Alex's Lemonade Stand

This past Saturday September 21st my friend Susie and I, along with the help of family and friends, hosted an Alex's Lemonade Stand. It was a Strawberry Shortcake Lemonade Stand. The day turned out beautiful and people came on by from all over all day. It was extra special to see friends who came from super far. It was touching to hear other people that also had a cancer story and it was comforting to see weren't alone in our journey. The total funds that were raised for childhood cancer research is $463.11 The goal was $100 and we surpassed that!!!  A big big thank you to all my neighbors, friends of both Susie and I, friends of friends, and kind strangers who stopped by and donated all sorts of amounts to research. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to but here are several that were captured.

 Some of the kind people who donated

  

Lemonade. Strawberry Wafers. Strawberry Lemonade

 

  

 

 Some of the signs we had displayed on the street /table

 

 The table goodies. (Cookies were gone)

I will be participating in more fundraisers coming up so be on the lookout for more ways you can help raise funds for Childhood Cancer Research and thank you again to everyone who helped spread the word about this stand!

1 Year down, 1 more to go

A year ago today life as we knew changed forever. Cancer entered our Sophia's life and things got really scary, real fast. I cant believe how fast time has gone and how much our little Sophia has endured. I wish I could go back to myself when she got diagnosed and tell me that everything was going to be all right. I wish i could console myself and tell me not to worry. I remember crying everyday, every morning when they would come poke her, and every evening when she was sleeping. I always had heard of or knew a person that had cancer but never did i ever think it would hit so close to home, my home. The natural thing to do was to ask myself where did it go wrong, how could this have happened, Could I have done anything to have kept cancer from entering her little body, but with praying i quickly answered myself, No, and I may never know. So I continue to trust in our God. Along with the many tears that came this year there were also plenty of smiles, laughs, and silliness going on. Im thankful for the new friendships Ive gained out of this journey and I cant wait to be able to tell Sophia all about it one day. To tell her of all the people that were cheering her on with prayers and well wishes and to tell her of all the other cancer warriors that fought right along side her. She never has once fought alone. I am the proudest mom to one very special little girl. My Sophia is the biggest fighter ever. She is much more stronger then I ever was and She makes cancer look good while kicking its butt at the same time. She is the best big sister one can have, if you don't believe me just ask Sam and he'll tell you! My little Samuel, he is truly heaven sent, one day he will know just how brave his big sis was and he will have a great story to tell people about how big of a fight his sister can handle. I will also tell him how good of a baby he was and how loving he was, especially to his Sophia, as we went through this journey with her. God knew what he was doing when we didn't know. I was 5 months pregnant with Sam when Sophia was diagnosed and i was just beside myself. There I was pregnant trying not to cry in front of Sophia and trying not to cry cause I thought it would hurt Sam but sometimes you just cant keep it in.  I was with Sophia for her procedures, being with her through chemo, and Going through ups and downs when I was supposed to be getting ready for Sams big arrival, but instead I wasn't. How can I have a newborn at home and my other kid really really sick. Both needed my undivided attention. How could life be doing that to me? More importantly her? It just wasn't fair but As soon as he was born things unraveled fast in a good way. I believe he has a part in how hard she fights. After all he's been there from the beginning. When Sophia and I were all alone In her hospital room I often forgot I was pregnant with everything going on but Sam had been there all along too and Maybe just maybe thats why he's such a good baby because somehow he understands. My little Sam brought smiles to Sophia's face when no one else could. He let her cuddle with him and enjoyed it. Thats why I say God knew what He was doing when we didn't and thats why my faith is so strong because I see Gods loving kindness time and time again and I could never pay Him back to the fullest and yet He still Shows his mercies daily to us. I am blessed with some pretty amazing kids. My kids are my world and I am thankful that God allows me to see a hint of how much He loves us through me loving my kids. I could never thank those of you who helped us out enough, emotionally, financially, with things we needed, and just being there with us. We love you guys for that. Its nice to see people coming together for our Sophia. Im also very thankful for my family. Without them things would be harder. Without my parents my hubby and I wouldn't have been able to still go out, when we found time, and just be husband and wife amidst all that was going on. My parents raised Sam while Sophia was hospitalized so with out them things would be a thousand times more difficult. So as I reflect upon all that this past year has brought to our family and to my Sophia I am thankful for it all. The good and the bad. Yes, even the cancer because so much more good came out of it than bad. The Lord gives and He takes away and through it all we still glorify His name. He was with us before this, during, and He will definitely be there after cancer. So no matter what the outcome may be for Sophia's future she will always be a winner because with God there is no losing. This time next year, Lord willing, it'll all be over! I cant wait for Sophia to be a normal kid again. no Cancer, no doctors, no medication, no ER visits, no hospital stays, no more poking, and lastly she will finally be able to go everywhere she couldn't due to low counts. Looking forward to what Sophia's new year has to bring!

