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.

100th Post - Olivia is 3!

When I started writing this blog, I knew that one day I would get to my 100th post, which would be something extra special. It wasn't planned but timing just meant for this to happen. My 100th post is dedicated to the special day of a special girl. Olivia turned 3!

Olivia was so excited for her day. She started wearing different costumes that she wanted to wear to the hospital. She knew what she wanted and we granted her all her wishes. She stopped by her old school to say hello to her friends. They sang her a happy birthday song which melted mine and the teachers' hearts.

Then off we went to the hospital for her blood counts. She was so proud and happy, telling everyone at the hospital that it's her birthday! She got a hug from her favorite doctor and nurse plus a lot of presents too!

After hospital,  we went to Target and she picked up more presents.  It's not all the time she gets to go to target so I just let her choose what she wanted. It was indeed her special day anyway.

At home, she was greeted by most of our family and we had a mini birthday party for her. She had all that she wished for.. a chocolate cake (specially made for her by our lovely neighbor), balloons (yes that's lots of balloons on her house alright!), time with friends and family, and of course the toy telephone she's been asking for.

Thank you very much for making her feel extra special on her birthday!Today she will begin the next phase of treatment -  Interim maintenance 2. She will get spinal tap and will be sedated for this treatment. This phase lasts for about 8 weeks if all goes on schedule. Her treatment will be dependent on her counts.  Hopefully no delays.

Counts not ready

Olivia's blood counts from yesterday show that she is not ready to resume chemo as scheduled. Her ANC fell below 500 (normal is 1500), so now we wait again. I actually thought she would be ready because she looks great just looking at her. She's been very playful and her counts last week were really good. I guess you can never tell how her blood counts will fluctuate.

Somehow I think it's a good thing..at least she would be off chemo for another week maybe. Perfect timing for her birthday this week!

Enjoying chemo break

This morning we took Olivia to Target. It's her first time going ever since she got sick 6 months ago! We made sure to go early in the morning when there's not a lot of people yet. She had so much fun!

She is due to come back on Monday for her blood counts and chemo resumes on Tuesday. She will be getting a spinal tap for the first day of her next phase.

For now, we are enjoying every moment while she still has the energy!

1/5 of treatment done

When I think about how far we've come and all the pain (emotionally and physically) we have gone through in defeating Olivia's illness, it makes me feel like it was the toughest and longest 6 months of our lives. Ironically though, it can't believe 6 months is over, like it was just yesterday when we found out she was sick. Throughout the first 6 months, Olivia was hospitalized 5 times, had a few bone marrow aspiration, numerous spinal taps, regular chemotherapy, had gone through all the discomforts of chemo and had lost her hair. It may be summed up in 1 line, but going through the journey was something more. A lot of learning and through all of it, we come out stronger everyday. We are definitely stronger than cancer. Olivia is our champion!

When Olivia was diagnosed, the doctors told us that she will be going through treatment for 2 1/2 to 3 years. I'm hoping for the 2 1/2 years instead of 3 but I would go for whatever will make sure her cancer doesn't come back.

The picture below was taken exactly a year ago today when we had an early celebration of Olivia's birthday. She is so excited this year for her birthday to come. Our family calendar has this month dedicated to her with all of her pictures and as soon as we flipped the page, she just jumped up and down showing her excitement!

We'll surely make this another memorable birthday for her again!

Olivia is currently on a 2-week chemo break with regular check up for blood counts. Her recent blood counts showed low hemoglobin count at 7.9. It was not that low to get transfusion though. If it fell at 6 and below, that's when she would need transfusion. Her ANC fell below 500 again and is considered severely neutropenic. She goes back tomorrow for her next blood count. If all is well, her next phase of chemo (Interim Maintenance II) will resume next week.