Kenna Kicked Cancer Benefit Sale

It really has been too long since our last post and we are so happy and excited to tell you that Kenna Kicked Cancer! She is in remission and we are so very grateful! It was a long, hard battle. Kenna was very sick for a very long time. She was so strong and did her best to fight it, going about her normal activities even though she didn't feel like it. She went to volleyball camp with a spinal headache (she had a lot of those) and did many other activities fighting through the pain. She was strong and determined.

To celebrate her remission I (her grandmother) am doing a benefit sale and giving my commissions to children who are battling leukemia. I will donate my commissions to a local children's hospital and they have agreed to use the money to help leukemia patients.

I am a stylist for Stella and Dot so to support this benefit please go to stelladot.com/beckyj click on find your hostess and type in Kenna Kicks, or type in Kenna Kicks as your hostess at the checkout.

The new Summer Capsule collection just came out and I am sure you will be able to find something beautiful for yourself or someone you love and you will help support kids with cancer at the same time. Have questions please feel free to contact me at beckyj669@gmail.com

       

  

Too Long Since Our Last Post

I know! I know! It has been too long since our last post. Life caught up and it has been crazy after Thanksgiving as it has been for so many. So....we will write the "Top 5 Happenings Since our Last Post". Here we go...
1. Our trip to Disneyworld: Had a blast. McKenna felt great (Her counts were too low to get chemo the 2 weeks before.) We were able to get a "Guest Assistance" pass so it sped up our wait in lines. (The pass was something one of Kenna's cousins mentioned as one of the things she was most grateful for on Thanksgiving! :) ) We walked too much, ate too much, laughed a ton, and were so grateful to have this time together.
2. Big plans for week while others on cruise foiled by chemo: Kenna had 3 days of treatment the week we came back. I guess starting it up again after 3 weeks of nothing shocked her body. She didn't want to do most of the things we planned. We did go shopping for a couple of hours one day to find her a dress and saw the movie, "New Moon". We also watched way too many episodes of "Super Nanny". Kenna is a total expert now.
3. Lombardi Awards Banquet: McKenna attended the college football Lombardi awards with some other teens from the cancer clinic on the 9th of December. Her aunt Amy met her at her grandma's house that morning and did her hair while McKenna finished a bit more school work. She got chemo that afternoon and then changed at the hospital and left for the awards at 5:00. She had a really great time.
4. Hanging out with Friends: McKenna's counts were high when we returned from Disney. 4000 ANC!! She has been attending church, hanging out with friends, and making trips to Target.
5. Finishing this semester of school: Kenna finished school on December 17th for the holiday break. Looking forward to the holidays with her Grandpa and Grandma Johnson, Aunt and Uncle and cousins, and family and friends. Is anxious to start cooking our Christmas Eve and Christmas Feasts while she still feels up to it.
Much love to you all. Wishing you the happiest of holidays!!!!

McKenna Studies Shakespeare

In our homeschool we are taking a Shakespeare class taught by McKenna's Aunt Amy. Her two daughters Karina and Katie are in the class and other teenagers from Seattle. Although we can't physically be in the class, we can listen in over the phone sometimes and share in the assignments. We have read As You Like It and are now reading Macbeth.

Here is one of McKenna's assignments. She composed a modern version of the speech from As You Like It about the seven ages of man. Here it is:

All the world's a mall. All the men and women are merely shop-a-holics. They open and walk through the entrance doors and exit as they please. There are seven parts to this life of cha-ching!

First there is the infant being hauled around the mall in a stroller all day by his mother, who is busy trying to find the cutest outfit for her precious little baby.

Second, there is the toddler, who thinks that the mall is the perfect place for hide-and-go seek, running around and hiding in between clothes racks, until you hear a "Can Stacey please come to the food court?" on the intercom, only meaning that mother has lost her little toddler.

Third, there is the whiney little schoolgirl, hanging on the side of her little sibling's stroller, and complaining always unless mommy is buying something for her.

Fourth, there is the teenage girl, with all her friends, spending much more than her Coldstone salary, shopping at Forever 21.

Fifth, there is the newlywed as she shops for the perfect dress to wear to dinner with her husband.

Sixth, there is the mom, with her three little kids following behind as she shops for herself, at Banana Republic, and looks throught the clothes at the Gymboree for her tots.

Seventh, there is the grandmother, old and weak, shopping with her husband, realizing just how much joy the mall has brought to her over the years.

