History

October 8, 2007

To look at this picture no one would guess what this little girl went through 3 years ago ... she has come a long way baby! We are happily celebrating her royal birthday and most of all, celebrating all of the love, joy and light she brings into our lives each day. She is our treasure and we thank God for her health and spirit. Through her we see hope for many other children battling cancer each day. Our prayers are always with you.

God Bless You.

Tiffany & Cliff

October 8, 2007

Sunday, May 13, 2007 9:47 PM

Hello!

My how much she has grown! Isabella is becoming more and more of a little lady every day. She is constantly growing in mind, body and spirit and it is a joy to watch. She continues to do well and has moved to yearly scans. We continue to pray for her and other children like her every day and thank God for the gift of our child.

Thank you for keeping up with us!

November 1, 2006

Happy Halloween from the Family from Oz!

We hope you enjoyed a fun Halloween filled with many treats and few tricks! As you can see, we all really enjoy Halloween, even our dog!

Isabella continues to do well. For those of you who have followed her story for two years, you can see how much she has grown. She has so much energy and a certain sparkle about her, she really is a joy and the light in our lives.

This month we celebrate two years since Isabella finished chemotherapy and two years since the surgery that removed her cancerous tumor. We are so very thankful for the many blessings we have received and continue to be humbled before God for answering our prayers.

God Bless!

Tiffany, Cliff, Isabella & Mr. Noodle!

Friday, June 2, 2006 9:18 PM EDT

(For those of you checking in on Isabella, her June scan was clear! Great news!)

Hello Friends,

Today was scan day and I must say our little Isabella was truly a champ. She is 2 1/2 years old and for the first time understands that maybe the hospital isn't the most fun place in the world and was even a little scared. None of that stopped her though. She drank all of her "fairy" juice as we called it (more like something Snow White's wicked stepmother would try to make her drink)and went through the scan procedure and all of its scariness with a lot of bravery and high spirits. Scan day always feels like some sort of crazy boot camp to me. The week of the scan is always filled with dread, how is it going to be, will Isabella be cooperative, will the cancer still be gone, why do we have to be here????? WHY?????

The day before the scan we all practice going to the hospital. We go through the routine, wait in the "wedding room" as Isabella pronounces it, pretend to drink the poison juice out of tea cups, get our shots and bandaids and then go in the pretend scan machine, all within the comforts of our living room. We all take turns (mommy, daddy, Izzy and even Mr. Noodle the dog) being the patient and nurse and doctor. As you can imagine, this goes on for hours but I know it helps her prepare for the day ahead. There really is nothing that can prepare a two year old for the long process of actually having a CT scan (today it took about 4 1/2 hours) but going through the motions seems to make it easier on her the day of the scan.

On scan day we muster every single, solitary ounce of parental patience that we possibly can, and then some, and we get through it with a lot of smiling and cajoling, offers of chocolate, sushi, double chocolate, ice cream, a trampoline, pony, whatever it takes to get the job done! I'm not sure how long that strategy will last before we actually have to start delivering on all of the promises we make. Today she was happy to have the sushi and two chocolate chip cookies (she probably could have gotten the trampoline out of us if she asked for it!).

We spent a lot of our time today roaming the halls of the hospital in the wagon. The memories of having spent so much time there came flooding back and the ghost of our life with cancer seemed to wander in the halls with us. It is a difficult day filled with a lot of emotion, especially afterward when Isabella is asleep in bed and I come to the computer to check on the other cancer fighting kids out there. I am so very thankful, there isn't even a word to express my deep gratitute for having beaten Isabella's cancer, and yet so heartbroken at the same time. I feel for all the children (and their parents) who still have to be there in the hospital and for those who cannot fight anymore. I hate that we ever had to know this disease in our only child but so grateful that we are here today.

Experiencing cancer with your child truly does change your life forever on so many different levels. For me, it totally changed my life as a parent. I am no longer a career woman. I stay home full time to take care of, play with and most importantly, love Isabella. Although I hate that cancer was the reason for that decision, I am grateful that I was given a choice. Some days are harder than others but I will never look back and regret any day spent with my daugther. Who ever looks back on life and says, gee, I should have worked more??

We won't have the scan results for another week but please pray that Isabella continues to be free of cancer. For those of you who follow these stories, please know how much comfort your prayers give to families like ours. There are so many children out there battling this disease and too many that are losing the battle. Please pray for strength and comfort for those families who are still roaming the hospital hallways hoping against hope for a miracle.

Good night and God Bless.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006 7:50 PM CDT

Hippity Hop ... Happy Easter! Isabella continues to do so well. She isn't scheduled for any scans until this Summer but I thought I would post a recent photo of her in her Easter finery, bunny ears and all.

God Bless.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006 1:37 PM EST

Happy New Year! We welcomed the new year much differently this year than we did last year. Last year we were still reeling from the most difficult year of our entire life. The battle was behind us but the wounds were so raw and so deep. This year we celebrated the end of a year that brought good health back to our daughter and a full head of beautiful curly hair! Isabella received CT scans every three months in 2005 and they always came back clear, thanks be to God for continuing to stay with Isabella and with us. Her follow up schedule for 2006 has been changed to CT scans every 6 months. We will continue to pray for her and the many other children who are facing their own battles with cancer. What a difficult challenge it is for all of us. My heart goes out to those whose lives this disease touches, for I know the heartache and pain you are feeling. God Bless you all in 2006 with love in your heart and the time to enjoy your children.

Take Care,

Tiffany

Friday, August 19, 2005 1:30 AM EDT

One year ago today, our lives changed forever. One year ago today, Isabella was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at 10 1/2 months of age.

How can I begin to put into words how it feels to be recognizing the one year anniversary of my daughter’s neuroblastoma diagnosis? In the best way of all, it is a celebration of life. So many factors contributed to her complete healing, the timely discovery of the tumor by a doctor in Italy, the excellent team of doctors at Children’s who confirmed the tumor and performed surgery to biopsy her tumor and then a subsequent surgery to remove the tumor, the loving and supportive team of nurses who administered chemotherapy and hospital care for months, the support of friends, family and strangers, and above all, the healing hands of God. Looking back on this day one year ago, when the skies were so dark for us and our future was so uncertain, today I feel happy in a sad way. So very, very happy, actually elated, that I am here to tell a tale of healing and success. Sad that our young daughter ever had to experience cancer before she even celebrated her first birthday. I believe in destiny and although that thought depressed me for a long time, the fact that my destiny was to have a child who would battle cancer, our true destiny was to beat cancer, not let it beat us. I believe that our destiny now is to live life to the fullest and to love each other as much as we can every day. To thank God for life because life is the most precious thing.

How are we all doing one year later? We are doing well and our life is pretty much normal. Isabella is amazing. She talks up a storm and knows so many words it is astounding. She seems to grow taller all the time and her hair is definitely getting curlier and curlier and curlier. Soon she will start going to a little school close by two mornings a week and I'm sure once she gets past being away from mommy, she will have a wonderful time and make fast friends and enjoy life even more than she does already. I think we may have a little performer on our hands since Isabella loves music and dancing and singing. She is forever saying, dance with me mommy, and boy do we dance! Her favorite is the YMCA, which she refers to as the YCM. So if you need to move around a little bit today, sing and dance to the YMCA in honor of Isabella and the celebration of her life.

Thanks be to God for the gifts He has given us.

AMEN (another one of Isabella's favorite words)

Thursday, July 14, 2005 1:18 PM EDT

The scans are clear!! There is some scar tissue around her kidney but no visible signs of tumor. Another big sigh of relief for us. Izzy is off the hook for another three months when she will be scanned again. Until then, keep slipping in some little prayers for her here and there and keep checking in for more photos and Izzy updates! God is GOOD!

Saturday, July 9, 2005 2:20 PM EDT

Just a quick note to let you know that Isabella had her follow up CT scan yesterday (Friday 7/8). The great news is that she drank ALL of the contrast juice without any problem!!!! We were very happy to skip the NG tube. Putting in the IV was a horse of a different color. After about 30 minutes of screaming, and I mean full on, top of her lungs, why are you torturing me, screaming, and two arm pricks, they finally got an IV into her hand. She then immediately conked out from the trauma. We still sedated her for the scan just in case she would have woken up in the middle of it but there weren't any issues. Of course as soon as she woke up and the IV was gone, she was a happy little clam again, waving to everyone and saying goodbye. For the rest of the day she talked about her boo boo and her tummy and being all better. We will see the oncologist next week for the follow up appointment and to find out the results of the scan. Pray that the results continue to be good.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 10:33 AM EDT

There are many of you who happen upon these pages and are drawn into the stories of these amazing children who are spending their childhood battling cancer. There are stories of triumph and of defeat, stories that make you weep openly and others that may even make you laugh. All of these stories have a common thread and that is the uplifting power of the human spirit, even among strangers. As the parent of a young child who has already traveled such a rocky path even before her second birthday, I can share countless tales of the infinite kindnesses extended to our family during this journey. From friends and strangers alike. From the little things like leaving messages in the guest book, to donating thousands of dollars in our daughter's name, each act has made an impression on us. When you are in the middle of the battle, you have very little time to stop and smell the roses. You focus completely on the treatment and cure of your child. But many months or years down the road, it all starts to hit you. The thousands of people who prayed for your daughter, the people who brought meals, the people who sent cards and toys, all things that were done or sent from the heart, and you realize more than ever what it means to be blessed. The picture on this page is of Isabella posing in front of a hand-made quilt that was given to her by some dear friends of mine. Each square was individually crafted and then pieced together to form a masterpiece of love. The actual fabric used to piece the quilt together is from the St. Jude line of fabrics whose proceeds benefit children's cancer programs. I can honestly say I was utterly speechless when this was given to us. And I want all of you to share in it because it is symbolic of our lives during this time, a patchwork quilt made up of love and prayers and thoughts and kind acts that helped keep us together as a family so we could be strong and support our daughter during her journey through childhood cancer. I have said it before but it is worth repeating, you are all angels sent to us from God in heaven to lift us up when we were so very down. And of course, the sweetest angel of all is Isabella whose tremendous spirit triumphed and who continues to brighten our lives every day. She continues to do really well, thanks for checking in on her. Thank You!

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 10:33 AM EDT

May 15, 2005 1:51 PM CST

I thought you might enjoy seeing some recent pictures of Izzy. Take notice of the new CURLY hair that has recently appeared!! Yeah, her curls are back! We are very excited about the curls and I must tell you her hair gets curlier every day. My favorite thing to do is fluff it all out so that she sports big hair, just like her mom used to do in the 1990's!

Isabella continues to do well. Her next scan is in early July so we'll have an update to post then. She talks up a storm and is always on the move. She loves her baby doll the best and really loves playing in the paddle pool. We are off to the beach for a family vacation and can't wait to watch Isabella play in the sand and surf. We are just so thankful to be together as a family. August 19 will be the one year anniversary of her diagnosis. So much has happened in so little time, it feels like I am one hundred years older. We'll keep our eyes on blue skies ahead and pray for continued blessings from God for the mighty Miss Isabella!

Sunday, March 13, 2005 8:21 PM CST

I imagine that by now I have lost most of Isabella's faithful audience, but imagine your surprise when you happen to drop by in hopes of reading something new and at last, there is an update!

I apologize for being so remiss in keeping up with the updates. My last update talked about settling down into the normal life. Well I am here to tell you that there is no such thing! We have had so much normal life lately including emergency appendix surgery for me, a couple of poo poo viruses for Izzy, a round of colds for all of us and oh yes, I threw my back out two weeks after my surgery. The normal life has wiped me out! Of course, this is all nothing compared to the schedule we kept before when Isabella was on therapy so I will not complain.

