The Busiest Time of the Year!

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated my blog, there was nothing really to report for a while and then there was so much going that I didn't have time to update my blog. On the 11th of December, Caitlin woke up with a fever, so unfortunately we had to take her down to Primary Childrens, I guess I spoke too soon when I said the overnight stays were behind us. Her ANC was so low that she had to stay in the hospital until Sunday afternoon, and then come home with antibiotics, needless to say Caitlin and I were very tired after a very long week. Thank goodness she was feeling better and we were able to attend the Hancey Family Christmas party, which we missed last year, since we were at the hospital with Caitlin. The party was way fun, good food and family. Thankfully Jake and I were finally able to finish up the Christmas shopping too. Christmas was a lot of fun. Christmas Eve was okay, Jake had to work so that was kind of a bummer. The girls got a lot of fun stuff. Allie got a glow in dark coloring board, a bed for her American girl doll, and lots of craft stuff. Caitlin got a little laptop, Elmo microwave toy, Little people animal farm, and a Tinkerbell doll. Jake got the new Tony Hawk ride skateboard game for Xbox360, and I got some clothes. This Christmas was especially fun and sad, because yesterday was my brother Kenny's missionary farewell. He is leaving for the MTC on Wednesday. His talk went really well, as did the luncheon afterward. Sorry there is no new pictures of course I had the camera sitting out ready to go, but no pictures were taken. We did get Christmas morning on our camcorder thank goodness. Well I guess thats it, until next time.

Great News!

Caitlin had an MRI scan on Monday November 30th, and there was no sign of cancer cells anywhere. She also had a lumbar puncture the next day, just to be certain. We have not received the result of the lp yet. But is looks like Caitlin is finally on her last round of chemo. On Tuesday was her last inpatient chemotherapy, so as long as she doesn't get sick we are done spending the night in the hospital for a while. As long as things continue to go well , she should be done with chemotherapy at the end of January. I am so excited for her to be healthy and for her hair to grow back. More good news is that my little brother Kenny got his mission call to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He leaves in 26 days, we are very excited for him but a little stressed since he has to leave so soon.

A few updates!

Sorry it has been so long but there hasn't been really anything to write about. On November 3rd, we had another chemo appointment to have a check up and pick up the at home chemo medicine. Dr. Lemons says that she looks good and that things seem to be going really well. Caitlin has been continuing to do well on this at home treatment and her blood counts are not falling very low like with the other chemo. Which means that we still have to be careful with germs, but we usually don't make her wear a face mask when we run errands, which I think was making some people nervous. They thought that she had swine flu and her cute bald head doesn't always clue people into the fact that she has cancer. That the face mask was more for her protection than theirs. On November 10th, I had a meeting with up to 3 and the school district to decide if Caitlin qualifies for more help and preschool readiness when she turns three years old. Because of where that brain tumor was located she is a behind with some of her motors skills, unlike most toddlers Caitlin is still just learning to walk or stand up by herself. She now has braces and a walker to help her walk. Just recently she took her first steps on her own. She has gone through so much but she has made tons of improvement. We are getting excited for chemo treatments to end and then hopefully she will be accepted into the preschool program to continue to improve her social and motor skills. Anyway, for the rest of us, Allie seems to be doing pretty well in 1st grade, and is slowly becoming a good reader. She is totally a mini me, people say, except for her bad attitude which escapes sometimes. She always seems to relate more to boys in her class than girls, just like I did when I was little. Hopefully that won't cause us problems. Jake and I are doing good, but very tired of being woken up in the morning by the construction that they are doing on the road next to our house. Hopefully they will be done soon. Also a couple of Saturdays ago Jake and I were able to go out and get some Christmas shopping done. I hate leaving the shopping until the end! Surprisingly we found more stuff for Caitlin then we did for Allie, I hate buying things that the girls only play with once. But Allie loves craft stuff, so I guess our next Christmas shopping outing is to the craft store.

Big Thanks!

Big thanks go out to my Mom and Dad, who stood and sat in line in the cold weather, so my girls and I could receive our H1N1 vaccine. Since last Friday I have been calling everyone trying to find one for Caitlin. The flu had hit Allie's school, so this week I kept her home to stay away from germs. Anyway we were first in line and everything worked out just fine. So again thanks Mom and Dad for waiting in line for us, so I didn't have to entertain the girls and have them stand out in the cold. Hopefully we will have built up enough antibodies when it really hits our town.

One Year Ago

One year ago today I can truly say was the worst day of our lives. One year ago today Caitlin was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 18 months old. We had a MRI that morning at 5:30 am and then received a phone call from Dr. Armstrong around 11am, and told that Caitlin had a brain tumor and it was causing fluid to remain on her brain, so within a hour and a half we were packed and in the car driving down to Primary Children's for Caitlin to have surgery that night. Thank goodness, everything went well with her surgery and they were able to release the fluid on her brain as well. The brain tumor was about the size of a walnut. Also soon after we found out that the tumor was a medulloblastoma tumor, which is a type of cancer. So throughout this year Caitlin has undergone chemotherapy treatments and a round of radiation. She has been such a tough and brave girl through all of it. Our family has cried, been upset, and found strength through this hardship. I have learned a lot of cancer terms and treatments, my extended family thinks I should become a nurse, but I am not sure about that. We are thankful for the good Doctors and nurses at Primary Childrens. But I do have one thing to say to other families that may go through the same thing, you as a parent or family member need to be aware of the kinds of medicines that the cancer patients needs and what doses. I know that Doctors and nurses try not to make mistakes but sadly mistakes do happen. A few times I have had to stop the nurses from giving Caitlin the wrong medicine or wrong dose. I have never really been very hard-headed but when my child life is at stake you better watch out. Anyway, off my soapbox, our hearts go out to other families who are going through the same trials. Also a big thank for all our family and friends for all their prayers, support, and love. I do have some good news to report if Caitlin's next scan looks good, we will only have one more cycle of chemotherapy left, so we will hope to be finished with chemo sometime in January.