The end is when she dies. Her spirit will always be in her favorite store.

Another assignment we did was to take the violent images which the captain in Act 1 Scene 2 of Macbeth uses to describe the battle to the king. We tried to illustrate each image:

And Fortune on his quarrel smiling.

They meant to bathe in reeking wounds
Or memorise another Golgotha.

As two spent swimmers that do cling together

And choke their art.

Yes, as sparrows, eagles, or the hare, the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were

November 15, 2008

On Friday at clinic McKenna was supposed to start her next phase of treatment. (She wasn't able to start yet, because her ANC is 50 and it has to be at least 750 to start. We'll go back Friday and they'll see if her counts are high enough.) It is called Interim Maintenance. It includes a couple of meds that she hasn't had yet, so we don't know how she will react. It is, however, supposed to be less intense. Good timing for the holidays!
Next Sunday we will be leaving for Disney World. We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time. For a number of years we have been trying to do a Disney cruise with Jason's family as a family reunion. It took a little while to get the timing right to make sure no one was pregnant or had a baby too young to go. This is the year. We talked to McKenna's doctor about going and she said it really wouldn't be possible for her to do a cruise. If she were to get sick, she would need to be in a city where she could get good medical care and her doctor could communicate with the local doctors to treat her accordingly. She did say that it would be just fine to take her to Disney World....so we decided to go to Florida a week early so McKenna could participate in the vacation before the rest of the family leaves on the cruise. Her grandparents and two cousins, Katie and Karina, will also come to Disney World with us. We are really excited to have this time together. McKenna is already trying to talk her younger sisters into riding the "scary" rides with her. (I think she actually made Maddie sign a contract saying she would go on all the rides McKenna went on. I think Maddie is having "signers remorse".)
On Saturday the cruise ship will leave and McKenna and I will stay until Sunday morning. We are planning some fun things to do while everyone else is away. I told her that she didn't have to be disappointed that she wasn't going to swim with the dolphins. We could totally do that here!! The dolphins might be plastic and miniature and we might be swimming in the bathtub....but we could swim with the dolphins! (I think I really am going to make her do that and yes...I will put it on the blog!)

Update

The past week and a half has been a bit of a pain. Because Kenna is allergic to one of the chemos she has to take the replacement. Unfortunately the replacement is 6 shots (Actually 12...one shot in each leg.), as opposed to 1 dose of the other med. Because of the allergic reaction risk she has to get these at the hospital. (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) We will finish the first round on Wednesday. She was quite nauseated and sick last week. We are starting to watch her weight and food consumption more carefully. I bought her whole milk and Ensure the other day to try and sneak into some smoothies and she gave me the "if-you-think-I'm-drinking-that, you're-crazy" look. She did start feeling better by the weekend. Thank goodness!
As you noticed in the pictures posted previously McKenna still has her hair. We think that is may just thin. (Thank goodness for thick hair.) That would be such a blessing. That has been one of the most traumatic things for Kenna to deal with since she was diagnosed. It would be wonderful to have one less thing to cope with.

Rennaisance Festival

Yesterday we went to the Texas Renaissance Festival which is really big and lasts two months. They have two school days so we went for one of those. Jason went with Jacob and the Abercombie School. Kim came down from San Antonio and met us there.

It was so much fun. We saw juggling shows, bagpipe shows, mud fight shows, and the Birds of Prey show. McKenna did bungee jumping on trampolines and I got some great photos of her reactions. She and Grandpa had fun swinging but they kept accusing each other of not pulling their fair share. McKenna had never shot a bow and arrow so we did Archery. It is just fun to walk around and look at all the people and shops. We met Queen Isabella of Spain. It was fun and went along with our study of Shakespeare.

Taking Pills is a Drag

McKenna has decided she is tired of taking pills. She takes quite a few during the week. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday she takes a couple of pills twice a day that help prevent her from getting pneumonia while her immune system is suppressed. Every night she takes two LARGE chemo pills. She adds a couple other pills that keep her body running smoothly with the effects of some of the chemo meds and then tops it off with pills for nausea.
She has developed a technique that prevents her from tasting them as little as possible. First, she takes a drink of water. Second, she tilts her head back and drops the pill down her throat. Third, she takes another drink of water to wash it down. She has about a 50% success rate at keeping them down the first try. She is looking forward to the day when she won't have to take quite so many!