I know saying that an update is way past due on miss BrooklynKae is an understatement. So, I will spare you the apology and attempt at an explanation and jump right into how our little warrior is doing and what has been going in her battle.

Last time I wrote an update, Brooklyn had just gone through surgery to have some lymph nodes taken out, a Hickman line placed, and her ovary taken out. The nodes they removed from Brooklyn’s neck were cancer. Unfortunately, this meant Brooklyn’s cancer started growing again. It was back systemically (meaning in her lymph nodes) and it had gone from less than .5% in her bone marrow to about 4%. She was immediately started back on chemotherapy and the plans for transplant were set on the back burner. She didn’t let her get her down though, instead she was excited to be able to start 2nd grade at school with her classmates.

In November, Brooklyn became very sick and spent a week down at Children’s Hospital with A UTI and C-Diff (a bad bacterial infection in the intestines). A couple weeks later, she had another PET Scan and Bone Marrow Biopsy. Great news!!!!! Her disease was no longer present in her lymph nodes, and it was under 1% in her Bone Marrow. After much debate, a board of transplant doctors and oncologists decided that transplant was the next best step.

The last few weeks have been absolutely insane trying to get everything for her to be admitted December 1. She had her “work-up” week where she was tested all day, every day, for 4 straight days to make sure that her body and organs could handle a transplant. She had an amazing birthday party at the roller-skating rink with friends and family and a delicious Thanksgiving feast at Grandma and Grandpas farm. Then, Tuesday, which was her last day at school for the year, her teacher threw her a see you again soon party with cupcakes and games. She also asked everyone in the school (both elementary and high school) to wear something red (Brooks favorite color) to show their love and support for her. I swear walking into the school Tuesday afternoon…. All I saw WAS RED!!!! It was truly amazing to see so many of her piers showing that kind of support.

Wednesday afternoon, Scott and I drove Brooklyn down to the cities and spent the evening with her by going to the movies and checking out Legacy toys. Yesterday morning she was admitted. She was in great spirits and walked in like she owned the place of course winning the hearts of all her new docs and nurses. She voiced to us a few times about how scared she was but being the amazing little warrior she is, she shook it off and said, “There is the word “can” in “cancer” and I can and will beat this!”

What happens now… She will receive EXTREMELY HIGH doses of chemo through Saturday and will get a rest day on Sunday. Then Monday through Thursday she will receive full body radiation to completely destroy her bone marrow and make room for her transplant. She will receive her stem cells on December 9 and for the next 3 to 4 weeks she will wait for the new stem cells to engraft and begin making new blood cells within her bone marrow. During this time, she will need all the prayers she can get as she will be without any kind of immune system to help her fight off infection and will become very sick with all the nasty side effects that chemo has to offer. She will have to remain in the hospital for at least 30 days then we will be required to stay down in Minneapolis from the beginning to the middle of March so that she can remain near the hospital in case she needs emergency care. It is going to be a very long and tough road but there is finally light at the end of this dark tunnel. One day at a time.

We hope that this is the beginning of the end of this horrific battle that she has been faced with and fighting with all her might for over a year now. She is so strong and brave, and we couldn’t be prouder of the person she is.