Day 22 - ENGRAFTMENT

This morning Amelia's nurse walked in, handed me a print out of Millie's blood work, and said, "she officially as an ANC of 500". How amazing is that?!?!  Amelia wasn't awake yet and I tried to wait, but I couldn't. I went and snuggled up to her and whispered in her ear that her ANC was 500. She had the sweetest smile.


Day 22 was the day that both Cousin Sherry and I picked for her engraftment. WE WIN! I just knew I was going to win. ;)  When her doctor came in for rounds they said that they were going to take Millie off her Meropenem, and switch her IV Amphoteriein to an oral anti fungal called, Fluconazole. Tomorrow she will come off her Flagil pill (c-diff antibiotics 3x day). They will retest her for c-diff on Monday and decide then if they can keep her off or if she still needs the Flagil. If we can get her to eat more Millie will also start tapering off her TPN and lipids. HOORAY!

Yesterday was emotionally difficult on Millie and this was just the wonderful news she needed.  As always, thank you for your prayers. I can honestly say that they are making a difference and being heard.  Please keep them coming. The next few months are critical for Millie. If we make it to her day 100 without any hic-ups then we can breath a little more easily once again. 


Brady calculated it out and her day 100 is September 30. It's going to be a big weekend for our family; Millie will turn seven on Sept 28, Sept 29 is the CureSearch Walk, and Sept 30 is day 100! We will be celebrating like crazy and I hope you can join us at Sugar House Park for the annual CureSearch walk where we will party.  


I pray every second of every day that this is Millie's last run with cancer, but the cruel truth is that she could relapse again and this disease NEEDS a cure. I will continue to support CureSearch until the day we can say We Have A Cure. Last year we did a hard push for everyone to come walk with us, but with Millie's Princess run we have decided not to try and fundraise as hard since you have all done so much for us already. I do hope you all have the same passion that I have and will join us anyway. Please sign up for Team Amelia here and come celebrate her birthday and day 100 with us.  Kids are free and adults are only $10.  We love CureSearch because 100% of all the proceeds raised at this walk will go to help find a cure for our Cancer Fighting Cuties, 100%! That is unheard of. 


Please take a minute and watch this video that our fellow cancer friends made. Millie makes a few appearances, as well as her Cancer Fighting Cutie Friends. It's a beautiful tribute to these kids. Watch till the very very end, even after the written words so you can hear Millie's cute giggle. I love that giggle. 


CureSearch Walk Salt Lake City from DHT on Vimeo.


I had to take Millie's picture the second she was awake enough to sit up. My baby engrafted! I will never forget July 14, 2012.

To celebrate we did glitter tattoos.

Cute Cami, Millie's cancer buddy came to visit and the glitter came out again. I wish we'd taken a picture of them when they were done. They were both covered with tattoos.

After Cami left, Millie spent an hour or two in her secret hideout.  We pull the couch out a little to give her some private space.  She sits on blankets and pillows and loves it there.  When she came out, she had a gift bag for Brady.  She had made him an amazing family portrait, a bracelet, and dozens of hand cut snowflakes.   It's amazing that she's always looking for the opportunity to do something for someone else.

 This morning before coming to the hospital, Brady and Austin went for a hike up to Dog Lake.  It's only about 2 miles round trip, but it has a pretty good elevation gain.  With a little rain, it wasn't too hot, and the wildflowers are in full bloom.

Austin loves to go for hikes, but getting him to pose for pictures is tricky.  At this age, Millie would constantly pose in front of things and request to have her picture taken.  Austin has to be bribed.  

He did good and hiked all the way up, and most of the way down.  With a few hundred yards to go he insisted on being carried.  Within a minute he was asleep on Brady's shoulder.  He woke up in the car just long enough to demand the sucker he had been promised and then went to sleep before tasting it.

Austin and Millie also got to see each other for the first time in over a week since Austin had been sick and he  just kissed her and kissed her. It was really sweet and the icing of top of the cake. 

Sigh of relief.