Happy New Year!
We had a wonderful holiday break. Katy was out of the hospital for Christmas and New Years. In fact, she is still home with us now. We tried to spend as much time together, in enjoyment, as we could. Katy had some things she wanted to do while home so we have been checking them off the list.
Christmas was wonderful. On Christmas Eve, we went out to eat and then drove to Kearns in order to drive through Christmas in Color, which is a Christmas light display set to music. Katy didn't have the energy to walk around downtown to see the lights, so this is what we did instead. We came home and opened a couple of gifts. Everyone went to be pretty early except me.
Christmas Day was great too. We had a wonderful morning of opening presents, eating brunch and enjoying each other. A huge thank you to the Santa Hat Society for providing us with lots of beautiful gifts. We are so lucky to have been the recipients of such a wonderful organization. It truly helped make our day special. Katy and I hung out in the afternoon, while Jim and Emily went to see Moana. For dinner, the Moos Family joined us to celebrate Christmas in the company of good friends.
As a Christmas present for Jim, Katy and Emily, I gathered all our old holiday photos together and put them in iMovie. I set them to music and gave them the DVD. It included shots from when Jim and I were kids, all the way through Thanksgiving of this year. The DVD includes Thanksgivings, Nutcrackers, Christmas and New Year Photos. You can view it by following the link on the right. A warning though - it is 17 minutes long, so not all of you may be interested in watching it.
New Year's was quiet. Emily went to a friend's house for the Eve. Katy, Jim and I did have a great home made dinner of crab and shrimp spaghetti. Afterward, Jim and I watched a movie. Katy was tired so went to bed early.
I made a photo album which includes lots of fun photos from this Holiday Season (click on it on the right sidebar). Hope you enjoy seeing some of the fun we had. Also, I posted our Christmas Letter right before this post, so you can peruse that as well, if you like.
Now onto some health news. Katy had an aspirate last Wednesday. We received the final results yesterday. The 2nd round of chemo did decrease the leukemia significantly, however, it did not decrease it enough to move forward with bone marrow transplant. When Katy was diagnosed, she had 19% leukemia cells in her bone marrow. After the first chemo treatment that number decreased to 9%. Now, after the 2nd chemo treatment the percentage has decreased to 0.5%. In order for the bone marrow transplant to have the best chance of success, she needs less than 0.1% leukemia in her bone marrow. The risk of the leukemia returning is just too high with any higher percentage.
So, Katy only has two options. Supportive care or trying to decrease the leukemia again, with a 3rd round of chemotherapy. She has chosen the latter. She will start chemotherapy on Monday, January 9. I know it should seem easy to decrease the leukemia by only 0.4%, but with each round of chemo, the risk of the leukemia becoming resistant to treatment increases. There is also serious inherent risk with each round of chemo, including life threatening infections and complications arising due to damage to her organs. However, we still have hope that she can beat this cancer.
So we are hoping that 2017 is the opposite of 2016. Beginning with a lot of challenges, but ending with happiness, health and some normalcy in our lives.
Here's hoping your 2017 is filled with love, peace and good health. Hug and kiss those closest to you. Cherish all your moments. Sending love to all.
Christina
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Holiday Card and Letter
Dear Family and Friends,
I can’t believe it’s that time again. Time flies by and the years creep up on us. Our children grow and change, we have both good and bad experiences, but life just keeps moving forward. And thus, it is time to wish you all Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays in 2016!
Our year started off to be the most normal year we’ve had in a long time. Both girls were in school, our days took on a regular rhythm and, for the most part we were mostly concerned with regular things like schedules, taxes, home improvements, etc. We made a quick trip up to KC and Trudy’s cabin, north of Pinedale, WY, and had a fun weekend snowmobiling, relaxing, and hanging out with family.
Unfortunately, Katy and Emily had separate spring breaks, so it was hard to take a trip together. For Katy’s spring break, she and Jim went to Southern Utah (Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon), Katy felt so good she was able to hike almost to the top of Angel’s Point (just not the last part with the chains). Much to Emily’s chagrin, we went to California for Katy’s checkups during Emily’s spring break. We did try to fit in a few fun things too, like a trip into SF, and seeing the Winchester Mystery House. The rest of the spring, Emily was busy with dance competitions, and Katy won the purchase award at Paradigm High School’s art show. Katy went to Prom, and finished the year getting straight A’s.
The summer was upon us quickly. Emily promptly cut her hair into a Pixie cut after her ballet recital. She got several ensemble parts in a summer production of “Seussical” and took a break from dance. With cutting her hair, she thought she would pass on performing in the Nutcracker this year. That was short lived as by the end of the summer she really missed dance. Katy spent the summer hiking, reading, and getting her driver’s license. Both girls hung out with friends, but especially Emily, who is my social butterfly.
So it ended up that all our summer trips and visiting got squished into a 3-4 week period. The girls and I took a trip to CA via 2 nights in Las Vegas. We saw some Las Vegas attractions, went swimming under the “Eiffel Tower” and saw a Cirque du Soleil show. We then met our cousins in the LA area and spent 4 days going to Universal (Harry Potter World), the Griffith Observatory, the Getty Museum, UCLA, and a trip into Santa Monica. Then northwards to the Bay Area for a quick visit with Brent and Mom and for appointments. Katy got a clean bill of health except for a continuing concern about her platelet count dropping. Upon arrival home, Jim and I took a 2 night trip with our other Cobra fanatics up to Alpine, Wyoming. It was cold but fun as usual. No sooner were we done with that trip and our friends, the Steele family came on vacation to Park City. It was so fun to have Katy and Cullen hanging out together again.
Katy (17) and Emily (13) started school in late August. Emily changed schools this year and really likes it much better, although I’m not sure she’s any better at turning in homework. Katy’s platelet levels continued to fall so we went to see her local Hematologist. Long story short, for those of you who don’t know, Katy was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. It is so hard to believe that our brave daughter has been diagnosed, yet again, with another life threatening illness. This leukemia is resistant to treatment so a bone marrow transplant is her best chance. Emily is the perfect bone marrow match for Katy, which is a huge relief.
So, in late September, upon Katy’s request, we took a 5 day trip to Hotel del Coronado. It was a wonderful beach vacation that was a splurge. We relaxed, swam, ate and enjoyed each other’s company. The girls got to take a surfing lesson for the first time. We even had our own hot tub. Although, bittersweet, this was the highlight of our year.
Our world has been a whirlwind since then. Katy’s care is fraught with multiple complications, but she has just finished her second chemotherapy treatment. Overall, she is handling the treatments remarkably well. Please hope with us, that this 2nd treatment kills enough leukemia to allow Katy to move forward with the bone marrow transplant. She is being treated in Salt Lake City at Primary Children’s Hospital this time. Katy is an amazing fighter and her determination has helped her overcome incredible odds in the past. For updates go to http://katydoaksjourney.blogspot.com. Feel free to drop any of us a line. We all text message.
I’m sorry to end this letter with sad news, but I also felt like I wanted everyone to hear the wonderful things we were able to do this year, before hearing the bad news. We are grateful for the normalcy we had, while it lasted. Hold your family and friends close, take some moments everyday to be thankful, and love with all your heart. Life is so fragile. From our family to yours... Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
XXXOOO,
Christina, Jim, Katy and Emily
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