Mr. PVHS 2012 for Taleah!

This year at Pine View High School the Mr. PVHS pageant is all for Taleah Stevenson. This is an amazing event put on by the students under the direction of Mr. Miller and his student organization. The different clubs and organizations at the school sponsor a male member of their group to represent them in the Mr. PVHS Pageant. The whole theme of the event is what organization can raise the most money for the chosen cause. Taleah was chosen this year! The event will be held this upcoming February 24th. They have also added a 5k run in connection with the event the Saturday prior on February 18th. I will post more information on how to donate as soon as I have it working right. You can also visit Taleah's blog by clicking on her name under Other Little Fighters. Taleah is an amazing little girl with a long road ahead of her. Lets all show our support for Taleah and her family!

A wonderful Christmas!

Christmas this year has been beautiful! Being together, home for Christmas, truly is the best gift ever! My heart aches for those families and children currently undergoing treatment. My heart aches for those who are where we were last year at this time. So many unknowns, sad moments, and fears, but here we are, we made it through and so will they! No matter what, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We have been so blessed to have our Jessica, healthy and happy, back to herself!! It is hard to believe that we spent Christmas at the hospital last year and that Jessica went through all that she did. Just so thankful for our many blessings. So very grateful for Jessica, for our whole family, for the many wonderful doctors and health professionals, for so many others who gave so much love and support to our family during a difficult time. I just hope that our family can be there for others in their time of need. Merry Christmas and wishes for a beautiful New Year filled with Faith, Hope, and Love!

No more Port!

Two days ago, Tuesday, October 25th, was Jessica's last day with her Port in! She had surgery to remove it Tuesday night at about 7:45 p.m. A very late surgery, but all went well, quick and simple, and she is doing great and very excited to be done! No more regular blood draws and NO MORE CHEMO! Her CT scans that were done on Monday look great. The spots on her lungs that the doctor was a little concerned about 3 months ago look much better. In fact where the largest tumors had been and where there had been some leftover material of some sort, they now see nothing in those spots. And the two areas where there was calcification have gotten smaller. The doctor says that those may take some time to completely dissolve, but this was definitely Jessica's best scan yet! It is strange to have this behind us now. Jessica will return to Primary's every 3 months now for 1 year for scans. Recurrence most often happens within that first year, but the 3rd and 5th years will be the big milestones to get to! It has been a journey we will never forget! The many children, families, and health professionals that we have come in contact with will never be forgotten! Many friendships and bonds have been made throughout this journey and we are so grateful for the opportunity to know all of these amazing people! It will be fun to watch Jessica continue to grow and learn and it will be fun to watch her beautiful hair grow back. The other day she was talking about her hair again and said, "When my hair grows back, Mom, I want a ponytail with a braid." So cute! With the difficult challenges always come the happy moments and many lessons learned! So thankful to be at the end of this journey. So thankful for the many little miracles that have happened along the way! And I am so thankful for a beautiful little daughter who is definitely a Miracle!

Back to School for Jessica!!!

Jessica had her labs done today and her immune system has returned and her platelets seem to be on there way back up! Jessica was hoping she could go back to school on Monday and when I told her that her counts looked really good she just got a big huge grin on her face! With the ringing of the bell at Primary Children's, I had forgotten about the two chemo treatments that Jessica had here in St. George. She received Vin Cristine last Wednesday, along with getting Red Blood Cells and Platelets. Her Aunt Lydia went with her again to get her transfusions. She always has a ball with Aunt Lydia, who rented a red box for them and has made transfusion time something to look forward to. Jessica will get her last vin crisitne, and truly the very last treatment, this Wednesday morning. Vin cristine is what they call a place holder. It is a chemotherapy, but it does not affect Jessica's counts. I guess that is why when we left Primary Children's almost 2 weeks ago, we felt done. No more trips to S.L.C. for chemotherapy! Today Jessica said, "Mom, can you see my hair growing back?. When my hair grows back, can we braid it and pull it in a pony tail?" Is that the sweetest!! She makes very sweet comments about her hair every now and again. One time she said, "On my birthday, mom, my hair will be back. It will probably be like Jacobs. (her baby brother)" And another morning as we were getting ready for church Jessica said, "Mom, I look beautiful without hair." And she does!!! So grateful for my beautiful daughter and her amazing spirit and the strength she has shown through it all! I am so happy for her to be back at school. She is surrounded by some great little friends who I know will be a great strength to her! And her big sisters, Annalise and Alyson, have been very anxious for her to be back at school with them! They are so excited to meet Jessica at her classroom door after school!! They are great big sisters and can't wait to do their part to watch out for Jess! Caleb feels the excitement and wants to go to school too! I think we will definitely need to put Caleb in preschool next year! He will be ready to go to kindergarten, but that September birthday will keep him from going until fall of 2013. As strange as it sounds to say, 2013, it will be here before we know it! Time just doesn't slow down. There are times I just wish we could put the brakes on...even just for a minute! But, I am always reminded that I better focus on what matters most. I certainly fall short, but hope that I can do better each day! Jessica's experiences this past year have really helped our family put things into perspective! I can honestly say that I am so grateful for this journey. I am so grateful for Jessica's Miracle!!!

