tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1481477708360116702024-03-13T10:17:05.600-07:00Brianne's BrigadeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-76537233998795080032015-02-01T18:45:00.000-08:002015-02-01T18:45:14.859-08:00The Bat Cave<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Brianne was so excited to be nominated to go to The Bat Cave
by Camp Soaring Eagle. It was such an
amazing experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The
evening started out with our family parking our car at a “secret location”. The secret location was a police substation
and we had Brianne convinced that we were there to meet with the police
officers to fight crime. Her eyes lit up
when a limo pulled in the parking lot with a police escort to follow with
lights and sirens on. Mr. Wayne’s chauffeur,
Charles Keller, drove us to the secret location of The Bat Cave.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> When we
arrived at the cave all of Brianne’s friends and family were there to greet us. It took her a minute to realize that she had
a special guest in the crowd. When she
saw Cliff she ran into his arms. Brianne
met Cliff when he and some of his Rattlers teammates were at the hospital
playing games with the patients. She has had
a special connection with him all throughout her treatment. He is so good to her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-snxGe5ZnAOc/VM7DtZg0ljI/AAAAAAAAAyg/fW3Qfl6LFJc/s1600/Arriving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-snxGe5ZnAOc/VM7DtZg0ljI/AAAAAAAAAyg/fW3Qfl6LFJc/s1600/Arriving.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We all
gathered in Bruce Wayne’s office to watch a video and learn about the Bat
Cave. Brianne opened the secret Shakespeare’s
bust to reveal a button that opened the bookcase entrance to the cave. We were all able to slide down a fireman’s
pole to enter the cave. Even Cliff’s
pregnant wife slid down the pole. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Everyone
got an opportunity to play with all of the gadgets in the cave. The kids’ favorite seemed to be the machine
that let out an ear piercing alarm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Next,
we were able to see Batman’s fleet of cars.
The kids (and Heather)
watched a movie in the parachute pick up van.
There were so many amazing vehicles to look at including the Batcycle
and a Black Widow Corvette. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yBnNfLQ8Lx0/VM7auGwu3lI/AAAAAAAAAzk/xBWbyW3n92w/s1600/Fleet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yBnNfLQ8Lx0/VM7auGwu3lI/AAAAAAAAAzk/xBWbyW3n92w/s1600/Fleet.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Then it
was time for Brianne to start up the Batmobile. After
Brianne ran all the checks to make sure it was ready to go she got to take a
ride in the car. Charlie was able to
drive the Batmobile around the building and he said it was really hard to see
over the dash. All of the kids were able
to take a ride in both the Batmobile and the Batcycle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Brianne
was given so many special gifts at the end of the night. She received the original Batman TV Series on
DVD. She was then given a key that will
start the Batmobile!! When she gets her driver's license she gets to come back and drive it. Not only does she get to drive the Batmobile,
but when she goes to her first dance, they will give her an honorary ride in a vehicle
of her choice from Mr. Wayne’s fleet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k-jLUmSsRys/VM7g1H43RvI/AAAAAAAAAz8/5CEAz5Y2hro/s1600/Keys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-k-jLUmSsRys/VM7g1H43RvI/AAAAAAAAAz8/5CEAz5Y2hro/s1600/Keys.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> At the
end of the night Brianne was able to give Camp Soaring Eagle and Hope Kids each
a $2,000 check from Wayne Foundation.
They want kids to be able to experience the joy of giving. It amazes me that they not only give children
a once in a lifetime experience, but they let them give back in the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B6OYttspAm4/VM7iHiKbq0I/AAAAAAAAA0I/laYTaENuobM/s1600/Checks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B6OYttspAm4/VM7iHiKbq0I/AAAAAAAAA0I/laYTaENuobM/s1600/Checks.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> We cannot thank Mr. Keller and Wayne Foundation enough. This was a night our family will
never forget. All of the volunteers,
staff, and police officers took time out of their night for Brianne, which we will
forever be grateful for. We are so thankful
to all of our friends and family who helped to make the night so much fun. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-59272272360788807392014-10-29T13:51:00.000-07:002014-10-29T13:54:23.856-07:00"OT"<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I just realized that my end of treatment post did not post or save! I bet you all thought that I gave up on updating the blog. Sorry, it is going to be a long update to get caught up from the last one. OT (off treatment) life has been busy....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brianne ended her treatment on June 29th. She had a few friends spend the night and keep her awake so we could celebrate her last chemo at 11:30 p.m. We could not have been more excited.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">795 days of treatment DONE</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kffw7NyEpZs/VFFOLeqbtII/AAAAAAAAAwI/EZJrWdS0xXM/s1600/IMG_4402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Kffw7NyEpZs/VFFOLeqbtII/AAAAAAAAAwI/EZJrWdS0xXM/s1600/IMG_4402.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ringing the gong to signify end of treatment</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Over the summer Brianne was able to go to Connecticut for eight days with Camp Soaring Eagle. She had an amazing time. She still is telling us stories about camp to this day. What an amazing opportunity for her to be able to go away. One of her favorite nurses was on the trip which made her more comfortable to leave us for a week. She has made some amazing friends at camp and cannot wait to go back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In July we celebrated Brianne's No More Chemo Party and her 9th Birthday. The toy drive was such a success. We were able to fill the clinic toy closet and leave three bins full of toys to refill it when it got low. She was so excited to FINALLY be able to go to Sunsplash and ride all the water slides (something she has been looking forward to since the beginning of treatment). Brianne's first day of 4th Grade was also her birthday. She was so excited to get back to school and loves her teacher, Ms. McIntosh. Ms. McIntosh is also a cancer survivor and they seem to share a special bond. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the beginning of the school year came with lots of germs. It may take up to a year for Brianne's immune system to be that of a "normal" kid. She managed to get Scarlet Fever twice and strep throat within the first four weeks of school. She had several visits to the emergency room for fevers and a bunch of tummy troubles from all of the antibiotics she had to take. During this time I started back to school for Surgical Technology. It was too hard for me to be away full time on the opposite side of town when Brianne was feeling so crummy, so I withdrew from my program. I have since enrolled in an online Bachelor's Degree program through the University of Phoenix. This will allow me to be around when Brianne needs me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brianne has continued to do well. She is learning to play the piano and is taking ballet classes several times a week. She is very excited to be in The Nutcracker this year. Physical therapy and orthotics have helped with her walking some. She is working hard on her stretching to help make standing flat footed more comfortable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last Saturday Brianne developed a fever in the middle of the night. We still have to go to the ER because of her port. She had her antibiotics and blood work and she was discharged at 3:30 a.m. She felt fine and was only worried about missing her baptism in the morning. She woke up feeling great and was baptized in the morning. She is so blessed to have so many friends and family that came to support her. Sunday night the fever came back and we found ourselves in the ER again. It was terrible. It took three pokes and a lot of digging around to get her port accessed. She had antibiotics and was discharged again. She woke up Monday morning feeling great....until the hives started. We headed to the clinic where they determined that she is probably allergic to Rocephin now. She was a rockstar when they had to do a blood draw from her arm for pre-op labs. We are so excited that she will be getting her port out a little early to avoid her needing IV antibiotics. <b>She will be "deported" on Tuesday, November 4th!! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We are so excited to be teaming up with Jette's Journey Foundation to redecorate clinic room 1. All of the rooms are very boring right now, except for the two that have been redecorated. Brianne has come up with an amazingly girly idea for room 1. Redecorating comes with a hefty price tag so we will be fundraising throughout the next few months. Here is one of the rooms that has been finished already. If you would like more information about the upcoming fundraisers visit <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1480271725595213/">https://www.facebook.com/events/1480271725595213/</a></span><br />