Isabella is doing great! Her urine tests contine to come back normal which means the tumor is not active in her body! Can I get a WHOOP, WHOOP??!! We will get to see her insides again on Good Friday (March 25) when she has her next CT scan. Let's pray that it is a good Friday for us! I am secretly dreading the CT scan. Isabella is so independent these days I am sure that willfully drinking the bad juice will be a fantasy, therefore requiring the tube down the nose procedure. And since she no longer has a central line, she will also have to have an IV so they can sedate her for the procedure. The CT scan is definitely on my list of not so favorite things.

The Chapman trio will be embarking on our first camping adventure as a family this month. Camp Sunshine is hosting a family camping weekend at Camp Twin Lakes and we have signed up for some outdoor fun. Now if you are sitting there imagining us all huddled together in a pup tent and thinking to yourself, hmmm, doesn't sound like much fun to me, well I don't blame you. And that is why our camping trip will include cabins with electricity and running water - just one step down from a motel! Hey, let's not get crazy here. Isabella is only 17 months old and we really aren't brave enough to truly rough it! We are excited about meeting new people and maybe running into some people we have met on this journey.

It has been ages since we saw any of our friends at AFLAC, which of course is sad but sweet. When I have run in to drop something off, it is always packed to the gills which is the saddest of all. This disease is affecting more and more families everyday and we really do need to support those who are working to find a cure. Speaking of support, I want to let all of you know that more than $12,000 was donated to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in Isabella's name!!!! CLAP, CLAP, CLAP, CLAP (thunderous applause) We are giving you a huge standing ovation for that! What a wondeful thing you have all done! We really appreciate it and best of all, so will other families with children battling cancer. Be very proud of yourselves.

As for the Mighty Miss Isabella, I think Barney says it best when he sings "Grrrrooowwwwiiinnggg, we do it everyday!" Isabella is growing by leaps and bounds, both physically and mentally. She is tall and lean and is full of energy. Her hair continues to grow and grow and grow - how exciting! And guess what, it is now golden brown and STRAIGHT! It used to be dark and curly, like mine, but not anymore. It has turned Cliff's color, like honey, but straight as a board, unlike either of us. It looks beautiful! There is actually enough hair to clip a small bow in but alas, she rips those right out!

Her vocabulary is ever expanding. She is both a parrot and a chatterbox, making an attempt to repeat everything she hears. She has learned to say "cool" this week and she goes around saying it like she means it - so cool indeed! I have been teaching her Italian, mostly vocabulary words at this point, and she knows about 10 words. The first word I taught her was capelli, which means hair! She can say albero, which means tree, and ciao. Albero is the cutest of all, and I wish you could hear her say it.

She continues to perform her flamingo imitation on command and has also added "modeling" to her bag of tricks. We chant modeling, modeling and she does this half spin with her arms wide out showing off her beautiful self! One of her favorite daily activities is to get the mail. She will say "outside" and then "mail" and so we will march on down to the mailbox and get the mail. Of course she may say it three or four times a day so we will make the trip even though the mailman only comes once a day. Once she has gotten the mail, we sit on the steps and she sorts it all. Such a little busy body. And so independent too. Imagine my surprise tonight when I went to read her bedtime story and she wanted to read the book herself in her crib while I looked on from the rocking chair. Such a big girl! It was so cute to see her in there "reading" her book, turning the pages and laughing! What a character. She loves books and anything to do with Elmo.

We are looking forward to Easter and hunting for eggs and the Easter bunny. We are so excited that Spring is finally here! It feels like we've been cooped up in the house for years. Isabella loves to play outside and it's great that the weather is warming up. And best of all, it is great to spend time together just being normal (well, sort of!).

I must leave you for now but hopefully you have enjoyed hearing about how Isabella is doing. I won't commit to a date and time for my next update but I promise there will be more! I have felt so guilty for not posting an update sooner, so I can sleep well tonight knowing I have finally updated this site!

Good Night and God Bless!

(P.S. This is actually the second version of my upate. I spent 45 minutes writing an outstanding and hilarious monologue which somehow got deleted as I went to post it. Arrrrggghhh, as Charlie Brown would say!)

Monday, January 24, 2005 10:31 PM EST

I would describe today as a day in the life of normal, what life used to be like before cancer took over for a while, but never again to be exactly like it was before, but in many ways, even better than before. Isabella spent the morning playing ... making tea and serving it from her tea cart, playing hide and seek (mostly with things that I end up looking for forever), generally being her silly self and having fun. The sweet, silly little things that I love so much and watch so much more closely than before.

This afternoon was spent at the pediatrican's office for a normal visit, just like in the good old days ... time for Isabella to play catch up with her immunizations! For the statisticians out there, Isabella is off the charts. Not only did Isabella beat the big cancer in her belly but she managed to grow off the charts! She is past the 100or height and the doctor even ventured to guess she may eventually be between 5'8" and 5'10" - a supermodel in the making! Her weight is good, she's in the 50th percentile and her head is a good size too. Not too many super models out there with really big heads :-) (at least not physically ;-) The doctor was really surprised that Isabella is thriving despite all she has been through. We're not surprised really, she is the one who carried us through all of this so we are well aware that not much stops this little girl! Of course getting four shots all at once wasn't much fun but there are worse things in life.

On the tumor status front, we visited the cancer clinic last Friday and saw our good friends there. Isabella's blood counts are normal and for the first time ever I got a chance to see all of her scans. I must tell you that part of me is really glad I did not see her first scan early on, it might have been a little harder to be optimistic. I saw the first scan when she was diagnosed, the scan after chemo and the scan after surgery. For the first scan all I can say is that the tumor was BIG. I'm talking take up half of your belly, push out your organs BIG. I could see her spleen being squished up against her side and this big round ball of tumor smack dab in the middle of her belly. It was just pushing everything to the side and was working its way around all of her intestines. It took my breath away. The after-chemo scan looked better but the tumor still seemed so messy in there. And with the post-surgery scan, the worst part was seeing any tumor in there at all. When they say a little is left over, I was picturing something the size of a teeny tiny microscopic cell that the human eye would be unable to detect. That's not really the case. And what is even more frustrating is the clarity of CT scans in general. In my mind I imagined that because of the high levels of radiation these scans would be crystal clear and the tumor would stick out like a sore thumb and would be colored red or some other eye catching color and it would be yelling "here I am, come and take me out!". The truth is, a lot of the scan is kindof jumbled and with the tumor being in the abdomen there is so much going on in there, so many nooks and crannies it really is anybody's guess how much of it truly remains. Of course I am not any kind of expert at reading these things and the trained professionals that have looked at the scans say it looks good. But for any of you wanting to invent the next great thing, work on a better scan, something that gives parents in our situation better peace of mind. Her next scan will be in 8 weeks so get a move on!

All kidding aside, the scan review was an eye opener for me. As lucky as we have felt to have made it this far and to be doing so well, I am now 100hat divine intervention made it so. This is God's work indeed. The fact that Isabella never had any symptoms of having this huge mass in her belly made it dangerous. But because the tumor was pushing her spleen out that was the first red flag. The doctor in Italy who recognized that he wasn't feeling an enlarged spleen but something else probably saved Isabella's life. God knew it was there and he guided the right people to find it at the right time. I am certain that this is so and I am so thankful that His hand was on our little girl for so long, guiding her to safety.

For now I will say good night, and God Bless!

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 6:00 PM EST

Hello Izzy Followers! Well, I wish I could say it has been kind of quiet around here but Isabella's molars have decided to make an appearance so it is anything BUT quiet here at home! I thought, well gosh, battling cancer has been tough but I'm sure the everyday toddler stuff will just be a breeze ... um, how do you spell WRONG! These big teeth sure are hard on her, much worse than chemo might I add. After her major surgery, this is the most pain I have ever seen her in and that is saying a lot when you think of everything she has been through in her short 15 months of life. Here I am thinking, this poor baby has gone through the toughest of treatments and surgeries and was always given a variety of heavy pain meds to help her through it all, and yet here we are with these big teeth breaking through and we expect Tylenol to do the trick! As with most things, she is handling it like a champ, alternating between screaming like a banshee and playing happily. Her new favorite activities include moving her plastic chair all over the entire house and even standing on it to get a better view of things. She is also crazy about her baby doll, and when I say crazy, I actually mean crazy. She alternates between hugging her to death and screaming like a mad woman when she can't get the baby doll to sit just right. A friend pointed out to her that babies do make us crazy!

Izzy's peach fuzz continues to sprout and it is still anybody's guess as to what color her new hair will be. Some days it grows in blonde, other days it is brunette and some days we even see a hint of auburn. My guess is that she will have light brown hair eventually. It's like watching grass grow, slow and steady the sprouts come out.

We actually visited the pediatrician for the first time in 8 months! The teething has brought on a cold and ear infection so we have come full circle. Before her diagnosis, Isabella was plagued with ear infections but did not have a single ear infection the entire time she was in treatment. Who would have thunk it, cancer is a cure for the common ear infection! But now we are back in the saddle again. It felt so strange to walk in there after so long, like we were almost in the wrong place. Never fear, we will be visiting our friends at the AFLAC Cancer Center on Friday for Isabella's six week check up. They mentioned something about doing blood work, which will be a horse of a different color now that she is line-free. Which by the way, the hype about saran-free baths was definitely true, now we just jump right in and lather up from head to toe, no plastic wrap or tape involved whatsoever!

So life goes on and we are going along with it. Always thankful for having made it this far, fearful of a life plagued with cancer, but hopeful about life in general. My one prayer for the rest of my life is that I will live out the rest of my days with Isabella in them here on earth, and again in heaven for the rest of eternity.

God Bless!

Tiffany

Monday, January 10, 2005 1:0 PM EST

Today is the start of a new day for the Mighty Miss Isabella ... this morning she had surgery to remove her central line! No more worrying about keeping her line out of reach of those curious little hands, making sure her "bra" is always on, flushing the line every other day, or just plain worrying about it at all. The best part of all, of course, will be saran wrap-free bathing! Oh how exciting just to jump right in the tub and not worry about taping up Isabella's entire torso, what a treat!

Her surgery was at 7:30 this morning, which put us there at 6 a.m. The surgery itself barely took 15 minutes but with all the pre-op and post-op, we were there until lunch time. Everything went smoothly and in a few days she will officially be bandage-free! Sometime this week we will certainly go out and celebrate this momentous occasion.

If the tumor stays put and doesn't change in any way, then from here it will just be scan city. She will have her next CT scan in approx. 8 weeks and then every 3 months after that for the rest of the year. From there the scans will get further apart. As if having a tumor wasn't enough to worry about, I have been concerned about all of the CT scans she will have in her lifetime. I am interested to find out from any of you out there whose children have undergone similar treatments, if you have discovered any alternatives to CT scans. They say a CT scan is equivalent to 400 X-Rays and it worries me that over time her body may be affected by so much radiation. If you have any helpful tips, please share them.

(Hopefully) I will probably not have as much to post going forward besides our regular visits to the oncologist, but for those of you who are interested in keeping up with how Isabella is doing post-treatment, feel free to stop by anytime, we'll leave the light on for you :-)

God Bless each and every one of you. Please pray every single day for a cure for childhood cancer and for all of those families whose journey continues. God really does hear your prayers and He can answer them!

Arrivederci!

Per gli italiani che seguono la storia d'Isabella ... il dottore ha tolto via la linea centrale oggi matina. E andato tutto bene e adesso Isabella ha finito tutto la terapia. Isabella dovrebbe avere il CT scan ogni 3 mesi per il resto del anno per guardare che il tumore non cresce. Speriamo and preghiamo che il tumore non torna mai!!!!

