Pictures, Pictures, Pictures!!!

An adorable birthday blanket made by her young women's class at church. She has some of the best blankets. I may have to steal a few!


I'll always cherish this picture of us. Spending time with her at the hospital and taking care of her when she hasn't felt well has helped us become closer. One of the blessings!


McKenna and some of her friends smiling for the camera. She has the best friends!!! (Notice their "Kenna's Girls" pink t-shirts)



We had some photos taken of our family after McKenna was diagnosed with leukemia. This is one of the photos of her that I love. She felt awful that day, but you'd never know. She was a trooper!


McKenna shaving her dad's head. She seems to be enjoying it a bit too much.

Update on McKenna

McKenna had a bit of a rough week last week. The week after having her Benadryl trauma, she had an allergic reaction to one of the chemo meds they gave her. The nurse told me it happens fairly often. Because the medicine is formulated to be a slow release med, they always make sure that you have your epinephrin pen before sending you home in case there is another reaction. Kenna was thrilled at the idea. :) (Luckily we didn't have to use it.) She ended up getting another spinal headache and had a lot of back pain from a different chemo. By Wednesday she was absolutely miserable. None of the pain meds they sent us home with helped so they had us go back in for something stronger. This girl can handle her meds. She had 3 doses of morphine and didn't fall asleep! On Thursday she felt like a new person. She had good energy and no headache or back pain!
This coming Friday is her birthday. She is supposed to get chemo again, but only if her counts are high enough. If they are then it will be a very long day at clinic. If they aren't then we will go home. We are bringing cupcakes and balloons in case we need to do a little celebrating there.

Blessings and Service

As many of you know, our church and our faith are very important parts of our lives. Our faith in God and His plan for us, especially during these past two months, has comforted and strengthened us. This has been such a blessing to us.
Early on in McKenna's diagnosis, I was reading a magazine that is published by our church called "The Ensign." That day I read a talk by one of our church leaders that really touched me. It was about serving others. He taught that even in times of difficulty, serving others can bless our lives. I really felt that I was meant to read that talk that day. As we have tried to follow this counsel we have found that we are less focused on our own problems and happy being able to make someone elses day a little brighter.
I wanted to mention some of the awesome things some of our friends and family have been doing to serve others that have really inspired me.
McKenna has a sweet group of girlfriends from Northland Christian School. There are 11 girls that have a class at the beginning of the day called "Habitudes." After learning of McKenna's diagnosis they decided to do something to make a difference. They started planning fundraisers in Kenna's name (Kids for Kenna) and are donating the funds to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. They have sold wristbands, soda, and homemade notebooks just to name a few. We are so amazed by these girls and their kindness and determination.
McKenna's friends and teachers from our church have been amazing. They have been so awesome to come over regularly to visit, hang-out, or just watch movies with her. Even though she can't be at church right now, they bring it to her. A couple of weeks ago they brought over t-shirts that they had designed with the logo "Kenna's Girls" on the front and "Kenna Kicks Cancer" on the back. (They were bright pink, of course.) Everyone wore their shirts to school and work the next day. These girls mean so much to us.
My brother Jared and his wife Brittany were recently involved in a big service project in their church. It was called "The Big Give." Families were divided into groups and were asked to come up with some sort of service they could provide for someone else. Jared and Brittany's group decided to provide dinner to the Ronald McDonald House in their area of Boise. Of course we loved this idea. I'm sure those families were thrilled. (Brittany is a good cook!)
Our friend Dallin Sellers was trying to decide on an Eagle Scout project when McKenna was diagnosed. He heard of some of the facilities, like the teen room, at Texas Children's Hospital, and the need for blood donors for so many of these children. He decided to do a combined blood drive and fundraiser/party for his project. I am helping get the word out about the blood drive, so if you are able and interested in donating blood please call me and I'll give you the details.
After crocheting hats for McKenna, I decided it was a good way to pass the time while McKenna is at the clinic on Fridays. My mom has also been crocheting and we have quite a collection of hats now. We have been making fun flowers and bows for the girls to add to them. We will bring them to the clinic with us so McKenna can give them to some of the children there. I think she is excited to be able to do that. (If any of you know how to make cute hair bows...I would love some instruction!)
I am so inspired and thankful for your kind deeds and service. I am recommiting myself to do something everyday to make someone elses life a little better.

