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.