Friday, December 31, 2004 10:03 AM EST

Happy New Year! Isabella is certainly ready to party - she's wearing a party hat and is running all over the house ringing bells and blowing horns. A girl after my own heart! We are ringing in the New Year in Florida with my parents and relatives from California and a few friends. My dad is cooking a huge Italian feast for us all and the champagne is chilling, ready for us to pop the cork. Tonight we will celebrate the successes and blessings of 2004 and look forward to a much healthier 2005.

We've been in Florida since Monday and have been having a great time. We have visited the Florida Acquarium, the Lowry Park Zoo, we've been bike riding and for long walks in this beautiful "winter" weather! Life is good.

Isabella successfully completed her scan last Thursday and there are no surprises to report. There is some tumor remaining but that is very typical of neuroblastoma. In most cases the tumor never grows again but of course there are cases where it does so she will continue to have CT scans for a long time. We are having her line taken out the week of January 10 but it hasn't been scheduled yet. She is doing great and is feeling good. She is getting even more teeth which makes her mouth a little top heavy at this point since she has four teeth up top and only two on the bottom! She looks like a little rabbit, complete with hopping and all. One of the highlights of our trip to the zoo was the flamingo exhibit. We had been watching a video of Barney's trip to the zoo and they all hopped on one leg when they saw the flamingos. Ever since then when we say "flamingo" to Isabella, she raises one leg all the way up like a flamingo. When we actually made it to the zoo to see the flamingos in person, you can imagine how excited she was and of course, she stood on one leg just like the flamingos do! I'll have to post a picture of her "flamingo," it's hilarious!

Our family wishes you a very Happy New Year. Thank you so much for following our story over the past 5 months and for all of your prayers and words of encouragement. While 2004 certainly was by far the toughest for our young family, it helped us to truly realize and appreciate the important things in life. We are glad we could share this experience with you. Happy 2005!

Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:34 PM EST

Can you believe Christmas is only two days away!! I am still working on Christmas cards so if you are wondering where yours is, it is sitting on my dining room table anxiously waiting to be stuffed, stamped and delivered! If you are also wondering what I'll be getting you for Christmas this year, I am sending it to you this very minute, it's a big hug!! This Christmas season has been tougher than most and it has been hard to fit it all in. The truth of the matter is that this year we are celebrating being a family, presents are just something to put under the tree. We've got a beautiful daughter who is more fun than a box full of kittens, we've got our family and friends, and we know God is looking down on us keeping His eye on Isabella. What more could we ask for!

Isabella did not have her scan on Monday. She came down with a cold this weekend and was so miserable on Sunday that we decided we weren't in the mood to torture her with a CT scan and possible tube down her nose so we postponed it. The scan will be tomorrow at 7 a.m. She has developed a fear of the hospital and doctor's office so I have a feeling we aren't in for a tea party tomorrow, although we will try our hardest to keep it light. Isabella had her stitches taken out yesterday and I was surprised how big the scar is. I had seen it before but it was mostly under wraps and I was just reminded by seeing it that it is pretty big. They say scar tissue doesn't grow, so as she gets bigger it will appear to get smaller. The human body is truly an amazing thing!

The surgeon did say that if the scan is clear and he gets the go ahead from the oncologist that we can have her central line taken out. I'm not sure when that will happen due to the holidays but it is an outpatient surgical procedure which shouldn't be too complicated, it's just a matter of getting it scheduled during this hectic time of year. We are so excited about the idea of full body baths!! Since she has had the line, bath time is sort of like going scuba diving. We spend all this time wrapping half of her body in saran wrap then securing it with waterproof tape, which doesn't really stick, so then we stick more tape on top of that tape and Isabella ends up looking like she is shrink wrapped. More of her body is under wraps than is actually being washed! We've been bathing her in the tub we used when she was a baby and we put about 2 inches of water in it so it really isn't much of a bath. We are ready for the fill-up-the-tub, splash all around, slip and slide kind of bath. Maybe we'll all get in there and have a family bath, which on second thought would probably sound like more fun than it actually would end up being since we have a pretty small tub. Instead of a fun splashy bath, it would be an elbows, knees and toes kind of bath, like something from a Shel Silverstein poem!

Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. I'll be posting again before Santa arrives but until then, have a little fun!

Friday, December 17, 2004 10:00 PM EST

Unfortunately the CT scan did not go well this week. Long story short, it was a total nightmare. We spent nearly 6 hours at the hospital only to come away with nothing to show for it and we have to go back on Monday to try again. Isabella wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything past 7:30 a.m. We arrived at the hospital before lunchtime and waited around for forever until they finally brought out the toxic "juice" for her to drink. Isabella was hungry and tired and quickly gave up on drinking the "juice" so they were forced to put a tube down her nose to get the medicine in her stomach for two hours. Needless to say, she was completely traumatized and was extremely upset. Around 4 p.m. they were ready for the scan. We went into the scan room and the injected her with the sedation medicine. We placed her on the table and they started the machine. All of a sudden her arms started jerking around and she was trying to kick her legs free of the constraints and she was yelling. The sedation wasn't working. They began injecting her with more medicine but she still wasn't completely under so then they gave her some baby valium and that gave her hiccups. All of those things combined made it totally impossible to successfully complete the scan. So we let her wake up and they said we would have to do it again another day. For some reason they gave Isabella a different sedation medicine for this scan and it was completely ineffective. We have no idea why they decided to switch the medicine and didn't even mention it. It was absolutely horrible. It took what seemed like an eternity for the valium to wear off and she couldn't really hold up her head and it made her very agitated. The worst part is that we have to do it again first thing Monday morning. Isabella is getting more and more suspicious of the hospital as it is and this experience has only made it worse. We are not looking forward to Monday.

She also had an audiogram this week and her hearing is fine. Cliff seemed to think she might be hard of hearing since she doesn't seem to hear us when we tell her no! She will need to be re-tested in 3 months since the effects can take a while. She also had an ultrasound of her heart but we don't have those results yet. We met with her oncologist today and he outlined the next year for us. We will visit the oncologist every 6 weeks, have CT scans every three months and re-start our visits to the pediatrician for immunizations. We are supposed to watch for any "symptoms" of the disease returning, which is really like asking us to watch for termites. I think we had hoped to come away from this week feeling optimistic and relieved to have it behind us, but to be honest it has made us more scared than ever of this disease and more aware of how difficult it is going to continue to be. I know, I sound pessimistic but it has been one of those weeks. Pray for us for Monday's scan, we are anxious for a successful scan.

Sunday, December 12, 2004 5:30 PM EST

I have been a little behind on the updates, I'm sure you started to wonder if I had secretly left home to join the circus. I can actually stay home and be a part of my very own circus, complete with lions and tigers and bears, and of course our own little pet monkey Isabella! Most of last week was spent recuperating, for both Isabella and myself. With a few exceptions, we just stayed home and played and rested. By Thursday I had hit the wall of exhaustion. Fortunately my mom was still in town so she took care of Isabella while I got some much needed sleep. We finally ventured out on Saturday with the entire Chapman family (grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins) to the Festival of Trees for some family fun. It was great to see Isabella's tree again and to ride some rides.

This coming week Isabella has several scans and tests. She has a CT scan, audiogram, and echogram. Both her hearing and her heart could have been affected by the chemo so that's what those tests are for. The CT scan is to document her tumor post-surgery. On Friday we will meet with the oncologist and then the following week she has her post-op appointment with the surgeon. I imagine that is when her stitches will be removed. I'm not sure about the central line and at which point it will be taken out. It would be great to have it out before Christmas but I have no idea of what our options are. We are certainly coming around the bend.

Isabella's diagnosis has brought so much support to our family from people we know really well and those we don't know at all. I hate to call someone a stranger who goes out of their way to do something to make Isabella's day a little brighter, so I'll start calling them guardian angels. Here is a sweet story that will renew your faith in the goodness of people and the existence of guardian angels. A teenage boy named Michael who lives here in Atlanta heard about Isabella and began offering prayers on her behalf at his school. When he was a child he had an extended bought of mono and had to be isolated from everyone for several weeks. It must have left a lasting impression on him because he clearly remembers how sad he felt to be alone. He heard that Isabella couldn't really be around many people during her treatments and came up with an idea to treat her to something special every day. He went to the dollar store and bought some things he thought Isabella would enjoy. He wrapped them all up and put them in a Christmas bag with a huge Santa balloon attached to it. His instructions were that each day Isabella could open one present. What fun it has been for her! Every day we tell her it's present time and she gets very excited. She runs over to the Santa bag and picks out one present and then we help her open it. The present is a surprise to all of us and really is so much fun. Michael did an amazing job of selecting things that Isabella really enjoys, like a toy microfone, a baby doll, some stacking cups, bubbles - perfect treasures for a curious toddler! Each day we take some video of the opening of the present and then we also go to the countdown-to-Christmas-tree and pick out the number of the day and put it on the tree. It is a fun little routine that we thoroughly enjoy. When you think of today's teenager, I'm sure the image of someone gabbing on a cell phone or immersed in the internet is what probably comes to mind. I remember as a teenager not being able to imagine much beyond my own world. And yet here is a high school freshman who has never met us but who has taken a few steps in Isabella's shoes and has gone out of his way to brigthen her day. It says a lot about him and his parents, who I am sure also participated in this project. It really is the little things in life that make a world of difference. I'm not sure if they even know about this web site, but I would like to let Michael and his family know how much we appreciate their kindess. True guardian angels indeed!

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 12:00 PM CST

Hoooray, we saw Isabella's tree and it is beautiful!!!! It was like walking up to one huge Christmas present! There are pictures of her in specially decorated frames all over the tree and ornaments with her name on them. There are so many details and little things to capture who she is, it was overwhelming, but happily so. I was speechless! I can only imagine the many hours spent on creating this unique and special gift for her. It is truly something we will never forget and something that words will do little justice to truly express how grateful we are. I just imagine the people who put it together, going shopping for all of the things to put on the tree and then painstakingly putting it all together. So much thought and love was put into that tree, what an amazing gift! I tried to film every inch so Isabella can look back on it one day and see how many people loved and cared about her when she needed it most. I often think that in Isabella's lifetime, not a day should ever pass that she does not feel loved a great deal. A huge THANK YOU to the Kiwanis Club who donated and decorated the tree, and an even bigger THANK YOU to Ronni French who recommended Isabella as an honorary tree recipient. You all have given us a gift we will cherish for the rest of our lives, and it isn't just the tree and all its trimmings that we appreciate but the people who put their hearts and souls into making it a very personal and special tree. I am amazed!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!

We were also excited to see our friend Catie and her parents at the tree party. Catie's tree is also an amazing tree and perfect for tea parties and playing with dollies! It was great to see some friendly faces and we are glad to hear that Catie is doing well and is heading home to Savannah tomorrow!

Just a quick medical note, Isabella is doing well. Obviously well enough to visit her tree! She still tires easily and her blood pressure is high in the evenings, but we are giving her the norvasc to help bring it down. We should have some more scans in the next couple of weeks, including a CT scan, echogram and maybe a heart test?? I'm not exactly sure. I know you've been doing a lot of praying for us and we really appreciate it, and there are people out there who need bigger prayers than we do, but if you have some time for a few small prayers, send them Isabella's way. My dream is to one day say, "Isabella HAD cancer, but that was a long time ago, look how beautiful she looks in her wedding dress!" Some day.