Three years and going strong

Today is Jake and my three year wedding anniversary. Wow time does fly some days! I remember we were both really nervous on our wedding day, since we both hate been up in front of lots of people. But it turned out pretty well, I think. Allie was upset since we had got her a flower headband to wear on her head, which she didn't want she wanted my bouquet. We decided not to have a reception because of the expense of weddings and that my parents had already paid for my first wedding. So after the ceremony and the picture taking we went and ate dinner at the Bluebird restaurant in Logan, it was so good. So all in all the day turned out pretty good, a lot better than my first marriage, since during the ceremony my ex-husband said his brother was his best friend instead of me. I should of saved me the heart ache and just let him marry his brother. Oh well!!! We are hoping that in the future we will have better luck in celebrating our anniversary. Last year we were planning on going to a hotel, enjoy a break from the girls and relax in a jetted tub. Unfortunately Caitlin was diagnosed with a brain tumor on the Thursday before, so instead we spent out anniversary and my birthday at Primary Children's Pediatric ICU. This year money has been really tight with only Jake's income and a few extra expenses to care for Caitlin, so we decided next year we will save up our money and go do something really fun for our anniversary.
I know that it sounds silly, but I really do believe that Jake and I are soul-mates. It has been three years and we still can find things to talk about, we still call each other on lunch breaks. We really never fight, we might get upset with each other but usually that is because one of us is really tired or being too OCD. We always enjoy spend time together, we love to snuggle on the couch and watch our favorite shows and movies. We love to play games together, and we love to spoil our girls. Jake is a great man and father, he always put his kids before himself. He has worked hard this year to make sure that our family has been provided for. He is always willing to help out, and give me back rubs and foot rubs. He is the greatest husband in the world and I would be lost without him. Happy Anniversary, Jake! I love you now, always, and forever.

Just a Little Update!

Caitlin's scans came back looking good, so we should only have about 4 months of Chemotherapy left. Hooray!!! We are so excited and hope that things continue to go well for her recovery. It has been a very long and trying year for us, and we will be happy to have made it through it. Thanks to friends and family who have helped and supported us. Now if I can get the Christmas shopping done before December then life would be perfect. Well okay not perfect but a lot less stressful.

Busy Time at the Welch Household

Sorry it has been so long since I updated but we have been kind of busy at the Welchs. Jake turned 26, on September 29th. Yeah, he is finally as old as me, but not for long. Due to our little girl's condition, we didn't get to do much, but we did go out to dinner, and I think he liked his presents, an Elmo hoodie and the new Halo game. Also my Mom's Birthday is October 6th, this year she turns the big 5-0. So we wanted to have a big family party, I said that I would make a slide show of photos of my Mom. It turned out okay, but my computer is kind of outdated and was enjoying giving me stress in putting it together. Caitlin thank goodness got over her shingles without any problems. Last Wednesday the whole family went and got our flu shots, Allie was not happy about that at all. But it worked out well since she was out of school for UEA. On Friday we got Caitlin's braces for her legs, since she tends to walk on the side of her foot. Also on Friday was my Mom's 50th Birthday party, which was really fun. Walmart messed up on the cake, but oh well. At least it tasted okay. On Saturday we went to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant it was really good. On Sunday we went up to my Mom to watch conference and eat yummy food. So all in all we had a fun weekend. Caitlin seems to be doing pretty good with her braces. I am hoping she sleeps better tonight than she did last night since tomorrow we have to get up early for another MRI, and she will start another round of Chemo on Thursday. But if everything still looks good, this will be her second to last chemo round. Yeah! Please keep her in your prayers and think good thoughts!

Time is a Funny Thing!

Wow, some days it seems like time has just flown by, and other it really seems to drag. For example I can't believe is has almost been a whole year, that I have been a stay at home Mom, this time has seem to go by pretty fast. But most days I feel like time drags by at home, thank goodness, my favorites shows are returning next week. Its kind of sad when That is what I have to look forward to. I am also excited for when Caitlin will finally be done with Chemotherapy but that is such a question mark, we are hoping she will be finished in about six months, but not for sure. We hit a little roadblock on the way, this past week, Caitlin somehow got Shingles. At first we thought it was just a rash, but it didn't go away. On Sunday, it looked way worse, so we took her to Instacare and they diagnosed it as Shingles. Poor girl, poor Mom and Dad, we would give almost anything to just have a health child. She is so brave and tough, adults have said that is the most painfully disease but she seems to be doing pretty well, with just Tylenol. Hopefully she will get better soon, and we can continue her chemotherapy and be that much closer to be free of all of this medicine.

Caitlin Shiny new Toy!

Today Caitlin had an appointment with Cache Kids since she is still not walking yet. They decided that she needs braces for her legs, so they made mold cast to send to have them make the braces. Caitlin and I picked out the colors and the design for them. We will take pictures when they get here. They also sent us home with a walker to help Caitlin find her balance. Here are a few pictures above to show her progress.

Crazy Week!

Wow, some weeks I am so bored with nothing to do, and other weeks I seem to be so busy that I don't get a chance to update my blog. To explain my crazy week. On Monday I woke up early to take Allie school shopping. She has pretty grown out of all of her pants and shirts, so we spent the morning get some much needed new clothes. Tuesday we made a trip to Walmart to buy the New Hannah Montana movie, the girls just love it. On Wednesday was Allie's back to school night at 6:30. I must be a dumb parent but on the note for the back to school night it didn't say when the first day of school was. So I just assumed that it was today, but at the meeting we found out school started on Thursday, and Caitlin had clinic on that day. Lucky her appointment was later in the day, so I was able to take Allie to school and Jake took off work so he could pick her up. Anyway Wednesday night was a pretty crazy night at our house, making sure everything was ready for school the next day. Thankfully everything worked out. Thursday we spent half of the day at clinic. On Saturday we went up to Preston to watch my little brother Kyle play soccer and then my family and us headed up to Bear Lake to swim and play on jet skis for a couple of hours and then we went to Pickleville Playhouse for dinner and to watch Annie get your gun. It was really fun, my parents got engaged there, and I have never been there before, so it was fun to go see it. We left during intermission since the girls were tired, and we all had a very long day. I was kind of surprised but the girls really liked the play. So all in all last week was pretty busy but full of fun.

Getting closer to the end!

