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Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dana had scans this past Monday and everything looked great. The doctor is pleased and the next event is blood test in May and scans in August.
She did have some blood drawn at the doctor on Wednesday and we will find out the results on Monday.
Doug
PS The blood test results are in and could not be any better. Woo-hoo!! Next test will be in May and scans again in August.
Monday, November 12, 2007 9:52 AM CST
New blood tests are in and her AFP is 2. Yet another sterling test passed.
Next Feb. we will do scans since we are pretty much on a 6 month scan schedule.
Thanksfor checking in.
Doug
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
It has been a busy and exciting summer for us. Dana just got back from Camp Quality and we got a clean bill of health frim her oncologist today! The next blood test will be in November and the next set of scans will be in February. That seems like a long time away but it will be here in no time.
Adam had fun at his basketball camp and Molly is this close (holding my thumb and pointy finger just barely apart) to getting out of diapers. She has learned, however, to put her arm floaties on and swim all by herself in the pool. It makes taking the kids swimming a whole lot easier.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Friday, May 18, 2007
We have had a busy spring. Dana turned 9 in April and the pic above shows one of her presents (a Webkins). Dana has been taking piano and is in a play at church.
We have had no medical events since our last update. We do a blood test in June and if that is ok, we will have scans in August. It should be a low key summer - medically anyway.
Adam has (finally) learned to ride his bike without training wheels and Molly has taken up a three-wheel scooter to get around. Adam will "graduate" from Kindergarten in a couple of weeks and Molly wraps up her pre-school next week. We are all looking forward to sleeping late for a while.
We will be going to Florida for a week of Sun-N-Fun in Fort Lauderdale in June.
Dana will be doing several camps this summer including Camp Quality (her favorite) in July.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Dana had her scans last Wednesday and everything turned out perfectly. No sign of tumors. She had her blood test this past week and her AFP is now below 1. It has never been that low and we are relieved and very thankful that her tests came out just right.
We will do more blood testing in June and more scans in August right before she starts 4th grade. As long as her tests come out as well as they have been, the interval between testing will get longer and longer. When will we ever not test? I really don't know. But, I am looking forward to that day.
Dana's St. Baldrick's team (Dana's Dynamite) is raising $$ to fight children's cancer. Her school is hosting a St. Baldrick's event this Wednesday. Lot's of brave kids will be shaving their heads in support.
Jennifer and Nicki Sitlinger started the St. b's event this year and have done tons of work to make it a success. We'll let you know.
Thanks,
Doug, Jennifer, Dana, Adam, Molly, Newman (cat) and Flo (fish)
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
I realize it has been awhile since we updated. Fortunately, there has not been much medical activity for Dana. In the last several weeks, we have all been sick or injured in some form or fashion. Dana and Adam caught the flu. Dana missed an entire week of school and Adam missed a couple of days. Molly got yet another ear infection and we learned that one of her tubes has fallen out and will probably have to be reinserted. Joy.
Jennifer and I have battled a persistent cold and a basketball induced knee injury. Even with all this, it is still better than being healthy and watching Dana go through her treatment. I didn't put all this in to begin a pity party, just an update with a pinch of perspective.
My cousin Jennifer Ireland( www.jenniferireland.blogs.com )
is not doing well and her family has conceded that she will not be with us much longer. She has fought as long as she could and they are keeping her as comfortable as possible. I encourage you to check out her website and say a special prayer for her family in what will be a very difficult next few weeks.
I will post new pictures when I can.
Dana is having another St. Baldrick's team this year. On Wednesday, March 14th her school will host a St. Baldricks event. Please come by or for the bravest of you, get your head shaved!! www.stbaldricks.org
Thanks for checking up on us.
Doug
Monday, December 18, 2006
We got our christmas present early this year. Dana's AFP remains at 2 and our next event is a PET/CT in February. It will be nice going through the holidays practically worry free.
We are plugging along nicely and the kids are enjoying not getting up at 7 AM. They are nice enough to let us sleep until 7:15 when they get up and going.
My cousin Jennifer Ireland has had a setback in her treatment and they have traveled from KC to Baylor, TX to seek further treatment. Please keep them in your prayers.
Merry Christmas,
Doug, Jennifer, Dana, Adam and Molly ( and Newman)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Happy Halloween!! We got back last night from our Dream Factory trip to Disney World. We had a blast. The weather was perfect, the trip went very smoothly and we are now recovering from our vacation.
It started with a limo ride to the airport. I think that was Dana's favorite ride
After getting the rental car and our luggage, we went to the Village and checked in to our villa. We were in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath place that was perfect for our stay.
Day 1 included a trip to the Magic Kingdom during the day and back to the Village for "Christmas" with Santa and Mrs. Claus. At Disney World, we rode all the good rides and saw many entertaining shows. Because we were on a Dream Factory trip, whoever was in Dana's group got to go to the front of the line on every ride. What an unbelievable advantage to have at Disney World! That one feature of our trip saved dozens of hours over the course of the whole trip. I miss that already.
Day 2 started with a character breakfast at the Polynesian Resort. The kids saw Lilo and Stitch, Mickey and Pluto while they ate. They loved it. Then it was on to Disney/MGM. More exciting rides and shows. Dana rode on her first upside down roller coaster (several times) and Adam and Molly saw their favorite characters.
Day 3 took us to Epcot and all the cool rides there. Spaceship Earth, Mission Space, Soarin', GM Test Track, you get the drift.
On Day 4 we went back to the Magic Kingdom for face painting and rides that we wanted to do again (and again) ot stuff we could not do the first day.
The last day we stayed at the Give Kids the World Village for ice cream, horseback riding, and various forms of mayhem.
The village I referred to is a place built just for kids. The tables are short, the ice cream and popcorn is free, and the staff does not accept parental input. They just ask the kids what they want. Swimming, train rides, Disney characters come over all the time to see the kids,
etc. I will put a link at the bottom of this update. I highly encourage you to check it out.
The Dream Factory of Louisville provided the airline tickets, limo ride and passes to Disney world. We can't thank them enough for sponsoring us for this trip.
Dana does not have scans until February so we now jump back into our regular lives again.
Thank you for checking in.
doug
Saturday, October 7, 2006
The results of Dana's PET/CT and blood test are in:
Excellent!! Her scan appears clean and her AFP level is 2.1, which is down from 3 last time.
Whew!! Now she has been off chemo for a year and we will meet this Wednesday with her oncologist to map out her near-term medical future. We are expecting similar testing, but at longer intervals. The first time she went through this, we experienced the same emotions so we are certainly not convinced she is permanently "cured" of cancer. Her relapse occured at 3 1/2 years after her original diagnosis.
Speaking of this Wednesday, Adam will turn 6 yrs old. He is doing great in Kindergarten and has the same teacher Dana had. I put on my finest UPS polyester and went to talk to his class about airplanes. The kids were suitably impressed.
Molly is doing well in her 2 day a week preschool. She still gets a little upset when Jennifer drops her off, but she rebounds nicely and when we pick her up, she always says she had fun.
Jennifer and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary last month by going on a long Las Vegas weekend. Thanks so much to our parents and Nancy for shepherding the kids during our stay. I would tell you more about Vegas, but, as you know, what happens there stays there.
This coming weekend we will all go to Memphis and celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday. Albert Ivar Velander (my dad's dad) was born in 1916 and still has many auspicious (sp?) yarns to spin.
And in even more travel news, We will be going on Dana's Dream Factory trip later this month. We will provide a full report after we get back and maybe a few updates while we are there. Stay tuned.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Happy Birthday Molly!! The Wee One is no longer 1, she is now 2.
The above picture is Dana and Adam on their first day of school this year. Dana is in 3rd grade and Adam is in Kindergarten. They are readjusting to getting up at 7 am again and doing fine.
Dana does not have another medical event until October 4th. Adam turns six on October 11th. He will be one of the oldest in his grade.
Molly will start two days per week pre-school next week.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Dana's AFP came back at 3! This is very good and now we have nothing medically until October.
Dana and Adam had fun last week at Camp Hi-Ho. They were there every day from 9 am until 3 pm. Of course it was the hottest week of the year and they came back everyday smelling like they had working in a field all day. They had a great time and are looking forward to going next year.
Dana is going to Camp Quality next week and she will be there for 5 days and nights. That will be the longest she has been away from us in her whole life. The camp is for current or former cancer patients and she claims to be looking forward to it. We'll see when it is time to get on the bus.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, July 8, 2006
The results from Dana's PET/CT were very good. Still clean as a whistle and now we await the results of her AFP blood test. We went to clinic yesterday and the docs said she looks great and not to come back for three more months.
We're still having a busy summer with swimming, tennis and all-around mayhem.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Happy Flag Day! We all had a great time in Ft. Lauderdale last week. Lots of sunning and swimming and beaching. The kids did a great job on all the flights to and from, but they are happy to get back and see their friends.
One of the highlights of the trip was taking Dana and Adam parasailing. They each hopped right into the harness beside me and and the boat pulled us way up into the air. We went a couple of hundred feet in the air for about 10 minutes and the kids spent most of that time looking for a shark. Of course, we saw none, but saw a lot of the skyline and airplanes right above us.
Dana is still doing very well. Our next medical event is a PET/CT on July 3 and normal clinic visit following that.
Adam has really taken to swimming this summer. All those lessons and encouragement paid off.
Molly is growing like a weed and learning new words all the time.
We are were sad to learn about the death of our friend Will Poteet-Berndt. He fought leukemia both here in Louisville and at St. Jude in Memphis. He surprised the doctors by fighting as long as he did after they went him home.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
I'll put pictures up tomorrow.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
It has been a long time since we have updated, but that is because everything is going great. School is almost over and it has been a really good year. Dana has enjoyed her time with her teacher, friends, and all of her activities.
She is now rehearsing for the play Annie. She is in the play with a group called K.A.A.C (kids acting against cancer.) They are high school kids that do special things for the kids in 7west (cancer floor of Kosair Hospital.) The play will be Saturday May 27 at 2:00 at the Ursuline campus near Sacred Heart High School.
