May, 2009 - Shelby posing before her charity fashion show.




WELCOME TO SHELBY'S WEB PAGE!
Shelby was diagnosed with Pre-B ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) on January 16, 2004.
Shelby completed her treatment in March, 2006.

Visit Shelby's Quilt of Love...http://quiltsoflove.com/quilt_2004/shelby_NS/shelby.html

This journal is being done to help keep people updated about Shelby and our family.

In journal entries, we will refer to her blood counts.

HgB: Hemoglobin: If less than 7.0, a blood transfusion will need to be done
WBC: White blood Cells (Normal 5.0-15.0)
RBC: Red Blood Cells (Normal 3.92-5.23)
NEUT: Neutrophil Count: this provides an indication of Shelby's ability to fight infection.(normal 2.5-7.4) Anything above 1.0 she can go to school.
PLT - Platelets (normal 150-450)


Diagnosis Story: See March 24, 2004 Journal Entry

Treatment Protocol: See 3-3-05 Journal Entry

OFFICIAL TREATMENT END DATE: 3-12-06...ENJOYING REMISSION/SURVIVORSHIP SINCE 3-12-06..

Journal

Monday, June 22, 2009 5:36 PM CDT

Time for another update. Lots has been going on. Took Shelby to the oncologist on June 15. Her counts were excellent...

WBC: 7.5
RBC: 4.52
Platelets: 279
Neut: 2.8
HgB: 13.5

"Perfectly healthy" according to Dr. Amanullah. She doesn't have to return for four months to the clinic. Then we went to the pediatric gastro doctor. He said to keep her on the Miralax but up it to twice a day. He confirmed that it wouldn't hurt her if she is on it for more than 7 days (even though the bottle says!) She seems to being doing a little better. She has something called RAP (recurrent abdominal Pain Syndrome of Childhood--realy original name, huh? Anyhow, we'll watch her and see what happens. There's not too much more the doctor can do for her..we can just keep adjusting the medicine. (Although the doctor did want to see her back in two weeks.) We'll see how she does.

Shelby had her jazz dance recital last weekend. She did TERRIFIC! She was one of the best ones out there!!!! She was very excited and we should have pictures in about two weeks. She is actually going to do the routine for the fashion show at Camp Quality!

Well, yesterday was Father's Day and how did we celebrate...by taking both kids off to camp---two seperate camps! Tom took Evan and two of the neighbor kids up to Boy Scout Camp in Lake, MI (by Clare). He will be there until Saturday. Luckily the weather is supposed to be very nice this week--but a little hot and humid later in the week. He shoud have a good time. One bad/sad thing..he didn't pass his swimming test (well he passed the beginner test, but not the "swimmer" test) so he can't do that merit badge activity. So, I don't know which other one he selected but he will be doing Archery, First aid, Photography and the 4th to be determined. We'll find out when he gets home.

I took Shelby to the American Cancer Society's Camp Catch a Rainbow over near Jackson, MI. This is her third year going. She was excited to go again. She will be there until Friday when I will go and pick her up. It sure does get easier to pack for them now that they have been to these week-long camps so often. They can actually pack most of it themselves too!

So, what are Tom and I doing while they are gone...not a whole lot. I have a dentist appt. tomorrow then on Thursday we are going up to the camp where Camp Quality is going to be to have our final sit-down with their staff to make sure they are ready for us and know everything we need! Other than that, I am just dealing with staffing issues with companions dropping out or misc. things like that. Juggling around my rooming list quite a bit..but in the end it works out.

The kids liked their first partial week of the Rochester Summer Camp. When they return next week...they don't have any camps..but Tom is taking Evan and Shelby up to their grandparents near Traverse City. They will be gone from Wednesday-Friday. I have to stick around here for camp stuff and to get all of us packed up to go. Then we will head up to the camp on Saturday, July 4 to spend the day unpacking, decorating and getting ready for all the companions and campers to arrive on Sunday morning. We ended up with 56 campers this year. That is down from our 57 last year, but we have 49 children with cancer and 7 sibs--last year we had 40 children with cancer and 17 sibs..so we actually increased our children with cancer count. I will have about 134 total people total.

Other than that, we are just rolling through summer keeping very busy. I just signed Evan up for fall recreational soccer and Shelby for piano lessons. She has expressed an interest so I thought we would try it out. She is going to do the summer session from 7/15 - 8/19 to see if she likes it. If she does, we will sign her up from Sept-February.

Thanks for checking in on us.........I probably won't update until after camp.

Read Journal History

Hospital Information:

Patient Room: 5th Floor South Tower Pediatrics

William Beaumont - Royal Oak
Rose Cancer Center
Royal Oak, Michigan
248-551-5000

Links:

E-mail Author: julie.stimpson@sbcglobal.net

---

 

Your gift will help millions of people stay connected with friends and loved ones during challenging times.

---

 

This page has been viewed 30693 times.

Note: The foregoing information was authored by the patient, parent or guardian, or other parties who are solely responsible for the content. Such announcements or their content are not necessarily endorsed by CaringBridge, Inc. or any sponsoring agent.  This information does not confirm that anyone is or was actually a patient at any facility.