Christmas Eve Chemo

We spent Christmas eve morning at the hospital. She had a scheduled spinal tap and chemo that day. Same time last year, Olivia was also at the hospital on Christmas Eve. She was confined in the hospital then for about 2 weeks already due to suspected meningitis. It turned out it wasn't meningitis and we were able to go home on Christmas Eve night after a spinal tap procedure. This year though, we decided to bring her brother with us and made it a family affair. We wanted to show Olivia our support and that families should be together on Christmas Eve as well. She was so brave during the procedure! She didn't even cry when her port was being accessed. It was a quick in and out procedure. Here she is waking up after being sedated for the procedure.   

                                  

Beginning this 3rd cycle of maintenance, her dexamethasone dosage increased because of her weight. We can immediately notice the side effects of the increased dosage as she was more cranky than ever. It was like the first month of treatment all over again. Dexa lasts for 5 days but the side effects appear longer than that. It's hard, but I just always remind ourselves that if we are having a hard time, it is harder for Olivia to go through so many emotions because of the steroids. The other day, our 5 year old son was watching one of Olivia's old videos and he said he missed the old Olivia. It has been so hard for him to witness all of Olivia's side effects from chemo. I just make it a point to always explain that Olivia needs our love during these times more than ever and that it will be over soon.

Wish granted

Olivia's wish was finally granted! Through the Make a Wish Foundation, our family was able to spend a week vacation in Florida where we got to visit a lot of theme parks. Olivia had so much fun! She had the best time ever. She truly deserved it. It was a great experience and I'm glad organizations like this exist. We saw so many kids' wishes being granted as well and it's just truly amazing for all the kids and their families. I am glad Olivia was healthy the whole trip!

                             

Thankful!

It's been a while since my last post. Today as we celebrate thanksgiving,  we think about many things to be thankful for. We are thankful for the gift of life, family and friends. Most especially for Olivia's healing. This week, Olivia will be on her 1st year of remission. Definitely something to celebrate for. God is good!

Olivia is doing well, although she has been experiencing discomfort in her legs again. The other day she was even limping while walking. Tomorrow is chemo day so we will definitely ask about her legs again.

Wishing everyone a happy thanksgiving!

Chemo day and trick-or-treating

We started the Halloween eve with trick or treating around the hospital. There were a lot of kids who joined the event,  in-patient,  out-patient and other patients just visiting for the Halloween.  Good thing Olivia had scheduled chemo so it was hitting two birds with one stone!  All the kids had fun!  We went around the entire hospital and got a lot of goodies! When we got to the pediatric ward where Olivia stays when admitted, It made me sad seeing all the patients that had to be there. One of them was Olivia's friend who usually would be in the hospital too everytime Olivia had to be admitted. It reminded me of the days when we spent most of our time in the hospital and how I wished we were home for events like this. On the other hand,  it made me smile that all the hospital staff from doctors, to nurses,  child life specialists and volunteers did their best to make the kids happy on halloween!

                    

                    

When it was chemo time,  Olivia held on to her Reese's chocolate with her candy bag on her side while getting her port accessed. She cried a little but was happy again as soon as she ate her Reese's!

After the hospital,  we visited her old school to see all her friends in costume!  It made her happy to see them and her teachers again!

Today on halloween,  she gets to pick a different outfit for more trick-or-treating fun! Happy Halloween!

1 year down; 1 1/2 years of treatment to go!

Today marks the first year since Olivia's diagnosis. I still can't believe it's been a year! Leading up to this day, my husband and I had nightmares about Olivia's condition and we think that it's because of all the anxiety remembering what we went through last year at this time. It traumatized us, but looking back we know that God had been preparing all of us for this for a long time in so many ways.

Olivia is doing great and she is scheduled for her chemo this Friday. There's trick or treating at the hospital that she might join when she's done with chemo. Last year she missed all that because of her surgery and she basically just slept all day after surgery on halloween. She didn't even get to wear her halloween costume at the hospital.  This year she will have the best time ever!

