Springer News Blog

Maintenance

McKinley Joy's Journey — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:44:30 +0000

My Christmas Babies

Have tried many times to sit down and write on the blog, but many days my life is a little circus. Today, no matter what needs to be done, I decided to finally sit down and write. Writing does my heart good.

What does maintenance mean?

Definition of MAINTENANCE

1: the act of maintaining : the state of being maintained : support

2: something that maintains

3: the upkeep of property or equipment

I feel like we fall into #3…the upkeep of property or equipment.

We have officially been in maintenance therapy for over six months now! Now, we are most thankful that McKinley does not have to have any further intensive therapy, maintenance has not been care free. Is there such a thing as care free maintenance? Nope!

Please do not mistake my realism for how thankful we are to be this far post diagnosis and post intensive therapy. We praise God up and down and left and right for being here today. We are extremely thankful that we only have one hospital and one home health visit planned per month and all other therapy/drugs are done from home. We are super duper thankful that we have stayed inpatient free since July! LOUD Yay God! So thank you Jesus for being this far down the road.

Maintenance has not been super smoother sailing. While the concerns are not as great, there are still concerns and perhaps the concerns at this house are heightened because Drew came into our lives in October and his immune system needs to be protected as well.

McKinley has had 2 cold-like viral infections that have lasted what seems like forever. The first one lasted 5 weeks and this one she got the week before Christmas and it is still hanging on. She has interrupted sleep at night (along with Drew still waking up) because of coughing or some other pain which we couldn’t figure out. Throw 5 days of steroids in every 28 days and it wears on ya. She has been tired and cranky for quite some time but today has played the best she has in weeks….yay God, again!!!

We have all had our share of Dr. visits last year. I couldn’t count how many times I went to get my blood pressure regulated to get the correct medicine. One medicine was giving me crazy side effects and made me feel pretty yucky. I think we have the right one now and if my body could just kick the rest of this cold I got a couple of weeks ago, I think I’ll be feeling pretty good. 3 months post partum tomorrow!! I am for sure over getting to know my doctor! So, I’m hoping to stay away from his doors.

Drew is doing well. Not sleeping the best since he was sick last December, but he is happy for the most part. He rolled over yesterday is arching his back and could carry on a conversation with you on his belly. The girls love him silly…..literally. There are moments when I’m holding him and I get a little closterphobic because they are all up in his business. I can, however, foresee all three of them being a tight sibling group and am excited to see that develop!

Makayla’s school is probably going the best of all our tasks at home. She jumped into the new year with a great attitude and a little more focus. She is still a great helper and endures much sister abuse from McKinley….of which we are needing to rein in some. It is a hard balance when McKinley isn’t feeling well, but Makayla does great with that responsiblity. She shows much grace to her sister and her parent’s.

Scott is feeling great after surgery last November. He is an amazing help mate at home. I think I’d of done lost it if God had not given me such a supportive husband. He is wonderful at jumping right in the mix when he gets home from a long day at work. I’m very thankful for him! He is the best!

We have decided to me to work during tax season this year and the firm has graciously allowed me back to contract this year. I start mid February and am super excited to have my brain challenged in a different way. The day in and outs (and many unplanned Dr visits) around here have made me a little anxious at times. Scott and I both think that God will use this work time to refresh me a bit.

So, maintenance hasn’t been easy, much better quality for all of us but still difficult. Life is simply hard for many of us, isn’t it. Your child may not have cancer, but life is still hard. You know, I cry out for normal, but what is normal? I have had a difficult time with the stress of our life lately. Maybe it is lack of rest, hormonal changes, not being able to exercise regularly due to time and blood pressure issues, simply having a newborn or the combo package, but nonetheless, I have not been dealing well with stress. I had a very hard day a week or so before Christmas. Overwhelmed with the negative thoughts in my mind and this verse flooded my heart that day.

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6.

