Karly's Cancer Journey

I wanted to write up Karly's cancer story in one post, where people who are new to our blog - or, perhaps, going through a similar battle with cancer - can read about what Karly went through. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask! We're happy to share our knowledge - and thrilled that Karly continues to be cancer-free since her treatment ended in July, 2008.


Our daughter, Karly, turned 13 on November 8, 2007. One week later, she had her checkup with her pediatrician, and she had a cold, but otherwise, everything was fine. The very next day, Friday, Karly wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home from school. She had a sideache - we thought she was achey from her cold. When her pain persisted over the weekend, we went back to the doctor on Monday (feeling pretty foolish - she had JUST been there).

We love our pediatrician. She took Karly's complaint very seriously - she ordered bloodwork, an x-ray and an ultrasound. After I took Karly to the hospital for her u/s, the tech told us that Dr. B wanted us to stop by her office to go over all the results. When we got to her office, the nurse was waiting for us at the front desk. That made me nervous.

When Dr. B came in, she wasted no time explaining that Karly had a large tumor, so large they couldn't even see her left ovary. She had called Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, and they were expecting us that evening.

She had surgery the day before Thanksgiving, November 21, 2007.

That grapefruit sized tumor did turn out to be the worst case, and Karly began treatment in December.

Karly had five rounds of aggressive, in-patient chemotherapy - each time she was admitted to the hospital in Milwaukee for around 6 days.

After her second round of chemo, we did a stem cell harvest where they harvested some of Karly's healthy cells, in case she needed them back later on (she never did).

Karly in the hospital for chemo, February 2008

She also made many trips to the hospital for nosebleeds, infections, and the ever popular blood transfusions.

The first part of Karly's journey was written up here, in more detail, in THIS POST.

After completing chemotherapy in March 2008, Karly began getting set up for radiation. We did the radiation closer to home, at the hospital in Green Bay. Basically, she had a standing appointment scheduled for every week day.

In total, she had 33 days of radiation to complete. The first 21 were of her entire abdomen, the final 12 were more localized (with a higher dose) where her ovary was. Sometimes if her blood counts were low, they'd send us home, unradiated. So, it took almost two months to get all the days done.

Now that a year has passed since Karly ended treatment, she's routinely checked over by her doctors in Milwaukee, and each time she's received a clean bill of health. Her strength is back, and she returned to school mid-year after being out for almost a year.

In fall 2009, she returned to school full-time and is doing very well - except she greatly dislikes mornings, and wishes school started at noon. So, basically - she's a regular teenager, once again!

Karly on the first day of 8th grade, September 2009

Apples

Braden doesn't eat fruit or drink juice. He just will not.

So, guess how thrilled he was about the kindergarten field trip to the apple orchard??


He did enjoy learning the correct way to pick apples off the tree!

Snickering

This morning, Braden saw a picture of Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones in that most recent movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

He said, "Indiana Jones's Dad has Indy's whip and hat on in that picture!"

I guess even a 6 year old can tell Indy's not as young as he used to be!

A Weekend of Firsts

Little Miss Ruby has had quite the productive weekend. Aside from using her potty for the first time (which I blogged about yesterday), for the first time ever she:

• Went potty twice in one day! (Just an hour or so after I blogged about the first time.)
• Climbed up on our queen size bed on her own, multiple times
• Safely climbed down from our bed on her own :)
• Climbed onto our new kitchen bench, from the side (which then left her a little trapped, since she couldn't get down, but she was very proud of herself)
• Introduced herself to other kids and adults by saying "Roo" while pointing at her chest (that's the sign we've taught her -- an "R" pointing to her chest; she can't do the "R" yet, so it just kinda looks like she's pointing to herself)
• Used the sign for "play". She's signed it before, but always just when mimicking us after we say and sign it. This time I had asked her what she wanted to do, and she signed "play."
• Tried to drink from a water fountain (a.k.a. bubbler, depending on where you're from)

And last, but not least, today was the first time she went to Wild Air, an inflatables play place near us. It wasn't the first time she'd been to a play place like that -- but her last time was at Monkey Joe's, and was quite a while ago (oddly enough, exactly one year ago today).

