Three-year-old Faye was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia on April 11, 2011. After 135 days in the hospital, Faye was able to spend 3 years at home. On September 5th 2014 she was told that she had relapsed. She was able to achieve a second remission and had a bone marrow transplant on Oct 17th 2014.

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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Another Month Down....

A normal "doctors visit" day they consists of heading out early in the morning, usually about 7:00 a.m.,  waiting in the waiting room, getting into a room, getting tested, measured and poked, waiting some more, seeing the doctor, and then grabbing a quick bite on our way back home so we can beat the traffic. Getting home at 4:00 p.m. usually makes for a long unexciting day!  But in the cancer world boring is good!  While in the hospital you always were grateful the doctors didn't come check on you first thing in the morning, because that meant you were "boring". This visit Nick wanted to go with us, we had both been a little nervous about this visit.  Because at the first of January Faye was looking a little more pale than normal.  A week or two before her visit, at random times she would complain that her legs were hurting her.  I have to admit any time I hear that little voice complain about "leg pain"  my heart sinks a little, and I have to reassure myself that everything is going to be okay.
So since Nick was coming with us, I thought it would be fun to take a picture of every hour of "doctor visit" day!  That way I could show you all what a typical doctor visit for Faye is like!  Wouldn't you know it.. the day I do this everything was rather quick!  Maybe we should take Dad more often.
7:15 a.m leave our house
 8:15 a.m. still on the road...doesn't the drive look exciting?
 Faye has really been into coloring these days, which makes it nice for a long car ride!
 9:15 a.m. Pull into the parking garage
 This is where the visit got impressive!  From 9:15 to 10:15, we got checked in, weighed, measured, blood pressure taken, and ready for a blood sample! Usually we spend an hour and a half in the waiting room.
10:15 a.m. the dreaded poke

 I loved this picture of Nick, looking so concerned...Dads are the best!
 After pokes the doctor was in fairly quickly, we even were able to talk to her about Faye's future plan...which is we will go back every month until September, then every two months til the following September...and that's as far as the plan got! 
Dr. Margolin was also able to give us our latest lab results:
WBC: 4.18 (3.52 last time)
HGB: 13.8 (13.6)
Platelets: 155 (181)
 ANC: 1530 (1610)
Monos: 10 (10.8)
She is looking great, everything is in a normal range (low end, but still normal) except her WBC (5.0-14.5 is normal)
11:15 a.m. Off to visit our friends at the 9th floor.  This was an exciting trip because we got to see Nurse Owens, one of our Nurse Practitioners that we hadn't seen since we left, and we were also able to take Fayes clothes she had used while being in the hospital and we gave them to other little girls on the floor.  It felt good to give all of those clothes away!  They will brighten some little girls day up I hope, I know it made me smile to see Faye bouncing down the hall in all her cute clothes she was given!
 
 12:15 p.m. Getting in the car ready to head home.

1:15 p.m. Since we got done so early Nick treated Faye and I to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, we pass the mall it is located in on our way home!   I forgot to take the camera inside!
 2:15 p.m. stopped and got Mitchell a treat for being the best big brother ever!
 3:15 p.m. Car Ride home....this is where the wearing of the day sets in! "No more pictures please" Faye says, while Nixon is ready for his close up!
And there you have it, another great visit to the doctor!  At the rate we are going you all might get filled in on the trip pictures by her year mark! 

How cancer has changed our family:
 Nick the other day took Mitchell and Faye on a date to see Beauty and The Beast.  Before the movie started Mitchell leaned over to Nick and said "Dad I hope they don't show that commercial of the kids in the hospital (St. Judes) it makes me too sad" Nick said back to Mitchell "me too".