31 Days 31 Posts

Well, here we are at the last day of July and I am on my last post of the month. I made it through with a post for every day. I am proud of myself. Even though some of the posts have been about a whole lot of nothing. I just got back from a nice long walk at 10pm. We wanted to go earlier, BUT as you know it is still Death Valley hot out there so we waited. My tattoo is sore, but livable and as much as I like it right now, I know I will love it when the color is finished.

I can't believe that it is already August. My Maddy will be 10 in just eight days. I can hardly believe it. I am amazed at how fast the time goes the older that I get. We are having a party for Madison on the 9th from 1-3ish pm. BTW Cindy...I keep forgetting to tell you that if your family is not away on a short holiday you are invited. I know how you feel about birthdays, so if you don't come it's OK I might forgive you :) and Jen if you have to work, I understand about that as well. Life happens.

What Did You Do Today?

I got the first part of my new tattoo today. It was four hours of laying on my stomach on a massage table while a very nice man took my newest idea and special drawing, drew it on my back, made his changes, and then seared it into my back with a thousand tiny needles. It is not finished and I have to go back in two weeks for the color in the cherry blossoms, the koi, and the different shading details. I had a small circle planned just below the existing Chinese writing but Frank (my tattoo guy) from Get Lucky Tattoo said no. He said it would look like four unfinished pieces of work and that this way is better because it will look like one big finished, flowing piece of work. I love it, but I think there are some people who read my blog who won't :) It's OK...his idea was better than mine, and I like it a lot. But I am biased because I love tattoos and I love his work. You can be honest in your opinions, and I won't even get upset. So have at it :) NOTE: They chinese writing in the koi on the left is joy or happiness, and the one on the right is sorrow. I know that is what it really is too because I am the one who designed the tattoo and then we looked again before the ink went on. I don't want it to say something like pig vomit :)

Update and Pottery

We went to the multi-craft store today and had a really fun time painting pottery. I wish I had thought of it sooner because the dish I made is for my friend Tatiana's birthday, which is Thursday. I can't wait to see how my dish and the kids' dishes turned out. We really did have fun :) Now for the update on Caden. Below is a letter from my mother and a picture.

We took Caden to the clinic yesterday for labs, a doctor visit, the final bone marrow and lumbar puncture. His ANC has dropped back down to 176. Normally this would mean he would have to go back into the hospital but the doctor told us if we are real careful with him (keep him isolated) he wouldn't have to. So we keep him in the room at the RMH or walk him straight out to the car.

They cancelled his entire follow-up procedures until next week with the exception of his labs. We will have labs done again on Thursday to see what his counts are. The CT scheduled for this Friday was rescheduled for Monday Aug. 4th; they haven’t given us a date for the final bone marrow or spinal lumbar puncture yet. (August already; can you believe it!)

Caden is taking all of this really well. He isn't fighting us on staying in the room because he doesn't want to be in the hospital. He was in there so long that every time we are in the car, he has to have his window down for fresh air. It is bitter sweet; you realize how much he misses being outside but it isn't worth the risk to take him to a playground or to the beach yet.

Attached are a couple of pictures from his discharge date that you will love. It was a blessing to share in Caden and Schelly’s excitement when he saw his mother coming toward us on the path to the RMH. He had his arms reaching out for her as he ran toward her saying, “Mommy I'm free from the hospital!!!!” I wish I had taken a picture from behind to capture the look on her face too; but his smile is priceless!

Please continue to pray for healing and a smooth transition.
Cindy

What's That? Good News! About Time!

Oh Happy Day!

I have attached both the letter and the pictures my mother sent today as her Caden update. It is finally time for some good news. NOTE: Corinnea notice your beads in the second picture :)

Hello, hello, hello! I had my update ready to send out yesterday. I was going to give you the results of his blood work. His ANC was at 238!!!!! I was so excited, the nurses were laughing at me! Joyce, the nurse Caden had yesterday morning, is in love with him. She told me she is happy and sad and that she is going to miss him so much. Oh and surprise, this is the beginning of your 28 day countdown, the doctors are discharging you today! It was so funny because Caden was still asleep when she told me. I packed our belongings then woke him up to tell him we could leave after he took his medicine and ate his breakfast. He jumped up (he never wakes up like that), took his medicine, put on his own clothes and said "yeah, let's go I will eat at the RMH." It was a good thing I had already packed our belongings! I told him I needed to call his Mommy to come pick us up but he said no, he wanted to walk to the RMH and surprise her. What comes next? We wait for his counts to come up so they can do the final LP and Bone Marrow test, this is to confirm he is cancer free. (Just writing it brings tears to my eyes.). They will also do one more CT scan before they are done (I think to check his internal organs before they let him go home). They did the final hearing test last week; he has some hearing loss in his left ear (this doesn't surprise me as this is the ear that has been bleeding periodically throughout treatment). Before they can remove the Hickman line his platelets have to be much higher and stay high on their own. We are far from that right now. His platelets and RBC are low enough that they will be doing transfusions today. They will do that in the out patient clinic at the hospital. We will be there all morning but will go play this afternoon. Attached are a couple of pictures of his last day at the hospital. He went around and gave his nurses hugs before we left. Those pictures haven't been downloaded yet as they were taken with my other camera; these were taken with my Blackberry. Please pray for his bone marrow recovery and that when they do the final test we get the official word that his cancer is gone! Love to all of you and thank you for your support! Cindy

There Is A Reason

So, a friend of mine was getting her new house, house hold goods, and unpacking today so I kept her boys with me for the day. First let me say that they were very well behaved and I had NO problems whatsoever with them. But goodness gracious I am SO glad that I don't have five children and I don't know how people do it. It's a lot of work even with five good kids. Imagine having a couple of kids in the mix that weren't so great. There is a reason I only have three kids...I am not strong enough to handle more.

