Ryan McCormick needs your prayers!

Good Morning!

I have been following the story of this little boy who has been battling the same cancer Isabella had. Only his is much much worse. He is THE cutest little boy and I can't help but feel soooo bad for his mother.

Here is the link to his site : www.caringbridge.org/visit/ryanmccormick

Please take the time to read his story and to say a prayer for this little warrior.

Ashleigh Marie Books

I just found out about this wonderful book... I got this info directly from their site :

WELCOME!

Ashleigh Marie Kieliszewski is the 4 year old who inspired the founding of Ashleigh Marie Books, LLC. One month before her third birthday, Ashleigh was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer. During her 21 month courageous battle, Ashleigh inspired countless people and taught us the importance of loving and living.



We are pleased to offer the first book in a series, ASHLEIGH’S FAIRIES. This book demonstrates a child’s special openness to love that can come from things adults cannot readily explain. During the months prior to her passing in March 2006, Ashleigh spoke often about her fairy friends, inspiring this warm and touching story.



Ashleigh showed us that the most true and pure gift is love. And it’s story.



"A portion of the proceeds from the sale of each book will be donated to the Children’s Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation."


To order a copy of this book, use this link : Order Here!

Dear Babies of the World... (this ones for you Kings Mama!)

***NOTE: I found this on a friends mspace page, I take no credit for the cuteness of it!*****

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 7 months. The first few months were great-- I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems like it's pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore.

So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle. It goes like this:

Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour. Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer.

These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really does not need the sleep, she is just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears. I hadn't eaten pears since lunch, what's up with that? The cat said "meow". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day. LOL. Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am.

Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out. Trust me

Look who's 8 months old!!

I can't believe he is getting sooooo big!! 8 months already! I think he will be walking soon. He's been crawling for about a month now and gotten really good at getting into things. He loves the cords and so I'm constantly pulling him away from things so he doesn't hurt himself.

Here are the loves of my life! For some reason I can't get them all to look at the camera at the same time. This was the best shot I could get after a couple of minutes calling "Charrito", "David", "Isabella, smile..." and finally I just said... forget it, I'm taking the darn picture! ;o)

Hope everyone had a good Monday!

Out in the Sun, having fun, feeling free....

Here is our little Charrito out at the park today getting a little sun.

Uncle Edgar and Isabella having a littl race. Who do you think won?

Here is Isabella and her friend RJ on her bike.

St. Baldrick's

It's that time of year again! The eighth annual St. Baldrick's Day events are Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids' Cancer as thousands of brave volunteers shave their heads in solidarity with children who have cancer and typically lose their hair during cancer treatment.


Worldwide, more than 160,000 children are diagnosed with cancer each year. While advances have saved many children, childhood cancer still claims the lives of more children in the US than any other disease - more than diabetes, asthma, congenital anomalies, cystic fibrosis and AIDS - combined!


Be brave and go bald, or support a brave shavee, team or St. Baldrick's location near you. Visit http://www.stbaldricks.org/, or call 888-899-BALD to make a donation or register!


Funds raised by the St. Baldrick's Foundation will be used to fund childhood cancer research - to help speed the day when every child with cancer will be guaranteed a healthy future.

CONGRESS AND NHL TEAM UP TO FIGHT CHILDHOOD CANCER

CONGRESS AND NHL TEAM UP TO FIGHT CHILDHOOD CANCER
Young cancer survivors and families will be on the starting lineup with Senate and House members at Wednesday press conference for Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006

March 7th, 2006 - Washington, D.C. - Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Talent (R-MO), Johnny Isakson (R-GA), and Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH) will team up with the NHL and CureSearch Foundation, along with children and families who have struggled with cancer, during a Wednesday joint press conference to introduce important legislation encouraging the expansion of research programs aimed at preventing childhood cancer. Cancer is the number one disease killer of children, and more than 12, 500 children are diagnosed with cancer each year.