It was also a nice surprise to get the letter from Make A Wish foundation this week letting Olivia know that her wish is granted! We are so looking forward for this trip. Wishes really do come true!

Fever Update

Happy to report that Olivia is feeling better! Though she still has a slight cold, her fever only lasted for a night. I'm so happy that her body is healthy enough to fight the viral infection!

Today she had the chance to see her regular pediatrician again after a year for her flu shot. She will continue to see her oncologist for other matters as long as she is under chemo treatment. I was actually surprised that she is able to receive flu shot even under chemo. Her oncologist explained that it is the only vaccine she is allowed to take for now. They advised that she will need to take the flu shot 2 weeks before she will start another cycle of dexamethasone.When she's done with treatment (approx. 1 year and 2 more months), she will be evaluated to find out what vaccines she needs to take / re-take.

As we were walking towards the doctor's office, I got so anxious with the thought of getting her exposed to sick kids in the doctor's office. Good thing there was probably only 1 or 2 other kids in the waiting room. We had the "well kids" room all to ourselves =). One happy germaphobe mama!

First fever since April'15

It's been 5 months since Olivia's last fever. Today Olivia developed a fever of 101.1. We notified her doctor right away. If in the past we have to rush her to the hospital, this time because she is in maintenance, and her most recent blood counts were good, we were allowed to give her Tylenol and monitor her symptoms at home. I have a strong feeling this is just a viral infection.

I'm praying the fever goes away quickly and no bacterial infection develops. Other than that, we are looking forward for Halloween! Last year Olivia missed out on a lot of fun because she was already feeling sick then and we just didn't have a clue on what's going on with her. She also had surgery during Halloween last year for her port.

Maintenance cycle 2 begins

Olivia's procedure from Friday last week wasn't so bad at all. She didn't even cry when her port was accessed! Still, she was anxious and complaining she was really hungry. She couldn't eat until after her spinal tap was done. Eventually she got tired and fell asleep even before she was given anesthesia. That's why the anesthesiologist didn't give her too much of the "white medicine". She was sleeping more than an hour after the procedure and if the nurse had not tried to wake her up, she probably would be sleeping longer! She woke up in a good mood too. The anesthesia must have worn off completely already at that time. 

Here she is enjoying her pretzels after her procedure.

This time last year, she had the first symptoms of leukemia. It was when her fever started. 2 days before the fever, she wasn't herself at school. The teacher told us that she would wake up screaming and crying. 

This video was taken the night before the fever started.

https://youtu.be/jPywGZeem7g

A couple days later, she began to look pale.

I can't believe it's been that long already! Though it has been tough, it has also been a very humbling experience. Everyday we consider ourselves, especially Olivia, blessed. There is so much to be thankful for. A lot of other people has it worse than this, and they are in our prayers everyday. We always try to look at the good things in every situation. That's what got us here. 

1st cycle of maintenance complete

This week marks the end of Olivia's first cycle of maintenance.  1 cycle is 3 months and there are 12 cycles overall in maintenance phase. 33 months remaining! Sounds like a long time, but I know it will go by fast.

This friday will be the day 1 of cycle 2. Every cycle will begin with a spinal tap, intrathecal chemo (through her spine) and IV chemo. She will be sedated for this procedure.  I remember when she used to do spinal taps weekly like it was just part of our normal routine. Now I get a bit nervous about it but will stay positive for Olivia. The secret to a lot of these situations is to make her feel that it's not a big deal and definitely to show bravery so she will be brave too.

It is still important to have regular spinal taps during maintenance to make sure they don't see leukemia cells in her spinal fluid. At diagnosis, no leukemia cells were found in Olivia's spinal fluid, but there's a possibility that it can show up if she relapses. And that's why she gets regular chemo in her spine even though there's no 'monster' in there. We learned from her doctor that many years ago when survival rate was not as good as where we are now, that they didn't follow the same protocol as far as administering chemo through the spine for this long period of time. That's why a lot of patients relapsed. The 'monster' was actually hiding.

Olivia usually gets groggy and tired for the rest of the day after a spinal tap procedure. Hoping and praying this will not be that bad.

