a FABULOUS week

This past week has truly been amazing. Friday we went to a BBQ with HopeKids hosted by, Bikers for Christ it was awesome. Millie loved getting her face painted, plus there was delish food! All the bikers were really sweet and they let the kids get on their hogs to take some pictures.
Thank you so much to Bikers for Christ and to HopeKids. It was a wonderful night.

Saurday I was able to attend my mother-in-law's Annual Quilt Show. I am always amazed by all the quilts. If you didn't make it this year, mark it on your calander for next September! It's amazing and all proceeds go to charity!

I only got to stay for a second because we had our LEMONADE STAND! I can not tell you what a neat experience this was for our family. Cyndell and her friends from school made the coolest poster to support all of our Cancer Fighting Friends and the charities that mean so much to Brady and I. It was a beautiful gesture.

Lilly and my mom made darling signs to hang around town and Lindsay and I spent the day before burning our fingers off for our cause; GOLD ribbons. They turned out so cute! We bagged them up with a catchy saying my brilliant mom came up with,

Help Them Grow Old

Wear GOLD!

Our Alex Lemonade Stand raised over $500 for Childhood Cancer Reasearch! I am so grateful to those of you that came out to support us. I can not tell you how much it means to Brady and I. It is an overwhelming feeling to know there are people out there that care as much about finding a cure as we do. To those of you that couldn't make it and supported us online, THANK YOU! You too are amazing and you helped us crush our orignial goal of $100. It is nice to know that we have so many loving people supporting our family.

My favorite part of the day was listening to Jager holler random amounts like 59 cents, or 10.5 cents for the lemonade, and Millie yelling, "lemonade 50 cents, Cancer Fears Me!".

This is a day none of us will ever forget.

Sunday, Millie was in her Primary Program at church and she did a fantastic job. She was the 1st one to go and she knew her line perfectly! We were so proud of her. Sadly I missed the rest of the program because Austin was a nightmare.

Monday, one of our favorite neighbors babysat Austin so we could have a peaceful dinner at CHILI'S. Millie and I both had our GOLD ribbons on and she was so proud to walk in there as a cancer surviver.

To Chili's,

thank you so much for raising funds for St. Jude's Children's Reasearch Hospital and for donating ALL profits on September 27th. We think you ROCK!

Tuesday, MILLIE TURNED 5! When she walked in and saw her new bike her eyes lit up and she gave Brady the BIGGEST squeeze.

She rode for about 3 hours straight

Brady left work early so we could take Millie to a movie, too bad she fell asleep and missed the whole thing. I took this picture to show her bedhead after she woke up. I LOVE it.

EAR PIERCING TIME! We let her wear her PORT numbing cream and it seemed to do the trick. In the calmest voice she said, "Ouch" and that was it.

Showing off her new bling

I love this picture. You can see in hers eyes that she is thinking about her wish.

I wonder what it was...

By the time we got home from dinner at The Olive Garden (her very fav place to eat) it was pretty late so she hurried and opened the rest of her presents, one of those being her new Rock Star wig. She LOVED it. Such a funny little thing.

Amelia LaRee Flamm

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY!

Minutes Old

1 Year Old

2 Years Old

3 Years Old

4 Years Old

almost 5 Years Old

Millie's last year

You have had to grow up a lot this past year Amelia, and I want you to know we love you, and we are proud of you. Amelia, you looked cancer in the eye and it went running the other direction.

CANCER FEARS YOU!

A Proclamation

A Proclamation by President Barack Obama
Posted on September 16, 2010 16:58
THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

September 10, 2010

NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

- - - - - - -

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION
Each year, thousands of children face the battle against cancer with inspiring hope and incredible bravery. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, an entire family and community are affected. The devotion of parents, grandparents, loved ones,and friends creates a treasured network of support these courageous children. During National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, we honor the young lives taken too soon and the survivors who face chronic health challenges, we celebrate the progress made in treatment and recovery, and we rededicate ourselves to fighting this disease so all children may have the chance to live a full and healthy life.

While survival rates for many childhood cancers have risen sharply over the past few decades, cancer is still the leading cause of death by disease for young Americans between infancy and age 15. Too many families have been touched by cancer and its consequences, and we must work together to control, and ultimately defeat, this destructive disease. I invite all Americans to visit Cancer.gov for more information and resources about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of childhood cancers.

Tragically, the causes of cancer in children are largely unknown. Until these illnesses can be cured, my Administration will continue to support investments in research and treatment. The National Cancer Institute, the Federal Government's principal agency for cancer research, is supporting national and international studies examining the risk factors and possible causes of childhood cancers.