Sorry it has been so long since I updated but we are kind of really boring people. We use to hardly stay home, but since Caitlin can't really go out any where there is germs, and our income has decreased a bit, we have turned into homebodies. Which someday I really love, and others I feel stir crazy stuck in the house. Anyway on Thursday we headed down to Primary Children's for the next round of maintenance chemotherapy. We are almost done as long as things continue to go well, I think we only have six more months left. Yeah!!! The hospital trip went pretty well, except that we were trying to get out of there quickly on Friday, since Allie had a Birthday party to get to at 4 pm. Of course, when you are in a hurry nothing seems to work out right. We didn't leave the hospital until noon, but we did make it home in time to clean up and head to the party. The party was a Princess party, and Ariel showed up. Allie had a lot of fun! On Friday night, my mom and I went to go see the Time Travelers Wife, it was really good. I liked it a lot more than the book. On Saturday, Jake and I went shopping for clothes for Caitlin, since colder weather will soon be here. At four we went to the Hancey family reunion, which was fun and the food was good. So today was a nice lazy day, well kind of. Caitlin figured she could wake up at 6:30 am, thanks to Jake who got up with her, and let me sleep in. But I did let him go back to sleep when I got up. So that was our week in a nutshell! Caitlin and I will be heading down to Primarys again on Thursday for a quick clinic appointment for more chemo. We are hoping that these last few treatments go by fast.

Preston Night Rodeo and Parade!

Last weekend, was the Famous Preston Night Rodeo and Parade. The girls and I went up Friday night to watch the parade. Unfortunately Jake had to work that night, and doesn't have many vacation days left, so we figured we better save them. Allie just loves parades, I bet you can't guess why, the candy of course. Caitlin loves the music, she doesn't really care about the candy just yet. After the parade, we went to my mom's and hung out with my family, and watched movies. On Saturday, Jake met up with us, and we went and walked around the sidewalk sale, and then my family all went to eat lunch at Big J's, I just love their cheeseburgers. After that we went back to my parents to escape the heat and wait for the parade. We watched part of the X-games and then we outside and played the basketball game PIG. Saturday's parade was better than Fridays, Walmart threw a ton of candy. Then we went to my Mom's for Navajo tacos and put the girls to bed and watched the new Fast and Furious movie. On Sunday my little brother Kenny was ordained an elder, and we took some family pictures. We also went and ate at Grandma's Hugies, she is a really good cook. So all in all, it was a pretty fun weekend. Thankfully both my girls are doing pretty good right now, so they got to enjoy the fun too.

Allie's Turn!

Well I haven't been blogging because there hasn't been a lot to blog about. Caitlin has been doing really well with the at home chemo medicine and her counts are not dropping as fast as they were before. Which is nice, we have not been totally confined to the house, and we haven't had to make any trips down to Primarys.
Now I will explain this post title, I guess Allie has been feeling left out with all the trips Caitlin has had to make to the Hospital, so she wanted a turn, I guess. I'll explain, Allie woke up Monday morning pretty early, and said she was feeling very good. At first I thought that she was just tired because she hasn't been sleeping very good lately. She didn't eat a whole lot and pretty much slept all day. By nighttime I figure I should take her temperature, and it was 102.3. I know that your body temperature rises a little bit at night, and I figure I would give her Motrin and she would sleep off the fever. On Tuesday the fever was still pretty high, so I called the Doctor's office and made an appointment to come in at 11:30. Dr. Armstrong looked her over and couldn't see anything that stood out why she would have a fever, so he sent us home with instructions to give Motrin and Tylenol. At eight pm I checked her temperature again and it was 104.9, not good. I called Jake to leave work, so I could take Allie to the Emergency care center at the Speciality Hospital. There they did a CBC, a urine test, and a flu test. They figure it was a kidney infection, thank goodness. I say thank goodness, because I was fearing it was swine flu, that would just be the worst. Now both my girls are on the same antibiotics, Allie to clear up the infection, and Caitlin to help her bodies blood counts to recover from chemo. Another crappy fact, Allie's white blood cell count was low at just 2.4, and the doctor wasn't sure it was because of the infection or something else, so in a week we have to go and get another CBC done. Hopefully it is nothing big, I think we have had enough excitement with cancer and doctors to last us a lifetime.

Vacation and other good news!

On Tuesday we packed our bags and left for a much needed vacation. First on our trip list was Caitlin's Doctor appointment to find out the results of the MRI scan, and great news the scans were clear. The spots they saw before on her neck are gone. So we are so excited! Hopefully things continue to go well. After that we headed to the Hogle Zoo, it was fun and a little hot. We had rented a wagon for the girls to ride in, but after about 15 minutes Caitlin wanted to walk by holding someones hands. She walked the rest of the way through the zoo, which is a long walk. We then spent the night at my uncle's house in Centerville. The next day we went to Cherry Hill, which is a waterpark, and other fun stuff like batting cages, a rock climb, and miniature golf. We went golfing first, since it wasn't very busy. Caitlin even wanting to try. Then we went to go play in the pools, Caitlin at first was crying and didn't want anything to do with the water. But after a nap she walked in the little kiddie pool, and put her feet in the bigger pool. Allie loves the water and keep jumping in and out of the pool. Jake and I went on the cardiac canyon which is where you go down a rapid like river on tubes, we kept getting stuck and really wet, but it was so much fun. Allie and I also rode on the Double Dragon water slides, which are tubes that you slide down on mats, they went really fast. After Cherry hill, we got ice cream and then grill hamburgers and hot dogs at Doug's. It was a really fun day, expect we brought the wrong kind of sunscreen so everyone got a little bit burned.
Unfortunately the good news didn't continue for some. On Wednesday we found out the our little friend that I wrote about it my last post, had passed away on Tuesday night. Please pray with us, for comfort and understanding for her family. We will miss her, and wish that she didn't have to leave us so soon. But in our hearts we also know she is now healthy and feels no pain, and upon her beautiful bald head has returned her beautiful curls.
On Thursday we went to the Gateway Theater, to watch Harry Potter (Caitlin and I, my family) Ice age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Jake and Allie). It was fun, they have a pizza hut inside the theater so you can eat pizza during your movie. I was so proud of Caitlin, she was so good during the movie, she didn't hardly make a sound. After that we head to Boondocks fun center, which was almost better than Lagoon. They have a kid's jungle gym and arcade, where Allie and Caitlin spend most of their time. They have these Bumper boats, that is like bumper cars, but you can squirt the other people. They also have Go-Karts, that was the boy's favorite. Allie like them too, she kept telling me to drive faster. They also had a fun different miniature golf course. They even had little go-karts that Allie could drive, but she forgot to brake when the ride was over, good thing the operator guy was fast and caught her. We also played laser tag, which apparently I suck at, since my score was -1300 at the end. I don't think I really knew how to work my laser gun. Today we were maybe going to stop at the Dinosaur park in Ogden, but everyone was so tired and worn out we decided to save that for the next trip. So all in all we had a really great time, but now we need a vacation after our vacation.