Sunday, December 5, 2004 6:00 PM EST

Well, I wish we could say we did something fun today but we didn't. We spent the afternoon in the ER with Isabella. Not to worry, we are home now fortunately, but she hasn't been able to shake the diarrhea and she seemed to be getting more and more lethargic so we figured she may be dehydrated. The surgeon on call said we should go to the ER to run all the necessary tests and so we did. They hooked Isabella up to IV fluids for hydration for about 2 1/2 hours, they took a bunch of blood, did some blood cultures to look for infection and took an abdominal x-ray to check for any surgical complications. All of those things checked out OK so they sent us home. So here we are. Isabella is having some dinner, Cliff is making Christmas cookies and I'm updating you all.

We had hoped to go and visit Isabella's special tree at the Festival of Trees today but hopefully we can go tomorrow. On Tuesday they are having a party for all of the tree honorees and we are hoping to attend that. The suspense of seeing her tree is just killing me - I am so excited about it!!!

We made a friend through Caringbridge named Carson (www.caringbridge.org/ks/carson). He was diagnosed with neuroblastoma (like Isabella) at 5 months of age. His surgery is tomorrow and we ask that you pray for him and his family.

I better go help with the dinner and cookies. I'll post some new pictures this week.

Friday, December 3, 2004 11:00 PM EST

We are home!! Yeah!!! It feels like we have been gone for years. We had another early morning meeting today. Instead of being squeezed in a "bed" with my husband, this time I was squeezed in a crib with my daughter. Yes, you did read that correctly, Isabella and I were bunking together in her hospital crib. As hard as you may find that to believe, Cliff slept in there with her earlier in the night! (what IS the weight limit on those things anyway?? :-) We will both be having back surgery sometime soon due to the major scoliosis we now have.

So anyway, the pediatric nephrologist (big word for kidney specialist) came first thing this morning and we had a family meeting in the crib, literally. I think she thought we were totally nuts, which after a week of no sleep and total stress and worry, we are now officially and totally insane. To top it all off, she spoke in mostly medi-speak and I found myself constantly asking "now what does that mean??" Even at the most awake and mentally comptetent of times, I'm not sure I would have completely understood what she said, but add the early hour of the morning and sleep deprivation, and who knows what she really told us. I should have recorded it so I could have had it translated. I do know that she decided NOT to keep us in the hospital any longer (she said that in plain English) and that we are going to proceed with treating the high blood pressure for now. We are to take Isabella's blood pressure twice daily and if her upper number is above 105 then we are to administer a dose of norvasc to lower her blood pressure (which by the way, I spilled half the bottle of tonight on the dining room table - must get some sleep). We have to keep track of her numbers and then report them weekly to the nephrologist. She seems to think that Isabella's renal artery will eventually expand to accommodate the new amount of blood flow but we will be monitoring her for extremely high or low blood pressure readings. At least that's what I think she said. It's one of those scary "we don't really knows" that you often hear from doctors. She also seemed to think that Isabella has had high blood pressure all along but no one really paid attention to it. I guess we were all busy focusing on shrinking her tumor.

Also, did you notice my use of some medi-words? A week in the hospital has turned me into a wannabe nurse. The other night the nurse came in and we were chatting about that night's regimen for Isabella and she said, "I am going to draw some blood later on," and I said "CBC with diff?", and she said "Just the CBC ... You should consider becoming a nurse ;-)" That conversation followed the demonstration I had given her of exactly how to change the dressing on Isabella's central line site, which I was very specific about. She told me she felt like she was in nursing school again in her final exam in front of the professor. We laughed. Like I said, these nurses were so great. They put up with me and my newly acquired nursing skills and actually seemed to enjoy our company, as we did theirs.

So, long story short, Isabella's blood pressure is still high. We are measuring it every 12 hours and giving her medicine to control it when necessary. By the way, normal blood pressure numbers for children are much lower than for adults, so if your child has their blood pressure taken, don't measure it against what you think normal is. I'll have to ask Cliff what the child normal numbers are, but he's zonked out now, as I should be but of course now I can't sleep, go figure. Not to worry too much though since hypertension in children is rare, except in obesity cases and other exceptions of course. I don't mean to add yet another thing for you all to worry about with your own kids!

So we are really glad to be home and sleeping in our own bed. Don't worry though, even if I wanted to, I couldn't fit into Isabella's crib at home. It would certainly crash to the floor. So if she wakes up tonight, we'll all be sharing the luxury, wide, queen sized bed which will seem so huge I'm sure.

Before I sign off for the night, I would like you all to say some very special prayers for a very special girl and her parents who we have run into from time to time in the hospital. Little Hayley (www.caringbridge.org/ga/hayley) has a very rare form of leukemia and her family has received the worst possible news this week. The only thing that can save Hayley now is a miracle and that is exactly what I would ask all of you to pray for, Hayley's miracle, because no parent should ever have to hear that type of news ever in their lives and my heart aches so deeply for them. Please pray for Hayley.

Good night and God Bless.

Thursday, December 2, 2004 10:09 PM EST

Hi There! I have actually stolen a moment and left Izzy's side for a few minutes. I am happy to say that for the first time all week, Isabella was actually more like herself today. She is weak but worked up her steam as the day progressed and was even able to walk about a bit. She is pretty unsteady on her feet but as usual, nothing stops this little girl. What a long and difficult week this has been for all of us. I know I will look back on it and wonder how we made it through this most difficult time, even as I write this I'm not convinced that our journey is almost over. Whenever we return home I promise to provide the full account of this week, including the lows and highs, but for now I will give today's medical update.

Last night was a very difficult one. Isabella's blood pressure soared to dangerously high levels overnight. Each time they took her blood pressure it continued to get higher and higher. At one point I had to wonder how much higher it could get and how long her body could sustain such high levels. We have had AMAZING nurses during our stay in the surgery wing and last night was no exception. Our nurse kept a close watch on Isabella and hounded the surgeon until the wee hours of the morning to try and contain Isabella's soaring blood pressure. Finally, around 4 a.m. some changes were made to her IV fluids and she was given some medicine to comletely empty her bladder and some other medicine to lessen her kidney activity, which seemed to be the source of the problem. The surgeon also ordered a renal ultrasound for first thing in the morning and some blood work was done to measure her electrolytes. Needless to say, we were worried all night about Isabella's health. When we all finally dozed off for an hour or two we got an early morning wake up call from the surgeon, in person. It's kind of strange to be squeezed into a twin "bed" (I use the term loosely) with your husband, both of us in a comotose state, when the surgeon walks in and starts talking about Isabella's kidney being in danger and how the renal artery might not be able to support her kidney and she may lose it. Literally, within two minutes of that conversation we were whisked down to the ultrasound room ALL of us still half asleep and in our pajamas! Another nightmare come true. The ultrasound tech did a scan of Isabella's bladder and both kidneys, the renal artery feeding both kidneys, and the amount of blood flow in each kidney. It was all squiggles and blobs to us and all I could think was what happened the last time we had an ultrasound, it was when Isabella's cancer was officially diagnosed. I couldn't help but feel a big, dark cloud pass over us. Of course the ultrasound tech is only there to take pictures, they aren't allowed to interpret the results so we spent the morning worring about the possibilities.

Around lunch time we received some encouraging news from the surgeon. He had reviewed the ultrasound and determined that the blood flow in both kidneys was good so that wasn't the issue. He was most concerned about the renal artery. It is basically the lifeline to the kidney and because Isabella's tumor was pressing on it for so long, it may have damaged it or not allowed it to grow properly. At this point we don't really know what the status us but we are meeting with a kidney specialist in the morning to get more information. From what we understand it seems that the will either decide to treat the high blood pressure and monitor the kidney, or decide to remove the kidney or who knows what else. It is all very much up in the air. Her blood pressure remained high again today but they have given her some norvasc (same stuff her daddy takes) to reduce the pressure from the very high levels. Tonight it has started to come down so we are relieved but anxious about what tomorrow brings.

So, I think I've used up all of my away minutes. As far as the surgeon is concerned Isabella's recovery is going well and barring any bad kidney news we could get to go home tomorrow. We should have a better idea first thing in the morning which way the wind will blow. We will keep you posted as best we can. Please continue to pray for Isabella as she is not out of the woods yet. God Bless!

Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:03 PM CST

Please forgive me if this does not sound like our normal journal entry, but Isabella will not let Tiffany leave her side and my brain has turned to mush due to no sleep. Isabella's surgery as far as we can tell, was a great success. The surgen believes that he was able to remove around 99% of the tumor. What a true blessing. They had to take out one of her adrenal glands along with the tumor which we thought might keep her from running around our house a little crazy women but the doctors have told us that we will have no such luck. The remaing adrenal gland will be plenty to have her bouncing off the walls for years to come. The tumor was pretty well entrenched in her organs which is why the surgery took so long. They removed most of the tubes she has been hooked up to this morning which has helped to put a smile back on Isabella's face. We hope that she will start to feel better towmorrow so she can get out of her room and get back to her usual job of touring the hosptal halls waving and talking to all her friends. Thanks again for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for Isabella to have a speedy recovery.

Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:03 PM CST

Monday, November 29, 2004 7:44 PM EST

I can only post a quick update but I did want to let you all know that Isabella has made it through surgery and is pretty much out of it with the help of morphine. The surgery took more than 4 hours and from what the surgeon said he was able to remove as much of the tumor as he could see. Based on what the oncologist has said, this is great news and exactly what we hoped for. We feel that our prayers have been answered. We haven't had a chance to meet with the surgeon again but hope to do so in the morning to get more details. I will try and post again tomorrow. Unfortunately the cancer wing at Scottish Rite is full so we are in the surgical recovery wing. We miss seeing our friends in the AFLAC wing but we'll be sure to stop by for a visit. We are all so exhausted but feel relieved that one more step along this path is behind us. God is good. Thank you for your prayers.

Sunday, November 28, 2004 9:02 PM EST

Well, this is it. Tomorrow morning we report to the hospital at 11:00 a.m. for Isabella's surgery at 1:00 p.m. Needless to say, we are very nervous and anxious about everything. We pray that God will look upon Isabella tomorrow and guide the surgeon's hands as he removes her tumor, and hopefully all of the cancer, from her tiny body. It is really difficult to think about her on the operating table. I know we will be praying every minute she is away from us.

There are so many of you who have never met Isabella and I just wish you could see what an amazing little person she is. She is funny and smart and so friendly. A good time to her is going anywhere where there are plenty of people. If we are out and she isn't getting attention from someone, she'll usually yell out or laugh really loud until they look at her and give her a smile. She marches around the house with such determination, she's always looking for something or getting into something. I have never seen such a hard worker. Today she was very focused on cleaning upstairs. She hijacked a washcloth and first cleaned the banister, then she moved to the bathroom floor, then to the furniture in our bedroom. It was hilarious! If you tell her to wash her hands or put her lotion on, she will rub her hands together. She can play by herself for ages, putting things in boxes and taking them out, pretending to bake a cake or stirring things in a pot. She also loves to help empty the dishwasher, in particular she likes to take the utensil basket out and carry it around like a purse. I will fill it with measuring spoons and plastic spatulas and such and she will roam around the house emptying it and filling it back up. It is so fun to watch her at play. This weekend Daddy put up SOME of the Christmas lights (I say SOME beacuse my husband thinks he is Clark Griswold and our house shines like a beacon in the night and yet he seems to buy more lights every day to add to our beautiful winter wonderland!). Anyway, Isabella loves them! We have some large candy canes by the front walk and she can see them from the windows. She goes from window to window looking at the candy canes. She can also see the ice-icle lights from her bedroom window so at night when I am putting her to bed, we open the blinds so she can ooh and aah at the lights before she goes to bed. This is what appreciating the little things in life is all about, this is why we have children. They make us stop and laugh for no reason at all. They make us live life more richly and with more purpose than before. They touch the very depths of our souls and change who we are in the very best way. I would walk a thousand miles of surgeries and chemotherapies for the very small and very precious Isabella, for these moments with her that one day I will barely remember but that will forever be etched upon me like tiny crystals that sparkle and shine both in light and darkness.