Celebration Day!

Jessica finished her final treatment at about 8 p.m. last night! It took us the extra week to make counts, but we made it up. The fluids following the chemotherapy will keep us here until about 6:30 p.m. tonight and then we will head for home. She is doing well! We arrived yesterday at 8 a.m. for a quick cross and type for a needed blood transfusion and then she had an echo of her heart at 10 a.m. The blood started around 11 a.m. and took about 3 hours. It took her until 6 p.m. to be going to the bathroom enough to start chemotherapy. Both Jessica and I have really been missing everyone, but especially Jacob because he has always been with us and we left him home with dad this time. I kept nursing Jacob so that I could keep him with us at the hospital, but it has been only at night and he certainly doesn't need it anymore. He turned a year on September 15th, which is hard to believe. Cody decided to take a couple of days off to be with the kids. Caleb, who just turned 4, has always come up with us too, but has stayed with my sister in Farmington, which he loves. Caleb loves coming up north, but was excited to get to stay home with his dad. Cody was the one who said, "why don't you just leave Jacob too." He is walking really well now and it didn't take long to think that it would certainly be easier in many ways and a lot more fun for him to be home with his dad. So Jessica and I headed off on our own. Jessica didn't want to leave Jacob behind at first, but I assured her that we would have a fun time together. Yesterday, Jessica's Grandma Sheri, Aunt Jan, and cousin Tallie came down from Idaho. We got to spend the day with them, which was tons of fun! Between a pizza party, paper flower making, barbies, pretend cell phone calls between Grandma and Jessica, a visit from our friend Makenzie who is up here at Weber State, and lots of laughs and smiles from Jessica, it was a very fun-filled day! Even Aunt Amelia and cousin Kate made a late night stop after a treck to the Utah Symphony! Jessica had a great day! By the evening her appetite was no longer there, but this has happened every time with the chemotherapy. It will build back up and now we don't have to keep returning to have everything go back down....YEAH! They do a special song and bell ringing for the kids when they finish treatment. We should be doing that this afternoon. We are scheduled to return in 4 weeks for scans and appointments. They will evaluate her counts then to see if they feel she is ready to have her port removed. She might have it removed the following day or because she may still need blood products it may have to stay in a few more weeks. These are huge achievements for Jessica! She has been amazing through every last moment of her journey! It has been a great experience in so many ways, even though it will be so great to have it all behind us! We never know what may come our way or what the future holds, but we have witnessed countless blessings in Jessica's life and in our own lives. How important it is to recognize lifes miracles even when they seem difficult to see. They are always there....always! Jessica truly is a miracle!

We have the most amazing family and friends. If not for them, our journey would have been extremely difficult! We are so grateful to you all! Thank you for all of your love and support! We hope that we can give the same kind of love and support to others through their life's journey's. Someday soon.... : ) I will post pictures! I promise : )

1 more treatment left!

