July Clinic Appointment

Feels good to be here! Oh man I have been seriously slacking at this blog the last few months...I am super sorry for those that are (or used to be) regular readers. Clinic was very interesting this month, and by interesting I just mean different. We got there and Livi is always a little quiet when we walk through the door and it takes her a minute to warm up but this time she walked in and acted like she owned the joint....she seriously cracks me up sometimes. Then when we got back to the room she wanted to get her "port in" (accessed) all by herself with out anyone holding her hand or sitting on anyones lap. Daddy came with us this time and I think she just wanted to be a little bit of a show off :) but she did amazing! Not even a flinch from this little one! Then after she was done being super brave she started crying when the doctor came in and didnt stop until I rocked her to sleep, she slept the entire time! This month was a LP so of course she slept the whole walk down stairs then as soon as we got in to the operating room she woke up, I was joking with the nurses that they probably wouldnt even need to give her anesthesia (not possible of course) because she was dead asleep!! We had fun though, she woke up from her procedure just as happy as can be and we went on our way skipping out the door!

Clinic Stats:

Height: 106.9

Weight: 23.2

ANC: 1200 (perfect!)

One Year Mark

I have been rattling my brain trying to think of the best way to describe how this last year has changed my life, for the good and the bad. It has been a life changing experience no doubt. But no matter how hard I try to describe literally how life changing this whole experience has been I just cant. Thats the only thing that I can even think of that gives it the smallest bit of justice....It changed my life, more than anyone will ever know. For the good and the bad.

One year ago yesterday I took Alivia to the doctor for an EAR ACHE that ended up being CANCER and MASTOIDITUS. They LIFELIGHTED my daughter to Primary Childrens Medical Center because they were 85% certain she had Leukemia, she was being admitted to the cancer kids unit (or the ICS). Where they gave us her of diagnosis of PRE B ACUTE LYMPHOBLASTIC LEUKEMIA exactly one year ago today.

There is also no way for me to express my gratitude for all the wonderful things that so many countless people have done for our family this last year. I have learned that there is so much good in this world and to not take advantage of anything. I can not say it enough. Thank you.

Here is Livi just 2 months before her diagnosis. The cancer was probably swarming through her little body at this time.

These pictures dont do it justice of how horrible the first week was, somehow Livi still has a smile on her face.

Steriods. They speak for themselves. She was on a vicious 28 day regime, this is when her physical features starting changing the most. She gained a little over 10 pounds in just one month and got the the point where she could barely walk.

These pictures make me cry. They just give you a little glance in to the horrible things that our little girl has been put through. There is no number to count how many tears of pain, heartbreak and unhappiness that this extremely wonderful and brave this little girl has had to shed. I want her to know that with every bit of my heart I was there by her side at every moment, crying with her.

And here she is today, as strong and vibrant as ever. This year has been a tough one, but we did it. I am so unbelievably proud of my daughter, she is and will always be, my hero.

Camp Hobe

The "Cancer Land" as I call it, isnt a glamorous one, its not a vacation, its not something that anyone ever wants to experience. But at times like this when these kids get to do something miraculous that puts a smile back on their faces, it makes it all bearable. Camp Hobe is a wonderful place full of extraordinary people and their one and only concern is to make sure these kids have the time of their lives.

At the end of February I got an email from HopeKids saying that they were now taking applications for Camp Hobe, I had no idea what this was of course so I googled it. As I searched their website I instantly started to cry...the pictures and the statements written are so touching. It is made up of purely volunteers who dedicate countless hours to helping out with this camp for kids who are going through or who have gone through chemo and their siblings. Ryker was to young to go and Livi qualified for the day camp. She went on a Monday and Tuesday, and she had the time of her life! Thank you Camp Hobe!!!

Here is Livi with her 4 "chemo sisters" they dont get to see each other very often but when they meet up again and again its like they never left each others side. What an amazing support system for Livi to have.

Here is a few of the mom's that I have made friends with over the last year. What an amazing group!

On our way home....Livi is exhausted as you can tell but she had the time of her life and cant wait to go back next year!

June Clinic

I am SO behind in blogging...Im trying to catch up, life has been SUPER hecktic lately so Im sorry to all those who read my blog, its been super boring lately....

June clinic went very well! We thought we were going to have to up Livi's chemo because her counts were getting to high ( if you look at her stats from May her ANC is 6000...way higher than they ever want them) but today the CBC (complete blood count) showed that her ANC was back down to 1000. Good for LIVI!!! So no upping of anything which was such a relief.

Livi loves to take pictures of herself constantly and so I thought I would add one of her marvelous works of art to her blog. PRETTY TOES!

A new rule at clinic is that the kids have to wear masks too while their being accessed, which makes total sense to me, I didnt hesitate at all. We want to do all we can do keep from getting any kind of infection. Livi is so stinking brave, all of a sudden when she gets accessed she wont even let me her hold on my lap and she doesnt even want to hold mommies hand anymore. I almost started crying because I really can not believe that we went from 3 people holding her down to her sitting on her own on the table with out even a flinch. What an amazing little girl I have.

BRAVE GIRL!!

Here is the poison that they inject into my daughter once a month now.

Livi helping flush her line so she can be de-accessed.

All done, with chocolate milk in hand, we are outta there!

Birthday Party for Livi and Ryker!

Okay, so needless to say I went a little overboard this year with the kids birthday party....let me explain, Ryker's birthday is on the 19th and Livi's is on the 28th so until they ask other wise Im probably going to do their party together. Since they basically have all the same friends right now anyways. With lots of help from family the party was an absolute success! I could not have done it with out amazing people helping me with the planning, setting up, or the budget. What great people we get to have in our lives!

Birthdays have a whole new meaning to us this year. It wasnt just celebrating the fact that these wonderful kids were born, but that I still have them in my life. I remember sitting in the hospital after Livi was diagnosed and not ever thinking that she would see another birthday as horrible as that sounds, or that she would ever even get to go home. Look at us now. What a wonderful day! I thought I was going to be a mess and going to be stressed, but no...everything was absolutely perfect!

Birthday girl was all smiles today! (even though she was on those pesky steriods)

A part of the birthday crew enjoying the delicious food prepared by my mom, dad and sister

I think the grown ups were more into this blow up toy than any of the kids, it was seriously awesome to take out some serious rage that anyone might have had!

Rykers and Livi's AMAZING cakes were actually donated by Adriana Brenda Arciniega White a wonderful friend that we made this last Christmas when she had heard about our darling Livi from a fundraiser that Kids Village had for us. The cakes were the perfect touch.

Thank you again!

After all the guests left we just played on the bouncey houses by ourselves before Jump for Joy came to pick them up. What a wonderful day! Thanks to everyone who came out!!