Please pray for our dear, sweet Isabella. She means the world to us. Thank You.

Wednesday, November 24, 2004 11:00 AM EST

Before many of you sign off to celebrate Thanksgiving with your families, we would just like to say thank you. This has been the most difficult experience in our entire lives and it has made a world of difference to know we are not alone. We know God is with us, family far and near, friends old and new and who we haven't met yet, the many angels in heaven who have gone before us, and of course Allie's Angels!! You are all a tremendous support system, even on the darkest of days. We will forever be thankful for all that you have done for us, great and small. As we gather around the Thanksgiving table, we will pray to God to thank Him for our precious child and we will pray for the children who are fighting cancer, that God will place His healing touch upon their bodies. We will pray for a cure and believe that one day we will see it happen.

Many of you have written to me over the past several months that this experience has changed your lives. Many of you are hugging your children a little tighter, telling people you love them a little more often, praying together as a family, re-focusing priorities on the important things in life. This experience has taught us all that life is too short and too precious to waste. That is Isabella's gift to all of us. Knowing that she is touching your life in such an important way is something we will all cherish for the rest of our lives. Imagine how she will feel when one day she reads all of these journal updates and guest book entries, the cards and letters you have sent, the messages of love and hope. She will know how much she is loved and how much she influenced others to love unselfishly. What a tremendous and special child sent from heaven!

God Bless you all and Happy Thanksgiving!

Love,

Tiffany, Cliff & Isabella

Tuesday, November 23, 2004 4:00 PM EST

Today was the scary meeting with the surgeon. It's basically the meeting where they tell you the worst case scenario and then make you sign a consent form to confirm that you are aware of the worst things that can happen. Very scary indeed. The chances are high that she will need a blood transfusion based on the profile of this tumor and its location. There is a slight possibility that her kidney may be at risk since the tumor is behind her kidney. That is a bridge we will cross when we come to it, worst case they would remove the kidney, another alternative would be to do more chemo to shrink the tumor in that area, best case is that it won't be an issue. This is something they will not know until they are in surgery. Her intestines are also at risk since the tumor is in that area. Basically, there is a lot at risk so we really pray for God to guide the surgeon's hands as he operates on Isabella, to keep her safe. The surgeon estimates that it will take 3 hours to operate but he will take as much time as he needs, which is fine with us. We will probably be in the hospital for most of the week.

Gotta run, Isabella is sleepy. I'll type more later.

Monday, November 22, 2004 11:30 AM EST

The date for surgery has been set, Monday, November 29 at 1:00 p.m. Our pre-op visit with the surgeon is tomorrow morning. We will also meet with the anesthesiologist at the hospital tomorrow about the sedation procedure.

There really isn't too much to report today. I think Isabella is getting one of her molars, she seems to be in teething pain. Her energy is boundless and her vocabulary is ever increasing. She recognizes and can say Elmo!! She calls him Melmo, too cute!

We will celebrate a quiet Thanksgiving at home with my parents this year. Cliff's family is off to the beach. We are happy to be home to celebrate the many gifts in our life, we are so very thankful for Isabella!

Friday, November 19, 2004 3:15 PM EST

We have spoken with the surgeon and he has agreed with the oncologists, he will operate on the tumor to remove it! The tumor has actually shrunk to 1/3 of its original size!!! I still can't believe we have turned this corner. I am here to tell you that the power of prayer is truly amazing. We are not out of the woods yet but we can see the clearing and we feel hopeful about the future. Please, please continue to pray for Isabella as she prepares for the scariest part of her journey so far.

We do not have a day set for surgery yet, we are waiting to hear from the surgeon's office to set the date. It will be the week after Thanksgiving, early in the week. On Tuesday of next week we will go and meet with the surgeon for pre-op and to discuss the details of the surgery. The surgeon mentioned that although the tumor has disappeared from the major artery in Isabella's abdomen, the tumor is still wrapped around some blood vessels. He will just work around those, leaving some tumor behind. With neuroblastoma they have found that as long as the majority of the tumor is removed, the prognosis is still really good.

Isabella should not have to undergo any more chemo following her surgery. Her protocol does not call for any radiation, which is a really good thing. As long as the tumor doesn't grow back, she should be OK. She will continue to get CT scans, etc. probably for the rest of her life, but that is a small price to pay for the gift we have been given.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004 8:30 PM EST

PRAISE THE LORD!! Today so many of our prayers were answered that all I can do is thank God and the wonderful people at the AFLAC cancer center and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and all of you!

Hot off the presses ... as I began to type this the phone rang and it was Isabella's oncologist Dr. George. He was calling to give us a preliminary report of the scans and there is good news, the tumor has shrunk to what he believes will be an operable size. He has not spoken with the surgeon who will ultimately make the decision, but he feels very good about what he saw. The tumor appears to have shrunk by more than half its original size and some of the best news of all is that it no longer wrapped around the major artery in her abdomen, which is what they were the most worried about. The doctors still need to review the MIBG scan which will determine the level of activity in the remaining tumor but we should know all of that tomorrow. They are supposed to call us with more information and then we will go and meet with the surgeon. All I can say for now is Hallelujiah!!!!

Not only did we receive this amazing news, but the Lord was also with us today for the scans. What a very long, hard day for Isabella and what an amazing child she was all day. When we arrived at the hospital the thing we were worried the most about was getting Isabella to drink the "poison." Well she took to it like a champ! They mixed it with cran/grape juice and for two hours we squirted it into her mouth with a syringe, we kept saying, here is some more juice and she would slurp it up. We were so relieved and also so impressed with her because it took two whole hours to get the entire mixture into her system. It was a team effort and we all succeeded! She was so wiped out at one point that I held her in my arms while she took a 15 minute cat nap and it was hilarious because she was snoring so loud! We couldn't let her sleep though because we had to continue with the "juice" so we had to wake her up to finish it. Once the last drop of juice was in her tummy, we took her to the CT scan room and started the sedation process. It took a lot more medicine to sedate her this time and she kept fighting it but eventually she fell sound asleep and they did the scan. I don't do very well when she is in the scan process, once she passes out I break down into tears and can't pull it back together until the scans are almost over. They kept her sedated and carried her into the MIBG scan room and did that scan which took about 40 minutes. As soon as they scan was complete they stopped the sedation medicine and she woke up instantly. She was so groggy and her head was all floppy but she used every ounce of energy to try and hold her head up and check out everyone around her. She has such determination, it is incredible. Minutes later we were in the recovery room stuffing her with cheerios and graham crackers, which she gobbled down excitedly. Besides eating, all she wanted to do was run around and say hi to everyone. Shortly afterward, we were on our way home.

Cliff and I are totally wiped out and Isabella looked so tired tonight but she played her favorite game of "let's mess up the living room" and we just kissed all over her until it was time for bed. Even before we got the call, we thanked God for giving us the strength to make it this far and thanked him for the millionth time for our precious daughter Isabella! Stay tuned for whatever comes our way tomorrow, we know this is the beginning of another part of our journey but we are optimistic about things to come. Good night!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 11:00 PM EST

Tomorrow is scan day. I know you have all been praying for us throughout this entire experience, and I would like to ask you for some special prayers tomorrow. I'm not even sure what to ask for, all I know is that I want whatever is best for Isabella, and to me, that would be for her to be free from cancer and to live a very long and happy life. Who would have ever thought I would be praying for my daughter's life? I know that all of us whose children have cancer ask ourselves that very same thing all the time. How did we get here???

Many people wonder how we are getting through all of this. Our belief in the grace and mercy of God gives us the ultimate hope; focusing on what is ahead of us instead of what is behind us enables us to get from one day to the next; trying not to feel sorry for ourselves allows us to pull ourselves up on the dark days; knowing that we are not alone on this journey and that at every turn family and friends are there for us helps lift us up. Ultimately it is Isabella who is guiding us through this. She is the strong one, she is the light at the end of the tunnel, she is the reason we get up every day with a smile on our face and with hope in our hearts. She is a gift from God and we thank Him from the depths of our soul for her every minute of every day.

Tomorrow we will report to the hospital at 10:30 a.m. Isabella can't eat anything after 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. When we arrive at the hospital she will need to drink the special dye for the CT scan over a two hour period. If we can't get her to drink it, she will have to have a tube put down her nose to get the medicine into her system. At 1:00 p.m. she will get a CT scan. They will sedate her for this and keep her sedated through the MIBG scan as well. The CT scan only takes about 10 minutes, but the MIBG scan will probably take 40 minutes. It is the scan that looks for active tumor cells throughout her entire body. The entire process was very traumatic for all of us last time but I really hope that this time is a little easier. It is impossible to explain any of it to Isabella or even to prepare her for it. All we can do is stay calm and provide comfort when she is upset. Knowing Isabella, even during the tough times she is still friendly and can always muster a smile for a friendly face. I don't think we'll have any results until Thursday or Friday. Of course I will post the results as soon as I can. She will either be facing surgery or another round of chemo, neither of which will be easy for her. We will get through this together. Thank you for being there for us. Oh what will tomorrow bring ...

Monday, November 15, 2004 4:00 PM EST

We're baaack! It was a wonderful trip all the way around and we are so glad we were able to go. We all got some much needed rest and relaxation and some fun too! One of the highlights of the trip was bike riding with Isabella. We rented a bike buggy that attaches to the back of a bike and she loved riding in it. Maybe Santa will bring her one for Christmas ;-) We were also very surprised at how well she did with the car ride. She has been getting more and more impatient in the car lately but she was great on the trip and was content to play and doze off and on.

So now it's back to reality. We went to the hospital today for Isabella's isotope injection. After being given the literal run around from office to office for an hour, we discovered that her appointment is actually tomorrow. C'est la vie. She did receive the second dose of her flu shot and get this, she didn't even cry! I imagine that her threshold for pain is pretty high after everything she's been through but still, I couldn't believe it. I also just spoke with nurse Erika for Isabella's blood counts from today and we can stop her neupogen treatments (white blood cell) for the time being. Her platelets are really low so we need to watch her for bleeding. She looks pretty battered with lots of bruises all over her legs and arms and even some on her head - because of her hemoglobin counts being so low. I promise we are not beating her!! Maybe we shouldn't hug her so hard though ;-)!!

She has been a little cranky and her nose is still running like crazy and today she was also drooling like crazy, which leads me to believe that she may be teething. Her gum seems swollen in one spot so who knows, maybe some more teeth are coming in. Poor thing, but like I've said before, nothing is stopping this little girl. She knows she can't go through life with only 4 teeth so there is no time like the present to get some more teeth!

We started giving her the SSKI medicine yesterday. This is to protect her thyroid during the MIBG scan. It's a 6 day treatment and the last time we had to give it to her it was puke city. So far this time she has been keeping it down. We spread out the dose throughout the day and although she doesn't take it willingly, she does keep it down.

So tomorrow we'll go back to the hospital for the nuclear injection. I guess we won't need to turn on Isabella's night light since she'll be glowing in the dark! Just kidding, she doesn't really glow from the injection, she just glows naturally!!

Friday, November 12, 2004 1:20 PM EST

Shhhh, don't tell anyone, we have escaped!! Today I am updating the journal from the not-so-sunny but oh-so-heavenly and warm Hilton Head, South Carolina! Don't worry, we did get the green light from the doctor so we're not actually on the run, but we do feel more free that we have since August 19.

As I wrote earlier, Isabella has had the sniffles all week and a strong desire not to sleep. Yesterday I took her to the doctor just to make sure her ears are clear and that there weren't any hidden viruses or bacteria or anything. Her ears were red but not infected and her counts were the lowest they have ever been. A-HA!! That is the reason she has been so miserable this week. The good news is that Wednesday was day 10 from the start of this last round of chemo, which is typically when counts bottom out. So hopefully now they will begin to rebound. We are safe as long as she has no fever.