The bill – Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006 – is designed to provide funds to raise awareness about childhood cancer and support children and their families who are suffering from this disease. Cosponsors of the bill are Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Johnny Isackson (R-GA), Jim Talent (R-MO), Thad Chochran (R-MS), Jim Bunning (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Tom Carper (D-DE), and Mary Landrieu (D-LA) The press conference is set for Wednesday March 8, 2006 from 11:15 am to 11:45 am in the Senate Radio and TV Gallery (S325).

Each year, cancer claims the lives of over 2,000 children while an additional 10,000 are diagnosed with the disease. The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006, which will distribute $20 million dollars over a 5-year period. In addition to creating a biomedical research program aimed at curing and preventing childhood cancer, the legislation will establish a national childhood cancer registry to monitor the incidence of childhood cancers, support a long-term survivorship center and provide informational and educational services.

“I am proud to introduce the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act with my fellow colleagues to fight this terrible disease,” Coleman said. “Cancer is the number one disease killer of children and until we meet the day when every child can live a life free of cancer, we must continue to promote awareness and strengthen our investment in childhood cancer research. Our legislation will give a voice to the thousands of children and families in the United States who have been touched by childhood cancer. It provides the thousands of physicians, nurses and scientists the tools they need to find a cure.”

“I am pleased to join Senator Coleman in sponsoring this legislation that will encourage and expand support for pediatric cancer research and help families deal with this devastating disease,” Reed commented. “Childhood cancer impacts thousands of children and their families each year. While we have made great steps in treating cancer, there is still much more to be done. This legislation will help to provide resources to hopefully one day find a cure.”

“Like so many others in Missouri and around the country, my family has lost a loved one to cancer,” said Talent, who lost his mother, Marie, to breast cancer. “Our legislation seeks to help the thousands of children who suffer from this terrible disease with a new investment in childhood cancer research. We believe this bill will offer new hope in the search for a cure for the children who are coping with cancer and their families.”

“I am proud to co-sponsor this bill to strengthen childhood cancer research, diagnosis, treatment and awareness,” Isakson said. “It is critically important to increase our investment in this field because one child with cancer is one too many. I know that this bill will lead to great advancements in preventing and treating childhood cancer.”

House Republican Conference Chairman Deborah Pryce will also be in attendance at tomorrow’s press conference. Pryce has announced her intention to introduce companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

"While much progress has been made over the last several decades, there is still more to do,” said Chairman Pryce. “Cancer still claims the lives of a great number of our children. Until we meet the day when every child can live a life free of cancer, we must continue to promote awareness and strengthen our investment in childhood cancer research to improve prevention, diagnosis, and treatment."

CureSearch – the world’s largest childhood cancer research organization – has teamed up with the National Hockey League (NHL) to raise money and awareness for cancer, and has worked closely with the senators in highlighting the needs of this important legislation. The NHL’s partnership with CureSearch is an expansion of the NHL Foundation’s “Hockey Fights Cancer” joint charitable initiative to raise money and awareness for cancer patients. Families affected by the disease, the President of CureSearch, as well as leading pediatricians and a representative from the NHL will also be present at the pres conference.

“CureSearch is extremely grateful to the Senate champions who are shining a national spotlight on the issue of childhood cancer by making children with cancer a public policy priority through the introduction of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006,” said Paul Burke, President of CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation. “Thanks to their dedicated support and leadership, we are one step closer to reaching the day when every child with cancer can be guaranteed a cure.”

"The National Hockey League is dedicated to the fight against childhood cancer and proud to be associated with CureSearch through the Hockey Fights Cancer program,” said Ken Martin, Director, Community & Diversity Programming, NHL. “We are honored to be present for the introduction of the Conquer Childhood Cancer Act. We believe this event will be a unique opportunity to spotlight the cause of childhood cancer, the tremendous leadership in the United States Senate and our shared effort to find a cure for childhood cancer."

Also attending Wednesday’s press conference will be Dr. Maura O’Leary, a practicing Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist for more than 25 years and member of the Children’s Oncology Group.

“Over my 35 years in the medical community, I have seen remarkable progress in the treatment of childhood cancer,” said Dr. O’Leary. “This has been due to the government’s commitment to research through the National Cancer Institute and the clinical trials network. Unfortunately, funding is now at 50 percent of our original budges and to continue with the research plans for the next five years, we will need additional support that will allow us to treat successfully the one in 330 children that will develop cancer in their lifetime.”

