Done with Delayed Intensification

We are officially done with the Delayed Intensification phase. This was supposedly the most intense part of her treatment. I am proud to say that although she had 1 hospitalization throughout this 2-month long phase, she was overall in good shape and happy for the most part. I think taking her outdoors to play helped a lot. It brought out positive energy within her.

Over the weekend, we had visitors from the Make A Wish foundation who asked Olivia what her one special wish is. She was so excited to see them and the thought of going somewhere for a family vacation really got us excited. She deserves this. I am glad to have these kind of foundations around that make kids like Olivia feel like normal kids again.

Olivia also went out to watch her big brother's soccer practice. She had fun at the playground until she got tired and asked to go home. We do notice that she is back to getting tired easily like a flip of a switch. When that happens, we just let her rest and sleep. It's good that she doesn't resist at all. She's the one who will even tell us that she needs to rest. She knows her limits and I am so proud that at a young age, she understands it.

Home now

Olivia got home on Wednesday afternoon after a brief stay at the hospital. Her fever was due to a viral infection. We're happy to be home and that her appetite is slowly coming back!

She went back to the hospital today for her regular chemo and while she has one more dose to go tomorrow, her oral daily chemo at home continues through Monday and then she's done with Delayed Intensification phase.

Here she is with her big brother. They missed each other so much!

Aaaand we're back...

I can't say we weren't warned...the inevitable has happened again. We are back in the hospital because Olivia developed a fever on Monday night. She also started coughing on Sunday morning with a mild temperature at 99.9. At that point I knew it was only a matter of hours or days before we she gets admitted to the hospital again. She didn't seem weak though and she was still able to go in the backyard to play for a little bit per her request. The weather was nice and I wanted her to have fun before she gets back to her "hotel'. Her temperature went down and was fine and active throughout the rest of the weekend. 

When I told her that she had a fever last night, she broke down and cried and kept saying she has a fever and she needs to go to the hospital right away. When I told that story to her doctors, they were amazed and said she's the only kid who wants to go to the hospital. I think she's so mature for her age. At not even 3 years old, she knows to follow doctors directions when she gets examined. She understands that some things just need to get done. Recently I started explaining more things to her too. She has to fast everyday for her oral daily chemo at home and it prevents her from drinking her pediasure, which she loves, whenever she requests. I used to try to get away with it by saying Daddy needs to buy more, etc. That didn't work though so I just explained to her that she cannot drink yet or else the medicine will not work. Then she stopped asking. She understood. Smart girl.

Here she is hanging out with Dad at the ER waiting to get admitted. She had chest x-ray done and results were good. She also tested negative from RSV virus. We got to our room at 2am Tuesday. She was wide awake and so Mom and Dad had "Early" breakfast at 3am with her. 

Now we just wait to see results from her blood culture. She was scheduled to get chemo today and the doctors decided to still push through with chemo. 

Here she is saying thank you to all of her supporters!

Enjoying the simple things

Olivia got through the 1st week of daily intense chemo and she is doing good so far! The first day was a little bit rough, but the rest of the week she was fine. She enjoys having her Lolo and Lola (grandparents) go with her when she gets her treatment.

Twins?!

And here she is goofing around with dad.

She still has a lot of energy and whenever she's up to it, we bring her to the park.

We were told that we would start noticing her getting weak again and blood counts dropping within the next week or so due to all the chemo she's been getting. I've seen it happen before but every time it is different. As I was looking back at her pictures 3 weeks ago, it's unbelievable how her appearance can drastically change when things are not going well. We are now again making the most out of the better days. As far as other side effects, she has developed some rashes outside her mouth but doctors said that if she is not complaining about it and if there's no fever, then there's nothing to worry about. It also looks like she's experiencing foot drop again. Once in a while she complains about her leg and stomach pains, but it doesn't seem like it was as bad as before. Overall I can say that she is doing pretty good.

I don't know exactly what to expect within the next few weeks but we are preparing ourselves for it by making her have all the fun now so that when the bad days come, she can think of it as her happy thought and have something to look forward to as things get better.

Delayed Intensification Phase resumes

After 3 weeks being off chemo, Olivia's counts were good for her to resume chemo again. The day started early for us at 7am, as it was very important for her to be hydrated before and after one of the chemo she took today. She was on IV fluids for about 2 hrs before chemo started and 3 hrs again after. She had a total of 3 chemo's at the hospital,1 through her spine and the other 2 (something new to her) through her port. She will also be taking oral chemo at home (new to her as well) for the next 2 weeks.

Olivia will be going back to the hospital everyday for the rest of the week for more chemo. Because of this, she was sent home with her port still accessed (needle sticking out of her chest) instead of getting poked everyday. We just have to be careful with her and make sure the area doesn't get wet.

Overall, Olivia did great today. The new meds she's taking may have flu-like symptoms as its side effects so we just need to watch out for any fever.

"Everything will be fine!"-Olivia

Today at our bike ride at the park, I was so impressed at how Olivia tried to encourage her brother when he was getting tired. I was about to tell my older son to just get off the bike and walk. But Olivia said to both me and my son to go on and that everything will be fine. Such a positive thinker and always has a strong fighting spirit!

Tomorrow, Olivia goes back to the hospital for her blood counts and if she's ready, chemo resumes on Tuesday. I tried something new today with her food! She loves plain pasta, but this time I boiled it with water, shredded carrots and olive oil. I read that carrots help increase white blood counts. I'm happy to share that she loved it! Hopefully this helps with her counts.

Enjoying the day at the park

The weather was so nice today so we decided to bring the kids biking and spend some time at the park. Olivia had so much fun! Days like these are so precious. It's like our lives are slowly starting to go back to the old normal. Before letting her go in the park, I made a deal with her to make sure she does not put her hands on her face until I get her hands cleaned. She happily obliged and she did pretty good! 

Delayed Chemo again

Olivia's blood counts went down again this week. If last week it was 820 (borderline acceptable to get chemotherapy) this time her ANC is at 273 which is even lower than it was 2 weeks ago. (Normal is 1,500). It's actually the lowest I have ever recorded past Induction Phase. We are again warned that if she gets any fever to make sure she is brought to the hospital right away. Now we just wait for her body to recover and hopefully her counts are ready by next week.

On the positive note, Olivia was able to spend Easter with family and friends. I took her out just for the Easter egg hunt part. Good thing the weather cooperated! She was out having fun for a good hour. I had to bring her home as soon as everyone was going inside the house. Knowing that her blood counts are low, it was safer to stay outdoors. When I explained to her why we had to go home, she did not complain at all. She was genuinely glad she was able to go out and see her friends she hasn't seen in 6 months!

Other things she has been keeping herself busy these days is doing experiments. Although for her, it means just pouring water from the beaker to the test tube over and over again. =) My little scientist!

Just beautiful!

I am loving her new look..it brings out her true beauty! Those eyes and her contagious laugh and smile..just beautiful!

She has been feeling a bit better, but still getting rough moments. She gained weight this week with all the plain spaghetti she's been eating! I learned how to sneak in additional nutrients by boiling her pasta in veggie or chicken broth and sometimes when she feels like it, we add cheese on her pasta. When she's in the mood, she eats it with tamarind soup and spinach.

Hopefully she'll have the energy for easter egg hunting on Sunday!