Probably one of the first set of verses I memorized as a new believer. So great and powerful, right? I hid these words in my heart about 25 years ago. I’ve quoted them over the years, used them in Bible study lessons, heard sermons on them, on and on. As Scott was praying over and with me that day, I had never heard those verses so loudly. I kept hearing God tell me that I was leaning on my own understanding and I was far from trusting in Him with my whole heart.

In addition to that verse already penetrating my heart I was sharing a bit of my mind struggle with my dad the next day, he said this, “I have a verse for you that I wrote down yesterday.” Guess what verse God had laid on his heart to (at the time he did not know this) share with me? Yep, Proverbs 3:5-6.

Clearly He was trying to communicate something to me…..so, what would God have me learn and APPLY? I can not trust Him with all my heart if I am leaning on my own understanding. Stewing over the what if’s and worries of life. Let me tell you, I can have big ‘ole pot of them, too. I, for the first time, focused on the leaning on my own understanding part of these verses. Which, I believe, is the first step to trusting Him with my whole heart. Now, I haven’t perfected it, but I have noticed less anxiety when I ask Him to take my burden (which He promises to take) and replace my thoughts. I have had to, physically, leave the house to redirect my mind, which redirects my heart. That sets me up to then trust in Him with my whole heart. I have nothing else to occupy it (my heart).

Life is hard…..I have two sets of wonderful friends, whom we met at CCMC, who have had an extremely difficult season recently and it is not letting up for them. My pastor from Huntington, who married Scott and I has had very serious physical hardship as well. Life is not fair and again it is hard, but we can’t give in. We must keep growing and allowing God to change us, challenge us, love on us — we must continue to persevere.

“We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4

I’m thrilled that despite me, God still pursues me. Who am I?

For some reason this post is messed up and I can not space, but I am not going to rewrite it. I guess it is because I copied and pasted. Sorry it is so jumbled.

4 Weeks Old

McKinley Joy's Journey — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 12:49:34 +0000

It is hard to believe that Drew will be four weeks old on Tuesday! As all new mommas know, those first couple of months seem to be in a time warp of sleep deprivation, changing diapers…..I forgot how much they poop, feeding, feeding and trying to take care of everyone else. Scott has been wonderful in helping and we have figured out a decent balance, although the past week we had another matter to deal with.

As careful as we are, McKinley managed to get some type of viral cough/infection. Thankfully, we have not had to go to the hospital as she is fighting it off ever so slowly. She started with a dry cough and had that for a week. After a week, it progressed to keeping her up coughing at night. Scott and I have had to juggle her being awake and Drew needing fed and taking care of him twice in the night. It has sometimes taken McKinley 2 hours or more to settle back down and go back to sleep. We are looking forward to her getting over this cough and getting into a routine with just one kid being awake in the middle of the night. It has been challenging, but we’ll get through it and after this we may very well go into germ-a-hiding Yay God….she slept through the night last night-Sunday night!!!

Scott update: Scott has started working at his company’s brand spankin’ new property in Mason. http://www.palmeraapts.com/ He has enjoyed the change and is extremely busy at work. He is also the only employee on call right now, which is ok as long as the phone does not ring, but that isn’t always the case. He is also scheduled to have a lipoma underneath his left armpit removed on November 16th. My parent’s will come to take care of the kiddos and it should be an outpatient procedure. Please simply pray for a uneventful hospital visit and him to recover quickly. We have had enough medical drama for a lifetime.

Sherri update: My blood pressure, with the help of medicine, has returned to normal. I will remain on two fo the three medicines they had me on for a couple of months and be reevaluated then. My general practitioner said it can take up to 8-12 weeks for post partum hypertension to resolve. They did take me off of the lasix as it was not allowing milk production. Still behind the eight ball on that, but he is still getting about 2/3 breast milk. Other than that, I’m feeling well. I have contracted the cough/cold that McKinley had but am on the mend.