Pray for our nephew and our little Friend!

Sorry its been awhile since I have updated but this week I have been so tired I can't think clearly to write whats been going on. Thank goodness, we didn't have to go back to the hospital for the 4th of July weekend. Caitlin's blood culture from the Tuesday that we left the hospital was negative so that's good news, but they like to keep her on the antibiotics so I have been giving them to her every 8 hours, which makes for long days and sleepless nights. But anyway, we did try to have a little fun last weekend. On Friday we went with Jake's family out to lunch and then to the car show, and then watched the fireworks at my Grandma's house. Caitlin loved the fireworks, she was saying "Oooo, Pretty." On Saturday we went to the Hyrum parade with my family, and then my mom watched our girls while Jake and I went to see Transformers 2. Which was really good but a little long. On Sunday we went to a family dinner at Jake's parents house and Allie and her cousins played in the swimming pool. Yesterday we headed down to Primary Children's for another MRI to determine if the spots they saw before our growing or if they have disappeared. Caitlin did pretty good, except she was a little dehydrated so her blood pressure dropped a little bit, but they just gave her fluids and she was just fine. We won't find out the results of the MRI until Tuesday and then we are going on vacation after that but I will post the results when we get back. Keep your fingers crossed for some good news! To explain this post title, our nephew Ryker's doctor found a lump on his neck and thinks it might be lymphoma, he is having surgery on July 21st to remove it and test it for cancer cells. The doctor believes that it is not cancerous, so hopefully he is right, and everything will go fine.
Since Caitlin has been diagnosed with cancer, we have connected with friends going through the same difficulty. There is little girl who is only a couple months older than Caitlin, and was diagnosed with a brain tumor as well. Unfortunately this little girl has been a lot sicker than Caitlin, the doctors thought that they had got all of the cancer removed. But just recently they found that it is blanketing her brain, and the doctors gave her 1-2 months, and then it changed to 1-2 weeks. We are heart broken to find out this news. Please pray for our nephew and our little friend! Thank you for your continued prayers for Caitlin.

Update on our little angel!

Well since my last post, here's what we have been up to. Caitlin had another chemo appointment on Monday, which was a little long. Sometimes I just don't understand it, there are nurses who have four patients to take care of, and then they are two nurses walking around doing nothing. Who knew nursing would be a field where you could get away with doing nothing. Apparently there are some lazy people in every profession. Anyway enough complaining, on Friday Caitlin and I headed back down to Primary for a blood transfusion. When we arrived she had a little fever but I thought it was cause she had her jacket and blanket on her in the car. Anyway her temperature didn't go down, but she didn't seem to be sick other than that. So they gave her an antibiotic and drew a blood culture before we went home. But at 3:00 in the morning on Saturday, a doctor called me and said that the blood culture came back positive, and to bring Caitlin down that day, so they could start her on antibiotics. So that's where we spent our weekend. They found out that Caitlin had a Gram positive staph infection. Also poor Caitlin gets the red man face which is a side effect of this VancoMycin antibiotic she is on. Thankfully with Tylenol and Benadryl she doesn't get it anymore. Thankfully we were able to come home on Tuesday with antibiotics and hopefully we won't have to go back for the fourth of July weekend. I wish I had a genie so that I could wish for just a normal day at least every once in a while.

More from the Welchs!

Well there is not really much to tell, but a few tidbits. Caitlin had more chemo on Monday and also a eye appointment. Dr. Dries (eye doctor) says that her eyes are looking really good and that he will check her again in a year. Then we headed over for chemo, we were kind of early for our appointment. Since we had tried to plan the appointments for the same day so we would not have to make any extra trips to Salt Lake. Therefore we had to wait awhile for Caitlin's chemo to be ready. Two hours later we were finally out of there, and the medicine only takes about 5 mins to give. Also her counts have gone down again, which means she is on house arrest. I know that sounds weird, but that's kind of how it feels. Today I got a nice break, I was able to go out to lunch with my friend Meghan, we both have been pretty busy and haven't been able to do anything together.( me with Caitlin, and she has a 5 month old little girl) So it was fun to catch up and have life feel a little more normal for an hour. I posted a few more pictures, I hope you like them. I really like the one with Jake and I. I am not very photogenic so very rarely will I let anyone take my picture but this one turned out really cute.

Back to Chemotherapy

Well yesterday Caitlin started her eight months of maintenance chemo. We are still unsure of what the spots are from the last MRI scan, but the doctors decided to continue with chemotherapy and then have another scan done on July 10th, to determine if the spots are changing, growing, or (hopefully) gone. I must of gotten a little confused since I thought this chemo was given in the clinic over one hour, instead we had to stay over night for Caitlin to receive it. Thank goodness, we usually pack an overnight bag just in case, so we were kind of prepared. Everything went pretty good, and she was done with all her medicines by 3 in the morning. So I was hoping that we would be released pretty early this morning. But it seems like they like to drag the feet about discharging us. Its not bad there, but I would just rather spend the least amount of time there as possible. Caitlin seems to being doing really well, except that she has been a little sleepy lately, we are thinking that the radiation treatments are catching up with her. Otherwise our family is doing pretty well, just trying to enjoy the warm weather, well if it would stop raining. Sorry no new pictures I am really bad at taking them.

Good news, but still ?????

