Monday's Nerve Racking Clinic Visit!

Whew! That is all I can say about this morning's clinic visit. Cora had her chemo and she is home and fine. That's the short version, if you want the drama keep reading... She hasn't had much of an appetite and still has a bad cold. We haven't been able to get her to eat or drink much (drastic change from a few weeks ago!). So she ate a little dinner last night and then because her procedure was at 9:00 she couldn't eat or drink anything this morning. She woke up grouchy, got dressed, and begged for OJ. We (Rob is off and luckily went with us) got in the car to go and Cora immeaditely fell asleep, she would wake up then drift back off, and was pretty unresponsive when I tried to talk to her. When we arrived at the clinic this only got worse. Usually she is a little nervous and cries and talks a lot, today she laid on my lap and drifted in and out of sleep. She wouldn't answer questions from the nurses and didn't even complain when they stuck the needle in to access her port. Something just wasn't quite right. We saw Dr. Johnston and he did listened to her and gave the all clear to go ahead with the anesthesia. (Her chemo was injected into her spine today, so she had to be sedated.) He did order some extra blood to be checked for infection and to have her blood sugar checked. They did the procedure and also began giving her some sugar fluid through her port just to be sure she was hydrated. After the procedure she usually wakes right up, but today she slept and slept and slept. Dr. Johnston came back in and said that her blood sugar was low (44) and that he wanted to keep the fluids on and also give her a cortisone shot to boost her adrenal gland (it sometimes needs a jumpstart after being on 30 days of steroids). She slept on. It was time for her to wake up and we shook and kissed and poked and bribed, but she slept on. About 15 minutes later she began to stir. Finally, she slowly woke up and drank some orange juice. She still sounded congested, so Dr. J ordered a breathing treatment which really helped. After that she asked for chicken nuggets and we knew she was fine! In short I think she was a tad bit dehydrated with a cold and really really low blood sugar. So once again great doctors and lots of prayers perked her up. Mama was a nervous wreck, but I have already decided that after 2.5 years of treatments I will have grey hair and 100 times the amount of stress lines for someone my age! We are so thankful that we didn't have to be admitted to the hospital and that she is feeling fine!
She has lost 3 pounds. Her clothes all fit very well again, but her face, neck, and back are still puffy. When I inquired about that today the doctor told me that is probably not swelling any longer, but fat. He said that steroids redistribute the fat in the body and it accumulates in some spots. He said it may take her growing some to lose that. It will go away as she grows. Of course that is definitely secondary to her getting well, but I sorta thought she would quickly go back to looking like her normal self. I guess that is not acutally the case. But she is still precious and we are so proud of what a trooper she is! Her hair is hanging in there. This round of chemo doesn't cause as much hair loss as the next round does, so she may hang onto it a month or so, but things will gradually intensify in Feb., March, and April. But she has LOTS of really cute hats ready and waiting! Thanks again for all of your support and prayers! We met some little girls today at Toys R Us who attend the DeRenne Campus of SCPS. They recognized Cora and said they have been praying for her. That was very cool. She is sorta like a local celebrity!!! Look out, Paula Deen!

Christmas

Cade Garola had a fabulous Christmas! He was surrounded by family, food, and super duper gifts! Santa treated my children extra sweet this year! I mean they had gifts, gifts, gifts! They opened forever! Thanks so much to our little Christmas elves for helping pull off such a great appreciated treat! Cade played batcave, set up Playmobile cowboys and indians with Rob for hours, played explorer/campout in the yard in his new tent, and then went back to the cowboys and indians. He even slept in his bed with his new sleeping bag tonight! Christmas was awesome for him!

Cora enjoyed her gifts as well. Her highlight had to be the pink baby doll and pink stroller that she has been banking on for months! She named the baby "Baby Mallory" and treated her as though she had a beating heart! She also loved her puppies and the stroller that they came in!