Our St. Baldrick's team raised a total of $6,370.00, thank you for your donations. Please continue to pray for Dana's health, as we have several friends that have passed away, and others going through extremely difficult times. Our friends Hanna and Will need lots of prayers and a miracle. Doug's cousin Jennifer has come through a tough surgery and is doing good.
We will update with our summer plans in a few weeks.
The picture above is Dana and Adam and her chick they hatched in her classroom. We got to keep it for four days.
Caringbridge.org/ky/will
Caringbridge.org/ky/hanna
jenniferireland.blogs.com
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Dana had a great 8th birthday today. Yesterday, she had 10 of her closest girlfriends over for a game show, cake and the opening of presents. See the photo section for a cool picture.
Today, family and friends come over after church for more showering of gifts. Good times were had by all and the kids were plenty worn out by the end of the day.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Friday, April 21, 2006
Dana's blood test came back with excellent results last week. Her AFP is still 2 and our next medical adventure will be in late June for more scans and bloodwork.
We interrupt your internet surfing for an important announcement:
Dana's PET/CT showed no change from last time!! This is great news and the official beginning to our Spring Break vacation. We will be going to Florida for some sun and R&R (maybe more sun then R&R) tomorrow and knowing Dana is still in good health makes it that much more pleasant.
We will go back for a regular checkup after we get back and learn more about her medical plan then.
Team Dana's dynamite raised over $5,000 for St. Baldricks. That surpassed our goal and we are very happy. Thanks again to all who donated and to all those brave enough to lop off their hair.
Thank you for checking in and we will be back in a little while.
Doug
Now back to regularly scheduled programming.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
We had a great time at St. Baldricks today. Thanks to everyone who attended and especially to the shavees we were brave enough to lose their hair on a very cool March day.
Dana and I might be on TV tonight. FOX-41 here in Louisville did an impromptu interview with us and they said it will probably be on the news tonight. Yee-hah.
When we figure out the final totals and other info from St. Baldricks, we'll post it here.
Thanks,
Doug
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
We're all gussied up in this picture because we went to the Kosair Hospital Foundation's Evening with the Great Chefs. It's an annual fundraiser that is a lot of fun and makes a significant chunk o' change for the Foundation. From left to right is me (Gemini), Jennifer (Gemini), Dana (Taurus) , Dianna and Dave (my Sagitarius mom and Capricorn dad).
Dana has been doing great as of late. One thing she is doing is helping out for St. Baldricks by having a team of brave volunteers to get their heads shaved on March 19th. I've put the link below to view Dana's team (Dana's Dynamite) and all the info about it. Her classmate and friend Derek Holland will be getting his head shaved. Pretty gutsy for a 7 yr. old. Thanks Derek!
Adam and Molly continue to do well in school and in general. Adam is starting to read and do basic math. He starts Kindergarten this fall. Molly is learning all new words and ways to mumble. She understands and follows directions unusually well. We'll see how long that lasts.
My cousin Jennifer Ireland is in KC and doing well in her fight with cancer. Her blood tumor marker test continues to improve and she hopes to have the tumor surgically removed whenever possible.
1000 pardons for going too long between updates.
Doug
Wednesday, February 1, 2006
I took Dana to the doctor yesterday for a routine blood test and everything appears normal. Several of the indicators are the best I've seen them since ending chemo last September. We (as if I got a needle put in my arm) also drew blood for an AFP test. We won't know for a few days. ***** UPDATE: Her AFP is 2!! This is very good!!**********
Her next important scan will be March 29th followed by a normal clinic visit a couple of weeks later. Almost two months off from the docs. We could get used to this.
Dana is right back in the swing of things. She is taking gymnastics, afterschool Spanish, and will be in a play put on by KAAC (Kids Acting Against Cancer). I thought KAAC should stand for Kids Always Asking for Candy. Ha ha!
Adam does gymnastics at the same time as Dana and does really well. He has no fear and once he sees a tumble or a cartwheel (one handed, even!), he says "ok" and does it.
Molly is getting into her yelling stage. She has something she wants to say, but she can't get it out, so she screams at the top of her lungs. Adorable.
Continue to pray for Will Poteet-Berndt. He is home in Louisville and continues his fight against Leukemia.
www.caringbridge.org/ky/will
We were sorry to learn about the death of our freind Miriam Eswine. She and Dana were on a TV report together several months back and Miriam lost her battle with cancer. She was 14.
www.caringbridge.org/in/miriameswine
My cousin Jennifer Ireland is in Kansas City beginning her chemotherapy in hopes that the tumor will be operable after a few rounds of chemo.
www.jenniferireland.blogs.com
Thanks for checking in and I will put up new pictures soon.
Doug
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Well, we have had a great Christmas break. We started off by a trip to Memphis for Doug's cousin Lindsey's wedding, and had fun at the hotel with a pool. The kids had a great week doing things with their friends and also the good news form Dana's test results. Dana did handbells and she and Adam both sang in the choir at church Christmas Eve. Christmas was crazy, but in a wonderful way. This time last year we were in the hospital. We thought we would give you a run down of the past year (well, actually 13 months since Dana was diagnosed in November 2004. Here it is:
number of surgeries...............................6
number of days outpatient at hospital....25
number of days in the hospital(overnight)........79
number of blood transfusions......................3
number of doctor visits....................over 100
number of days of school missed............over 100
cycles of chemo..................................11
prayers for Dana...........................millions
Dana being healthy........................priceless
We will not be updating for a while since all is well and uneventful. Please keep a few of our friends in your prayers, Will and Miriam, who need peace and comfort for their families for the difficult time ahead. Doug's cousin Jennifer Ireland has just been diagnosed with cancer, she is 26 and has two small girls. And as always pray for Dana's continued health.
Jennifer and Doug
Friday, December 23, 2005
We got our Christmas present early this year. Dana had a PET/CT done yesterday and they do not detect any "recurrence of disease." Coupling this with her last AFP (2), she is in great shape medically and we now have no doctor's visit until February. Whew!
Merry Christmas to all and we will update again after the new year.
Also please say a special prayer for Miriam, Will, and another friend who we recently found has had a relapse, her name is Loan.
Doug
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
We learned today that Dana's AFP test taken last week was 2. For those not in the know, that is very good. Last year when we learned about Dana's relapse, her AFP was 35. We hope it stays below 15 for the rest of her life as it is a very good indication of her type of cancer.
Doug
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Jennifer took Dana to clinic yesterday and everything about her blood test appears to be normal. They had to wait a loooong time to see the doc, but Dana was in a good mood and that makes for an easier wait.
Our next important event is a PET/CT on the 22nd of this month. That is a very detailed scan inside her lungs and abdomen. Assuming that is all normal, we are off until February.
It is supposed to snow a bunch in Louisville today and the kids are looking forward to it. This will be Molly's first snow that she can enjoy. Enjoy the snow and continue to pray for Dana and our cancer friends.
Thanks
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Friday, December 2, 2005
Nothing medical to update. Dana got her ears pierced yesterday with her friend Emily Lintner. When it was done, they did both ears at the same time and Dana is thrilled. She got her birthstone (diamonds) put in. Are they real diamonds? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.
Adam and Molly are doing fine and looking forward to Christmas at home this year.
Our hearts go out to Will Poteet-Berndt and his family. Apparently, his leukemia is getting more aggressive and the doctors say he does not have much longer to live. He is a brave 2 year old boy who should not have to be going through this, especially this time of year. His dad is the owner of the "super cool" (his words) My Gym that we have been going to for years and will as Molly gets older.
We also just found out that another cancer friend has also gotten devastating news that her cancer is spreading and they don't know what to do. It does not look like a long future for MIriam either. This is quite heartbreaking. Please pray for strength and peace for their family.
Caringbridge.org/ky/will
Caringbridge.org/in/miriameswine
Jennifer
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Happy Thanksgiving.
We have had a great Thanksgiving, even though Doug has been out of town for work (UPS pilot). We have had a huge family day. For those of you who don't know Dana was diagnosed last November (the first time was right before she turned three). She started her chemo the day after Thanksgiving last year, so this has been a much better holiday. We thank God for our family and friends who have helped us though a tough year, but we especially thank God for Dana's health. Dana has scans again in December so please continue to pray for her and for good results.
We need extra prayers for our friend Will,who is going through a relapse and they are not sure of the treatment to come. Also for our friend Miriam as she has just started radiation for her relapse, and thankfully our friend Laurel has had clean scans this month.
Jennifer
-the picture is Dana, Adam ,Molly and cousins Willow, Mirabel, and Lincoln.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
It has been medically boring around our house, thank goodness. Dana is doing well in school, Adam is having a blast and Molly keeps drooling. 1000 pardons for not putting up anything in a while, but we're just about back to normal.
Dana does not go back for a checkup until Dec. 7th and no scans until the 20th. Outstanding.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
The picture is Adam, Lincoln, Willow, Mirabel, Dana and Molly at an after-church lunch last Sunday.
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Yesterday Dana had a chest CT and we got the results today. There are no detectable nodules and the scar tissue that they noticed last time had decreased in size. A double dose of good news. We have no medical event (that we know of) for Dana until Dec. 7th. Last November was the beginning of the most recent episode and we can now take this November off.
The kids had fun tricking and treating. We are still enjoying their largesse and I am making sure that any fun size Snickers or Resse's Cups that don't look quite right are appropriately disposed of. (Grin)
We are still praying for our freinds Will and Miriam as they continue to go through tough times.
Now, where's my glass of milk......
Doug
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Nothing new with Dana, thank goodness. This is a quick note to remind everybody in the Louisville area that there is a car wash co-owned by some friends of ours whose daughter was going through cancer treatment at Kosair about the same time we were and they are giving a significant percentage of proceeds this week (thurough Saturday) to Kosair. The name of the car wash is Auto Wash USA and it is located at 12931 Shelbyville Road in Middletown. It is just inside the Gene Snyder on Shelbyville Rd. It is directly behind Wendy's (mmm spicy chicken sandwich).
Auto Wash USA has two automatic drive through bays and two self-service power washing bays. They also have vacuums and other car cleaning accoutrements (stuff).