Dr. Lemons called me today to let me know the results of the lumbar puncture. Thank goodness, the l.p. was clear, but they are still unsure of what the spot is that the techs saw in the MRI. So they are going to have Dr. Hazard and Dr. Brockmeyer look at the MRI scans again and see what they think. I should receive another phone call by Wednesday with more information on what is the plan or what they believe the spot is. So good news but still a little worried about what the spot is. On another note, poor Caitlin was called a little boy twice at Walmart on Friday, and one lady thought I actually gave my child her hair cut. It does look a little different since her hair is starting to grow back on top, but the back isn't growing in yet. I am not really sure why not, maybe because of the radiation. I am hoping it is not permanent. Fingers Crossed!

Not good news, not sure what kind of news!

Yesterday Caitlin had an MRI and an audiogram at Primary Children's, which was interesting (ha ha ha) Unfortunately many things went wrong, first I had the time wrong so we had to wait for a whole hour in the waiting room, and they had messed up the scheduling. Caitlin was suppose to be under sedation for both the MRI and the audiogram but they can only give her the medicine once. Anyway since the MRI took so long, and then it took a little while for the audiologist to come, that Caitlin was awake before they were halfway done. From what they did get, they say that her hearing is still good, meaning that the chemotherapy hasn't affected her hearing. After that we went to see Dr. Lemons to talk about the results from the MRI. Where the tumor was before shows no new or re-growth, so that was good news. But they did find plaque-like lesions on her spine at the base of her neck, which right now we are unsure of what that really is. So on Friday we are heading back down to Primary's to get a lumbar puncture done to see if that gives us a clue to what the growth is. Jake and I were kind of heart broken, we had hoped that we were at the end of this awful journey and that we were just going to have to finish up the maintenance chemo. Now we might just have to go back and do some of it all over again. Before yesterday I felt like a broken vase pieced back together with just one more piece to put back in to complete it. Now I feel like that piece instead of fitting in perfectly caused the whole thing to break apart again. I am okay, I am just feeling a little defeated right now.

Still not much happening!

I feel like I would be boring people to death if I wrote something everyday, since there really isn't very much going on in our lives right now. Caitlin has been doing really good, and is enjoy the break from chemotherapy. Since her counts are good, we even went to Gymnastics class last Friday, a class set up by the Up to 3 program to help kids learn how to walk. Caitlin liked it, I think. Mom was exhausted by the end of it. She seems to be doing pretty well, she wants to walk everywhere but she still needs you to hold her hands. Allie is doing really well in school, and has been learning to read. She only has 7 days left. We decided since soon Caitlin will be starting chemotherapy again and her counts will probably go down again, we purchased a little slide and waterwheel play table for our back yard. Then she can at least play outside, since we wont be able to go the park soon. On another note, since Caitlin is not home bound we went to our new ward yesterday. They were so nice and most of them already knew who we were. Anyway I guess that's all for now.

Not Much Going on

Well sorry it has been so long since I have updated, but unfortunately and thankfully not much is going on right now. Unfortunately because I am usually pretty bored. Thankfully because Caitlin is doing so well, that we have a nice break from Primary Children's. She has another hearing test and MRI scan on the 26Th of this month, and then maintenance chemotherapy after that, if the scans look good. I don't know if being a stay at home Mom is a right fit for me, I love my girls but sometimes they are also a bit much and I think I have watched enough Hannah Montana and Suite life of Zack and Cody to last me a lifetime. I also miss my friends from work. Maybe if I had a bun in the oven, then at least I would feel more productive. No that is not a confession, more wishful thinking! I just feel like after cleaning the house, and taking care of the girls, I have nothing to do. I know I need to find a hobby. I just feel bad when Jake leaves for work everyday, I wish I could help take some of the financial load off his shoulders. I am so proud of him, instead of coming home when he is offered no works, he stays and works hard to earn money for our family, which we definitely need. Also I am pretty sure Jake would freak out if we would have another girl, (he is the only boy in his family) truthfully I don't know if I could handle another drama queen either. Another reason I am still being a stay at home Mom, is that we were approved for Medicaid which is a blessing come true, unless you have been through this, you have no idea how expensive going through chemotherapy and radiation is. Our insurance is pretty good, but it does not cover everything. Anyway I am not quite sure if any of this makes sense. I have kind of had a lot on my mind lately, just trying to decide what our plans are for the future.

Week 4 and 5

Sorry is has been so long since I last wrote an update, but there hasn't really been a lot of extra time for me when I was near a computer. Radiation has been going pretty good, Caitlin is such a trooper. Good news though, Monday is the last day of radiation treatments and then we have a month break before we restart chemotherapy. Yeah, no more long trips down to Salt Lake, my wallet and my car are almost excited as I am. Caitlin's hair is also starting to grow back, I know its weird but I am hoping that it grows back the same color as Jake's hair. More exciting news, Caitlin is starting to stand up by herself. She started doing it on the bed, which was different, since you would need more balance to stand up on the bed, but maybe she feels safer since when she does fall down she has a softer landing. We are very excited about this, hopefully soon she will be running around. I know I am crazy, what parent wants her child to be able to run, but with everything she has gone through I would gladly welcome that challenge.

Week Three

Well week three wasn't as exciting as week two in a good way and a bad way. Monday treatment went fine except I had taken Allie down with me, because it was her school's spring break this week. She is not one for being quiet or sitting still, but she was okay. Jake had some bad luck on Monday, he accidentally locked his keys in the car, and I took the other set with me. So we had to make a trip back, but that was okay, since Allie had changed her mind that she didn't want to stay with me. She thought it was too boring, so she stayed with my mother for the rest of the week. Thanks Mom and I am sorry! So Monday we got to spend some time together which was nice. But I had to get up at 5:30 am the next morning to get down to Huntsman on time. The rest of the week went by pretty fast. Caitlin and I just finished up the Easter shopping and I caught up on Lost the TV series. I usually don't watch it on Wednesday because I like to watch Criminal minds, and there are both on at the same time. I am really glad to be able to be home for Easter, and spend time with Jake and Allie. One great thing about this week, on Wednesday we were halfway through radiation treatments. Which is totally awesome.