What did mommy get for Christmas??? Well, Mommy got lots of wonderful things, but the most memorable was the HUGE dose of reality that I got! I have been so proud and blessed by how well Cora has done to date, and not even thought about any other possiblity at this point! Cora felt great on Christmas Eve! She played all day and stayed up late. Then after going to bed, she woke up all night long complaining of her left leg hurting. There was nothing visibly wrong with the leg. It could be sore muscles, sore injection sites, blood clot, a number of things. So I was super nervous, but just sorta rocked her back to sleep each time. She woke up early and was excited about Santa despite the lack of sleep. After the first few gifts, she slowed down, got quiet, and just sorta sat on my lap. To make a long story short...she isn't feeling well at all. She ran a low grade fever all day. We called the doctor when it hit 101 thinking we'd have to take her in. Because her counts are normal now he said we don't have to be as cautious, because she should have some fighters in her blood. His advice was to watch her and give Tylenol. The Tylenol helped with the fever, but she had very little appetite. By dinner, she asked for like 4 different things and then wouldn't eat any of them. I needed her to take her chemo pill, so I went to our staple "cheese grits." She took the pill, finished the grits and all was well until bedtime. I took her temp at bedtime and it was back to 99.5 so I told her I was going to give her more Tylenol. Well, she is OVER medicine already! At the very sight of the Tylenol, the grits all came up! So now she is sleeping and I am crazy! I don't know if she is sick to her stomach because of the chemo or because of a virus or something! It is such a worrisome stressful thing, so I am following the orders of the doctor and Rob's dad (who is in Savannah right now) and waiting it out. I am fighting the urge to rush her to the hospital right now. The clinic will be opened tomorrow, so you can bet I will be calling at 7:59 am! I now know that things will not always be easy, she will not always feel great, and I have to just accept not knowing why something hurts or what is hurting. So please pray for her to fever to be under control until 8 am when we can get to a doctor without having to be admitted to the hospital.

I really think Cade had it absolutely right today when he and Cora were playing outside in the tent. His comment was, "With Cora, there is always drama!" Amen, Cade! Anyway, our highlights were definitely seeing Rob's family, seeing our kids love the "magic" of Christmas, and the new minivan that is coming soon from my parents! Our families really are so great! I never dreamed 5+ years ago that a minivan would excite me! I hope you all had a drama-free, Christmas filled with joy and fun! Merry Christmas!

Clinic Visit 12/22/08

We went to clinic yesterday and it was a pretty routine visit. (Crazy that this this becoming routine!) Cora threw a total temper tantrum in the weigh, measure, temperature room. I mean freaking out! Refusal to get on the scale and hitting mommy repeatedly when I tried to make her. Pretty embarassing, but as soon as we went to the other room, she chilled out a little. Then they checked her counts. EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL! Her ANC was 2472 which is good. Anything above 1500 is good. Then we waited and waited as Abuelo gave the doctors the third degree (we took him with us!) He was asking them where they went to med school and how many years experience and all sorts of stuff! Anyway, then they put her to sleep and gave her a shot of methotrexate in her spine, two shots of aspiraginaise (I know that's spelled wrong) in her legs, and started vincristine through her port before she woke up. Then she woke up and had to lie still for 1/2 hour while they finished the vincristine. Then we signed out and packed up and came home. Actually we stopped for sandwiches first (we coaxed her out of chicken nuggets and talked her into turkey and cheese). So pretty routine! She is still really feeling good, but has a lot of steroid puff still! Who cares, she feels good. She is even sleeping normal again. ALL NIGHT LONG! HOORAY! Things are going well, but please keep the prayers coming!

How Cora Got Her Groove Back

So although she still has the steroid bloat going on, Cora is feeling so much better! She's even taken to dancing to a snappy tune from our favorite Christmas Movie, The Year Without A Santa Claus She's even singing along!

Risk Factor!

Woo Hoo! Once again, our prayers have been answered! Cora falls into the low risk catagory and is still in remission! We are meeting with Dr. Whittle tomorrow to discuss the consolidation phase that she begins on Monday!

Garola Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Blood Drives

JT Turner Construction Company is hosting a blood drive on December 19th from 8 am-7 pm at their office on Victory Drive.

The Frank G. Murray Community Center on Whitmarsh Island will be hosting a drive on December 20th from 1 pm to 6 pm.