Trip To IKEA

The girls and I took Julia, Tatiana, and their kids to IKEA because after living in the hotel since April, the Powell family has a house here at RB where they wanted to live. Now only Tatiana and her family need one as well. Hopefully theirs will be ready by the 15th of August. ANYWAY, the reason we went was to look for curtains for Julia's house. She has them for the rooms in the boys' rooms but needed them for their bedroom, living room, and kitchen. Gotta have curtains to keep nosey neighbors from looking in your house. Sad, but true. We found them for the living room, and bedroom, but nothing in curtain form for the kitchen. She did however find a heavy fabric that she liked and thought it would look good in her black and white kitchen. She got it for 4 euro per yard and bought two yards. I told her that I would sew it for her so that she can use them on Friday when they move in. I don't know if I would have chosen the fabric, BUT I do like it because it looks retro to me. Please note how wonderful the sewing is and be proud that I ironed every single fold like a good girl. JennyP should be proud :)

UUUMMM What To Write About?

Lianne made this really wonderful hat for me to send to Caden. Isn't so cute? I am so happy that she was willing (and able) to do this for me. I asked, and she did it. Why? Because that is the kind of person she is. In case I haven't mentioned it before, Caden is a Spiderman and/or Star Wars so he will LOVE this hat. Let's also keep in mind that soon he will be home in Alaska with his little bald head and will need all the hats he can get. It's because I love him and want to see the same REAL smile on his face that he had when he got the glass beads from Corinnea. That was so obviously not the "brave face" but one of happiness. It is one that I hope he has many more of so that he can stop trying to be (or having to be) so grown up at the ripe old age of four and being brave for all those around him. I will say though that I am proud of him that he is able to do something so far beyond his years even though I wish he didn't find in necessary. No child should have to be this brave. OK, gonna sign off now because it seems I have become a Melancholy Molly and soon I will get started on how someone made comments about me today that were not only ugly, but untrue. They did that thing where people live up to certain stereotypes. How sad and embarrassing for them. Oops, got started...:) OH, look at the new tickers I put on the left.

Sicky :(

Madison woke up feeling yucky today and decided it was a day for her to stay inside the house. I guess with it being so chilly, she picked a good day. I have a bit of a sore throat too. I hope that I don't get sick...but I would rather it be me than the kids. So, Madison cuddled on the couch with one of the dogs (alternating of course) and watched movies "with me" while I made spiders and clips. I am attaching pictures of the most recent and then posting them on my etsy site for sale. I'd like to say that I had a productive day, but honestly...nope. Man I am bored and ready for school to start. It's sad to think that the most exciting part of my day today was walking to the CX to buy the children a peach tea. WooHoo! Party girl--hold me back.

I am also posting pictures of my girls at Emily's party and a picture of Ava's arm that makes me want to fire up the oven and eat a baby for dinner :)

Another Update

This update from my mother is long and thankfully detailed so I won't write anything other than my girls had a really great time at Emily's birthday and can't wait to get their bowls.

"Hello! We have been in the hospital for 36 days now and still no ANC. :-( However, his hematocrit is starting to go up on it's own. His platelets are down to 6 so he will get another transfusion today. Since I explained to Caden what an NG tube is (a feeding tube that is inserted through the nose down to the stomach) he has been eating. He had lost 4 pounds but has put 2 back on and seems to be eating pretty good. He nibbles all day long. So, no NG tube! I really thought I would see his ANC start coming up this weekend because of several things that are happening. His hematocrit coming up, the sores on his feet and body are healing, no fever for several days now. Maybe tomorrow it will come up! Child Life is a department in the hospital. Its purpose is to help the children learn to cope with this experience. When Caden was refusing to get out of bed at all and wasn't eating we asked if we could use the Wii. As you have heard throughout my updates Caden loves to play video games. They brought it in and we told him the only way it would work is if he got out of bed to play. He did it! He likes to be the pitcher for baseball and I got to be the batter! He did the bowling and a little boxing when I was here too. Then he told me he was tired and asked me to do the boxing. Wow, using this thing is exercise, my arms were sore! Anyway that was the beginning of him getting better. He got exercise which made him hungry.....etc! Again, with all the test that were run they have no idea why he was running fevers and no idea what the sores were on his feet. I am so thankful that he has not been as sick this round as he was last round. I was really scared last round! This whole adventure is taking longer than anticipated. It has been scary, we have been sleep deprived, I miss my home, the rest of my family and wasn't able to be with my dog Jacques of 15 years when he passed away. But, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but where I am right now. I am so close to Caden and we have had some wonderful fun times full of laughter during these past 7 months! It has been fun being silly for no reason other than to make him smile and laugh. I have been blessed by my employer letting me work remotely for so long, my husband who has been keeping busy getting things done around our home, my friends Tom and Sandy who have helped me keep my sanity, my sister coming up for a month, my son Ronny who as come and will be bring Cameron back on August 3rd. Family, friends and people we have never met who have sent cards, gifts and get well / hang in there messages. But most of all, all of you prayer warriors! Your prayers have helped give us all strength, hope, patience and healing. There were times I wasn't sure I could cope with this situation but someone would call or send a note of encouragement and I would remember all will be well. Thank you. You have touched all of our lives in ways you may not even realise. My cousin Rick told me a story about sharing my updates with his co-workers and some of their reactions. By sharing this with me he showed me how we have also touched so many other lives. We don't know why this beautiful little boy has had to go through this experience except perhaps to change some of our lives. I know mine is, Denise (my co-worker) has told me how this has changed hers (she did a cancer climb to the top of Half Dome in Yosemite - you go girl!), Schelly's and Camerons too! Attached are Caden approved pictures from some gifts he received from people who have never met him. The one gift is Star Wars action figures (we all know he loves them), one is him holding some new hand made glass beads from a lady in Germany. He is saying "Oh yeah, some more beads!". And the other is him with his strands of Beads of Courage! (You can read about this program at www.beadsofcourage.org if interested) We would appreciate it if you would keep praying for all of us as we are not done yet! Love to all and may God bless you, Cindy"