Fundraisers

We wanted to take the time to say a big thank you. First we want to thank our friends Sophie, hubby's friend all the way in France, and Elizabeth, my childhood friend, for taking the time to start the fundraisers for our daughter and all that they put into it. We'll never forget this huge gift you gave us and it helped us out more than you could have imagined. Second, we want to thank everyone who was able to donate their time, money, gifts, and well wishes towards our daughter Sophia. It means so much to us that people that knew Israel, myself (Priscilla), and people we don't even know that care about Sophia and what she is going through. It's been a tough road to walk down with our little girl so anything and everything that people gave to us is a huge help and is greatly appreciated. Thanks to these funds we were able to pay off a big portion of her hospital bill as well as be able to take her on an outing that she'll surely love. We also wanted to let you know hows she's been doing for those that don't really follow this blog. Sophia has been doing really really well. She made it into her last phase of treatment which is called maintenance and it will last until August of 2014. This last phase consists of her only having to go to the hospital once a month. She will also be receiving chemo at home once a week as well as be on steroids 5 days out of the month. She is finally back to the silly, cute, and adorable little girl she was before all this happened and then some. We sure have gone through a lot with Sophia the last 8 months and we are finally able to relax a little with fewer hospital visits. Thank You once again to everyone who was able to give out of their own funds. May you all be Blessed!

Below are several pictures of what Sophia has been up to.

Thank You and God Bless!

The Estrada's

Top- With cousin Aly at the Arboretum

Bottom left- With cousin Levi at the Arboretum

Bottom right- An Easter picture

Top left- A bookshelf I made for majority of the books that she got from the hospital

Bottom left- Storage in her room of some of the gifts she's received well at the hospital

Right- A cute pose & feeling good

Top- We got to do a free photo session courtesy of an organization at the hospital

Bottom left- Lunch after the photo session and loving mommy

Bottom right- Sophia & Mommy watching the rain out the front door

Top left- With little brother. Sibling Love and yes my son has the craziest hair ever

Bottom left- Little brother loves to watch Sophia play & she loves to make him laugh

Right- Sophia playing dress up at her cousins house. She loves Rapunzel

A visit to The Aquarium of the Pacific with family

Fun in the Sun!

Without her port she wouldn't be able to do this, due to her picc line,

 without having to wrap up her arm a billion times so it wouldn't get wet

Back to Normal

A short and sweet update:

Sophia made it to Maintenance!!! She barely made but she made it!! The doctor had told me that sometimes kids don't make it to maintenance right away and it could take a couple weeks. I though for sure she wasn't going to make it because she's been a little sick but nope, her little body is fighting and her counts were good enough to start the new and final phase!

Sophia should end treatment sometime in August of 2014 (can't wait) so from now until then her treatment plan is as follows: She'll be going once a month for a doctor's visit where she'll also get a chemo treatment and every month for 5 days she'll be on steroids twice a day. Every Monday I'll be giving her chemo at home in a form of a pill and She also will be taking a med called 6mp every night. Also every 3 months she'll be getting an LP w/chemo. We're finally going to have somewhat of a "normal" life. Normal meaning what it used to be like for us. Life is going to get so much better more awesome from here on out. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Over the weekend we had the opportunity to attend an event called Time to Smile. Time to Smile offers a free photo session for patients and their families. They sent us home with a CD of over 60 pics and two framed pics. What a great weekend and week we are having!

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

Praise Him, all creatures here below

Praise Him, above ye heavenly host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost

Amen.

She was about to take of running here. 

A little something I did for my Ballerina.

