Hi,
Since the last update in October's newsletter we have been through a lot! I left off asking you guys for prayers for a fever to break so we wouldn't have to go back to the ER. Well, that didn't happen. She had three days of fevers which meant three ER trips each day and on the third day her counts were low enough that we had to be admitted. We were in the hospital for six days and finally got discharged. While it wasn't an ideal situation with being in the hospital on Halloween and being an isolation because she tested positive for a virus, All Children's Hospital really did a great job of celebrating it for the kids. There was reverse trick-or-treating, so McKinley could stay in her room at the door and watch as hundreds of staff volunteer and nurses passed by leaving candy for her. It was a very long six days, but we made it. We did have one big scare that really shook me to the core. Everything is fine but the last day of being inpatient her blood work came back and they found a blast. Typically, blasts are only found when you have leukemia. This would indicate a relapse if there was one indeed in her blood. Turns out it was just a fluke blast because her marrow was in overdrive from being so sick for so long. To date we have had four more blood draws and they all have come back clean. Thank God.
I am very grateful that we have been home, started school again, and had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to our normal routine and hopefully staying away from the ER. She is continuing to go back weekly until her chemo is at 100%. With the sickness they are moving very slowly so that her counts don't tank again (because then it increases risk of infection & she has to be placed on chemo hold).
We also had an exciting meeting with John's Hopkins all Children's Hospital regarding Love McKinley. They are finalizing a proposal for us this week and then I should be able to tell you exactly what we are providing to them! They were thrilled and very impressed with the amount we have raised in the short six months that Love McKinley has been founded. You all were a HUGE contributor to that & we can't thank you all enough. We really are making such a huge difference among the Hemotology/Oncology department for families, patients & nurses. I truly can't express how needed and thankful we are that all of this is finally coming to fruition and will make a difference NOW. So thank you again for all of your generosity and most importantly your thoughts and prayers.
Xoxo,
Karen