Week Two

Well week two was a little more exciting then week one in good ways and bad ways. Monday, things went just fine at radiation, but Tuesday was a little different. We had an appointment at Primary Children's because Caitlin hasn't had a messy diaper in about 12 days. I waited to take her because I was giving her all the medicines they gave me to help keep her regular. I figure she would just go, and also she was doing just fine she was still eating, and wasn't vomiting. Anyway at Primarys they sent us downstairs for an X-ray to make sure there wasn't any blockage. They found that she was totally backed up, then they had to decide how to clean her out. They really don't like to do suppositories with cancer patients because of low blood counts. So they decided to put a feeding tube down Caitlin's nose to give her some medicine called Go-lite. They had someone come in and explain to me what that procedure meant, and then they tried to explain it to Caitlin. I know they were just doing their job, but you can explain something until you are blue in the face to a two year old, they are just not really going to understand it. Sometimes you just have to do it, after they got it in, poor Caitlin was just exhausted and she fell asleep in my arms. Again we had to get another x-ray to make sure the tube was in the right spot. After they put us in a room to stay for the night, finally they decided that her blood counts were high enough that they could give her a suppository to help get things started. If I had one complain about Primarys it is this, they offer room service to the child in the room, but they do not offer it to parents. Since Caitlin also had radiation that morning we both had not ate any breakfast, and we didn't have a chance to eat anything until 3 pm. I had some treats in the diaper bag but I wasn't sure if I could give her anything until they decided what to do. Since Caitlin is so little I can't leave her in the room by herself and she screams bloody-murder if I leave her with one of the nurses. So I had to have my mom come down to Salt Lake to sit with Caitlin while I ran to grab me something to eat and my stuff to stay overnight at the hospital which I hadn't planned on doing. Anyway thankfully the medicines worked and about a pound less the next day we were able to leave the hospital. Thank goodness because Thursday was Caitlin's Second Birthday. Which we had a lot of fun. Jake and Allie drove down so we could spend the day together, so after Caitlin's radiation treatment, we went to lunch at Applebees, and then we went to the Hogle Zoo, this was Jake and Caitlin's first time going there. The Zoo was pretty fun, it would of be nicer if the weather would of been warmer, but most of the animals were in the buildings anyway since it was too cold outside for them too. We are planning to go again in the summer time so we can enjoy it more. After that we took the girls to build-a-bear, which is exactly how it sounds. You go in and choose which kind of animal you would like and then you get to help put the stuffing inside of them. You also get to give your animal a heart and make a wish. Since it was Caitlin's birthday we all got to give her animal a heart and make a wish, I know it seems a little silly, but of course I wished that Caitlin would get all better soon. Both girls picked out Bunny's instead of bears, and then we had fun picking out clothes and other things for them. So all in all I think it was a pretty fun day. I know everyone was worn out by the end of the day, but at least we had fun.

Week One

Well week one of radiation treatments went by pretty smoothly. If you have ever been up to the Huntsman Cancer Center you know how nice it is. Caitlin does really well with treatments, they let me walk her back to the treatment room and stay with her until she falls asleep. The medicine they give her works really fast they put it in the line and in about ten seconds she is asleep, then I go back to the exam room, where they bring her back to me about 20 to 30 minutes later. She then slowly wakes up, we have to stay there for about 30 minutes afterward so they can watch her after the sleeping medicine. So far it has been going really well, Caitlin has not had any of the side effects yet, which is awesome. The spot where she is receiving the radiation is usually a little red after she comes back from treatment but that usually goes away before we leave. After Caitlin's treatments, my mom and I did a little shopping in the big city since Caitlin's counts have been so low she has really been able to go anywhere, but radiation doesn't affect her counts like chemotherapy does, so it was fun to get out and go to different places. On Thursday we went shopping at Toys R Us, to pick out birthday gifts for Caitlin since she will be turning two next Thursday. Then we went to Babies R Us to pick out some clothes and buy a much needed new stroller. Its pink, and durable and will be well used on our upcoming radiation treatment trips. We then stopped at the mall for some food and to check out the Build-a-Bear store which we are taking our girls to next Thursday for Caitlin birthday, weather pending we are also hoping to go to the Hogle Zoo. Thanks for all your support and help with everything. Hopefully week two will go as fast and as well as week one. I forgot to take my camera with me this time, I will try to remember to take it next week.

Not much extra time!

I can't write too much right now, I am trying to get ready for another long week of Radiation treatments for Caitlin down at the Huntsman Cancer Center. Last week's two treatments went pretty good, hopefully this week will go just as smoothly. I will try to write a lot more next weekend.

Allie's Birthday

Yesterday was Allie's Birthday, she turned six years old. Ah! That means I am getting old! I took cupcakes to her class and did a spotlight on her, which was scary. I hate standing up and talking in front of people even Kindergartners. But I think it went really well. One funny story, this little boy ate his cupcake in about ten seconds, and then the teacher ask him to clean up and throw away his cupcake wrapper and napkin. But all he had was his napkin, so the teacher ask if he ate the paper, he just looked at her. Then he asked if I had taken off the paper I said I didn't, he got this funny look on his face. I tried very hard not to start laughing. I know that I shouldn't laugh but if you would of seen the look on his face, you would of too. Of well, I am sure paper isn't very bad next to eating glue. After Allie got out of school, we went to McDonald's to eat and so Allie could play on the slide. Caitlin really wanting to go and play too, but she is still too little and there was too many germs. Then my family and us came back to our house for cake, presents, and root beer floats. I think she had a fun Birthday, she kept telling me that this was the best Birthday ever. We gave Allie a Leapfrog Leapster to help her learning her letters, and a High school Musical DVD game. My family gave her a Troy and Gabriella doll, and some clothes.
Today was a different adventure, we had to wake up at 5am to drive down to Caitlin's doctor appointment at the Huntsman Cancer Center to make her mask so they can plan her radiation treatments. The Huntsman Center was really nice, and it really didn't take very long. Thank goodness, cause we were all really tired when we got home. The mask is a little bit different than I thought it would be, but with it they will be able to line up the laser in the correct position each day, and she only got one tattoo, which is really only a little dot on her chest, to help line up her body. We will have to start radiation treatments next Thursday, but we are hoping that everything will go smoothly.