Makayla update: She is doing great. We took 2 1/2 weeks off from school and she wasn’t necessarily ready to start back but we did. She made 100% on her spelling test last week, is breezing through math–so far. Last week she learned that starfish have two stomachs, learned a couple of Bible verses, worked on common and proper nouns, read a few short stories and reviewed ancient Chinese history. She has also wrapped up soccer for the fall and had a GREAT time trick or treating last week. She was Tinkerbell.

McKinley update: Other than her cough, she is doing great. She was a delight to watch while trick or treating last week. She, literally, ran the entire hour we were out. Saying, “Hurry up mom”. She would stop at a house and after they gave her candy, she would yell, “Happy Halloooweeen! Thank you!” She is still going around saying, “Halloween, halloween, trick or treat.” She was a fairy and we are for sure getting our money out of those fairy wings!

She has home health this Sunday and a clinic visit with IV Vincristine on Monday. She will also start steroids on that Monday and have oral Methotrexate and her daily dose of Mercaptopurine as well. Still amazed at all this child has and is going through. She continues to amaze us and bring our house much joy!

Drew update: He is doing well and eating quite a bit. He is eating about every 3-4 hours and does not like having gas, but then who does. We are wondering if he is sensitive to me consuming dairy products. I am keeping an eye on it and hopefully that is the source for his uncomfortableness. If he does not have gas, he is quite pleasant and sleeps well. I love cuddling with him and am trying to enjoy the baby stage as much as possible. McKinley still can not keep her hands off of him. She has a stool by the pack n play so she can see him and end up pestering him…..oh the fun he is going to have being in this family!

Please continue to pray for our McKinley and her to continue to be free of cancer cells.

For her body to sleep and rest and recover from this cough/cold.

For Scott’s surgery to go smoothly.

Good general health and rest for all of us.

God is good and we are thankful for the JOY He has brought into our lives through our children.

Click to view slideshow.

Surprise!!!!

McKinley Joy's Journey — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:15:06 +0000

I woke up at 1:45am on Tuesday, October 11, 2011. I was having some serious back labor pains but still thought they were Braxton Hicks. They did not subside, so we called the Dr and our lifesaver….SALLY to watch the girls….and headed to the hospital. I, finally, got an epidural at 5:45am and gave birth, via c-section, at 6:38am. Andrew (Scott’s middle name) William (my dad’s first name) Springer came contently into the world just looking around at 9lbs and 9oz and 21 inches long. We will call him Drew.

Everything went smoothly until my blood pressure decided to go crazy. They gave me medicine and thankfully all this happened after we had returned to the room and settled down. The medicine brought it down for a while but nothing seemed to work enough until they increased it on Thursday morning…..so they discharged us all.

We were home for 24 hours and my blood pressure was 180′s over 110′s….yep, that’s pretty high. So, we headed back to the hosptial and after ruling out a blood clot in my lung, they decided that I had some sort of post partum high blood pressure and admitted me to the labor and delivery floor. The OB doctors did not know what to do with me…..most comforting…..so they called in an internal medicine doctor. He prescribed 3 different medicines which took my blood pressure down in to “home management” range. We were able to be discharged on Saturday night. It is now 140′s/90′s….I have an appointment tomorrow with our family physician.

I have been extremely tired and have not been able to do simple things around the house without getting tired…..part of the hypertension. Today was probably the best day by far. I was able to pick up a few things around the house. My parent’s have been here since Tuesday of last week and for the millionth time I’m not sure what we would have done without them. Especially the night we went to the hospital. THANKS mom and dad!!

Today McKinley had her monthly clinic appointment. She received IV Vincristine and we started steroids this week. Dr. O’Brien is very pleased with her counts. Her ANC was 1330 this week, which is right where they want it. Below 1500. Hopefully she will be able to stay at 100% of her chemo and her counts will cooperate. She was very excited to go to the hospital today, which is a good thing, right? She was loving the attention today.

