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.

Monday, October 31, 2011

White Halloween!

On Saturday the three Princesses and I were at the annual Costume Bowl held by Griffin's Friends. Thank you Griffin's Friends and volunteers! The girls always look forward to bowling with our clinic friends every year! This year Iza has shown a hidden talent, she seems to magically make the ball do whatever she needs it to do. She won twice!




At some point while we were bowling big giant white fluffy snowflakes started coming and covering the ground, turning the outdoors into winter wonderland. It was really pretty but also very strange seeing the fall colored leaves covered by snow. Due to the cold and snow the last soccer game of the season was cancelled and so was their schools Pumpkin Festival. Good thing though because winter wonderland turned a little scary, all the heavy snow was too much for the trees that still had leaves, all night we kept hearing branches snapping and trees falling. There were a lot of power outages and power lines down on the streets. We stayed home and when it got too chilly we went to my parents who somehow did not lose their power. Everyone was safe. Monday school got cancelled, Halloween was a day off. Miss MagiBoo got to spend the day with her family and friends, we will always remember her 4th birthday as the Snowy Halloween complete with a SNOWkin made by Toto.


Happy 4th Birthday Magi!!! You are our little Treat :)

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Procedure Day. Countdown is on.

So it was a big day. LAST Lumbar puncture, LAST time that Methotrexate was delivered into Mimi's spinal fluid.




She did not think of it as a monumental day, which I guess is how she has gone through most of the treatment she does everything that is asked of her and does it most of the time with a smile on her face. We waited quite a while for our turn to go to the procedure room but she kept busy coloring and reading.






Once we got into the procedure room, she got comfy with her purple blanket, stuck her finger up in the air for the O2 monitor, asked not to be surprised with the "white sleepy medicine" (propofol, she likes to know when it is coming) and she was out. I gave her a kiss and let the Dr. do his thing. Everything went well, I was called back to the recovery room to wait for her to wake up. She took one very long nap, over an hour after the procedure, we could not get her to wake up. Magi and Iza came with Daddy, when Magi leaned over to kiss her she woke up is was super sweet! Sisterly Love :)

We went to get some lunch since Mimi was pretty hungry at that point, pancakes were requested! And that is how we started out LAST 5 day steroid pulse (Dexamethasone)






Best Part of the day??? This script Below!





Mimi may have her port removed after 11/6/11!!! This one she is excited about! She really wants to have it out before her 7th birthday we hope we can make that happen!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Tomorrow Last Lumbar Puncture.

Mimi's Last Lumbar Puncture is scheduled for tomorrow morning. She has had many of them but knowing that your child is going to be sedated and a giant needle is going into her back delivering chemo into her spinal fluid never gets easier. She ate all her dinner and breakfast food tonight since she will be unable to eat in the morning. Iza (the SUPER Sib!) asked if she can stay home from school tomorrow so she can be with Mimi.

Boo at the Bronx Zoo

First we were in MA, then we drove through CT and finally in NY!!! and that is how you get to Bronx Zoo. (a little Dora for you)


Miss Magi wished to go to Bronx Zoo for her birthday (which is coming up on Halloween!) and that is what we did this past Sunday. It was a great trip with Babcia and Dziadziu, we all enjoyed a gorgeous fall day outside. Tigers were on top of the list for a favorite animal, Prairie dogs were most fun, and the skunk got the most reaction out of them, go figure! The Bronx Zoo is enormous, we were there for about 6 hours and did not see everything but not to worry we are now members of the Zoo so we will sure be back to see the rest of the zoo!



Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Clinic Day.

Mimi and Iza left school a little early today and we headed over to clinic to check counts. Two weeks ago the three of them were a bit "monkey" so I left Magi at home to enjoy some Daddy time. At clinic everything checked out just fine, Mimi has a cough, which matches Iza's, but her lungs sound clear and she is not complaining of anything. Since her ANC is 2000 her weekly Methotrexate dose was increased to 100%.

I have noticed Sundays and Mondays have been a bit tough on her. She takes her weekly chemo on Wednesday, plus Wednesday through Friday takes a bigger dose of her nightly chemo. It catches up with her but she is one tough cookie Monday nights she runs laps around the soccer field during practice. She truly is an inspiration!

We celebrated today with a spontaneous Wednesday movie trip to see Dolphin Tale, now the girls want a dolphin as a pet...

Counts:
HGB - 11.5
Platelets - 222
ANC - 2000

Monday, October 10, 2011

Pumpkins and Apples in the Sun

That about sums up our weekend. The amazing weather had us outside all weekend.



Saturday we enjoyed a big pumpkin carving bash in for Uncle Chris' Birthday. The girls really got into carving!




Some of the masterpieces of the night.



Sunday we drove to an Apple Farm, where we met up with some great friends (Aunties!) The girls bounced around, played on the playground, visited some animals, ran around tasting and of course picking apples. When we had enough we headed over to have a lovely dinner party complete with yummy Apple crisp!




Striking a pose while taking a rest in the shade.


Monday was another nice day we spent with friends at Forest Park feeding ducks and running around. The running continued at soccer practice. All three girls were sound asleep by 7:03 pm, I say it was a GREAT weekend!