Both drives are in honor of Cora. Thanks to these two businesses! Visit the following link for drive details:

http://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/calendar.php?nolog=1&crd=bloodalliance&jsenabled=1

Backus Children's Hospital Christmas Party

Last night Backus had a Christmas Party for the hematology/oncology patients. The kids had a ball. It's only the third day off steroids and Cora's personality has improved dramatically! She was actually able to have fun despite the bloat! They had fake snow, games, crafts, and Santa made an appearance. Santa gave Cora an Ariel Barbie and Cade a remote control Speed Racer car. Cora freaked out and didn't want to go near Santa, but had a great time at the party! She actually resembled Santa more than ever before this year with her big belly and red dress with white fur! We decided Santa's problem may not be too many cookies, but he may be on high dose steroids!
The highlight of the night was when they asked for someone who knew how to speak Spanish up front. Cade's hand shot up out of nowhere and before we knew it he was up at the front leading the group in "Feliz Navidad". By the time we got the video going he was nearly done, but the chorus went something like this "feliz navi"das", feliz navi"das", feliz navi"das" mmm, mmm, mmm, mmho, feliz e das. He told us he knew that song really well because he practiced it that day in Spanish class at school. When he finished the guy up front playing guitar told him to say, "thank you very much, I'll be here every night this week!" We were cracking up. He was dead serious. Sometimes he is totally shy, and sometimes he is up for anything!

NO MORE DEX!!!

A puffier version of Cora, but still sporting the sassiest seasonal wear! (thanks Mrs. Coarsey!)

Cora's 2 BIGGEST fans flaunting the Cora Day t-shirts!

The most exciting part of today was the fact that Cora is done with that crazy steroid, Dexamethasone!!! She may need it again in about 6 weeks, but never for 30 days straight! Her appetite should decline along with her swelling over the course of the next few weeks. We are hoping to have our sweet lil cutie back pretty soon! We went to the clinic today. Cora topped the scales at a whopping 40 pounds. That is 9 pounds more than when she was originally admitted to the hospital. She almost caught up with Cade! Her swelling was so severe that the nurse again had trouble accessing her port in her chest. Today's visit was routine and quick and as far as we know everything checked out well. They checked her counts, everything is sky high (even her white count) which they say is due to the steroids. Then they sedated her and did an injection of chemo into the spine and did a bone marrow aspiration, during which the doctor told us he got a great sample of liquid marrow! He didn't have to do a bone marrow biopsy for the first time! By Wednesday we will know the results of the marrow (we expect it to say that she continues to be in remission). She gets a week off from "chemo" meds. (she will still take a few things) and then by the end of the week we will know her risk factor (low, standard, or high) We're hoping low! And then she will begin the "Consolidation phase" of chemo next Monday. So this week we are praying for continued remission status, low risk assignment, and lots of reduction in swelling and appetite! We have the best friends and family anyone could ever ask for and we so appreciate your love and support! Have a great pre-Christmas week!

Clinc Visit Today

Well, today we arrived at the clinic at about 9:15 for our 9:30 appointment and left at 12:15 so the good news is that this was our quickest visit yet! No surprises today! Her hemoglobin and platelet counts are NORMAL (which means her bone marrow is frantically producing normal blood)YAHOO! Her white blood count is still low, it has actually dropped since our last visit. This is typical because of the medications. She is still really susceptible to any type of infection, so we will remain at home and sheltered with raw hands that have been washed 1000 times a day. Today she just received 1 medication through her port and no bone marrow aspiration.

Our biggest issue right now is this steroid, Dexamethasone. I love it for helping her get through this, but HATE what it is doing to her. She has ballooned up to twice her normal size. She is almost unrecognizable. I have had to pull out some size 4 shirts (she wears a 2) just to fit over her head and belly. Her cheeks, chin, neck, back, and belly are HUGE. She is so swollen and heavy that it is difficult for her to walk, get down off the couch, and do normal things. She looks so uncomfortable. She has gained 6 pounds, which is about 1/5 of her body weight in 7 days. It also makes her terribly grouchy. She is mad at anything poor Cade does. And hits me repeatedly when she doesn't get her way. It makes her not be able to sleep well. During the day she takes 2-3 20 minute cat naps and then wakes up 4-5 times each night. The last REALLY annoying side effect of this steroid is her appetite. She literally wants to be eating something every minute that she is awake. We have been trying to steer her towards low sodium foods that are also low in calories, but she is very opinionated about what she wants to be eating. I feel like if I feed her all day, it is the wrong thing to do, but if I don't feed her when she wants it, it is the wrong thing to do. I spoke today with the doctor that is the head of Children's Oncology at Backus and his son was treated for ALL when he was 3. He said that all of these things are very normal for her age, and that there is no way to control the eating or temper on this medicine. The good news is that she only has to be on it until Dec. 18th and then she gets a break. She will have to go back on it at a later date, but not for as long. Pray for patience for mommy, daddy, and Cade until Dec. 18th. After that she will begin the consolidation phase of treatment. Next week we will find out which risk category of ALL she falls into (high risk, standard risk, or low risk). Pray that she falls into low risk. Then from there we will know her exact treatment plan for the consolidation phase. This chemo thing is really complex and we are learning a lot. I am so thankful for the doctors that pour their lives into finding the best treatments for Leukemia. Thanks for checking in on us! Pictures of our little swollen patient coming soon...

