Party Time!

We had Mollie's birthday party yesterday at a local pizza joint. Mollie doesn't like pizza, but she wanted to go there. They have a game room, like a miniature Chuck-E-Cheese, where you win tickets and get prizes. It was her best birthday party yet! Matt had this to say,

"I am so proud of Mollie - we explained to her that it would be easier for her friends to attend the party if we asked them not to bring presents - at first she did not like the idea, but eventually warmed to it. Of course, all the kids had a great time, and there were a few that did come that I suspect would not have if we had not explicitly asked everyone not to bring gifts. Mollie learned a great lesson along the way, that the enjoyment of being with her friends was the most important aspect, not what presents she might get. I know she felt special and thoroughly enjoyed herself."

No having gifts didn't detract from the festivities AT ALL.

This week is starting off well for Mollie- we've been giving her Zofran to cut down on the nausea and it is working like a charm!

The Littlest Heroes Project

One of the photography blogs I read (sorry, can't remember which one) had a post about The Littlest Heroes Project. It is a really cool organization that offers photography sessions for children who are affected by any type of serious illness or injury. The photographers donate their time. We got incredibly lucky and Misty Morris offered her services and did a photo session with Mollie. It was a lot of fun... fairytale was the theme. The shoot was at Hopelands Gardens in Aiken on a cold, but pretty day. The pictures are gorgeous and Misty was fun and laid-back (and TALENTED). This picture is one I took of the 'shoot' so it's less than fabulous, but if anyone is interested in seeing Misty's pictures, e mail me and I'll give you the link.

Night and Day

Monday night, Mollie was up most of the night vomiting. But Tuesday, she was feeling good and full of energy. We made foam Easter eggs, played around at home, and then went to the park to play in the fountain (it was hot). She was excited to wear her new swimsuit and had a GREAT time at the park.

Last night she had no nausea, so she's back to school today.

Please keep Mollie's friend Bryce in your thoughts- he is getting scans today to see if he is now cancer-free. And Mollie's grandpa- he should be getting his biopsy results back this week as well. And our online friend Isabel- she just got admitted to the hospital (fever and neutropenia) and she only has 9 days of chemotherapy left in her leukemia treatment!

Weekend Update

Mollie had an enjoyable birthday, even with the steroids. She had cupcakes with her class at school. Then, after school, Isabella came over and played and helped Mollie open her gifts. Then we went out to dinner. Mollie's choice: Ruby Tuesday. She wanted ham, and ham she got.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. The weather was warm, but we managed to keep our new Peruvian hats (from Mollie's friend Izzy and family) on long enough to snap a photo.



Mollie is very happy to be done with this round of steroids. She spent this afternoon playing at Isabella's house and baking a cake.

Mollie has had nausea and tremors (shaky hands) in the mornings recently. I think it might be a side effect of the 6-MP; it is known to cause hypoglycemia. The steroids probably exacerbate the problem because of the fluid retention, so hopefully she will get some relief now that this steroid pulse is over.

The Birthday Post

Today is Mollie's 5th Birthday! Wow, we are SO glad to all be here to celebrate.

We wanted to have a big celebration, but Mollie is just not feeling up to it; she is so tired and grumpy from the steroids. So, I'll bring cupcakes to her school and then we'll let her pick our dinner location tonight.

We'll keep things low key for the birthday girl and have her "friend" party next weekend.

Happy Birthday Mollie!

Some pictures of Mollie through the years...

Mid-steroid mania

I wish we had a Panera discount card... because that is all Mollie wants when she's on steroids. She cries, begging me to take her there. Apologizing for being so hungry and waking Lucy up. I can distract her for a little while and she'll eat little bites of other food around the house, but it always comes back to Panera.

I think we'll probably be having her birthday dinner there tomorrow night. And maybe her pre-birthday dinner tonight.

Poor kiddo! She knows this medicine makes her feel like crap, yet she has never refused to take it. And even through her tears she is so polite.

Clinic Update

Clinic went well today.


Mollie's ANC was 2200 and Hb and platelets were in the normal range. The purpose of maintenance chemo in ALL is to keep the bone marrow suppressed, without inducing neutropenia. The goal is for Mollie's ANC to be between 1000 and 2000. If her ANC continues to be on the high side, Beth will up the dose of chemo. However, Beth also said that since the effects of chemo are cumulative, the counts will probably come down over the next few months.

Mollie was happy and excited to go to clinic. She didn't even bat an eyelash at the finger stick. We saw her friends Courson and Zackary and went out for pizza (pasta for Mollie) with Zackary after clinic.

When we got home, Mollie took her first dose of steroids and a long nap. Then she picked out a wonderful fairly activity set (thanks Genevieve) from the present stash; it kept her busy for a few hours. She is currently reading books in her bedroom.

In other news, Lucy can now drink from a straw and stole Mollie's juice box at clinic!!