Bad Blogger

I have been so bad about updating the blog, I am so sorry. We have had a very busy household this past week. On Tuesday we had friends from Texas fly in and we wanted to squeeze in some fun with them before Sierra had to head to the hospital on Friday morning. we got in a lot of playing and had some fun a the the lake. Sis checked in for her 9th round of chemo on Friday morning. Dave took her for this weekend, since my friend is still visiting from out of town, and she has been doing amazingly well. She got started on her chemo at around 5:30 on Friday evening, a bit later than usual since we had some issues with insurance covering her chemo, not sure why that happened, but it eventually got worked out, and chemo went on as scheduled. Dave has kept me posted on how she is doing, and she is definite;y having an easier time with this dose than the last. She hasn't been moody or irritable at all like last weekend, I am so glad for this, since I feel a bit guilty for having to be away from her, at least she is feeling well. I wasn't able to be there to speak with the doctor at her appointment, but Dave said they told him that Sierra's tumor necrosis, was at 60%, which isn't a good response. generally they want to see over 90%, so we may have to make changes to her chemo regimen, but that will have to wait until I can be at the next appointment and really find out exactly what is going on. Also, she has some tiny spots in her lungs, that have always been unconcerning, at least they have told us that they are way smaller than anything they would be worried about, and they aren't growing, but Dave said that the oncologist is now wanting us to have them removed, again I will have to wait to fully update on this until I can speak with the doctors myself next week, but for now this is a scary thought for us. Lung surgery seems like such a big, scary thing, and we were hoping to avoid, so as soon as I know more, I will let everyone know.

For now we are happy that she is feeling so well. She should be released some time tomorrow and then goes in on Wed. morning for her staple removal, which should only take less than 30 min, and be relatively simple, though she will have to be put under anesthesia for it, so that is scary enough as it is. She is doing better each day with pain, and got her wheelchair on Thursday, I will put pics up soon.

Updated Pic

Here are a few pictures of Sierra from our most recent hospital stay. She had her bandages redone on Friday, and now has much less bulk around her leg. She was pretty freaked out when she caught a glimpse of the staples, and really wanted that part covered up again. but once it was all re wrapped, she was very proud to show off her foot. She loved having her foot out of the dressing, and was walkering around the floor showing everyone how she can wiggle her toes. She still isn't allowed to do much, but she likes that she has a bit more freedom, and I like that her clothes fit a bit better, without all the extra padding. She seems to already have pretty good dexterity with her ankle so that is great, in my opinion. She will need to be able to get it to basically straight, and she is pretty close to that, if she isn't straight already. I don't know how much longer it will be until she can really start doing some physical therapy to strengthen her for a prosthesis, but I know she will be ready to work when the time comes.

We Are Home

Sierra cleared her methotrexate this morning and we are now at home. She had a fairly good time this go around, no nausea or vomitting. The hardest thing for her was the moodiness. She has never struggled so hard with mood swings before with this particular chemo, but this go around she had a really hard time being happy after the second day. She was moody, and grumpy, and even downright rude at some points and she couldn't control it. I felt so badly because she was asking me why she can't be happy and was upset with herslf for not being able to cheer up, which only perpetuated the cycle up grouchiness. She woke up happier today, so we only had about 36hrs of grumpiness. She was so anxious to get home today that she started removing the tape from her port access on her own, before the nurse could get in the room. She goes back for her next dose of methotrexate on Friday, so we will be having some fun time before that happens. We have family friends coming into town for a visit and Sierra is very excited to see them. We are still waiting to hear back on the tumor necrosis, but it should be next week sometime for sure.

And We're Back

Sierra and I are back at the hospital, she got her methotrexate today and now we wait for it to clear. She didnt have a very long break from chemo, but the sooner we get through it all, the sooner we can get back to some semblance of normal life. So far she has been handling this chemo well. She started to feel a bit nauseated, but Benadryl helped that out.she had a visitor from one of her best friends at school and she was so happy to see her, she was a bit loopy from meds, so she was completely uninhibited about showing how happy she was to see Seiya. She was holding her hand and hugging on her arm and being super snuggly, it was so sweet and got both me and Seiya's mom tearing up. She is eager for company this go around, so anyone who has felt like visiting, but hasn't been sure about, come on down. Call me, text me, email, or facebook and  we can figure out a good time, or just stop by, we are pretty flexible, but be warned, you may end up with your nails painted:)

Back to the grind

Sierra really didn't get much of a break the past 2 weeks. We managed to squeeze in a few days of fun, and she has been feeling pretty good for the past week, but now it is time to head back for more chemo. At this point, until we hear back about the tumor pathology, we will just continue on the regular course. So we go in today for her 8th round of chemo, 5th dose of methotrexate. She will be going in for chemo for the next 3 weeks. In the past she has handled this chemo fairly well, and hasn't ended up having to deal with much nausea, so we are praying that remains the case. We are also praying that she clears the methotrexate quickly so we can get back home to prepare for our friends coming into town. My best friend will fly in next week with her 3 kiddos to hang out with us and Sierra is so excited to spend some big girl time with her oldest, Natalie, who is also 8. Thank you so much, to everyone who has been praying for us and for Sierra. Thank you to all of those who sent cards or gifts to Sierra over the past few weeks and months, they really brighten her spirit and help distract her from the difficult things she is going through. All of the support from our friends and family really help us get through each day.

Always smiling

We just got home from an impromptu outing to see Ice Age Continental Drift. Sierra and Reece had a blast. The movie was really cute and had some funny parts too. It is fun to get to some things that feel "normal" even during all that is going on.

Picture Update, Oregon Zoo

Here are some pictures from our trip to the zoo on the 4th of July. We had a lot of fun.

Just arriving.

We were able to rent a stroller for Sierra, luckily, since her wheelchair that had been borrowed from Shriners was too big to lug around in the van.

I love this shot of the seal.

Giraffes.

Evelyn was trying to call the giraffes over to her, so cute:)

Hiding in a little cave with our friend Tempe.

A little head bump from the male lion, then he sat down right in front of her, guess he wanted in on the photo-op.

Group shot with some cousins and friends.

Sierra says the elephant was her favorite animal to see at the zoo.

Little cutie.

Reece and Evy snuggling up to some cheetahs.

On the train ride, she had such a blast all day, and was feeling so great.