Cora's newest love----Sparkles!

She loves dressing up and often has a purpose to her outfits!
batgirl

A ballerina

a mermaid (note that it is the same exact costume as the ballerina!)

Beyonce (don't even ask...it all started with a black leotard)

Cranky for Chemo

Well, today we went for chemo and the day started off crazy. Cora threw a royal tantrum about getting dressed this morning, Cade was late to school, and Cora screamed at her favorite nurse! I mean screamed, "No don't do that! I'm leaving!"
Finally we coaxed out of her what the problem was, she was very scared that she had to have a shot today. The double injection last week was traumatic. Luckily, no shots were on the agenda for today. She seemed a little better after we promised, no shots today! So her ANC was good 2500, she got vincristine and methotrexate through her port, and 3.5 hours later we were home. Pretty routine and uneventful, which we like! We get the week off from clinic next week and then on Monday March
9th she will have to have to be put to sleep to do chemo in the spine. Mommy hates that one! I hate anything where she has to be put to sleep and starve! Hopefully it will be uneventful as well.

Going to the clinic just makes me realize how blessed we are. I cannot even tell you how wonderful these nurses and doctors are. They are perfect for the jobs they do, and I can't think of a more important job in the world. I also see so many families whose situations are not as good as ours is. I feel so much for the newly diagnosed families who are feeling the same way we were a couple of months ago. It is so hard. As I was reminded by a friend the other day, if every one's problems were written down and put into a giant jar, I wouldn't want to trade mine for someone else's problems. I am thankful my family, my friends, and each day we have together!

Clinic Today!

Yahoo! Clinic today was so smooth! Her ANC was 2080 which is up from last week and we were able to get chemo. She received the same two medications that she received 10 days ago, Methotrexate and Vincristine. She had a bit of an issue with muscle weakness and leg pain the first few days after the Vincristine last time. I spoke with the doctor about it and he said as long as the falling down and leg pain subsided after the three days or so he wasn't super concerned. He really doesn't want to reduce the dosage unless things are really bad, so he said to just be aware of it the first few days and watch her carefully. He also changed her anti-nausea medicine to Zofran. Before she was on Phenergan and it is green, tastes nasty, and makes her incredibly tired. Many times the taste was so bad she would throw up the anti-nausea medicine which would completely defeat the purpose. I am not sure why they would make an anti-nausea med taste, smell, and look nasty. We are hoping the Zofran will be better. We actually have to go back on Friday morning at 9:00 just for a double injection of Peg Asparagenaise in both thighs. Quick, but no fun at all! She screams! I hate it!

Since Cora has been on chemo her sense of smell is incredible. I really think the police should switch from drug dogs to chemo patients to do their smell work! She sometimes doesn't even want to eat in the kitchen because of the smells. Cora has a bad habit of waking up very early, but no matter how early it is, I have to brush my teeth before I go in and get her. Otherwise, I get this, "(sniff, sniff), Mama, I smell something yucky!" This morning I had just finished running the dishwasher in the kitchen and I stood there smelling nothing. Cora marches in and says, "What's that nasty fire smell." I told her there was no fire smell, but she was insistent and wanted me to open the dishwasher. I opened it to find that a utensil with a rubber handle had fallen through and melted on the heating element at the bottom of the dishwasher. That girl smelled it from two rooms away! It's so weird!

Big Shoes!

OK so Cora is really really sassy lately. Sometimes it's cute, sometimes it's not so cute. But this video is cute. She was trying to get Leia (the dog) to come to her ballet class.

Georgia Day!

Today was Georgia Day at SCPS. Cora stayed with Aunt Lauren. She was as glad to have a break from me as I was to get out for the morning! It was mommy's first time attending GA DAY out of costume, and I must say, I prefer it that way. We had fun with Cade's classmates. He wanted to dress as a colonial guy, so we used a Captain Hook jacket and paired it with some knight pants, a white shirt, and pinned on a fancy collar and TADA---General Oglethorpe!

What's Cookin?

So not too much new to report here. Cora doesn't have chemo again until next Monday. The first few days after chemo were pretty rough. She had a lot of leg pain, fell down a lot, and was pretty upset to her stomach. But around Sunday she started to feel better, now if we could just fix the attitude. We are enjoying a week off from the clinic and just lots of playing this week!

Donate For Dianne!

Dianne is the mom of one of the student's in my class this year.
She and her family are so precious. Everyone has been so great and supportive to us, I am hoping many people will come to get swabbed and help find Dianne a match! Read the flyer below for details! I will be there!!! If you aren't local consider visiting the website listed below to be put on the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry. It may save someone's life!

YOU MAY BE HER MIRACLE MATCH!
Dianne Humes needs your Help!
Dianne Humes was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
in 2008 and is in need of a bone marrow transplant to survive.
Her family and friends urge the community to act NOW!
Anyone age 18-60, who meets the health guidelines, can join
the registry. The procedure to find a donor is simple and easy.
NO needles, NO blood, just a simple cheek swab. It takes less
than 10 minutes and your information will be confidentially
preserved at the National Bone Marrow Donor Program.
PLEASE HELP US HELP ONE OF OUR OWN
Upcoming drives where you can give LIFE…IT IS IN YOU!
Friday, February 13th—8:30am to 6:00pm
Savannah Christian Prep School
Eckburg Lobby
Saturday, February 28th—10:00am to 6:00pm
Southbridge Golf Club
Vickery’s Grill
There is a tax deductible charge of $25.00
For more information please visit www.marrow.org

Hooray, Hooray, Chemo Today!

We never thought we'd cheer for chemo! But we are! Yay! Cora was able to begin the Interim Maintanence Phase today. This is not the "Maintanence" that is the last phase, but it puts us one step closer to that. She no longer has cold symptoms and her ANC was 550 on Monday and today it was 1245! It's amazing the difference a week can make. Last Thursday her ANC was 198 and we were admitted to the hospital. She looks so much better and was as sassy as ever at the clinic today. She is really starting to love that place. She loves the nurses and Miss Annie, the "play lady." We were there from 9:30 to 1:30, so it was hard to be patient, but she did great! Thanks for praying for her!

Are My Eyes Playing a Trick On Me?

Sometimes things aren't always...

as they appear!

What have we been up to?

You may be asking yourself, "What in the world do you do stuck at home with a two year old for 3 weeks?" And I mean completely stuck at home. We only leave to pick Cade up from school! Here is how we've been spending our days.


dressing up,



lots of reading (rapunzel is her current favorite along with anything about cancer- weird- I know!),



dressing up,



lots of cooking,



And more dressing up! The good news is...she now likes hats!

My new sweet baby - Fake Baby Garola!

Ok so last night I looked a a friend's blog and she had visited www.makemebabies.com and uploaded pictures to see what a baby would look like between you and your spouse, her result was hilarious, so Rob and I decided to put it to the test. Here is our result. I don't think it is so bad. She looks a little like Cora, but weirder.

What do you think about my little new baby Fake Baby Garola?
MakeMeBabies.com - What will your baby look like?

Movin' On Up!

We just got back from the clinic. Although her ANC wasn't high enough for chemo, it was 550 which is definitely up from 178 Saturday morning, so we go back Thursday and hopefully it will be up above 750 for chemo. The doctors seem to be right and her bone marrow seems to have kicked back in! All that worry for nothing! I'm sure it will only be a matter of days before we find something else to worry about!

So Sweet!

Click the link at the store logo to the right for more details. Thanks Stacy for thinking of us!