Busy...Busy

I made some more bobbies for the store and will bring them with me to the store tomorrow. JennyP made me some really cute holders from card stock for me to put them on because she loves me :) I also tried my hand at butterflies today. They really aren't different from the dragonflies other than the wings being a bit larger and the bodies being shorter. I made two of them tonight because my new beads came from Fire Mountain Gems and I was excited to use some of them. I went for a long walk today with friends, made some more bobbies, hung out in the decent weather. ***OH, Exciting news...I sold 60 dollars worth of merchandise in my etsy shop. It was one crab, one Large Dragonfly, and one small one.***If you could see me you would know I am doing a little happy dance.

Got a lot going on the next few days so I thought I would go ahead and post now (wasn't going to until tomorrow night) so that I know for sure it gets done. Tomorrow is Emily's Birthday and we are going to her party. I made the cake and want JennyP to remember the saying "be careful what you wish for." The boys are not invited--only the girls and I. They are so excited about it that they haven't stopped talking about it all day. Cute but annoying :) Emily's party is from 2pm to 4pm and then we come straight home for a BBQ beginning at 6pm. I already made my potato salad because there really won't be time tomorrow. I am also making a tomato, mozzarella, olive, and basil salad. We are providing hamburgers and hot dogs for the kids. I know that Julia and her family are bringing some kind of bean dish, drinks for the kids, plates, and plastic forks. Tatiana and her family are bringing chicken, steaks, baked macaroni (Russian style), wurst, and shrimp salad. Anna and her family are bringing "something," and I don't know if Cindy is coming even though she was invited. MUCH THANKS TO HER IF GARRETT IS STILL THROWING UP. None of us really wants sick kids right? Sunday afternoon the girls have another birthday party to attend. I guess they'll do laundry on Monday. I'll do mine in the morning before the party. I know...fun life I lead...don't be jealous!

Caden Update

It's that time again. I have nothing of my own to talk about because I did a whole lot of nothing today. The rainy day made me tired and BLAH. I did a few digital scrapbook pages, made a few (OK, eight) sets of clips for the store, went to the store, and started a movie so horrible that I stomached about 30 minutes without beating my head on the wall and turned it off. I am posting the Caden update my sister just sent me. Some of it is a repeat of what my mother said in the last post about him, but there is new stuff so I thought it I should go ahead and post. So, here it is:

"Sorry I have not posted an update since the prayer request. I have not been able to get online at the hospital and it would be a pain in the butt to post an update with my blackberry! Anyway, Caden had his CAT Scan and they found more little nodules in the lungs. No internal bleeding so that is good. Based on lung results they did another procedure, the same as last time, where they squirt fluid into his lungs and then suck it out and test it. So far nothing has come back on that. As for the rash/sores on his skin...also graham positive cocci (sp). Basically a bacteria growing in his skin and creating sores. He is on the most powerful antibiotics and anti-fungals he can be on so they are not to concerned about it. Today his foot (where the worst sore is) actually looks like it is healing a bit. Really all that will help is time. His body has not recovered yet and is not producing new cells yet. He had to have a blood transfusion and platelets yesterday. He has not been eating well and he has lost 2 lbs already this round. They are discussing a feeding tube through his nose if he loses more weight. :( We shared that information with him and he is trying so hard but his poor little body is not cooperating that well. I asked the Dr about a time frame and it could be anywhere from 1-2+ months before we get home. I expressed my concerns about Cameron and him starting 2nd grade in Alaska with the rest of his friends. I asked the docs if we could go home as soon as his counts were safe to fly and then he could recover in his own house and have his central line removed at Providence in Anchorage, but I don't think it will happen. Bummer. I'll probably be back just in time for snow. Yipee!!! (that was sarcasm) Please continue to pray and send good thoughts our way."