Jay and Cheryl Dortch are co-owners and their daughter Laurel battled cancer this past winter and spring like Dana did. Laurel is in the first grade this year at the same school as Dana, but at a different campus and is doing very well medically. Like Dana, they just finished treatment and will be monitoring her very closely.
I have put a picture of a billboard advertising the carwash in the photo section.
Thanks and enjoy clean cars this week and help Kosair.
Doug
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Dana has adjusted to "non-medical" life quite well. The site where her line was is healing nicely and she will be taking advantage of a short school week by going swimming this Thursday. There is no school for her that day and we will be hitting an indoor pool for some overdue water activities.
We apologize for not updating sooner. Adam and Molly are enjoying school and Molly is really starting to develop her own personality and characteristics. She's a barrel of fun.
We are enjoying being back in the monitoring phase of Dana's life, but we are under no illusions that she is done with this forever. We will keep checking her using scans and blood tests.
Thank you all for your concern, your prayers and your support. We could not have done this without family and friends to lift us up when we needed it. Please continue to pray for Dana to remain cancer free for the rest of her life.
Also remember Will Poteet-Berndt and his family. They will soon have to make a tough choice between a harsh treatment or no treatment at all. They really do need a miracle.
Doug
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
A quick update this afternoon. Dana got her line out this morning. She is very happy to be done with that.
Our next clinic visit is Nov. 2nd. Yes, that's 3 weeks from now.
We will expand further, but we are getting ready to celebrate Adam's 5th Bday tonight. What a day.
Doug
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
We found out today(thursday) Dana will have surgery to have her line removed Tuesday OCt. 11.
We saw Dr. Bertolone today and he was a fountain of good news. Dana's AFP is 3 (excellent), the surgeons will call us very soon to schedule the removal of her line ASAP (very good), and we need not go back to clinic until... November 2nd (outstanding)!!
The next set of scans will be over the Christmas holidays. That way, she won't miss as much school and Dr. B. says they are not necessary until then.
Adam turns 5 next Tuesday and is feverishly counting the days. Molly is doing as well as any snotty 13 month old can be doing.
Dana, Adam, and Molly got some good news yesterday, too. Their new cousin Lincoln Vincent Noltemeyer was born yesterday evening. Jennifer's brother Kyle and his wife Hilary are proud of their new son.
We'll update again when we learn more about getting Dana's line out.
Doug
Please pray for our friend Will and his family. They are waiting for very important test results
Friday, September 30, 2005
We got a call this morning from one of the nurses (which is good because nurses call with good news - doctors call with not so good news) saying that the preiliminary results indicate Dana's scan was completely normal. "Perfect" is the exact word she used. As far as they can tell, she is cancer free!!
We go see Dr. Bertolone this Wed. and talk about getting her line out, setting up hearing and kidney tests (to see if the chemo did any damage) and how we will monitor Dana in the near and long-term future.
Will this ever come back? Neither we nor the doctors know. We thought we had beaten this back in '01 only to see it return 3 1/2 years later.
Her counts were checked yesterday and everything is very good. She will celebrate by spending the night at her good friend Emmalee's house tonight.
We'll update next week after we talk to the doc. Have a good weekend.
Doug
PS The man in the picture is one of Dana's favorite nurses, Bob. Dana would almost always ask for Bob when she knew we were going to Kosair for inpatient treatment.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I took Dana to the clinic this past Monday for counts and they were outstanding. In fact, they were so good that we have stopped her immune system boosting shots and don't have any medical event until the 29th!!
That will be 10 days off. I'm not sure what we are going to do with ourselves. She is considered "recovered" from her last round of chemo and we will do the scan on the 29th, doctor visit on Oct. 5th, get that dastardly line out soon after and get on with the rest of her life.
Neither we nor the doctors know if she is done with this forever. Only time will tell. The odds are in her favor, but we have been there before.
Tune in next week - same bat-time, same bat-channel.
Doug
Thursday, September 15, 2005
We took Dana to the doctor yesterday for counts and talked to Dr. Bertolone for a while. Her counts and all bloodwork are great and she is back in school being a normal 2nd grader.
Sept. 29th is the next big event. That will be a pet/ct and assuming that and her AFP blood tests are normal, we go back to clinic Oct. 5th and discuss taking her central line out and the road map for her future.
Dana feels great, looks mah-velous and can't wait to go swimming somewhere once we get her line taken out. Anywhere. We'll have to find an indoor pool, but that is but a small obstacle.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, September 10, 2005 7:17 PM CDT
WE DID IT!!!
We have had a busy week of spending Tuesday thru today at the hospital from about 8:30 am until 1:00. Dana's counts have been pretty good and she has only been sick a few times. Last night was her end of chemo party given by the hospital. It is a night that Dana got to choose her dinner and she picked Chick-fil-A. The dinner is for our family and the Drs. and nurses to say good bye and for all the kids on 7 West (oncology floor.) We also invited our friend Laurel Dortch who has gone thru chemo the same time as Dana and is in the picture above. She goes to Christian Academy also but the other campus. Dana had a great time at her dinner and we were happy to see all our favorite nurses even Bob came from E-town and he was not even working yesterday.
Today we got up and Dana and Doug headed to the hospital around 8:30. At 10:00 they were starting her blood work. Unfortunately when her counts came back they were extremely low. They like for her ANC (immune system) to be above 1000 to do chemo and Dana's had dropped to 350, an all time low for Dana. Therefore, Dana was sent home without her last day of chemo. So we are offically finished forever. I guess we were done yesterday, we just did not know it at the time. They decided she will not have this dose aat a later time so that is that. Her body is just worn out and will take a while to recover, but we started her shots today and that will help. We don't know when we will get back to school, but hopefully by the end of the week. We will still have several doctor appointments a week and scans in a few weeks. Please pray her scans are clean and then we will work on getting her central line out. We will update again soon.
Jennifer
Tuesday, September 6, 2005
Well, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Today we started our last round of chemo. It will be outpatient and last for five days, so we will end on Saturday. It has been a long 10 months, but Dana has been a real trooper. She has not complained too much, even though she has missed a lot of school, activities and friends. We have gone to school on and off the past few weeks and hopefully in a few more weeks we will be back for good. Next week her counts will be down from the chemo. Please pray all goes well.
We have had a nice weekend hanging around the house. Her counts were low last week so we did not go anywhere this weekend except to the grandparents' house and we played with the kids on the street (outside only). That's about all that's going on here. You will probably hear the shouts of joy mid-day on Saturday when our chemo is unhooked, more updates then.
Jennifer
Friday, September 2, 2005
Well Dana has enjoyed yesterday and today hanging around the house and sleeping in. Her school called at 8:15 to say that two kids had already gone home sick and school was just starting, then another when home later. Our school has been great helping us through this hard time, with the big and small things they have done. Thank you to Mrs.Trusty and Mrs. Hammann for thinking to call before we got there, and a big THANK YOU TO EVERYONE AT CHRISTIAN ACADEMY.
When we did get to the doctor yesterday Dana's hemoglobin and platelets were back in the acceptable range, unfortunately, her counts (immune system) had gone down to 800. Anything below 1000 is too low to go to school or out in public. We will go back to to doctor on Tuesday and if everything is good we will start our last round on Wed. Her counts have to be at least 1000 to start chemo. Keep up the prayers for us and all our friends, especially our friend Will right now. thanks
Jennifer
Monday, August 29, 2005
I took Dana to the clinic for counts and it turns out her platelets are on their way back up! We were worried that we might need a transfusion, but that was not the case today. Her hemoglobin and counts are still stuck in the too low range, but we go back Thursday to check again and maybe get to do our final round next week.
Her hair started to fall out during the last cycle of chemo, but seems to have stopped. Medically it is no big deal, but psychologically, it is big.
Dana is enjoying the 2nd grade and ready to end all of this unpleasantness.
Thanks,
Doug
Friday, August 26, 2005
Today is Molly's 1st birthday and Dana celebrated by going to clinic and NOT having to get a transfusion of blood or platelets. Dana's numbers have been bottoming out and we went today and yesterday prepared to stay the day in the hospital getting a transfusion of either whole blood or platelets. Dana, as usual, confounds the medical-science type people and does not need any of that stuff.
She is scheduled to start her 11th (and final) round of chemo Monday, but we will be delayed to let her body start making platelets on its own. No big deal. We've got nothing but time.
Adam starts his 4 yr. preschool and Molly starts Wed. going one day a week. And there was much rejoicing.
Have a good weekend and we'll post again next week.
Doug
Monday, August 22, 2005
Dana has had a good weekend playing with her friends Emmalee and Savannah on Friday and then we had a family get together on Sunday. On Saturday she was pretty tired and took a long nap that we later paid for because she did not sleep much Saturday night. Our big issue right now is her not sleeping, which means our not sleeping. hopefully this will get better soon.
Her doctor's appt. went well this morning, her counts are good so she got to go to school, but her platelets are dropping pretty fast and so is her hemoglobin. We will be prepared for a blood transfusion on Thursday just in case we need it, we will have our movies with us to watch. Hopefully these will get better soon so we can start our next and last round of chemo on time Monday, but I am beginning to wonder. We will update after our next doctor visit Thursday. Please continue to pray for our friends especially Will during his important time after his bone marrow transplant.
Jennifer
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Hi everyone,
Dana has had a great week for her first week of school. She went the first day and loved it. She could not go Wed. because we were not sure if her counts were high enough, but went to the doctor Thursday morning and her counts were still high (dropping, but not to bad) so she went after the doctor's visit and will be going again Friday. We will go back to the doctor Mon. morning to see how everything is and hopefully go back to school more next week. She loves everything about school and she has a great class. She was not happy about missing Thursday, and was up at 7:00 ready to go,but we went to her have lunch with at her grandmother MiMi's instead.