The health reforms included in the landmark Affordable Care Act advance critical protections for individuals facing cancer. Provisions in the law prohibit insurance companies from limiting or denying coverage to individuals participating in clinical trials, the cornerstone of cancer research. After recovering from cancer, children can no longer be denied insurance coverage due to a pre-existing condition. It also requires all new plans to provide preventive services without charging copayments, deductibles, or coinsurance, increasing access to regular checkups that can help detect and treat childhood cancers earlier. The Affordable Care Act eliminates annual and lifetime caps on insurance coverage and prohibits companies from dropping coverage if someone gets sick, giving patients and families the peace of mind that their insurance will cover the procedures their doctors recommend.

This month, we pay tribute to the health-care professionals, researchers, private philanthropies, social support organizations, and parent advocacy groups who work together to provide hope and help to families and find cures for childhood cancers. Together, we will carry on their work toward a future in which cancer no longer threatens the lives of our Nation's children.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 2010 as National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. I also encourage all Americans to join me in recognizing and reaffirming our commitment to fighting childhood cancer.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand ten, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-fifth.

BARACK OBAMA

help

I ran some errands today and I noticed that there are pink ribbons everywhere. On shirts, hats, mugs, pins, so many things to buy for breast cancer awareness. It's wonderful! I have had many people in my family get or be effected by breast cancer and I am grateful there is so much funding and support out there.

But where is the gold?

My hope is that one day GOLD will be seen just as much. Childhood cancer is everywhere. It breaks my heart that it doesn't have the awareness it deserves. There's not enough funding and there's not enough support, but we can all help change that!

One of the things we are doing is holding a lemonade stand to raise funds for Childhood Cancer. I hope you can come out and support us. The address is 2345 Lambourne Ave, SLC, UT 84109. For more information or If you can't make it, please go to our page at http://www.alexslemonade.org/mypage/69433 and donate as little as a dollar. It WILL make a difference.

If you can't make it, hold one of your own! Find out how at http://www.alexlemonade.org/. I'm sure your little ones would love to have a stand! It doesn't have to be anything fancy. All you need is cups and lemonade. If you want, Alex's Lemonade Foundation will even provide the signs for you.

Another easy thing you can do is by posting about September being Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Feel free to copy my AWARENESS post in full and post it on your personal blog.

You can also change your facebook profile picture to a gold ribbon for this month. It's easy! Tag yourself on mine and make it your pic. That's all I did. I hope I see A LOT more gold in the next couple weeks.

Please help get GOLD out there for everyone to see!

CANCER SUCKS!

Hearing the word cancer in any form changes lives forever. It changed ours. We will always recognize the sweet little bald heads that are fighting for their lives. We want to do all that we can to help families that are affected by cancer. We want to stop the heartache of knowing your child is going to have to fight with everything they have to live. One person alone can not make a difference, but all of us together can change the world. These children are given a huge responsibility to fight for their lives. We stand in amazement when we see the strength, the courage, the resilience of these beautiful little children. We as a family stand back and learn..we learn how to LIVE from them. We learn that even when life is the hardest it can be, we can giggle! We can cry! We can hurt! We can love! And most importantly we can stand together united as one to WIN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER! Come buy a cup of lemonade and be a part in changing how childhood cancer is treated, diagnosed and CURED! The support that has surrounded our family for Amelia has been the most amazing thing we have felt or been a part of. To see ,to feel, to know the love that comes from you is incredible. Our family has been blessed because of each of you individually. Thank you! Thank you FOREVER for the difference you have made in our lives. Love Amelia's support team

Seriously Cute

Millie September 2010 Update

Millie goes to the hospital once a month for her PORT chemo, but yesterday was the start of a new Maintenance round, which is every 3 months so she had to get a Lumbar Puncture as well. She does pretty good with it, but I think it's always a little difficult to watch your child go under anaesthesia. With Brady out of town I was panicked thinking she would wake up furious; it's a 50/50 chance. I got lucky! She was a little ornery, but nothing I couldn't handle. Like always she was a champ getting her PORT accessed and did fantastic getting her Vincristine.

We got some GREAT news:

Millie's FINAL chemo date will be

02-22-12

Although this date seems so far away, it's much sooner then we thought is was going to be.

I am tracking Amelia's hair growth every month on her clinic day by taking the same pictures of her in the same place, I thought it would be fun to look back on. Yesterday she was refusing to pose how I wanted. I let her pose the way she wanted in the 1st picture and she couldn't have been happier. The 2nd picture is how I pose her and she's starting to get a little mad at me. The 3rd picture she is fuming.

Got to love those steroids.

Clinic Stats:

Height: 103 cm

Weight: 16.1

ANC: 700

Amelia's ANC is still a little low so the doctors decided to keep her on a 75% home chemo dose.