We also had an appointment for Drew today to check his weight, again. He lost more than 10% of his body weight and they wanted to check on him again. He was back up to 9.2 today and we are free from his visits until his one month check up.

My parent’s leave tomorrow–boo hoo–and Scott will be off Wednesday-Friday. By next week I should be off of driving restrictions and we are prayerful that my BP finds its way back to “normal” sometime soon. We are SO SO Thankful for our healthy new addition and that the problems I incurred were after his delivery. Makayla and McKinley love their brother. McKinley wants to hold him all the time and kiss and hug him. We LOVE our family and can only REJOICE in God’s favor on our life. Click to view slideshow.

Countdown…..

McKinley Joy's Journey — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:47:25 +0000

until we are a family of five. Next Monday is my planned C-Section. We have spent the last few days getting the last minute things done…..washing swing covers, cleaning the car and moving car seats around, etc. Scott has helped tons and has even been able to get quite a bit of firewood cut and split for the winter. I think we are ready, in the technical sense, of being ready for this new life to join our family outside of the womb!

Scott took this past Friday off for us to do nothing, which is about what we did. Aside from my Dr’s appt and a trip to Yagoot, we took the day off from life and even took a nap. It was a very nice and very needed day of nothingness. We’ve tried to have a day like that here or there over the past year and it just hasn’t panned out. But it did!!!

Last Sunday, October 2nd, we had a very fun birthday celebration for McKinley. She turned 3 on October 3rd!!! We had a great time celebrating her life and enjoying friends and family at her carnival party. A special thanks to my brother in law for taking a few pies in the face and to AJ Yorio and Zack Leopold for being our own special carni people! McKinley seemed to enjoy the day and our hearts were full of joy celebrating her health and normalness that she has been experiencing.

She has been doing very well. We are now on 100% chemo and her counts are right where they want them. Last time her ANC was 1240! We have a lab draw again this Thursday and she is to get IV Vincristine on Friday (it is usually on Monday but we have about a 9 lb conflict arriving on Monday). As long as nothing happens, we should be Children’s hospital free for about 4 weeks! Praying we can all stay healthy and home this winter!

So, I wrote this blog before I went into labor on Tuesday morning at 1:45am. Next post is about baby brother……

September 23

McKinley Joy's Journey — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 22:58:52 +0000

Last night we had the privilege of participating in Light the Night Walk at Sawyer Point. We were all excited to be a part of this and are very thankful for those who have linked arms and helped us raise……$1,090 to date (total amount for team Ridgway*Ajax*McKinley)!!! Yay, yay, YAY!!! Our heart and prayer is for a cure so no other child will have to endure what our childrenhave. Thank you to our friends, who made the trek downtown, paid for parking and walked the 2 mile walk with us! We love you!!

Life has been quiet on the McKinley medical side, which is fantastic!! We have still had our share of Dr’s appointments as I finally got Makayla in for her 6 year check up, all of us received flu shots, I’m now goingweekly for OB visits and Scott has had a couple Dr’s appointments playing catch up as well.

Soccer has also invaded our lives. Two weekends in a row we hadpractice on Friday night and a soccer game on Saturday and Sunday. This week we have the entire weekend off from soccer AND Scott is NOT on call!!! So, is it really free?! Well, we intend to try to take some Sabbath time this weekend as we are all in need of it. We’ve also been prepping for Jr’s arrival and with homeschooling I do not have as much free day time to complete some of the tasks we, as a family, are use to me completing. But, I really think that homeschooling is a good fit for us thus far. Makayla is doing well and I haven’t completely lost it yet:) Is that a good sign?

McKinley had a Lumbar Puncture on Monday and IV Vincristine….she is on steroids this week, but is doing ok with them. I never say great, but will take, ok. It was a long day for both of us but we were most thankful that my parents were here to fill in the gap. They help juggle the girls while I, at least, get something to eat (since McKinley is not allowed food or drink prior to her LP). They help McKinley smile through the NPO morning and my mom helped get dinner ready…..not to mention my dad spent 2 hours doing school with Makayla. So, she didn’t miss a day from that appointment. She will not have another LP until December, but has her next clinic appointment on October 15…..the Friday before Jr is supposed to make his arrival!

