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Friday, August 27, 2010

Hospital Fun



So I was home for the last four days and was anxious to get back to the hospital to see Ella. I anticipated a big smile when I walked in the room, which I got, but it didn't begin to compare to look of excitement she had on her face when she saw her "friend poster" that I was finally able to bring in. Seriously she made the biggest "O" face and I am pretty sure she was jumping up and down in her bed. She loves looking at the pictures of all of her blog friends. While we were in between rounds, I got smart and had the poster board laminated so I could hang it down low so she could touch the pictures all she wants. I have a bunch more pictures that were hanging on the wall around the poster board last round that I am in the process of placing on a second poster board along with all of the new ones we have received. So soon she will have two of them to look at.


Here, I am not sure if she is kissing Addy or Max :)



OT wants us to give her some pureed food twice a day so here she is working with some applesauce. The stroller with the bear was sitting nearby so she pulled it up close and was feeding the bear too. It was so sweet!



Here she is taking a little bite



Maybe it's not so bad...either that or it is sour!!



We hade to take a ride down to xray because the PT asked the Dr. if we could get an xray of her hips and legs as she turns one leg out a little when she crawls and maybe a little when she walks. It is definitely easier to get things done while inpatient.



Since her ANC is over 500, she was able to go down the rehab center to do her PT. There are a lot more fun things to do down there that you can't do in our room.



Trying to climb up the slide



The little Princess requires two people to tend to her needs (putting her shoes and braces on...which we also received while inpatient)



Tea party anyone???



So many veggies to choose from.....



Playing with stickers on the mirror while practicing standing



Trying to walk on the treadmill



Maybe it is okay.....



NOPE....don't like it!!



"I am DONE!!!" See...Ella isn't ALWAYS smiling and happy.



Practicing walking on the stairs.



So, as you can see, today has been a funfilled day (for being in the hospital, I guess). Her ANC only dropped a few points since Wednesday....870 but her Hb has dropped down to 8.9 so we will probably be getting a RBC transfusion in the next day or so.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Nothing Much To Report...(which is a good thing!!!)




Just another picture of my very silly girl!! Ella's chemo finished this past sunday and now we are waiting for her counts to drop. Her ANC was 1500 on Monday and had dropped to 860 yesterday so they are starting to head in the right (or wrong if you really think about it) direction. She hasn't needed any transfusions yet but I am sure they are just around the corner. So far she has been feeling great but maybe just a little less energy. I have actually been home for the past three days as my older two girls have had Back to School night's (two different schools this year). But all reports from Grandma and Daddy have been good so we just pray that the good news continues.

I was blessed with having my house cleaned the other day!! One of the things that had been recommended to us (thanks Heather) to do with our fundraiser money was to get a housekeeper during her treatment so that I wouldn't be spending all of my precious home time stressing about trying to keep up with the house. The gals (all 5 of them) came for the first time on Tuesday and were seriously like a tornado going through my house doing the initial deep cleaning. I can't tell you the peace it has given me to feel that my house is REALLY clean and I can focus on other things. Hopefully we will be able to afford to continue to use them throughout Ella's treatment as I can already tell that it will make a big difference in my mental state. I can't wait for Ella to come home and be able to crawl and walk around without getting such dirty feet!!!

Friday, August 20, 2010

Round Three Has Begun



Round 3 of Ella's chemo is well underway now and as you can see from the above picture that was taken this afternoon, she is not letting it get her down!! At the time of this post, she is about 56 hours into her 96 hours of chemo. It hasn't seemed to bother her at all so hopefully that will continue to be the case. It has been a little harder this round because she is hooked up to the IV constantly as the infusion of chemo is continuous. This means that she can't really get down out of her crib and just play like she usually can. We have been able to take some walks with her pushing her baby stoller and me trying to keep up with her with the IV pole. I was nervous to do this at first because I thought she could keep trying to drop to the floor but last night we walked around for almost an hour before getting tired. It is so cute because every time she sees someone, she waves and says "hi" before moving on and then turning around to say "bye" and blow a kiss. The chemo will be finished on Sunday afternoon and then we will just sit and play the waiting game again....waiting for her numbers to drop down and then come back up!! Here are some pictures of her first couple of days.


