12th Treatment, D-Backs Game & Toy Drive

12th Treatment

Makenzie got her 12th treatment this last Wednesday. She is doing about the same... nothing really new to report. We are still tapering the steroids. We found out she will definitely get a 3 week break (that is skipping two appointments) from chemo after the 14th treatment.

Baseball Game

Last night Makenzie and family (minus Brayden, he went to Grandma Betty's) went to a Diamondback's game at Chase Field with tickets donated by the Phyllis Foundation and Phoenix Children's Hospital. We got pretty decent seats in the Diamond level. They even threw in food money so everyone got to stuff their face with yummy expensive food. You can see from the pictures that Kenzie and Carson enjoyed their pizza. Everyone had a great time and the DBacks even won the game 5-2. Brandon Webb pitched a great game. It was fun to see him pitch.

Toy Drive

Makenzie's friend from church, Alex Peugnet, and Makenzie are collecting toys for Phoenix Children's Hospital as a service project. Alex is doing this service project as one of her projects for her young women's group. These toys are given to children who are patients at the hospital to make their stays a little more enjoyable. Anyone interested in donating toys email wcmtlmaz@yahoo.com and we'll let you know how. The toys do have to be new but they don't need to be expensive. We've found stuff at the dollar store. Many kids enjoy crayons, coloring books, art supplies, etc. as a way to pass their time in the hospital. And many of those items are on cheap right now if you watch the back to school sales.

11th Treatment

Kenzie got her 11th treatment last Wednesday. She did not get a two-week break from the chemo. She will probably get one after the 14th treatment. She is doing about the same. She's been keeping busy making cards and coloring pictures for her family, the doctors, nurses, and others at the clinic. We are still tapering her off of the steroids. So far so good. Thank you to all of you who have been helping our family with meals, cleaning, baby sitting, prayers, and other support. We appreciate it more than you know and it makes things easier for us right now.

Touching

I saw this video clip on another blog. Without fail I cried. It is a beautiful story. I heard they were on Oprah. I know I have heard their story other places. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

Trip to the Circus

Makenzie and Carons went to the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Baily Circus last Friday with other kids from Phoenix Children's Hospital. Kenzie got to get a clown face, learn clown tricks, play games, meet the mayor of Phoenix, and she got a gift bag from the circus. Kenzie and mom actually got to go out on the floor during the show and sit on the circus train. Carson was fascinated by the elephants, zebra/donkeys, and all the other animals. All of us managed to get front row seats. Kenzie and dad had tickets for the front row and it just happened that the two seats next to us were empy. Everyone had a blast.

10th Treatment

Makenzie got her 10th treatment yesterday. The doctor said her blood counts are doing well enough that she will not need a two-week break before continuing treatment. The purpose of the two-week break is usually to let blood counts build back up and her counts are good enough right now (due to the steroids she is on) that she does not need the break. We were looking forward to the break but we suppose it is good that she will be able to continue treatment. We are still tapering the steroid dosage hoping to get her off of them soon. They are nasty drugs. They increase her appetite and they make you gain weight in the face and tummy and lose strength in the limbs. Please, pray with us that she will be able to get off of them and still be able to feel well. Kenzie had a fun fourth of July. We went over to our friends the Hunt's for a barbecue and swimming. Kenzie saw fireworks twice this year. Saturday night at Lake Pleasant and Tuesday night at the Peoria Sports Complex. Tomorrow, Kenzie and Carson are going to the Ringling Brothers Circus at US Airways Arena. Kenzie will get front row seats and get made up as her favorite circus character. She will probably even get in on the act.

9th Treatment

Kenzie got her 9th treatment last Wednesday. Everything looked good and she seemed to be doing a bit better than the previous week so the doctor saw no reason to change anything. We are starting to taper off the steroid dosage. Hopefully we will able to get her off of those. Wednesday is her 10th treatment as long as her blood counts are good, then a welcome two-week break from chemo. After the 10th treatment she will get 2 weeks off after every 4 treatments or so and hopefully she will do better with more breaks from treatment. Here is a note from Makenzie:

we just got back from san diego last week we had a lot of fun it was so cool we went to sea world and the beach and the san diego zoo it was awesome at the beach my grandma got me a hot choclate at star bucks