New Year Update - Another MRI

It's been a while since we updated the blog. Makenzie and her family had a great Christmas. Makenzie and her brothers were spoiled by Santa and her family. Makenzie also sang "Stars Were Gleaming" on the Lake Pleasant Ward Christmas CD this year. She went to Turf Paradise, the Phoenix Zoo, and Build-A-Bear through the Rainbow Kids and Starlight Children's Foundation so she has been having fun. She is looking forward to a Camp Rainbow reunion and going to a Coyotes game in January.

She continues to feel well and is able to do what she wants to do. She had another MRI on December 18. She did this one without anesthesia also. The tumor is still the same. It has not grown or shrunk. Of course we would like to see it shrinking, but we are grateful it is not growing. She will continue her weekly chemo treatments for now. She has been on chemo since April of 2006 so she is quickly coming up on 2 years. She could possibly be on her current chemo until August... we will see.

We also moved over Christmas break. That made the break a little crazy. We sold our house and we are staying in Makenzie's Grandpa Bill and Grandma Alice's vacant house while waiting for our house in Cibola Vista to be finished sometime near the end of April.

Updates

Kenzie has been busy lately. She is doing well in school. She is finally figuring out that she doesn't like homework. She's lost a bunch of teeth, threatening to bankrupt the tooth fairy. A week ago she spoke at Casino Night at the Arizona Biltmore. This was a fundraiser for Phoenix Children's Hospital. They had a silent auction and a live auction to raise money. They also had casino tables set up. Guest were given chips and could play for more chips. They could then exchange the chips for raffle tickets for various prizes. Makenzie played some blackjack and did pretty well with some "help" from the dealer. She put all her tickets in the IPod jar and managed to win an 80GB Video IPod worth $400. This last Saturday Kenzie and family went to the annual family festival at McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale put on by Hope Kids (http://www.hopekids.org/). She and her brothers had fun, they ate pizza, rode the train, the carousel, played games, and got a Build-A-Bear. The weather was perfect.

The Angel Adventure Walk is coming up this next Saturday. Kenzie appeared on 12 news last Friday night to drum up awareness and support for the walk.

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/news/articles/makenziemoore1005-CR.html

Makenzie has hit her goal of raising $2000 for the National Brain Tumor Foundation thanks to so many generous family members and friends. Of course, she is hoping to raise more.

http://www.firstgiving.com/makenziemoore

The Latest MRI

Makenzie has been on chemo for about a year and a half now, since April of 2006. But she has been on her current chemo, Vinblastine, for one year now. Her first chemo, Vincristine and Carboplatin, made her very sick. So the doctor switched it to Vinblastine last August. Makenzie has done very well on Vinblastine. It has not made her sick, she is keeping her hair, and her counts are staying high. She got an MRI this last Tuesday. She did great, she did not get general anesthesia for this one. She stayed awake and did a great job of staying still. There has been no change in the tumor. It has not shrunk any.... but it also has not grown. There is a possibility that some of the tumor cells are dead, which would be good. But that is hard to tell from an MRI. She would need a PET scan to determine that. So, Dr. Etzl said the plan is to continue the current chemo for another 4-6 months and then do another MRI and maybe a PET scan. Then we will have to make further decisions. Often, kids only stay on Vinblastine for one year. But since Makenzie has done so well on this medication and it is at least controlling the tumor... Dr. Etzl decided to continue the treatment. Please, keep Makenzie in your prayers. She is doing well right now, feeling good, and able to do what she wants to do.

Makenzie is also team captain for Team Makenzie. Her team is walking in the Angel Adventure Walk on October 13 at Kiwana's Park in Tempe to benefit the National Brain Tumor Foundation. She has a sponsorship page...

http://www.firstgiving.com/makenziemoore

Any donation, no matter how small helps.