Here she is having fun with her long hair. I bought this wig for her back when her hair started to fall off. I admit that it was more like something to comfort me from my fears. Fears that I thought were part of her fears as well. Olivia didn't really care so much back then about her hair. In a way she taught me how to not sweat about the small stuff. We definitely have learned a lot from each other this past year!

No more dental procedure (for now)

The other day, Olivia visited another dentist for a 3rd opinion regarding her cavities. This time we went to the dentist referred to us by her oncologist. We were ready to do the procedure with sedation,  but upon discussing with her Olivia's case, she said that it's not worth fixing the cavities right now. Yeah!!! We just have to be really careful in taking care of her teeth in order to prevent further decay or worse, infection. I'm relieved that Olivia doesn't need to go through with the procedure for now, which means no additional sedation drugs on her body and one less traumatic experience. We just have to get her examined again after 6 months.

Here's Olivia enjoying her stroll after the dentist appointment.  Her hair is getting so thick now!!!

Her last blood counts showed low ANC at 750 (neutropenic again; normal is 1,500). I have been recording her blood counts and I do see a pattern now on when her counts usually go down. It helps to monitor her pattern so we could at least know ahead of time if we should take extra precautions when going out.

September is childhood cancer awareness month

September will now always have a deeper meaning in our family because it is the month of childhood cancer awareness. Before Olivia got diagnosed, I had very little knowledge on childhood cancer. As time passed by, we slowly learned about the disease and one that's very eye opening is the statistics. According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, 1 in 285 children in the U.S. will be diagnosed with cancer. Every 3 minutes, someone, somewhere in the world will find out their child has cancer. It is devastating to hear those words. We've been there. But eventually you try to move on, survive and hopefully inspire other patients and families to have courage and keep going. Survival rates for many types of cancer have improved through the years but not everyone has the same fate. People who survive may suffer other life long threatening diseases, including secondary cancers. I remember during the first few days in the hospital with Olivia, I couldn't sleep at night. I kept waking up crying with the thought of falling under the 15% that do not survive. It was like nightmares every few minutes. It was very difficult then, and even 11 months later, it still gets hard at times. Our family and friends' love and support kept us going. And for this, we try to give back to others every chance we can. I continue to hope and pray for 100% survival rate. 

We do hope that this blog can continue to inspire others, and serve as awareness on a family's life with childhood cancer. I salute those who have fought hard and are continuing to fight this battle. And to our supporters, THANK YOU from the bottom of hearts.

Managing mood swings

Olivia is currently on dexamethasone,  the steroid that causes mood swings and increase in appetite. She takes it twice a day during the first 5 days of every month as part of her maintenance protocol. The side effects of it lasts longer though. Just imagine a kid who is always cranky and hungry for half of the month. She is really happy one moment and then cries inconsolable the next minute. She gets very sentimental with the little things. We've seen it the worst during her 1st month of treatment so what we see now is nothing compared to how she was. My husband and I have learned how to manage the situation the best way we could. I can see through her and know that deep down inside is this sweet and cheerful little girl who is just sick and tired of all the medication and needle poking. It is not her fault that she is in this. We just try to make her feel that we are all in this together.

If there was someone other than Olivia that I admire the most during this most difficult time is our 5 year old son, who through it all has always tried to understand what we are going through. He mostly takes the brunt of Olivia's "episodes" and it's hard for him to understand why Olivia reacts in certain ways. He's starting to ask many questions about Olivia and it breaks my heart whenever he cries and asks how she got sick and when she will end her medications. I've been explaining to him that just before he turns 7, Olivia should be off meds and will be better, God willing. It makes him sad that on his 6th birthday Olivia will still be on chemo. He said that he just wants it to be Christmas so it will be that 1 day Olivia will just be happy. I think that's why he has started to play a lot of Christmas songs lately. Good thing Olivia is not scheduled for dexamethasone during Christmas! 

I really do hope and pray that things will get better during the dexamethasone period and that Olivia can learn to take control of her emotions. As with everything else, we know that this too shall pass.

