Sophie Bear

Well what can I say, it has been way too long since I posted something on the blog so hopefully this will catch everyone up! Sophie started a new phase of chemo last Thursday that is the hardest, most intense phase that we will go through. With that being said, it has been a rough week and a half. Poor little girl has thrown up more than you wanna know and has been feeling pretty nauseous and all around plain yucky! The phase that we are currently in will last 56 days and is called Delayed Intensification. The thought and research behind all of this is that they want to give her system one final flush, cleaning or wiping out to ensure all the possible leukemia cells that may be left in her body will be killed. So with all that, she is on 8 different types of drugs/chemo throughout these 56 days and the symptoms are: nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, irritability, mood/behavior change, hair loss, steroid cheeks and belly, mouth sores, sensitivity to light, low blood counts, neutropenia.

As we started this phase last Thursday, Kyle took Sophie for her appt because I quite frankly wanted to boycot the whole thing and so he had the day off and went with her. It  apparently wasn’t the greatest appt. as the Anathesiologist was not very patient or understanding of Sophie not wanting to have her port accessed. Sophie was kicking and screaming and not wanting to cooperate (I wonder why?) This obviously didn’t start us off on a good foot and both Kyle and I had a sour taste in our mouths about the whole thing. With lots of discusion and prayer we both agreed that we needed to have a better attitude and rely on the Lord to bless us and help us through this. So after Sophie got home on Thursday, she was feeling and looking horrible and proceeded to barfing all day long. There was nothing that Sophie could keep down and by the end of the day I was exhausted from cleaning up barf and disinfecting/cleaning everything that had been a victim to the vomit!

Friday and Saturday Sophie continued to barf, not as often as Thursday but barfing nonetheless! Thank-goodness that Saturday and Sunday were general conference weekend because we definitely weren’t gonna make it to church in the state that we were in. Then Sophie had another appt on Monday and before we even got inside the clinic she had barfed all over herself and the van! Oh what fun that was! As I went in the clinic and asked Kate (Sophie’s nurse) if she still wanted to proceed with her treatment, she continued to tell me that vomiting and nausea were VERY COMMON side effects of the phase and that this might just be our new normal for these 56 days. Yay is all i could think to say, who could ask for any better side effect. So once again, Sophie hated every minute of her treatment and it took 4 hours and lots of bribing, compromising and encouraging through all her tears but we got it done. On Thursday Sophie had another appt which I was obviously dreading due to the previous 2 appts. I am happy to say that it went so much smoother and there was only a few tears shed on Sophie’s behalf. We talked A LOT with Sophie about her treatments and let her know that we hate it as much as she does, and that it was ok to be scared and ok to cry and ok to hate it….but we still had to do it. So after a lot of talking with her and praying that she could cope with her treatments better, we were successful!

So now that I am back on barf patrol and have a barg bag with me everywhere we go, we are coping better. Sophie throws up every morning religiously but after that, she is done or only has one more barf during the day. She is such a pro at barfing and usually always gets it in her bowl now! We just take it one day at a time and try to do the best with what we got. We are prepared for what may come during this phase and hopefully will be able to meet every challenge that comes our way. Our goal now is to just try and get through this phase with grace and some sanity at the end of it.

Well Grandma and Grandpa just flew back home after spending 10 days with us and the kids are already asking when we will see them again! My favorite question of the week from Reece was, “Why can’t Grandma and Grandpa just live here with us? They could stay in the guest bedroom and they could find jobs here!” Oh Reece, I agree, wouldn’t it be nice if they could just live here! To bad reality sets in hey?!

We had a wonderful time with them here, but for some reason, the time flies by every time they come and visit and we just wish it would last longer! The one thing that kept the tears from flowing today though, was that we are going to be in Canada for the summer so we will see them in 2 months which we are all so excited about! We kinda feel like we have the  best of both worlds living in Arizona and enjoying the gorgeous weather and then in the summer time when it’s hotter than HE_ _, we get to go up to Canada!!!!