Makenzie Goes to Camp Rainbow

Hi Everybody,
How are you doing? I went to a camp through the hospital called Camp Rainbow.You can ride the bus or your mom or dad can drop you off. The bus has a bathroom in it. I chose to ride the bus with my freind natalie. It is a week once a year. It is a blast. I did archery for the first time and shot about 60 or less balloons. I also rode a horse and was steering really well.I went canoeing, swimming, fishing, and arts and crafts. I made a crown that is cute. I made a necklace. I got a name tag. I learned some new songs. We got step counters and blankets with a stuffed animal. My cabin mates were nice. Their names were Jenna, jacquira, nikki, and Katie. We had a bed rock bash. I was really, really, really messy time. There was a game were we had to hold a helmet on are heads and pour some slime juice in a cup on the helmet and run to dump it in a bucket. I thought it was water but it wasn't and i spilled it on my clothse. People rubbed shaving cream on me. They also rubbed food on me. We had a pine cone ceremony. It is a time where you dedicate a pine cone to 1 or more people then toss it in the fire. We had a 50s sock hop dance.
Love Makenzie

We will add pictures when we get some!!!!

Makenzie also spoke a few weeks ago at the Carefree Resort to 400-500 people who were center directors for The Learning Care Group, a company that owns day care centers including Tutor Time (I think). She spoke about her Make-A-Wish day. Make-A-Wish and The Learning Care Group have a fund raising partnership to raise money for Make-A-Wish. Makenzie's job was to encourage the center directors of the day care centers to get involved in the fundraising by telling her story. She did a great job telling about her wish and got a standing ovation. The whole family even got put up overnight at the resort and got to swim in the pools and relax.

Updates

It's been a while since we updated the blog... but healthwise there is not much new to report. Makenzie continues to do well and is enjoying her summer. We are coming up on one year, in August, of the current chemo (vinblastine). At that point the doctors will evaluate where we go from there. It could be the end of chemo or she could go another year if she is tolerating the medicine well and it is effective. The last option would not surprise us because she has been doing well. She will likely get another MRI in July or August.

Kenzie and her family recently spent two weeks in Logan, Utah visiting her Grandma Alice, Grandpa Bill, Aunt Shelley, Uncle Scott, and cousins, Raleigh, Tyler and Sidney. Grandma and grandpa recently built a house and moved there. She went camping at Cub River, Idaho, riding quads up in the mountains, fishing, swimming at Downata Hot Springs, and played with her cousins a lot. She also got her first airplane ride. She flew home to Phoenix for the day for chemo treatment. She loved it. The whole family also wound up on antibiotics during vacation also, for strep throat.

Monday's MRI

Makenzie had her latest MRI this last Monday, April 9. Good news... there has still been no growth in the tumor. We would love to see it shrinking but no growth is still good news. So she will continue on her current chemotherapy once a week until mid-summer when she will have another MRI. Keep praying for her. Here is a message from Makenzie:

HI everybody, What's up? Isin't it just great to hear that there is no growth in the tumor? Is every body having a good year so far. Is anyone going on vacashion this year?If you are i would like to heear all about it. I have had a great year so far. I am thinking about going to a camp . It is called camp rainbow . It is once a year . The camp is for a week. I want to go but i don't because i will miss my mom. Ihave to go bye. p.s. Makenzie

Busy Week

Makenzie has been busy lately. On April 3rd, Makenzie delivered 22o Easter bags filled with age appropriate goodies to Phoenix Children's Hospital to give to the kids who are patients there. The items that filled the bags were donated by students and families from Makenzie's school. Her classmates all helped fill and decorate the bags. 12 news covered the story. Click here to see the video...

http://www.azcentral.com/12news/upfront/

Scroll down and find the video about the Easter giving spirit of a 2nd grader. It should be up for another few days or so.

On Thursday Makenzie and her family went to Disney: Monster's Inc on ice through the Starlight Children's foundation. They make sure kids who are dealing with serious health issues still get to have plenty on fun. All the kids had fun, even Brayden!

On Saturday, Makenzie spent the day at Lake Pleasant for C.A.S.T (Catch a Special Thrill) Day. The C.A.S.T organization provides fishing opportunites for kids with health issues where they get to fish with tournament bass fisherman out of their bass boats. She got a fishing pole and tackle box to keep. And she got to fish with a super nice couple, Leonard and Pam, out of their nearly new bass boat that I am sure cost more than mom's and dad's cars combined. They made sure her tackle box got stocked with pretty pink plastic worms. She even got to drive the boat. She did not catch a fish but she still had a load of fun. After fishing, all the kids got a barbecue lunch, trophies, and plaques for participating.