Love from Mrs. Peavley's Class!

So cute!

News Clip from WSAV

(click on title above to link to site)

CORA'S DAY!

Whoa! SCPS blew me away today. It was Cora's day! They sold t-shirts, collected coins, had posters and banners everywhere, and had 2 blood mobiles that were steadily full! Daddy even came home early so that mommy could go out there for a few minutes to thank everyone for all of their hard work! Two of the local news channels were there. Yesterday 4 precious 4th grade girls (2 of my former students) went on the radio and advertised it and gave donation information! We are seriously, seriously blown away by the tremendous amount of support we have received. Our good friend, Tracey, worked so hard with her business, www.tinysprouts.com to sell items and donate the proceeds to Cora's medical fund. In the midst of this difficult time, it has been so great to see all of our family, friends, and community pull together for Cora. Here is just a glimpse of what went on at SCPS today, but you had to be there to really get a feel for how great it was! A HUGE THANKS to everyone who helped!

Glory!

OK so we are trying to get back to life outside of Leukemia. Monday when we were at the clinic, the Child Life Specialist brought Cora an elf, elf food, and directions on how to care for the elf! Because Cora has been such a good girl though all of this and Cade has been such a great brother, Santa thought that they needed an elf to come visit for the month of December. Our elf's name is Glory. She will stay at our house until Santa comes on Christmas eve and then go home with him. We have to feed her one jelly bean each day. But Santa's elves love jelly beans, but the sugar makes them mischievous. So if Glory ever makes mischief, we are supposed to give her dry oatmeal flakes for a few days until she calms down. Well, we are not expert elf care takers yet, and until last night we had forgotten to feed Glory. So Cade and I decided that we should give her several jelly beans. MISTAKE! This morning Cade found her hanging on the steering wheel of mommy's car and the car was in the middle of the grass in the front yard. Glory drove the car right into the front yard while we were sleeping! Cade is amazed and nervous about what she will do next!

Hip Hip Hooray!!!

SHE IS IN REMISSION!!! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray! I tried all afternoon to get ahold of the doctor because I hadn't heard anything yet and was about to drive myself insane! He finally called at 5 and said the pathologist would have a formal report completed at 5:30 and he would call back at that time, but that things looked good! At 5:30 when he called he told me that according to the formal pathology report and the flowcytometry as of Monday (Day 14 of chemo)Cora is in remission! Remission is considered to be less than 5% cancer cells in the bone marrow. On top of that he said that not only is she in remission, but she has NO EVIDENCE of cancer in her bone marrow! That is even better news! He then turned around and reminded us that this in no way means that she is "cured." It doesn't change our 2.5 years of chemo and treatments, but if you have early remission, it usually equates with more positive results overall. We go back next Monday for chemo and the Monday after that will be her 28th day of induction chemo and another bone marrow check. At that point we will get the plan for the next phase of chemo. At this point our little warrior is extremely tired, lacks energy, and is unrecognizably swollen, BUT SHE HAS NO CANCER CELLS!!! I really truly feel like this is an answer to prayer and her remission is a result of a mixture of chemo, love, and support! No cancer at all feels like such a miracle to me! Thank you all from loving my baby back toward health! Much love to you all!

Monday Marathon!