WHO: Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Talent (R-MO) Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-OH) will join with children and families who have struggled with cancer, Dr. O’Leary, a leading Pediatric Hematologist-Oncologist, and Paul Burke, President of CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation.

WHAT: Press Conference to introduce The Conquer Childhood Cancer Act of 2006
WHEN: Wednesday March 8, 2006 from 11:15 am to 11:45 am
WHERE: Senate Radio and TV Gallery (S325)

*****this is directly from this site : http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=897&Month=3&Year=2006

I wish I could have heard about this sooner. But I wanted to post about it so that we could be aware of what is going on in congress in regards to getting more funding for childhood cancer.

David and I are going to work on a letter that will be sent to Senator McCain. We feel what could be a better time than now since he is running for President. We need to get our facts straight, so if any of you readers would like to send us anything you know, please feel free to email us @ michelleugarte@gmail.com. We need any information on NB, and childhood cancers in general. We will be doing A LOT of reaserch on our own, but help is always welcomed! =)

If you are bored.....

If you are bored and want to help out everyone with cancer please click HERE.

The federal government funds cancer research through the NCI and once again this year cut funding. I think it has gone from 170 down to 120 million in the past five years alone and word is it will be cut again in 2008.

This means new clinical trials can not be funded and the most "at risk" trials to be dropped will include: Sarcoma, Rare childood tumors, as well as Head and Neck cancers.

So, click on this link and please write to your federal officals and ask them to not only stop cutting the funding but to increase it dramatically.

Cute Kiddos

Here is our cute little Princess Fairy. Everyday she wants to dress up in either this dress or her Cinderella dress.
























Here is our little Charrito. I had to stop him in his tracks because he was making a B-Line to the cord from the lamp. Why are they so interested in the cords?!?! =)






Oh yeah and how can I forget?!?!?......................




Happy Birthday to my cousin Brent!!

Home Video

Pictures of the Snow.... or lack there of....

Last weekend we finally decided to take a drive to the snow. There are only a couple of places to go in Arizona to find snow, the Flagstaff area and the White Mountains. We've been to Flagstaff a couple of times so I decided that we should try the White Mountain area.

We get up early on Saturday, get our "Snow Gear" together and pack a bag for a night. The town we headed to is called Show Low, northeast of Phoenix about 3 hours away from our house. Not bad right?

So we are on our way, Isabella can't stop telling us that she's excited about making a snow man. We laugh and say, when we get there Bella, you can make a snow man. We were were about an hour away and as we come around this mountain and we are able to see what's in the distance David looks over and says : "I see some snow on that mountain top waaaaaaaaaaaaay over there". At this moment I'm like..... oh no! We are not going to see ANY snow. But I keep hope up that we'll see more once we get closer. I mean when you travel to Flagstaff, you don't even see Pine Trees until your just about in the city limit so with that it still gave me hope. As we continued to drive we would see patches of snow along the side of the highway. Nothing to get excited about though. Then I see a sign that we are about 8 miles from our destination and that's when I came to the realization that our trip was going to be in vein. We enter the city limits of Show Low and we get from one end of town to the other in probably less than 10 minutes. I see our hotel along the side of the road and can see that they have a patch of snow on the grass where the sun doesn't hit. David and I decide that I was going to go to the hotel lobby and look for those fliers that hotels keep for tourists about the things to do while in town. I find the little cabinet with the fliers and look around for anything that stands out, but I see nothing but coupons for Pappa Johns and some other local restaurants in town. I go back to the receptionist and ask how late I can cancel our reservation without getting charged and she told me I had to do it by 6pm. The I went back to the car and told David what I found. With no snow and then nothing to do, I walked back in and cancelled our reservation for the room and we drove back home. How sad was that?!?! =)

Well, as we were heading back out of the town of Show Low I noticed a dirt road that went back into the Pines. It had one of those signs with images of a tent and hiking and so I figured it was a public road where people could go back there and camp. We decided to try to find a patch of snow that Isabella could make at least a snow ball with, we didn't want the trip to be a COMPLETE waste of gas and time. =) I was taking the dirt road pretty slow and right when I decided I wanted to speed up a little bit to make it so the bumps weren't as bad I looked up and a beautiful black horse standing 100 feet in front of us. I slowed down and came to a stop and then we noticed a whole heard off to the right. BEAUTIFUL wild horses! Here are a couple of pictures that David captured :

The horse that was in the road just stared at us for a little bit before they all ran into the field. It was amazing and they were all so beautiful.