No matter what is happening in my life, time just goes by too quickly. Here we are so close to the end of Jessica's chemotherapy treatments. We spent last week at Primary Children's. Jessica did well. Her kidney is still struggling some, but somewhat expected by the doctors. They just continue to keep a close eye on it. One of the drugs, cytoxin is hard on the bladder. She continues to have red blood cells in her urine, with protein and some other things, but the only thing they can do for that is just flush a lot of fluids through her system during chemotherapy. This has kept Jessica in the hospital for a day longer the last few visits, but overall Jessica is doing great. She is so excited that she only has one more chemotherapy treatment! I have yet to post pictures. Jessica has had many reasons to be excited about the past month! She has had some special moments with friends at the hospital also! She is always thinking about those special friends! Jessica is scheduled to report for her last treatment on Sept. 20th. The last couple of treatments she has had at least a weeks delay, but we are shooting for the 20th. Jessica is amazing! She has come so far! We all love her so much!

Delays, but doing well

Jessica is scheduled to have chemo next Tuesday, August 2nd. We will meet with the doctor at 12:30 and then she is scheduled to be admitted after that for an overnight stay where she will receive cytoxin and Doxyrubicin. We are looking at the statistics over the past 5 years of children who were on similar drugs to Jessica. That is about as far as the track record goes, which is why we have even more questions. It isn't a protocol that has years of experience. Two years ago there were changes to the protocol and they are looking more closely at the drugs again. We have decided to omit carboplatin, which is part of the 4 night stay 3 weeks following next weeks treatment. Jessica has had a lot of complications after the last treatment. Besides the infection and so many tranfusions of platelets, her blood pressure is high. We are treating that with meds, but it is always higher than it used to be. We certainly had blood pressure issues at the first until the other kidney/tumor came out in March. But since surgery, up to this point, her BP has been fine. We just need to make sure that her kidney is okay. We have had 2 weeks delay because of her infection and platetlets. Yesterday, they were still only 91, which isn't normal yet, but above 75, so she can have chemo. I have never seen her platelets get hit as hard as they did this time. They have been super slow to return on their own. She had a total of 6 units of platelets in about 8 days. She also dropped to an all time low of 2 before her last transfusion.
Jessica is now able to take meds through her mouth again, her choice, so no feeding tube is necessary. She feels good and looks great, even though her blood pressure is a little high. A fun little announcement is that Jessica's wish from Make-a-wish, which was a playhouse, should be here on August 4th. She is very excited!! As we all are. When Jessica wished for a playhouse, I don't think the playhouse that she got to choose had even crossed her little mind, but it will be something special for our entire family in honor of Jessica and her strength through her cancer journey. Make-a-Wish and our volunteer Jackie have been so great with Jessica and all of the kids. G-Force construction laid the cement foundation in the backyard, and they were also great with the kids and did a wonderful job. It has all been a great experience, something we will all never forget. Lots of fun memories will be made in the playhouse. A great big thank you to so many who make foundations like Make-a-Wish possible!!
I can't believe that school starts on August 15th for our 3 girls. It is hard to see Jessica already 5 and ready for kindergarten, but I can't help but be happy for her because she is so excited to be at school with her big sisters. Caleb will be a little lost without Jessica, but at least he has Jacob :)

Home and doing much better!

Jessica was discharged from the hospital this past Wednesday afternoon. It was a much longer stay than usual and certainly longer than hoped for, but we think we have things under control. Thank goodness for all of the amazing people on the Peds floor at DRMC. They always make our stay as comfortable as possible. We feel very at home when we are at the hospital believe it or not! Jessica's blood cultures did come back positive, both from her central line and her arm. Always one of the things we worry about, but we feel that we caught it early. Jessica is on 2 antibiotics, Fortaz and Vancomycin. The Fortaz will stop once her ANC is .7 or
700. She was .5 yesterday. They will draw her blood again tomorrow and hopefully we can stop the Fortaz. Her Platelets have really taken a hit with this infection. She had to be given 4 units of platelets in less than a week. Her platelets were 10 last Thursday so they gave her a transfusion then. By Sunday they were at 8 so they gave her 2 units (which we have never had 2 at a time before). Monday they were at 80 and by Tuesday they were 40 and on Wednesday they were 15 so they gave her another unit then. She also had another blood transfusion on Wednesday before we left. It has taken a toll on her little body. Antibiotics certainly work for her, but they can sure mix up the system. She feels really good and then suddenly her stomach will hurt. Not only does she have the infection, but I think we are seeing even more of the cumulative effect of chemo. We are so close to the end of treatments, but there is a part of me that just wants treatments to stop now. She truly has done so well, its just hard to see her hit the bottom. So many children struggle with many more complications than Jessica has had, but I just want the treatment to be exactly what she needs, no more, no less. And we will probably never know what that is exactly. Medicine is hard. In many ways more of an art than a science. Very difficult to make the best decision always. I know the answers are there, we just need to be really be prayerful and seek for them in the right places! Her counts are showing signs of return now, but they still may postpone chemo for another week. It might be really nice to have the week to regroup and definitely important for Jessica's little body to make a full recovery!!! Primary Children's will decide on Monday.