I have found it quite challenging lately to discipline. Period. I, most certainly, want my girls to be disciplined and respectful and all the
other fantastic qualities that disciplining your children brings. I have always thought of myself as a decent disciplinarian….at least before
cancer.

I’m guessing that most of my reservation is from seeing the pain from the past year and never, ever wanting McKinley or Makayla to have any pain or discomfort again. This past year was enough pain to pocket for a lifetime.

Perhaps my protective nature has overtaken me. I wanna cuddle my cubs and claw anything that comes near them. I’m fully aware that
this is not the healthy way to raise children, even children/families fighting cancer.

The truth be told…..I know we live in a fallen world. Sin exists and Satan is roaming around with freedom….so they are going to be hurt and face disappointments. These hurts and disappointments will mold them, as long as they are following Jesus, to be more like Him. I’m challenging myself to discipline in love and am asking God for wisdom in the “how to” after cancer.

I kinda wonder, too, if God’s heart feels this way toward us, but knows that discipline is necessary.

⁵ And have you completely forgotten this word of
encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My
son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he
rebukes you, ⁶ because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he
chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Hebrews 11:5-6

THANKFUL for being here today! For the normalness of life that we are sort of experiencing….God is good and is alive and well and He
lives in me!

September already…..fall….

McKinley Joy's Journey — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:41:57 +0000

well, I’m sure it’ll heat back up a bit, but fall is definitely in the air. I’m still trying to figure out where the summer went.

The great news is that we made our vacation!! We left on Saturday (27th) and returned that Friday. It was great to get away. I will, however, not travel that far the day after her last steroid. She was quite demanding and there isn’t much you can do about her demands when you are in a car and traveling. We also found out how many pit (potty) stops a family consisting of a 6-year-old, a newly potty trained almost 3-year-old and a pregnant wife need to make. If you are interested, just ask:) We were prepared for many of them, though.

Makayla absolutely LOVED the ocean. She didn’t want to miss a moment out there and was trying to figure out how we could move down there. It took McKinley a few days to get use to the ocean, but she ended up really enjoying it. Scott and I were glad for the break in our normally abnormal routine, but found that complete relaxation was not in the cards for us that week. We were able to take naps, etc. and enjoy God’s water park and are simply thankful for the opportunity to get away. Thankful that everyone stayed healthy and well. That is a miracle in our eyes! Yay God!!

I will have to say there were times when my heart was completely and utterly overwhelmed. We went out to the Folly Pier one evening. Not many people around, but a guy was playing his guitar and singing. We walked to the end of the pier and then made our way back down to the head of the pier. As soon as we arrived at the musician….McKinley and Makayla both started dancing around…..mind you, we are his only audience at this point. Scott and I sat down and just watched them. My heart was full of joy…..seeing her….actually, both of the girls ENJOY life. My heart poured out thanks to God on several occasions for the experience of our girls seeing and enjoying life in a different place. I hope and pray that I will always be able to see glimpses of God’s goodness and favor through my children.

I think we are finally back in the swing of things at home. The past week has been filled with catching up at home, starting school back up and working on McKinley’s 3rd birthday party!!! Makayla has soccer practice this Friday, a game Saturday and Sunday and we have the Survivor Picnic on Sunday that Cincinnati Children’s Hospital puts on at the zoo. We were not able to make it last year, but are looking forward to it this year!!

