16

It's official- I now have a 16 year old. Teaching him to drive has been a little easier than I expected, but I think that is beacuse he has had practice with recreational vehicles. I am proud to be his mama. By the time I was 16, I have been to juvinile court a few times, & had a baby. Trent has kept his nose clean- Thank goodness!

Happy Birthday Trent!

He was so sad because he didn't think he was going to get a guitar for his birthday.

Surprise- he got the one he wanted!

Nutcracker

Cassidy & I were able to attend the nutcracker with her church group. She even got a new dress for the occasion.

Funny kids

It was announced at Thanksgiving that someone in the room had a secret. This was dinner at my parents home with  a few of my siblings. To try and narrow down the secret, someone mentioned a bun in the oven. My niece didn't understand the phrase, she came and stood by me and was trying to open the microwave. I showed her how, but then she couldn't see in. So she asked if their was a surprise bun in there. Cracked me up, she was actually looking for a surprise bun in the oven. Then she moved onto the actual oven.  It was too funny. So we had to explain what the phrase actually meant.

Bye Bye Chemo

Isabel has successfully completed her last round of Chemo.

Yippee!!

1 treatment to go

Isabel is finishing her last 36 hour treatment this morning. She has one more IV push to go and then she will be done! Yup, I said DONE! We are all very excited for her to feel normal again. She can't ait to go to school on a regular basis, and get that feeding tube taken out.

As luck would have it..

As much as my husband would disagree-

I am feeling pretty lucky.

The last few weeks we have been making adjustments to having one car. Ours was in the shop for about a week. Then my parents had theirs in the shop & needed ours. On my way home from picking up my car at my parents house, everything was driving just fine. As I pulled into the my driveway & put the car in park, my brakes gave out. The car had already shifted into park, but I could tell something was wrong with my brakes. I came in and got Nic to come look,  when we got out to the car,brake fuild was leaking out  and the line was disconnected.  3 seconds earlier, and I would have driven into my house. 3 minutes earlier & I would have been on Antelope drive. 3 hours earlier, and my mom would have been driving the car. So in my opinion, having them break where they did was just fine with me. Now my husband thinks that the car repair itself is unlucky, however, I didn't hit anyone or anything which is what most likely would have happened. I arrived home safe, no injuries or major repairs. So yeah, I am feeling kind of lucky.

Isabel Update

Isabel is currently going through a 36 hour treatment. She had test preformed today to make sure her heart was strong enough to withstand a certain chemical administered in this treatment. The last 36 hour treatment, they pulled this chemical because her heart wasn't strong enough. Today she passed and will be administered the chemical. If memory serves me correctly (lately it hasn't) this should be the last time they administer this specific drug. Which will make future 36 hour treatments, more like 24. She is so close to completing her cycles of treatment. She won't be able to start school with her class mates, but it is looking like it could possibly be as early October for her to be finished and going back to school. She currently has her feeding tube out. She has still had time for fun!

Ambers Update

For those of you who were waiting for a blog update on me:
I am doing much better, although not quite back to myself.