High fever and no immune system

Jessica and I came early this morning to the hospital. She had low grade fevers off and on through the day yesterday and last night hovered around 101. After talking with Primary Childrens and our Doctor here, we decided to bring her in. Her fever has reached 104, which is very unlike past visits for fever with no immune system. We have given her Tylenol, but that only brings it down for a short period and she still stays around 100.7 then climbs back up. She doesn't feel like eating, but she is resting good, most of the time. I was questioning coming in because every other visit like this has led to the fever quickly subsiding and cultures always coming back negative. We had one positive last visit, but at that point she had her normal immune system back. As always, Jessica is such a good sport. I am glad we came in. It is always scary when children get fevers. It is the normal response of the body, but it always causes stress and worry, especially with no immune system. Cody brought Jessica in this past Thursday evening for a transfusion of platelets. That went just fine. We knew then that her red blood cells or hematocrit was low at 24, but the CBC blood test early this morning showed her hematocrit at 20. They gave her a transfusion this morning. We needed to come in anyway, but wish she didn't have the fever. We will be here for at least 48 hours. This has definitely become routine, but always a worry. We are so close to the finish line and we just hope and pray for no serious complications. Jessica's little body is so strong, just hoping that she will feel better very soon!!

3 more treatments and a great CT

Tomorrow, we should be able to leave the hospital around 3 p.m. We have been admitted here at Primary's since Tuesday. After tomorrow we will have 1 overnight stay, 1 four day stay, and 1 more overnight stay, all with 3 weeks in between. I can't believe Jessica is almost finished with treatments! They did a CT scan of her abdomen and chest on Tuesday. Everything looks good. There is nothing in the abdomen and the small spots in her lungs are more than likely leftover from the tumor. They may always be there. One shows calcification, which is like scar tissue and the others are almost like a left over tumor skeleton. Our doctor feels like we are moving in the right direction! So many miracles, each and everyday! We have met two new families this trip. Both have children that have just recently been diagnosed with cancer. My heart aches for them. They are beautiful families with such amazing little children. They too, will make it through! It is hard to watch others just beginning their journey, but looking back, the journey goes by so quickly. Once again the reminder to treasure each moment, each day. This thought has been coming to mind a lot lately; Come what may, there are miracles everyday! We just need to make sure not to miss them and find as many opportunities as we can to smile and be grateful for what we have been given! Easier said than done at times, but it can be done, I know it can!
Jessica is amazing! If she feels aches and pains, she rarely shows it. I ache for so many of the children here who are struggling so much. Jessica had her time in the beginning, but has made it through the rest of these past months amazingly well! I hope I can be just like her someday!
Tomorrow, Jessica, Jacob, and I are thrilled to travel to Shelley, Idaho to join Anna, Aly, Caleb, and Dad at Grandma and Grandpa Schmitt's. The 3 kids have been up there since Monday. Cody will arrive a few hours before we do. We are excited to be all together again to celebrate the 4th of July. And we can't forget to watch the Price is Right Monday morning (the 4th of July). Cody has his moment of fame : )
I will eventually get some pictures posted, but for now just know that all is going well and that we hope that for all of you as well!