The Next Step!

Well, on Tuesday we hit a little milestone, Caitlin finished the first round of her treatment. We will now be starting radiation treatment in about a week, which is the next phase of treatment. Clinic was at 10:30 for Vincristine, and then we had an MRI at 1 pm, poor Caitlin couldn't eat anything until after the MRI. We talked the doctors into doing a lumbar puncture, just to check that cancer cells hadn't traveled down the spine. After the MRI we went back to clinic for Caitlin to receive a blood transfusion. Before we left we were able to find out the results of the MRI, and it was awesome news. The MRI showed no regrowth or new growth and the lumbar puncture was clear. Which is so awesome, this means that the chemotherapy treatment is doing its job. She will still need more treatment, just to be certain that we kill all of the cancer cells. But with this good news, it just means that the end of this is a lot closer. As horrible as this has been to get through some days, we have been really blessed. Hopefully radiation really go well, and Caitlin can continue to get better. She has been such a trooper and has done really well through all these treatments. She is starting to try to stand up on her own, which is really cool. I am sure it won't be very long before I will be chasing after her. Next Thursday we will be going down to the Huntsman Cancer Center for a meeting with the Radiation therapists, and to make Caitlin a mask for treatments that ensure that her head stays still so the radiation will only hit the area where the tumor was located. Also from now on, it may be longer between posts since I will be spending Monday thru Friday at the Huntsman center for Caitlin's radiation treatments. Again thanks for all the support and help all our friends and family have given us, so far.

Chemo Treatment

Well we finally made it down to Primary Children's for our next chemo treatment. We were suppose to go down on Tuesday, but since the flu and RSV is going around they didn't have any open rooms. But we were able to go down on Thursday, also we were able to get our other appointments taken care of which was nice. We went to see the eye doctor, which said that Caitlin's eyes are looking a lot better, she doesn't seem to be crossing them anymore, so we don't have to put on an eye patch every day for an hour anymore. Then we went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor to check if Caitlin needed tubes in her ears, and again more good news. She just needed the wax cleaned out of her ears. Then we went back upstairs to start chemo, this time was a little rougher for Caitlin since she was really constipated. But we have medicine to help with that and hopefully her diaper rash will clear up soon too.
On Friday we had the Radiation techs come talk to us, since she will be starting radiation treatment about mid March. This hit me hard because its has some pretty bad side effects, most of them are long term not short term ones. The side effects are a learning disability, and it may cause her to be sterile. I just hate that she has to go through this now, and then have to deal with side effects 25 years later. But we later find out that she will only get radiation on the spot where the tumor was, instead of the whole brain and spine. Which will hopefully limit the side effects. Usually they try not to treat kids under 3 years old, and Caitlin will barely be turning 2 on April 2nd. This is the treatment that they have found works the best, so that's what we will be doing. I just hope and pray that radiation treatment will do more good than harm to her little growing body. Unfortunately she will probably have a treatment on her birthday. But we will try to make it a fun day for her anyway.
Anyway we will just keep on trucking, thanks for all the warm thoughts and support. You have helped our family greatly.

Sorry so Long!

Well its been awhile since I last wrote, but not much has been happening. We have had a long break between chemo treatments this time, with the holidays and Caitlin's counts didn't recover as fast this time. Hopefully if they have a room open and the weather is good, we will be making the trip tomorrow. Don't get me wrong I am not excited about going for Caitlin's chemo, but I keeping telling myself the sooner we go, the sooner we will be done with all of this. Sorry to all my family and friends, for how moody I have been lately. The depression and anger from Caitlin's cancer has finally kicked in. With my personality I like to be in control of certain things, and this difficult time has just thrown me for a loop. So it I snap at you, please realize that it really isn't for you. I am just frustrated with the our situation. I hope soon my fog will lift and I can get back to working through. I think I am stressed about Caitlin's radiation treatment that is going to start soon, I am hoping that we can talk the doctors into letting Caitlin do her treatments at the new Cancer Center here in Logan, if not I will have to be away from my family for a week at a time for a whole month. That would be really hard on our family right now, but we will do what we have to do.
Anyway Valentine's Day was fun! Jake got me a pretty heart necklace. I got him cologne, and the week before we both got us some new shirts, which we really needed. We decided just to stay home and watch movies, we did get Wok on Wheels takeout for dinner. We knew that since it was Saturday and Valentine's day everywhere would be packed and we didn't have a babysitter. We hope to go out another weekend! On Sunday we went to Grandma Hugie's for dinner, which was very good, she is the best cook I know. Other than that, we have just been hanging out at home, Allie has been watching High school musical 3 non stop since it came out on Tuesday. I have been reading and trying to keep my house clean. Hopefully the next update will be more interesting. Caitlin seems to be doing pretty good, she has been more moody lately, but we think that might be the terrible twos kicking in, or she is cutting more teeth.

Husband Tag!

My friend Ashley had this on her blog, and I thought it would be really fun to do, also great timing since it is almost Valentine's Day.

1. Where did you meet your husband? Jake and I actually went to high school together but he was younger than me and I had a boyfriend then so we didn't really date then. He did have a crush on me, I do remember that. We re-met after my divorce at RR Donnelley a place where we both worked.

2. How long did you date before you got married? We dated for about seven months before we got married. Dating is kind of hard when you are working different shifts, going to school, and being a single mom.

3. How long have you been married? We have been married for two years, it will be three in October.

4. What does he do to surprise you? I have to have my house clean or it drives me nuts, he is very good about helping me keep the house clean and doing laundry. He is very OCD, so he usually organizes the cabinets and the fridge for me.

5. Your favorite feature of his? I really like Jake's eyes and hair. My favorite is probably his smile, he takes really good care of his teeth. I also like his muscles.

6. What is his best quality? He is really fun to be around, he is a real people person, if you are in a bad mood, he can put you in a good mood. He doesn't get mad really easy, and he doesn't yell.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Usually its babe, honey, or baby doll. My favorite is Eri-bear, its kind of silly but its different.

