Kenzie Speaks at a News Conference

Makenzie recently spoke at a news conference announcing the expansion of Phoenix Children's Hospital. She spoke along with a nurse who used to be a patient, a young man who is a former patient, Mayor Phil Gordon, Congressman Ed Pastor, and the CEO of the hospital. She did a great job and even made it on the evening news. By the year 2030 (I think) the hospital will nearly double in size.

Youngs Farm

Kenzie ended up w/ treatment on Friday. She has done great this time around. She has felt pretty good. She felt good enough to go to Youngs Farm in Prescott. All the kids had a great time. We met the Phelan's there. They just moved up there and it was great to see them. We took a picnic lunch and rode a few rides. The kids liked riding the horses. It was really crowded towards lunch time. I am really glad we got there early.
The kids had their primary program today and I am so proud they did so good and really CUTE. Both sets of grandparents came and then came over for lunch after church. The kids love their grandparents. Brayden is saying quite a few things. New words are: gotcha, dog sound, cow sound, Kenzie, bubba, dada, mama, money, breakfast, want more, up. I know there is more I just can not think of them.

Kenzie wanted to write: hi how is everyone doing i am doing fine i do not like treament but i am happy that it is going to zap the tomer it is nice to have such a big family and so much care. i get
mail so much just about every day but some days i dont get anything and brayden got a buzz cut. Look at the picture above: isn't he cute! Love Kenzie and family :)

Finally these pictures will post. I have tried and tried. I do not know why today it is working , just happy it is. enjoy :)
THANKS oliva, rachel and nanci

A Princess Room

I have so much to update you on I hope I can remember everything. I am way behind with everything. First of all, Thanks to everyone for meals, helping me clean and taking good care of our family. :) Makenzie had her Wednesday treatment. Everything went well. She is goofy and happy. We LOVE to see that.She was in the ER on Friday night. She had a fever. We can not take chances because of her port and shunt. She hates going there. The only nice thing is you say Tumor and Chemo. They rush you into the back so she is not exposed to the other sick kids. We get check out right away. Thank goodness.Kenzie's most excited these days about her room. A very special friend did a room makeover for her (Olivia Montez). Let me start off by saying: "BEAUTIFUL" It turned out so awesome. I love just going in there to look. I was quite proud of myself because Olivia liked the color we had painted her room. It is a bright pottery barn pink. She got a new bed spread that went w/ the room better than the one I had. They had the furniture sprayed white. Rachel Despain made curtains, round pillow and a chair cover. They hung shelves (David Despain) and a beaded chandelier (SP?). She is so excited to have a canopy at the head of the bed. She thinks it is cool to have different shaped pillows. Nanci Jarman helped them w/ the set up and made a really cute box for organization. To finish it off Olivia gave her the most beautiful hand held mirror. Makenzie shows everyone the mirror first thing. Thanks to everyone who help lift the spirtit of our whole family. Much appreciated.Our fiend Kelli Barkley lives around the corner from us. She has had a brain tumor removed twice. We are walking with her for the National Brain Tumor foundation. Here is a link to donate : http://www.firstgiving.com/kellikbarkleyThe walk will be held on October 14th, 2006.The rest of the family is doing well. Brayden has learned to open our doors this last week. Now the bathrooms are locked and we are trying our best to keep him out of things. Carson dropped a metal stake on his toe and cut it open. We thought we would have to take him to the ER and get a stitch but we took him to a friend dr. and he looked at it. He could have used a stitch but he butterflied it and who cares if he has a scar on his toe. Thank you so much for doing that. We really appreciate it. He probably saved us $500.Today is a half day at school so Makenzie home for the day. Her and Carson have been playing really good together. They play stuffed animals. I have no idea what that is all about or how to play but they have a great time. This still does not totally catch us up but it will have to do for now. :) It will not let me post pictures of her room. I will try tomorrow. :)

Updates

Makenzie is doing well right now. She's been off the steroids for over a month. She is walking better, getter stronger, and has more energy. She's got her sparkle back. And she's talking as much as ever. She's even back in dance lessons. Mom goes with her to help her out. She's doing well in school and staying all day most days. She seems to be tolerating this new chemo they have her on well. She did go to the ER a few Fridays ago for a fever. You have to be really careful with fevers when kids are on chemo and have shunts. But it turned out to be nothing more than an upper respiratory virus along with some congestion and coughing.

Alex and Kenzie delivered the toys they collected to the Phoenix Children's Hospital a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the work of these girls and the generosity of the Lake Pleasant Ward, the Pleasant Valley Ward, and many others they donated several thousand dollars worth of toys, clothes, and gift cards that will be given to kids at the hospital.