That's the news.

Hair Cuts And A New Idea

First let's chat about the haircuts. I think they look sooo cute and the girls like them very much. I don't know how well you can see it, BUT Sierra's hair has so much blond in it now from the sun that it looks as if we did it on purpose. Madison has the same but it is more red in color. Julia...Thanks so much for doing their hair for me. I don't know what I would have done because the people that I have taken them to here don't seem to know what to do with it.

As for the dragonfly hair pins, I saw them online and thought I might try my hand at them. These two sets are just a practice run as I feel I need more work on it. I do however, think they might be cool to sell at the store. Now maybe I am way ahead of myself, and I hope that Corinnea, Kelly, or JennyP will tell me so. It won't hurt my feelings or anything, I just thought it was a great idea when I saw it. the are regular sized bobbies so the clips aren't too big. They are more for cutsie look than function. Let me know what you think:)

Nothing Much To Say

We finished off a very uneventful, yet satisfying, day yesterday by watching the movie Definitely Maybe. I have to say that it is what many guys might call a chick flick but big Michael said that he liked it just fine. I liked it very much. Today the girls and I took some more spiders, crabs, and dragonflies to the store and put them with the rest of the displays. I think they look nice. I guess I should have brought my camara in and taken a picture. Oh well. Then the girls and I went to the PX to meet Dad for lunch. THEN we came back and my friend Julia cut the girls' hair. She is a hairstylist and did a great job. They had quite a bit of dead ends and definitely needed it. I am attaching a picture of Caden holding the beads that Corinnea sent him. Unfortunately, the beads (held in his hand) are blurry, BUT the HUGE smile on his face is easy to see. I am glad they pleased him so much.

If It Were Only That Easy

So, I keep catching Buddy chasing his tail. His funny adaptation of this is that he will run around like crazy chasing it and then do these sideways summersaults. It's great fun to watch. I am a bit biased though. He's just so stinking cute. I just can't help thinking it would be so wonderful if it were always that easy to be entertained. I finished my employment application with DodEA schools. My hope is to begin in December with my own class. I can't wait...that's what I think now anyway :) We had an uneventful day of doing mostly nothing. I sat with some neighbors while the kids played and then we all walked to the cx in order to buy gatoraide, came home and hung out for a while longer, then came in for dinner. I just now asked big Michael what he did all day and he said, "nothing isn't it GREAT?" I have to agree with him for today. Mostly I have been bored this summer. I guess I need a break from summer break :)

Caden Update

Since I know that there are several of you who read this BLOG and like to know how Caden is doing, I am posting my mother's most recent update and two pictures. My brave little baby is putting on a brave happy face for the photo, but boy they make me cry. I want so much for this ordeal to be over and for Caden to get back to being only a child and nothing more.

"Good Morning, I'm back in the hospital with Caden and Schelly is out to catch up on her sleep. Caden's schedule has been such that he is not going to sleep until 3 or 4 in the morning and then sleeps very late in the day. This is very difficult on Schelly and me. It leaves us exhausted so we have been doing 2 day rotations. I spoke to the doctor when I got here yesterday and was told the following: Arm biopsy-No inflammationNegative for fungusNo results on the Gram stain, it will be another 1-2 days until they have them.They did see positive diplococci in the vessel (these test were ordered by the Infectious Disease team and the doctor I spoke with did know what this meant. I will find out when that team comes in today or tomorrow.) Lung results - Positive for streph veridan (just a few not significant)Positive for micro coccus (just a few not significant)The doctor is not concerned about these two because he is already getting antibiotics that cover them.We are still waiting on the viral results. Now because of the above results they ordered an echocardiogram of his heart to see if there was any bacterial vegetation around it, it was negative. And, the infectious disease doctors have ordered a respitory PCR (taking a sample of his runny nose to see if positive for a virus). I'm sure it will be negative - it is just being in the hospital that makes it run! Caden has been running a fever between 101 and 103 but continue to take his tylenol. Caden asked me to tell you that he still has hair on the top of his head but it fell out in the back and that his foot hurts but he is getting better. He said he is going to the Ronald McDonald house pretty soon. Well I don't know how soon it will be but I think it is great that he is thinking so positive. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Cindy"

I don't have anything to add other than thank you so much to all of you who pray and send well wishes their way. You are a blessing more than you may ever know.

Just A Saturday

We spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing. Big Michael had to work, and the kids played outside--getting mad every time it started to rain and I made them come in the house. I spent the day watching a movie, beading, and dead-heading some flowers in the garden. Not too exciting, but hey...this is my life. I was walking the dogs and ran into some friends. I made a comment about how we should schedule a BBQ or gathering of some sort and "POOF" we were doing it tonight. As many of you know, this may have caused me anxiety on a normal day, but I was actually OK with it because I was having a down day and needed something to take my mind off of it.

They came over around 6:30pm bringing with them chips, dip, cheese squares, grapes, chicken, shrimp salad, a Russian dish that I don't know what it is called, some wine for the women and liqueur for the men. I provided juice boxes, plates, wine, baked mac and cheese, and a tomato/feta, olive/basil dish. Peoples' food was very well received. A couple of neighbors came as well. All in all it ended up a really good day. It could only have been better if Big Michael could have been home instead of working.

