Believe..........

Mikayla is a very strong girl and I see that everyday. She is very smart. Teacher today said that any kindergarten teacher would want her to be his/her student. She will also tell the teacher tomorrow to bring hard stuff for Mikayla to do. Another volunteer who happens to be a kindergarten teacher and had worked with her in the past said that she has 20 kids in her class now and only 5 can recognize their name while Mikayla can write her full name. Mikayla is AMAZING. Special thanks to Ms Meme, Ms Jessica, Ms Amanda , Ms April and Ms Cooker. And my wonderful husband , Mike who makes sure KK makes it to pre school while trying to take care of Malachi, work and pick up Damien and Darian everyday.
We face challenges every day, some are easy , some are hard , and some are harder but there is nothing impossible if you Believe.... I love my husband and all our children and there is nothing that we cannot go through... To all our family and friends , thank you for Praying and Believing with us.....
Rea

Leukemia Blasts

Today, while Mikayla's doctor was visiting, Rea asked about her blasts. To us her counts looked great. Her ANC had risen to 30 and the blasts were at 3% which had fallen from 8% a few days before when her ANC was 15. Her doctor had a different opinion. He was concerned about the blasts. After a brief discussion it was said that Mikayla had about a 50% chance to achieve remission with this round. Before we started this round of chemo we were told that nearly 90% of the kids that don't reach remission with round one will reach it with round two. So much for percentages! Her bone marrow aspirate will take place around Monday next week to determine if the Leukemia has remiss ed or not. If not we have somewhere in the neighborhood of four "miracle" drugs that will be experimented on her. Others have tried them, but she will be a guenia pig so to speak. These are promising drugs for the future and are in early stages of usage from what I understand. I don't really want to know what happens next if we get to the point where we are trying to cure her with unproven drugs. We are desperately hanging on to hope that her body will find in itself the courage we all lack to fight back. Nobody has control over their own fate, but maybe there is a way that somehow when you believe in something great enough it will happen. There is science but there is FAITH.....

Hello

We worked on calendar today. Ms.Kelly helped us. She printed the days of the week. Mikayla and I glued them to different colors of construction paper and cut them. Got a platic divider from secretary and taped it to the wall in her room. We worked on identifying the days of the week, placed them in order and she is responsible of changing it every morning.
She had a 31/2hours nap today. She said she feels good, she ate good , eventhough there is some reported blast in her blood work, we are confident that it will be fine, and we will fight...fight...fight... Thank u for your cont. prayers and support.. love u ol and God Bless us .......rea

doing well

Mikayla's week has been good. Her swelling is almost completely gone. She will begin a in hospital school beginning on Monday. Mom and Dad will no longer be her teacher, instead Ms. Kelly from Child Life will be taking over. The only problem this week was with housekeeping. Hygiene is of utmost importance with Mikayla. We addressed the issues regarding the vent and the floor to few people. "Attitude is everything". I know that they were not very happy to clean the room but I have to think about my child. I was hurt because the floor guy just came in , started to mop and was mad about having to clean. I spoke to the managers about what happened and they were going to do something about it. I told the managers that I did not sign up to be here that long , and if I had a choice I will go home, but I don't. My main concern is making sure her environment is kept clean. No need for attitude.... But it is ok , there is nothing that cannot be resolved... Rea

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Her own little world

Finally found some down time today to update Mikayla's Blog. On Sunday she had acquired Mucousitis. We spoke with her doctor and he put her on antibiotics. By Monday her lips were very swollen kinda like she had been hit in the face. The antibiotics have worked fairly rapidly. Her lower lip is normal and her upper lip has a small spot toward the left center that is still swollen. We ,for obvious reasons, haven't posted any pictures or videos until she is better. Over the course of this time she has remained very active racking up around 6 to 8 hours a day in the play room. Tomorrow was supposed to be her first day of school. Because of the cancer we will see how fall of 2010 plays out for the start for either first grade or kindergarten. The kindergarten teachers have gotten together and decided how to keep Mikayla up to date with school and help with getting her proper worksheets and other essentials. Thank you Bess Truman teachers. She ,like the rest of the kids her age, still received new school clothes, a backpack, a lunch box, pencils, crayons, and shoes. She has it in her own world that she will still start with the rest of her friends, but at the school in the hospital (her hospital room with mom and dad as the teacher). She is still excited to be able to finally begin. She has created her own little world in the hospital. She tells nurses what to do with pills and treatments. She thinks she is the boss of the playroom. She monitors the door for visitors to let them in when the nurses allow it. She uses her bed as a desk and dinner table. She seems to of caught on pretty fast how to adjust to what she has and realizes that despite being in the hospital that she is only limited by her imagination.

New problem

Today Mikayla's appetite wasn't very good. Since the beginning of this round of chemo she as lost close to 1 pound. Not much, but she doesn't have alot to spare. I had come home with the older kids to prepare for the start of school only to find out that Mikayla has developed Mucositis. Here is what I have read as I have not yet spoken with her doctor to determine the severity of her condition. Currently she has enlarged lips and has vomitted up quite a bit of mucus.

FONT SIZE A A A Definition of Mucositis Mucositis is a medical term that is used to refer to mouth sores, oral mucositis, or esophagitis. It can range in severity from a red, sore mouth and/or gums to open sores that can cause a patient to be unable to eat. The lining of the entire gastrointestinal tract (mouth, throat, stomach, and bowel) is made up of epithelial cells, which divide and replicate rapidly. Imagine this: if you bite your lip, the tissue is often able to heal by the next day because of this rapid growth. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy kill not only cancer cells, but other rapidly dividing cells as well, including the lining of the entire gastrointestinal tract. This article will discuss the effects on the lining of the mouth and throat (this lining is called the mucosa). Oral mucositis leads to several problems, including pain, nutritional problems as a result of inability to eat, and increased risk of infection due to open sores in the mucosa. It has a significant effect on the patientÕs quality of life and can be dose- limiting (requiring a reduction in subsequent chemotherapy doses).