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.