The last two things mentioned above -- signing "play" and drinking from a water fountain -- were actually at Wild Air. Initially Ruby was just into little cars and houses they have to play with there:

But after a while she was following Braden into and onto the inflatables, and having a blast on the slides (going down alongside me). She hasn't figured out jumping yet, so she was a little wary of the bouncy houses, but after a bit she was holding my hand and walking around, and then crawling around super-fast on the inflatables.

Ruby checking things out

(Not Pictured: Braden, who was too busy playing to be in any photos)

Potty!

Guess who went potty on her potty chair for the first time today?

Ruby!

Not only did she go potty on her potty chair, but she signed potty beforehand, telling me she wanted to go, so we headed into the bathroom!

We've been working on sitting Ruby down on her potty chair every once in a while, and she occasionally signs potty, after which we head in and sit her down. Up until today though she's always just sat there for a little bit (sometimes a few seconds, sometimes a couple minutes), usually looking at books. And today, she looked at books, said she was done, and when she got up I saw she had peed.

It's such a huge, exciting step -- she's not only telling us she needs to go (with her signs) but she's actually used the chair now.

Wordless Wednesday: Ru at the Park

And of course, gratuitous pics!

Brian & I decided it was time for us to get out of the house more often, but it's really not that easy. We joined a bowling league, so we'd have a scheduled event to get us out of the house - it's just for fun & only once a month. This past weekend was the first week, and we had such a hard time finding a babysitter.

Fortunately, a friend volunteered to watch the kids when her daughter was unavailable. So, Saturday night Brian & I went bowling for a couple hours. It was really a treat to get out, just the two of us for a bit. Hopefully in the upcoming months it'll be easier to find someone to watch the kids.

Anyway - this is what Braden & Rubes are up to this morning:

These glasses stay on her tiny face for about 3 seconds. She loves them!

Not one to be left out, he had to be cool in his shades, too!

Just a silly girl

They're ready to face the paparazzi

(and, Braden's super cute pj's were hand-me-downs and they're his new favorite. And mine!)

Tennis

I just told Brian, I have to blog something or my dad will be calling soon - I haven't posted anything since Friday!

Anyway! I've got something good to share today. See this?

That person in the yellow shirt.

That's Karly-kar-kar at tennis practice!

At the beginning of the school year, one of Karly's teachers mentioned she's also the tennis coach, and maybe Karly would like to try it? It's intramural, just for fun - so I told Karly to go check it out.

She didn't want to go, but she tried it.

And? She really, really likes it. I think her favorite part is pushing the cart around at the end of practice to help collect the balls, but she is participating and socializing and has something fun to do after school two (sometimes three!) nights a week.

I'm so proud of her for trying it, and so thrilled she's enjoying it!

Snacking with Jake

Nana has a dog named Jake.

Jake wasn't sure what to think of Ruby, and she wasn't too sure about him - especially if he barked.

But when she was eating, Jake learned it was definitely to his advantage to be nearby.

These pics are from our trip to Florida - over month ago - but really? Too cute not to post!

Adjusted

Ruby still has little Sure Steps that she wears in her shoes for ankle support. But, the strangest thing happened recently - Ruby's feet grew! And they changed into actual foot shaped feet! Just like Braden, Ruby had fat little blocks for feet the first couple years.

So this morning, Ruby & I had an appointment to have her orthotics checked. Well, it took us longer to drive there than to get them adjusted! He fixed them right there on-site, and just trimmed them back a little bit, so they fit the bottom of her foot better.

Wordless Wednesday: At Boppa's Pond

Ruby

My friend Melissa took some pictures of Ruby the other day ... here's a sneak peek of a couple of my favorites! Thanks, Mel!!