Once they were in the clear, we kept driving back to find our "Patch of Snow"

We drove for a couple minutes longer when we found a patch. Here is a picture of our patch :

For those of you who have been dealing with obscene amounts of snow you are probably laughing your B-U-T-T off right now at this picture.

People in upstate New York got 10 feet of snow in one day while here in our mountains couldn't get 2 inches to save our lives.

Well, it was fun to have Isabella make a few snow balls and then stand 1 foot in front of me, throw it at me and STILL miss me!!! LOL!! She definitely will not be a softball player! We hung out in the wood for a little bit always looking over our shoulder for some wild animal that could eat us. LOL!! We are not experienced out in the woods! We didn't stay out there too long because it was pretty darn cold and little David was still getting over his cold so we hopped back in the car and drove the 3 hours back home.

Here are some pictures from the past couple of days to share with everyone. Little David is learning how to crawl!!! HOW CUTE!!

I absolutely LOVE his smile!

He tries to cheat and puss himself with his foot instead of being just on his knees.

He is practicing his Pirate imitation for Halloween next year.

You know how I LOVE that black and white feature on my camera! ;-)

What it's like to have a child with cancer......

I found this on another site and think it says how all the other Mothers feel just before test day.

Written by a Mother of two children Fighting with Cancer.

What its like to have a child with cancer

Picture your child sitting in the middle of the street

Picture yourself in your home watching your child from the window.

Everything inside you wants to reach out and save them

But you can't get out, all you can do is watch and pray that God is watching over them

You see them fall and cry for you to make it all better

But you can't get to them, they can see you and see your tears

And maybe hear your voice through all their tears.

You pray God will keep them safe.

You hear a car in the distance, but never know how far away it is, some days it seems really close other days even closer.

You know that at an moment that car may come and change your world all over again, in a split second you can be back to were you were when this all started or worse yet, the fight may be over.

Some days you start to feel a little more safe and back up from that window, walk over to the coach and sit down, when just then you hear that car again and in a second you are one with that window again, all those fears you tried so hard to put aside are back, more intense this time, feeling guilty for having let your guard down.

It makes leaving that window the next time that much harder.

We want to keep them close at all times for fear of the unthinkable.

At night when you leave their side to go to bed, you take one more quick peek at them to make sure all is well.

You lay in your bed hoping to see them tomorrow, not wanting that day to end, for as hard as it was that day they are here with you, and tomorrow is filled with the unknown, every day, night after night these are our fears.

We are exhausted in every way.

Our prayers from one night would fill God's book a million times over.

All you can do is pray to God to spare them, let them be safe.From that window you see the fear in their eyes, their hopes of the future, such a small child sitting their all alone, surrounded by love, but alone, fighting so hard, not wanting to let you down, for they are very smart, they know our sorrows.

Seeing your child sit there, wanting to help with all your might, But knowing in the end its them and their bodies that must do all the work, so much to ask of such a little person.

You'd never let your child sit there in the street, knowing that they could be taken from you at any moment, you would not just sit there and stare at them and pray to God to save them, you would pick them up, wrap your arms around them and hold them forever, keeping them safe.

Yet that is what us parents of children with cancer are asked to do every day.

Let them sit there and watch and wait and pray, pray hard.

Yes, I believe in God, but that doesn't stop my mother instincts to want to do something to help them.

How do we put everything we learned as parents aside, and simply hand it all over to God?

How is it decided which child shall live and which child will pass on?

Why is it that some children struggle so very hard and win their battle only to have it return with much more vengeance?

Why do some children sail right through their treatment and then die suddenly?

How are we to make sense of any of this?