I have pictures from tonight, BUT I don't have their permission to put their pics up on the Internet so I don't want to do it yet. I will ask though since it was so much fun watching all those brown children running all crazy (interestingly enough, all of us are mixed couples). So, I will post a different picture from whatever I find in this months folder on my computer. I don't know why, but the posts always look so naked to me when they don't have pictures. I have decided on one of Little Michael running. The premise of this picture is that everyone was playing kickball today...yes the adults were playing too. We were all a big bunch of kids.


There was also a point where the boys (adult boys too) decided to race because no one can beat Sierra and see if they could finally do it. I give you two guesses as to the outcome of the race. MAN CAN THAT GIRL RUN!!! It is a God given talent to which I can't relate because i hate to run. Well she amazes me much like Madison's musical ability, and Micheal's ability to morph into Eeyore at a moment's notice...I am sure there is more than that with him, but honestly the "woe is me" is pervasive in his live. This is due, for the most part, to being a teenager. Poor kid...he "never get what he wants!" Honestly, I am surprised he didn't choke on that one.

Problem With Bugs

Maybe you all can help me out a little. I seem to have an insect problem in the house. There is an infestation in my livingroom to be sure. I have now made seven large dragonflies. They are fun, but are much more work. There are over two hundred fifthy beads in each one! I think that $21.50 is reasonable for the amount of beads, wire, and time that they take to make. The smallest one that I have made is 8 inches long from head to bum, and 6-7 inches in wing span.

That's a lot of beads. To give you an idea of how much work goes into one of them, it took me all day (10-5 with breaks of course) to make three of them. Bear in mind that there was SOME parenting and dog care involved in there :) I am thinking of taking the orange, brown, and pink ones in to the PMC Store for sale, but the others are already for sale in my esty shop. I know that one of the window pictures makes a large dragonfly look orange, but really, there is a red one with a little orange in the wings, and the other is actually ALL orange.

On a side note, I spoke to Lianne today and she is going to crochet Caden a hat with spiderman on it. Caden loves two things in the world more than anything...spiderman and starwars. The fact that he is bald, in Seattle, and moving home to Alaska makes hats a must. What better way to make sure he wears them then to make ones that he loves? Too bad that I don't crochet :) There is still no news on his biopsy. While I am normall all for the "no news, is good news" idea, my mother very intelligently stated that the problem with that mentality for this ordeal is that he still has these issues but they don't know what it is and then don't know how to fix it.

New Size

Well, as I stated in my blog last night, I am now making Large Dragonflies as well as regular sizes. The lady who ordered the big green one indicated that she was interested in a couple of large ones so I have created a red/orange one too. They are both listed on etsy, but I am attaching pictures here. The are really cool hanging in my window surrounded by smaller ones. I like them a lot.

On a Special Note: Corrinea thank you so much for your idea to send special handmade glass beads to Caden. I have been thinking about it all day and honestly it is such a kind and selfless thing to do that I am moved to tears. I mean you don't know my family and you don't know this sweet little boy, but you were moved to do something kind anyway. I don't think that I can tell you quite how much that means to me. I was wondering if you might string them (Or I Can) and send him a special beaded strand of courage from Germany. You could include a special note if you wanted as well. It's a small idea, and you are already going beyond what you need to, so please feel free to say no with the knowledge that I wouldn't be upset at all. It is a very special thing you are doing and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

A Bunch Of News

My girls spent some time entertaining mom and dad today by doing a cheer and I thought I would share but, yet again, the video clip is too big. I was loving every second of it. I think they are just about the cutest things in the whole world :) Granted, I am biased but who cares? The cheer was brought on by the COMPLETELY HORRIBLE movie Bring It On 3. It really was no good, but the girls loved it. Don't worry though, my head has recovered from its repeated banging on the wall.

I got a special order today from an etsy customer. Exciting right? It is for a larger dragonfly in vibrant green for the lady's garden. She has already ordered a different dragonfly so that is a good thing because repeat business shows customer satisfaction. This excites me very much. I am attaching a link that I would like all of you to look at and send on to anyone who makes polymer beads. The program is a wonderful one that has helped Caden through many a rough day and procedure. The site is: http://www.beadsofcourage.org/ please check it out and consider making donations. It really has been a blessing for my family and is such a wonderful selfless idea. Along those lines, here is the latest news from my mother. I am sad and my heart breaks over that little guy and all his worries. I am however glad that my mom and sister keep me updated.

Hello again,

Just wanted to update you on what has been happening with Caden. As I told you he has some spots that have been appearing on different parts of his body. They start out as just a little red dot then get bigger and hurt. The infectious disease doctors came to see him today. They don't think he has chicken pox or shingles. Actually they don't have any idea what they are so they want to biopsy one of them tomorrow.

Sunday Caden started complaining that his head hurt. It continued to get worse to the point he was waking up during the night crying that his head hurt. Yesterday we requested the team of doctors to come talk to us. The decision was made to do a CT scan on his head, chest and abdomen today. We were told this evening that they do not see any vascular leaks (bleeding) in his head (whew, glad to hear that!). They don't know what is causing the head pain. We will be paying close attention to the head pain and swelling for any changes.