I did want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who have donated to the LIGHT THE NIGHT walk that we are participating in this year. Our team McKinley has raised $675 to date, but would like to raise $1,500 as a team (45% there)….the funds raised go straight to Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in efforts to find a cure. The walk isn’t until Sept 22nd, so there is still time to donate if you’d like. Here is our link: http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/Cinci11/SSpringer Feel free to donate to Ridgway or Ajax as well. We are in this as a team!! http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/Cinci11/JKnoechel http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/Cinci11/TMiller

McKinley has been doing really well at home this week. She plays so good while Makayla and I have school. I’m, actually, amazed at how well she plays around us. She continues to make us laugh and seems to be feeling really good. I have had a couple of people comment on how much personality she has…..they didn’t realize it while she was under intense treatment. We’d see moments of her, but nothing like we see and are able to enjoy now. She is doing well potty training too. She went #2 on the potty yesterday, which was a first at home. She did it three times while we were on vacation. She has had an issue with figuring that one out, but we are not stressing over any of these things…..for she has fought hard the past 16 months and if her going #2 on the potty is the biggest concern we have for her then Yay GOD!!! Right?!

Her ANC was 660 on Tuesday, which is borderline low (anything below 500). I’m so thankful that our Doctors let her remain on 50% chemo while we were gone. We increased it one day to 75%, learned of her ANC and then decreased it back to 50%. She will have labs again on Monday and they will evaluate where her chemo should be then. Will have an LP and IV vincristine on Monday the 19th and start “roids” again that week.

Baby #3 is doing well. We only have about 5 1/2 weeks before his arrival. Still need to paint his room, but other than that, we are as ready as we can be. Looking forward to meeting him……

Thank you for continuing to follow this journey with us. It is far from over, but we feel as though we can breathe a little.

Please pray for:

Complete healing from cancer for her and all our pediatric cancer/BMT friends:

Allison, Ridgway, Bella, Tillie, Blake, Max, Simon, Jameson-doing fantastic!!!, Trey–lost a kidney and had issues with his aorta during surgery about a month ago…..praying for a newprotocol for him, Evangelin, Elizabeth, Wright–he is inpatient again with unexplained fevers, definitely pray for his body to heal from his BMT, Mackenzie–in remission!!!, Paige, Lach and Frannie.

Also pray for our family friends all with lung cancer: Suella Slemons, Larry Hehmeyer and Roy Dunn (my bro-in-law’s father).

August 19th

McKinley Joy's Journey — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:54:44 +0000

This week has been quite full. I started homeschooling Makayla on Monday! We have had a pretty good week. She has learned a new poem that she is able to recite, some history of Egypt, some new phonograms and spelling rules, has been reading short sentences in her reading book and has done several math worksheets. I’ve enjoyed teaching her and McKinley has done quite well just playing in the background or with us. She (McKinley) has picked up on several phonograms and will say them with MUCH enthusiasm…..like, “P” (very loudly) is POPCORN! I am able to say after week one, that it is a privilege to teach her myself. Now, that perspective may, just may change….but until then….

McKinley is doing very well. Her counts rebounded last Friday to 880. I was surprised, but happy. When I spoke with Michelle on Friday, her doctors had decided to only put her on 50% chemo instead of 100%. Technically she had dipped below 500 twice as she did one other time when we were in the hospital in July for those fevers (somnolance syndrome). I was thrilled to hear that as I’m not as concerned about her counts completely zeroing out while we are on vacation. She does have steroids next week, but we are praying that she remains healthy the week following. I’ve said before that steroids push out the neutrophils and sometimes that is a “help” to the bottoming out process.

We ended up being able to go to Celina for Saturday and Sunday. The girls had a great time playing with their cousins. It was a little difficult for me to “let her go”….meaning not watching everything she was touching, but I was able to do so to some degree. Scott’s mom and dad fixed some great eats and I’m sure I consumed enough calories for the entire family for a week Saturday, alone. It was quite yummy, though. We were able to visit with Scott’s brother and sister-in-law as well. We knew this would be the last opportunity to travel there until after Jr. is born and it may even be a few months later as Scott’s schedule will change when he changes properties in mid October.