So before Grandma and Grandpa got here, the girls sat down and Reece wrote down all the things that they wanted to do while they were here. I’m happy to say that we ALMOST got all of them checked off so way to go Grandma and Grandpa, you were awesome! We went out for pedicures, we went out to eat at our favorite restaurants, we went to the zoo, we went to the pet store, we went shopping, we had a picnic, we went swimming, we went to the park (several times), we had a movie night (or several), we went to the movie theater, we went bowling, we watched plenty of March Madness (and had fun following our brackets), and I even cracked and let the kids go for ice cream! Needless to say we are detoxing a bit this week and Haiden has been on a sugar hangover from IHOP and ice cream last night ALL DAY LONG!!! Today I really wish Grandma and Grandpa were still here!!!

Last week for craft day Emily came over and the craft of the week was Valentine necklaces!  Now just so you know, these are no Michael’s crafty necklaces! They are the real things with big glittery beads and lots of bling! So being that Emily is always so sweet, she brought enough stuff for Sophie to make a necklace for Reece and Haiden also. Well Haiden was in love with Reece’s necklace because it had a dangling charm on it, and that was totally fine until Reece came home from school and Sophie showed her what she had made for her! Haiden was napping at the time so life was good and everyone was loving the peace and quiet, then……Haiden woke up and all HELL broke loose! Let me give some background so that the pictures don’t seem so odd! We don’t wear bathing suits all day everyday! I had just got the girls new swimsuits and Haiden refused to take hers off. She wore it all day and even wore it to bed, it just wasn’t worth the fight trying to get it off of her! I did get it off her to go to the bathroom though, but she put it back on all by herself. Little Miss Independent had it on backwards and she had both legs in one hole! I wish I could post those pics but there is just too much nudity in them!!! She also asked non-stop if we could go swimming. I wish the pool wasn’t freezing and we could. I was tempted to just let her jump in and see for herself but that might cause serious nerve damage! So back to the necklaces, when Haiden saw that Reece was wearing the necklace that she full on believed was hers, she started screaming and grabbing at Reece’s necklace! Nothing I did made it better and of course Reece wasn’t going to give up her necklace, so we sent an emergency text through blood curdling screams to Emily asking  her for a necklace just like Reece’s! Luckily Emily can whip these things up in minutes and she was over in no time with the new necklace, Hallelujah!!!! So the girls have worn their beautiful necklaces faithfully everyday and they absolutlely LOVE them! Thanks Emily for another awesome craft day, you make my crafts look SO lame!

Well I guess having cancer has it’s perks cuz today Sophie got to go to an exclusive “Hope Kids” Basketball clinic with 2 former Phoenix Suns players. All my basketball peeps are going to be disappointed with me cuz for the life of me I can’t remember what their names were! Check out the pics and if you know who they are then comment on my post for me!

Hope Kids is an organization set up for kids who suffer from life threatening and debilitating diseases or sicknesses. There are numerous activities throughout the year where Hope Kids and their families get to go places and see things that we otherwise would never have the opportunity to experience. It is an amazing organization and we have been so blessed to be a part of it.  We have got to know some really amazing kids and families that are going through some of the same things we are going through. This organization gives the Hope Kids activities and events to look forward too, and the opportunity for families to connect and draw strength from each other.

For the Clinic, The Hope Kids got to walk through the entrance under the stands where the players go, got to play on the court, meet some of the Suns Dancer- which happened to be Sophie’s favorite part, and they got to meet and play with the Suns Mascot, Gorilla. It was such an amazing day where the kids got such special treatment and they all loved every minute of it. The Suns alumni were holding the kids up and helping them dunk, pushing them around in their wheelchairs and truly being so genuinely sweet and so kind to all of them. It was truly a dream come true for so many of these Hope Kids.

At the end of the clinic as I was walking to the car with Sophie she says, “Mom do you think I could be a Suns Dancer when I grow up?” I begrudgingly said, “sure you can Honey but it is really hard because so many girls want to do it.” She then proceeded to say, “Well their outfits are pretty immodest so I’d have to keep my coat on the whole time if I did it!” I laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and told her that she was very right and that I was proud of her for realizing that she wouldn’t want to wear an outfit like that! Oh Sweet Sophie Bear, nothing gets past you does it!!!