Hopefully it was just related to the fevers he is having. They did see "a lot" of small nodules in his lungs. Apparently they are different than the ones we treated last round. (I wonder if they the same as what is on the outside...just a thought flitting through my head) They think they're a virus, not bacterial. We will be meeting with the pulmonary specialist late tomorrow morning to see if he agrees with the team to do the same lung procedure that they did last round. If yes, they will have a surgeon biopsy one of the spots at the same time (one anaesthesia). Risk? Yes there are always risks but at least they will be able to identify the spots. With a 0 ANC his body will not be able to fight any potential infections. However I'm not to worried since they have him on some heavy duty antibiotics and we will do everything possible to keep it sterile.

We will continue to monitor his counts because of the rapid drops we've seen this week. There has been traces of blood in his stools but nothing showed up on the CT so they're not worried. I'm very sad to say....Caden's new hair is falling out. He is so cool about it though, he just says "Don't worry Nana, it will grow back!". He is such an awesome little boy!

We are ready for his counts to come up but we think we still have a way to go. The nurse told me his ANC was 0 for 36 days last round. If you remember, we were told this round would be "at least as bad as the last one.". I don't know if it is worse but, it has been different! Well it is late and has been a long day. Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Cindy

Sharing Past Work

I thought since JennyP was sharing some of her past work, I could share some of mine. The colorful blanket was created by me for one of my nephew's birth. The first one with all the blues was made by me for me to use as a lap blanket---Madison took it. The last one on the middle right with the flower border was made by me for me to use as a lap blanket because Madison took the first one--Sierra took that one. The bright one on the top right was created for the same reason and Charlene took it. I still don't have my own lap blanket BTW. The peacock tapestry is still being created for my grandmother. She already has a beautiful one of the Lord's Prayer that I made and my mother had matted and framed, but this one is her awesome one. It truly is a thorn in my side. The one on the bottom left is called Earth Angel and still does not have a home. It was created for someone that asked me to make her something and told me to decide what to make. THEN when I was done she told me it really didn't match her decor. WELL, needless to say...I kept it. The one with the little girl is for my JennyP and is hanging in her sewing area. The little redhead made me think of a little me and the black kitty made me think of her. It was the perfect gift. Sometimes I do OK :)

I finished quite a few new dragonflies today as well as a couple of new spiders. I will post them on etsy very soon. I have added so many, that I should stop making them but it passes time. Boy am I bored over the summer. I really should read more, cross stitch more (Lord knows I have more than enough to do there), finish a lap blanket that I might be allowed to keep--Kelly is lucky that I didn't take the one Corinnea made for her the other day because I wanted to. I mean really it's only fair since others always take the ones I make for myself :)

Right now I am getting ready to make one more red dragonfly for Corinnea's mother so that I can bring those to her tomorrow. I sure hope she likes them as much as she thinks she will. Apparently, she has a large picture window that birds keep flying into so she hopes these will help them to stop doing that. She asked for two, but she is getting three. Consider it my contribution to helping mentally challenged birds :)

Just When You Think

I would say it was funny how just when you think things will be fine...life has a way of messing with your head, but really there is nothing funny about it at all. I am sad to post today because there was really nothing to write about until I got the email that I am attaching. I know it is to be expected that things will get worse before they get better due to Caden's low white blood cell count etc, BUT man I can't help but think "when will this poor baby catch a break? I just want a few pictures in which I know that the smile on his face won't be followed with more pain and sickness. I just want to see pictures and know that he is a happy HEALTHY little boy with no more worries that someone his age should not have to deal with at any point in his or her life. As the attached email will show you, unfortunately this is not the case right now.

"Well...we knew this was coming. We need prayers, warm thoughts and wishes. There is something going on with him and he is going in for a CAT scan this morning. I am afraid his head is hemorrhaging. They will do a head, neck, chest and abdomen scan. He is complaining of pain in the back of his head and it is a little swollen. His platelets and RBC has been dropping in extremes and he has had to have a Red Blood and platelet transfusion in the last 24 hours. Then if that isn't enough he has a strange rash or something spreading over his body. He is having a hard time walking. He just has not been himself. There was a child at the McDonald house and the ward where Caden is that was diagnosed with Shingles. So now Cameron is going to be on isolation and Caden has been exposed. We are hoping that the rash forming on his body is not shingles!!! Caden has absolutely no immune system and cannot fight anything. We have been here over 6 months now and we are all ready to be done and home. The reality is though we have several weeks left. Please pray for us all."

So there you have it. I need all my praying people to pray. As a matter of fact, if you just happened upon this blog and you feel moved to do so, please send a prayer, well wish, or positive thoughts his way. All forms are welcome. Thanks.

Good Day To Go To Town

Well, we picked a really neat day to go down town. The odd thing is that I brought my camera, which I haven't done in years. That meant I got to take pictures when I might not have otherwise. There were many of the large bear sculptures from different countries around the world. Some of them were creepy, some of them were cool. They were called "Tolerance Bears" and you can buy VERY small versions of them for 20 euro. Steep price for a small ceramic bear, BUT it's the idea that makes them cool. The paintings on them are supposed to represent their country of origin. They really were neat, and Lianne and I felt it necessary to be silly. It's OK though...many people were so we weren't the only ones.