Friday July 13th, I wasn’t feeling well, I came home from work telling Nic I just didn’t feel right. His advice was to take some Tylenol, have some rum and take a bath. I thought it was a great idea. After doing all 3, I started feeling better. About an hour later we went to the park with family. As we got there the wind started picking up, to the point we left after about 3 minutes of being blinded by flying debris. We all decided to go back to our house and just hang out. By about 7:30 I started having pains in my lower abdomen. I went upstairs to lay dawn. I didn’t make into my room, I had passed out on the bathroom floor. I remember waking up and thinking someone must have heard me fall. Then I realized it probably sounded like kids jumping around. I was then able to make it to my room, where I passed out again next to my bed. This time Nic found me, after saying farewell to our company. He helped me up on the bed, brought me a glass of water and some Alka-Seltzer. He checked up on me from time to time- looking on the Internet, trying to match up my symptoms, and taking care of the kids- We just happened to have an extra 3 staying over that night. At first I thought it was my appendix. Nic looked on line for other possibilities. Gallbladder, food poisoning and kidney stones also fit in to the symptoms I was experiencing. After about 4-5 hours of feeling a pain I wasn’t familiar with and could no longer tolerate and passing out, Nic finally talked me into going to the ER. That was my first time going to the ER as a patient, I've been pretty lucky. No one else was there, much to my surprise, as it was a Friday evening or Early Saturday AM by the time we arrived. After going through my symptoms with the doctor, they did a few tests and they were leaning closer to the kidney stone diagnosis. After getting the test results back he announced to Nic and myself that my pregnancy test was positive. All of a sudden the world stopped for a few seconds. As my eyes met with Nics their was silent communication. We weren’t trying, so this was a surprise to us both. After further testing and about 10 more minutes, it was determined that the pregnancy was the problem. It was ectopic. They made the call to OB/GYN on call. She is a Doctor at the office I go to, but I had personally never met her. Teresa Durbin from Rocky Mountain- she will now be my Doctor for any future appointments. She was honest and kind, which anyone can appreciate in this situation. About 2 AM they took me in for surgery, she had prepped me for the worst, telling me she may need to take most my girl parts, depending on the damage. Surgery lasted about 3 hours. After I woke up enough to remember talking to her she told me they were taking me to do a scan, because they weren't certain it was an ectopic and wanted to check my spleen. I had a lot of internal bleeding, which I was told is where most of my pain had been coming from. She said after making the second incision all my girl parts looked to be in perfect health, so they didn't have to take any of them. The scan came back clear, so she ordered more blood tests. She told me I could still be pregnant and wanted to check my HCG levels. They took my blood at 9AM and told me they would take it again at 6PM and that would let her know if I was in fact still pregnant. The results came back and it was determined that I was no longer pregnant and it was in fact an ectopic. They gave me a shot to clear out any tissue left by the pregnancy and sent me home. She prescribed me some iron pills as I was low on blood, but didn't end up needing any units. I almost wonder if my recovery would have been a little easier if I had been given some. It's been a long month, but it's also hard to believe it been a month already. I am still struggling to feel normal. I run out of energy fast, can't run yet because it hurts my incisions.
 I want to Give a HUGE Thank You to those who sent flowers/plants, stopped by to visit, brought over dinner or treats. My Family and Friend support system never ceases to amaze me. Thank you for all the prayers and positive thoughts. This has been the hardest situation to go through mentally and physically. It was much easier to give birth and recover from that. I am taking it day by day, some days are worse than others.
Thank You all for your love and concern,
                                                           ~Amber

Treatment

I honestly have lost track of what treatment # we are on. Isabel went in on Thursday for her IV push treatment. Her counts were low and she had to have a platelet transfusion.

Jen had to take her into the hospital Saturday night due to a fever.  Her platelet count was 2. Normal is 300, and this was after having a transfusion. She has spots on her body, due to having low hematocrit levels (20.7), which causes a bruising like effect. Bruising easily enough that she caon't have her blood pressure taken as often as needed, the tightness of the cuff would cause bleeding. Her heart rate was up to 150. She won't be released until 24 hours of being fever free.  At about 2:00 her temp was 102. She is will be undergoing a few transfusions today to help her get better.

Tupperware

Last call for tupperware, closing date is Friday, April 27th.

Donations

I heard from some family and friends that they would rather make a direct donation to Isabels account, rather than buy tupperware or pampered chef. 
If you are interested, the following information is what you will need.

When making a payment, please call 801-442-1007
Account Number 107-542629343
You may need to confirm Jen's name and birthdate:
 Jennifer Hadley June 23, 1978

We really appreciate all the love and support that everyone has shown, they have a great support system of family, friends and church. God bless you all.

Treatment

Isabel is ready for another treatment.
She is going in tomorrow for a 36 hour treatment.


On a different note- Nate broke his wrist Saturday evening. He is going in for surgery tomorrow to have a screw put in.

Yard Sale Fundraiser

Another fundraising opportunity for Isabel. Kristin Hadley (Isabel's Grandmother) will be hosting a yard sale. All proceeds are going to Isabel's account at primary children's hospital. If you would like to donate items to be sold, contact Kristin or leave a comment.
The Yard sale will be Saturday, April 28th.
The address of the Yard sale is 1109 E 575 N, Layton.
It will run from 8:00AM-12:00PM.
**Anything left at the end will be donated.**

2nd Fundraiser Begins

**REMINDER**

Pampered Chef fundraiser
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/susanclawson?page=guestreply&showId=3608771&guestId=21977971&historyId=39284124&template=1&attend=N
It will close April 20th. 30% of your purchase will go towards Isabel's bill at Primary Children's.