Wow I can’t believe that our sweet little Sophie Bear is 5! Where does the time go? Sophie had a wonderful birthday today, and loved being the center of attention ALL day long! When she woke up and went downstairs this morning I could hear her from my bedroom and she called up to Reece and said, “Reece you GOTTA come downstairs and SEE THIS! I had put her presents on the table with a bouquet of flowers in the middle and a birthday sign with ballons all over the table. Apparently she loved it, so I was a happy Mom! She got a Go-Go dog from her sisters and a hippo webkin and the of course some clothes (cuz i’m her Mom) from Kyle and I. She was so cute opening her presents and loved everything! I love this age when they get so excited for ANYTHING that is wrapped up, her facial expressions were priceless, man do I ever love this little girl!

For the rest of the morning she played with her favorite cousin Macie, and then once Kyle got home from work, I took her to get her first pedicure and manicure! It was so cute seeing her on the big massage chair. Our girls usually look huge because they are huge compared to other kids their size, so seeing her look so small was hilarious! I don’t think she stopped smiling the whole time, she was in nail heaven! I had to laugh though because every time the Asian lady doing her nails asked her a question, all she would do was nod her head with a very confused look on her face. The language barrier was very apparent and very humorous! Then we came home and had Sophie’s favorite dinner….Pizza! We then headed into Phoenix for a live theater production of Charlotte’s Webb. It was put on by the Phoenix Youth Theater and it was super cute and very well done. The girls all enjoyed it and it was so fun taking them all to a live theater production for the first time.

Ok so it sounds like everything was just blissful on Sophie’s special day, and for the most part it was, but I’d be the biggest liar if I left it at that! So on Saturday night Haiden woke up in the middle of the night barfing and continued to do so throughout the night. I didn’t think too much else of it because she seemed fine on Sunday, but then Monday afternoon Reece came home from school and was a very pale shade of green. She told me that she hadn’t been feeling good at school and within 20 minutes she was barfing her face off. Just what I needed the week of Sophie’s birthday, 2 down, 3 to go! Then later on that evening my stomach was churning and something just wasn’t sitting well with me. Yup you guessed right, another one bites the dust! This flu was a killer! I felt like I’d been hit by a semi truck and let’s just say, nothing I’d eaten in the past day didn’t come back out in some way or another!!! I was SOOO stressed out because Sophie’s party was on Friday and I hadn’t done anything to get ready for it and now I couldn’t even drag my butt out of bed for more than 5 minutes without running to the bathroom!

This was the first time anyone in our house had been sick (other than a cough) since Sophie came home from the hospital, so I was a little freaked out! It had taken 3 out of the 5 of us and I was determined that it wasn’t gonna get anyone else, especially not Sophie! Being the germ natzi that I have turned into, I did my best at quarantining Sophie. She slept in the guest bedroom, sat on her own couch, didn’t hug anyone, no bedtime kisses, had the air purifier within 5 feet of her at all times, had essential oils that kill germs running 24/7, didn’t share anything with anyone and overdosed on Vitamin C! And yes, miracle of all miracles, our birthday girl didn’t get sick!

Kyle was holding out so well, but Thursday night after the birthday festivities were over, he went to bed at the same time as the girls and was barfing by midnight! Awesome I know! Good thing I have the greatest friends ever who all saved my butt. Alicia, Tarah and Stephanie did absolutely EVERYTHING for the party. I texted Alicia from bed on Tuesday in desperation and asked her to help me with the birthday sign. She ended up doing everything AND the birthday sign! Tarah was later enlisted into project “Help the helpless” and then Stephanie jumped onboard as well.  They were amazing! There wasn’t any detail that they left, they did it all and were absolute God sends! I couldn’t have done it without them!

For Sophie’s party we went to her favorite park, Playtopia at Tumbleweed. It is this huge park in Chandler and just like the name, it is playground utopia! The weather was perfect, (thank you Arizona winters) and everything went over seamlessly! All the kids played at the park and the mom’s ate and chatted, just like it should be! The piñata though had to be the highlight of the party! All the kiddos had a blast taking turns whacking it and scrambling for the candy, it was perfect! All the decorations were purple and her birthday sign that Alicia made was purple so Sophie was in Purpleicious heaven! She absolutely loved everything about it!It was a perfect party for our special little girl and she felt very loved! Sophie has so many wonderful friends, well let’s not lie, I have so many wonderful friends, and they all have some pretty stellar children! So what can I say, it was a week full of Barfing, a Birthday and just sheer Bliss!!!!