Pleas continue to pray for Dana and friends going through chemo. Our friend Miriam who we had asked prayers for is doing pretty well. Thanks
Jennifer
Monday, August 15, 2005 1:28 PM CDT
Dana is home from her doctor's visit, and everything looks good. She has had a hard few days and has not felt the greatest. She is looking forward to going to the first day of school on Tuesday. She will probably not be there Wed. because her counts (immune system) are beginning to drop. We will go back to the doctor Thurs. morning and they will check and see if her counts are good and give us an idea when she will be able to go back. She already knows most of the kids in her class and likes her teacher, who she worked with this summer. We will just get there when we can as usual.
Please pray for Dana and our chemo friends, especially Miriam, who is having a major sugery today.
thanks
Jennifer
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
We have had another great weekend. Friday we got to go to our friend Laurel's end of chemo party, it won't be long until it is ours. Then on Saturday Dana got to go to a princess tea party for girls going thru or just finishing chemo. The party was in Elizabethtown at a theater and was really great. The girls got dresses and all kinds of fancy things, and have their makeup put on and their nails painted. She stuck pretty tight with her friends Chloe and Hanna, I will put pictures up later tonight.
Dana is almost finished with her last round of inpatient chemo. When we checked in they listened to her lungs and they sounded a little congested so they were concerned and did a chest x-ray. The results were good, she just had to do breathing tratments on Monday and that brought everything back to normal. She has felt pretty good, and is looking forward to this being her last overnight stay. In about three weeks we will have her last outpatient round and hopefully be finished for good.
Dana is supposed to go to 'back to school' day at school on Friday and start second grade on Tuesday. If her counts are high enough she will get to do these things, if not as usual we will catch up when we can. We are hoping that we will be back to school for good by the second week of September. Please keep Dana and all our chemo. friends in your prayers, we will update this afternoon to report when Dana is home from the hospital.
Jennifer
Saturday, August 6, 2005
Went to the doc Friday and all systems are go for Monday's start of chemo. We will be in the hospital for 3 days and two nights and should be home Wed. afternoon. The next Friday, the 12th, Dana gets to go meet her new teacher and new classmates for 2nd grade. She should start school, as long as she feels ok, on the 16th.
We will have one more round (outpatient) after this one and should be done with chemo. We will, of course, monitor her very closely in the weeks and months and years to come and hope that we don't have to do this anymore.
More from the hospital later.
Doug
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
We have had a great past couple of days!! Yesterday Dana had her doctor's appointment and all of her blood work came back good. Then it was off to the hospital for her hearing test, which was unchanged (that is very good) and GFR (kidney test), we don't know the results yet. Then her big surprise. We went to Ohio to see our good friends to Smiths. Dana and there daughter Brooke have been best friends since birth, but they moved 1 1/2 hours away 2 years ago. We did not mention it to her in advance in case her counts were too low. She and Adam and I had a great time. (in case you are wondering, Doug and Molly stayed home. I think it would have been too much craziness for Molly and too much girl talk/loud kids for Doug.) Today we got up and went to the Newport Aquarium. It was a great day. I called Doug to tell him how fun it was on the way home, but I spoke too soon. About 20 minutes into our ride home Adam said his tummy hurt, we know what that means. Before I could get stopped he was sick--a lot. We got to stop at a gas station in Carrolton, Ky, which I don't even like to go in even if Dana is not going thru chemo. I had to use the hose outside the building to spray down Adam, his car seat, and the floor mat ,along with Dana's arm. (you can laugh, we did.) The kids thought this was hilarious,and it would have been if it had not been 100 degrees in the parking lot. The hardest part was explaining why I had to spray down Adam's collection of Neopets (Happy meal toys) and put them in a bag in the back of the van. We looked great in the parking lot with the hose. The good part was that we had a change of clothes for Adam. Then we began our trip home for another 45 minutes in a great smelling car. This was still a great day compared to some we have had this year.
Dana has her pre-admit physical on Friday and is scheduled to start chemo on Monday. Please pray for everything to start on time.
Jennifer
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Dana's counts held up nicely at just over 2,200. All other numbers held steady at above average.
Tuesday we go back for counts and hearing and a GFR (a pre-chemo test). If all goes well, this should be the last time we do these tests. We still have two more rounds to go, but the inpatient round requires these two tests.
We learned today that Dana's tutor this summer will be her 2nd grade teacher this year. She is excited to be in Mrs. Hamman's class. Dana should start on time but will miss just a few days of the first few weeks.
Have a good weekend.
Doug
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Dana's counts skyrocketed to 12,800 for today's reading and she is most excited about that. All other numbers are where they should be. We don't go back until Friday, so we get a bit of a repreive.
As a treat, I took her to get a manicure afterwards and she seemed to enjoy it. All the ladies fussing over her was a bit much, but she got her nails done right.
More later this week.
Doug
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Well, like they say what goes up must come down, and Dana's counts did just that and quickly. She was not able to get her last day of her five day round of chemo because her counts had dropped so quickly. It looks like now we are back to staying close to home for a while. We did start shots(to boost her immune system) today so that should make them go up fairly soon. Our next round should begin August 8, but we are not holding our breathe. Dana has had a great week and felt good most of the time. Please continue to pray for Dana and all our chemo friends, our friend Will is having a very difficult time and needs extra prayers for him and his family. Thanks for checking.
Jennifer
Monday, July 18, 2005
Yeah! We got to start chemo today. We are about a week behind schedule, but this is this first real delay we have had, so I guess that's not too bad. Dana has had a great weekend and had a good time at the hospital this morning, painting and watching t.v. and just relaxing.Dana walks around like she owns the place. The first thing she says is,"Will someone page Alisha (child life/play person) for me."
We will go back everyday this week for her outpatient chemo and be finished Friday. Next we expect to have low counts and be homebound for a while, but that is part of the chemo. Thanks for the prayers and keep up the good work.
Jennifer
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Today we got Dana up bright and early to get to the doctor's office by 8:30 for her pre-chemo check, only to find out her counts had dropped from 11,000 on Tuesday to 900 today. We have never had such a big drop. If the counts are below 1,000 they will not do chemo., so we went home. We once again had built ourselves up thinking how great everyting was on Tuesday and have another delay. Hopefully we will go to the doctor on Monday and she will start then, but who knows (not us and not the doctors.) She does feel good and has had a fantastic week with her friends. We will let you know how things go on Monday, pray for high counts so we can get things going.
Jennifer
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Good News today! Dana's platelets are up to 97 and her counts are high enough that we can stop giving her shots. Even her weight is up a little. She hit the trifecta today at the clinic.
We will begin the 4th round of chemo Thursday. It will be 5 days of outpatient followed by a couple of weeks to recoup.
Dana had a "Tea Party" with a lot of her friends Monday and they had a ball. I'll put some pics up soon.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, July 9, 2005
Well, not too much to report,which I guess is a good thing. Dana did not start chemo this week and probably will not for a while, at least until the end of this coming week. Her counts (immune system) are good at 2800, but her platelets are very low at 23. We can not begin chemo until they reach 100 so who knows when that will be. They will give her a platelet transfusion if they drop to 20, so we are pretty close. Dana feels great though and has been able to see Herbie Fully Loaded this week and take a junior golf clinic at Valhalla Golf Course with her friend Emmalee (I know that Doug was pretty pleased about this.) That's about it here, just hanging around waiting for our platelets, and playing with the kids on the street, it is always waiting for something. We go back to the doctor on Tuesday and will update then.
Please pray for a rise in platelets and all our friends going through chemo., especially our friend Will. He is having a rough time and will be having a bone marrow transplant at St. Jude in August. Will is only two years old. Thanks.
Jennifer
Wednesday, July 6, 2005
A mixed bag of info on Dana today. Her counts have started to creep back up and that is good. Her platelets remain low (24) and that will probably delay the start of our next round of chemo. When platelet levels dip below 20, they routinely give transfusions. Dana is right on the border and we will check again Friday.
Everything else is good. Dr. B. unscrambled the medical jargon from Dana's last CT scan of her lungs. Basically, no bad news and we will keep on keeping on until the next scan.
Hope you enjoy the new pics.
Doug
Friday, July 1, 2005
Yeah! Dana's test from Wed. show no lesions on her lungs. It sounds like the results are favorable, but we will know more when we talk to Dr. B. on Wed. Unfortunately her counts have been up and down this week. On Monday they were to low to go to camp Hi-Ho, Wed. they were high so we went Wed. afternoon and all day Thursday. We went back to the doctor's office on Friday bright and early so we could make it to camp since we knew her counts would still be good, but we were wrong-too low again. Dana and I both left crying (nurse Hope and Donna probably think we are nuts) since she wanted to go to camp but could not go for the last day. We need to remember to be thankful for the good results, there are a lot of kids at the doctors office with bigger problems than not being able to go to camp.
Thanks for the prayers and keep it up for all the kids we know and those we don't battling cancer.
Jennifer
Monday, June 27, 2005
Well for those of you that missed Dana on t.v. she was so excited, unfortunately all they showed was the back of her head, but it did not matter to her. She went to the doctor Friday and her counts(immune system) was really high -7800. we had a great weekend being able to get out. This was the week she was supposed to go to Camp Hi-Ho, but today her counts were 900, anything below 1000 is bad news. We started her nupogen shots today to boost her immune system and hopefully she will make it a few days at the end of the week.
Dana has her chest x-ray scheduled for Wed. so PLEASE pray for good results and for her counts to be headed back up so we can get out again. I will update with the results when we get them, hopefully by Thursday.
Jennifer
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Dana is home from the hospital and feels pretty good. We will do the standard clinic visits until the next round and will have to give her some shots to keep her counts up.
This afternoon Dana went back to the hospital for a non-medical event. Hyundai is getting children who are battling cancer to put their handprint on a car and they will add more handprints to it every year. It's a promotional / marketing thing. Hyundai also gave a check to the Children's Hospital Foundation for 25 large ($25,000). Most impressive.
Anyhoo, the story will be on TV tonight in Louisville. It should be on FOX 41 during the 4:00 pm news. It should also be on WAVE 3 and WHAS 11 during the 5 - 6:30 pm newscast. We will be recording for posterity. Check local listing for times in your area. No purchase necessary. Part of a balanced breakfast. Some assembly required. Your parents put it together. Void where prohibited. Batteries not included. Offer not available in some states.