Chemo day

Yesterday was chemo day. Because Olivia only gets IV chemo every 4 weeks now vs weekly (at times daily) in the past, she tends to get more nervous about getting poked with a needle on her port. Good thing her nurse is really good accessing her port. We've had some really bad experiences before when we have to go to the ER because the nurses there don't really access children's ports all the time and not very experienced with it.

Her blood counts have improved too. Her hemoglobin count is at the highest I've ever seen at 11.5 (normal is 12-14). Her ANC has gotten back to 2,000+ mark. Everything is looking good for her.

Her hair is getting thicker and soon she will be able to wear a clip again. The other day she wanted a haircut so I gave her a trim. She complained afterwards that there's still hair left on her head! She actually got used to not having hair!

I also talked to her doctor about her cavity problem. He preferred that the procedure be done at their hospital rather than the dental office or a different hospital. Her procedure will require sedation, same way she gets sedated for chemo. It actually makes me more comfortable doing it at the same hospital Olivia goes for chemo treatments. At least we already know the anesthesiologist and they know Olivia's case more than anyone.

Low blood counts

We were told in the beginning of Maintenance that Olivia will be monitored closely for the first three months of this phase because this is the time when blood counts usually drop. We have been going every other week for her blood tests.

About a month and a half into maintenance, Olivia's blood counts have started to plummet again. Her hemoglobin is good and has constantly been around 10 grams per deciliter (normal is 12-14). It's her ANC that dropped significantly. From being 2,200+ for the longest time, her ANC has dropped to 736 (normal is 1,500). In the earlier stages of Olivia's treatment, this level of ANC would have been a reason to delay chemo until her ANC goes back up. But now that we are in maintenance phase, the minimum ANC to continue chemo is 500. And so her oral chemo meds at home will still continue. Since her ANC is really low, we just have to watch out for fevers since she's more prone to infection right now.

Here are some of her pictures from today's hospital visit.

I can't believe how much she has grown!

Brave girl getting finger pricked for blood test

Here she is after blood counts, exploring the doctor's office and his microscopes!

First vacation

This weekend was the first night we spent away from home in a long time! We had an overnight vacation to relax and have fun with the family.  Olivia had  quick hospital visit in the morning for chemo. A few hours later,  the nurse called and told us Olivia's blood counts were good and that she's free to go anywhere she wants!  9 months ago, I didn't think that we'll be able to spend family vacations this soon!  God is good all the time.

Olivia had so much fun! There were times that she asks to go home but we just try entertain her. It's understandable that she just misses the comforts of her own home and also because she hasn't gone away from home in a long time other than the hospital. She had a lot of energy and we're just happy to see her happy.

                                 

These are Olivia's daily chemo meds that we have to bring with us on trips. We're 1 month into the maintenance phase and we have established a pretty good routine from timing the meds and the actual preparation of it. She is on dexamethasone again for the next 5 days and so we expect her to be always hungry and cranky. Patience and understanding is key.

IPad Pizza Party

Earlier this week, Olivia got invited to an iPad pizza party sponsored by the Children's Leukemia Foundation and UPS. It was a fun day and she even got dolled up for this event! It's so nice to see so many volunteers spending time with these kids, making them happy and feel special. Each one of them received a new ipad! Thank you to the CLF foundation, UPS and their supporters! We feel blessed. 

On a sad note,  we saw someone at the party who has a close connection to Olivia. We just found out from the family that their kid was recently diagnosed too. It brought back memories of our toughest times and it makes me feel sad hearing of another family experiencing this difficult trial. Statistics say that 1 in 300 kids will be diagnosed with leukemia. The good thing is that survival rates in this day and age has increased dramatically. We are one in this fight! To the family we met, we hope that you are finding strength, patience and courage to keep going. We will beat this.

Trip to the dentist

As soon as we started maintenance phase, we asked the doctor if Olivia can see the dentist again. She has the clearance to do so and today was her 3rd visit since birth. Her first couple visits prior to diagnosis were good and she had no cavities at all. In today's visit, we found out that she has a couple of cavities. It is most likely because of her diet.

