Rena's Very Last Chemo Treatment Today!

Rena had her very last chemotherapy treatment today.  Her good friend Giselle stayed over and went with us to the clinic today, which made the day so much more fun for Rena.  She hardly realized that she had been given the treatment! Below are pictures of Rena at the clinic with Giselle, with the nurse who gave Rena her very first treatment 2 1/2 long years ago, and with Martin Klebba, an actor who played a pirate in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.  It is such as relief to be done.  We are looking forward to a great summer and high school for Rena in the fall.

 

Only 3 Chemo Treatments to go - we'll be done in June!

Hello everyone!
We haven't posted anything in a while because everything has been going very well.  Some important things to note.  First Rena has been gaining weight and getting taller.  She is nearly 5 ft!  And her growth trajectory shows her moving out of the low percentile for her age group.  This is really great news since she struggled to put on weight for a long time.  Also, her hair is really growing and is passing her shoulders now.

The last 3 months Rena has had kidney stone issues.  In February she had symptoms suggesting a urinary tract infection, but cultures showed no infection.  An ultrasound revealed 3 kidney stones, one of which was passing from her kidneys and into her bladder and causing significant discomfort.  She was admitted to the hospital for a short time while the first kidney stone passed.  The stones have bothered her a few times since then, but fortunately there hasn't been a repeat trip to the hospital.  Subsequent appointments and tests have revealed that the stones are likely calcium based (meaning no strange issues etc.) and so it is likely that the kidney stone issues will be minimized if Rena just stays hydrated!

She has her 3rd to the last chemotherapy treatment tomorrow.  The end is in sight! After 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy Rena is on track to finish at the end of June!

Rena has an exciting summer planned.  She will visit her dad (and that side of the family) in Washington for several weeks in July.  In the beginning of August, Rena will go to a fine arts camp to spend two weeks drawing, painting and making friends.  Her friend Gizelle will also be going and they hope to be cabin mates.  Finally in later August we will be visited by my sister Katie and her family, who are traveling to the U.S. from Sydney Australia.

In the fall Rena starts her freshman year in high school!  Rena is so glad that she will be all finished with chemo and ready to start high school with a clean bill of health.

Cheers,
Ginger

hi,
 I just waned to tell everyone that my school is having a found raiser so I am selling magazines and if anybody wants to buy one call me.

Hi this is Rena. We went to Vista Verde Ranch in Colorado for a family vacation last week.  A lot happened! On Sunday morning we got up and went to the airport where we met other families from the clinic. We flew from Detroit to Denver and then we had a 4 hour bus ride to the ranch. 2-3 hours in we stopped for dinner on a beautiful lake. Some of the ranch staff met us and served us dinner. Reid, a wrangler from the ranch, asked each of us questions so that he could match us with a horse. My horses name was Chip. The we drove on to the ranch. When we got there all of the staff met us at the door.  One staff person, Cori, showed us to our cabin. Then we got into the hot tub and went to bed.



During the week we went horse back riding a lot. A man named Terri that was the "horse whisperer" taught us to ride and do tricks. We also went rafting (very wet), rock climbing (scary), cattle wrangling (fun); ice cream eating in a fire truck, trail riding, barn dancing, swimming, pizza and movie watching, camping out with the teens, ate great food, and we also trained the yearling foals (my favorite). Terri went with us to train the foals.  After they fell asleep one of the foals put its head in my lap.

Our Vista Verde trip was the best trip I've ever had. It was so fun and everybody was really nice. I wish I could live there so I would never have to leave. I was sad to leave, but I am looking forward to getting a dog soon.

Monday  I got school supplies and we are going school clothes shopping this weekend.
Love,
Rena

Hi. This is Rena. I'm sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  I had so much fun the last part of the summer. First one night I was about to go to sleep when I heard a knock at the door.  I went up stairs and Jen and her dog Major  were here.  We had so much fun while she was here.  We went to the the Jiffy factory, and later the Motown museum and moon-walked in the old studio where Michael Jackson recorded records. Later Leonard came for a visit.  He took me fishing three times.  We also went for a canoe ride.  Finally, my best friend from Oregon, Aubrey, came for a visit. We went to the Detroit zoo and a really awesome candy store. 

hormworm

Hello, two days ago we found a tomato hornworm in our garden, it’s about 3.5-4 inches long now but it’s getting bigger every day. They eat tomato plants and can decimate the plant in a matter of weeks. I put some large leaves and a tomato in its tank last night and this morning the leaves and half the tomato were gone. They’re really big and they have a large horn at the end of their body. They look really creepy but they are harmless (more or less). 

Love, Rena

 

This week I babysat for the first time! It was really fun and she was really easy to babysit, she just played and ate cheese. I also went to a family reunion, we ate, talked, and I met family that I didn’t know I had. To top it all of today we all went to the art fair it was really fun, we saw some really cool stuff, and I got an air brush tattoo. Finally tomorrow I am going to one of my best friend’s house to sleep over for her birthday. Have a great week end!

