1 year ago...

Yesterday was the 1 year mark that I started taking Paige to the doctor. I only took her in because I thought she had shoved something up her nose and couldn't breathe... I had no clue it was a HUGE tumor blocking her breathing passage and eating away her bone. Ugh, I HATE thinking of how terrible it was last February and everything our family went through. Not being able to be home with our 2 other kids, not knowing what was going on with Paige. Being visited with doctor after doctor... The radiologists from Hunstman, the Oncologists.. Her ENT doctor... With all that bad came some good... She had AWESOME doctors and a good prognosis. I had some amazing friends and family that seriously got me through this without losing my mind and going crazy. I can not imagine the pain Paige was in and how terrible the chemo had to have been on her, along with getting that radiation. I am glad we are done with that stage of our life and can move on now. We have Disney World to be thinking about!! YAY!! :) Love you Carson, Sydnee and Paige!!

Scans week

On January 3rd Paige had her MRI, on the 4th she had her PET scan and chest ct and on the 5th we met with her oncologist. The nights before her MRI and PET scan was miserable, I got ZERO sleep. She loves to have her sippy cup at nights and since her scans were sedated she couldn't have it ( I DO NOT know how I did this with her for 6 weeks when she was getting her sedated radiation). Anyways, everything went really good and her scans showed that she didn't have any cancer cells in her. Her tumor is still there but it is the size of a marble. We were so excited that she is clear! I can't wait for her hair to grow back and for us to have a "normal" life. Her Doctor said that we need to find our new "normal" whatever that may be. She will get a PET scan and MRI and chest ct every 3 months.

After we got the exciting news, we decided to stop at temple square. It was the perfect day to see Jesus! Brad and I were both pretty emotional as our hearts were so full! We knew that it was through the power of prayer and priesthood blessings that helped Paige get through this rough road. I remember thinking in the beginning, "I just want Paige to get through the radiation!" She got through that so good! Most kids have to have a feeding tube when they are getting radiation in the head area and she didn't. Her doctor said that when they start off with radiation so early into the chemo, they usually struggle through the rest of the chemo with super low counts, fevers, etc... She proved that wrong. I am so glad we were blessed with her oncologist and with her radiologist. They are the BEST!

When we got back from salt Lake, all my wonderful friends had decorated the whole town and my house! Paige threw her arms up all excited when she saw the front of our house all decorated so cute with Princess balloons and signs! They decorated inside and out. I love those girls!! They have been an amazing support system to me! I don't know what I would do without them!! I love them sooo much!
That same day on Thursday, my little brother also got his mission call, it was a great day full of good news!!

Monday the 9th, we went back down to get her port taken out. That night she slept awesome!! That was a blessing too!! She got her port out and her teeth all silver capped in the back on the right side. They thought they would be capping all of the back teeth but only ended up capping the right side. She was in so much pain for a few days, she is better now.. She just couldn't bath for a week.

We go back down on the 31st to check her eyes and teeth, just to make sure they are doing good.

Thanks everyone for all the prayers and fastings that were given out to our family. We appreciate our friends and family and this town and our church for all the support!! We love each and every one of you!

Christmas!

We went to my mom and dads house for Christmas eve and gave them their presents and had our annual Christmas eve party there. This year all the kids (my brothers and sisters) went in on a tv for my parents. My brother and sis in law found an awesome deal on one and my parents tv was in need of a MAJOR upgrade!! It was a good Christmas also because Brad didn't have to work, normally he is working on Christmas Eve or Christmas day. I am glad he had the days off!

And yes, Sydnee asked Santa for a drum set! :)

We had a great Christmas and Santa spoiled the kids! Paige felt really good that day, it was awesome! Here are some of the things they got for Christmas.

To update what Huntsman gave us all... We got lots of pajamas and some gift cards!! LOVED IT! We are so appreciative of it!!

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!