Written by Aunt Stacey
Everyone mark their calendars for October 17 2009...we are having a fundraiser for ViviAnne's treatment! It is going to be a Family Fair type of event in Oldham County so come on out and bring the kids to have some Fall FUN!! Music, food, games, cornhole, and much more. We will also be doing raffles and silent auctions on donated goods and services.
We are still working out the details, but wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible. More info to come soon:)
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
PHEW!
Let me see, where do I begin? Well, I suppose I should start with some exciting news. The increase of ViviAnne’s Chemo did the trick, her counts have all come down but not below the cut offs!! SO they are going to keep her at this increased chemo level and she seems to be tolerating rather well. She is such a trooper. Steroids have been rough with the attitude this go around BUT it could also be do to the fact that she has had an INCREDIBLEY busy last week!!
Here is how it all went….
Monday through Wednesday of last week ViviAnne attended Cheerleading Camp at my niece’s high school. Madison, my niece, is a Varsity Cheerleader and they do this for a fundraiser. ViviAnne was permitted to go into the 2nd grade group with her cousin, Abigail, because the two of them are attached at the hip when they are together. ViviAnne had a GREAT time. What little girl wouldn’t, she was encouraged to yell and jump around while INSIDE. These are two things that are frowned upon at home; she was loving it! GO REBELS GO!
Thursday morning was her Chemo day and the start of 5 days of steroids. She did as usual. No tears until after they took the needle out of her port. It is like she takes all her energy to keep it together and then the moment it is over she just lets the tears fall. My heart breaks for her. To think of how my very young little girl has the ability to pump herself up mentally and emotionally for all that she has to endure and she responds like I would and I think ANYONE would, with tears when it is all over. It is really something else. I was told more than once this weekend that she seems more mature than a 4 year old and in a lot of ways, she is!
ViviAnne was a flower girl this weekend in a wedding for Cousin Debbie’s daughter, Shelby. So, we had quite a few things to do over the weekend after an already busy week. Thursday evening we went to a cook out and both ViviAnne and Cooper swam and met one of the ring bearers. We had a good time and the kids loved swimming, as always. Cooper even went down the water slide and LOVED IT!
Friday Kim and I took ViviAnne to a bridal luncheon where she wore her fancy dress with her pink pearls and she was very well behaved. Shelby gave her the cutest bear from Build-a-Bear that was decked out in pink princess, ballet wear and even with a cell phone and crown, right up ViviAnne’s alley. Shelby recorded herself saying, “ViviAnne , you look FABULOUS!” and when you press the paw that is what you hear. She just loves it! That evening was the rehearsal and she practiced pretty well and then the dinner at Captain’s Quarters, she really enjoyed watching all the big boats and ducks and she is a BIG fan of Shelby. In her eyes she is the best thing since sliced bread.
Saturday was the big day! Poor Shelby and ViviAnne were off to a rocky start. But after a little bit of sprite and fanning and some bribery, only for ViviAnne though, the wedding went off BEAUTIFULLY! ViviAnne walked down the aisle and smiled when told to and stood where told as well, the only thing she did not do was drop the petals onto the floor. I think we had spent so much time telling her NOT to drop her petals and putting them back into the basket she just thought they were not supposed to come out of the basket at all. She really was precious and Shelby was GORGEOUS!
ViviAnne and Cooper both danced and Cooper behaved himself BEAUTIFULLY! ViviAnne on the other hand I think had just had enough. She was in tears and fighting with her Daddy and by 9PM she was up in the room ready for bed. She said to me through a little bit of tears, “Mommy, it was just A LOT! I’m sorry I behaved that way, but I am tired,” And you know what, I could not argue that at all. She had so many people she didn’t know telling her how cute she is and wonderful she did and couple that with being tired and on steroids and you get one worn out little girl and one worn out Mommy.
Needless to say Sunday and Monday have both been low key at home days. She did not even want to play outside today and the weather was wonderful. But I was not going to make her because honestly I did not care.
I was telling Brent how worn out I was and kind of complaining but you know what I take that all back! How lucky are we to be able to do these things with her?!? This time last year she could barely move from all the pain of the chemo and swelling from the steroids. We weren’t sleeping and all I could think about was, please let her survive! I mean exactly ONE YEAR AGO this is what was happening. I could not have even dreamt that I would be able to do cheer camp with her or allow her to be a flower girl! And now, I just PRAY that she does not ever relapse so that we do not have to relive that horrible HELL! Oh man, what a difference between Induction and Maintenance!! God is good and I have realized that somehow along the way I have embraced this life of Cancer. No, it is not a life I would have chosen and yes I do still get upset when I think about all that was taken from me, things I will never know or the fact that the constant steroid levels in my baby have altered her from who she could have been BUT I try really hard not to dwell on it. I allow myself to have the feelings but I don’t dwell. Because this is my life, I can’t change it and I have no choice but to try and make the best of it. It is kinda like Brent says, “If you want to see God laugh, think that you are in control.”