Love, 

Rena 

Hello,

  So far this summer I went to visit Marylou in Chicago, and moved into my new house with my family.

 During my trip I went swimming (a lot), I went to the zoo to see the extreme bug exhibit, and I spent time with my family there. It was a lot of fun and I was both sad and happy to come home. 

We have been living in our new house for two weeks so far and it has been great. I have almost unpacked all of my stuff but soon I will have to move some of it out to paint anyways. I look forward to my plans for the rest of the summer and I hope you all have a great vacation.  

love,

Rena

 

Rena's summer blog - School is Out!

School is out for the year and I start eighth grade in the fall. On  the  last  day  of  school  we  went  outside  and  signed  each other’s  year books. We had a school talent show.

I am really happy  that  school  is  out.   I  am hoping to go  to  like  three  different  summer  camps  this  year.  My  mom  wanted  me  to  go  to  hobbit  camp.  One  of  the  camps  is  for  the  whole  family  and  only  thirty  people  at  the  clinic  are  going. Its at a dude ranch where we’ll be assigned our own horse to ride for a week.   Also, we are going to move to our new house in about a week.  Once we get  all moved  were getting  a  dog!  

To  me  summer  means  sleeping  in  and  not  getting  homework, but  not everything is fun. This  summer  my  mom wakes  me  up  at  seven  or  eight  and  she gives me  a  lot  of  homework  every  day.  As part of my homework I’m going to write in this blog every week. Also, on  Wednesday  I  got  five  teeth  pulled,  and  afterwards  it  hurt  a lot.  I’m feeling much better now, but I have really big holes in my mouth.

Have a great summer!

Rena

1 Year Since Daignosis

It has been 1 year today since Rena was diagnosed with Leukemia.  We are calling it her "diagnosiversary".   Rena is seeing this as a really positive day to celebrate her triumph over cancer. What a champion! 

BACK TO SCHOOL!

We are very excited to share that Rena returned to school today.  Her classmates were very welcoming and she had a great first day back.  She is taking math, english, social studies, science, health and art (of course).    

Not back to school just yet...

Hi everyone.  Rena has had a small delay returning to school.  Her counts had not sufficiently recovered to start back this week, but we anticipate that she will return this coming Monday.  She is anxious to get back to school and is enjoying watching old episodes of Family Guy and Heroes on Netflix.

Get ready 2012! Rena is headed back to school!

Hello everyone,
Rena finished her last in-patient chemotherapy treatment last week and is officially on maintenance. Today we met with teachers and staff at her school to discuss plans for her transition.  If all goes well she will be back in school on 2/6.  We are all really looking forward to getting back to a normal routine. 

My father joined us here in Ann Arbor at the beginning of January to help with Rena until she returns to school.  He has been a big help and we've really enjoyed visiting with him. 

It is almost a year since Rena was first diagnosed and its hard to believe everything that has happened. We are all very grateful for each other and happy to be together. Thank you everyone for your continued love and support.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Rena was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon so we were able to enjoy a quiet Thanksgiving at home.  We are very grateful for our friends and family this year!

Second Round - Back Again

Hello everyone. We are back again for the second round of this course of chemotherapy treatment.  We expect to be in the hospital until Wednesday and so should be home in time for Thanksgiving.  In case you were wondering she will have 2 additional in-patient treatments of this type during the month of December.   
Ginger

Rena's Portrait of Nate

Current Treatment

Hello. Rena's new in-patient treatment went well and we were able to bring her home last Thursday morning.  She has a very sore mouth and throat as a result of the chemotherapy drug, but it is getting better. We return again this Sunday and hope to bring her home again before the Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday. 

In patient treatment begins today

Hello,
Today Rena is starting the first, in a series of four, in-patient chemotherapy treatments.  So we are back with our friends at the hospital for a few days.  Although we would rather be home, it is certainly a different experience being here with the expectation that we will leave be home in a few days.  Rena is seeing the hospital food with new eyes and is right now sampling the baked cod and a salad.  Apparently the baked cod is very delicious.
Ginger

New Picture of Rena

Hello everyone.  The last few months Rena has lost the last of her hair.  It was difficult at first, but now we are all getting used to it.  The hair loss is only temporary and her hair will grow back better than ever when she is on maintenance. She said we could post a picture of her so that everyone can see how she looks.

After Rena lost her hair she invented special hats which have hair extensions sewn on the bottom of the hat. They look very realistic.  She wears these when she leaves the house and is hoping to make more to share with other children at the Cancer Center.

Update on Rena's Treatment

Hello. We just found out that Rena's treatment plan will change.  She will have one more phase to complete before she goes into maintenance.  She should be finished by the end of December and will hopefully start maintenance and go back to school sometime in January. She is doing great and this change in plan is not a reflection on her progress.  Basically it happened because a recent study showed that adding this other phase increases her chances of complete long-term recovery. 
thanks,
Ginger