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<b>As always, we appreciate all of your love, prayers, and support.</b></div>
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Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-84629225763105719682014-06-01T07:01:00.002-07:002014-06-01T07:01:14.008-07:00Happy Survivor Day<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not only is today <span style="color: #bf9000;">Survivor Day</span>, but it also marks the first day of Brianne's <span style="color: magenta;">LAST</span> month of treatment. June 30th will be here before we know it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Brianne has been doing well. She finished school on Friday and earned straight A's all year long. Mrs. Olin was an amazing teacher and we are going to miss her. She started off our busy summer spending time with a bunch of friends and going to a birthday party. Today she is excited to go to Flip Side for the Survivor Day event put on by the hospital she goes to.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Last month Brianne had her <span style="color: magenta;">LAST</span> spinal chemo. I am so happy that she will only have anesthesia one more time for her port removal in December. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">We went camping with friends over Memorial Day weekend and were able to celebrate Brianne's 2 year cancer free anniversary while we were there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">We also had Brianne's Gold Hope Project photo shoot this month. We truly appreciate Joyful Gestures Photography for taking time during the busy graduation season to take picture of Brianne. We had a kitten follow us around during the photo shoot that Brianne named Mr. Pokey because he was trying to get in a cactus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">Brianne is so excited to be leaving for Connecticut on Tuesday with Camp Soaring Eagle. She picked out the biggest suitcase she could find. It will be very strange not having her around for 8 days, but I know she will come home with lifelong memories. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;">As always...we appreciate all of your love, support, and prayers throughout this journey.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: large;"></span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-40107766800586936732014-02-20T17:42:00.001-08:002014-02-20T17:42:22.792-08:00Starting the Count Down<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It seems like Brianne's end of treatment is just around the corner. Only 18 weeks of treatment left! Today Brianne had her spinal chemo along with Vincristine in her port. I could not be happier to say that she only has <span style="color: magenta;">ONE</span> more spinal chemo treatment left. We are starting to plan Brianne's No Mo Chemo Party. We cannot wait to get together to celebrate Brianne finishing treatment and to thank everyone that has supported our family along the way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brianne has had a rough start to 2014. For about a week Brianne had a dry throat, but it didn't seem to slow her down. Everything changed when she woke up at 2:00 a.m. with a 102.7 fever and vomiting. We rushed her to the hospital because with a fever over 100.4 the doctors worry about central line infections so antibiotics must be administered ASAP. Brianne threw up the whole way to the hospital and about every 10 minutes until she got a second dose of antinausea medication. Even though her blood counts were great she was still admitted due to the high fever and heart rate. Brianne spent three days in the hospital. The doctors believe she just had a virus, but her fevers kept coming back so she stayed on IV antibiotics while we waited to make sure her blood did not grow any bacteria. When she was feeling good she had a great time making art projects and during music time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brianne was discharged just in time for us to go to Camp Soaring Eagle Family Camp in Sedona. Once again it was nothing short of amazing. The moms got to go shopping at Allie Ollie and pick out a new outfit along with going out to lunch at the golf course. Brianne loved all the arts and crafts, archery, and games. Brianne was on steroid during camp so she had a few "unhappy moments", but overall she had an amazing time. We cannot thank Juan, Maria Elena, Tyler, and all the volunteers for everything they do to make these trips possible. Brianne is so excited to spend a week with Camp Soaring Eagle in Connecticut this summer. It will be such an amazing experience for her and I am sure she will come home with new lifelong friends. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had so much fun celebrating our friend Payte's end of treatment. Payte, Bella, and Brianne all had the same type of leukemia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Five days after we came home from camp Brianne ended up with a fever again. She had a flu swab, chest x-ray, and UA. When everything came back clear we were sent home with instructions to follow up at the clinic the next day for more antibiotics. Brianne was placed on 10 days of a new antibiotic for what the doctor suspected to be a sinus infection. She has been feeling great since finishing the antibiotics. I just wish she would get rid of the lingering cough. It sounds horrible! Unfortunately, with adding the antibiotic Brianne's counts were screwed up this week. Her ANC dropped to 840 when she normally runs in the 1200-1500 range. She will go back to the clinic in two weeks for another count check to make sure she doesn't drop any lower. Until then we will be extra diligent with keeping germs away, which is hard during flu season. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have to post one more video....the Forever Young Zone was doing Winter Olympic today. Here is Brianne and her nurse Christine curling :)</span></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As always, that you for all of your prayers and support.</span></div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-68252688193370981702013-12-29T16:00:00.000-08:002013-12-29T16:00:17.222-08:00Bring on 2014<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are so excited for 2014! Tomorrow will begin the <span style="color: #cc0000;">six month countdown</span> to end of treatment for Brianne. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Brianne continues to excel in school. She has had straight A's for the first and second quarter. She loves her new school and has made a lot of new friends. She is in an afterschool club that made cards for kids that were in the hospital during the holidays. We met a couple of the girls from the club at the hospital to deliver the cards and treats to Mr. David.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Brianne's monthly chemo day fell on Halloween again this year. She trick or treated around the clinic and all the nurses and staff were dressed up as Minions. She felt good enough to go trick or treating with her friend Kaylee that night.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We spent Thanksgiving up north at Kohl's Ranch with Charlie's family. It was a nice relaxing holiday. Brianne had spinal chemo the day before Thanksgiving. Thankfully she felt pretty good most of the weekend with the exception of a few stomachaches.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Christmas season was full of family, food, and fun events. We were able to attend the Hope Kids Christmas Party at Metro Auto Auction. It was incredible. There were carnival games, pony rides, delicious food, crafts, and more. Brianne didn't have to have her monthly chemo infusion until the 26th, so she felt great for all the holiday fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As for Brianne's health, she has been doing great. Her ANC (measure of immune system) continued to be outside of the 500-1500 range that her protocol targets. She was staying between 1700 and 1900. To lower her ANC they upper her weekly methotrexate dose to 125% at the beginning of November. Fortunately at this dose her ANC is now running right where it should be, 1200s. The increased dose of methotrexate has led to some not so fun side effects. Her hair is falling out again. We are hoping that it is just going to thin, but it has been falling out everywhere since Thanksgiving. Also, in the last couple of weeks Brianne developed a rash on her face around her eye and down on her cheek. Thankfully, her current steroid pulse has seemed to help the rash immensely. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We cannot thank everyone enough for all of your support and prayers for the past year. 2014 is going to be a great year!!</span></div>