We have really enjoyed McKinley and as I explained to someone the other day…..we really feel like this is the first time we are getting to see her personality. She was diagnosed at 19 months and while she had a personality, it was quickly smothered by cancer and treatment–peeking threw from time to time. She is quite the little jokester and loves to make us all laugh. She knows what pushes the laugh button and will say it over and over again. She is playing well and smiling lots. We continue to pray for her complete healing and so so so so thankful for where we are today.

We have decided to “walk” this year to raise money for Leukemia and Lymphoma research. It is called Light the Night and will take place on Sept 22. We are walking as a team with Ridgway and Ajax’s family. We would like to raise $1,500 as a team. We would love it if you would help out and either sign up to walk/fundraise with us or donate to the walk. Donations are online and simple to do. I’ve heard many people say….do not know if it is true or not….but that if there was a cure for Leukemia/Lymphoma all other cancer cures would be within range. It, however, is not the same with other types of cancer…..so please link arms with us here and help us fight. http://pages.lightthenight.org/soh/Cinci11/SSpringer

So, lift off to vacation is August 27….please pray that we are able to go:)

Pray for no more cancer cells, never ever anywhere in her body.

If any of you were praying for Trey…..he has had a rough week plus. They were not able to get out the cancer mass and actually almost lost him during that surgery last Wednesday. They had to remove his spleen and on kidney and the other kidney was damaged, but is working. They also had to repair part of his heart. Please continue to pray for this family and Trey as he is making steps to recovering from this surgery….pray for another cancer plan to find its way to them…..

Also, two family friends were diagnosed with lung cancer in the past 10 days. Suella Slemons and Larry Hehmeyer. Cancer…..how I loathe it! Praying for you two lovely people, as well.

Tom & Jerry

McKinley Joy's Journey — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:48:53 +0000

Cat and mouse game. McKinley is feeling good. She has been playing like a “normal” kid and potty training is going pretty well. Her counts, however, crashed and burned on Friday. They were 390. We had them checked again on Tuesday and they were 220….not the direction I was expecting, as she had been off oral chemo since Friday. We will have labs drawn again this Friday to see if she has rebounded. When patients ANC drops below 500 they hold chemo until they rebound back up to 500. Then they restart at 100% dosage. If the same scenario happens a second time, drops below 500, when she rebounds chemo would start back up at 50%.

It’s a maintenance dance and we are in the middle of it. I’m, however, a bit stressed as our vacation is planned. We are set to leave on Aug 28th. In order for us to feel like we can go, her ANC needs to be stable enough for lift off and a confidence of it not tanking while we are gone. Not really sure how (time wise) this could happen, but we’ve let the Drs know of our intent to vacate.

I’ve said that we need this vacation, but we don’t really need it. We have been so looking forward to the break and this trip and while we do not need it…in the true sense of the word need, we all could use the time away from cancer, the tasks of preparing for baby brother, the work world and just everyday life. There is no other time for us to go, either…..at least until after baby brother would come into the family. I am pushing traveling and being close to my due date in the first place.

So, don’t mean to be Debbie Downer…..we have so much to be thankful for. God has brought us through the past almost two years without a vacation and we’ve been ok and we will continue to be ok….for He is good!

We will ask that you pray for her chemo to get settled. We knew it would take a while, just thought we’d be on the upswing of it getting settled by now, not at the beginning of it. Please pray for her to remain healthy in spite of a low ANC and for it to rebound quickly. We have labs again on Friday and were planning on going to Scott’s parents, but have to wait to see her immunity number before we can go…..again, we plan loosely.

Continuing to praise Jesus……

PS…I just got a, “Good job, mom!” from Mckinley for me going to the bathroom. She was clapping, too:) AND we got to see baby brother yesterday in a 3D ultrasound that Scott bought for me. WOW….is all I can say! Looking forward to meeting our son:)

Please pray as well for Trey Mitlo today…..he is undergoing surgery to get rid of his cancer today.