We continue to receive all kinds of support from so many amazing people. We are grateful... more than you can know. Things would be far more difficult for us right now if it were not for so many people helping us in so many ways. Please, keep praying for Makenzie to be healed, for her miracle.

On a lighter note

I took the boys over on Tuesday to a friends house to visit their puppies. (NO! I am not buying a puppy)! Since I deprive my children of having animals I thought they would like to go and visit. Carson has asked if we can bring home a puppy. He just asked me, as I am typing this, if he could have a puppy for his birthday next month. He said, "you can wrap him up so I can open him. It makes me feel bad because the kids really do want one. I feel like having a dog is like having another child. We had a blast and I really did want to take one home. They are so cute when they are little. Brayden was a little unsure but Carson held them like a baby. He LOVED the puppies. It is funny how they get attached to a certain one and that is all they want. He liked Jack. Here are a few pictures I took.

note to Grandma's and Grandpa's : SAY NO TO PUPPIES, SAY NO TO PUPPIES!!!!! :)

Back to School, End of Break, MRI, New Chemo

Makenzie has been in school now in 2nd grade for over 2 weeks and is doing well. She is making it all day and has only missed days for and MRI and a treatment. She likes her teacher, Mrs. Guevara. Makenzie has enjoyed her 4 week break from chemo. It has helped her feel quite a bit better. She is also off of the steroids so that should also help her feel better. Her appetite is not so out of control and she should start slimming back down and gaining strength. The results of her MRI last Friday were mixed... the swelling around the tumor has gone down, and there were some cysts in the tumor that are smaller. But there has been no shrinkage and there is an area of the tumor that has progressed ever so slightly, less than the tip of a pinky finger. But that was enough for the doctor to decide her current chemo regimen was not as effective as he would like and to change from carboplatin/vincristine to vinblastine. So she will get vinblastine weekly for a year, without breaks, unless future MRIs show that to not be effective. One good thing is that her appointment times will go from over 3 hours to about an hour since Vinblastine does not have to dripped in slowly through an IV. Please, continue to pray for Makenzie to be blessed with miracles, that she will be healed and she will feel as well as she can.

Toy Drive

You should see my living room!!!! WOW!!! We have had so many generous donations for Phoenix Children's Hospital. I love just looking at all of this stuff and thinking about what a difference this will make. It will make their stay a little more bearable. We have not taken the donations to the hospital yet. It is not too late to donate. If you would like to donate please remember it has to be new. I just found a list of items that are needed. Here is a link: https://www.phoenixchildrenshospital.com/support/specialwaystogive/wishlist.html

A big Thank You to Alex Peugnet for doing this wonderful project. Makenzie is so excited go with Alex to deliver the donations. Thanks to everyone who has donated. I will post pictures soon of everything we have received.

Camp Rainbow/Toy Drive Update

Makenzie and her family are enjoying the four week break from chemo. Makenzie is feeling a bit better. She'll get another MRI on the 25th and if all is still going well she'll continue chemo on the 30th. Dad and Makenzie went to Camp Rainbow in Prescott on Friday. We got on a bus at 8:00 in the morning and rode to camp. At camp Kenzie did arts and crafts, went down to the lake where they canoe and fish, did a scavenger hunt, ate lunch, had a sing-a-long, took a wagon ride with two mules named Dixie and Liz, and got to help paint Dr. Etzl, her doctor at the clinic. We headed home at 3:30 and had a little nap on the way home. Alex and Makenzie have collected truckloads of toys and collected over $1000 in donations that they are working on spending. It is still not too late to help... either by donating toys or money. They'll be delivering the toys to the hospital probably sometime this week.

13th & 14th Treatment/Toy Drive

Kenzie got her 13th and 14th treatment. Everything is still going about the same. We get a 3 week break now. She won't have to get another treatment until August 23rd. Hopefully the break will let her recover from the chemo a bit and help her begin feeling better. We will probably get an MRI during the break just to see what's going on with the tumor. We are hopefully just about done with the nasty steroids... maybe another week or so.

Alex and Kenzie are still collecting toys for the Phoenix Children's Hospital through August 7th. They've got quite a collection so far. Anyone wanting to help can buy toys and drop them off at Makenzie's or just donate money and Makenzie can buy the toys. Email wcmtlmaz@yahoo.com for an address to send checks or drop off toys. The toys do have to be new and suitable for kids ages 0 - 17. Thank you to all who have helped so far.