So, you might be asking yourselves how did we end up at the beach?? As last week progressed and the weather got drearier and colder and we all got sleepier and sleepier, I thought to myself, if only we could just spend a weekend at the beach. We are always so relaxed at the beach, Isabella always sleeps so well at the beach and she hasn't been here since she was 7 months old and now that she can toddle around and play, I'm sure she would just love it. So far, it has been the best thing for all of us!

We left late yesterday afternoon. Isabella slept for a little while, just long enough for us to get out of town. Her Aunt Donna lent us their portable vcr/screen so we watched a few minutes of videos. The only stressful part was me in the back seat with Isabella trying to do her neupogen treatment. That was almost hilarious (after the fact, of course). I had six different syringes, tubes, a pump, alcohol wipes, ALL on my lap. I thought to myself, some trucker is going to drive by, look in the window and think we are shooting up some major drugs in here and then call DFACS! Fortunately, we weren't arrested for shooting up white blood cells!

We stopped and had some dinner so Isabella could burn off some steam by running around and stretching her legs. You will all laugh when I tell you where we stopped, HOOTERS! It was actually my choice (I actually like the wings!)!! On the way in, Cliff said, I don't really think this is a family friendly place. Well, I am here to tell you, he was wrong! Where else could be better to take a child than to a restaurant filled with young female waitresses who fall over young children and who went out of their way to play with Izzy and even gave her an I Love Hooters balloon! Isabella had a blast, she waved at everyone and worked very hard at pushing the little stools all around. She also liked the room with the pool tables. Now don't get crazy and think we just let her run wild in there disturbing other people. The place wasn't even half full and like I said, the waitresses were great. It was funny because every time one would come up to say hello, Isabella would point at their pantyhose. They wear such funny color hose, it seemed fascinating to her. By the way, Isabella didn't eat wings, we brought some food for her. I give Hooters an A for family friendliness! I don't think we will make a habit of visiting Hooters as a family, but in a bind, it will do. I will warn you that if you are thinking of visiting there with your young child based on our experience, there are a lot of smokers there. They didn't show up until just before we left so it wasn't an issue for us but I could have been a big deal. Just my extra two cents!

Even though we didn't arrive at the beach until 10:30 p.m., Isabella woke up as I carried her in and she was so excited. She walked all over the house saying oooh to everything! She was particularly captivated by the indoor mini-trees and tall house plants! You would have thought we just arrived at Disney! Forget any toys for Christmas, I'll just buy a couple of fake indoor trees! Once she settled down and went to sleep, she slept like a log ... HOORAY!! Today the excitement has continued. She has been running around just taking it all in. We went for a walk on the beach and Isabella just ran around with her arms wide open. Then we went on a short bike ride. We rented one of those buggies that attach to the back of an adult bike and Cliff took her for a spin. She loved it. She was kicking her legs and waving her arms. Now she's fast asleep. I'm sure she'll be ready for more fun when she wakes up, and so will we!

I'll post pictures when we return, if I can convince Isabella and Cliff to go back to Atlanta! Monday we go for Isabella's isotope injection and then Wednesday is the big scan day. So much is riding on those scans, pray for good results. Have a great weekend everyone!

Monday, November 8, 2004 1:00 PM EST

It has been a few days since I posted an update but there is never a dull moment here in the Chapman house! Let's see, today I will use movie titles to summarize the last couple of days. Topping the list is "Night of the Living Dead," last night was night 4 of being awake round the clock with the little party goer Isabella. Each night from about 2 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. we are up with her and we still haven't figured out why. One night she was actually wide awake during those hours and wanted to play. Have you ever tried playing with a toddler at 3 a.m.? I don't recommend it, they enjoy it much more than you do! Another night her stomach seemed to be bothering her. Last night she started getting a cold and couldn't breathe very well. It's funny because before she had cancer she got colds all the time but this is her first cold since she was diagnosed and I was scratching my head thinking, what are you supposed to do for a cold?? Maybe the confusion came from many sleepless nights and very little brain power. We dusted off the humidifier and did some mini-facials, it was fabulous. If you are in need of a low budget facial, stop by anytime between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m., we are offering great deals!

Then you will never believe the luck we have, Cliff threw out his back this weekend. Ah yes, I think we should play the lottery will all this extra luck lying around. I couldn't think of a movie where the daughter gets chemo, stays up all night long and then the dad throws his back out. Sounds like it would be a big Hollywood hit though!

The nurse came today to draw blood for Isabella's counts so we'll know tomorrow how that's going. We are still doing the nightly white blood cell infusions (neupogen). Another appropriate movie title would be "Two Weeks Notice" because hopefully in two weeks we'll have some idea about surgery for Isabella.

Those are some highlights from the past few days. I thought of one movie title that did not make the cut: "While You Were Sleeping" - because we aren't

The movie title that we are hoping will best describe this experience in the end will be "Miracle on Ryefield Drive"! Wouldn't that be a dream come true!

Wednesday, November 3, 2004 9:04 PM EST

We made it through the last of three very long days! Isabella was really showing the effects of chemo today. She was unsteady on her feet, very tired and weepy, and sucked her thumb most of the day for comfort. She would try so hard to play and have fun but she just couldn't seem to pull it together. We watched her Grover DVD and cuddled.

We started an infusion of IV fluids tonight that will continue for up to 24 hours. I was very peeved with the home health service today ... long story short ... Isabella got home at 2:00 pm this afternoon and her IV fluids didn't show up until 7pm, when it did show up, it wasn't put together so a nurse finally made it out here at 8:30 pm, long past Isabella's bed time. We ended up having to hook her up to it in her sleep. She was so zonked out that she didn't even wake up. We'll have to set our alarm to wake up a couple of times in the middle of the night to change her diaper or else she'll be completely saturated in the morning (speaking from experience!).

I'm hoping that the IV fluids will help her feel a little better tomorrow. We will take it easy, follow her around with the IV fluids and maybe have a little fun if Miss Izzy feels up to it. Hopefully the journal will be non-eventful over the next couple of days and we can get back to fun and play time!

Tuesday, November 2, 2004 8:00 PM EST

Two days down and one to go! Isabella was tired today, her poor little eyes had huge bags under them and she didn't have as much fire in her as she normally does. The clinic was so full today that our appointment was moved to the afternoon so we there until pretty late. Isabella did her share of running around and babbling like crazy but we carried her around a lot because she seemed frustrated with us following so close behind her all the time. Today she was practically running around the clinic, she was probably trying to run from her tube entourage!

We met with Dr. George briefly today. We were hoping for an alternative to the CT scan just because of the tube down the nose that goes with it, but that is the best option for looking at the tumor. Based on the scan dates we were thinking that her surgery could possibly be scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving, but today Dr. George said based on what they see we could push it back one week, which would be the week after Thanksgiving. Of course all of this is just speculation at this point since we will know nothing until we see the scan results. He mentioned that they may also decide to do an MRI if the tumor still has a lot of veins in it. I asked about next steps if the tumor is not small enough for surgery and he said that we would have to complete four more rounds of chemo. Based on how she has reacted to the first phase of chemo and her energy level, he feels optimistic about the scan. I am desperate for some optimism and some positive feedback, facing four more rounds of chemo will be tough. Of course we will do anything and everything to make sure Isabella lives a long and happy life, so if that is what it takes, we will take it on. Down to the depths of my soul, I pray for a positive result.

Our appointment tomorrow is in the morning. May Isabella feel a little more like herself and may the clinc experience be speedy!

Monday, November 1, 2004 8:36 PM EST

Today was a very long day for Isabella, and to be honest, it was a long day for us as well. As much as she enjoys socializing, it is hard for her to be confined in such a small area for so long. Our nurse was great and tried to provide as many diversions as possible, and we (Cliff, my mom and I) all took turns doing our best to entertain her and keep her from tripping on her tubes. Isabella is a VIP, she has an entourage that follows her around all day carrying her train of tubes. At the end of the day, we were very ready to go home and to be tube free!

Treatment wise, she received three major drugs today. They always start the treatment with a 30 minute infusion of anti-nausea medicine and then start with the chemo drugs. Some of the drugs require hydration with a lot of fluid, but today she really didn't get that much IV fluid, just the diluted drugs. The chemo drugs are infused one after the other and some take more than 2 hours to infuse. Today she got the red chemo drug which is known to tint the urine, although it wasn't significant when she received it last time. Over the next two days she will receive two drugs per day, which won't take as long as today. But when you add the pre and post stuff on top of it, it still takes most of the day.

For some reason Miss Action had some issues with her infusions today. Two times her medicine tube came undone. The first time wasn't a big deal because it was what they call a "piggy back" line that wasn't being used at that moment. The second time was a big deal, it happened with the last medicine of the day, the red medicine. Isabella was toddling around with her entourage in tow when Cliff realized that one of her tubes was dragging on the ground. When we saw the red medicine dripping out of it, we were like, uh oh. The nurse came running and she was able to hook it back on, but she suggested that we all wash our hands and take off Isabella's socks where some of it had spilled. You never really think about the fact that the chemo drugs are toxic. It's a very crazy situation because you are so careful about everything that goes into your child's body all the time, you never think that there is actually something in her body that could be so harmful to others. When she is being infused with so many drugs all day, it seems as if there are more drugs in her body than her own natural fluids. They recommend that for 48 hours after chemo treatments that we actually wear gloves when changing her diaper. I just can't explain how strange it really is to think of your own child as toxic.

We set up our scan dates today so mark your calendars. On November 15 she will receive an injection of the radioactive medicine in preparation for the MIGB scan. On November 17 (her grandmother Bev's birthday), she will receive a CT scan and MIGB scan. Let me just tell you that we are not looking forward to scan day. We are very anxious to see how much the tumor has shrunk but the process Isabella has to go through to find that out is not a fun one. They will have to put a tube down her nose to get medicine into her stomach for two hours prior to the scan and then she will be sedated for both scans. The tube down the nose involves a lot of yelling on Isabella's part and the sedation part really just freaks Cliff and I out. Necessary evils I guess. I feel like we will be silently holding our breath for the next couple of weeks. Kicks those prayers into action again and pray that God will bless Isabella with his healing touch.

Sunday, October 31, 2004 8:00 PM EST

Isabella's first trick-or-treat adventure was a huge success! We went over to her Aunt Amy's house for a kids party in the neighborhood and some candy-begging fun. Isabella had lots of fun at the party, she danced and buzzed around like a Queen Bee should! We confined our treating to the cul-de-sac since daddy's arms got tired carrying Miss Buzzy around but we got enough candy to keep Isabella wired for weeks! Isabella had the most fun playing with Aunt Amy's little chihuahua Trixie and the balloons. It was Isabella's kind of party all the way around!

She's upstairs now, with visions of candy corn dancing in her head. I'm sure she'll be happy to see her friend nurse Erika tomorrow! Sweet dreams little Miss Queen Bee!

Friday, October 29, 2004 2:00 AM EDT

Only two more days until HALLOWEEN!!! Isabella has already been all over town modeling her costume and she loves it! I should have a picture up before the end of the day. Yesterday we went to daddy's work to show off Miss Queen Bee (hint, hint) and today we went to the cancer clinic and hospital to visit the nurses and pass out cookies. Isabella thought we were there to play and I thought to myself, well at least she doesn't consider this a scary place! For those of you who don't get to see her that often, I wish you could see how she marches around when she walks. She's got a very determined gait about her and you can just see that nothing is stopping her! I often wonder what she is thinking most of the time. She'll end up wearing her costume like four days in a row and I'm sure at some point she'll be like, hello, this thing again, has mommy not done laundry lately! She is always taking it all in. In so many photos, she is usually wide eyed and serious, since the day she was born she has always been so alert and observant of what is going on around her. After cancer, when she is all grown up, I hope that some of these days are happy memories of her, the days when she could just be a little toddler enjoying Halloween.