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Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-15919605486288535432013-09-03T06:48:00.000-07:002013-09-03T06:48:15.912-07:00Summer VacationI know it has been a while since I have updated the site so there is a lot to catch up on.<br />
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Brianne finished 2nd Grade and stayed on the honor roll the whole year. Some kids on chemo have a hard time with school, so I was very happy that she didn't seem to experience any problems learning. We decided to switch schools for Brianne this year. She is going to a charter school right around the corner from our house. She loves that it is close enough to ride her bike and we are hoping that she will meet some new friends in the neighborhood. So far she loves the school. It was a hard decision to make because we were very happy at Noah Webster, but the smaller class sizes and having the school in our neighborhood has proved to be a great move for Brianne.<br />
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Brianne had a ton of fun over the summer being able to spend time with her grandma, cousins, and Brooke while I was at work. She swam practically every day. We went camping over 4th of July with friends and family. Summer was a bit shorter for us this year, as American Leadership Academy started on July 29th.<br />
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Brianne and I were able to go visit our friends in Texas. They were kind enough to give us vouchers so we could make the trip. Reagan and Brianne played non-stop for the six days we were there. It was so nice to be able to catch up with Lori and Dean and see their beautiful new home. The highlight of Brianne's trip was being able to go to the American Girl store. We had lunch there and let the girls each pick out a couple of outfits. The girls have already decided that we will take turns traveling back and forth so they can see each other over the summer.<br />
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Brianne also turned 8 this summer. We had a small party at our house. She is looking forward to hopefully having a huge swim party next year for her birthday and to celebrate her completing treatment. She expressed several times this summer that she wished she could go to a public pool, but unfortunately it is not safe enough for her at this point. Although it upsets her, she understands that we are always going to make decisions based on her safety. She is so grown up for her age.<br />
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Medically Brianne has been doing wonderful. Her counts have remained right where the doctors want them so she is still only being seen once a month and she is still taking 100% chemo doses. Our only complaint is the rebound affect from the steroids. About a week after she stops her steroid pulse she develops horrible congestion that turns into a nasty sounding cough. Luckily it does usually come with a fever, just a lot of restless sleep, and annoyance. If this is the worst side effect she is going to experience we will take it. Brianne is scheduled for her spinal chemo on Thursday, which means we will take a quick trip to the clinic on Wednesday for a count check.<br />
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We appreciate all of your continued prayers and support. It is Childhood Cancer and Leukemia Awareness month in September. Stay tuned for ways to Go Gold. <br />
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<br />Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-79546434126774733002013-05-27T10:48:00.002-07:002013-05-27T10:48:50.677-07:00A Wish Come True...<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Sunday morning we were picked up by an Excursion Limo to take us to the airport. Brianne thought all of the color changing lights were really neat inside of the car. We were met by Christie, one of Brianne’s Wish Granters who took us through ticketing, which is where we met Bonnie. Bonnie was our personal airport helper. She took us through security, to get food, and to our gate. She walked us on the plane before it was time to board so Brianne could meet the pilots and sit in their seat. We were met in Florida by Jojo from Give Kids the World. She made sure we had our rental car and bags and sent us on our way to the Village. We had a late dinner from Katie’s Kitchen and settled into our villa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday morning Brianne was up early and ready to go. We were able to explore the Village a little before going to breakfast. We ate breakfast in the Gingerbread House every morning thanks to Perkins Restaurant and a lot of volunteers. We were not even aloud to carry our own trays, there were volunteers for everything. Brianne was able to meet Pluto, Goofy, and Mickey at the Village after breakfast. She brought her Mickey stuffed animal that was given to her the night before to have it autographed. Brianne and Charlie played in Amberville (an arcade) while I went to orientation to pick up all of our tickets. Brianne chose to go to The Magic Kingdom first. We spent half of the day riding a lot of rides including Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, etc. Brianne’s favorite ride by far was Thunder Mountain Railroad. We rode it over and over. Thanks to the Fast Passes we did not have to wait long to get on any ride. Brianne was so excited to go swimming at the Village that we left early to spend time at the pool. It was too cold for me, but Charlie and Brianne had a great time swimming. There is a party every night at Give Kids the World. Monday was Halloween. Brianne picked out a Cinderella dress to wear. The kids trick or treated, played games, and made crafts.</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26EBSkLCYOE/UaORWJ2mqNI/AAAAAAAAAfE/SG7WxivVpCw/s1600/IMG_2250-2392%2528rev+0%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-26EBSkLCYOE/UaORWJ2mqNI/AAAAAAAAAfE/SG7WxivVpCw/s320/IMG_2250-2392%2528rev+0%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">T</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">uesday Brianne woke up early and wanted to make her pillow at the Pillow Tree. The tree gave her a blue pillow with an owl design. After a big breakfast we headed out the Animal Kingdom. We rode a safari truck where we were shown a lot of animals. Brianne was our sections mascot in the Lion King show. She had to pretend to be a giraffe and danced around with the monkeys. There was a fun river ride that got Charlie really wet. She was also brave enough to ride Everest. She only rode it once though, she was not too excited about the Yeti chasing us or the backward drop. Charlie won a huge dragon in one of the carnival games, but it was too big to take home so we donated it to the Gingerbread House. Tuesday night was Mayor Clayton’s Birthday Party, which meant more games, crafts, cake and ice cream. After the birthday party we went with our friends, The Wards, to the park with the worlds largest Candy Land game. I am so glad we were able to meet The Wards. I had talked with Vanessa for a whole year online in a group of moms with children with ALL. Brianne had so much fun with Kayley and Erin.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wednesday we decided it would be our "long" day at the parks. Before breakfast we stopped at Keaton’s Korral and rode horses. We wanted to see a light parade or fireworks show. The day started off at Hollywood Studios. Brianne was excited to ride the Toy Store ride that involved shooting at targets. She was able to take pictures with Phineas and Ferb, Buzz and Woody, and lots of other characters. Brianne wanted to take a drawing class. The class chose Snow White to draw. We ate lunch at the 50's Prime Time Café where you get a dessert if you are part of the clean plate club. We played in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. After we were done with Hollywood Studios we went back to the Magic Kingdom to ride Brianne’s favorite rides again. They parade was not happening that night so we went back to Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic Show. The characters were all on boats and images from movies were projected on a wall of water. Brianne was exhausted by the end of the day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday we went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The two parks are within walking distance of each other with a shopping complex in between. At Universal Studios we were turned into Minions in a 4D Despicable Me ride and we watched a 4D Shrek movie. There was a playground with a very small water slide for the kids to ride. Brianne thought Charlie and I should take turns going with her. The small slide got us very wet! We rode the ET ride before we moved on to Islands of Adventure. There was a Seussland with all Dr. Seuss themed buildings, carousel, and rides. Brianne had her face painted while we were there. We also rode the Harry Potter and Jurassic Park rides while we were there. Thursday night was Christmas at the Village and it snowed! All the kids were able to take their pictures with Santa and then pick out a present. Brianne picked the game of Life. We ended the night with a trip to the ice cream shop and a trip to the park. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Friday morning Brianne decorated her star for the Castle of Miracles. Every wish child receives a star that is placed on the ceiling. There are so many stars! What a perfect day to make a wish on a star, it was Brianne’s one year diagnosaversary. After breakfast we left for Sea World. We started our day at the Shamu Show. We sat at the top of the Splash Zone, but did not get wet. We found out that all Wish Kids get to feed all of the animals, so Brianne was able to feed the Sea Lions, sharks, stingrays, and the dolphins. She would put her hand under the dolphins chin to say thank you and throw fish in their mouth. She tried to feed more than one dolphin, but one followed her everywhere. To thank her, it soaked her when she ran out of food. There was also a fun log ride called Atlantis there. Charlie rode the Manta, which is a roller coaster that you ride on your stomach. She had a caraccture done while we were there. We made a stop at the LaTiDa Spa at the Village for nails and airbrush tattoos. Friday night was the Pirates and Princesses Party with Shamu. The kids danced, had make up put on, did crafts, and officially crowned princesses. Brianne decided at 8:30 that she was tired and needed to go to bed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday came way too soon. We decided we would spend the day exploring the Village before we had to catch our plane. We played DinoPut and the games at Amberville. On the way to the airport we stopped at Downtown Disney for souvenirs. Brianne wanted a Minnie Mouse pencil box and a baby Dumbo. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our trip went by way too fast, but that is what happens when you are having fun 24/7. We are planning on going back in a few years to volunteer at GKTW. We could not have imagined in our wildest dreams a trip so amazing. I know I left out so many details including the all day long ice cream parlor, unlimited carousel rides, and special presents that were left in our villa everyday. We are truly blessed. </span></div>
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</span><br />Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-20809021406321542102013-04-04T18:29:00.000-07:002013-04-04T18:29:02.551-07:00A Much Needed Update....I cannot believe the last time I updated this site was in January! We have been so busy with normal everyday life that it has slipped my mind to keep updating. Brianne has been feeling great overall. She continues to make it to school most days and is participating in baton after school four days a week. <br />
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In February Brianne received her Peach's Neet Feet and they are amazing. This organization personalizes shoes for sick kids. The artists are so incredibly talented. Brianne loves her new shoes.</div>
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The first weekend in March Brianne walked in the Children's Cancer Network Fashion Show. She picked out a dress with leather jacket, purse, and jewelry. She did a great job walking in front of 800 audience members. </div>
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She was also able to go to the Run to Fight Children's Cancer. It was COLD! Brianne danced, had her face painted, and played a few games. We participated in the quarter mile survivors walk, but Brianne did not want to walk, she ran the lap and then came back to finish with us. </div>
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Brianne started her second cycle of maintenance a few weeks ago. Her counts have remained stable so she has stayed at 100% dosing of all of her chemo medications. Unfortunately she caught a cold last week. She woke up on Thursday a little congested and by the end of the night we were in the ER because she spiked a fever. Luckily her counts were good enough for us to go home. Thursday night and Friday morning she began coughing and not feeling well. I took her back to the clinic for another count check to make sure she was o.k. for the weekend. On Monday she spiked a temperature again, so we were back to the clinic (luckily we do not have to go the the emergency room if she spikes a fever during normal business hours). She had a bag of fluids and another dose of antibiotics to cover her in case of a line infection. Finally she is starting to feel much better and the congestion is clearing up. Right when life was normal a "cold" put us back in our place. A simple cold required a trip to the ER and three doctor's visits within six days. Hopefully the change in weather will keep her healthy for a while.<br />
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We are very much looking forward to another busy month. Brianne has her Make A Wish trip coming up!Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-6631139418582872212013-01-23T12:19:00.001-08:002013-01-23T12:19:22.412-08:00Camp Soaring Eagle<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last weekend we had the opportunity to spend four days with Camp Soaring Eagle at The Briar Patch in beautiful Sedona, Arizona. We had an absolutely amazing vacation with nine other families that have a child with cancer. The Briar Patch is a 9 acre bed and breakfast with Oak Creek running along side the grounds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kids had Wiggle and Giggle time with Cool Whip, a.k.a. Dr. Jake, and Courageous the Eagle. Most parents joined in on the dancing and we got quite the workout. Brianne's favorite dance was "Ice Cream and Cake".</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The kids had activities all day long to participate in. They made jewelry, sand art, played games in the field, made drums, and shot archery. I heard that Charlie was quite funny at the relay race. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The camp also had activities for the adults. Charlie and I both had creek side massages that were amazing. They also brought in three ladies from an Aveda Salon to do hair and facials. The moms all got a very special treat. We were taken out to lunch at Red Rock Cafe. There were beautiful hand-painted wine glasses for each of us. After lunch we went across the street to a Allie Ollie. There we had champagne and shopped. The store donated an entire outfit to each of us moms. I was able to get pants, a cami, shirt, belt, and jewelry.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_-S-nAB22Cc/UQA7NKbC5CI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/O94b9v4KQEA/s1600/image+(26).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_-S-nAB22Cc/UQA7NKbC5CI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/O94b9v4KQEA/s320/image+(26).jpeg" title="At Allie Ollie" width="297" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> At Allie Ollie</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday afternoon we were able to paint our leaf on the totem pole. The pole will be standing at The Briar Patch for us to visit whenever we would like. Not only did the pole get painted, but the kids, nurses, and volunteers were painted too. The pole of courage was carved by one of Brianne's favorite nurse's husband, Bob. It was a lot of fun to watch the progress each day.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X2PA4N_K5MU/UQA_3OYt6aI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ZKHaF9ieu8M/s1600/IMG_1721%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-X2PA4N_K5MU/UQA_3OYt6aI/AAAAAAAAAKE/ZKHaF9ieu8M/s200/IMG_1721%5B1%5D.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Madison painted Brianne's face</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Nurses Stephanie </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and Christine</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Sunday night the parents all were able to have a date night. We went to the lodge for a prime rib dinner while all of the kids stayed with the volunteers to play bingo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday it was time for us to go home. There was a beautiful closing ceremony Each child was presented with an amazing quilt to keep them warm. The ceremony ended at the field with the raising of the totem pole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We cannot thank The Briar Patch, Camp Soaring Eagle, staff, and volunteers enough. This was an amazing get away for our family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-693891293009672552012-12-30T08:23:00.000-08:002012-12-30T08:23:02.098-08:00Happy Holidays<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We decided to go back to Flagstaff and spend a day in the snow with Lydia and Vin. Brianne did not last very long in the snow, but she did sled down a small hill a few times.