Maintenance

This year has been such a roller coaster already for our family,  we have finally been home for about 2 full weeks since this year has started. This year has been full of hospital stays and fevers, oh and in the middle of her hospital stay we moved. Thats a huge accomplishment so far and we are finally ready to rest. I've never been this tired in my life more than now. Our little Sophia is finally back to her silly energetic self. She's walking a whole lot better and even runs again and her hair is growing back nicely . Boy do I hate what this ugly cancer has done to our family. 

Another big thing is Sophia has made it to her last phase of treatment called Maintenance. 

Before I get to what this last phase involves I'll do a little update on how she's been doing. 

Since that last stretch of hospital visits she was admitted again fora couple of days due to an unexplained fever. Since then she has gotten a little sick and also had another fever but her body was able to fight it and we didn't have to take her in. Now that shes done with the heavy duty stuff  her body is a bit stronger and can fight off  infections on its own. She also had several doctor visits where she received chemo and a lumbar puncture. Yesterday she finished the phase she was on which had us going to the hospital every 11 days. This now allows her to move into what's called maintenance. This last phase lasts the longest. She will stay in this phase for the next year in a half to two years, that is Lord willing she doesn't relapse. She will only be going to clinic once a month. Once a month, not weekly, not biweekly, but monthly. Woohoo!!! Finally a little break in her and our life. I have our calendar full of days that are booked with nothing to do but relax. There's also a few surprises coming Sophia's way that she doesn't know about yet that we hope she'll love. I guess one sucky thing is that during this long phase she will still be on chemo but at home and she will go on steroids again. The nice thing about steroids is it makes her eat, so I'm hoping she will pick up her appetite a bit because it's been pretty poor since that last round of steroids. 

This 8 month long  journey with Leukemia hasn't been easy but our God has allowed this time to have gone fast and not allow much room for sadness. Also the power of prayer, good wishes, and support goes a long way. We have so many people fighting with Sophia and we couldn't be more thankful for them. I want to thank my parents (wifey's parents) without them we wouldn't have had the same journey we've been on. They have helped us many and plenty of times taking us to doctors appointments and just being there for us for whatever we need. They have helped so much with taking care of our son. He isn't allowed at the hospital when Sophia is admitted so we have had comfort in knowing he has been well taken care of by them and every time we take Sophia to her appointments they watch him. I'm so thankful that he is only 4 months old and doesn't know or understand what is going on. Gods timing is perfect in our lives and that's why continually trust him every step of the way. He has already laid this path out for us and we know that his ways aren't our ways and so we continue to walk blindly down this road to recovery having faith and knowing he is in total control. Here's to hoping, wishing, and praying that Sophia doesn't have to be admitted ever again and she can continue getting better and put cancer and leukemia behind her.

35 Days

35 days, that’s how many days Sophia was in the Hospital. This is a short version of what has been going on.

Hospital trip #1 (4 days) - It all started the evening of January 11th, 4 days after her 2nd birthday. Our good friend, Jennifer, was visiting us that night and brought over dinner. Besides not wanting to eat Sophia seemed to be fine, she was her shy/silly self. When it was time for her to go to bed we put her down and let her go to sleep. Maybe about an hour after she went to bed I thought I heard her so I went to go check on her, the room was dark but I could smell something awful smelling so I turned the lights on and she had vomited all over her self and her bed. I went to tell hubby and between us and our friend we cleaned her up. The rest of that evening until early morning she kept vomiting about every hour. I had called the HEMOC (Hematology/Oncology) doctor on call and he just said to keep her hydrated and watch her and to call back if she had fever. She never got fever but since she didn't stop vomiting we took her into the ER. She was admitted that day and stayed there for 4 days. They diagnosed her with dehydration so they basically just hydrated her over those 4 days and sent her home. She came home on Tuesday January 15th and she was doing okay the next several days but she wasn't her normal self. 