Today we dropped Cade at school at 8:25 and headed straight to the clinic at Backus. We arrived at 8:45 and did not get home until around 5:30 this evening! Today was exhausting!!! They first checked her blood counts. Her platelet count had gone up on it's own without transfusion since last Monday (yah!) Her white blood cell count has gone up a little on it's own since last Monday (yah!). But her hemoglobin has dropped slightly from 7.6 to 7.2, so she needed a blood transfusion (not yah!) So the blood was ordered around 9:30 from the blood bank. And we waited...and waited... and read... and watched videos... and waited... and Cora couldn't eat anything because she had a procedure scheduled for 12:00 so she begged and begged for chicken tenders and french fries as we waited.. and waited...and waited. At 12:30 we still had no procedure and no blood. But we had a very hungry and very fussy girl!!! I was promising chicken and fries as soon as the procedure was over. So finally at 12:45 we had the procedure and the doctor was able to get liquid bone marrow for the first time (yah!). But mommy was stressing because we were still going to have to wait for the blood once the procedure was over and she had promised the girl chicken and fries! So I finally found a neighbor to run and get chicken and fries and she saved the day and brought it to us just in time! (Thanks so much, Jennifer!) Cora woke up (I am telling you there are not sedation drugs strong enough to keep her down for long!) and ate her lunch and mommy's too! They started running her transfusion around 1:30 and we didn't leave the clinic until 5:00! It is unbelieveably frustrating how long things take! Cora gets so antsy and bored as do I, but really she was so good! We won't know the results of the bone marrow biopsy until late tomorrow or early Wednesday, but from her blood counts I am optomistic. We are REALLY HOPING FOR REMISSION!!!!!!!!! I will post as soon as we know something! Thanks for the sweet comments, cards, phone calls, and gifts! It feels as though Christmas has already come early for the Garola children! Santa is going to have a run for his money if all of our friends don't stop spoiling the kids so much! Love to all!

New Day, Same Attitude...enough said

New Do

The last two days have been fairly uneventful (thankfully). No surprise trips to the clinc. However, the Dexameth is making her such a swollen GROUCH!!! As you can see by the grimace! She had such a chip on her shoulder yesterday that Aunt Lauren and I decided she maybe needed a new look! That always cheers us up! I cut her hair. It is cute! Much easier and less in her way! Check her out! In the first two she is sporting her new haircut and her new nightgown from Sophie and Gabby! So cute!

Clarification 11/26

Today I took Cora to the clinic just to get her levels checked again. They are still low, but holding. She will probably not need transfusion before Friday. We may check them again on Friday just to be sure. I spoke with the doctor in more detail about the conflicting bone marrow results from yesterday. In very basic terms, the pathologist's sample had 50% cancer, but was a VERY TINY localized sample. The flowcytometry sample had 3% sample, but was a VERY LARGE sample with lots of cells in it. She said that the flowcytometry sample gives a more accurate picture and probably the pathology sample just happened to be from an area in which there were many cancer cells. This is potentially VERY VERY good news. It will not change her treatment. It will be 2.5 years. If it's correct, it will put her into the category of early responders which means that the odds are with us! They will repeat the bone marrow check on Monday. Stay tuned then for more results! It looks like the chemo and prayers are working!!! Happy Thanksgiving!

Conflicting Results

We anxiously waited by the phone today for the results of the bone marrow biopsy. At 3:30 we spoke to the doctor and she said they were requesting for one of the test to be redone and they would call us back. At about 5:30 this evening, Dr. Whittle called us back and told us that he had conflicting results. There were two tests done. The first was done by the pathologist looking at the sample under the microscope. The second was done by a machine called flowcytometry. He said that when the pathologist looked at the bone marrow he found a 50% decrease in the number of cancer cells from the week before when it was done, but he still found a significant number of cancer cells. (Dr. Whittle acted like this was a typical result for Day 8 of treatment) He then said that they did the flowcytometry result was so good that he didn't believe it and asked them to do it twice. Both times the flowcytometry found less than 3% cancer which is remission status. He said that is not a typical result for day 8 and would be surprising news. Whatever the case, the good news is that the treatment is working and there is less cancer now than a week ago. They will new another bone marrow biopsy on Monday and see if they can get more conclusive results. When we called Rob's dad with these results he was totally perplexed and frustrated at why they would be conflicting. He asked me all sorts of questions about which kinds of tests the pathologist did, which I had no clue! So he said that he wants to call the pathologist personally tomorrow morning and talk with him about what exactly was done. My hope and prayer is that next week they will be conclusive and agree that there is no more cancer! As for the girl, today she was whiney and pale and begged for pizza all day. Cora is an eating machine on these meds! I was worried that her hemoglobin may have dropped again, so the doctor said to bring her in to have her finger pricked in the morning just to be sure. Then after daddy got home and gave her the pizza she'd been dreaming of she was better!