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am very happy to report that Brianne had an amazing Christmas. I was worried we were going to end up inpatient due to Brianne's congestion, but she did not get a fever so we were able to manage her symptoms with Benadryl. We were able to go to the annual Pasko Family Christmas Party on Saturday and to the Hopkins Christmas get together on Sunday. We chose to lay low on Christmas Eve so that we would not tire Brianne out too much. It seems like everyone has been battling respiratory illness and we did our best to avoid it. The one thing we did on Christmas Eve was go to church. We had not been to church since Brianne's diagnosis, but because the kids stayed with their parents for the service I was not worried about her being exposed to too many germs. It was great to be back at church and I am hoping we will start to be able to attend more regularly next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christmas morning Brianne woke up at 2:50 ready to start opening presents. She was very excited that Santa brought the American Girl Doll that she wanted. A family from the clinic "adopted" Brianne and went way overboard. She had about 50 presents under the tree to open Christmas morning. We spent the afternoon with Charlie's side of the family opening gifts and eating a delicious meal.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne with her American Girl Doll she named Bri. They have matching PJs thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Doras.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are all of the gifts that the family from the clinic purchased for Brianne along witht he Lego table the Dad and Grandpa Hopkins built for her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First thing Wednesday morning we were at the clinic for Bri's count check. Her counts were great and she cleared to start Maintenance for Thursday. Thursday Brianne had spinal chemo and Vincristine through her port. She will receive nightly oral chemo until the summer of 2014 along with lumbar punctures every three months, Vincristine in her port monthly, and 5 days of steroids monthly. We are very excited to get started with this last phase of treatment. The nurse explained maintenance as being like Italian cooking, there is no real recipe you just adjust things until everything is right. We will be going to weekly appointments for a while and hopefully slowly working towards only coming in once a month if counts are within normal range.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne is very excited to go back to school. As long as her class is healthy enough she should be returning on January 7th. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hope everyone is having a great holiday season. Happy New Year!</span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-18405754517507423502012-12-13T13:25:00.000-08:002012-12-13T13:25:16.745-08:00The North Pole Experience<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne had an amazing time in Flagstaff last weekend at The North Pole Experience. We were greeted with a room full of gifts for Brianne including an Elf University sweatshirt, sugar cookies, a Ram Rocket, ornament, and lots of other sweet treats. We had a great time during the experience with Brianne's cousins, Connor and Kylie. We enjoyed a "sleigh" ride through the woods after dinner. In the morning we had breakfast with Santa, played at the playground, and packed up to go home. It was great to be able to meet Morgan and her whole family while we were up north. She is the person who made our trip possible. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">Brianne with Santa's Oldest Elf, Alabaster</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday morning Brianne had her LAST dose of chemo for her frontline treatment. This is the first time she has ever said she did not want her medicine. She told me she didn't want to feel sick. She slept most of the day after her chemo and threw up in the evening. Tuesday was spent laying on the couch. Brianne threw up again this morning, but seems to be doing better this afternoon. She has started eating again, so hopefully the side effects are behind her. If all goes as planned she will never have to take IV methotrexate again, which she is very happy about since this seems to be the medication that is making her so nauseated. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have a meeting with Brianne's school tomorrow to discuss her going back to school in January. She is very excited to be back in school, I am a little nervous about the flu season. Brianne will have count check the next two Wednesdays and will start her maintenance treatment on December 27th. Maintenance will consist of daily oral chemo, monthly IV chemo, and spinal chemo every three months.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">We hope everyone is having a very happy holiday season!</span></span></div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-77703466785207330982012-11-28T06:58:00.000-08:002012-11-28T06:58:30.240-08:00Thankful<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I am sure that a lot of people would look at our current situation and wonder how we could say we are thankful. Even though the past 7 months have been incredibly difficult, they have also taught us to be thankful for the little things. We have the most amazing support group of friends and family. Brianne is in so many people's daily prayers, and the prayers are all being answered. God is good! I am thankful that I was able to stop working to take care of Brianne. There are so many children left at the hospital alone becuase their parents cannot afford to miss work. I am thankful for strangers who have become friends. The list could go on and on....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now to catch up on all the fun stuff Brianne has been doing. On the 15th we went to the hospital for a Children's Cancer Network event. Brianne was excited to see her friends Grace and Bella there too. They made scarecrows, pumpkins, and cards along with painting nails and getting makeup. </span><br />
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Brianne, Bella, Grace</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Wednesday before Thanksgiving Brianne had her appointment for chemo. The nurses decided to give her the chemo VERY slowly in hopes that it would minimize the side effects. IT WORKED! Brianne did not feel horrible from her increased dose of methotrexate. We gave her Zofran around the clock for the next two days to insure that she would not get nauseated. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne had a great Thanksgiving. We were able to go to both side of the family to celebrate. Brianne even ate some, which is pretty rare the day after chemo. We went on a bike ride Thanksgiving morning, and guess who was at our door when we returned...Heidi (our Elf on a Shelf). I wish I had my phone recording when Brianne saw the package at the front door, she was so excited. </span><br />
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Heidi made Brianne an ornament out of perler beads.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne may have had a little too much fun on Thanksgiving. She ended up spiking a fever of 101.1 on Friday which landed us in the hospital. When we arrived we realized that her hemoglobin had dropped to 8.3. After receiving a blood transfusion on Friday night Brianne was back to her normal self on Saturday morning. We were already planning on stopping by the hospital on Saturday to drop off all the toys we had collected from neighbors, friends, and family. Brianne was so excited to help fill the toy closet. She even sold some of her toys so she could purchase new toys for the hospital. For those who do not know, any child at the hospital who has to have something painful done gets the reward of going to the toy closet. It is a great way for children to not focus on the pain, but to get excited about a new toy. We are very thankful to all those who donated.</span><br />