Hospital trip #2 (20 days) - On Friday January 18th Sophia woke up with a fever. It was high enough to have to take her to the ER. Once there they put her on fluids and pulled blood to run test to see what was wrong. We got a bit worried for Sophia because between Friday the 18th all day and Saturday the 19th most of the day she was just waiting in the ER. Basically she wasn't well enough to go upstairs into a room and she wasn't critical enough to go to the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit) She never ended up having to go to the PICU, thank God. What ended up happening was that Sophia had that stomach virus that was going around on top of an infection in the blood. The infection in the blood was most likely due to her PICC line but it also had several ways it could have enter the blood stream. They pulled out her PICC line and had her on an IV since she had no line in her to administer the treatment. Things got pretty tough for our little Sophia, she was fighting a cough with phlegm that needed to be suctioned out of her throat, she was on several medications through her IV on top of oral meds, and she was being poked daily for blood work. Our poor little girl was turning black, blue, and purple everywhere they either failed and succeeded at getting blood. Then the HEMOC doctor told us that she would need to be treated for 3-6 weeks depending on the results to all the test they did on her. All the test came out great and her blood work was coming out negative for the bacteria that was found. They did find that she had a blood clot that was old so they left it alone and said it would go away on its own. Another thing that happened was Sophia had several bumps on her head and back so the dermatology team came and did a biopsy on one of the bumps on her head. That was an ugly experience, they had to stick a needle in her head to numb the area then take a sample of the bump and then stitch it up. Ugh, it was pretty bad but it turned out to be acne so they left it alone. Since Sophia was getting better they decided that they would send her home but before that she would have to get another line so that I can administer her antibiotics and chemo at home. We were deciding whether to go with another PICC line (an external line) or go with a PORT (an internal line) Loooooong story short is she had to get another PICC line. Sophia was sent home on Wednesday February 6th. She did well over the next several days except for some pain at times in her arm where her PICC line was. Come that Friday the 8th we would have to go back to the hospital yet again.

Hospital trip #3 (11 days) - Once Sophia was home the plan was going to be me having to administer the antibiotics every 6 hours along with her chemo at 9:30pm every night. Come Friday the 8th around 1am I had to give another dose of her antibiotics so I prepared everything since she was sleeping and once I was ready to give her the antibiotics her PICC line didn't want to work. I tried everything I could so I called the HEMOC doctor on call and was advised to skip that treatment and call the clinic when they opened. I did so but before calling I tried again to see if it would flush, it didn't  I called and was advised to bring her in since she was still on treatment she needed to be given her doses she missed since I could no longer do it at home. Once we arrived at clinic the first thing they did was pull out her PICC line (here we go again with line issues) and they put an IV on her to be able to give her the antibiotics. We were told right away that she would have to be admitted yet again, ugh! They admitted her pretty fast and said since the PICC line wasn't working for her they were going to go ahead and put the PORT in that coming Monday the 11th. Monday comes and Sophia goes in to have this procedure done and what was supposed to be about an hour long turned out to be almost 3 ½ hours long. It turns out that the surgeon had problems placing the port and we were told that she literally almost called the whole procedure quits. Normally a person get two incisions made, one on the neck and one on the chest, Sophia got three. She got two incisions on the neck and one on the chest. I hate that it had to happen that way. I was so hesitant of her getting the PORT in the first place because I didn't want Sophia to have any scars but they said it was so small and now she has three cuts which means three scars. I know eventually I’ll get over it but right now I’m still pretty upset by it. They also had to give her a blood transfusion since she lost a lot of blood. I couldn't believe it, everyone told us how easy this procedure was and there could be complications but no one we talked to had ever experienced any issues. A surgery nurse told us that she thinks Sophia holds the record for the most difficult port placement, I asked her if she gets an award for that and she replied with a NO and that she wasn't kidding and I told her either was I. Normally this procedure is an outpatient procedure but not in Sophia’s case. Since she had some trauma during surgery she would have to stay longer so they can observe her. Her whole left shoulder was swollen from them having difficulties inside. She was also having breathing issues and they didn't know why she was breathing so fast. They said she might have had a partially collapsed lung so they were trying to get her to use her lungs by blowing bubbles and even crying would help. Well nothing helped and it was getting annoying because we as parents didn't know what was going on and either did the doctors. Then Sophia ended up getting fevers, they said it was a side effect of the chemo she was receiving, which was a new one, and that also meant we would have to stay there longer. A couple days later the fevers went away and her breathing got better. They said everything was just a result of the trauma she went through during surgery. Finally Sophia was getting sent home on Monday February 18th. We couldn't be happier about this day but both hubby and I both didn't want to be too excited seeing how things turned out before.