A Dance to go along with the singing

This was taken a few days ago, before the grumpiness set in. This tutu was a gift from The McLeans and Cora insisted on wearing it on top of her big belly!

Monday 11/24

Well, it seems like the steroids have kicked in and we have a very hungry little grouch on our hands. She is REALLY grumpy! I think I would be too! We went to the clinic today for one chemo treatment through and iv, one injected into the spine, and a bone marrow biopsy. It was supposed to be a bone marrow aspiration, but for one reason or another the doctor couldn't get liquid bone marrow again. The doctor said not to freak out because it may just be because anatomically it is difficult on a child so small. Her hemoglobin is holding at 7.9 so we didn't have to transfuse (woohoo!) Her platelets are 59 since her transfusion on Saturday (woohoo!). Her white blood count is still low, but holding. We still need to be very careful about exposure and can't take her anywhere. Tomorrow we will find out the results of the bone marrow biopsy to see just how effective the first 8 days of treatment have been. PRAY FOR REMISSION!!! There may still be some cancer, which is not out of the ordinary at this point. If there is, we will do another bone marrow check next Monday. We actually don't have to go back until then unless we think her hemoglobin may have dropped before then. So the bone marrow thing scared us a little, but Rob's dad chatted with the doctor and she reassured him that the blood work looks fine at this point. This is so nerve racking. It is such a waiting game. I am learning patience, like it or not! Cora was really nervous about the whole thing today and cried for like the entire two hours. Rob was trying to explain to her that there are some bad guy cells in her blood and the doctors and nurses are trying to get them out. As soon as she came to after her procedure she asked for chicken fingers, then immeaditely after that she looked at Rob and said, "Did they get the bad guys?" She's such a lil trooper!

Dec. 5th is Cora's Day at SCPS!

Our school, Savannah Christian Preparatory School, is having Cora's Day on December 5th! They are having 2 blood mobiles where parents and teachers can donate blood that will be banked in Cora's account. They are also selling t-shirts with Cora's picture on them for 12$ with proceeds going to Cora's Medical Fund! I am shocked, amazed, and honored by all that SCPS has done for us! This is why it's the BEST school in Savannah! I only wish Cora could be there to enjoy her day! Thanks to those of you helping organize all of this for us!

Saturday 11/22

We went back to the hospital today to get Cora's blood levels checked. Her platelet count had dropped more since Thursday, so we had to stay for a platelet transfusion. It was a bit of a bummer! The doctor said that it is not surprising and that she may continue to need a few more blood and platelet transfusions this early in the game. She HATES the hospital now. She cried and just wanted to go home. I felt so bad for her. She did fine with the platelets and we were there for a total of about 4 hours. Just pray for continued strength for all of us and stamina for Cora. We have to go back to the clinic for lots of things on Monday (blood check, bone marrow aspiration, and chemo.) It should be long. Pray hard for us on Monday! I am really hoping that Cora's body will begin producing platelets and hemoglobin on it's own again soon! We are so thankful for our tremendous support system. You are all so great! We couldn't do this without each of you!

Play Time!

Cora woke up feeling much more lively today. She has been playing all morning. First, we played with her balloons. (I realized I hadn't posted a picture of her hospital room where I think we had 40 or so balloons) Then we played babies and I caught her all on her own changing her babies diaper with gloves and wipies, just as I have been changing hers! I can't tell you how relieved I am that she seems to feel OK. I know it may not always be this way, but for now, we are at peace! Please pray for higher blood counts tomorrow as we return to the hospital to be checked! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING! WE LOVE OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILIES SO MUCH!

By the way, today at SCPS Cade marched in the 2 year old Thanksgiving with Cora's class wearing her indian costume! He is a proud big brother!