We went shopping through a few stores, but H&M isn't near as cheap when you consider the exchange rate so you know I wasn't too excited. We did buy our kids something small at Nanu Nana, I also got big Michael a HUGE coffee mug and JennyP a little something I know she will like. Finally, we had really bland Chinese food that would have been good if it had flavor. I guess I won't eat there again. It was 20 euro for both of our food and drinks, but when it doesn't taste all that great...I would have been happier getting a tomato, mozzarella, and cucumber sandwich at the bakery and an iced coffee from Starbucks. Oh well, live and learn.

Out On The Town

Well, it's been a while, but I am going down town today. I get to go shopping-something I love-and just hang out for the day. Michael is going to watch the kids and I am going with Lianne. Of course it's cloudy out and will probably rain because that is just my luck, but it's OK. JennyP was going to go with me, but her hubby is going to go with her and the kids to the pool. I hope he follows through with that. I know for sure we are hitting the craft store, Karstadt, H&M (OH HOW I MISS THEM), Nanu Nana, and as many others as I can get her to go into. Then we are going to lunch. I am not sure whether I will buy anything other than lunch, BUT I do believe that I will have fun looking. Oh, I have also tried my hand at a longer bodied dragonfly with no antennae and I think I like them. Let me know what you think.



I know for a fact that I like the wings best with the seed beads because they are delicate and prettier that way. Also, I can get a GREAT deal on seed beads from Fire Mountain so that makes me smile. Take a look at my display at the store. I think it looks pretty good. My thanks to JennyP for taking pictures of it for me. I don't have any of the crabs in the store yet, but JennyP says she thinks I should have a couple of those too. I am just not sure how they will sell or if they will. honestly, the spiders are my favorite.

Update on Caden

Hello all. Here is an update about Caden from my mother. If you read carefully, her spirits sound fairly high, which is very good. She isn't as young as Caden and it is harder for her to bounce back. I am also attaching the picture that she sent because I think it is cute. It's definitely a Happy 4th of July picture if I have ever seen one.

"It's Saturday afternoon, Caden is taking his nap (rare these days) so I thought I would take advantage of the free time to send out my update. The attached picture is Caden approved. It was very important that the picture showed him smiling. He also asked that I tell everyone that he feels good! Actually, considering everything going on right now, he is doing better than anticipated. What's going on? He is still running a fever; not as bad as last round because this round he is a big boy and is taking his Tylenol. "It makes me feel better Nana and make my bever go away!". I am so proud of him, we have come so far! Because of the mysterious fevers, he is on three antibiotics again. So far we are still blessed without the negative side effects we had last time and, the blood cultures have all been negative. His ANC count is still 0 so we all worry about infection. Purell is great stuff, if you don't use it, get some and use it, it helps! Of course being cautious of who he around helps too. He has developed some sores on his right foot and now has some red spots showing up in different parts of his body. They are not sure what they are because with his counts so low, any normal fungus or virus does not present itself in the normal way, thus making it hard to identify. To me, it looks like a staff infection. So, being the bossy Nana I am, I insisted they send in the cleaning staff yesterday to sanitise the entire room! I mean I moved everything around and out that I could and had the beds stripped and wiped down. I then wiped Caden thoroughly down with Chlorhexidine wipes. The sores on the top of his foot look a tiny bit better, the rest look the same. There was one rash spot under his arm that is completely gone today. I'm sure the improvement is due to both the antibiotics and sanitising. I asked the doctors how much longer they think it will be before his ANC comes back up and the shrug and say, "We expect them to come up sometime in the next 6 weeks." Humph, seems to me they said that 6 weeks ago. Okay, I am exaggerating, but it feels like it! Like I said last week, we are all ready to be done. Most of all, we want Caden to be better! Please keep the prayers going, I believe they are working. We enjoyed watching the fireworks on TV for a few minutes but Harry Potter was more interesting to Caden! Thank you and God Bless. Cindy"

Legend of the Crab

The Crab's Home

A Legend

One day, long ago or not yet past, Geskekelud got bored with playing with man, and cast his interest to the creatures of the world. He watched the creatures crawl and walk across the land, but their ordered actions disturbed him, so he watched the oceans.

A serpent swimming around its nest caught his attention, and he decided to change its mind and see what happened. The serpent realized that he had to choose a direction to swim -- either up or down, north or south, east or west. The serpent was furious at this limitation. It writhed and twisted, shook and shivered, but would not choose a direction. Finally, overcome with anger at its predicament, it ripped itself into 6 pieces, each drifting to one of the six directions. Blood filled the waters, and sharks came to feast on the serpent. They destroyed the nest and left a path of destruction in their wake.

Geskekelud was greatly amused with this result, so he searched for another creature. He noticed a crab perched in a cave, and he gave it the same realization -- that it must choose one of the directions to move -- up or down, north or south, east or west. The crab stayed still, and began improving its cave. Occasionally it would consider one direction over another, but always decided to wait until a decision was necessary, and worked on improving the cave in the meanwhile. Time passed, and Geskekelud, bored with the non-antics of the crab, wandered to other pastimes.