Tomorrow, Monday, Kenzie gets another MRI. We should know the results on Tuesday. Hopefully we have good news to report.

Makenzie's Baptism

Makenzie was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints last Saturday, March 24, 2007. She had a lot of family and friends there to make the day extra special. She wore a pretty new white dress and got a brand new set of nice scriptures. Her baptism was followed by a lunch at Makenzie's house. She is soooo excited.

Happy Birthday Makenzie!

Makenzie turned 8 years old on Friday, March 2nd. She spend her 7th birthday in the hospital. This one was much better. She celebrated that night at Peter Piper Pizza with her family, Grandma and Grandpa Redmond, and Aunt Amber and Mike. She ate pizza and played games. She got a personal best 213 tickets and hit the 10,000 hole on Ski Ball several times. She had a fairy party on Saturday and invited a bunch of friends and Grandma Alice. They all played games, ate cupcakes and had a lot of fun. I think she wound up with $100 cash/gift cards to spend. Lucky! She is looking forward to getting baptized the end of March when her out-of-town family can be here.

It's Been A Year

It was a year ago on Feb. 15 that Makenzie was diagnosed with a inoperable brain tumor in her brain stem... since we sat in a room in the ER and listened to the doctor tell us they had found a mass in her brain and she would need to stay in the hospital and have surgery. A lot has happened during that year. Kenzie has had 3 surgeries, spent a week in the hospital twice, been hospitalized several other times over night, had multiple trips to the ER for fevers, had many MRIs, X-rays, and CT scans. She's been on steroids that make her swell and give her an enourmous appetite. Shes been to the hospital once a week for checkups and chemo. Often she has not felt well, although lately she is doing better. She's lost a lot of hair and spent a birthday in the hospital. And through it all she keeps a happy, positive attitude like only a little child full of faith can. It is true that with great trials come great blessings. Makenzie and her family have had many fun times and special experiences. She got a Make-A-Wish to meet Barabara Park, author of the Junie B. Jones books, in November and have the newest book "Dumb Bunny" dedicated to her (it just came out February 13th). She's been to San Diego to Sea World, the zoo and the beach with her family, grandma and grandpa and her cousins. Through the hospital she's been to Camp Rainbow in Prescott, the horse races at Turf Paradise, Disney on Ice, Princesses on Ice, a Diamondbacks game, the circus, the Phoenix Zoo to meet Santa Clause, the Stuffington Bear factory on TV with Brad Perry. She spoke at a news conference with the mayor of Phoenix to announce the expansion of the children's hospital. She helped Alex Peugnet with a toy drive that collected thousands of dollars worth of toys for children in the hospital. She got an awesome princess room makeover thanks to Olivia Montez, Nancy Jarman, and the Despains. And she got to spend a white christmas in Logan, Utah and meet President Monson, receive a blessing from him, and be placed on the First Presidency's prayer roll and have them pray for her by name. And that is just the beginning of the blessings. She's met some amazing and caring doctors and nurses as well as other children facing similar medical trials. We have had so much help from family, friends, ward members and co-workers in the form of baby sitting, meals, help cleaning and sanitizing, covering my school classes so I can go to treatments, prayers, fasting, faith, financial help, and hospital visits. So many people have visited Makenzie, called her, and given her special gifts. We can't thank you enough. It is all truly appreciated and makes our lives so much easier right now. Kenzie has a long road ahead of her. She will be on chemo until at least August. But right now, she is doing well. She is strong, positive, happy, and has energy. She feels fairly well. She is handling the chemo as well as any kid could. Her tumor has pretty much stayed unchanged during the past year... only a tiny, tiny nodule of growth the size of the fraction of a finger tip. Other than one bout with the flu, she has avoided illness. Her shunt has not given her any problems. The chemo and the faith are doing the trick so far. We know the Lord is in charge and He has a plan. Please continue to keep Makenzie in your prayers and occasionally in your fasts. Thank you all again.