Doug
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
This round is going along swimmingly. Dana feels good, looks good and is happy that I was wrong about the duration of our stay. We will be going home tomorrow afternoon instead of Thursday. Her counts are holding up nicely and the docs say she is doing well.
Her AFP (see previous journal entries for explanation) is 4 and they are very happy with this.
More when we get home tomorrow.
Doug
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
At clinic today we learned that Dana will start her next round of chemo next Monday. Her counts and all other blood tests are just fine and she will just get stronger until we start on Monday.
It will be a 4 day, 3 night stay at cozy Kosair Plaza. We should go home Thursday and recover in time for the next round. If we stay on the same schedule, we should be through by the end of August. Will we? I have no idea.
Dana is enjoying the much cooler weather and getting out and playing just like a 7 yr. old.
Thank you,
Doug
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
Dana's checkup at the clinic was blessedly boring and uneventful. Her counts are still ok and she can continue her normal activities. Unless she feels cruddy, (that's a medical term) we don't have to back to the doctor until Monday. We will probably start her next round of chemo (round 3 of an expected 6) on Monday the 21st.
Except for swimming, Dana is enjoying her summer and wants to get all of this over with.
Thank you for checking in and for your prayers.
Today is Jennifer's **th birthday. (** = 29) not really, but it was 5 years ago.
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Sorry it has taken a while to update, thankfully there hasn't been to much to say. Dana started another round of chemo Tuesday. The doctors decided to double the dose and it will take only 5 days instead of 10. So far she has not had any bad reaactions, but it may be too early to tell. She has had a great weekend playing with the kids on the street and got to go to school Friday for the last day and see her friends. We even went to a Memorial Day party and used a new inflatable jumper she got since she can not swim this summer(we have to have something fun to do.)We should be finished with this round on Sat. and then four more to go. Thanks for checking in.
Jennifer
The above picture was a few days ago. Note Dana's color from the sun and her fuzzy 'do".
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
At the doctor today, we decided to let Dana have this week to recover some more and start her next round next week. Her counts, blood, platelets are pretty good, but we want to give her another week to fully recover.
The round next week will be 5 days in a row of outpatient chemo followed by a couple of weeks off. The doctors feel she can handle getting in 5 days what she got in 10 days last time. This should cut off a few weeks of her overall treatment and shorten the duration of her treatment. That is assuming, of course, that she tolerates it as well as she did last time. Time will tell.
She is eating better and starting to put some weight back on. Her head is getting really fuzzy, but we are not sure how much of it will fall out again.
She will be going to school this week to enjoy her last week with her friends. They really don't have any more work to do, just have a whole bunch of fun.
Doug
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Well, today was a good day at the doctor's office. Dana and I were out in less than an hour and a half which is amazing when we had to see a doctor and have her blood work done. Her counts were really good (2200 anc) for being less than a week off chemo. I was prepared to start her shots, but no need. She even went to school for a while in the afternoon. We go back to the doctor on Friday and the plan is to start her next round of chemo. on Tuesday. We will update after our next doctor visit unless something exciting happens.
Jennifer
Friday, May 13, 2005
Dana finished her first cycle of the current chemo regimen today. She is starting to show some of the effects of the chemo, but overall is doing really well. Next week should be one or two doctor visits and then we will just wait and see how she is doing to determine the next round.
The next round should be just like the first one. Five days of outpatient, two days off, and five more days of outpatient. Several of the people who register us everyday at the hospital before we start the chemo know we're coming and have all the paperwork ready to sign before we get there. It's funny watching the "new" families look at us strangely when Dana and I walk in, sign, and leave.
She has two more weeks of school and she will be able to go if she feels like it. It is all up to her, but she does enjoy it.
Thanks,
Doug
PS The above picture is Dana and Adam riding the Rollerskate Roller coaster at Kentucky Kingdom on the 15th.
Monday, May 9, 2005
Dana's counts today at clinic were above 3000 and that is very good news. That is down from last week, but after 5 days of chemo, good news. More good news, her AFP is down to three. AFP is a blood tumor marker and had gotten as high as 35 last Nov. when we first caught this cancer relapse.
She had a long day at the hospital today. Sometimes were in and out in a few hours and sometimes it takes much longer. All part of the fun and games that is chemotherapy.
Her class at school this week is taking acheivment tests so she won't be able to pop in at the end of the day like she did last week. She will just have to settle for riding her bike and running up and down the street.
We will be doing this current round until Friday and then take one to two weeks off to let her recover.
The above picture was taken Mon nite when Willow tried to spend the night. Adam kept saying "Let's get this party started!" Pretty funny.
Doug
Wednesday, May 4, 2005
Dana has had three days of her current cycle of chemo and is doing very well. As usual, the docs tell us of all the horrid side effects that some adults and/or kids have had on this particular drug. Dana just plugs away and takes it as if it is no big deal. On Tues. and Wed. of this week she went to school from 1 - 3 pm after we were done with the chemo and we will continue to do this until she doesn't feel like doing it anymore.
We go in to clinic about 8:30 to be seen by a doctor and then it is across the street to hook up for IV fluids and the chemo. We usually get out by 1 pm(ish).
We will do this Mon - Fri for the the remainder of this week and next week. That constitutes the first of 6 cycles of chemo remaining. The hits just keep on coming. Two of the cycles will be 3 night stays in the hospital followed by 1 to 2 weeks of recovery. Four of the cycles are the Mon - Fri over two weeks. Confused? Don't worry because most people we explain this to don't get it either.
This schedule is not set in concrete either. The docs will adjust as necessary and that really depends on how Dana reacts to the chemo. So far, so good.
Thank you for checking in and for your concern and prayers.
Doug
Sunday, May 1, 2005
Dana had a fantastic week last week. She went to school every day and only had two medical visits to interrupt her school. Friday was Field Day and she got to play and participate just like all the other kids. All her classmates were excited to have her back for a week and she acted like it was the first day of school all over again.
We start a new regimen of chemo tomorrow. The good news is we won't have to spend nearly as many nights in the hospital as we have in the past. The bad news is that it will take 4 - 6 months before we are finally done. Usually, we go in at 9 am and it takes 3 - 4 hours before we can leave. Two of the cycles demand an 3 night stay, but we can do those standing on our heads.
Both Dana and Adam are thrilled because my Mom and Dad moved to Louisville from Memphis yesterday. They like being able to see them without enduring a 6 hour drive.
We'll write more when we see how Dana is reacting to this new drug.
Doug
Monday, April 25, 2005
Dana has not had any chemo in about five weeks and has recovered very quickly from her last surgery so she will be going to school this week. Other that a few doctor's visits, she should be able to go every day this week. Bonus: this Friday is Field Day at her school. She was very excited and nervous this morning before going. It felt like the first day of school all over again.
Since Dana's birthday was this past Saturday, she took a huge box of cupcakes and they had a little shindig for her in her class. She really enjoyed being around her friends again and not having doctors and nurses and parents telling her what to do all hours of the day.
We should find out this week when we begin the next round of chemo. We expect it will start next week, but our record for predicting the future in Dana's situation has been poor at best. We'll let you know.
Doug
Friday, April 22, 2005
Dana came home today and is doing very well. She seems to be recovering from this surgery much faster than the one we had a few weeks ago.
Her 7th birthday is tomorrow and we are very happy that we won't be spending it in a hospital. We plan on keeping it low key tomorrow, but I'm sure she will have a few surprises for her.
We don't have to take her back to see a doctor until Wednesday. It has been since November since we have had that long between some kind of medical visit. It seems like a luxury.
Tonight we lost power for about 2 hours while a strong storm went through L'ville. Dana said she wants to go back to the hospital since they probably have power.
Thanks to all of you for keeping up with Dana situation and helping out. This would be exponentially more difficult without you.
Doug and Jennifer
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 5:09 PM CDT
Today was a good day. Dana got her chest tube out, even if it was 4:00 p.m. and they said it would be 9:00ish this morning. It was not very fun(for Dana or I),just a big yank and it was done. We also got back her pathology reports and the lesions on the right side that they did Monday were all scar tissue. This does not change anything as far as her future chemo, but it is good to know. Thanks for the prayers.
Jennifer
Monday, April 18, 2005 3:53 PM CDT
Well, one more surgery down. Dana got out of surgery around 1:00 and is doing very well. Dr. Nagaraj said he got three lesions from her right lung. He thinks they are scar tissue, but will not know for sure until later this week. At this point it does not matter, since there was cancer cells on the other side she will have about 6 more round of chemo starting in a week or so. Thanks so much for all the prayers, and please continue to pray for us in the months ahead.
Jennifer
PS Dana is now featured on the City of Windy Hills website. The link to see it is included below.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Norton Hospital was nice enough to let us use a huge hot air balloon for a few hours this afternoon for an early birthday party for Dana. The weather was just perfect, but a little windy. Dana and a few of her friends got to go ua about 30 feet in a balloon, but it got too windy to let everyone get a turn.
Dana's surgery is scheduled for 11 am tomorrow so we should know by the afternoon how things went and we'll let you know when we can. She will probably be in the hospital all week. Her 7th birthday is Saturday and the only reason we'd still want to be in the hospital is we would have a great seat or Thunder Over Louisville (huge fireworks downtown) and would not have to drive home in lots and lots of traffic.
We hope this is the beginning of the end for this treatment. We have thought we were there before, but were wrong.
Doug
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
We had a long talk yesterday with Dana's primary oncologist. Because the biopsies that were taken from her left lung showed viable tumors, we are going to take a different direction in Dana's treatment.
Next Monday she will undergo surgery on her right lung to remove the 4 or so remaining lesions. They will be biopsied but it does not really matter what they are. After she recovers from that procedure, we will begin a different mix of chemotherapy to make sure we get all the cancer if there is any left.
Before we did this surgery, the oncologists and surgeons thought the spots remaining in her lungs were simply scar tissue. Based on that assumption, we thought we had four rounds of chemo left. After doing the biopsies and learning that there are still viable tumors left inside her, we decided to surgically remove the remaining tumors and do 6 more rounds including some chemo drugs she has not had before.