Sophia is now acting like none of what she went through ever happened. She is back to her normal silly self. She still does not want to walk due to being in bed for 35 days, her muscles weakened but she is getting around pretty good by scooting and crawling. We’re hoping she’ll be back to walking and running in no time. Being in the hospital that long is really tiring. Tiring mentally, physically, and sometimes spiritually. It also sucked because when we first went into the hospital with Sophia our son was only three weeks old and when we came out he was eight weeks old. Talk about missing out on some special times with him, but he was in good care with my parents and we now get to enjoy him to the fullest. The nice thing about this time around in the hospital is I met several moms that are going through the same thing as us. One day this lady was passing around flyers to all the rooms and I happened to come across one, I almost missed it because she slid them through the door so it was on the floor, but the flyer said something about if we wanted to meet in the evenings to pray and meet other parents going through the same thing because we as parents can’t just depend on the doctors for comfort and healing. We have to pray to a higher power and that power being God. I was so so thankful that God put these ladies in my path. I got to hear stories of other kids journeys and I got to share my frustrations and people actually understood what I was saying because they themselves were going through the same thing. God is slowly putting people in our path (that are going through something similar) so that we aren't alone in this journey. I came across this quote that pretty much sums up how things have been for us since Sophia got diagnosed. I couldn't find it’s author but here it is:

“Childhood cancer is like a never ending roller-coaster ride.

One minute your up, the next second you're down.

It’s full of twists and turns that are unexpected and unforeseen,

and with every drop you find your heart in your throat

anticipating the unknown.

You try to close your eyes but it only gets worse

so you do the only thing you can, hold on for the ride.

Except with this ride, it never ends”

Both hubby and I want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all who have been supporting us through prayer, by bringing us things that we need, by sending special words and thoughts, by sending toys and goodies to Sophia and by supporting us financially. All of it has helped out tremendously. We still have a long time to go before this road to recovery is over but for now it seems as though the storm we were going through has calmed down a bit.

Until next time…

The Long and Winding Road

Living in a world with cancer, from a parents perspective, is pretty brutal. It's like driving down a long, and I mean looooong, and winding road that's never ending and each little curve brings something new, good and bad, to Sophia's road to recovery. It's been 5 months since Sophia was diagnosed with Leukemia and if it weren't for the Grace of God I wouldn't know how we got this far. Growing up I always knew of someone who had cancer so it wasn't anything foreign to me but never did I ever imagine it would hit so close to home; my home. Living this way, this new life with Sophia, isn't anything how I ever imagined it would be (and by imagine I mean thinking of how it was going to be once we were told that's what she had) it not only takes away part of peoples life's but it also destroys them. I never was that type of girl to cry, in fact I hated to cry and be all emotional when it did happen. Maybe that's because I grew up with nothing but boys, aside from friends. Seeing my baby girl go through all this really tugs at my heart and makes me want to cry every time she goes through something horrible. No matter how hard I try to hold it in sometimes it slips out and then the river comes flowing out of me. It's really hard to see your little one go through so much pain and sometimes knowing the pain she is going through is a result of a decision we made. It's even harder to see your little one who is normally a happy, silly, energetic, and talkative little girl be so sad, mad, angry, not talking, and not feeling well little girl. Over the past two weeks I've came in contact with several women (who have gone through something very similar and I am so thankful they've been put in our path) and after talking with them I've been assured that all this that we are going through, in this world with cancer, is normal, all these feelings are normal and it's okay to cry and be angry at times. 