We are starting a Tupperware fundraiser.

There are 2 catalogs. The fundraiser catalog will donate 40% of sales to  Isabel's bill with Primary's. This is a special catalog, some of the items are only available in this catalog.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Forder.tupperware.com%2Fpls%2Fhtprod_www%2F!twx%24eparty_ctl.p_guest_welcome%3Fpv_eparty%3Db368a02c5b767036be7a9df7abe47428&h=hAQFAYUmPAQF-vW9eTmekf7aVfg-KNEzhi77xBFYGx-_Y5Q



The second is a regular party with a regular book, 30% of sales from this catalog will go to her bill.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Forder.tupperware.com%2Fcoe%2Fapp%2F!twx%24eparty_ctl.p_dispatch%3Fpv_v%3Dinvitation_view%26pv_a%3Dnew%26pv_eparty%3Dbd56212fc40fa5235a95a9a99ca1a6f1&h=eAQG_6lpYAQFS9eBG8m4lOtTI2U3qRiV1n9VQKNcqSohxjQ

Thank you!
Please feel free to invite family and Friends to participate in these fundraisers.

Friday the 13th is good.

Isabel's surgery went fine. They were able to remove all of the tumor, with a good margin. This means that for now, no radiation is necessary.  Isabel was released today, and is feeling good. 

Counts

Isabel had her counts checked Thursday. They were very good, much better than expected. So much better, that they have moved up her surgery. She will be going in for surgery on Thursday, April 12th. The surgery should last about 3 hours or less. Her in hospital recovery should not take more than 3 days. We are hoping they are able to get all of the tumor out, so she can avoid radiation. 

She will be having teeth pulled April 20th.

Her wrist turned out to be fine, so nothing more was needed there.

She has a cute new puppy named Teddy. I will post pictures soon, as it was love at first sight for both of them.

The pampered chef party is going well. Thank you for placing your orders, it is still open for those of you who haven't yet and want to. Tupperware should be all set up to start next week. We are expecting orders to be in,  in time for Mothers day.

Isabel was out roller blading Friday night, she slipped & went to catch herself. She landed on her wrist. The x-ray didn't show a break, but she was in a lot of pain. They will be checking her again this Friday to see if a break shows up. If it does, she will be casted, if not, she will continue to wear the splint she is currently sporting.

 We are waiting for her counts to come up high enough to have some teeth pulled.

Fundraisers

Here is the first fundraiser
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/susanclawson?page=guestreply&showId=3608771&guestId=21977971&historyId=39284124&template=1&attend=N

This is for pampered chef. We are in the process of adding Scentsy & Tupperware. The procedes will be going towards Isabels account with Primary Childrens. The "party" is open from now until about mid April.

5 Day almost done

Isabel should be released tomorrow. There has been a change of plans. She is going to have surgery to try and get the rest of the tumor out. After her Doctors talked, they decided that the invasive surgery was a better option than radiation. They aren't sure how invasive it will be until she is opened up. Once her counts come up from this treatment, she will have some teeth pulled. Once she has recovered from that and her counts are good, she will have the surgery.

Update

Isabel was released from the Hospital on Wednesday. We still haven't heard back on the cultures as to which type of infection it was, but she is doing better and that is what matters.  She had her blood tested today to check on her counts. They are not expected to be high enough at this point. They will test again on Thursday to see if they will be high enough for admission on Friday for her 5 day treatment. This round of meals will be done by Nate & Jen's ward, so I won't be asking family. Soon enough with the 2 surgeries and  radiation treatments, we will be needing meals daily Monday through Friday. So between family and church, we will all have a turn, maybe two.
 I have been asked about frozen meals. This is absolutely fine. Jen has a good amount of freezer space and these are great for those unexpected hospital stays, or bad/hectic days.

