Back to School

Karlee returned to school today just in time for her Christmas Party. It felt so normal and nice to have all three girls in the car and to be dropping them all off at school. This is a great way to end the first semester and our first year and a half of treatment. A year from today, Karlee will complete treatment.

Reflecting on the past year and a half is difficult. Not only has Karlee been through so much but the entire family as well. It is amazing how much you can handle when you have to. Karlee, Kitts, and Kassidy have all grown so much since Karlee was diagnosed on October 8, 2009. Our life now has a new "normal" and it will never be the "normal" it was prior to that day. It can't be, life can't return to what it was prior to hearing those words "Your child has cancer." We have been so blessed to have wonderful friends, family, and medical staff that have supported us and continue to support us through each step of this journey. Karlee talks more and more about her end of treatment party. When she is having a bad day she often lays in her bed and zones out. I am sure she is thinking of all the details for her party because she is planning all of the details.

We are looking forward to a restful holiday and wishing for the year ahead to have very few bumps. After the pneumonia, Brian told Karlee that she couldn't get sick again for another six months. She said how about "never again." We all agreed that it sounded like a good plan to us.

With love,
Christy

One More Year!

Karlee had a wonderful clinic visit yesterday. It was the annual Christmas Party at clinic and Mrs. Faust and Mr. and Mrs. Claus were there. Karlee decided it was the real Santa because his beard was real and he knew that she didn't pick up her toys. Many of her friends from her trip to the Faust Ranch were there so she was excited to see them.

Her visit went fine. She had her port accessed without little or no fussing which is a big deal for her. After getting it done she said she didn't even feel it. She is so... brave. Her neutrophil count was in the 200 range so she will be unable to attend school through next Wednesday. She will get her blood draw next week and hopefully her levels will be up enough that she will be able to go to her Christmas Party at school on Friday.

The exciting news about Karlee's visit yesterday is that she only has a year of treatment left. She will complete her treatment on December 16, 2011. So she has 12 doses of Vincristin left and 4 lumbar punctures. After having so... many, the end is in sight.

Pneumonia

Karlee was admitted to Texas Children's on Thursday with a pneomonia. She continues to run fevers and unfortunately they don't seem to be improving yet. We are confident that they are going to start to improve over the next day or so. The doctors are holding her 6MP and Methotrexate tonight so that her body can continue to fight this. Fortunately she looks good and is pretty much herself minus the appetite. She is not able to leave her room to go to the playroom so she is keeping herself and Brian busy playing games and more games. Brian and I are fighting over who gets to stay with her. Brian is with her now, but I plan on staying with her tomorrow if she is not discharged. Brian disagrees and says he is staying.

Kitts and Kassidy are doing well. I am trying to keep things as normal as possible around the house. Today they went to school and I went to work. They miss her tremendously and beg me to go see her, so we are planning a trip for tommorow. Kitts 'class at school made Karlee a card and Kitts can't wait to give it to her. It is amazing to see how much the girls love each other. On a daily basis they don't show it and I often doubt that they even like each other, but at times like these there love is apparent. They even say "I love you" to each other on the phone.

Brian and I are doing well. It is difficult having the family split in two different places but we know that not only do we need to be there for Karlee but we also need to be there for Kitts and Kassidy.

Karlee is receiving the best care at TCH and lots of prayers are being said so we must be patient and continue to pray as she fights this.

We are also trying to keep her carepage updated with the last information. You can check it out at www.carepages.com. Her patient page is Karleebear. You can also send her a greeting through the Carepage website as well.

Keep praying!
Christy

Healthy Child Healthy World: The Beginning

Light the Night Walk

Karlee at Camp

Here are a few pictures of Karlee at Camp. We are still waiting for pictures of Kitts.

Summer Fun!!!

Feeding ducks at Bouroughs Park....

Denim and Diamonds Ball....

The girls have had an exciting summer. These are a few pictures to show all of the excitement they have had.

Beads of Courage PSA

New Photos!!!