She is still smiling!!



Taking a walk with our IV pole by our side



How Ella has to spend a lot of her time....watching Barney, Elmo or Signing Times



Where's Ella?



There she is!!!



Ella is trying to escape with Teddy, hoping that no one will notice!!



Hanging with a great friend.



And another



Awww...big hugs!!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Things You Can Do While You Are OUT Of The Hospital

****A sequel to Things You Can Do While Stuck IN The Hospital.....


You can catch one of Cousin Ethan's footbal practices


You can kiss a cucumber (doesn't everyone do this?)


You can help mom shred important documents (don't worry, it isn't turned on or plugged in)


Help my mom by putting my diapers away


You can practice drumming (the music therapy guy will be impressed by my improvement)


You can kick back while at the mall school shopping for big sisters


You can have lunch with Grandma...Splenda anyone?


Who knows where I am here?


You can practice your golf swing.


You can enjoy the great outdoors...I love it!!!


You can help with the vacuuming (dang my mom makes me do a lot of chores!)


You can play a round of checkers.....who's next??


You still have to keep up with your blog friends.


Visiting Downtown Disney is a must!! (especially when you are meeting special friends)

And finally, you can sneak a peek of your sister while she is trying on clothes :)



But, I am sorry to say that the fun is over for now. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we head back in to the hospital to start round 3 of chemo. We are dreading going back but the longer we stay home, the longer this whole thing will drag on. Best to just get it over with. Once again, anyone local, don't forget to visit us!! And those that are far away, don't forget to pray for another uncomplicated round of chemo.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Odds and Ends


This is Rosie meeting Ella for the first time. Rosie is the person responsible for our wonderful fundraiser. This gal convinced us that we should do the fundraiser when we were too proud to think that we should and she made a GREAT night out of it. We had so much fun and they raised an amazing amount of money for us. We simply couldn't believe how generous everyone was. Back to Rosie....she did all of this for us without having ever even met Ella. I was finally able to stop by her office with Ella the other day so they could meet. After a short warm up period, Ella enjoyed her visit very much. Of course, do you think I could get a decent picture of the little stinker with her. Thanks again Rosie for EVERYTHING!!!

We have some Tshirts left and I have them at my house now. I know there were some people who mentioned in previous comments that they were interested in getting one but I simply don't have the energy to go back and find them. So, if anyone is still interested, please let me know ASAP so I can get one sent out to you. They are $10 each plus $5 if they need to be shipped. Unfortunately, there are only a few left with Ella's picture on it (4 XL and 1 2XL) The rest are all of the prints shown below.




Also, for anyone who was interested in ordering one of these adorable hats (or many other styles) here is the website for them http://www.etsy.com/shop/theumbrellagirlshop

Friday, August 13, 2010

Our Visit With Baby Sofia (and her family)



I AM IN HEAVEN!! We got to meet Sofia and her wonderful family today. They happened to be spending a few days at Disneyland and we happened to have to be nearby for Ella's Dr. appointment today. We went over and met up with them in Downtown Disney for a little bit. I have been in love with Sofia since I first found her on Reece's Rainbow. I was so excited when I found out that a family from California was adopting her because I just knew that somehow, someday I would be able to meet her. I sure didn't realize that that day would come so soon. The only problem is that now I want more!!! She is so darn cuddly and affectionate and loving and smart!! The Sanchez family is truly blessed to have her. We also got to meet her big brothers, Joaquin, Mateo and Diego. Joaquin is the same age as Ella and also has Ds. He is a walking maniac!! Between him wanting to take off walking and Ella doing her walk/crawl thing, I am surprised that we got any pictures of the kids together.

****Update...I forgot to mention that Ella still isn't quite ready to start her next round of chemo yet. Today her ANC was 644 so she still has a little way to go.


I just love this picture because it shows how much Ella liked Sofia. First of all, she is tolerating her sitting on her in the stroller and also she put her arm around her.....sigh!!


Me with the girls.



Moms and kids



All the kids.....sitting down together and ALMOST all looking



Ella getting a kick out of Joaquin turning on his charms.