Presents :)

Last month I got a phone call from Huntsman. They wanted to know our families hobbies and favorite colors, our favorite shopping place, favorite places to eat...etc.. I told them but I didn't put any thought into it. At the end of the conversation, I asked him" if he really wanted to know these questions or if they were just random questions for something." He said they really wanted to know! So yesterday Fedex delivered 3 HUGE boxes... Guess what was inside of them??? PRESENTS and more PRESENTS!! There is about 6 presents for each of us! Our hearts are so full!! That was so thoughtful of them and we are so thankful! I can't believe Huntsman did Christmas for us!! We have no clue what's inside the gifts but we are excited! We are forever grateful for Huntsman! They are so great to Paige!

Scans!

Scans are scheduled for January 4th! IF they are good scans, the port will come out! Hopefully they will be! I am glad she will have some time off and that we will all be able to enjoy Christmas together! The kids are all so excited for Christmas. Ever since Santa came to our house, whenever Paige sees a Santa on TV she loves it!! She starts freaking out, it's so cute!!

I took Carson to the eye dr today and he needs glasses. He only needs them for school. He doesn't have to wear them to play in or for any sports, so that's not too bad! I still feel bad for him though...

Santa

Santa came to our house this year, instead of us going to the mall. The kids loved it!! It was awesome! I wasn't sure if Paige would cry or be scared of him but she was excited! She kept smiling and nodding her head, it was so cute!


On Sunday Paige's cousins came over and Paige got to hold the baby, (Afton)! She loved it and she keeps playing with her dolls and wrapping them in their blankets and packing them every where! It was good for her!

Last chemo!

On December 7th, Paige had her last VAC treatment! WAHOO!! She did well during the chemo, normally we can't get her to quit throwing up during the chemo but this time and last time she did well with the Kytrel. Paige still came home on I.V. fluids, so she was accessed and she tried flushing her own line!!! I had to distract her with whatever I could. So we accessed DORA, LOL, Hey it worked!! She also got to ring the bell because it was her last one.
We will do more scans the beginning of January to see what the tumor is doing. If there is active cells in the tumor, they will have to biopsy the tumor to see if it is cancer cells or regular old good cells. Hopefully the tumor is just totally dead with NO cells!

Catch up!

The week of Paige's scans was a crazy busy week! We had scans, Carson's endo appointment all in salt Lake. After Paige got her chemo that week she came home on I.V. fluids AND ended up at Portneuf for 5 days. She had a fever and was admitted and her culture grew out so they kept her for an another 48 hours. The culture ended up being contaminated!!! Crazy!

That was a hard recovery for her. It set her back 2 extra weeks. It was her first set back but it was kinda a long set back! As much as I liked the break, I just want to get this chemo done! Her recoveries seem to take longer and longer... Her nausea is terrible and her throwing up too! She is allergic to a couple of antiemetics.. One of them being the steroid, dexamethasone. I really wish this worked for her! This is the steroid I was on when I was pregnant with Sydnee, from week 5 1/2 to week 22! It helps the nauseousness but doesn't help with the puffiness!! Anyways so we are going to try a different one but I am not holding my breath!

The last 3 or 4 times after chemo, she has been coming home on I.V. fluids. She just can't keep anything down and won't eat or drink anything.

She is scheduled to have her teeth capped when they take her port out, sometime in January!! Her last chemo is scheduled for the 7th of December if she recovers on time.

Paige's last scans (Sept. 22, 2011)

Paige's last scan results showed a decrease in the size of her tumor! YAY! It wasn't a huge decrease but it was still smaller than before. Her tumor was measuring 1 inch by 3/4 of an inch, which is still pretty big for her tiny little head! We will re scan her at the end of treatment, which will be in December or January.

10 year anniversary

These are the flowers Brad got me for our 10 year Anniversary. He put them together and everything!! :)

Talent show stuff..

This is what I had to put together for the talent show but there was technical difficulties so it didn't get shown, so I am posting it.

Paige's story/bio..

Paige was born on July 9th, 2008 joining her brother Carson and sister Sydnee. Paige faced a small trial of a lung infection which put her in intensive care for 5 days. She quickly overcame the trial and grew to be a happy and healthy baby.
The end of January 2011 Paige started holding her head and covering her eyes like she was in severe pain and would just scream. She had been to 10 doctor appointments in 2 weeks trying to figure out what was wrong with her. Finally On February 14th 2011, We heard our dreadful news! Paige was diagnosed with a baseball sized tumor near the brain. A few days later we learned it was rhabdomyosarcoma (soft tissue/muscle cancer). We lived in Salt Lake City while She completed 6 weeks of radiation and continues her fight with 42 weeks of chemotherapy. She is now on week 29.
Paiges last scans that were done in June showed that the tumor had shrunk significantly and the radiation and chemo are working. Paiges tumor is inoperable but the radiation she received will make it scar tissue. Once Paige is done getting her chemo treatments she will continue going to Primary childrens every 3 months for the next 2 years for MRI's (to scan the tumor), PET scans (to detect cancer cells) and CT scans(for her lungs). Then every 6 months for the remaining 3 years.

