Madison’s Blog

Maddie’s doing awesome! Treatment began again two weeks ago at about 60% of her regular dose. She will gradually be raised back up to her regular dosage. Her ANC this week was 3100 so her dose was raised to 80%. Dr. Bob said that although her ANC looks good, if she was put back on her full dose, her ANC would likely crash again. She got her flu shot in her leg yesterday and was surprisingly pretty good about it. The nurses forgot to call to let us know that she’d be getting one that day so it was unexpected for all of us. And you know Maddie… she has to know exactly what the plan is — and doesn’t expect anything different. But she was a big girl about it and even asked me to stay out of the room. Knowing how Maddie is with shots anywhere other than her port, three nurses went in the room with her while I listened outside. She had some anxiety for a couple of minutes than it was over!

Today, her Girl Scout troop did a service project to raise money for an organization close to our hearts… the Hawaii Children’s Cancer Foundation. The girls participated in a Keiki Swap Meet at Koolau Shopping Center where they sold their toys and other items. They will be donating 100% of their proceeds to the Foundation. Unfortunately, it rained non-stop from last night — and is still raining while I write this — but the girls braved the weather to accomplish their goal. When Koolau Shopping Center heard what they were doing, they jumped in and said they would match their proceeds! Kudos to Koolau Shopping Center! Maddie’s Girl Scout troop will be delivering over $1000 to HCCF which means a lot to Maddie and her Brownie sister Addie, who is also a Leukemia survivor. This is a great way to teach the girls to give back as much as they can, not only to their community, but especially to those who have helped us.  HCCF is a foundation that offers all kinds support – both financial and emotional – to families of children with cancer.  It’s organizations like these that really came to our rescue in our times of need.  We are so blessed by them.

Enjoy your families and have a great weekend!