I'm crying sad tears, Mommy

This evening, out of the blue, Marielle spiked a fever. It was so sudden. She'd just come out of the bath and she started shivering. We wrapped her up and then I took her temp...99.0. Ok, get the motrin give a dose. She shaking uncontrollably. Hold her, wrap her, take her temp again 30 minutes later...now it's 102.9. Yes, I've seen it before. Back then.

Marielle turned to me and said, "Mommy I feel so sick, like I did before. I'm crying sad tears, Mommy". Yeah, baby, so is mommy.

Say a prayer that this is just an infection, please.

Just a little fun...

I saw this video and it made me smile, hope it will make you smile, too. It's a shoot for a Tmobile commercial in London and only the dancers knew what was happening, all the rest of the folks were surprised. I wish I had been there...it looks like it would be fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM

Wanted, Dead or Alive

Marielle has decided that Bon Jovi's Wanted, Dead or Alive, is her new favorite song. So, I just can't pass up a teaching moment and that lead to us talking about the old west and how they would put up posters for outlaws, that said, "Wanted Dead or Alive".



And that lead to us talking about what I would do if I saw an outlaw...my answer was "Wait for the menfolk, I wouldn't shoot anyone if I didn't have to", which lead to her asking but what if they wanted to shoot us, which lead to me saying that if I had to, like if someone was trying to kill her or Rico, I would shoot them, which lead Marielle to say, "But then you'd be in jail" which then lead to me explaining that self defense will not lead you to jail, which then lead me to think that maybe teaching moments aren't that great after all because they lead to 20 minute conversations!

Which then lead me to the computer, to find examples of "Wanted, Dead or Alive" posters, which lead me to this really cool site that allows you to make your own wanted posters (though not dead or alive) and then I created some posters for us and that was super cool!

(Oh and here's the link, in case you want to make one: http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/

Thinking of Isabel and Her Family

Today Marielle went with Daddy to visit Isabel in the hospital. Isabel has ALL, just like Marielle did. We first met her when she was in DI, now she has 6 more days of chemo to go. But, wouldn't you know it, she popped a fever, had an ANC of 60 and wound up in the hospital with less than a week of chemo to go! Almost 2 and a half years of chemo and she winds up in the hospital at the very end. Pretty sucky.

I would have loved to go and visit with Isabel and her mom, but wouldn't you know, I've got a really nice sinus infection/bronchitis going on right now and the last thing Isabel needs is to be exposed to that, so I stayed home with Rico.

I think it's been really great for both our girls that Marielle and Isabel are friends. Isabel is 7, so very close in age to Marielle, and the first time they met, after a few minutes of shyness, they were comparing broviac scars. It makes it seem a little less weird to have cancer when you know you are not the only little girl out there going through it.

Anyway, if you have a chance, say a little prayer for Isabel that she has no more fevers, her ANC rises and she gets out of the hospital soon. It's been 5 days already and when you are in the hospital and 7 years old, 5 days seems like forever.

Save George Mark....

Yesterday we went to a fundraiser for George Mark Children's House, a children's hospice. It is having financial problems, not enough money and may have to shut down. Here's a link: http://www.georgemark.org/www/index.htm

We have donated to them in the past, I think it's such a needed, wonderful organization and can't imagine how devastating it would be to families who need it, should it close.

The fundraiser was at a local restaurant and we were lucky enough to see some of the PCA's and nurses who helped Marielle when she was inpatient there. We see the clinic staff still every other month, but haven't seen the inpatient crew in almost 1 and a half years. It was very cool to see them and of course they all commented on Marielle's hair....the lovely hair that wasn't there or was very short when she was on treatment. Marielle was, as she always has been, very shy, even with Cindy, her favorite PCA, who was there and one of the few people Marielle would actually talk to when she was inpatient.

I hope that George Mark made lots of money yesterday!

Take me out to the ...

Dentist!!! Both the kids had their check ups and teeth cleaned today. Rico was a bit scared and didn't handle it as well as he normally does. Marielle, on the other hand, was so relaxed it was funny...or as she put it, "no pokes, no worry". I'm happy to say that both had no cavities!

We've been hit with the bug....

Some kind of upper respiratory bug that's going around. Marielle started it, sick on Sunday, out of school yesterday. Rico's coughing and stuffed up and then this evening I started feeling achy and had a sore throat.

The good thing is that Marielle is feeling better, though not back to 100%, so there is hope that this clears out pretty quickly. Marielle missed school yesterday and just kind of hung around on the couch watching videos and TV and was better today and back in school. But school wiped her out and she came home, walked in the door and started crying. I'm hoping that by tomorrow she'll be back to 100%.

Rico has the best immune system in the house...and 100% attendance at school so far this year. Although coughing and up last night with a cough, he went to school and seemed better when he got home.

Here's hoping that this bug is flying out of our house on the chill we have tonight...