Blood transfusion with 2 big sisters

When we left Primary Childrens last Friday we knew that Jessica's hematocrit was only 25.7 so a transfusion was in her near future. With transfusions, the more you have the more likely you are to begin having reactions to them. We like to spread them out as much as possible, but her count this morning was only 20.2 so they wanted her to have a transfusion. Her platelets have dropped to 56, so we may need those, but hopefully they won't get to transfusion point. The neulasta shot given has boosted her white blood cells and ANC up at 7.8 and 7.6 which is the higher end of normal, so that is great. We are hoping to not bottom out! We will keep our fingers crossed. We are here for the transfusion now. It has been a special trip because Annalise and Alyson are able to be here with us. We left the 2 brothers with Dad and the 3 girls have been enjoying being together. The children under 14 visiting rules were lifted just a few weeks ago. Not being able to be with Jessica in her rooms has been hard, especially for Annalise. This is just what they needed. They have played candy land, put Mr. potato Heads together, visited the playroom that I didn't realize they had here at DRMC, and they are now watching a movie together. We love it here at DRMC. They are so good to us!
Jessica has been such a great example of strength through this whole experience. She is constantly amazing us with the things she is able to do! And her brothers and sisters and parents too, have grown so much. But, like us all, there are times that make us stop and think. Last week, while we were up in S.L.C. still at Aunt Amelia's house right before heading to the hospital, Jessica was eating a bowl of cereal and out of the blue she said, "Mom, I wish I didn't have cancer. How did I get that tumor, that rock?". I had a hard time holding back the tears. I explained the best I could and she moved on happily. I am actually glad, in a way, that she expressed how she was feeling. She had never said anything like that before, but tonight she made another comment as I was putting her feeding tube in. She was upset because she didn't want to take medicine by mouth, but she didn't really want the feeding tube either. She said, "I wish I wasn't sick." Boy do I ever wish the same thing and to hear her say that. I just love my little girl. No parent would want their child to have to go through these difficult things, but I know there is a plan, a perfect plan. Our loving Heavenly Father knows that we need challenges to grow and become better. With the loss of a good family friend and the amazing strength shown by his family, I have once again thought hard about what is most important. I fall short each day, but I hope I can slowly but surely learn to treasure each day and truly enjoy the journey. I hope I can show my love always, even when that seems hard to do. We never know what will come. Life is so short. Too short to not make the most of everyday!
So grateful for all that I have! And so grateful for all of you and your many examples of strength, unconditional love, hope, and faith!

Fun times and another treatment

It is hard to believe that it is June 7th. Time has flown by. From May 28th until June 4th we were able to be in SanDiego with the whole Chipman family. It was a wonderful family vacation!! Jessica's counts were at a great point the day we left and we had no complications the entire time, just a very happy little girl and family. The beach house, one day at Sea World, one baseball game, pictures at the SanDiego Temple, and hours and hours of sand, sun, sea shells, family time, and the kids favorite...sand crabs, made a perfect trip! We were all a little sad the day we had to head for home. Sunday afternoon, the 5th, Jessica's blood was drawn and her counts looked great. Her hematocrit at 26 was low, but not a problem for chemotherapy on Tuesday. We left Sunday evening because of a kidney test (GFR) that had to be done at 9 a.m. Monday. It has to be done 24 hours before the start of one of the drugs, Carboplatin. (sp?). Jessica was admitted today at 1 p.m. 2 drugs, Cytoxin and VP 16 have been given. We will be here until Friday as the drugs are given each day for 4 days. Jessica's kidney function was not quite where it should be. The dose of Carboplatin would need to be lessened. Our Doctor decided to do another test over a 24 hour period. By tomorrow afternoon we will make the decision whether or not to give the carbo. It is only given on one of the four days, so it will not affect the amount of time we are here. Because Jessica only has one kidney it is a worry. There are many things to worry about. We just want the very best for her and sometimes in medicine there isn't always a perfect answer for everything. Just very grateful for good doctors who try so hard and give so much time to better the lives of others!
I have so much updating to do and many wonderful pictures to share along with some funny stories, memories, and acts of love by family and friends. We love you all and know that Jessica continues to do so well because of your many thoughts and prayers!