A Great Day

Although school started last week today was Millie's 1st day. She didn't even hesitate when it came time for me to leave. She adores Mrs. Patti and all the kids in her class. I am so grateful I have somewhere to send Millie that is full of people that love her. I didn't worry for a second that she would be made fun of, or the kids would leave her out, I don't have to worry about moms sending sick kids, or her feeling out of place. WE LOVE YOU PATTI! Thank you for providing such a safe environment for Millie. She thinks you are the Bees Knees and so do I.

We also went to the Utah State Fair with HopeKids today and it was SO FUN! We got there just in time to join them for fishing. Millie's cousin Oliver was the 1st one to catch a fish, but he wasn't so sure he wanted to touch it.

Next we hit up the Giant Yellow Banana Slide. The boys loved it, but I took Millie up kicking and screaming. I knew once she did it she'd like it and on the car ride home she said, "You wanna know something mom...I liked the slide even though I told you I didn't". Little Stinker.

We were also able to go on all the rides for free! Millie's favorite was ...The Banana Slide (at least that's what she just told me). She also loved the Dizzy Dragon. I wish I'd taken more pictures! The kids were all so dang cute.

Thanks Again HopeKids for providing a wonderful time for Miss Millie. We appreciate you more then you know. We all had a blast!

AWARENESS..

via: www.kissforcami.blogspot.com
(thanks Chelsea for letting basically copy your post)

September is Childhood Cancer awareness month...

Gold is the color of Childhood Cancer. Wear it proudly.
I am still learning all I can about childhood cancer, please do the same.
We learned the hard way that this can happen to ANY child at ANY time, lets do all we can to help find the cause and cure!

You can visit these sites for info and to donate-

curechildhoodcancer.ning.com
http://www.curesearch.org/
www.stjude.org
http://www.goldthenewpink.net/
http://www.alexslemonade.org/
http://www.cookiesforkidscancer.org/
http://www.curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/
http://www.stbaldricks.org/
http://www.gladtogive.com/
http://www.crochetforcancer.blogspot.com/

*if you work for a corporation, tell them about Amelia and encourage them to donate to one of these charities this year!

--I also want to mention that Chili's is supporting St. Jude all month long and on September 27th they are donating ALL profits to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. If you can do nothing more, please go eat at Chili's on September 27th.

A few other foundations I want to talk about are:

Make a Wish
and
HopeKids


If you read our blog you have heard me talk about both of these organizations before. We think they are amazing! They have helped give Amelia HOPE. They aren't looking to cure cancer, they are looking to cure the heartache that comes along with the diagnosis.
We really couldn't make it through all this without them!

Hope Kids held a 5K walk/run on Saturday and we missed it because we were in Lake Powell. I heard it was a blast and I think they raised about $40,000! Thank you to all of you who have already donated to our fundraising page in Amelia's name, it means the world to us. We LOVE Hope Kids and if you want to donate in Amelia's name we are continuing to take donations for HopeKids this week.

Happy Birthday Brady!

a GREAT MAN and FATHER turns 30.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY!

you AMAZE me.

(Brady's birthday is the 8th, but we will be driving to Lake Powell at 4 am and won't have Internet)

ER visit

The word that Millie was in the ER a couple nights ago spread like wild fire, so I thought I should give you all an update, but 1st of all she's fine!

Monday night we went to the Bees baseball game with HopeKids and while we were there Millie had gone to the restroom and she had blood in her urine. Our 1st reaction was that she had a bladder infection and that is what the On-Call Oncologist at Primary Children's thought as well. He suggested we take her to the emergency room as soon as possible. If the infection were to get into her kidneys she would get a fever and we'd be hospitalized, so it was important for us to get an antibiotic asap.

We left the game immediately and headed up to Primary Children's. Luckily they got us right back! I thought we'd be out of there in a couple hours. Nope! They took a urine sample and the results were a bit confusing. It was not conclusive that she had a UTI and her blood test came back abnormal as well. Her PTT blood level was high, which meant her blood was taking too long to clot. NOT GOOD. Since they took the blood sample from her PORT there was a chance that her sample had heparin in it and that would effect her results. They took another sample, it showed the same abnormalities.

After 7 hours of sitting in the ER they decided to admit us to the Oncology floor for the night (at this point it's 4:00am). I really hoped I would never have to see that place ever again! Around 5:00 am they took a 3rd blood sample, but this time it came from a vein in her arm and her results came back NORMAL! It was the heparin after all.

After 7 hours in the ER and 8 hours in Oncology, we were sent home with a $200.00 prescription for a UTI. Don't worry, I threw a fit and got a $10 script instead.

All's well that ends well, right?