700

Sunday, May 22, 2011

To Go or Not To Go...

We chose TO GO.

Mimi has had a "blah" week... A whole lot of nausea, belly aches, and just being tired. All week she has been taking anti-nausea Zofran pretty much around the clock. On Friday I got a call from school that she was not well, when I saw her I thought "Here goes the weekend!" But the sun came out shining and Mimi woke up Saturday morning totally fine and ready for fun! We headed East on the Mass Pike to visit Auntie Tracy. Yummy lunch in the sun, feeding ducks, geese and seagulls, movies and a sleepover. Sunday we went to the Museum of Science in Boston, we can't wait to go back and see the rest of the museum. A visit to see our favorite people in Boston was a perfect way to end a great weekend. Happy Birthday Eryn!

On a side note, I am not sure if Mimi has some kind of a milk sensitivity/intolerance. I have been noticing she doesn't feel good shortly after she has milk and this weekend she did not have any and did not have any stomach related issues. I am not sure if it is just a coincidence... I will see how this week goes.



The birds like left over burritos...


Iza and her "pasghetti" made from chains that stuck to the large magnet.


Mimi and Cake


Magi keeping her teeth clean!


Dino!!!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Walk with a Monkey!

This year Mimi was chosen to be the ambassador for the Six Flags "A Walk in the Park" Fundraiser.

All proceeds from the walk will benefit Children's Miracle Network Hospitals which Baystate Children's Hospital is a part of. Every dollar donated will go directly to your local Children’s Miracle Network hospital to support research and training, purchase equipment, pay for uncompensated care and more; all in support of our mission to save and improve the lives of as many children as possible. Fundraising will help support things like research, pediatric education training programs, cutting-edge equipment, and uncompensated care for families right in your backyard.

We will be walking in support of Mimi who has been a brave little monkey just going with the flow of whatever she is asked to do as far as treatments and medicines go, never asking why. Iza and Magi who are Super Sibs and help out when Mimi is not feeling great or is in the hospital. This year the girls' friend Adrianna will be walking with us, we will celebrate her bravery and recovery.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Headaches are no fun.

Poor Mimi went to bed with a slight headache but woke up crying that her head really hurt which was followed by her getting sick. She knows her body pretty good though and got a bucket early in the morning. So Iza went off to school while Mimi headed to bed where she stayed for most of the morning, when she woke up we got the okay for Tylenol which helped her headache a little and Zofran helped her nausea. She spent most of the day in her bed. I think her body might just be tired from her last five days of steroids. NO fever though so we got to stay home, I think tonight will just be a quite movie night at home and an early bed time.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Clinic Day

Counts have gone up since the weekend ANC went back up to 1300 so of to procedure (spinal tap, intrathecal chemotherapy) we went. Mimi was not overly happy about the sleepy medicine but handled everything like a champ. As always took her a while to wake up, but once she did she wanted food, a warm blanket and to go home.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Weekend of Changed Plans.

Friday (4/29) night Iza and Mimi were having a sleepover at the neighbors upstairs. Mimi enjoyed the sleepover until about 5am, I heard her footsteps coming down, she said she missed me and puked at my feet... which usually means fever. Sure enough 102.5, I made the necessary phone call, I packed her in the car and she was admitted around 6am.

It might say Miss Giggles on her pajamas but she was NOT Giggly at 6am.

Counts came back okay I thing ANC was around 750. By noon she was feeling much better just a junky cough but since she had a fever we were in there for at least 24 hours from last fever. Babcia came to visit while I took the other girls to a First Communion and made sure to take plenty of pictures for Mimi. I came back we swapped places and the girls went to have a sleepover at Babcia and Dziadziu's. Since we were inpatient we decided to do the Pentamidine inhalation treatment. The inhalation treatment will replace the daily antibiotic, we will do this once a month instead. I am hoping for no crazy side effects since this is antibiotic number 4. I was not there for the beginning of the treatment but got there right at the end and the minute Mimi saw me she just broke into tears. Poor thing, I think it was mostly that I wasn't there (my mom was) and this was all new to her. After some hugs she was back to herself and excited about having a hospital movie night with Auntie Tracy.

Magi was just going with the flow for most of the weekend but poor Iza was an emotional wreck. She missed me and Mimi, didn't really know what she wanted. Since I knew Mimi was fine at the hospital and some one was there to be with her, I had to take care of Iza. She is a sensitive little girl and is not always able to express her feelings. Sunday was special for her we spent it at a Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser for Cancer Free Kids. Iza and Magi had a great time eating loads of pancakes, on the wagon ride, and watching the trains.
Magi and Iza enjoying some pancakes and milk in the sun.

All in all we got to do the things we were suppose to just minus a kid, but thanks to the wonderful nurses and child life she did not even thing she was missing out on anything. She was discharged in time to come home and enjoy dinner and cake for Daddy's Birthday!