For those of you who don't know, Sophia was admitted into the hospital on January 18 due to a stomach virus on top of a bacteria that they found in her blood. She also recently had chemo and was on steroids so needless to say she was doing really bad. It was really scary at first because the doctors kept wanting to take her to ICU but basically she wasn't that critical to take her there but it was like at any moment. She finally was stable enough to not be sent there but she was still doing pretty bad. For about two weeks all she did was sleep all day, she had a rash, she had fevers, she had a cough, she was vomiting from so much phlegm, she barely had a voice, she stopped walking, and she couldn't even hold herself up . She most likely caught the stomach virus from some stranger in the outside world and since her blood counts were low it really attacked her and the bacteria they found in her blood was most likely from her picc line but it also has several other ways if enter the bloodstream. They did have to take her picc line out so she was getting poked daily to get labs done. My poor little girl was black, blue, and green all over from them poking her everywhere. You know it's really bad when the phlebotomist themselves are praying out loud before they take her blood because every vein is blown and there's nowhere left to poke her so they have to re-poke bruised spots. Torture! Pure torture not only for her but for us as well. Our little Sophia is such a fighter, she never hits or kicks them no matter how bad it hurts and doesn't want it done, she just cries and looks at us like Help Me! Ugh, that's the worst look ever that your kid can give you, the "Help me, why are you letting them do this to me" look. Horrible! Also since Sophia's immune system was super duper low she basically was and is in isolation from the outside world. Visitors were few and all staff needed to gown up and mask on so you can imagine as a kid your sick and probably don't even want to be in the hospital and everyone who is taking care of you, aside from your parents, has to cover up so you cant see anyone's face. Um, Scary! So, she was on daily medications and as of a week ago she was free from the bacteria in her blood but is still on medication. They were going to send us home and set us up with supplies to continue treatment at home (because its a 6 week treatment) but her fevers kept continuing so they kept her admitted longer. They kept running more test and didn't know where it was coming from. I had mentioned to them several times about several bumps on her head and lower back so they had to do a biopsy of one of those bumps and a CT scan of her whole body. They said that sometimes in chemo patients the chemo does weird things to the body and it can cause things to grow where it shouldn't and cause more bacteria there. Can things get any worse? I thought, and I'm sure they could but for now thank God they haven't. The whole biopsy thing was a horrible experience for Sophia and I but it was a must and we should have results within a week. The results from the CT scan came back clear except it was showing something where her picc line used to lay so Sophia needed to have an ultrasound done in that area to get a clearer picture. Maybe all this was causing her fevers they thought so this was a must before getting her port put in. It's a bit confusing and scary when the doctors themselves don't know why things are happening but we kept those prayers going and kept trusting that the Lord would reveal what the problem was. They kept putting of the port placement due to her having a cough and having fevers so Thursday, the 31st, was going to be the day but Thursday came and she got called to the OR cause they were ready for her to put the port and last minute it got canceled. Can you say Amen! We were literally in the room and they were ready to put her out and then Canceled. I was very hesitant of her getting the port in the first place but went along with it because of extra benefits to the picc. It turns out Sophia has a blood clot where the picc line used to lay and also in the area where they would put the port. If they had put the port in it totally could have caused more of an issue and would have had to have it taken out, and each time it's put in or taken out it's surgery to do so. I was so happy. Then they were going to put another picc line in since she was ready and everything but they let me decide to wait or not because next week she is due for more chemo in the spine which means they have to put her out, so instead of them putting her out twice within a week I said if we could just wait. So no picc til Monday and possibly a port in a month or so. Geez, this has been such a roller coaster and we're not even half way through. So due to this blood clot that she has she was going to have to get a shot a day for three months of a blood thinner in her thigh. They did start it Thursday night but by Friday evening they discontinued it, Praise God! The hematologist reviewed it and said that its an old clot and the body will just break it up on its own. I am so thankful for that because I didn't want to have to stab my baby in the leg daily for three months. On top of all this she is also seeing a physical therapist because she hasn't wanted to walk. It's been crazy to see Sophia go from a baby to learning how to walk at 11 months and then stop walking at 19 months and then learning how to walk again at 21 months and then stop walking again at 24 months and now having to relearn to walk yet again. So far she has been able to hold herself up again and just today she said she wanted to walk, so we did just that but we had to hold her but we were glad she wanted to try. Her little miss independent self is coming back. So here we are, possibly the last weekend at the hospital and they've left her alone for a bit and they're just observing her. She is scheduled for a LP w/chemo on Monday and getting another picc line. I should say so far that's the plan because things change pretty fast around here.

Going through all of this with Sophia is a great reminder that not our will but Gods will is being done. It's like my Hubby reminded me that God has always been good to us and that we need to keep trusting that Sophia's road to recovery has been put in place a long time ago and we just have to let Him guide us through this long and winding road.

To A Princess On Her Birthday!