8. What is his favorite food? I know he loves peach cobbler. He isn't a picky eater, and eats almost everything that I cook. Which is saying alot since I am not a very good cook.

9. What is his favorite sport? He likes to play basketball, and has been bummed since he hasn't had a lot of time to play very often. He will watch any kind of sport of tv, so usually I have to keep my hands on the remote.

10. Where and when did you first kiss? In his car, I don't remember the date, but I am pretty sure I made the first move.

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? We like just being able to hang out together, snuggling on the couch watching a good movie, we also like to go bowling and miniature golfing.

12. Do you have any children? We have two beautiful girls, Allie is five ( mine from previous marriage, but for all that matters she is Jake's since he takes care of her like his own) and Caitlin who is almost 2 (April) We are hoping the next one will be a boy to even things out for Jake. But that we have to wait until we get Caitlin done with chemotherapy and life settles a little bit.

13. Does he have any hidden talents? I don't want to embarrass him but he does an awesome job painting my toenails and fingernails. Also he really gives good massages, but these talents are thankfully only enjoyed by me.

14. How old is he?
He is 25, a year younger than me. Hopefully that keeps me young right?

15. You said I love you first?
I don't really remember who said it first, but he is really good at saying it, he probably says it a lot more than I do, but I am usually trying to answer Allie's twenty questions.

16. What is his favorite music? Wow, this might be hard, they are too many to name, but a few are Hawthorne Heights, Nickelback, and Yellowcard.

17. What do you admire most about him? I think what I admire most is that he is a very good Dad, and he always treats me with respect. He usually does what I ask him to, which is great. He is a hard worker and always makes sure that his family is taken care of before his self.

18. What is his favorite color? I am pretty sure its blue, but I think he also likes green.

19. Will he read this? Probably not, he doesn't like to read.

20. I tag.....
Irene, Sharee, Amber, and anyone else who stalks my blog and would like to share more info about your husband.

Nothing New

Nothing new to report, Caitlin lucky has a two week break from chemotherapy. Which makes me very happy since I was really tired of the long drive down to Primarys. I shouldn't be complaining Caitlin should be the one complaining. Anyway things are going okay. Sorry about not a whole lot going on right now.

Nothing really new to report

Nothing new to report on really, but thanks for my mother in law last Saturday Jake and I were able to go on another much needed date. Usually we don't go on dates very often, but since Caitlin has been diagnosis with cancer, we don't let her leave the house very much. Also in January Jake's job requires lots of overtime, so that limits our time together too. On Tuesday Caitlin and I drove down to Primarys pretty early since her counts were down and she needed a blood transfusion, it always seems to take forever for the blood to be ready. Anyway everything went smoothly, and she is doing pretty good for a little body that is going through so much. Everyday I wish I could trade her places, at least she is really young. So she probably won't remember much. I sure hope that we get through this quickly, I am not really use to being a stay at home Mom, I am kind of getting a little stir crazy. Thanks for all your support and help through all of this.

More Chemo!

This weekend was spent down at Primary Children's for more chemo. We left Thursday night and spent the night at my Uncle's house since we had to be at the hospital on Friday at 8:15 am for a hearing test. Thankfully it didn't take very long and the results were normal but she seems to have fluid in her inner ear, I think that's what the doctor said. Anyway she might have to have tubes in her ears, which is fine. Then we headed upstairs for chemo treatments, which went really well. I am so proud of Caitlin, its like she just knows that this has to be done. I on the other hand, I am getting tired and bored of hospital stays. I know she needs this, but I also hope that treatments go by fast, so that we can have a semi-normal life again. On Saturday I got a nice little break my sister Debbie was able to get us tickets for the Draper Temple Open house. Everything went well with the chemo so we were able to come back home on Sunday. So all in all, we are just trooping through it.

A nice break!

Well so far so good, Caitlin hasn't had any fevers and her counts have been good so we haven't had to make any trips down to Primary Children's. But of course just my luck the weather has actually pretty nice. On Saturday Jake and I were able to go out to lunch for a much needed date. We went to the Coppermill, which was really nice to be able to be alone and have some time to talk. After lunch we did a little shopping because I needed some new pants and we found some cute outfits for the girls on clearance. After that we went to Grandma Gigi's for a family dinner we weren't going to be able to stay long, but luckily Jake got a no work and so we were able to stay longer and hang with family. Afterward, we just went home and hang out together, Jake helped me give Caitlin a bath, since its a two person job cause her line can't get wet. This week has been pretty relaxing but I still wish that my girls would learn to sleep in a little bit. We have to go to Primary Children's on Friday for a hearing test and for the next round of chemo. Hopefully everything will go really well.

Too Long!

Wow, I will try to catch up on everything. Life has just been crazy, with Caitlin's treatments and the move. Well I went down to Primary Children's on the 29th, thankfully we were only there for about an hour. So that was nice, and the weather was pretty good for that trip. We have also been trying to move into a bigger apartment, since Caitlin diagnosis we have put her in our room so we could keep a better eye on her, but that didn't leave much time for Jake and I to have any alone time. So we found a three bedroom townhouse, that has brand new carpet and a new dishwasher. So thanks to my family we were able to get everything moved on the 1st. I just love our new place they is so much room, now I have space to spare. Oh before I forget Jake and I are kind of party poopers we were so tired and really didn't have anything to do so we didn't stay up and ring it the new year. On the 2nd of January I had to make another trip down to Primary Children's since Caitlin needed a blood transfusion and platelets cause her counts were so low. I had to rush down there, and they it took forever for the blood to be ready. I didn't leave Primarys until 9 pm. Of course it was snowing so I didn't really want to try to make it home, so Caitlin and I spent the night at the Chase suites that is just down the hill from Primarys. Then next day I started my trip home early I was not going to spend another day away from home. Unfortunately I also had to make another trip to Primarys on Monday, but this time they were pretty good to get us in and out quickly. But not quick enough we got stuck in Layton for about two hours, waiting for a bad accident to get cleaned up. I feel bad for who ever was involved in the accident, but I just really wanted to get home. We finally made it home at around 5:15 pm. Right now I am hoping that Caitlin will stay well enough that we won't have to go back until next week. So keep her in your prayers.