This means here treatment will last well into the summer and probably into the beginning of the next school year. That's the bad news. The bit of good news is that each round of chemo is not so bad that she has to stay in the hospital for 6 - 9 days at a time. The majority of the chemo will be outpatient of a night or two in the hospital. Of course, that depends on how she reacts to the chemo.
Jennifer and I are still in a bit of shock at this and we are trying to handle it one day at a time. Dana is recovering nicely from her most recent surgery and isn't too happy about doing it again.
That is all we know now.
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Well, we are home! We got home around 1:00 and Dana feels alright, not fantastic, but did make it down the street to watch all the kids on the street play, she sat in the yard. After a nice nap this afternoon she had a pretty good dinner and will hopefully get a good night's sleep. She has some pain, but is taking Tylenol three. Pray for a quick recovery and that she feels back to normal soon. We have a few doctor's visits this week and her next surgery is set for Mon. April 18, but as we know that could easily change. Please pray for the next surgery to go well,and the results to be good. After the next surgery we will have a better idea of what is ahead. Thanks to all who have helped out and all the prayers.
Thursday, April 7, 2005
Dana got her chest tube removed today and that should let her recover more quickly. Since she has been through so much chemo, her body does not recover as quickly as it did a few months ago.
She still has a slight fever and is quite sore. We expected to go home Friday, but as with most of this entire ordeal since November, that expectation was not even close.
Hopefully we'll go home this weekend. We'll let you know.
Doug
Tuesday, April 5, 2005
Dana had surgery this morning to remove two lesions from her left lung. These lesions were still in her even after all the chemotherapy she has been through. There are at least two more, probably four more, in her right lung and these are scheduled to be surgically removed on Monday April 18th. These nodules are very small and pose no immediate danger to Dana. They are anywhere from 4 - 6 millimeters in diameter and could not be detected on a multi-million dollar PET scan. Still, one of them tested positive as a viable tumor and the rest must be removed.
Her treatment is at the point where chemo has done what it is going to do and now we need to "clean out" any remaining suspicious nodules. Once all of the nodules have been removed, we will finish the chemo originally planned and that should be the end of that. Please don't hold me to that due to the fact that plans change all the time.
She is recovering well tonight in the hospital and will be there at least two nights, maybe three. It all depends on how she responds.
Remember how I said this was going to be a roller coaster ride right from the start. Her current situation is another segment of what has been an up and down ride. We are down now, but will be up in the future.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Monday, April 4, 2005
HI, well it has been a few days and we have had a great weekend. We all went to church which was a first since November. The rest of the weekend was nice since the kids could enjoy the weather and play with the kids on the street. Of course our plans have changed again, Dana will be having her surgery Tuesday (tomorrow) at 7:30a.m. This means we have to be there at 6:30, but that is better than the afternoon since she can't eat before it. We will update after we get the results, hopefully by late morning. Please pray for her spots on her lungs to be scar tissue or anything but cancer. Talk to you soon.
Thursday, March 31, 2005
We learned late last week that all of the lesions were NOT gone from Dana's lungs as we were previously told. There are still 3 questionable lesions. The reason they are questionable is that the docs are not sure if they are just scar tissue, or if it is still the cancer hanging around.
The surgeon's opinion is that it is scar tissue because that's what happens to larger lung lesions when they are reduced in size due to chemo. But, the only guaranteed way of knowing is to do a biopsy.
We will do this biopsy Thursday morning and should know that day. As far as her remaining chemo, we really don't know how much longer it will be. If the biopsy shows the cancer is hanging around, we will talk to the oncologists then and figure out what to do.
This miscommunication has been extremely frustrating for us and I'm sure confusing for you. Dana still feels great, looks great and is ready to get this all over with.
Thank you for your prayers and concerns.
Doug
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Sorry we didn't update for a few days, not much going on. Friday we had a Dr. appt. for blood work only, which usually takes about an hour,unfortunately Dana's hemoglobin was low and she needed a transfusion. This is done at OMO (7 east) at Kosair. By the time Dana and Doug were home it was 4:00 (they started the day at the Dr. at 9:30) She feels great and was out riding her bike by 4:30. Our next appointment is Monday, then her hearing,kidney and heart echo on Tuesday. Keep up the prayers.
p.s. We had a surprise from the Easter bunny that left probably about 100 eggs. The kids were so excited We will put a few pictures up today. Thanks Easter bunny. We also had a surprise at the doctor this morning and Molly has her 4th ear infection - tubes here we come. Thanks again.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Well,we narrowly escaped another admit to the hospital today. Dana had a slight fever(100.2) but any fever is a big deal at hem/oc(hematology/oncology) office. After much debate between the nurse practitioner and Dr. Soni they decided to admit her to OMO(outpatient medical observation)which is 7east, for I.V. antibiotics and to monitor her fever. Her fever went down and we got to go home,luckily. She is feeling great which helped their decision. Her counts are good. Keep all our chemo friends in your prayers, our friend Laurel starts radiation today and will need extra prayers. we will update Friday after our next Dr. visit.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Hi, Dana is home and feels great. She ran in the door and straight to the basement to play. We now are in the final countdown with only 3 more rounds of chemo to go.YEAH! We have a few days off and don't go to the doctor until Wed. Please continue to pray for Dana and all the kids on 7west(oncology floor).Thanks
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Dana is doing fine in this round of chemo. We anticipate being here until Saturday. This is 5 day round and is so much better then being here for 9 days. Also, this medicine does not make her sick at all.
dana said HI.
Monday, March 14, 2005
It has been 3 1/2 weeks since Dana's last chemo treatment ended. She feels like a million bucks and her visit to the clinic today confirmed that. She looks great, too. Of course, it is better to look good than to feel good.
She goes back to the hospital tomorrow for a 6 day round of chemo. They are changing the drugs a bit and we should not have to stay in the hospital for nine days at a time. The docs anticipate 4 more rounds of chemo. Two of them rounds will be 6 days in the hospital and two of them will be a combination of one night in the hospital and some outpatient chemo. With a couple of weeks in between and some delays for low red blood, platelets, etc., we anticipate her being done by the end of May/first of June.
We are doing this to make sure we get every little cell and don't have to do this again in 4 years.
Again, we are not out of the woods, and we see the end of all this coming soon.
More later this week from the hospital.
Doug
Friday, March 11, 2005
According to the radiologist, they can't detect any more tumors in Dana's lungs. She did the test this morning and we found out this afternoon.
Euphoria, relief and joy are just a few of the emotions we are feeling now. We learned yesterday that Dana's chemo routine will change a little bit, but it will last until the first part of June. She won't be staying nine days at a time, but she will get some different drugs and stay for a few days at a time.
We will take a little time to digest this news and let you know more later.
Doug
Monday, March 7, 2005
Dana's counts were very high today, but we will not be doing our next scan until Friday. It is very difficult to schedule and it means that our next round of chemo will not begin until the 14th or 15th. It's kind of frustrating because we want to get on with it and get it over with.
It will be nice to have a little break from running around downtown for a few days.
I go back to the real world tomorrow and start learning a new airplane at UPS. Jennifer will have her hands even fuller now. If Molly can just keep sleeping through the night, it will make everything a lot easier.
Doug
Friday, March 4, 2005
Once again, Dana defies the doctors' expectations and will NOT need platelets. She is a tough bird and has shown that time and time again.
The next step is the scan to see if all the tumors are gone from her lungs. It will be sometime next week and we will let you know when it is.
I still would encourage blood and platelet donations. Dana never knows if or when she needs them so we can't ask people to donate specifically for her. But, the need is always there. We have seen first hand the people who benefit from them and it makes a huge difference in their lives.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Dana will be coming home later today. She could have come home yesterday, but they are being extra super cautious with her due to the fact her immune system is so low.
She got a unit of whole blood Monday and she will probably need platelets later this week. If at all possible, please consider giving some blood or platelets in the near future as the Red Cross is critically low (especially platelets). They have had to fly in platelets for others recently and all that does is delay treatment.
You can call the Red Cross at 540-7000 to schedule a platelet donation or simply go to a donation center and give whole blood. Giving platelets does take a few hours, but it will help Dana or people in her same situation.
We go back to clinic on Friday to check for counts and platelet levels.
Thanks,
Doug
PS Her scan was supposed to be tomorrow, but since she just got out of the hospital and is still taking those shots to help her counts, the scan will not happen until next week. We'll let you know when we know.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Dana had the trifecta of low red blood cells, low counts and a fever this morning at clinic so it's back into the hospital we go. We will be here for a day or two to make sure she does not have an infection and let her recoup.
Molly has had a bit of a cold for the last few days so that's probably where she got it.
Doug
Friday, February 25, 2005 11:17 AM CST
Dana's counts and red blood cells are low, but not enough to warrant any procedures. So, we just watch carefully and keep her out of trouble.
We did learn today that her next scan will be Thursday morning. That is the one that will determine if the tumors are gone. We anticipate that they are based on the last set of scans.
The above picture is of Dana's class at school. She got to go for a while yesterday and they had a ball.
We'll update next week When we are able.
Doug and Dana
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Dana's counts were high today due to the shots she has been taking since Sunday. All other blood work is normal and we go back Friday just to check her counts. Over the next week to week-and-a-half her counts will drop as they normally do.
Her next treatment duration and content will be determined by how her next scans go. We should do those late next week.
She feels and looks good and she is ready to get going so we can get done.
Doug
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Woo-hoo!! Got to go home today and look at the hospital in our rear view mirror. We will start the same routine as last time and go back to the clinic for counts a couple of times a week. On March 3rd or 4th (they have not told us which one yet) we will take another look inside her lungs and we hope there will be no more evidence of tumors.
If that is the case, we will do 1 or 2 more rounds (they have not told us yet) and (please) be done with chemo.
More this week as we settle back into homelife.
Doug
The picture above is Dana, Molly, Adam, and her cousins Willow and Mirabel.