When Shagras incited a war in the ocean, the crabs were safe in the cave. When the Destroyer brought a famine onto the ocean, the cave had enough stores that the crabs could survive. When Anz brought order to the sea floor, the cave was so well established that he used it as a landmark, and it was not flattened like other irregularities in the ocean floor. When Nirian purged some of the sea of its salt, the crabs survived in their cave. When the Creator brought forth a new beast that preyed on sea-dwellers, the crabs hid safely in the cave. Still the crab did not decide. But no one minded.

And the crab and the crab's family lived safe, because of the efforts to improve its home. Unlike the serpent, which by rejecting its responsibility to decide brought destruction to itself and its children, the crab accepted its responsibility to decide, yet chose to wait before doing so. With the passage of time, this responsibility made the crab safer and stronger than others around it.

Fest and Craft Fair

Well, here are some pictures from the craft fair at the multicraft store and from the 4th of July Fest. The store was supposed to be closed today but opened up anyway. I think they did OK business wise, but I didn't look at the books :) I do know that I paid for the girls to take a "Kid's Craft Summer Camp" from the 4th through 8th of August. They will make different crafts everyday, which as most of you know the girls will LOVE. The crafts are ceramic dish, marbled paper, book, t-shirt and one other thing I can't remember. It is from 11:00 to 1:30 each of those days, the craft supplies, and instructor are part of the price. I think it will be money well spent.

I think that the pictures from the rides turned out pretty. My three girls look SO cute! The fair was good, chocolate covered strawberries were GREAT! Dad took the girls to the movies, the fest, and they got home around midnight from the fireworks. Little (I guess not so little) Michael hung out the whole day with his friends eating junk food and chilling. They all rode home together. All-in-all, it was a really great day.

Legend of the Christmas Spider

THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER

(A folk legend from Germany and the Ukraine)

Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.... The day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic.

T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty.

But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold!
Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree.

Dragonflies Around The World

Dragonflies Around The World

Dragonfly is the power of light. The dragonfly inhabits two realms: air and water and the influence of both these elements will be felt by Dragonfly people. They will be emotional and passionate during their early years (the influence of water) and more balanced with greater mental clarity and control in as they mature (the influence of air).They are popular symbols in Plains Indian cultures, appearing on the clothing of the Sun Dance and the Ghost Dance as decorative features. In the southwest, dragonflies areassociated with the game animals, water, fertility and curing.
European Dragonfly Folklore:

In most cultures dragonflies have been objects of superstition. European folklore is no exception. Many old myths have been lost during the history, but fragments of these old myths are still living in old local names for dragonflies. Only in Germany dragonflies have had over 150 different names. Some of these are Teufelsnadel ("Devil's needle"), Wasserhexe ("Water witch"), Hollenross ("Goddess' horse"), Teufelspferd ("Devil's horse") and Schlangentöter ("Snake killer"). Also the name Snake Doctor has been used in Germany.

In England the name Devil's darning needle and Horse stinger have been used. In Denmark the dragonfly have got such different names as Fandens ridehest ("Devil's riding horse") and Guldsmed ("Goldsmith"). Different names of dragonflies referring to them as the devils tools have also occurred in many other European cultures, some examples are the Spanish Caballito del Diablo ("Devil's horse") and the French l'aiguille du diable ("Devil's needle"). During history the dragonflies even have been connected with love and female, the names damselfly (England), Demoiselle (France) and Jungfer (Germany) are some examples of those nice associations.

Random Thoughts and 4th of July

Well, I officially missed a posting day yesterday. Truth is...I couldn't think of much to say. Those of you who know me are saying "yeah RIGHT Jen!" I do have some stuff though. Today is 4th of July, and I am going to bring the dragonflies and spiders over to the Patch Multicraft store for the craft fair. Since is just me and one other guy I guess I should just say I am going over to hang out with the girls at the shop :) I must admit I am looking forward to seeing the new door too. I think it's great that it's supposed to be up and running today. What great timing!

While I hope that the dragonflies and spiders sell, I must say that I am just sort of excited to get out of the house and hang out with grown-ups. Don't tell the people at work, but I get bored over the summer. I am bringing my much neglected cross stitch project with me so that I have something to do. I don't know what the rush is really. I mean it's not like it's been worked on for like five years or something--yes it has! In my defense, I am also working on a tapestry for my grandmother and other things too. Like the Earth Angel one I did. JennyP might remember how I made that big beautiful project for Karen and she said it didn't go with her decor. Keep mean ugly thoughts to myself. Anyway, I am just lazy I guess. I also have a blanket I need to finish along with many other things.

Anyway, I started seeing what I thought of dragonflies with no antenna since we all know they don't have them, and I am attaching a picture of one of them so that JennyP and anyone else who wants to can comment on them and let me know what they think. YES I know I didn't use the light box, but leave me alone...it's not like I am selling it online. Let me know what you think. I have others, but I liked this orange one because it reminds me of the picture I took at my mom's house last summer. Oh and Kelly, Corrinea, and JennyP if you see me not working on my cross stitch today remind me that I want to finish it so that I can finish others :)