Counts are good

Yesterday Jessica's counts were great and they scheduled our arrival time for 1 p.m. today, Tuesday, May 17th. Her ANC was the highest I have seen it in a while at 4.9 or 4900. Total white blood cells were 6.1. Her platelets were 298. Her hematocrit was 24, so almost to transfusion point, but they just decided that if she needed a transfusion they would give it to her at PCMC, which is what they did when we arrived today. Dr. Affiy wanted her to be given the red blood cells before chemotherapy. It is now 10:30 p.m. And we have just started chemotherapy, but even though it is late, we should still be able to get off good time tomorrow morning. They have been hydrating Jessica since we got here. Her urine output and certain ph levels have to be at certain levels before they can start chemotherapy. Through the night we get her up every 2 hours to go to the bathroom. Sometimes she needs to go even more often than that. She is such a trooper! She just let's me pick her up, carry her to the toilet, set her down, and there is no complaints. Anyway, all is well. Even though she wasn't seeming super tired with her low hematocrit, after the blood transfusion the color came back into her skin. Little rosy cheeks....pretty darn cute!

One more change

Last Friday we received a call from our Dr. at Primary Children's. After a meeting with all of the doctors that have been working with Jessica, the general consensus was that Jessica should still stay on the higher protocol of chemotherapy. More information came back on the warnings that had come back on this protocol from the clinical trial and it was found that out of the 3 deaths (total children- 36), 2 were unrelated to the drug treatment. With as much success as Jessica has had on this treatment, they all felt that she should continue on with this protocol. If she came in today with the same diagnosis it is true that they would not start her on this protocol, but we believe that it is a blessing that Jessica was able to receive this treatment and continue it because her tumor may have never been able to be removed as successfully as it was. Our Doctor is always so great to have us think about it and make sure that we agree. Cody and I agree with the doctors, even though it will be hard to see her blood counts drop so dramatically. We are just very grateful for good doctors who are constantly thinking about Jessica and very concerned about what is best for her. As long as Jessica makes blood counts this next Monday, we will head up Monday night or Tuesday morning for an overnight stay for chemotherapy. Jessica is still doing great! Her ANC (Immune system cells) came up even though she received the lesser chemo on May 3rd. We continue to count our many blessings!

Fun Adventures!

Jessica waiting to show her Dad what radiation treatments are all about.
Cody was with us as much as he could be. Cody, with his mother, worked back home and held down the fort while we were gone. Jessica is so lucky to have such an amazing Dad and I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband!!

Just part of the process of radiation. Jessica laid completely still for her treatments and did not have to be sedated. She was amazing. There was one day that she had to lay still for well over an hour. Most of her 13 days were not that long, anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes.

Jessica and her cousin Kate with Uncle Jeff's fiance, Christina, who the girls, and all of us for that matter, absolutely adore! We came home the first weekend in between radiation for Christina's Bridal Shower. Jeff and Christina will be married on May 20th! That same weekend, we also threw a surprise 8th birthday party for Alyson. Her birthday is April 6th, and we had to be up north, so we surprised her the weekend before and then we were able to do her baptism the weekend after her birthday.

Jessica holding her cousin's, Isaac, Andrew, and Lucy's new puppy! This is the day we said goodbye to Aunt Sara and the kids as they headed off to Texas for another baseball season for Uncle Brandon. We will be excited to see everyone in less than a week for Jeff and Christina's wedding! Cute Jessica and her little wisps of hair up front that she has never completely lost.

Jessica with her Grandma Sheri Schmitt.
Grandma Sheri has been such a blessing to our family. She is the one who took over as mom for Annalise and Alyson (and Cody....again :) while we had to be up north for so long. Sheri has given up so much time to be here in St. George. I honestly don't know what we would have done without her. She kept things as normal as possible for our older girls. Annalise and Alyson love their Grandma dearly. It was not easy on Sheri to step in, but she did. We always came home to a much cleaner home than when we left it and yummy food to eat. Sheri is always checking in on us even when she is not here. And when she says I'll be there if you need me, I know that she means it. Sheri sacrafices so much for all of her children. She is a huge blessing to each one of them! Sheri had just retired from teaching school last year. We know that it has been a gift to have her help with our little family.