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
More good news today. We got word that Dana's AFP (a blood test to determine the presence of certain tumors) is down to 7!! When she was first diagnosed back in 2001, this number was above 250,000. After her surgery to remove the tumor and subsequent chemo in 2001, the number got as low as 4. It has been creeping up over the years. It got as high as 35 back in November. That is when she was diagnosed with a relapse.
The docs tell usa that anything between 0 - 15 is the normal range. They weren't too concerned with anything in the 20's or 30's. They will be now.
This is further proof that what we are doing is working.
By popular demand, I put some fresh pics on the site including the cover shot that I mentioned a couple of days ago. Enjoy.
Doug
Monday, February 14, 2005
Dana had a happy valentine's day at the hospital today. The floor was decorated festively and they had a little, low-key valentine's event for the kids. Dana did not eat too much candy, just enough to feel a part of the holiday.
She is breezing through this round so far and even picking up a little more weight. That's what happens when you are not actively sick for 5 days in a row. All of her tests look good and she looks good too.
We should be able to go home Saturday if all goes as planned.
We have been able to bring Molly up to the hospital a few times and Dana loves showing her off. All the nurses take turns holding Molly and letting her drool on them. She's a hoot.
Later,
Doug
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Dana is doing well in the hospital. Whenever she gets down for any reason, she remembers that she will not be getting that drug that makes her real sick. That perks her right up. She will need some more blood today as her body just does not make enough red blood cells due tot he chemo. Many thanks again to those who gave blood in Dana's name.
Molly and Adam are doing fine at home and we are trying our best to get into a routine here in the hospital and at home.
Dana got another picture on the cover of a Magazine. It is the Annual Report of the Kosair Nurses Organization. She is riding her IV pole in a staged photo shoot. Any more press and I'll have to get her an agent and some new head shots. We will get a bunch of copies as I don't think the picture can be seen on the net.
Thanks for your prayers and concern. They mean so much to us.
Doug
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Dana's platelets and all other blood tests are now good and we will go in tomorrow to start Round 4. She wants to get going and so do we.
That's the good news. The Better News is this time they will NOT use the drug that makes her so sick. She obviously does not respond well to it (it makes her sick all day when she gets it) and her kidneys and hearing do not seem to be suffering from the lack of it. That made Dana understandably happy and ready to get going.
The doctor who saw her says she looks great, sounds great and is tolerating her treatment very well. After this round of chemo, we will wait a couple of weeks and do another one of those very detailed scans of her innards. If she is all clear, we're still not sure if she will get one or two more rounds to finish the job. The doctor today said most kids in usual cases get two rounds after no more evidence of disease. She then said that Dana is not a usual case and we will decide that later.
More later when we get going at Kosair.
Doug
Monday, February 7, 2005
Dana's counts have rebounded nicely, but her platelets are too low to begin chemo tomorrow. Her weight is up and everything else is ok, but she has to have a certain amount of platelets in her blood to undergo chemo.
This is a common occurence in people between rounds of chemo. We will go back Thursday and check her out again. We do get to stop the shots for a few days which makes Dana most gleeful.
Her appetite is fine and she looks pretty good so we will just wait for her body to start making platelets again.
Doug
Friday, February 4, 2005
Dana's counts are too low to begin the next round on Monday, so we will check again Monday in hopes of beginning on Tuesday. The cumulative effects of the chemo are starting to show up and it takes her longer between rounds to recover. This is an expected development.
An unexpected development was the presence of an infection right where her Broviac line goes into her body. They put her on an adult antibiotic and it appears to be doing the job.
Not much else happening this week. Just biding our time and waiting for the next round to begin.
Thanks for checking in and for all of your prayers and support.
Doug
Monday, January 31, 2005
Dana's counts were fine today at clinic. They thought she might have a touch of pneumonia so we trekked across to the hospital and got a chest Xray. It was negative and we go tomorrow morning for pre-chemo testing just like the last three rounds. More counts Wednesday since they expect her to bottom out late this week.
If all goes well, her next round will start next Monday or Tuesday.
Dana feels and looks great and I hear Molly crying as it is time for her to eat.
Ta ta for now.
Friday, January 28, 2005
Dana continues to amaze and delight with the way she is bouncing back from her chemo. Her appetite is back, she has energy to burn and she looks like a normal 6 year old (except for the hair).
Her counts are high enough that she will go to school for about an hour tomorrow and probably go see a movie this weekend. She is also doing well with her diet and supplement program.
I will be on WAVE 3 TV Friday morning supporting a regional blood drive and will have a big picture of Dana to show-off. I will be on from 6 - 7 am so set your VCR.
Doug
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Woo hoo!! We are again at home after completing round 3 of treatment. This round was much tougher than the first two, but it is nice to get it behind us. We will take a couple of weeks off and then go back for round 4. After that, another scan to see if her progress has been as good as it was after the first two rounds and then the docs will decide what to do next.
It is warm and sunny here and Dana has already hit the street on her bike with Adam trying to keep up by running behind her. Molly has cut her first tooth and seems happy to see Dana home. Dana loves to carry Molly around while Jennifer and I cringe and hope that Molly doesn't hit the floor with a thud.
We will continue visits to the clinic for routine counts. Dana did receive a second unit of whole blood last Friday night so thanks again to all who supported the two blood drives.
Doug
Friday, January 21, 2005
Dana has had a pretty good week so far. We were lucky enough to get one of the big rooms when we checked in and that makes the visit a litle more tolerable.
In order to protect Dana from the toxic effects of one of the chemo drugs, they are giving her another drug. This one makes her sick and very sleepy for a good part of the day. It is no fun watching her do all this, but if it will protect her it is worth it.
We hope to leave next Tuesday just in time for it to warm up and be sunny. Dana can't wait to get out and ride her bike again.
Thank you for all the prayers and encouragement.
Doug
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
We are back in the hospital for round three of chemo. We will complete two more rounds before we scan her again. The doctors' confidence and our spirits are much higher since the good results we got Friday. She is doing great and she knows that what we are doing is working very well.
We should be here until next Tuesday as long as her counts are good and she feels ok to go home.
Again, we know we have many more months to go, but we are so encouraged by her progress so far.
Molly and Adam have been up here both days so far and that helps Dana pass the time.
Doug
Friday, January 14, 2005
GREAT NEWS!! Her doctor just called and said that the chemotherapy has totally erased many of the tumors in her lungs and reduced the size of the bigger ones by 75 BR>
Surgery was an option, but she is responding so well to the treatment that we will continue on our present course.
She is not out of the woods yet. Some of this chemo is so toxic that she can only handle so much more of it. We will take it round by round and keep a close eye on Dana.
Thank you so much for all your prayers and support over these last two months. We know they were effective, but she will need just as many in the coming months.
Doug and Jennifer
PS Check out the cool Chinese Fortune cookie text in the photo section
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Dana's procedure went very well today and we were back home by 2:15 pm. She is back on her feet and just a little sore.
The docs think they got a good amount of high quality marrow just in case they ever need it. They told us of one case where they used someone's marrow 20 years after taking it out and it worked just fine. Amazing.
We continue with counts and more pre-chemo tests this week. Friday will be very important and we are all praying for encouraging results.
Thanks so much to Dana's Uncle Kyle and Aunt Hilary for their work in organizing the blood drive yesterday. The got 49 pints of useable blood and the Red Cross was thrilled with the turnout.
Doug
Monday, January 10, 2005
Good news and bad news today. The good news is Dana's counts were sky-high this morning and she can stop the shots for a while. She is still in good spirits and get to go to school today for a little while.
The bad news is tomorrow she is going to have a procedure know as Bone Marrow Harvesting. It will be done just in case the current treatment does not work and we need to resort to a harsher treatment. If she does need a bone marrow transplant, she will be getting her own marrow back, instead of waiting for a donor.
Friday morning is the next scan and we are praying for the chemo to be wiping out the tumors in her lungs. Tomorrow's event is planning for the worst, but we are still hoping for the best.
Thanks for checking in and checking up on us.
Doug
Saturday, January 8, 2005
So there we were Friday for a "counts only" visit to the clinic expecting to get a blood transfusion. We had movies, snacks, schoolwork etc. packed and ready to go and the nurse walks in and says "Good news! Your counts are up and there is no need for a blood transfusion! Now get out of here and we'll see you Monday."
Dana keeps surpasssing expectations and chugging right along. She is still doing well with her new diet and supplements. We are still giving her one shot a day and she is better some days than others.
More later,
Doug
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Dana's counts are about where they are supposed to be at this stage of her treatment. She feels great, she is eating very well and looks mah-velous.
We learned today that her next scan will be next Friday, the 14th. If the scan is what the docs expect, we will go back into the hospital for round 3 the next week. We are all hoping and praying that we see some substantial progress against the tumors in her lungs. Until then, we stay home and do what we can to prepare for next week.
Thanks for checking in and we'll put more up later.
Doug
Sunday, January 2, 2005
We all start the year healthy and happy that Dana is doing so well. She is taking her medicine and eating her new food (mainly organic) very well. She has even been outside to play for short stretches at a time while the weather is so warm.
We go to the clinic tomorrow for typical counts and doctor's check up tomorrow. Dana will be glad to go somewhere other than this house and her grandparents'.
Adam and Molly enjoy having Dana home and they play well together. Usually.
Thank you all for your support and prayers. The next big event is her next scan in the next couple of weeks and that is the one where we need to see significant improvement in her condition.
Doug
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Dana came home last night!! She practically ran out of the hospital and into the car. She is in great spirits and doing fine.
We will scan her again in a couple of weeks to see how effective the chemo has been. We are hoping and praying for good results.
We are dramatically changing Dana's lifestyle while she is undergoing treatment. Different foods, vitamins. supplements, etc. We have done a lot of research into what can make her better faster and trying to get a 6 yr. old to change is not easy. She understands that it is only for her benefit and she is cooperating very well.
I'll put more pics up when I have some new ones and I have the time.
Thanks,
Doug
Monday, December 27, 2004
Dana had a great night last night and is doing very well today. Adam is up here watching a movie with Dana and we are enjoying a sunny day through her window.
We hope to go home Wednesday. It is all up to Dana and how she feels and how good her counts are. They are still high, but we know they will come down after she goes home. Please pray that the chemo is knocking out the tumors in her lungs and that we won't need any harsher treatment thatn she is already getting.