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4 carts full of toys filled the once bare toy closet to the brim. Thank you Connor, Carli, and Dawson for all your help.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne was excited to help The Purple Society with their bagel and cookie delivery. The Puple Society was founded by a girl named Natalia with a brain tumor. She earned her angel wings, but her family is continuing to follow her dreams. Brianne was able to tell Natalia's parents that she had her Natalia bear in her hospital room that she received at one of the Purple Carpet events that they put on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We were able to leave the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Dr. Smith said Brianne was way too healthy to have to stay the normal three days. We spent Sunday and Monday decorating the house. Yesterday Brianne had to have her counts checked to make sure she hadn't dropped too far. Her hemoglobin and platelets were great. Her ANC dropped to 750. We are praying it does not go any lower, because it needs to be 750 on Thursday in order for her to get her chemo on Friday. We do not want any delays. The way her chemo schedule looks now she should feel well enough to enjoy the North Pole Experience for a night and have the two weeks before Christmas completely off with no chemo.</span> </div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-51554809763525635392012-11-13T14:06:00.000-08:002012-11-13T14:06:22.998-08:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had a lot of fun at the Botanical Gardens for Brianne's class field trip on Tuesday. We met them there to avoid the germy bus. It was hot and the kids were all cranky because they were hungry. The kids learned about life cycles and were able to go through the butterfly garden. The rest of the week was very uneventful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Saturday Charlie and Brianne went to see Wreck It Ralph in 3D while I stayed home to scrapbook with some friends. Brianne said that she really liked the movie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the evening was the Light the Night Walk. It was very cold that evening. We bundled up along with around 40 more walkers for Brianne's Team. By the time the walk started Brianne had on four layers on top, two hats, and a blanket. She was nice and warm. We are so fortunate to have such a great group of supporters on Brianne's side.</span><br />
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<span style="color: orange;">Most of our Light the Night Team</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday morning Brianne played with her friend Kylee while her mom, Corey, and I did our physics lab together. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Risk (Brianne's choice).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Monday morning Brianne had her second dose of chemo for this round. Unfortuantely she was nauseated as soon as the medication was being pushed in her port. She spent the whole day feeling pretty bad, but fortunately the Zofran kept her from vomiting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This morning Brianne woke up feeling yucky. She has started to eat a little, so hopefully in the next day or two she will be feeling back to normal.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne is scheduled for her next dose of chemo, which will be a higher dose than yesterday's, the day before Thanksgiving. We are praying that she will feel well enough to celebrate the holiday with friends and family, but we will also plan a backup meal for our house if needed.</span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-29763602131676806112012-11-05T05:33:00.000-08:002012-11-05T05:33:18.328-08:00Interim Maintenance 2<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last week was pretty uneventful, which was good, because the weekend was very busy. Brianne was very excited to go to her school's Fright Fest on Saturday. She had fun trick or treating, seeing some of her friends, and playing the carnival games. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Brianne and Kylee at Fright Fest</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We had to leave early because Brianne had another event to be at. We went to the Hope Kids Movie Under the Stars to watch E.T. It was so much fun to watch the movie on the 50' blow up screen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A friend from high school was there helping out at the event because her mom's work sponsored it. It was great to catch up with The Everetts while we were there. They brought Brianne a beautiful princess bag filled with tons of goodies to keep her busy while at the hospital. She was so excited to keep pulling things out of the bag, it was so thoughtful of them. On Sunday morning we woke up and went to our yearly Halloween pictures. We are missing a few faces in our group picture this year thanks to a lovely stomach bug that is going around. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday morning Brianne woke up a with a little rash on her cheeks, but by Monday morning it had gotten worse. I spoke with her nurse practitioner who told me to watch for it to spread. It never spread, and by Wednesday it was almost completely gone. On Wednesday, Halloween, Brianne started her day at the clinic. She was so excited that the clinic staff was able to dress up. We saw Goofy, cats, Minnie Mouse, Snow White, Bat Girl, a crayon, and even a cow. Brianne's counts were great, so we were all set to start her next round of treatment. </span></div>
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<span style="color: magenta;">Bri with her nurses Mackenzie (Bat Girl) and Brianne (Crayon)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After her clinic visit we went to her class party. Once again, she was very excited to see her friends. She cannot wait to go back to school fulltime again. The kids made a ghost craft, played a game, and ate a ton of sugar. We went trick or treating in the evening with some friends and I think Brianne fell asleep before her head hit the pillow. It was a very busy, fun day for her. Thursday Brianne started Interim Maintenance 2. This is her last round of front line treatment before starting maintenance. Hopefully this round will go as smoothly as it did in the past. She had spinal chemo on Thursday along with Vincristine and methotrexate in her port. She will receive Vincristine and methotrexate every 10 days for the next 8 weeks. She has had a few moments of not feeling well since her treatment on Thursday, but overall has done quite well. Saturday we tried to go to the zoo, but it was packed. Instead, we chose to go minature golfing at Golfland. It was nice to do something different. Sunday Brianne ran some errands with Charlie while I did homework. Charlie and I took a hike while Brianne spent some time with her grandma. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This week Brianne has no appointments scheduled. She is excited to go on her class field trip to The Botanical Gardens on Tuesday if she is feeling well enough. We also are excited for the Light the Night Walk on Saturday. It is not too late to register if you would like to join us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://pages.lightthenight.org/az/Phoenix12/BriannesBrigade">http://pages.lightthenight.org/az/Phoenix12/BriannesBrigade</a></span></div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-74954293627948111282012-10-25T19:06:00.000-07:002012-10-25T19:06:26.660-07:00Busy, busy...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We have been very busy this past week. Brianne has felt great, with the exception of getting tired early in the evenings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday we spent most of the day at Brianne's friend Kaylee's house. Heather and I made tutus for the walk on Sunday while the girls played. On Friday Brianne had a clinic visit. Her counts went up a little, but nothing drastic. She was high enough to not need a transfusion though. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Saturday morning I finished making tutus, and we went to Julia and Eric's reception in the evening. Brianne had a lot of fun in the "photo booth" at the event. She thought it was funny to put on the mustaches and glasses for pictures. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sunday was the Hope Walk. We had a great turnout, 26 walkers for Brianne's Brigade. The weather was perfect in the shade, but a little warm everywhere else. John pulled Brianne and Kaylee in a wagon for most of the 5K. With the help of her dad, Brianne made it to the front of the pack and did a little wobbly jogging towards the end of the walk. After the walk Lydia and Vinnie hosted a BBQ for all of the walkers. Overall it was a great day!</span><br />