2 years ago today a princess was born, our Princess Sophia! She's 2! The big 2! Two years old! Oh my! I thought it went too fast when she turned one but now it's even faster. 2 years ago today hubby and I didn't know just how much our Sophia would change our lives. She is one of the greatest gifts that we have ever received and we couldn't be prouder of her with all that she's gone and going through.
Here are a few things about our 2 year old:
•she talks so well and does it all day
•she loves singing
•she likes saying Amen after praying
•she loves her cousins, all 7 of them
•she's super silly (like her momma)
•she's a Lakers fan (like her daddy)
•she loves being a little mommy to little brother and her dolls
•she's a little miss independent
•she's a daddy's girl
•she loves her grandma&grandpa
•she loves sleep and we love her for that :)
•her cancer is in remission, Yay!
•she's one of the biggest fighters We know!
I can go on and on because God gave us such a brilliant, precious and beautiful little girl. Happy Happy 2nd Birthday to our princess Sophia, we're sorry you have to go through something so awful especially on your birthday. We love you so so much and We look forward to the big celebration when this is all over but for now let's keep kicking cancer in its behind!

Sophia over the last 2 years...

Delayed Intensification

We've got lots going on so grab a drink, sit, and read. . .

Hello 2013 and goodbye 2012. I must admit I aint gonna miss you, maybe a little but not really. I am very thankful for all the blessings that 2012 brought our family even all the trials we went through, believe it or not. We are looking forward to what this new year has to bring for us, for our little Sophia. We're looking forward to all things new and we pray for Sophia's body to keep healing the way it has and to keep responding to the treatments the way it has. Overall when we look back we really haven't had to many downs to deal with besides the obvious "stab me in the heart and break it into a million pieces" since we found out she had cancer. There are a ton of side effect and she really only got a few. We pray it stays that way or no side effects at all.

12/28/12

This is the first year we didn't plan anything for New Years, no going out or spending it with family, just home...just us...our new family of four! My mom and I spent new years eve, most of the day, at the hospital with Sophia. She started a new phase of treatment called Delayed Intensification, its a 2 month phase; sounds horrible and I'm sure it will be. I'm not too sure why its called that but I can only guess its cause its an intense phase with a few breaks here and there. During this phase she will keep going in for chemo treatments, she will have a few more LP's, she will be on steroids, she will still be on medication at home and she still has her picc line, which is a new little issue on it's own. Before I get into how her day went at her appointment I'll start with us having to go to the hospital on Friday. Sophia has developed a slight rash around her picc line which has caused some slight discomfort, it really itches her, and her dressing started coming off so we had to go in to have it changed. Over the weekend I did my own dressing changes on her and it seems to have gotten better but we still have to keep an eye on it. Ugh! Okay, so yesterday she received 2 chemo's, vincristine and a new one called Doxorubicin, aka the red devil. It was red and scary, for me at least. The nurses said that it can cause her urine to be red so the rest of the day I kept waiting for red urine but it never came. I did read up on it and it says that as long as the patient stays hydrated the urine wont be red and Sophia loves her water and lots of it so I think that's why it never came.

THE RED DEVIL

Her taking this new chemo, along with another one, was also the reason she had to get the EKG done since it's so strong. She also started taking the steroids again so we can expect her appetite to go back up, her rage to go back up, her weight to go back up, her blood count to go down, and her hair to fall out again (it was coming in so nice but with that red devil chemo along with a new one that she's getting Thursday it should fall out again)

NOOOOOOO!

The start to this new year is a little bitter sweet for us. The sweet is because it's a new year with new beginnings and many wonderful things to look forward and just the fact that our daughter still has life. The bitter is for what has happened. Last year we were planning an eventful day in Sophia's life. Her turning 1, her first birthday bash, everything was great and this year we are postponing celebrating her 2nd birthday due to her not doing well; as if she isn't going through enough, she will also have a procedure the day of her birthday. A procedure usually takes her out for the day so she takes more naps and for a longer period and she'll be at the end of her steroid treatment for the week so needless to say she will not be herself. My poor baby, I can't wait to celebrate once she is done with all treatment.

SOPHIA WHEN SHE TURNED 1

The other day Sophia's great grandpa called to see how she was doing and he just reminded me to never take my eyes off of God because He is always there for us and I believe when he said that this year is going to be a beautiful and better year for Sophia. Love my grandpa!

So with all this chemo and meds I expect things to be a little rough around here. Pray for Sophia as she enters into this new phase that will alter her mood and appearance again. Pray for Hubby as he has to be at work all day working hard and can't be here for us until the evenings. Pray for me that God will give me patience and piece during this time caring for Sophia and Samuel's needs during the day and pray for extra strength for us all. Thank You to everyone for their continued support and for all the Love for Sophia in the past year and the years to come!