Here is how it all went….
Monday through Wednesday of last week ViviAnne attended Cheerleading Camp at my niece’s high school. Madison, my niece, is a Varsity Cheerleader and they do this for a fundraiser. ViviAnne was permitted to go into the 2nd grade group with her cousin, Abigail, because the two of them are attached at the hip when they are together. ViviAnne had a GREAT time. What little girl wouldn’t, she was encouraged to yell and jump around while INSIDE. These are two things that are frowned upon at home; she was loving it! GO REBELS GO!
Thursday morning was her Chemo day and the start of 5 days of steroids. She did as usual. No tears until after they took the needle out of her port. It is like she takes all her energy to keep it together and then the moment it is over she just lets the tears fall. My heart breaks for her. To think of how my very young little girl has the ability to pump herself up mentally and emotionally for all that she has to endure and she responds like I would and I think ANYONE would, with tears when it is all over. It is really something else. I was told more than once this weekend that she seems more mature than a 4 year old and in a lot of ways, she is!
ViviAnne was a flower girl this weekend in a wedding for Cousin Debbie’s daughter, Shelby. So, we had quite a few things to do over the weekend after an already busy week. Thursday evening we went to a cook out and both ViviAnne and Cooper swam and met one of the ring bearers. We had a good time and the kids loved swimming, as always. Cooper even went down the water slide and LOVED IT!
Friday Kim and I took ViviAnne to a bridal luncheon where she wore her fancy dress with her pink pearls and she was very well behaved. Shelby gave her the cutest bear from Build-a-Bear that was decked out in pink princess, ballet wear and even with a cell phone and crown, right up ViviAnne’s alley. Shelby recorded herself saying, “ViviAnne , you look FABULOUS!” and when you press the paw that is what you hear. She just loves it! That evening was the rehearsal and she practiced pretty well and then the dinner at Captain’s Quarters, she really enjoyed watching all the big boats and ducks and she is a BIG fan of Shelby. In her eyes she is the best thing since sliced bread.
Saturday was the big day! Poor Shelby and ViviAnne were off to a rocky start. But after a little bit of sprite and fanning and some bribery, only for ViviAnne though, the wedding went off BEAUTIFULLY! ViviAnne walked down the aisle and smiled when told to and stood where told as well, the only thing she did not do was drop the petals onto the floor. I think we had spent so much time telling her NOT to drop her petals and putting them back into the basket she just thought they were not supposed to come out of the basket at all. She really was precious and Shelby was GORGEOUS! ViviAnne and Cooper both danced and Cooper behaved himself BEAUTIFULLY! ViviAnne on the other hand I think had just had enough. She was in tears and fighting with her Daddy and by 9PM she was up in the room ready for bed. She said to me through a little bit of tears, “Mommy, it was just A LOT! I’m sorry I behaved that way, but I am tired,” And you know what, I could not argue that at all. She had so many people she didn’t know telling her how cute she is and wonderful she did and couple that with being tired and on steroids and you get one worn out little girl and one worn out Mommy.
Needless to say Sunday and Monday have both been low key at home days. She did not even want to play outside today and the weather was wonderful. But I was not going to make her because honestly I did not care.
I was telling Brent how worn out I was and kind of complaining but you know what I take that all back! How lucky are we to be able to do these things with her?!? This time last year she could barely move from all the pain of the chemo and swelling from the steroids. We weren’t sleeping and all I could think about was, please let her survive! I mean exactly ONE YEAR AGO this is what was happening. I could not have even dreamt that I would be able to do cheer camp with her or allow her to be a flower girl! And now, I just PRAY that she does not ever relapse so that we do not have to relive that horrible HELL! Oh man, what a difference between Induction and Maintenance!! God is good and I have realized that somehow along the way I have embraced this life of Cancer. No, it is not a life I would have chosen and yes I do still get upset when I think about all that was taken from me, things I will never know or the fact that the constant steroid levels in my baby have altered her from who she could have been BUT I try really hard not to dwell on it. I allow myself to have the feelings but I don’t dwell. Because this is my life, I can’t change it and I have no choice but to try and make the best of it. It is kinda like Brent says, “If you want to see God laugh, think that you are in control.”
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