I thought I would share some photos of the family. Some are current and some are from Spring Break. Karlee has clinic tomorrow and then 5 days of steriods. This should be a fun week at home with the girls. I hope we all survive the steriods.

New Link!!!

I have posted a new link for Awareness Gift Boutique. They have awesome designs for shirts, coffee mugs, etc. to support leukemia awareness. Check them out!!!!

Summer!!!!

The girls have begun their summer and it is off to a great start. This week they have been going to "Camp" at gymnastics. They go to the pool, play in the gym, take a gymnastics class, do crafts, and just have fun. They were exhausted after their first day yesterday, but they hopped out of bed ready to go this morning. Karlee is keeping up with the pace and glad to be included in a "normal" activity with no special treatment.

Karlee looks great and feels great!!! Her hair is returning and she has put on a little weight. It is so pleasurable to see her riding a bike, swimming, and laughing with delight.

Kitts is growing up way too fast. She continues to be the mother to Karlee when they are away from us at camp or wherever. She steps in whenever Karlee will allow her to do so.

Kassidy is enjoying the fact that Karlee no longer needs quite as much attention. Her and Karlee are learning to get along again. Karlee has actually moved back into Kassidy's room and they are now playing together more instead of fighting for our attention.

So many new lessons for us as parents everyday.

It has been awhile since I posted on her blog. She is now in the Long-term maintenance phase of treatment. She goes to clinic once a month, and has her blood drawn locally between clinic visits. She takes a lot of oral medication, but can now swallow pills so it isn't too bad. Wow, has she grown since October. Wow....have we grown since October.

Life has been a roller coaster for our family. It speeds up and slows down but doesn't stop. As a family we have good days and not so good days. As individuals we have good days and not so good days. We have learned how important it is for us to be there for each other, and how to trust and depend on each other.

We would NEVER choose Leukemia, but Leukemia did choose us. Since it chose us, we are learning as much as we can from this process. We have learned to trust each other, how to say what we need, and to focus on what is important. Our house is not always clean, the laundry is never all done, and my car is a huge mess, but it is not nearly as important as it used to be.

So...we have begun our summer and we are doing okay. Some days we are great and others we are not. Different emotions hit at different times for different reasons, but we are learning more and more each day about how to make this a lesson that we can grow from. We are learning to trust!!!!

Orange Bracelets

I just wanted to let everyone know that within the next month I will be ordering some more orange leukemia bracelets. These are very important to Karlee because she plans on having a "funeral" for the bracelets when her treatment is over in December 2011. If you would like a bracelet please let me know and I will be happy to order you one. They actually come in two sizes, a child size and adult size. If your wrist is small you may want to order the child size. (I wear a child size.)

Christy
wriverranch2@sbcglobal.net

Karlee had her "birthday party" at the Downtown Aquarium. She requested for Brian to make her birthday cake and he did an amazing job.

Karlee's Birthday

Karlee turned seven on February 9th. She spent the evening eating strawberry cake and opening gifts. She was most excited about her GUMBALL machine.

Great Website

While on the Candlelighters Website I found a link to Bandaides and Blackboards. I have posted a link on my blog. Check it out. It is very informative and inspirational.

Christy

Sun!!!

Karlee had a wonderful day outside playing. It has been so... long since it has been warm and dry that she had to take advantage of the nice weather. She even went exploring in the forest which she hasn't been able to do since she was diagnosed. She is experiencing some nausea from the chemotherapy yesterday, but we are continuing to give her Zofran. Tonight we had dinner backwards. We went to TCBY for frozen yogurt and then picked up Chinese on the way home. The girls thought this was pretty funny.

Racing to Save Lives

My Fundraising Page

A co-worker of mine will be running a half marathon in honor of Karlee to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphona Society.

Karlee's Point of View

Karlee got a camera for Christmas and loves taking pictures. It is so fun to see the world through Karlee's eyes.

Welcome!!!

I have created this blog to help everyone to continue to follow Karlee's story. We will continue to utilize carepages in addition to this blog.

With love,
Christy