Our family has hated to see Paige go through this terrible illness but Paige is such a little fighter and we know she will pull through this! Paige is the most pleasant little girl, she just lets the doctors and nurses poke at her, with her happy personality she will literally have a smile on her face. Paige loves playing nurse with her little babies and her new little kitty. :) One of Paige's favorite things to do before her hair fell out was to twirl it, now she twirls moms hair.
Paige adores her Carson and Sydnee and is always trying to keep up with them

Long week ahead...

Next week is going to be a long week. Carson has his endocrinologist appointment on Tuesday (in salt Lake) and Paige has her scans next week and Chemo!! I am really excited and nervous to see the results of the scans! We will know the next day what the results are!
Paige did not recover as quickly as she normally does after her big chemo. She threw up solid for a week! Not kidding, all day long! She wouldn't even drink her sippy cup. I thought I was going to have to take her to the hospital to get her hydrated. Her diapers were completely dry one morning. I finally got her to drink and she seemed better last Tuesday so we didn't take her in. The oncologist said towards the end of treatment, they don't recover as easily and counts drop lower and lower. Poor little girl. On the bright side of things, we only have 4 VAC treatments left! (those are the ones every 3 weeks in Salt Lake) I am excited about that, we all are!!

I am so thankful for the Cheerleaders and High School kids who did the talent show for all the sick kids in the valley. That was extremely nice of them! It was a good turn out!

Survival rate

A couple of people have asked me Paige's prognosis and survival rate and I don't think that is something I have posted yet. I don't mind people asking me questions at all, I am very open about it. We were told her survival rate is in the mid 70%. I was a little bummed when I heard this, I really wanted it to be high 90's, who wouldn't? They expect Paige to make a full recovery but not without complications. I will take the complications though....Some of her complications will be a secondary cancer, not a guarantee though, no pituitary gland function, which she will get hormone shots for everyday during adolescence and loss of hearing but she seems to hear just fine, Major dental work, which we are already seeing problems with. Where the radiation went in at, it probably got her salivary glands and so she doesn't have spit and it causes severe dry mouth and will decay her teeth. Her back tooth is already falling apart, like it is chipping away. It has to hurt so bad but she can't go to the dentist until she is done with chemo. She is a good little trooper though and I know she will be just fine. I love her and Carson and Syd so much and I am so glad to have them!! I hate that Paige has to go through this!! HATE IT!! She wants earrings in her ears so bad, just a few more months. I just need to get her sticker earrings.

I am so glad I have such good friends!! One of them just helped me redo my blog, I am kinda blog stupid!! Haha. Friends help out so much, emotionally! I am so thankful for them!

First Day of School!!

Today was Carson and Sydnee's first day of school!! Sydnee was a little nervous last night, she was trying so hard not to cry. Carson seemed totally fine, not scared at all. When Brad dropped him off though, he was nervous and SUPER clingy! They had a fun first day and best of all, no homework! Wahoo!!

I was going to take the kids to school today but Sydnee didn't want me to. She said that when she watches me walk away it makes her miss me and that's how her body works and she doesn't know why it does that. Poor girl, they have been through a lot this year.

Dentist!

Carson and Sydnee went to the dentist today and... No cavities!!! They got their picture taken and it gets posted to the wall! :) It was really only by accident that they didn't have cavities, they eat tons of sugar! haha. I thought Carson would be over the scared stage but he wasn't. He was so nervous, he hated the x-ray, hated it! Sydnee did really good, wasn't nervous at all.

Low immune system/school starting

So Paige has almost a 0 immune system! This is the first time she has ever dropped that low! The doctor just said to watch for a fever and if she gets one, we are on our way to the hospital!

Carson has been going to summer school and he has really enjoyed it. I hope he enjoys school a little better! He has always struggled with it. He loves one of his teachers though, Mrs. Harris, he LOVES her. He always talks about her and how nice she is. He totally needs that!

Sydnee loves school, she doesn't struggle at all and all summer long has made herself homework to do. Not sure where she came from!

Paige would be going to pre school this year, she got in at the elementary school but she won't be going. Maybe after the first of the year or something but we will probably wait till next year.

I am really excited for school to start. My kids won't quit fighting! I am a little scared that Paige will catch something from them, but we will deal with that when it comes. My kids need out of this house! :) I need them out too, my house needs a deep cleaning!

Visitors

My sister, Jennifer and her family came to visit this last month. We had a lot of fun with her!! I am glad she came up to visit, although I didn't get a lot of pictures, not sure why. I will have to dig them out later and post them.
While she was here, Paige's red blood dropped and so she had to get a transfusion. They transfuse at 24 and she was at a 20. So she was super anemic!! While we were in the hospital, Jennifer and my mom took my kids and all the cousins swimming at Lava. My kids had a lot of fun on those slides!!
We did a 5k together and we rode Arkansas a couple times together. It was great having her here for a few weeks!

Paige turns 3!!

Paige had her 3rd Birthday! She had a good birthday, she got that little princess power wheels and it was the Smith's family reunion and they did the horse rides that are up in Lava. All my kids loved it! Paige loves the horses she calls them "Hee hee's".