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!