Jessica and Caleb with Grandma Chipman at our Easter Picnic at the park

Grandma Chipman has sacraficed much time and effort to be there for our family. She is always there whenever we need her. She is teaching 5th grade full time, but even with that she has taken a whole lot of time to help where needed. Her Christmas break and the first week back for her 5th graders was spent with us in the PICU at Primary's. Grandma Chipman is the one who got Jacob started on solids, which made being away from him longer much easier (since the little guy has never taken to the bottle). And Grandma Chipman is a cancer survivor so Grandma and Jessica have a special bond. Grandma knows what Jessica is going through. My mother is a great strength to me. You could definitely say that she is my Hero! She is aware of our needs and takes special care of all of our children, especially Jessica's older sisters who have really struggled through this whole experience. My mom has also made sure that Cody and I take time together. She has taken the kids several times, making sure that Cody and I get some quality time together.

How truly blessed I am to have two amazing Mother's! And how blessed Jessica is to have two amazing Grandmother's!

To both of my mothers (my mother and mother-in-law)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I Love You!

On our way home one weekend, in between radiation treatments, we met Aunt Lydia and Uncle Nate in Beaver. They were headed up north for a reunion. Aunt Lydia, who is a registered nurse, has been a great strength to us! She is always so willing to step in and help at anytime. What is amazing is that I know that each one of my 7 siblings would do anything, absolutely anything to help when needed and they have done so much! I love my family. I just can't say that enough!

The second weekend in between radiation we were able to come home for Alyson's baptism. It was a beautiful day! Can't believe that my Alyson is 8 years old!

Jessica with her best cousin Kate

We have been so lucky to have my Sister Amelia and her family to stay with in Farmington. We feel so comfortable in their home and it makes it so much fun!

Jessica on the last day of radiation with some of the amazing staff at Huntsman Cancer Institute.

We had a great experience at Huntsman!

At Huntsman we were able to quickly valet park for free everyday. This is one of the nice valet parking guys with Jessica on a very cold April day in Salt Lake!

Here is Isaac, Jessica's very good friend, bringing her flowers. Isaac always makes Jessica smile!
Great friends, Jessica and Isaac!

Jessica visiting preschool with her friends and Miss Mary. Jessica loves spending as much time as she can with Miss Mary!

A hiking adventure to Red Cliffs just yesterday, Friday, May 6th!

We all had a great time hiking and playing in the water! Jessica had a great time. It is times like these that we will look back on with sweet memories that will never be forgotten!

Alyson, Jessica, Caleb and Annalise on the trail at Red Cliffs

How lucky they are to have each other and how lucky am I to be their mother!

Quick trip and doing well!

Jessica came home yesterday afternoon. Nothing serious came of her bowel obstruction. The scar tissue is actually on the outside of her small intestine. I guess these things can come up after surgery. The scar tissue either tightened down on the intestine or caused it to twist somehow. This could happen again, but the hope is that the body will work through it. The Xray yesterday morning showed good improvement. She was on a clear diet for almost 2 days, but this morning enjoyed yogurt, ritz crackers and pancakes with jam. She was a very hungry little girl. I guess adults with similar problems are put on clears for about a week. But thank goodness they can't do that to children. Calories become a problem quickly. Anyway, Jessica is doing well! Her blood counts yesterday morning had come up enough for chemo this next Tuesday. So unless something strange comes up, we will probably head up Monday night. And it should be a very quick trip....yeah! We should be back home Tuesday night!! Thank you for all of your kind comments. There are so many of you struggling with your own very difficult challenges. Please know that our hearts are with you also! We never know what life will bring, but we will always be there for each other. We are in this journey called life together. And what a gift it is to have the opportunity to experience the journey of life! We love you all!

Trip to the hospital

Jessica woke up last night around 11 p.m. with a lot of abdominal pain. She had been running around and playing just a couple of hours before with everyone. It was a beautiful day and night in St. George. It was quite a shock to have her in so much pain so out of the blue. Something wasn't right. We made the needed phone calls and ended up at DRMC around midnight. Aunt Julia ran up while studying for finals to be with the other kids while Cody and I ran Jessica to the hospital. After the first CT scan, the radiologist saw some questionable spots, but Jessica had not been able to hold completely still because of pain, so he asked for a 2nd scan with contrast and something to ease the pain. It looks like Jessica has a blockage in her small intestine, possibly scar tissue from surgery March 8th. They have Jessica on a couple of antibiotics until they completely rule out a couple of other possible infections. Her ANC has dropped again to .6 or 600. Her platelets are up a little from 85 to 92. They will watch her for 24 hours. If her symptoms get worse or she doesn't improve we may have to return to PCMC for surgery to remove the blockage. We are hoping that the body will be able to take care of the problem on it's own. They have placed a larger tube down into her tummy to remove the stomach contents to give her gut a rest. Even with that she is still throwing up about every 20 to 30 minutes. Her pain seems a little less to me, but she is definitely uncomfortable. There are always bumps that come along. We just hope that this bump doesn't throw Jessica too far off track.