With each clinic appt. brings the possibility of a relapse, no matter how great they look or how wonderful they feel.

If only we could judge their health by the way they look on the outside.

We are supposed to protect them, to keep them safe from harm, who said cancer could make all the calls?

I never agreed to that, I am their mother and I will fight for them, with every ounce of my being.

Cancer may be calling the shots, but it will not win this game, not with my children, not with any of our children, we are so very weak, but so very strong, this bravery we have we get from our children, our little heroes, fighting every day with all their might.

Pray for them.

awww! The Joys of Teething....

I hope everyone had a Wonderful weekend.



Saturday here was Gorgeous! I think they said it was around 80 degrees. Not a cloud in the sky on Saturday. It was just Perfect!



We took the initiative to go and take the time to wash and detail our car ourselves. I must say, it was a lot of fun. We got out there early, put little David in his play yard with some toys in the garage out of the sun while the car was in the driveway getting it's WELL deserved bath. Isabella rode around on her cute little Disney Princess Tricycle. Okay, don't ask why we got her a tricycle when she's big enough to be on a bike now.... Well, let's just say it took her a while to get down the use of the pedals on the tricycle she already had. We had taken her to ToysRUs on numerous occasions and put her on the bikes and she just couldn't get it going. Then one day we put her on this tricycle at ToysRUS and she rode around the store like a pro ringing the little bell on the handle and having a lot of fun. This tricycle is for 18 months to 4 years old. She will be 4 in April. =)

Here is a picture of what it looks like. I think it's the cutest little trike....

Now since the pedals are on the front wheel, she has to pedal a lot just to get 10 feet. So she gets tired pretty fast on this thing. But I couldn't resist it as a gift for her for Christmas. She won't get much use out of it because her legs are so darn long and she'll probably get a new one for her birthday. But I'm still glad we got it. =)

This trike is really good for when your child can't reach the pedals yet. They can put there little feet on the bars under the seat and you (the parent) can push them around. It would have been a really good thing to buy like 2 years ago! hehehe


After she's done with it, I'll give it away to someone else who can really use it. Which she'll be done with it in a couple of months. =)


BTW... I searched for it online and I guess they Discontinued it. That really sucks because I was reading the reviews and every single one of the parents that bought it, loved it. How come that is always the case??? When ever you find something you like, they stop making it?




Well, anyways.... back to the title of this post. Saturday our little man was as happy as can be. Then Sunday morning everything seemed okay but as the day went on we noticed he started to get really cranky and then I started to feel that he was getting hot. He got to the point where he just wanted to sleep and he relaxed better if one of us would rub or pat him on his back while he tried to sleep. By tried, I mean he just couldn't get comfortable. He would be on his stomach and would be rubbing his face into the blankets while he gave us this soft little moan and with that you knew he wasn't feeling well. His fever started to get a little higher and so we stripped him down and put some cold wash clothes on his forehead and gave him some infant Tylenol.


I had a feeling about what was causing his discomfort..... I looked at his bottom gums and there it was... his little tiny tooth was peaking out of his gums. I barely had a second to look before he had my finger in there trying to gnaw on it. I could barely feel his sharp little tooth on my finger, but this had to be the reason why he was so fussy and so different from the day before. I looked online for teething symptoms and all the symptoms were pretty much what he was going through. I called a friend of mine who has a daughter that is like 2 months older than little David and she told me that she went through the same thing when her first two teeth popped up. It was like she had a cold for a couple of days and I said EXACTLY! =) He has a runny nose, a little cough, the fever and it all came on in one day.


I guess I just don't remember Isabella going though her teething process like this, but I know every child is different. =) It's time to go pick up some Oragel on the way home tonight from work. I hope the teeth come in far enough for me to get a good enough picture for everyone.


The days of my gummy smiles are numbered....... ***tears****

Searching for Jackie Hartman

On January 28th 2007 a young woman by the name of Jackie Hartman went missing.