Braden's Original Lego Creations

Not only does Braden have a ton of sets of Legos with directions that he likes to make - he also makes his own creations. Here are a couple of his most recent projects that he made up, all on his own!

Exhibit one: The firetruck!

Check out the cool ladder on top!

And exhibit two:

A Dollhouse

A couple months ago, Braden recreated our house out of Legos - but I don't think we got pictures of it. It was in the shape of our house - with the stairs & bookshelves in the correct places. He had finished the basement & the first floor - but I do believe it's been dismantled now for parts.

More Birthday Legos!

There definitely seemed to be a Lego theme to Braden's birthday this year... I have a feeling it might continue at Christmastime, too!


Grandma & Grandpa Z with Braden - and his new Star Wars Legos!

See? Star Wars! Very cool!

Uncle Mike sent a package in the mail - we called him on the phone when Braden opened it.

Guess what!? MORE Legos! These are Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom Legos. Uncle Mike can't wait until he visits so he gets to play Legos, too.

This set says ages 8-14 ... but Braden had it put together after one evening & a morning without any help! I think Brian was a little sad he didn't have to help.

Six

My baby boy is 6 today - It seems like just yesterday he was born. We waited & waited for him to arrive. I went in on a Monday to be induced, and it didn't work. They sent me home! I was so upset, but once he arrived it was worth the wait.

He just wasn't ready until that Friday. In fact, he was delivered by 3 nurses, because he came so fast (it was a good thing I was at the hospital already!). The doctor was on her way, and showed up when he was about 10 minutes old.

That's Braden today, too - always on his own time.

Now, at 6, Braden is enjoying Kindergarten. He can count to 1000 - and is beginning to read short books and cereal boxes.

Braden loves to make people laugh by saying silly things and doing silly dances. He sings throughout the day - his specialty songs are the music from Indiana Jones and Star Wars.

He is a great brother - he helps Ruby learn new games and enjoys running around with her. He likes to hang out and play Webkinz with Karly - and was her biggest cheerleader when she finished her cancer treatment.

For his birthday, we gave him a Lego table. It was an interesting project - Brian & I acquired a used train table for free (FREE!) and cleaned it up. We got a piece of plywood for the top (they cut it to fit at Home Depot) and we bought 2 large Nilo Lego mats.

It was pretty big, so we put a blanket on it for him to 'unwrap'

The whole thing was a huge success! Dad moved the table up to his room right away, so he could get to work.

Braden in his Lego Kingdom
(We cut apart the boxes his Legos come in and tack them to the wall)

We love you, Brades! Happy Birthday!

Birthday Cake

I made Funfetti cookies for Braden to take to school - YUM! I highly recommend them - they're delicious & super easy.

It seems like I'm always a holiday off with these cookies. Last year at Christmas-time, I made orange & black, since I had bought the supplies around Halloween. These cookies were meant to be for 4th of July - but we never made them this summer. But they ended up being just super for take to school treats!

I'm not a good baker - I'm not fancy or especially good with frosting.

However - Braden LOVED his homemade Lego cake :)

It's a small square cake with mini-cupcakes on top.

And I wasn't cheating too much with the white frosting - Braden's favorite colors are black & white & grey & brown & dark red & yellow. So white was entirely appropriate!

Making his birthday wish - probably for more Legos!

We actually ate cake on Thursday night, when Brian's parents came over - Grandma Z shared her cake with Ruby, and Rubes was definitely a fan of the cake!

His whole self

On the way home from my dad's we were talking about what Braden liked best - and one of his top 3 was "Drawing his WHOLE self" ... and then he was out like a trout, and he slept the rest of the way home.

Grandma Jean rolled out the paper - and a Paper Braden was created! The kids had fun coloring him in.

My Dad works at the paper mill, so he used to be able to bring large rolls of paper home when they were headed for the garbage. The kids LOVE this paper - it's HUGE and shiny and just a treat!

Ruby builds her own cage

Remember our trip to the Lego Discovery Center in the Chicago area this summer? Ruby had a blast building with Dad & these giant Legos -