See you later,
Doug
Saturday, December 25, 2004
MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Dana is spending the day playing video games with Adam and doing well with her chemo. She continues to impress the docs with her ability to take pretty harsh chemo and still appear to feel good and keep her counts high. She is getting a lot of sleep at night and that is a change from the first go around.
We are just marking time and hoping to be able to get out of here Wednesday.
Thank you for checking in and keeping tabs on Dana.
Doug
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Thanks to all who put on and donated blood yesterday at the blood drive. I heard the Red Cross got 34 units of useable blood. Considering the weather and the time of year, that is really impressive! We really appreciate the Red Cross and all the donors.
Today is day 3 of this round and things are going along ok. Her counts are going down, as expected, and her appetite is pretty good. Just the usual stir craziness being in the hospital. Whenever Dana sees the news and all the stuck vehicles, she is happy to be here and not in the snow and ice.
Jennifer and I had a talk with one of the doctors and he let us know that Dana is not as well off as we thought. We thought that chemo would be all that is necessary, but that might not be the case. When she is scanned after this round we will know if the chemo is working or not. That is when we will have to decide what to do next. If the chemo does not work, harsher and different treatments will be needed. Please pray for the tumors to melt away post haste.
Dana has already had the Santa visit at home and knows that we will be here over Christmas. She knows that we need to get going so we can hopefully get this over with sooner rather than later.
Meryy Christmas,
Doug
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
We checked into the hospital this morning for round 2 and things are going fine. We took some tests to make sure everything is going as scheduled and so far it is.
The next big event will come about two weeks after this round is finished. That is when we will scan Dana's lungs and see if the chemo is working. If nothing else, pray that the tumors are melting away and all we need is more chemo. If the tumors are not responding, we will have to explore other avenues of treatment.
Dana is playing video games and working on some catch-up work from school.
More later,
Doug
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Dana got to come home today! We will be here until Tuesday when round 2 is expected to begin. Her counts are very good and she is feeling very good. She is getting used to her new "do". Check it out in the photo section.
She knows that we will be in the hospital over Christmas but she also knows the sooner we get going on this whole process, the sooner we will finish.
Later,
Doug
Friday, December 17, 2004
Last night Dana developed a fever of 101 degrees and that triggers an automatic call to the hospital. I talked to the doctor on call and he said to take Dana to the hospital for admission. Her fever got up to 103.6 degrees and they eventually got it back down with Tylenol and began giving her antibiotics as a precaution.
This is not uncommon in chemo patients and they told us this might happen. Her hemoglobin was too low and they gave her a pint of blood. We will be here until tomorrow (I hope) and we don't really know when round 2 of chemo will start.
Dana feels great and has as much energy now as she has had during this whole process. She was very smart and brave and decided to get her hair chopped off so it would quit getting all over her clothes and falling in her food. She is still just as cute and I will put up a picture when I can.
We'll update again after we get home.
Doug
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
As expected, Dana's counts plummeted over the weekend and she will spend this week trying to get them back up. When they start heading up again, we will go back to the hospital for round 2 of chemo. The earliest it will be is Monday. We will probably be in the hospital over Christmas, but we have prepared her for that. In fact, Santa might come a little early this year. ;)
Her hair is starting to fall out rapidly now. We have also prepared her for that and she is looking forward to wear a wig that was made for her. I keep reminding her that her hair will come back and mine won't. Whatever makes her feel better.
Her spirits are pretty good and she is keeping up with her schoolwork. We don't go back for counts until Friday so it is nice to have 3 days off from the docs. She is still taking her shots like a big girl and starting to flush her own port. She is a real trooper and still surprises me everyday with her courage and strength.
Doug
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Dana woke up this morning and ran out of her bed to giggle with Molly. We keep feeding Dana in the middle of the night and it must have paid off because she was very energetic today. She ran around the house and played like she hasn't in a few days.
Tomorrow we go back for the counts and see how she is doing. She took her two shots like a pro both Saturday and Sunday. The needle is smaller than last time and she is much bigger. On Sunday she did not even cry. I don't know too many 6-year-olds who don't cry at even the sight of a needle meant for them.
The new home photo is of her making a gingerbread house.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
PS Happy 35th Birthday today to Dana's Uncle Derek (Doug's brother)
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Dana's counts were so high yesterday that she got to go to school for a few hours and see all her friends and her teacher. At first she was self-conscious about having to wear a mask, but that quickly melted away when her teacher came over and talked her into joining the group. When Dana realized that Jennifer was going to stay the whole time, Dana was upset. She had a ball at school and was sad to go home.
Unfortunately, the experience wore her out and she was pretty pooped the rest of the day. Her Mimi and Poppie (Doug's mom and dad) came in from Memphis for the weekend and she did not play too much.
Her appetite and mood is up and down, but she is surviving. We found out today that she will have to get a shot of nupogen every day to help keep her counts high. This really upset her because this is the first time has had to take a needle during this whole process. She does not care for needles and this medicine can only be taken into the skin. Everything else can be given through her port.
She is taking a nap right now and should be able to stay up a little while tonight. we should know later this week when round 2 of chemo will begin.
Doug
Thursday, December 9, 2004
Dana and Adam and Jennifer went out to Jennifer's aunt's house for a few hours today. It was good to get Dana out of the house and do something else besides the same old things at home. They had a ball and look forward to going back.
Home life is ok at this point and Dana needs a little cheering up now and then. She gets tired of Mom and Dad telling her what to do all the time and I'm sure she misses being around other kids. It could be worse, we could be in the hospital! No thanks.
We go back to the doctor for counts tomorrow. We'll let you know how that goes.
Doug
Tuesday, December 7, 2004
We took Dana to the clinic for a scheduled visit. Her counts are still high enough to avoid the daily shots to boost her immune system. She will probably start them this weekend. We gave her those shots last time and they do help in keeping her counts up. We go back Friday just to get her counts again.
Her next round of chemo will start sometime in the next couple of weeks. It all depends on her counts and how she feels. The doctor said she looks very good and she does need to eat some more since she has lost a couple of pounds. Because of the chemo, the foods she used to like are now unappealing and vice versa. Her sense of smell is now super sensitive and its hit or miss whether she will like something or not.
Check out the new pics and we'll update again later.
Doug
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Dana is home!! We got to come home today. We go back to the clinic every 2 or 3 days to have her immune system checked. If it gets too low, we have to give her shots to boost it. If it gets dangerously low, she goes back into the hospital until it comes back up. Chemo destroys the cancer, but it also destroys your immune system.
But, she is no longer on her IV line and can get back to a semi-normal home life. She will not be able to go back to school, but she will keep up with her class and start 2nd grade next fall.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug
Saturday, December 4, 2004
Today should be the last day of Round 1 of Chemopalooza. If she is ok, we'll take her home for a couple of weeks tomorrow. They are giving her an appetite stimulator because she just does not feel like eating sometimes. This is normal, but the the more she eats, the better she feels. She has lost a couple of pounds and we are working on that.
Once we get home, we pretty much have to keep her isolated from large groups and snotty brothers and sisters. Her hair is still normal but will begin to fall out in short order. She is prepared for this and is having a wig made to fit her.
She can't wait to get out of there and sleep in her own bed.
Hopefully, the next entry will be after she gets home.
Doug
Friday, December 3, 2004
Last night was a very good night. Dana got a lot of sleep and didn't get sick at all. She is up and about today. Her appetite is back somewhat and if her counts are good and she does not have a fever, we might get to go home Sunday! Whether or not we go is totally up to how Dana feels and what the docs say.
She is working on her homework and playing video games.
Dana says thank you for all the prayers and concerns.
Doug
Thursday, December 2, 2004
Wednesday night was much better for Dana. They started the medicine a little bit earlier in the day and that gave her a chance to get some sleep. The doctors and nurses are trying fo figure out the right amount of pain relief and anti-nausea medicine to give her and they just about have it figured out.
This whole process will be a roller coaster ride. There will be emotional highs and lows. So we all need to hang on and do what we can for Dana.
Doug
Wednesday, December 1, 2004
Last night was a very difficult night for Dana and Jennifer. Dana is starting to show the effects of the chemo and she is pretty sick most of the time.
I managed to get sick (head cold) for the first time in a while, so Jennifer is pulling double duty at the hospital. Her Mom (Oma) is down there too.
We knew this would be physically terrible on Dana, but we know it will make sure the cancer is gone and we can get on with the rest of our lives.
Children are very resilient. The doctors and nurses say that if this treatment were given to adults, we'd be flat on our back for a week or two. Dana is a fighter and will bounce back. She is already looking forward to going home and seeing Adam and Molly and Newman (Hello, Newman).
Doug
Tuesday, November 30, 2004 12:19 AM CST
Today has been a great day for Dana. Her counts (immune system) are high so she got to stroll around the hospital for a while. We went and saw a doc who treated her years ago and went to the first floor gift shop for some "no thanks, I'm just looking."
She is tolerating the chemo well and is defying the docs expectations so far.
Thanks for all the prayers and entries in the journal. Dana reads them everytime we come down to the computer.
Doug
Sunday, November 28, 2004 4:08 PM CST
Today is day 3 and Dana is doing just fine. She will get a combo of 3 different drugs and the first one is not making her sick at all. She is keeping up with her homework and getting caught up on her favorite movies.`
Adam got to come up for a little bit today and they had a ball. There are just a few girls here and not many Dana's age. I'm sure she gets tired of all the adults.
Her prognosis is excellent and the doctors don't anticipate these new tumors standing up to the chemo.
Thanks again for checking in and we'll post more later.
Doug
Friday, November 26, 2004 2:43 PM CST
We checked into the hospital today to begin our first round of chemo. We expect to be here about 10 days, then go home for two weeks only to do the same cycle again. Circumstances change all the time, so don't quote me on those numbers.
Dana is in good spirits and is adjusting to hospital life as well as can be expected.
We will post updates whenever we can.
Thanks for checking in.
Doug and Jennifer and Dana
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