Monday you will find us with our friends at the AFLAC Cancer Clinic for Isabella's fourth round of chemo. We'll be spending most of next week there. Think of little Izzy and zoom some of your positive thoughts her way if you can. Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 27, 2004 5:00 PM EDT

Good news today, Isabella's counts have gone up and we can stop the white blood cell treatments for a few days. We will start them back up again on Monday when her chemo starts again, but for now we get a small break.

For the Isabella supporters who are Atlanta area residents or who plan on visiting Atlanta, Isabella is being honored with her very own tree at the Festival of Trees this year which is held to raise money for the Children's Hospital. The festival is being held December 4 - 12 at the Georgia World Congress Center. Isabella was nominated by a cousin of her grandmother Bev through the Kiwanis organization. A designer is designing a tree especially for Isabella so we are excited to see how it turns out. If you get a chance to visit the festival, look for the Isabella tree!

We are actually starting to see a thicker layer of peach fuzz on Isabella's head these days, with a few longer strands of hair. It seems like her hair is actually starting to grow! But I am sad to say that with this next round of chemo, she is getting a double whammy of drugs that will take away her newly growing hair. Who needs hair anyway, everybody knows that BALD IS BEAUTIFUL!

Monday, October 25, 2004 10:44 AM CDT

Good Monday Morning to You All!

Let's see, highlights from this weekend. Although Isabella's fever never did return, her blood culture showed three different bacteria in her blood so we had to continue with antibiotics. The bacteria came from her central line somehow, which is apparently very common. We were able to do the antibiotic infusion at home, which was great. We piggy backed her white blood cell infusion and antibiotic infusion together and Isabella did pretty well with it. Unfortunately the antibiotics wreak havoc on her stomach and it really disturbs her sleep. She was up both nights around 4 am just crying in pain but we were able to give her tylenol to ease it a bit. This morning's report is that we can discontinue the antibiotics for now. We will know after tomorrow's blood counts if we can discontinue the white blood cell treatments.

We ran some errands yesterday and stopped by the mall. Isabella had a blast (it's the simple things in life!). She is over being pushed in the stroller so she ran around waving at everyone and saying hello. Cliff and I bought her this pair of red shoes when we were in Italy and I am not kidding you, every single person we see makes some comment about her shoes. It has become so funny to us, yesterday we said to ourselves, there must not be a lot of red shoes here since these are causing such a stir! Isabella and her fancy red Italian shoes! A fashion diva at the age of one! (Her Aunt Amy would be so proud).

We are gearing up for the best holiday of the year here at the Chapman house ... Halloween! We have been carving pumpkins and the house is fully decorated. On Friday we are going to dress Isabella up in her costume and visit the AFLAC Clinic. Sunday will be her first time trick-or-treating. Last year, when she was only 3 weeks only, she slept through the whole trick-or-treat part but not this year! Look out next week for pictures featuring Isabella in her costume!

Friday, October 22, 2004 3:30 PM EDT

It is starting to feel like groundhog day around here. Today Isabella visited the clinic again for another antibiotic infusion. But today was fun day at the clinic, there were clowns there! The lady clown and the dog clown played a song on their guitar and sang to Isabella. She laughed and clapped. She also repeated her job as greeter to everyone in the waiting area and in the treatment area. We told her she could have the day off tomorrow from her greeting duties, unless of course her fever comes back then she will have to work at the hospital all weekend. We'll just see what she thinks about that!

Cliff and I feel like we are back in college again. For the past couple of nights we have been burning the midnight oil. These days we are not staying up late studying for exams (did Cliff EVER do that - hee, hee :-), we are staying up with some screaming banshee. We don't know what happens, we put fun, sweet little Isabella to bed, but hours later, some screaming baby wakes up in her place. We think it's a screaming alien child, certainly not our beloved little girl! The doctors have explained that the antibiotics can upset her stomach or she may have an infection on top of an infection (wouldn't that be a double negative?). They took a sample today to see if she possibly has some bacteria in her stomach but until then we'll just hope that she gets some good rest tonight. If not, then we'll just add a few more bags under our eyes.

I have to go now, Isabella and Daddy are getting ready to put on a puppet show for me! We know who pulls the strings around here!

Thursday, October 21, 2004 4:30 PM CDT

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I thought I would let Isabella say a few words about our day at the clinic today. Since some of you may not understand everything she says, I'll translate.

What was supposed to take an hour and a half, at most, turned into a five hour sit around all day affair. I still am not quite sure exactly why we spent five hours at the clinic but I'll try and be positive and say at least we're not spending the night at the hospital. If I learned anything today, it's that for now we are actually the lucky ones. We run into so many families in the clinic and in the hospital who are facing much greater challenges than we are. Whose children will spend years in chemo and radiation therapy and whose children are much much sicker than Isabella.

Right now Isabella has a bacterial infection from her central line. It is hard to know where she got it, but it is a common thing to see with children who have central lines. Since it is a direct line to their blood stream and it is an open access area, bacteria find their way in there and cause her to have a fever. So today she was infused with more antibiotics and the same is on the agenda for tomorrow. The area around the central line site is still raw but it seems to be healing, thanks to three different kinds of cream (not the butt cream, although that does work too :-).

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Oh, Isabella wanted me to add that she is a very good girl when it comes to having her bandage changed every day. She sits as still as can be, with eyes wide open, but doesn't make a move.

I'd like to add that that is the only time she does not make a move all day. She is usually on the run. Today it was her job to stop in every treatment room to welcome the patients and say hello. She roamed the halls all day saying bye bye to everyone, which also means hello (she really is the mad Italian since ciao means hello and goodbye). Thank goodness for the help of grandmama Bev, who helped in the chasing around of Isabella with the antibiotic machine in tow. We were very excited for a moment when we saw Isabella's special friend Daniel arrive at the clinic, but then we were very sad because he could not leave his room to play because his counts were just too low to play with other kids.

So today, along with more cream and antibiotics, we got a dose of gratefulness. We are thankful to be home tonight and we are so very grateful that at this point Isabella's body is responding well to treatment. Things could be much worse and we hope that things continue to go well. When you are praying for Isabella tonight or tomorrow or whenever, remember there are so many children out there suffering from cancer. Let their prayers also be answered.

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 10:45 PM EDT

Home again, home again jiggety jig! Isabella has the doctors and nurses snowed. She heard them telling us that in order to go home her fever had to stay down and her counts had to go up. Well wouldn't you know she got right to work. She kept her fever under control and boosted her counts, so they gave us a choice, another night at the Ritz Hotel 6 or a night in our own beds. I'll let you guess what we chose! Not two hours after we got home, Isabella's fever went back up. She's one smart cookie though, she must have heard them tell us that if her fever did come back that we could give her Tylenol tonight but then go to the clinic in the morning for more antibiotics. She obviously really wanted to sleep at home so here we are. We will keep an eye on her overnight just to make sure she's not too hot and then we'll visit the friendly faces at the AFLAC clinic tomorrow morning (Thursday).

She gave us another small scare today with her central line site. The surrounding area is still infected and today it looked like the actual site had a small tear in it. Fortunately though, the nurse said that the original incision hasn't really had a chance to heal due to the fact that she got chemo on top of the surgery, so we've added yet another cream to our daily regimen. This little gal has more creams on her body and more medicine in her system that it's a wonder to me how she puts up with it all, and also how we keep it all straight!! Hopefully we won't put the "Butt" cream on the wrong place! (and yes, butt cream is the medical name for it, it says it right on the tube!). Anyhoo, it's good to be home, even for a little while. Please say a little prayer for the Mighty Miss Isabella, she could use a break this week and the chance to run around doing her new gesture free from IV tubes. We call her new move the mad Italian (you've got to see it to believe it) she might have spent one too many days with her Italian Grumpy Grampy! She walks around with her arms out, palms facing up, shaking them up and down, just jibber jabbering away, and in her mind you can see her saying "whatsa matta you!"

Good night all and God Bless :-) or as Isabella might say, Buona Notte!

Wednesday, October 20, 2004 9:10 AM CDT

At 4 a.m. this morning, during a very sleep deprived state, I thought to myself, what is our stay the hospital more like, a night at a Motel 6, Hotel California or the Ritz-Carlton? At Motel 6 they leave the light on for you, they do that here too. They also turn bright lights on when you've just gotten someone to fall asleep. Although I imagine that even a bed at Motel 6 is probably more comfortable that the pull out slab they offer here. Then there's Hotel California, where you can check out any time you like but you can never leave. We sort of feel that way sometimes, weren't we just here a few days ago?? Then there's the Ritz-Carlton, which surely I must be crazy to think of the Ritz, but I sure was tired and I thought, well at the Ritz, they really focus on service. Where else can you stay when assistance is just a beep or shout down the hall away, where a la carte room service is available all day and people are constantly checking on you to make sure everything is OK. Now granted, they don't take your temperature and blood pressure every 2 hours at the Ritz, but maybe they might consider that as a new customer service program.

Needless to say, it was a long night at the Ritz Hotel 6. Isabella's fever was under control, which is great news, but she was pretty restless and it is hard for her to sleep when there is so much that goes on during the nighttime care. The great news is that her fever has gone down and her counts have gone up. That might just be our ticket out of here. Another Ritz-like quality of the hospital is that they offer a really late check out! Even if they say we'll get to go home today, that usually means we'll make it home sometime this evening. I wouldn't trade a night in my own bed and Isabella in hers for anything, except maybe a night at the REAL Ritz!

We'll keep you posted on our Ritz Hotel 6 experience!

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 7:18 PM CDT

Today we had to take Isabella to the doctor because we have not been able to get rid of the fever that she started yesterday. Unfortunantley, her counts were low so we had to check into the hospital. She is in good spirits and we hope to go home in the morning.

Monday, October 18, 2004 7:41 PM CDT

Well, today ended up with a trip to the emergency room. Isabella woke up from her nap really early and felt so hot. I took her temperature and it was 101, so I waited 30 minutes and took it again and it was slightly higher so I called the doctor. They sent us to the ER for blood counts and to see if they could find the source of infection. We spent a few hours there with all the usual tests run on Isabella. They ultimately decided to infuse her with antibiotics and eventually we were on our way home. Fortunately we did not have to spend the night in the hospital. We were home in time for her white blood cell treatment and a quick dinner and then Isabella zonked out! Hopefully she'll get some rest this evening and feel better in the morning.

Monday, October 18, 2004 10:41 AM CDT

Good Morning All!

I hope everyone enjoyed a nice weekend. It was very low key at the Chapman house, just enjoying fun time with Izzy. The highlight of Izzy's weekend was her visit to Target, particularly the toy section. It was so cute. She roamed up and down the aisles saying "ooooooh" at all the fun things she saw. Needless to say, she was a big hit at Target. Many people comment that their child didn't have hair for such a long time when they see her baldness. Most of the time we just smile, but sometimes we tell people it's from the chemo treatments. The look on their face is so sad though and you can tell they just feel so bad, we don't like to make them feel bad so most of the time we just say we hope she gets some hair soon.