Isabel

Isabel was admitted on Sunday due to fever and not feeling well. She had some transfusions, and they ran tests, confirming that she had a blood contaminant. They have postponed her 5 day treatment until next week- if her counts are high enough. She is hopefully coming home tonight with IV antibiotics for the next few days. They did CT & MRI scans today. They are using these to determine when to start and how long they will be doing radiation. They will do radiation and chemo in conjunction with each other this time. Unlike last time, when she had a break from chemo to do the radiation. She will soon be having some teeth pulled (4), due to having a small mouth. This will be in addition to the previous 4 teeth pulled. They are also going to preform a small surgery in order to preserve her childbearing ability. This will be a long few months for Isabel and her family.

Treatment underway

Isabel had her counts tested yesterday. She was admitted today, this is a 36 hour treatment.
Also, those who haven't seen yet, Isabel was on the front cover of Thursday's Standard Examiner. Her school had a little fundraiser put mostly together by Isabel's friend Boston. It is a very cute story if any of you get a chance to read it.

Blood counts

Isabels blood counts were not high enough to be admitted today. They will test again to see if she can be admitted on Friday.

Blood count

Isabel will be tested on Tuesday to see if her blood counts are high enough to be admitted on Wednesday for her 36 hour stay. 
 As for her last treatment, she has not experienced another seizure, hopefully she won't ever again.

**MRI UPDATE**

Isabel's MRI came back looking good, which leads Doctors to believe it was caused by the chemo. She will be administered her chemo as usual today, they will just watch a little closer.

Bad news

The bad news keep rolling in.  Isabels Doctor has stated that her treatment will now extend until August because of all the illness and inability to bounce back from each treatment.  They are also cutting her chemo doses back by 25%, in hopes to help her stay on track. 


Last night Isabel had a seizure, it lasted about 45 seconds. She is having an MRI done this morning. Jen is at the hospital now, Nate will be joining her later this morning.

5 day treatment approved

Isabel had her counts tested today and it's a go for her 5 day treatment. She will be admitted on Wednesday. I will be E-mailing shortly for meals.

No treatment this weekend

Isabel was admitted to the hospital last Sunday for a fever. She went home on Tuesday. While there, she received a blood and platelet transfusion. Her counts were tested on Thursday and were too low to go in for chemo. She will be tested again on Monday.

Fundraisers

Crystal & I are planning on doing some fundraisers.  Crystal will be selecting either Tony's, or Ligori's pizza and will be selling pizza's to anyone interested. This will be sometime in March.

In April, I will be doing a book party. I am looking into Scentsy, Pampered Chef, and Tupperware. If anyone in the family happens to work for any of these vendors, please let me know.  I have a person in mind to ask for each of these, but I would rather use family if I can. These will be done around the first week or so of April. I am open to suggestions if you have any.

Things to help:
Isabel doesn't eat when she is in treatment- this causes a saliva build up. Gum has been helping. Any gum for Isabel would be great.

When she is out of treatment & feeling well, anything she likes to eat is strongly encouraged. She has given her approval on Jamba Juice, Panda Express (mainly orange chicken), any sweets like ice cream, doughnuts. Any gift cards for these places would be nice.

Gas Cards- Any over night or longer stay, usually means Nate & Jen are making daily trips to the hospital.

I am looking into information on a blood drive/plasma donation. So far I have been told for each pint donated, money will be taken off the amount charged to Isabel when she  receives one. I am waiting on a call back for clarification.

5 day Treatment

As long as Isabel's counts are good, she will go in for her 5 day treatment at the end of this week. This will be treatment # 7. Last weeks IV push went fairly quick. She ended up throwing up hard enough that her feeding tube came out. Jen was able to get it back in later that night. Once we find out on the counts, I will be arranging meals.

Treatment

Isabel will be going in for her IV push treatment tomorrow. This seems to have been one of her better weeks since being diagnosed.

Released

Isabel was released from the Hospital on Friday.   She looks good and has been eating. She had a few transfusions during her hospital stay, that *should* ensure that she will be ready for treatment # 4 on Friday. This treatment is the 36 hour, so depending on when she gets admitted, it could be a 2 night stay. After the last week I am sure she will be happy to only be there for 2 nights or less.  Jen mentioned to me that after doing the calculating- Since Isabel has started her treatments, she has been in the Hospital 50% of the time. We are hoping that number doesn't stay true for the remainder of her treatment.