Hi everyone, Since I am no longer in Texas I can only stay in touch by phone. Jen said Kenna had kind of a rough weekend. When she got the chemo on friday she had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs. It was pretty intense for a while but she is doing better now. One of the chemo drugs makes her back hurt pretty badly, so she is taking some pain meds for that but she still remains positive. I'm telling you this girl is amazing. I talked to her last week and she was upbeat and sweet as ever. We are continually grateful for the love and prayers of everyone. The young women in Kennas ward made t-shirts for her and her family members, (they even sent one to me, thank you so much girls) the shirts are darling they say Kennas girls on the front and Kenna Kicks Cancer on the back. Everyone is so kind.

Crazy Weekend

On Friday we went into the clinic for McKenna's regular chemo appointment. Because she received chemo 4 days in a row last week, her port site was covered for those 4 days. When they took the covering off on the 4th day there was a huge rash there. They think that moisture got into the area and became infected. (Easy to happen when your immune system is suppressed.) They started doing the normal blood work they do when we first arrive, but also wanted to see if there was an infection at the port site that might have spread. Her hemaglobin was very low so they needed to give her blood before doing anything else. While we were waiting for her blood to come her rash started itching like crazy. They decided to give her a dose of benadryl intravenously. Almost immediately after giving her the dose of benadryl, she started acting very agitated. She didn't feel right. I yelled for the nurse. She came in and saw that she was hyperventilating and shaking with chills. She started getting oxygen on her and told me to grab the phone and told me numbers to start dialing in order to page for the doctor and other nurses. Her blood pressure dropped and she looked horrible. I was so scared. One of the nurses started flushing her IV with saline to reverse the effect of the benadryl. Within a couple of minutes she was back to "normal". It was so awful to see her that way.
They weren't sure at the time, but thought that any infection that might have been near the port site could have been pushed into the blood stream when they administered the benadryl. It is their policy that if they suspect an infection, they treat with antibiotics until blood tests show differently. They transferred her to the 9th floor of the hospital about an hour later.
On Saturday afternoon we spoke to the inpatient doctors. The blood cultures they took didn't show an infection. The doctor thought that it was a strange reaction to the benadryl with her blood counts being low. He told us that they would send us home later that day. We were so grateful that she didn't have an infection in her port and are grateful to be home today.

Homeschooling McKenna

I just want to report on the first two weeks of homeschooling Kenna and Lauren. They arrive at my apartment every day a little after 8:00. Jen usually drops them off when she takes the others to Abercombie.

We start out with a devotional which is a study of the Life of Christ this year taken from old seminary manuals and Jesus the Christ. Then they go into working on their assigned work. McKenna is doing Algebra with the same book her Dad used as a teen. It is a great book on an honors level that really teaches the concepts creatively. She is taking HS Biology from BYU Home Study so she will get high school credit for Biology.

The rest of the classes we are doing with her cousins in Seattle, Karina and Katie. Amy is teaching Essay Writing, Shakespeare and Grammar/Vocabulary. We are using 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary which I used with my children and is our all time favorite vocabulary book. We are reading As You Like It and writing a descriptive essay. I teach Spanish. They get two classes, one at Kenna's level which is review for Lauren, and then I skipped them ahead to be in the class with the Leonard girls which is just finishing up Spanish I. I can do this because they have so much experience with having heard a lot of Spanish when they were younger, thanks to Rocio. Then I also am teaching history using Abraham's Lincoln's World by Genevieve Foster as a text and jumping off point. Last week we read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. The history also includes some Literature. They have to work hard to keep up with all the assignments. For each class they have a couple of hours of class over the phone and then assignments to complete before the next class.

This system gives McKenna a place to go away from home, some contact with others over the phone and will give her a couple of high school credits for next year. She is so smart and organized. She loves organizing and decorating her notebooks. She gets dressed to the hilt everyday even though it is just for us. She never complains and can rest when she needs. She can lay on the couch and still do her work. She is so positive and grateful. I love her more each day.

Clarification

I just wanted to clarify my last blog. While the tests came back negative for the presence of leukemia cells in her marrow, this does not mean that there is no presence of leukemia in her body or in her marrow. The doctors are limited by the current technology that they use to test for the presence of leukemia cells. They know that there is still leukemia present in various stages in her body and this is why the treatment lasts 2 1/2 years. The next seven months of chemotherapy is still very aggressive because the remaining leukemia cells are much harder to eliminate.