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Look at all those <span style="color: #f6b26b;">Brianne's Brigade</span> shirts :)</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday we spent the afternoon at McDonald Ranch with our friends Grace and Sara. The girls rode horses, played on bouncers, rode a train, and practiced their lassoing skills. We rode on a hayride to a pumpkin patch where Brianne picked out her pumpkin. She was very tired after a few hours at the ranch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today we went to the clinic for a count check to clear for Brianne's next round of chemo. Unfortunately, she just missed counts. Her platelets were good at 133,000 but her ANC was only 680. Because she has been so tired we decided that her hemoglobin was low enough for a transfusion. Usually they transfuse under 8, but because she was symptomatic at 8.8 we went ahead with a transfusion today. We arrived at the clinic at 8:30 this morning and left the POTC at 5:00. Yet another long day, but well worth it if Brianne regains some of her energy. We will be back in the clinic on Wednesday for another count check. As long as her ANC goes up she will start her next round of chemo on Thursday.</span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-37262869268363243722012-10-18T08:18:00.000-07:002012-10-18T08:18:04.290-07:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne is still feeling great! The antifungal medication she was put on helped her mouth sores right away. Brianne had fun celebrating her Grandma Hopkins birthday and playing with her cousins on Sunday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Monday Brianne decided that she needed to clean out her room. We spent about 3 hours organizing her room and going through her closet. She is so proud of how nice everything is.</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the afternoon we met Bridget with Hope Kids along with several other families to be on EVB Live to promote the Hope Walk. She was very shy and wanted to stand in the back with me holding her. She did let me take pictures of her with Stryker and Howler though.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Tuesday we spent another long day at the hospital. We had a feeling that Brianne would need both blood and platelets because on Monday night her pulse was elevated and she developed bruising on her legs. I was surprised to see that her ANC went up to 500, but her hemoglobin dropped to 7.0 and platelets to 38. We decided it was best for Brianne to get platelets because she was bruising, even though she was not under the normal transfusion level of 20. It was our lucky day though. Spirit of Halloween was at the hospital giving free costumes to patients along with several other activities for everyone to participate in. Brianne had her face painted, decorated a mask, colored a pumpkin, and played a game. Brianne also picked out a light up ballerina dress with a matching light up wand. Brianne also had a lot of fun playing practical jokes on everyone at the POTC yesterday. She has an app on her ipad that farts (yes, my sweet little girl has a fart app. I bet you can't guess who showed it to her :)). She set a trap so that when her ipad moved it would fart. She asked her nurses Christine and Tracy to pick it up so she could get them. She also played a trick on Nancy with a plastic mouse that she got in her goodie bag from Spirit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We are getting very excited for the walk on Sunday. Brianne will be back in the clinic on Friday to make sure that her counts are safe for the weekend. If all is well, we will not go back until Thursday the 25th to clear her to start her next round of chemo on the 26th.</span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-6219884661664353692012-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:002012-10-14T10:00:39.834-07:00Hope Walk<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are so excited to be participating in the Hope Walk this year. It is only one week away. If you would like to join Brianne's Brigade in the walk it is not too late to sign up. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To sign up to walk go to <a href="https://www.firstgiving.com/hopekids/hopewalk2012">https://www.firstgiving.com/hopekids/hopewalk2012</a> and click the green Fundraise button. Make sure join Brianne's Brigade as one of the last steps.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The walk will be at 9:00 a.m. on October 21st in DC Ranch, Scottsdale. There will be late registration the morning of the event.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you have signed up and do not have a Brianne's Brigade t-shirt please email me at tiffanyarust@gmail.com so I can make sure to get you a shirt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As long as Brianne is feeling well enough we will be going to the 12 News Studio on Monday afternoon to help promote the walk on EVB Live. </span></div>
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Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-32934210255716234392012-10-14T09:43:00.001-07:002012-10-14T09:43:37.456-07:00Another phase down...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday night Brianne completed another phase of her treatment. We are very happy to have this round done and over with. We are even happier about the fact that Brianne made it through with very few side effects. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Friday we were at the clinic bright and early for Bri's count check. We packed a large bag of activities expecting that we would have to stay for a transfusion. To my surprise her counts were high enough to make it through the weekend. Her hemoglobin was 9.1, platelets 53,000, and ANC 230. The two sores in Brianne's mouth have been keeping her from eating, so she was prescribed a new numbing medication. Also, because her immune system is so low they also gave her an antifungal medication which should help the sores heal. We expect her ANC to continue to drop because her monocytes are so low. Once her monocytes go up we will know that her bone marrow is working again. After going to the clinic we went to Brianne's friend Grace's house to do a Halloween craft. She made a paper mache ghost. Brianne decided it is called paper mache because it is mushy paper. </span><br />
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne's paper "mushy" ghost</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yesterday we went to another amazing Hope Kids event. Brianne was able to wear her beautiful dress made by B. Belle Couture. Brianne was also excited to see her friend Bella. Her and Bella were the models for the day. We did a lot of browsing at Moonbeams and Brianne finally decided on a pink, blue, and yellow bubblegum necklace. There was a wishing well at the event with all proceeds being matched by Moonbeams. Brianne emptied out her piggy bank and said that she wished that all of the Hope Kids would get better. I think she brought enough coins for every Hope Kid :). </span><br />
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<span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bella and Brianne</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We will be back in the clinic on Tuesday morning for another count check. At this point Brianne is not taking any chemotherapy. As long as her counts recover she will start her next phase, Interim Maintenance 2, on October 26th.</span>Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-33672512352691350292012-10-10T10:23:00.001-07:002012-10-10T10:23:46.125-07:00Just what we expected...<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne had a count check yesterday morning. Just as we expected, her counts took a huge drop. We were surprised that her hemoglobin was SO low, because she has a ton of energy. Her hemoglobin was 6.5, they transfuse under 8. Her platelets went from 100,000 of Friday to 19,000 yesterday, they transfuse under 20,000. Needless to say, we had a very long day at the clinic and POTC yesterday so Brianne could get both platelets and red blood cells. We were there from 10:30 until 6:00. Receiving two units in one day (1 platelet, 1 red cell) is a lot of volume for a little body to handle, so it raised Brianne's blood pressure. Right before we left to go home she was given Lasix, which helps remove excess fluids from the body. It works really fast. We didn't make it out of the parking lot before Bri needed to use the bathroom. We stopped before making it a block from the hospital, and then we had to stop again about 10 miles later. </span><br />
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<span style="color: magenta; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Waiting for platelets and blood to arrive</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne is also neutropenic. Her ANC dropped to 400 so she is at high risk for infection. She is not happy about this because she wanted to go to another purple carpet premier this week. We told her as long as she is up for it we can go to the Hope Kids shopping event at Moonbeams on Saturday so she can get her special dress. Unfortunately she will have to wear a mask. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other than a few tummy aches Brianne has been feeling great. She does have a sore in the back of her mouth that has been bothering her and has also developed a large sore on her gums where she accidentally got hit by the iPad. We can't complain, for this being the hardest phase of treatment she is doing great. She has two more doses of oral chemo and then she has two weeks off to let her counts recover before starting her next round. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne will have another count check on Friday to make sure she is good for the weekend. Platelets are only good for a few days, so until her body starts making her own again she may need several transfusions. Thank you again to all who have donated or tried to donate blood :).</span> </div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Playing with the chemo spill kit after her last home injection of Ara-C.