Portland Day 8, Surgery Day 4

Sierra is so amazing, she is still doing wonderfully. She still has her epidural in, but I think they will start weaning her to oral meds over the next day or so. Today she will work with Physical Therapy to get out of bed a bit, I know she isn't going to be thrilled about that, but she will do it anyway because she knows how important it is, and I got her a new DS game to bribe her with if I need to;) The dietitian came in to see her today and said that she is looking great, they are happy with her eating, so we aren't going to worry about putting her feeding tube back in at this point. She will have it placed before she resumes chemo in a few weeks. She is so inspiring, even with all that she has been going through, she keeps a smile on her face. We love you Sierra!!!!

Portland Day 7, Surgery Day 3

Sorry I haven't been able to update as frequently as I would like. We don't have Internet access in Sierra's room, so for me to post an update I have to leave her and can only do that when Dave is here to be with her. Sierra is doing amazingly well. Her epidural is keeping her pain free. She is eating a fairly good amount, and she has been watching movies nearly nonstop.We did have some trouble with her feeding tube, and after 2 attempts to reposition it, and X-rays to check if it was in the right place, we found out it was kinked so they just removed it. If she needs to have it put in later on, she is a pretty good girl about it, so for now she gets to go without it.
The drain tube that was in her leg was removed today, she was really anxious about it, but it was relatively simple, and she didn't feel any pain. They plan to start weaning her from her epidural soon and we will start work tomorrow on getting her up and out of bed for a bit. At this point she only complains when she has to be moved and repositioned, so it may be a bit tricky getting her out of bed, but she is a tough girl. I will try to upload a few pictures this evening when I go back to the Ronald McDonald house to sleep.

Portland Day 5, Surgery Day

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 this morning and they drew labs to be sure Sierra's counts were still looking good. Her ANC was almost 2000, hematocrit(red cells) was at 37, and her platelets were at 113. So all is looking good. We waited for a really long time, Sierra actualy went back to sleep as soon as they brought her some warm blankets, and finally they were ready to take her back just before 8. I, of course, broke down a little bit. She started to get upset, but Daddy gave her a blessing and she was perfectly fine afterward to take a ride on her bed down the hallway, and she was off. Now we just wait for updates.

Just got our first update: She went off to sleep nicely, surgery hasnt quite started yet.

Portland Day 4

We had an appointment this morning to have Sierra's port accessed and labs drawn to be sure her counts were high enough for surgery tomorrow. Besides having to wait for a good amount of time it was a pretty easy appointment. She did great when being accessed, said it didn't hurt at all. Afterward we went down to the cafeteria in OHSU because Sierra was actually saying she was hungry. Her mouth is mostly healed now, and she is having an easier time eating which is so nice. She had some grapes and part of a cream filled donut and some french fries. We were planning to go to the Children's Museum today, but decided we were all too worn out from the past few days, so we just stayed in and relaxed. We check in at 5:30 fro her surgery in the morning. I got a call that surgery was on, but not from anyone who could tell me what her counts actually were, so I will update that tomorrow, obviously they are good enough for surgery though. She is feeling great and has a good amount of energy. Her body is ready to be strong for her surgery tomorrow and to heal itself afterward. I will do my best to update when I can tomorrow as the day goes on and we are updated. Please send prayers for Sierra to be strong and for the surgery to go smoothly, and also for high tumor necrosis(over 90%).

Portland Day 3

We had a great day at the zoo today. Sierra is feeling more herself and is starting to eat a bit more. We wore ourselves out walking around the zoo, but it was a blast and we were able to meet up with some family and friends that we hadn't seen in quite a while. We are hoping to catch a fireworks show tonight and then we go in tomorrow morning for Sierra to have her port accessed and labs drawn to be sure she is ready to go for surgery on Friday.

Portland Day 2

After a very long day yesterday, we all crashed early and slept in this morning. We didn't wake up until 9am, we all obviously needed the rest.  After a tag team morning getting the kids fed and ready while we showered, we headed out to the coast. The kids were great tavelers for the hour and a half ride, we did a bit of singing to entertain Evy, but the big kids were happy with their DS's, and Sierra played a few stories on her LeapPad. When we got to Seaside, we visited the aquarium, it wasn't all that great, but we got to see some seals and they were really cute and making funny growling sounds that kept scaring Evelyn.
After some lunch, we headed to the beach, it was a bit gloomy and had been raining earlier in the day, but we didnt get rained on and it wasn't too terribly cold. Sierra built some sand castles while the rest of us dipped our toes in the ocean a bit, the water wasnt as cold as I had thought it would be, and Dave and Reece actually got all the way in. We took lots of pictures that will have to wait until we get home and I can upload them to my computer. We did some sight seeing and stopped in a few shops, the kids rode the tilt-a-whirl with Dave and went on the carousel, and we had ice cream cones. On our way home we stopped for dinner at Camp 18 and stuffed our selves to the tops of our heads. Now the kids are bathed and in bed, almost asleep, and the grown ups arent far behind them. Sierra has felt even better today so I know her counts are on the rise, I am bummed that she didnt get to go in the ocean, but she will have other chances for that, she said it was too cold for her. Tomorrow we head to the zoo for a full day of fun. I hope we dont wear the kids out to quickly with being so busy these next few days, they are definitely sleeping well at night though:)

Portland Day 1

Our Portland trip has begun. We left around 9pm, Sunday night hoping that the kiddos would be able to sleep the entire way over. That didn't happen except for Reece, he never made a peep. Evelyn wasn't thrilled about sleeping in her seat and cried a good amount, Sierra slept a bit, but not as much as I had expected. We ended up getting lost twice on our way because our GPS gave us bogus directions, which added nearly an hour to our trip, and we didnt make it to a hotel until 4 am. We tried to get a couple hours of sleep before we made our way to the Ronald McDonald House, but Evy had other things on her mind, she is really not good at sleeping in a regular bed at all.
When we got up for the day around 9am we headed straight to the RMH and guess what, we got lost. That darn GPS is a pain in the rear. Finally we ended up finding it and getting most of our stuff settled into our tiny room. We have a queen bed and a twin size fold out for 6 people. Luckily we brought the pack-n-play for Evy, but it is going to be pretty cramped for the first few nights, then half of us will be sleeping at the hospital.
Dave, Sierra, and I headed to her appointment at 1 and were there for several hours meeting everyone and we are set now for a surgery on Friday morning, we dont have a time yet, but will be checking in on Thursday night, so hopefully it will be nice and early. Sierra has felt pretty good for the most part. She is tired and her mouth hurts her, but she is a tough girl. And today is her 8th birthday. She got a leappad from us and was very excited and I know she is excited for the fun things we have planned over the next few days. Tomorrow we are going to the coast and on the 4th we wil visit the zoo. Our kids have never been to thezoo and I am so excited to take them, lets hope we can keep up our stamina and make it through the next few days.
Keep the prayers coming for Sierra to be strong and comforted during surgery, she is starting to get anxious so we are trying to keep her mind off of it. I will do my best to update each day and keep everyone in the loop especially once surgery day arrives.