August and HOT

McKinley Joy's Journey — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:33:06 +0000

I’m just glad I can grumble about the heat…..McKinley turned an amazing corner on Friday and Saturday. She is back to sleeping 10-11 hours at night and a 1 1/2 – 2 hour nap in the afternoon! She is interacting with us….pretending to be a monster or a pirate at any given moment ….making us laugh, eating and drinking well…..just like a normal little 2, almost 3 year old. As a matter of fact she just said, “Oh my goodness, it’s ridiculous.” For no reason at all….just proves that she’s been around her mother WAY too much.

We are even attempting the potty training this week….do not know how that’ll go, but we’ll try. She is still doing well being in the same room as Makayla and bedtime is SO much easier that way as well. Our hearts are much lighter and we’ve been able to get out and about some. We can not tell you how great it is to have her back…..all of her back….three weeks was way too long! Thank you, Jesus!

Friday night we told Makayla that we were going out to eat and she asked, “Are we going to eat at a table? Inside the restaurant?”. She asked a couple of times to make sure she understood that we were actually going to eat out and not eat TAKE out! I laughed and laughed, but was thrilled to tell her that we were going to eat out. We’ve enjoyed a couple of meals out and ended up going to Anderson Days on Sunday night to join our church family at their face painting booth. It was hot, but it was good to be out in the “normal” world.

Very thankful, very, very, very, very (Yay God!) that there is nothing to report on the medical front. Home health will do labs on Friday just to check everything out post Somnolence Syndrome. We do not have another appointment until August 22nd and we able to skip yesterday’s appointment since she had rebounded!!!

For now, I am working on getting homeschooling stuff together as we will begin on August 15th for two weeks and then our vacation(Yay….Folly Beach!!) for a week. I know we’ll have to take a couple of weeks or so off when Scott Jr. arrives, so I wanted to start a little early. Makayla is excited about it and I, as well, am kind of excited….I’m sure that’ll wear off for both of us in no time, but I’m thankful that we are able to take the plunge and try this homeschooling thing out.

Thank you for continuing to be with us on this journey and I’m going to ask you to please pray for Trey (Mitlo’s son from Pittsburgh…a YoungLife acquaintance) over the next week…they have a tentative plan to do surgery next week to remove his cancerous mass. He will most likely lose his spleen and it’s possible other organs will be affected. You know how to pray for this boy and his family…….

God is good and we are thankful for His faithfulness on our baby girl’s life and our as well…..even when we are faithless….

Each day is a little better

McKinley Joy's Journey — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 18:36:49 +0000

McKinley is doing better each day, but still has a ways to go. She is eating much better and sleeping a bit less and YAY God, no fevers since we were inpatient! This morning she woke up happy at 7:30am and then went back to sleep at 9:30 for two hours. She had a small lunch and was ready to lay back down at 1:30. The time she is awake, however, she is much more herself but tires quickly. We did overnight fluids through Saturday night and has not had them since and I think she is doing well without them.

We had a clinic appt yesterday where she got IV Vincristine and just a check over and out:) We continue to pray for her to pop out of this. This is a steroid week, which may make her feel a little better this week as well…with a little more energy that is.

Makayla has vacation Bible school this week and it is during the morning, which is nice. She is enjoying her time with some old school friends. Special thanks to Erin M for taking Makayla on Monday afternoon while we were at the hospital. McKinley has enjoyed seeing all the Pandas they have set out when we drop her off. It makes my heart happy to see her interested and commenting on the simplest things.

We have taken advantage of her sleepiness and transitioned her into her new bed with Makayla. It was quite uneventful, except she still thinks one of us need to get her out of her bed, which is ok by me. It has also been nice getting a weeks plus worth of uninteruppted sleep. So there were a few little perks to her deep sleep.

We had to miss a weekend at my parent’s this past weekend which included a family reunion….we were a sad we were not able to go, but we plan loosely and are thankful that she was at home all weekend:)

Other than that, no news is good news! Yay God!