I somehow feel guilty  allowing her to eat a lot of sweets that could cause cavity, but it's just hard to say no to her especially if that's all she wants to eat. That's one of the things that's hard with chemo. Their taste buds are so different and there's specific types of food they only want to eat. Drinking a lot of chocolate Pediasure in the middle of the night doesn't help either.

That being said, she will need to get evaluated if we need to fix her cavities. She will have to go through sedation for the procedure. The risk of not fixing it could cause the cavity to reach the nerves, which can lead to an infection. That is the last thing we want to happen. Because she is still in chemo treatment, wherein chemo lowers her blood counts, there's a risk of bleeding too if her platelets are too low. And of course in any dental procedure, theres always a risk of getting an infection. At this point, she will need to be evaluated by another dentist we were referred to and we would need to discuss with her oncologist if it is even worth fixing the cavity now or wait till she is done with treatment.

Olivia's last checkup was Friday last week. Her blood counts were good and she has been in good health. There are days when she would look pale, but as long as her counts are good, we try not to worry too much.

1st week of Maintenance

What I've heard about the maintenance phase was that there will be more structure in our lives than it has been in the past 9 months. The paranoia will still be there at least in the beginning, afraid that our child will get easily exposed to viruses and could cause problems in her current condition. Although Olivia can resume doing a lot of her normal activities, I could see that it might not be as quick of a transition one would like to think. I think it's perfectly normal though and I think Olivia will get back at it in her own time.

Olivia taking short naps in the car while we're out

1st week into maintenance and I can visualize more now what it would be like for the next year and a half. Every month, Olivia will be taking dexamethasone for 5 days, the steroid that causes mood swings and increased appetite. She just finished her 5 day meds and the mood swings have started, as well as her appetite! She has been having issues with her legs and stomach again but massages make her feel better. She still gets tired very quickly and we find it a little bit hard to take her out to family events because she would most of the time ask to go back to the car and sleep. We understand her limitations and so we definitely select events that she goes to.

Part of her daily meds require her to fast and that's been challenging too because of the increased appetite. Somehow I like the increased appetite because it gives her a little boost, which is helpful when she goes through periods of not wanting to eat. I just don't like the fasting part. We have had this regimen before but it only lasted for a few days/weeks at a time. This time in maintenance,  she would need to follow this schedule everyday.

I feel bad not giving her food when she asks but I just try to explain to her that the medicine won't work if she eats right away. I try to think about how to handle giving her meds when we're not at home as it requires a lot of prepping. I'm sure we'll get used to it at some point, and get better at the routine as we go along.

Other than that, Olivia is doing well and has been spending quick trips to the beach which she enjoys very much.

Maintenance Phase begins

Today we are officially in maintenance phase! Her spinal tap procedure went well and quick today. Like antibiotics, we are just continuing her chemo treatments to make sure the cancer doesn't come back. She has been in remission since December 2014 and we want to make sure she achieves complete remission.

From now until the next year and a half, Olivia will follow the 'ARM B' path based on the randomization results yesterday. This means she will be getting IV chemo every 4 weeks, with continous oral medications at home. In terms of frequency of chemo, it is the same as the 'ARM A', or the standard path, if we hadn't signed up for the study. The dosage of chemo however is increased. The doctor was explaining that there used to be 12 arms/paths before and now has been decreased to 4. Even the time span of treatment has significantly decreased from where it has been. It is through all the data from other kids that lead to this. And now we feel proud to be part of this worldwide study that one day could lead to a better cure for cancer. None of the medication are clinical trials. All meds are the same as what she has been taking. The clinical study really is just about the frequency and dosage.

For the first cycle (every cycle in maintenance is 3 months), Olivia is scheduled for more frequent check ups as her blood counts are expected to come down again.