Well the day finally arrived after weeks of non-stop questions of, “how many more days till Auntie Liz gets here?” We officially have Auntie Liz in our presence and I don’t know who is happier, Sophie and her sisters or me?! Living far away from home and not having a family and cousins other than Joel and Bre here (not downplaying you guys at all because we are so lucky to have you here and love you to pieces) makes visits from family all that much more exciting and highly anticipated when they do occur! Sophie has a soft spot for Auntie Lizzy and I don’t think she has let her out of her sight since she flew in on Tuesday night. Good thing Lizzy was the 10th of 11 kids and loves kids and is so good at playing card games, board games, riding bikes and scooters and frequenting the parks often!! Sophie just can’t comprehend why she doesn’t want to sleep with her in her bed everynight???

Well yesterday we went to the clinic for Sophie’s chemotherapy and let’s just say it was the return of super duper ultra Yucky Thursdays!!! We got there at 8:30am and didn’t get home till 1:30pm! This in theory should have taken 2, max 3 hours. We had to get blood taken and her tests sent to the Phoenix Children’s hospital downtown, but Sophie had a different agenda in mind and it took us 5 SPECIAL hours of non-stop bribery, coercion and hopeless attempts at getting her to co-operate with the nurse and let her access her port, draw her blood, and give her the chemo! Sophie was pulling out all the stops yesterday, she even asked for Dad and Auntie Liz to make things better. I apparently just wasn’t cutting it today! Sweet Sophie has definitely been letting her voice and opinion made known and trying to change that, well let’s just say, it’s not fun! Since we are regulars at the hospital/clinics now, I’ve found that it is a fine art to debate, negotiate, coerce and ultimately convince 4 years olds to do yucky no fun procedures!

As I was driving home, I wanted to just quit with all the treatments because I was exhausted, frustrated, sad and just wanted it to all stop. I’ve been seriously looking into other options to treat cancer and have read some very interesting articles, blogs and websites that I truly believe can cure cancer. I am hoping to try one of these programs once I have all the info that I need. When your child is going though all these treatments, as a parent you look into everything that you can to help them to and hopefully insure a bright and healthy future for them. There is nothing that we won’t do or try to help Sophie be done with cancer and never have it come back, ever again! Chatting with our Doctor about that was interesting to say the least!! The medical world does NOT think that there are any other options and I was basically told that I didn’t have any other options! There just has to be a better way than all the drugs and chemo that she is getting. We have been supplementing her with herbs and homeopathics since she got diagnosed and she has been doing great!

So after having a “not so great day” I’ve realized that it can’t always be good and easy! You have to take the good with the bad and roll with the punches! There was a sweet little 2 year old girl at the clinic today who has had to endure so much. She was diagnose with a rare, deadly cancer called Neuroblastoma. Through all of this, she is so sweet and happy, full of smiles and was walking around handing out stickers to the other patients getting treatments done at the clinic. As she gave some stickers to Sophie, I had to stop for a second and realize how lucky we truly are. There are so many other families going through worse things than we are and I can’t lose sight of that. We truly are so blessed that Sophie has responded so well to all of her treatments and for the most part is enduring this so well. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade, right!!!

So I did have a LONG happy nappy and then got some basketball therapy tonight by going to watch ASU play the Washington Huskies with the whole fam, Auntie Liz, Joel, Sawyer and Macie. It was a fun night, amiss the kids standing up more than they sat down, asking for food since the second we sat down and dropping sandals down the backs of the seats infront of us!  ASU lost, and the game wasn’t nearly as good as the game that Kyle took Reece to but it was still fun to watch with the kids! Kyle swore that this was the last time we bring the kids to live sporting events….I don’t believe it for a second! Here’s to more live sporting events with kids and chaos, and to happy nappies that make us all feel better after a rough day!

Okay, me and Annie are having an argument-ish about how many more days till London’s Run. If you read my earlier post I said that only two more days (three sleeps) until London’s run with the notion that you don’t count Saturday because it’s happening first thing in the morning, so technically you wouldn’t count that as a day. Annie has the asinine logic that the run is in three day and that you should count Saturday as a complete day. Hence three days until the run, Thursday, Friday and Saturday??? I would like to issue a challenge to anyone and everyone to solve this family feud and comment on this post in order to put Annie in her rightful place which would be the wrong chair. Who is up to the challenge???