Thursday's Update

Cora is doing ok. She seems a little drugged. She isn't fussy and seems to feel OK, but is dazed and confused and doesn't have too much energy. Today we went to the clinic for an injection of chemo. We filled out tons of paperwork, checked her blood counts, got the injections, and waited watching Little Mermaid for an hour to be sure she didn't have an allergic reaction to the drug. The good news is that this medication is one that causes many patients a rash, hives, or other skin reaction. Cora hasn't reacted as of yet. The news that isn't so exciting is that her white blood cells, hemoglobin, and platelette counts are all very very low. This is partially from the leukemia and partly because the chemo drugs are lowering them. They are particularly concerned about her platelettes. (I don't know how to spell that word.)We have to take her back to the hospital on Saturday to have her blood rechecked and at that time if it is still low she will receive a platelette transfusion. Please pray that her the counts will raise on their own. Having a low white blood cell count also means that right now is not a good time for her to go anywhere or be exposed to anyone that could possibly be sick. This is the part that makes mommy crazy. I am so worried about her catching a secondary infection that I don't want to take her anywhere or anyone to touch her. I worry that Cade may bring something home from school. Pray that I can chill out!

We're Home!!!

Cora didn't have any allergic reactions to her first 3 medications that were administered last night. She even took her really nasty tasting steroid like a champ in chocolate milk. She slept very well last night and played all morning. Her blood counts were moving in the right direction and her vital signs were strong. To our surprise, the doctor came in this morning and said, "Everything looks good and she is reacting well so we aren't doing anything here that you can't do at home. So you can take her." I freaked out a little just because I was so nervous to be responsible for her at home and so scared of complications. After hours and hours of conversations with doctors, nurses, and the pharmacist, here we are. It is still nerve racking and we will have to go to the outpatient clinic every few days for injections and treatments. (Her first clinic treatment is Thursday at 11) We are only beginning this battle, but I feel hopeful and good about things at this point. We know all the prayers are working. Cora was so glad to be home. She just sorta waddled around all night with a smile on her face. (she has a stiff sore back from the marrow biopsy and a terribly swollen abdomen...that's why it was a waddle) When I put her in her bed she rolled and rolled around with a big grin and told me that her bed is so soft! She is already feeling better. Pray that we will be very accurate with her medications and really on top of any symptoms that might occur. PLEASE keep praying! We had more visitors and calls and cards again today! Our entire family is completely in awe of all the love and support we are receiving. We will get through this!!! Cora's so tough!

Just keep singing...

pictures of hospital fun

Surgery Today

Last night was rough. She was really swollen and could not sleep. She tossed and turned and cried and it made mommy cry and no one got sleep. After some meds this morning and lots of wet diapers, the swelling is down and little and she was ready for surgery. Surgery went pretty well. They gave her drugs to make her light headed and sleepy with us in the holding area, but couldn't put her to sleep until they were in the OR. The drugs were to help ease with separation, but I'm telling you, this girl is so strong! The drugs didn't even knock her out or make her too tired. (The anesthesia nurse even said, "she is strong.") Which meant she was really sad when they had to take her to the OR without us. BUT...the procedure went well. No complications. She had her first injection of chemo and they checked her spinal fluid and found NO CANCER in her spinal fluid (praise God!) So we will continue with the iv chemo drugs through the port in her chest. Hopefully she will take her steroids orally so that we can go home by the end of the week. Today started bad, but ended fairly well considering. She didn't sleep last night or all day and is sleeping now. We are hoping for lots of sleep tonight. The next few days will just be the beginnings of chemo. Her hair will be gone in about five days, which makes mommy sad although I know it doesn't matter! I just hate that she will "look" sick! Hopefully as we move on to chemo phase 2 it will grow back in about six months! I love you all and so appreciate your prayers, cards, thoughts, and everything! SCPS has been so awesome! I loved the prayer request note that came home in Cade's folder! We are so loved!