Getting ready for randomization

We have been getting anxious for tomorrow to come when we will find out Olivia's chemo schedule for maintenance phase. Olivia is part of a clinical study wherein her lab samples and results are used in a study that hopefully will eventually find a cure to childhood cancer. Part of this study is a process called randomization which results to 4 different paths of treatment during maintenance phase. This will determine how often Olivia will be getting IV chemo (and what dosage) throughout the balance of her 2 1/2-3 year course treatment.  Same as many families out there who went through/are going through this similar situation,  we were hesitant at first in signing up for the study and at the back of our minds,  we just want the standard route. But we realize that we probably wouldn't be where we are now if it weren't for other kids who participated in this study many many years ago. The survival rate of leukemia patients have definitely increased over the last decade. The doctors have reassured us that all paths have shown positive results throughout the years. And if there were any signs that 1 path is worse than all others,  they would have immediately put a stop to it. We trust our doctors and most especially our God who is in charge of it all. We know that whatever path we get is what is best for Olivia towards a complete remission. At the same time, this is one way of giving back for all the blessings that have come our way. We are one with everyone else wanting to put a stop to childhood cancer.

Olivia will have blood tests tomorrow and if she is ready,  maintenance phase officially starts on friday.  She will be getting spinal tap and a few chemo and she will be sedated for this procedure.

Happy celebration

We celebrated yesterday by eating out with family and going to the chapel to give praise and thanks to God. It was the very same church I first went after Olivia's diagnosis. I still remember how I couldn't help myself from crying during mass. I kept thinking to myself how we'll survive this. Now here we are and I realize how much strength we have and sometimes I still couldn't believe we went through what we have. We feel very blessed and there's so much to be thankful for.

Within the last few days, Olivia has been complaining about stomach and leg pains again. These are her usual side effects from chemo. I would massage her and then she'd be fine. I know she's such a strong girl. She knows it will pass. She really amazes me in so many ways.

Olivia will be on a chemo break for a couple weeks before maintenance phase officially starts. It will begin with a spinal tap chemo and she will be sedated for that procedure.

Last chemo before maintenance!

And just like that, after 8 months of intense chemo,  we are on our last one and we're headed to maintenance!

Olivia is truly a fighter! Thank you for your  continued support and prayers for a complete remission!

Almost there!

One more chemo session and then we're headed to maintenance! Yeah! In the beginning of her current phase, I mentioned that she will be getting Vincristine again, the chemo medication that causes her difficulty in walking and foot drop. We usually notice it after a few doses and it has already begun. She doesn't complain too much about it though. She would trip at times and would walk awkwardly. I am going to get the physical therapist examine her again and see if she needs to go back to physical therapy. Other than that, Olivia is doing great. She doesn't eat much but she gets motivated to eat when there's other family and friends around. Thank goodness for pediasure, sometimes that's all she takes when she doesn't like to eat anything.

Here's Olivia making a difficult decision on which hat to wear for the day!

Olivia's next chemo is scheduled for this Thursday.

Enjoying the beach

Today was beach day for Olivia! The first of many for this summer. We left the house really early in order to avoid the beach crowd and too much heat. It turned out to be a great day. She had so much fun catching the waves and playing in the sand! We have so many pictures just the two of us and this one adds on to my top picks. I think with all the obstacles we've been through, I know together we can get over these 'waves' that can come our way. My cousin Arlene once reminded us to be brave and not pray for the hard thing to go away. We prayed for bravery to come and it is definitely BIGGER than the hard thing.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day for Olivia as she will be receiving a few chemo. She will be sedated for this procedure. Thanks all for your continued prayers.

My little caterpillar

Today Olivia asked me to use a pony tail on her hair. I told her that she doesn't have a lot of hair yet but that it's starting to grow again. She said nothing is happening to her hair but after explaining to her a few times, she understood it. She eventually got excited about her hair growing back.

This is her today, very fond of crawling like a caterpillar.  It made me think that even though she has gone through a lot as a toddler,  she is still like a caterpillar, waiting to get out of her cocoon and explore all the wonderful things in store for her. One day she will grow up and look back at this blog and see how brave and strong she was. She might not remember all of what she has gone through, but her courage and strength will always remain as an inspiration for all of us.