Her family set up a blog site here is the link to her site : Finding Jackie Hartman

She went missing on Jan 28 and then the police found her clothes in a dumpster at an apartment complex in Chandler, Arizona. A 25 year old man named Jonathan Burns lived at that apartment complex and he states he was with her the night she disappeared. He has since been arrested and for right now is only accused of sexual assault. From police reports, it shows that there were holes in her shirt that tests showed were from a gunshot and another test showed that there was blood.

The family is desperately searching the Gilbert area, Jakes Corner, Highway 87, the Four Peaks area and this weekend they have been given permission to search the Indian Reservation. They are need of volunteers to help them in the search of this young woman.

If you live in the Phoenix area, please step up if you can and help out. She has been missing for over two weeks now and as each day passes hope for finding her alive diminish.

Also an account has been set up at Bank of America for the Hartman family - you can make donations to the "Jackie Hartman Fund" at any Bank of America branch. You can donate cash, or make checks out to the Jackie Hartman Fund.

Penelope London

I wanted to post today about this sweet little girl that I don't personally know, but I know of her because her parents are apart of my N-BLAST support group for Neuroblastoma (NB).

She was diagnosed with stage IV NB on November 14th, 2003 when she was 16 months old. Stage IV is the worst diagnosis you can get with NB. She has relapsed and is going through experimental treatments which include oral and IV chemotherapy.

She is currently 4 years old and is trying her hardest to battle this horrible disease. Her parents, Catherine and John have posted emails about the status of their beautiful little girl and unfortunately she is not doing very well. I wanted to share her story with you all because she needs as many prayers as possible during this tough time.

Here is a link to her Caringbridge site where you can read the posts from her parents. It was just recently updated today. You can also read previous entries on the "read journal history" link at the top of the page. You can also leave comments on the guestbook page.

Penelope Jane London

It just breaks my heart to see another child suffering from NB. Especially since at Isabella's last appointment we were discussing NB with her oncologist and from one appointment to the next it seemed like he lost all hope in finding a cure for it. Or at least finding a treatment plan that will work on these kids. We asked him about getting little David checked out, just so we could be sure that there was nothing to worry about. But the doctor told us it would be pointless because even if he did, they wouldn't do anything about it. They have changed the protocol when a baby is diagnosed under the age of one. When a baby is under one year of age and is diagnosed with NB, they just take a wait and see approach. Which is fine, but the last time we had spoken to Isabella's doctor regarding NB, he seemed very upbeat and positive about making advances in treatment and diagnosis. He told us with NB it's not like breast cancer where the earlier you find it, the better off you'll be. With NB, it's all about the biology of the tumor. We got extremely lucky and Isabella's tumor had good biology; meaning the tumor would respond well to chemotherapy treatments.

The tests to determine if you have good biology are:

Tumor histology: Describes the appearance of the tumor cells under the microscope. A tumor is described as having either "favorable" or "unfavorable" histology depending on how active the cells look. Tumors with unfavorable histology tend to behave more aggressively.

****Isabella had favorable histology

Tumor MYCN status: MYCN is a gene that regulates tumor cell growth. Tumor cells can have a single copy or multiple copies of this gene (called MYCN amplification). Tumors with MYCN amplification tend to behave more aggressively.

*****Isabella had MYCN non-amplified

Tumor DNA index (also called ploidy): Describes the number of chromosomes in the tumor cells, compared to the number in normal cells. Sometimes a DNA index tells us that a child needs more chemotherapy, especially in infants.

*****I'm not sure how new this test is, but I don't remember them giving us the results on this.

There was another part of the diagnosis that I can't find the definition online, but it is called Shimada. You can have unfavorable or favorable Shimada and Isabella had favorable Shimada when her tumor was tested. So all of these good tests made it so her tumor would respond well to the treatment plan. We were VERY lucky.

Most kids are diagnosed with high-risk stage IV NB and they will have unfavorable Shimada and MYCN amplified. Once they get the high risk diagnosis, they go through much higher doses of chemo, radiation and stem cell transplants. What these kids go through and they are still able to put smiles on their face and run and play is amazing.

I would like to take this time to say that CANCER SUCKS! NB is a horrible beast and it is taking away too many kids from their parents. Parents who won't see their daughters get married or have their first prom date. Parents who won't have the joys of seeing their sons grow up to be young men. All of the firsts that these parents won't have is heart breaking and I only wish there was more that could be done with the fight against NB.