</span></div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-57229710116848637862012-10-05T06:17:00.000-07:002012-10-11T06:17:44.311-07:00Better than expected<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne has been feeling really well considering all of the chemo that she has been receiving this week. With the exception of developing a little mucositis, she has done great. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I took Brianne to the clinic today for a count check. As expected her counts have taken a major dive. Last week her hemoglobin was 12.4, today it was 9.2. Platelets went from 254,000 to 100,000. ANC is still holding pretty strong at 830. Luckily she was not low enough to require any blood products today. We will be going back to the clinic on Tuesday for another count check, because at the rate that they have fallen she will more than likely be ready for a transfusion by then. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our home health nurse came over today (twice, because the pharmacy did not courier the chemo like they were supposed to). Brianne had her first of four injections today of Ara-C. She will finish her oral chemo next Friday and then have a two week break to let her body recover. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne's doctor and nurse are very excited about how well she is doing in this toughest phase of treatment. She is our little Rockstar! Everyone's prayers are definitely being answered.</span></div>
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<br />Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-32339571046235443262012-09-29T06:38:00.000-07:002012-10-11T12:03:21.180-07:00Day 1 - Phase 2 - Delayed Intensification<div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Just a quick update to let everyone know that Brianne handled all of her medications well yesterday. We were in the POTC for 7.5 hours for everything. Before leaving Bri was having stool races with the nurses in the hallways :)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne also updated her Beads of Courage while we were in the POTC yesterday.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">I woke Bri up at 10:00 p.m. to take her oral chemo (it has to be on an empty stomach). She threw up 5 minutes later. We got her back to sleep and I woke her up again at midnight to try the chemo again. The second time was a charm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Her home health nurse came today to give Brianne her chemo injection. She is very nice and Brianne seemed to be really comfortable around her. She will be here tomorrow morning and Monday. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Other than the stomach issue last night, she has felt pretty good. I will give her Zofran before she goes to sleep tonight to hopefully avoid the same situation we had last night. </span></span></div>
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-25728474011006245252012-09-27T11:36:00.000-07:002012-10-11T11:38:30.678-07:00A short delay...<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">Brianne's counts were a little too low for her to start the second part of Delayed Intensification on Tuesday. Her ANC was 580, and it needed to be above 750. Today her ANC was up to 950, so she will start this phase tomorrow. I expect tomorrow to be a very long day. We will be in the POTC at 7:00 a.m. She will have to be put to sleep for her IT methotrexate. From what I hear, the new medication, cyclophosphamide, is very hard on the bladder and requires a lot of hydration to get it out of her system quickly. I am expecting one hour of hydration before chemo and four hours of hydration afterward. She will also be getting her first dose of Ara-C tomorrow. She needs this medication for four days in a row through injections, so we will be having home health come to our house to administer the chemo. She will have a small break and then have four more days of Ara-C. Lastly, she will be starting a new oral chemo, 6TG, that she will be taking every night for four weeks. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 16px;">If you lost count...that is 4 different types of chemo tomorrow. The next month should be the most challenging on Brianne's body, but we are praying that she will sail through this round as well as she has the previous.</span></span><br />
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-66379076606430508562012-09-21T11:44:00.000-07:002012-10-11T11:56:57.693-07:00<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Friday everyone. Brianne had a rough start to her week, but is ending it on a good note. We spent most of last weekend laying around. Finally on Monday she started to regain some energy. She also woke up Monday with a small bald spot on top of her head. Since then she has lost a good portion of her hair again and it is still falling out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #b4a7d6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne's bald spot :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tuesday morning we went to the clinic for her count check. Brianne's counts stayed pretty much the same as they were the week before. Her ANC was 620, hemoglobin 13.4, and platelets 122,000. Because steroids can falsely elevate ANC levels we are treating Brianne as if she is neutropenic. Tuesday evening Brianne was in complete agony complaining of groin pain. After the pain medication did not help for a half an hour we called the doctor and they suggested that we bring her to the ER. Four hours and an x-ray later we were told that she was constipated and that can cause shooting pain down her legs. Constipation is one of the number one side effects of the chemotherapy Vincristine that she has been having weekly. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wednesday Brianne woke up with horrible knee pain. Unfortunately, many kids develop a lot of pain once they stop taking steroids. Brianne's energy was gone the rest of the day on Wednesday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thursday Brianne woke up feeling much better. We went to The Disney Store in the morning to pick out a gift for her friend Grace's Make a Wish Princess Tea Party. As soon as the manager found out what we were shopping for she let Brianne pick out a special doll for herself and Grace along with reusable bags to help make their day more special. We went to the princess party in the afternoon where Brianne was able to have her face painted, get several balloon animals, and have a tea party with the princesses. She can't wait to hear how Grace's trip to Disneyland goes. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brianne and her friend Grace with their dolls that the manager gave them from The Disney Store</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today we ran some errands and started working on Brianne's Halloween costume. She wants to be Taylor Swift this year. I just got a call from Bridget from Hope Kids to let me know that a boutique owner saw Brianne at the last Hope Kids event and would like to design a dress for her. Brianne is so excited. Please pray that she feels well enough to go to the event on October 13th to show off the dress. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We will be back in the clinic on Monday morning to clear Brianne for the next round of treatment. She needs an ANC of 750 and platelets of 75,000 to clear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We hope everyone has a great weekend :)</span><br />
Tiffany Rusthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314620272978297327noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-84026373479303216402012-07-28T18:48:00.001-07:002012-07-28T18:48:28.566-07:00Stella & Dot<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">We are continuing our fundraising efforts along with Stella & Dot jewelry with an online fundraiser for Brianne's Bridgade. 100% of the proceeds will be going to the family. You will be able to shop until August 5th through the following link- <a href="http://www.stelladot.com/ts/to6i5" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.stelladot.com/ts/<wbr></wbr>to6i5</a> . If you contact the Stella & Dot Stylist, Elisabeth, directly at <a href="mailto:esk315@yahoo.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">esk315@yahoo.com</a> or </span><a href="tel:602-790-0629" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank" value="+16027900629">602-790-0629</a> she will be able to extend a free shipping discount to you. There is one necklace that is being highlighted it is called the "Watch Over You" necklace. It is a </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left;"> single sterling silver angel wing with glistening handset Czech stones on sterling silver chain. It really is a beautiful necklace. Become one of Brianne's Angels. Happy Shopping!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-148147770836011670.post-38208252367357710902012-07-19T09:59:00.004-07:002012-07-19T09:59:29.576-07:00It's almost time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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