P.S. Yes, she is still wearing the same princess dress from yesterday even after bath. She really loves it so I just let her wear it.  She is a little bit sensitive nowadays and so I try to pick my battles :)

Doing great!

It has been a while since my last post. Everything is going well and we have slowly started to enjoy our weekends out with Olivia. I took her to her old swim school to watch her brother's practice and she enjoyed being there even if she was just watching.  She remembered the place and it seems like she wants to go back swimming again. I couldn't help but reminisce on the last day she was able to swim in class about 7 months ago.  She was still able to enjoy swimming 3 days before her diagnosis.

 

Her last chemo was on friday last week. She did a great job sitting by herself while getting a finger prick and getting her port accessed. And because she was feeling great, we were able to bring her swimming at a friends house the following day (with doctors permission). As long as she is still undergoing treatments, she will remain immuno-compromised, which means we still need to be careful with exposing her to potential viruses.  Private family pools are better for now.  Hopefully soon she can attend swim classes again.

                                       

Olivia has 2 more chemo sessions and then we're off to maintenance!  We are looking forward to our family vacation as part of her wish from Make a Wish foundation.  Here is our princess with her favorite princess dress,  ready to go to the happiest place on earth!

Her hair has started to grow back recently and it's growing fast! I learned though,  that even in maintenance,  some people lose some hair again depending on their chemo but it will grow back quickly. I'm excited to see her with a nice pixie do!

She is scheduled for blood counts this Friday,  and if she's ready,  she will be getting chemo on her spine and port on Monday.  It will be a sedation procedure.

Chemo day

Today was chemo day and it was much faster than expected. I'm glad her blood counts have been good lately. This only means more time to spend outdoors this week!

Olivia gets excited to go to the hospital nowadays.  Probably because lolo (grandpa) has been taking her more lately.

Olivia also got a belated birthday surprise today and it's just perfect for her! It's a personalized M&M's with her name and picture on it. (Take a closer look!)

Since she turned 3, the dosage for one of her meds, Vincristine, was increased. She will be taking it with other chemo for the next month and a half.  Hopefully it wouldn't cause too much discomfort on her legs again.

My beautiful date

Olivia is about to start her 8th month of treatment and she is doing really well. She has been sleeping a lot during the day, probably about 5 hours combining her morning and afternoon naps. She sleeps through the night too. She gets tired a lot. But when she's awake we make the most out of her energetic hours. 

Last night, while the boys were out to attend a party, I took Olivia out on a date after she woke up from a 4 hour nap. First stop was at a pharmacy to pick up some stuff for the house. Olivia used to love going to the grocery store and you can see how she missed going grocery shopping. I figured it's better to take her to the pharmacy where there's less people than the grocery store She picked up the 1 thing she needed - M&M's! To the cashier that complimented Olivia's hat and outfit, thank you for making her feel so special. Olivia was so thankful that I took her out. 

Here's Olivia a couple of months before she turned 2 years old doing some grocery shopping.

The night didn't end there. Next stop was at a book store and she picked up a couple of new books. I was so happy to see her getting excited with her surroundings and even riding the escalator. She obviously hasn't gone on one in a while.

Afterwards we picked up food for take out. I would have had dinner at the restaurant with her but I just didn't want to risk her being around a lot of people.

It was a really wonderful night with this little princess. She was so thankful and told me that I was beautiful. My heart just melted. She couldn't wait to go home and tell dad all about our date.  I love you my beautiful Olivia!

Team Olivia the Fighter!

Tonight, a lot of Olivia's supporters will be joining a fun run to support a good cause. The run is benefiting the cancer center Olivia goes to. This one is for you our sweet Olivia!

When people ask me how she is doing now, I've been telling everyone that things will start to get more manageable from now on. The worst part is over and now we're looking forward to the maintenance phase where a lot of things can start to go back to normal. We still ask for continued prayers for a complete remission. Since Olivia's last chemo, she has been getting tired a lot and getting a lot of long naps during the day. Nothing to worry as it's expected for her to get tired often because of chemo. Olivia's next chemo is scheduled for next Tuesday.