October 31, 2009...

Happy Halloween....Pictures to follow.

Today in our interesting lives, Matt was telling me how a bird pooped on his windshield in his car.  The next thing I know, Marcus was opening the baby wipes to get one out, telling me, "I need this".  I said ok, what for.  He told me," to clean the poop off the window outside".  I thought, how appropriate to use a baby wipe! what a smart kid! haha.  Hope you all had a great Halloween.  We did.  Marcus was fun.  Molly pooped in her pants that go under her costume, so she stayed home.  I didn't have anywhere to take her, so that was fine.

As far as chemo goes, Molly has been a little nauseated that last couple days.  I swear it is the neupogen shots, but n/v is not listed as a side effect anywhere for that.  My mom always told me that you would do anything for your kid.  Not that I didn't believe her, but until I had my own, I didn't understand how true that was. I love you, Mom and Dad.
-kalee

Round 4...

We went in yesterday to check Molly's blood and it was good.  She had chemo yesterday and today.  Round 4 is complete.  Now she needs to recover.  She seemed nauseated last night already and that is sooner than it has been in the past.  I think she doesn't feel good, but she is still a pretty happy girl. 

I also cut her hair, finally.  It was so thin it kind of looked like a comb over.  She has new little hairs coming in, so I made it all about the same.  This is a picture post hair cut!

My Big Girl...

Molly got to try some baby food today.  I think she still prefers her thumb.

My pink garden gnome.

Postponed Chemo round 4...

I took Molly in to get round 4 today. They drew blood like always and decided not to give it till next week (hopefully) because her ANC's (part of your WBC) were too low. Last week they were good, so they think she probably has a virus, hopefully not the same one as Marcus. They put her on tamiflu again, as a precaution. The best part is, this now throws our November and December round of chemo into the holiday weeks! Looks like we will be spending thanksgiving and Christmas in Philadelphia! Unless, her next one is bad too or something like that. Who knows? Everyday I don't know what we are doing! Please pray that Molly stays healthy and can stay on track for her chemo treatments. I hope she doesn't' have what Marcus has. He spent this early morning throwing up in bed. He had not thrown up before. He was kind of freaked out. Poor kid. He is now quarantined at Grandma's house until he is better.

Sitting up like a big girl! Molly still loves her dolly!

You can't tell from the picture how much fun she has bouncing in this thing. She loves it, and she really gets to jumping!

Vala's Pumpkin Patch 2009

Marcus riding the pony!




Marcus and I went to Vala's this weekend. It was a bit cold, but we had lots of fun. Marcus was very excited to ride a pony! I didn't think he would do it. He is scarred of goats!

Sicko's...

I know it has been a while since we have posted anything on here, but we have been busy.  I don't know what we have been up to, but I am sure it was important! haha.  Molly is doing very well.  She is being treated for an ear infection, but she seems just fine.  Marcus and Matt are a bit under the weather.  I think they have H1N1, if you ask me.  Cough, fever and just worn out.  Molly and I are pretty much healthy.  We are hanging out at the in laws today to avoid the sicko's at our house! Molly gets chemo the next 2 days, so we want to keep her healthy.  We will probably try and stay away as much as possible the next couple weeks while Molly is recovering.

I have some really fun pictures of Marcus from the pumpkin patch this last weekend.  That was fun!  I will put them up eventually.  Sorry for the delay of information.  Hope to keep you more posted this time. 

-Kalee.

Good Counts!

I took Molly back on Wednesday to have her blood drawn again, her counts are on their way up now.  That is good news.  She did not need to recieve platelets at this time or anything else.  Yeah! Like I have said before, Molly is great and you would never know she is "sick".   That is all, have a great weekend... even though they are predicting snow!

Low Blood Counts...

Well, on Monday,  Molly's blood counts were not so great.  We have to go back in on Wednesday for more.  Hopefully she is on the mend and not still on the way down. 

Molly is 5 Months Old!

I would say Molly is feeling 100% better. She is off her n/v meds and eating full force! My little cutie pie and also my little piggy!  And she is now 5 months old.

Some Pictures from the last Couple Weeks!

 So they re programed how you put your pictures on here and I can't figure out how to write under each picture now!   I am such a computer whiz!  Anyway,  the top pic is Molly and cousin Sammy hanging out in Philly at the Ronald McDonald House.  Matt's sister and her husband have come down to visit us each time we have gone to Philadelphia. 

Then there is Molly in her new sweater, Marcus eating Oreo's, and Miss Molly in pink sticking out her tongue!

Molly had her lab drawn on Thursday last week and so far her counts were pretty good.  We go back for more blood work on Monday to check them again.  Molly did really well this time and didn't seem to feel too bad.  She is always so happy!  And so darn cute! 

-Kalee

Now & Then

Then Now

There's definitely been a change. The top image is of Molly's retina's in July, a week after she was first diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. It shows the white tumor masses and some of the veinus activity supplying blood to the tumors. The bottom image was taken seven (7) days ago.

I think it's a pretty dramatic change. The ophthalmologists explained that the rough texture in the September pictures is due to the calcification, and is casually referred to as "cottage cheese." To me the optic nerve "disk" seems the same size in both the top and bottom, so the relative sizes between the pictures are pretty good.

So, there's the evidence the doctors were giving for why they are saying things are looking good, and that Molly's progressing nicely. Molly had her third round of chemotherapy last week, and as always that comes with a down week of nausea, followed by drops in blood cell components. Last time Molly needed platelets, this time we don't know yet. Today was her first blood test after the chemo treatment. They say that the recovery time from the chemo is longer after every treatment. So we'll wait and see and keep her healthy.