FYI

Just wanted to let you all know how much Nate & Jen appreciate all the support and meals that have been brought in. For those who have offered to spend time at the hospital or help watch the children at home, please understand and do not take offense that we haven't taken you up on your offers. Isabel currently has to bath 3 times a day (for this hospital stay) to help heal the the spots of infection. She is only comfortable with a handful of people helping her to do this. She also has a high intake of fluids to keep her bladder flushed of chemicals, therefore using the restroom about every 2 hours or so. Sometimes she needs help with this as she is attached to IV's. She only feels comfortable having certain people help her with this.

As for Maddie, Taylor and Easton, Maddie is in 1/2 day kindergarten. Taylor goes to preschool in the AM. Easton hangs out. Due to these circumstances, anyone watching them needs to have room in their car & car seats for travel. Maddie & Taylor have overcome the stranger danger stage, but Easton is leery of anyone that isn't his mom or dad. Once Isabel gets back on schedule for treatments (hopefully we don't have anymore set backs) It will give some of you the chance to help with babysitting. Mostly in the afternoon, once Maddie & Taylor are home & while Easton takes a nap.

Most of the meals since treatment has began have been last minute meals. Due to unforeseen issues, we have had to reschedule some of you and most haven't had a chance to bring one. Again, once we get back on track & hopefully don't have any more bumps on the road, this may be an easier way to help. If you are in a position to make and deliver a meal with about 24 hours notice please let me know, as that has been the trend thus far. Jen's work & ward have been doing meals this week. If Isabel is released tomorrow, she will have her 36 hour treatment next friday. I won't be planning any meals until she is released and her counts are high enough to be approved for treatment.

Bad Luck

Talk about your bad luck. This week was supposed to be a week off of treatment for Isabel. However, she  didn't feel well yesterday, had a fever and passed out.  Jen took her to PCMC last night where she was admitted for having an infection in her body. The infection was bad enough that it had started showing red markings on the outside of her body. She was put on multiple antibiotics. If the antibiotics didn't work, she was facing surgery to drain the pockets of infection.  It was decided tonight that enough improvement had been seen, that surgery was no longer necessary.  She will be in for a few more days to monitor her progress.

Treatment 3- Done

Treatment 3 is over. Isabel had lost 1 1/2 lbs during her stay, so they decided to go ahead with the feeding tube.  It has already been placed. Jen mixes up a formula & hooks Isabel up to it. Hopefully this will give her more energy to recover from these treatments. She will have her next treatment January 24th.

Treatment # 3 almost done.

Isabel is expected to be released tomorrow. Doctors have decided to try an appetite stimulant, rather than a feeding tube. She starts the pill tonight and they will watch her weight for 1 week.  She hasn't been eating or drinking this stay because she doesn't want to throw up. So hopefully this pill will work.
She doesn't have a treatment this next week, as every 4th week is a week off.
Cassidy & I were able to visit her yesterday, she looks good.

Treatment # 3

Treatment # 3 is currently under way. This is the first 5 day treatment. Isabel has lost 5 lbs in the last 2 weeks, so at the end of this treatment, they will be placing a feeding tube. Their are 2 types of feeding tubes, one that ends in the stomach and one that ends on the upper intestine. Isabel will have the one that ends in the stomach. It will be capped and placed behind the ear when not in use. Jen can choose to do a feeding all night long, one once at every meal. If Isabel is too nauseous, or mouth soars are too painful, or if the food tastes like metal, Jen will make a formula that she can hook up to the feeding tube. Having the proper nutrition should help her to have more energy and feel more like herself.

Treatment 3

Treatment 3 should start on Friday. Since Isabel was sick in the hospital, the antibiotics she was on may have played a part in lowering her counts.

She should be in from Friday to Tuesday. If she happens to have a late admission friday, it could take until Wednesday.

Update

Isabel was released Saturday night after a blood transfusion. She was feeling good for a few hours today, but it was short lived. They took her blood today, her numbers are not where they need to be to continue with her treatment tomorrow. Jen will find out tomorrow if they are going to take it day by day to test, or if they will wait a few days then test again. This will delay all weeks of treatment. If she happens to have her numbers high enough to start treatment on Thursday & she is released on Monday, they will wait until the following week before continuing treatment- IF her numbers are where they need to be.
After she got home Saturday night, her hair was falling out by the clumps. She to have it all buzzed off, so she did.