Walk down Memory Lane!

Jessica's counts are still too low for chemo. Monday, April 25th, they drew blood again and for the 3rd time we haven't made counts. Now her platelets are okay at 85, but her ANC came down to .7 or 700. They aren't worried, it happens with these kids. And Jessica is just happy to be home. She shows no physical signs of having low counts. If she didn't have a feeding tube and wasn't missing her hair, you wouldn't even know she was battling any kind of sickness. We will now draw blood on Friday the 29th in hopes to head up on Tuesday, May 3rd for chemo.

I have been enjoying looking back at some fun pictures of Jessica and our little family. I can hardly believe that Jessica is almost 5! Where does the time go? Jessica is an Amazing little girl. It is a privilege to be her Mom! She teaches us so much everyday! She has a great deal of strength and courage. She doesn't have angry feelings or even feel afraid of cancer. She just has that gift of simple faith. She knows that everything is going to be okay! That is what is so wonderful about children. They don't let the cares of the world in that can make us as adults angry or afraid. They just take life as it comes and more often than not, they see the good in everything around them!


-> Our first house with our first 3 girls...Jessica is the baby!

Jessica- probably about 9 months

-> Alyson, Annalise, and happy baby Jessica.

Jessica on her blessing day!

Jessica, always round and healthy!

Jessica holding a starfish at Sea World.

Riding a horse on a trip to Bryce Canyon.

On a very rare, snowy day in St. George, Jessica made friends with a snowman.

Jessica was only 15 months when her little brother Caleb was born. She was a little unsure about the whole thing as you can tell. Jessica weighed 8 lbs 6 oz. when she was born and Caleb was 8 lbs. 10 oz.

No chemo this week.

Jessica didn't make counts yesterday, so the plan is to draw blood again on Friday in hopes to travel Sunday night for Chemo Monday morning. The only area that Jessica's counts were too low was her platelets. We have never not made counts, so I actually asked what the cut offs were. Her platelets have to be above 75 and she was at 30 yesterday. It looks like she is on her way up. Everything has just moved a little more slowly this round. With that said, Jessica is her normal, happy self, just loving being home and being with all of her brothers and sisters and her dad! Still have to post lots of cute pictures. We want the treatments to happen, but it is okay to have a little more time to catch up at home before heading back up. Can't believe that Easter weekend is here. It is a beautiful time of year! I am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives! Sweet is the Peace the Gospel brings. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter!

2 more days to go...

With two weekends home, Jessica is now 2 days away from finishing radiation! We plan to leave on Thursday after radiation and lab draws at the clinic(PCMC). We hope to be home in time to pick up big sisters Annalise and Alyson from school at 3:30. Jessica's counts have stayed low a little longer this time because of the effect from radiation, but the great thing has been that we have not needed any hospital stays besides the couple visits for a blood transfusion and some platelets. We have made an almost definite decision with the doctors to fall back to the normal Wilms chemotherapy treatment. There has never been any solid proof of anaplasia(more aggressive), so there doesn't seem to be as many reasons to keep pushing with the harder treatments. Jessica has responded extremely well to the stronger regimen, but it is certainly a roller coaster for her immune system. On the normal treatment her immune system shouldn't take as hard of hits as it has taken over the past few months. The plan now is to return this next Tuesday for chemotherapy. It would simply be a day trip! Yeah! We are all looking forward to coming home. Jacob, and Caleb have been up here with Jessica and I, so for all of us to be back together will be wonderful! We love you all and so appreciate all of the love and concern. I know that it is the strength that pulls us through!