The Plan for Monday

Today has been a whirlwind! I cannot even tell you the amount of information we have been given in the last 24 hours. I am trying to be positive, but so scared about everything! I just want to do everything right and it seems like so much to do! It's going to take us awhile to find our new "normal." We met with the doctor today for like 2 hours and discussed everything. Her first round of chemo will last 36 days. She will be on 4 different drugs at different times throughout those 36 days. The first few days she will have the most medication. She will lose her hair within the first 3-4 days and have other symptoms, but we will have to find out which symptoms she will display. 2 of the 4 drugs must be taken by iv, 2 by injection and 1 by iv or mouth. When we can go home will be determined by how the first few days go. Cora has to have all of the medicines no matter what, so if she is capable of consistently taking the oral one we may be able to go home by next Friday and just come in day to day to have the drugs administered. If she will not take medication orally, we could be in the hospital throughout those 36 days (worst case scenario). Pray that she will take the meds orally, she has always done that well in the past. They will do bone marrow aspirations again on days 15 and 36 to check her status. If she is in remission on day 36, we will advance onto chemo phase II, if not, we will prolong phase 1. (pray for remission right away) Tomorrow will be a hard day. She will have a portacath put in, a spinal tap and injection into the spinal fluid, and her first chemo treatment. It will be rough on all of us. Right now she is swollen and eating everything in sight (swollen from all the iv fluid), but in great spirits. She had fun seeing lots of visitors today and got to play with her buddies Gatlin and Marshall for a few minutes. She LOVES visitors. We noticed that all day long she didn't ask to go home once until it was quiet and then she started to ask to go home. Visitors are a great distraction. We are however asking that no visitors come tomorrow on Monday. We just don't know what to expect and she will pretty much be in procedures all day long. After that first dose of chemo, she will be more susceptible to everything. The doctor said visitors are fine, but they need to use sanitizer, and not come if they have so much as a runny nose or cough or have been exposed to any type of sickness directly. The doctor also said not to treat her like a girl in a bubble and let her try to be normal while paying attention to germs. After today we would really appreciate if visitors would call first and come only 2 at a time. PLEASE still come. This will just allow us to pay close attention to sanitation.

The details are the things I am stressing about most at this point. Cora's body fluids (all of them) will become toxic and I will have to wear gloves to change her diapers, wipe her nose, and handle her pills. Pray that I can be a quick learner and can remember to pay attention to even the slightest details. One of her medications also usually causes children to become aggressive and pretty mean. This symptom will last throughout the first 36 days so we are going to have to be firm, but patient with her.

Thank you again for your love, prayers, and support! Our room gets fuller and fuller each day and Cora loves it! I have never felt so loved in all of my life!
We love you all!

11/16/08

Cora slept well last night. She only woke up a few times sore from the bone marrow biopsy. Tylenol kicks the pain pretty quickly. She's sick of the hospital already. Today she may have to have some testing done (EKG, etc) to prepare her for surgery on Monday. Her ALL is ALL B (which ist better than ALL T) and the infected cells are only in 15% of her blood, which I understand is pretty good. This is all so confusing and new to us and I may be reporting things incorrectly, but things look like they could be much worse. Monday will be telling. I will post more then! Thanks again for all your support and encouraging words!

Cora

If you are checking this blog, you know Cora has been diagnosed with leukemia. We just found out that her leukemia is (ALL) Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. This is the type with which they have had the highest success rate in most patients. We do not know the degree of aggressivness of ALL. There are varying degrees. They sent genetic tests off to find that out. Those results will be back in about two weeks. In the meantime she will have a portacath put in on Monday. At that time she will also receive a spinal tap (to check fluid)and injection of chemotherapy. After that we will start steroids and the initial chemo process. Monday will be hard on her. To date, her spirits have been pretty good and she has been a trooper! Thanks for caring about her so much!

More halloween and party fun!

Party Time!

I forgot to post that Cade has his birthday party early since he wanted a Halloween birthday! It was a spooky good time with apple bobbing, a mummy wrap and haunted house cake!

Halloween!

We had a ball trick or treating! Halloween should always be on a weekend! Check our the flower and the knight! Cade has officially declared Halloween his favorite holiday. This morning on the way to his soccer game he said, "Well, another Halloween has come and gone!"

Fall and pumpkins and spiders...oh my!

PAULA!!!

Today Food Network's Savannah native, Paula Deen, visited out school and Cade and I both got to meet her. It was very cool. She is super cute and sweet in person! She thought Cade was adorable and told him he was "darlin with those long, long, eyelashes, black hair, and beautiful brown eyes." Cade couldn't get past the fact that she called his hair black. Mommy got a picture with her too, but someone else took it, so we will post it when we get it!