Please remember to stop by Penelope's site and say a prayer for this beautiful little girl.

Sorry for the long delay...

Happy Friday everyone!

Our house is almost getting back to normal. I am starting to feel a little better day by day. But I still wake up in the middle of the night with coughing attacks. Last night David got up and left to the guest room because he couldn't sleep with my coughing. I felt really bad.

Isabella has the same cough as me, she just coughs a little every now and then. David got lucky on the cough and didn't end up getting it. Hopefully we will be getting rid of this stupid bug. =)

Little David is sleeping throughout the night again after being sick for almost a week and a half. He scared me this morning when I went to get him up to be changed and feed before we left for daycare. I went to his crib to get him up and I saw that he was laying on his stomach with his face pointed down into the matress. I freaked for like a second thinking of SIDS, but then I put my hand on his back and he was breathing. So I left out a sigh of releif and right as I did that he turned his head to the side. He usually never sleeps on his stomach so it caught me by surprise. He is still a little sick like Isabella and I, he has the cough every now and then. But it gets frustrating when he coughs because he will cough so hard it will make him gag and throw up his bottle if he had just ate. Not fun! You don't know how many times I've had to do laundry or clean my carpets becauase the entire bottle would come back up.

More to come, but I've got to run to lunch now. =)

What is your favorite commercial?

Hey guys! I thought I would post some of my favorite commercials from Sunday's game. Sorry that there isn't much to report yet. We are all STILL sick. I just wish I would start feeling better....

Here are my favorite :

When it Rains..... IT POURS!!!

Good afternoon to my fellow readers....

I am so very sorry that I haven't been around for more than a week. I know you all love those pictures of little David so I didn't want to bump them down! hehehe

Okay, so Isabella was the first to get sick in our house early last week. It wasn't too bad, just a runny nose and a little cough. Something that she always seems to have. Then little David got a bug so we took him to the doctors on Thursday and she said he had an ear infection and some congestion. So now he is has been on antibiotics since last Friday and I give him some medicine for a little cough and runny nose when ever I feel like he needs it. On Saturday, I felt perfectly fine.... I went to sleep a little early Saturday night and woke up in the middle of the night sweating. "DAMN IT!" I said. I have the flu! My fever got up to 103 on Sunday and my body ached like there was no tomorrow. So there I was, trying to get some rest so I would be okay on Monday for work. I went into work on Monday but I felt so horrible and I just wanted to sleep. I ended up staying home on Tuesday and that's when I noticed Isabella's eyes were red and she had "gunk" coming out of the corners of her eyes. I just kept wiping it away and more would keep coming back. I didn't know what was going on with her now, but when she woke up on Wednesday her eyes were better so I took her back to daycare.

THEN.... when we come to drop our little kiddos off at daycare today, we find out that Pink eye has made it's rounds around the daycare center. Our daycare provider told us that Isabella could not stay if she had Pink Eye since it is so very contagious. And there we go again to the doctors office. Our 3rd trip in the last 2 weeks! They are getting a lot of money from us! So David takes our little Bella to the doctors office, she tells him that it's NOT Pink Eye but she does have an infection. Not just in her eye, she has a sinus infection and a ear infection. The doctor said something like our whole face is connected under the skin so it's not hard to get infections passed to other areas like that.

And to top it off, David is sick. So, no visitors to our house until we disinfect the whole darn house!! hehehe

Here is a breakdown of our ailments:
Me - The Flu - now chest congestion and cough
David - chest congestion and cough
Isabella - Ear, eye and sinus infections.... constant runny nose and cough
Little David - ear infection and a little cough and runny nose

WHEN IT RAINS..... IT POURS!!!

Bath Time!

Here are some cute pictures that I took of our little Charrito tonight. As you can see from these pictures that his hair is growing back.

Little David had his 6 month check up today and everything looks good. He had 3 shots today so I know he wasn't too happy about that. But David told me he did really good and that all the ladies on the office thought he was the cutest.

Who can resist this smile????

Too cute not to share....