On the medical front, in the week that Isabella was without a central line, she developed an allergy to the bandage (tegaderm) used to cover it up. We only discovered this by noticing the awful oozing rash around her new central line site. We were very worried about it and took her to the AFLAC Cancer clinic to visit our favorite nurse Erika. Erika suggested that we switch to a different bandage and gave us an antiobiotic cream to use to help it to heal. She also gave us this stretchy cover to use to keep Isabella from pulling at her line and her now infected chest, which of course is very itchy and Isabella constantly pulls at it. We call the stretchy thing Isabella's bra! It works really well though. Nurse Erika is so good to Isabella. She is constantly thinking of things to help her.

This week we will have the usual regimen of blood counts twice a week and neupogen infusions (white blood cell generation) every day. We also have to change her bandage every day until her infection heals.

On the Izzy front, she has started to play "pretend" and it is so cute to watch. She has a kitchen set with a pot and pan and she pretends to stir things in the pot. She also takes the little utensils and pretends to eat from the spoon and drink from the cup. Sometimes I wonder if she's really hungry and thirsty and here I am just laughing at her "pretending" to eat and drink! She also likes to pretend to clean. When I get out the broom or the swiffer, she runs up to it and wants to push it all around the house. She also likes to hijack the dish towels from the kitchen and walk around the house "cleaning" everything in site. I may just put her to work with a sponge and some non toxic cleaning supplies! She officially has her two front teeth. They are sort of crooked and scraggly but they are there and she uses them to bite, especially mommy! We tell her "no, no" but that seems to have the opposite effect. She likes to walk around the house saying "no,no" to all the things she shouldn't do.

That's all for today. We finished decorating for Halloween and Isabella has been walking around the house all morning saying "ooooh, puh, puh" which means, oooh, I love the pumpkins!! A girl after my own heart :-)

Thursday, October 14, 2004 10:16 AM CDT

What a long week this has been. Isabella had surgery on Monday to replace her central line. After surgery we were checked into the hospital. Isabella's line didn't do as well this time. We had some issues with bleeding and the site is very irritated. We are now changing the dressing every day in the hopes of avoiding an infection. Monday night she started chemo in the hospital. It wasn't started until late so we were all up most of the night. Because the chemo wasn't started until late Monday, we had to wait until Tuesday evening to start the next round of chemo. We decided that even though we would be at the hospital until late, it would be better to go home then spend another sleepless night in the hospital. Tuesday night Isabella didn't sleep really well and was crying out a lot in her sleep, so we brought her into bed with us. She and I slept but Cliff didn't fare as well. Every time Isabella would roll over, he would wake up with either her feet or hands in his face! She moves around a lot when she sleeps!

Wednesday we were back at the AFLAC Clinic for the third day of chemo. Again, we couldn't start treatments until the late afternoon so we all hung out at the clinic. We did get a chance to meet with Isabella's doctor to discuss what the next steps are. Isabella will complete her fourth round of chemo in 21 days. Once that treatment is complete, they will wait about two weeks for her counts to go up. Once they go up we will go in for a CT scan and a tumor scan. The surgeons will then review the results of the scans and determine if she is ready for surgery. If the tumor is small enough then she will have surgery shortly thereafter. She will probably be in the hospital for the better part of a week. The surgery is major and will involve moving around some major organs so it will be rough on her little body. Knowing Isabella, I am sure she won't be out of steam for long! Four to six weeks following the surgery she will have another round of scans to document if any of the tumor remains. With this tumor, they only need to remove about 60f it to feel good about it. Obviously they will try to remove as much as possible but if it happens to be wrapped around the aorta or spine, they will not go near those areas and will leave it as it is. From that point, she will have scans every 3 months for one year. After that she will go to scans every 6 months for several years and then eventually down to one scan a year. At some point in her life, they will probably stop scanning her so frequently, but I think that is years away.

If the tumor is not small enough, she will undergo another phase of chemo. At this point we don't know if that will include four more rounds of chemo. The scan will really give us a clear picture of where we stand with everything. They are doing a urine test right now that will give a small indication of how the tumor is doing but we won't have those results for at least a week and it's not really an extremely accurate test.

Today we are home and we don't have any chemo treatments but Isabella is on 24 hours of IV fluids. Somebody has to follow her around with an IV bag and pump until 6:30 pm tonight! She is probably like, hello, can I get some space people, stop following me around! Tonight we also start up with the white blood cell treatments again. That is a daily infusion that takes about an hour. We will do that until her white blood cell counts rebound, which last time took about two weeks.

So as you can see, it has been a pretty rough week for all of us. The good news is that Isabella is in really good spirits. We celebrated her first birthday last weekend and she had so much fun. She got some nice new toys and is enjoying those too. We also turned my office into a playroom for her and she loves it! I share a corner of the room so now I have a fairy princess office complete with a puppet theater and fairy princess tent. What more could a girl ask for!

Monday, October 4, 2004 12:52 AM CDT

Well, if we ever had any doubts about Isabella's determination, she definitely made it very clear this weekend. The little rascal actually managed to pull out her central line, the one that was surgically inserted into her body when she first started her treatments. The amazing thing is that she never cried out or gave any indication of being in pain. I discovered it when changing her diaper. So it was off to the emergency room we went, but because the line was completely out, they delayed surgery for a week. The good news is that Isabella is free all week from any nurse visits and she is able to take fun baths with the tub filled high with water!

She will have surgery Monday and then a round of chemo. We will spend the night in the hospital Monday night and then have chemo again on Tuesday at the hospital then go home. We will go to the clinic on Wednesday for one more round of chemo. Next week is shaping up to be quite a week!

Thursday, September 23, 2004 4:31 PM CDT

Below is a letter that is being distributed to more than 300 civic leaders in an effort to raise funding for the Children's Hospital in Atlanta. The letter was authored by Joe Rogers, a close friend of Isabella's grandfather Don Chapman, and features Isabella's story as told by her grandfather. I thought you all might enjoy the letter.

September 20, 2004

Dear Sir/Madam:

Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta was created 6½ years ago and is launching a $300 million+ expansion of Egleston and Scottish Rite. Why? Because we’re full, in fact overflowing. Also, we now have an understanding with Grady to bring the Hughes Spalding Children’s Hospital into Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Actually completing this deal will depend upon state, county and community support.

The new reality will have all of Atlanta’s pediatric hospitals in one organization striving for world class excellence in teaching, research and clinical care. Is this important to you? It is to Don Chapman, one of Children’s trustees and one of Atlanta’s most civic minded citizens. Listen to his story.

“I was honored when asked to join the Board of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Its reputation for providing exceptional health care for our smallest citizens made me want to learn as much as possible about what the services were and more about our exceptional staff.

I had no idea how soon my entire family would learn about these things “up close and personal.” In mid-August our precious granddaughter, Isabella Florence Chapman, aged 10 months was visiting her extended family in Italy with her parents, Tiffany and Cliff Chapman. A low grade fever and some tenderness took them to an excellent Italian physician who wisely decided to do a scan. He found what he thought was a mass and Cliff, Tiffany and Isabella returned to the U.S.A. at once and after a brief stop at her pediatrician was sent to Scottish Rite.

Now those concerned faces that I had seen in the waiting rooms on my tours belonged to my own family.

The caring and professional staff did the tests and delivered the shocking news. Precious Isabella did have a mass and exploratory surgery by a team led by Dr. Bradley George confirmed that the mass was Neuroblastoma. We’ve begun chemo that we pray and believe will lead to a full recovery. On the other hand, watching a ten month old wiggle while being fed chemo is a very difficult thing for parents and grandparents to watch.

We’ve experienced what all cancer family members feel. Fear, anger, questions and frustrations.

The one positive constant after our faith has been the caring, friendly and very professional staff at Scottish Rite.

Our education about Scottish Rite is not complete, but when we speak to people about our experience there it will be from a new respectful and thankful perspective.”

When a child needs care, there is no time to create a health care system – it has to be there for you and others. Over the years, many have generously invested in Egleston, Hughes Spalding and Scottish Rite, ensuring Atlanta would have a great children’s hospital system. Today, our needs and opportunities are greater than ever and because we believe Children’s is Atlanta’s most deserving asset, I’m asking for your support.

Please join our Circle of Care for an annual contribution of $10,000. We want Children’s to be the best it can be for you, your loved ones and everyone in this community. We need your support.

Sincerely,

Joe W. Rogers, Jr.
Chairman
Waffle House, Inc.

Chairman
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Board of Trustees

Sunday, September 19, 2004 10:00 AM CDT

It is such a beautiful day here today, we plan on going outside and having some fun! This round of chemo has been a little more difficult for Isabella and we are looking forward to having a nice day. She completed chemo on Thurday. On Friday we had to start infusion treatments at home to help her generate white blood cells (about a 40 minute process that we will have to do daily until the next round of chemo). By late Friday night she had a fever so we had to take her to the emergency room. They infused her with fluids and two different antibiotics. We finally made it home around 4:30 a.m. The funny thing was that it was midnight and we're at the hospital and Isabella is waving at everyone and laughing and smiling. It was the middle of the night for her and she thought we had taken her on some sort of adventure! She never ceases to amaze me. We've been keeping an eye on her for fever and so far so good. She is really starting to lose her appetite and it is difficult to get her to eat very much. She is even passing on her bottle sometimes, which isn't like her. We're doing all that we can to pack as many nutrients into a few small bites.

When we were at the hospital they did her blood counts and the good news is that her white blood cell count was going up, which means the treatment is working! With cold and flu season right around the corner, we need to make sure she stays healthy and can fight off infection.

That's all for today, I hope you all enjoy a nice Sunday with your family!

Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:48 AM CDT

One more quick message. We recently found out that Isabella's tumor is "non-amplified." That was the final test result we had been waiting for and we are so excited about the good news. This means that Isabella will continue with the course of chemo that she is currently on and the side effects will be manageable. Great news!

Thursday, September 16, 2004 10:37 AM CDT

Good Day Friends,

Hopefully most of you are not feeling the bad effects of Hurricane Ivan. We hope you are all safe and sound.

Today Isabella is receiving her second round of chemotherapy. We are at the AFLAC Cancer Center and will be here all day. Fortunately, it is a one day treatment. Isabella is doing well so far. She did lose all of her hair this past weekend. It was sad to see it all go and it's the first time we've ever seen her bald! She has had a full head of hair since she was born. We are getting used to her new look and think she looks cute as Miss Peach Fuzz 2004!

Her white blood cell counts continue to be very low so starting tomorrow she will start a daily regimen of IV medicine to increase those counts. With cold and flu season around the corner she will be particularly suceptible to infection so her immune system needs all the help it can get.

For now she is still in great spirits. She learned to offically walk this week and has been non-stop ever since. She is toddling all over the place and getting into everything. She is still very happy and playful and has no idea that anything is wrong with her. She was weighed this morning and has even gained a few ounces, which is also good. Her next chemo treatment will take place a few days after her first birthday.

Hopefully this round of chemo won't be too hard on her. Knowing Isabella, she'll be running around regardless. Thank you for continuing to support us with your thoughts and prayers. Until next time, say a little prayer for the Mighty Miss Isabella!

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Thank you everyone for the steady stream of emails and prayers. We really appreciate everything you are doing to support us.

We are home now. Isabella completed her first round of chemotherapy on Saturday. She wasn't feeling too well this weekend but has since perked up and is playing and having fun. We actually think she is teething, which takes a while for her, so stay tuned for the appearance of some new teeth.

We received news that the bone marrow has also come back clear, so that is great news. We are still waiting on the results of one more test that predicts the level of aggressiveness of the tumor. We return to the doctor this Friday for blood counts which will be an indicator of her risk of infection.

There are some links on this page to two activities being organized in honor of Isabella. The first is a golf tournament being held October 12 here in Atlanta. The other is donations made in Isabella's name to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. We appreciate those of you who are supporting these causes, and any other pediatric cancer foundations. Please do not feel obligated to do any of these things, we appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

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