Caps for a Cure

On Thursday, June 1st (the last day of school), Kerstin and McKinsey are sponsoring "Caps for a Cure." All students and staff at Rousseau will be encouraged to wear a hat to school and bring a small monetary donation. The girls made a bunch of posters which we hung up at school this morning. All the money raised will go to CureSearch, a national childhood cancer research organization. We are planning to participate in the CureSearch walk on June 3rd in Omaha. So far, as a family, we have raised $325 for CureSearch! If you would like to contribute to this worthy cause, you can mail a check to our home address or you can donate on-line at
http://www.firstgiving.com/kerstinscuresearch.

Thanks so much for checking on us! Kerstin continues to feel great! We are thankful for this wonderful blessing!

Children's Museum Field Trip

Kerstin and her class got to go on their last field trip yesterday. Annie got to go along. They spent a couple of hours at the Lincoln Children's Museum. The kids (and grown-ups, too) always find plenty to do there. Kerstin was taking money for the pizza I ordered in this picture.

Holmes Lake park was the setting for a picnic lunch. The kids ate quickly and had lots of time to play on the playground. Kerstin and her Mom had a great time! The weather was awesome!

Our new CureSearch total is $215!!! Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed. For more information, see last Thursday's post or go to www.firstgiving.com/kerstinscuresearch.

A good week!

We just wanted to let everyone know that this past Atra week was very good! Kerstin only had a couple of minor headaches this weekend. Last night she said, "I don't have a headache at all!!" She is also very proud of now being able to swallow her Mercaptapurine whole (we had been cutting it in half)!

Our CureSearch total is $150. If you would like to be a part of the Walk for CureSearch or donate to a great cause, see last Thursday's post for details.

Thanks for all of your support and prayers. We KNOW that it has made a huge difference! God's blessings to you!

Make-A-Wish Golf Tournament

Saturday was the Make-A-Wish Foundation golf tournament. Kerstin was one of two honored patients in attendance. The other child there was Alex Ford whose wish was granted this past winter. His wish was to play golf in Hawaii. The golf tournament was also used as a surprise party for Kerstin to let her know that her wish to learn how to hula dance in Hawaii has been granted. Kerstin and her family will be traveling to Hawaii on July 11th for one week of fun in the sun.

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in the golf tournament and the sponsors: Lincoln Federal Bank, HiMark Golf Club and Bunkers Club House, Make-A-Wish Foundation, and all of the other businesses who are too many to list.

For more pictures of the golf tournament, click on the title "Make-A-Wish Golf Tournament"

Safety Fair

Annie took Kerstin and her sister to the South Pointe Safety Fair. They got to see their dad in action at one of the exhibits - the Lincoln Fire & Rescue Fire Safety House. This is a large camper that has been converted into a miniature house where the kids can learn to safely get out of a home that is on fire.

CureSearch Walk

Dear Friends and Family,

On June 3rd, our family will be participating in a walk to raise money specifically for childhood cancer research, and we need your help. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death in children, killing more kids than AIDS, asthma, diabetes, and Cystic Fibrosis combined. There are 46 children under the age of 20 diagnosed with cancer everyday, and those numbers are rising.

Kerstin, and the many other kids like her, have become our inspiration for “Walking for CureSearch.” “In the Arms of Friends” is organizing this event which will be held at Village Point Shopping Center in Omaha. We hope that you can help us by sending a monetary donation so we can make sure that kids like Kerstin can survive this horrible disease, and that new treatments with fewer side effects are discovered. All the money raised in this event will go directly to CureSearch — the leading cancer research organization. Your donation will make a huge difference in the fight against this disease. For more information on CureSearch, you can go to www.curesearch.com on the internet. You can donate in a couple of ways. You can send a check to our address listed below made out to CureSearch. You can also donate on-line by going to www.firstgiving.com/kerstinscuresearch. All donations should be sent to us by June 3rd. We would also welcome anyone who would like to walk with us. We are so grateful for the support we have received in the past, and we thank you in advance for considering this cause that is near and dear to our hearts.

Jeff and Annie Leaf

4030 S. 30^th St.

Lincoln, NE 68502

Bike Rodeo

Rousseau Elementary held its annual bike rodeo today. Kerstin has been talking about it all week and was very excited to get to go. (She hopes to have the training wheels off some time this summer.) She is still pain free this week and we're keeping our fingers crossed.

TNT Info Meeting

Kerstin attended a Team in Training informational meeting tonight. There were a lot of potential athletes in attendence. It is great to see all the potential new members, and the TNT staff. Their passion for this cause is wonderful. If you are interested in Team in Training, you can go to http://www.teamintraining.org/hm_tnt for more information.

Mid-ATRA Week

It's Wednesday night of the ATRA week and all is well. The latest dosing schedule seems to be helping ward off the headaches (and other body aches). Keep the prayers coming.

TNT - Marathon

Patti, one of Annie's teaching colleagues, ran the Lincoln Half Marathon today. She ran as part of the Team in Training program, raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with Kerstin as her honored patient. Patti has run the marathon in the past for a few other children, including her own daughter. Patti's daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia when she was 7. Ashley is doing great now, and even has a daughter of her own! Patti came over to visit us this evening. She looked great for running 13 miles this morning! She generously gave her TNT medal and her visors that she designed for the race to Kerstin. Another medal! Kerstin thought that was pretty cool that someone would run so far just for her! We are once again deeply moved by the kindness and generosity of others! God has been so good to us. He has brought so many wonderful people into our lives and hearts. Thank you, Patti for being and inspiration to us!

Wedding

Annie's cousin, Steve, got married in Kearney this weekend. Grandma Clarice and Papa Gene picked up Annie and the girls (unfortunately Jeff had to stay in Lincoln to work) after school on Friday, and we stayed the night in Holdrege with Uncle Brian and Brenna. The girls had a great time playing together. They had plenty of time to jump on the trampoline and dance on Friday night and Saturday morning. We were even able to celebrate Brenna's 10th birthday! It was fun to see all of Annie's aunts, uncles and cousins at the wedding on Saturday. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Kearney. The girls and grown-ups all had a great time swimming in the pool. On Sunday morning we visited Uncle Richard and Aunt Kay (and Brenna's chick, Softie) at their home in Kearney. You can check out my sister's blog for a cute chick picture. See links at the top left of this site - McKinsey's corner. All in all, it was a fun, but exhausting weekend. Kerstin felt really great all weekend, but was quite tired on Sunday. She was able to sleep most of the way home. Thanks for checking on us and for your prayers!

Gold Star Banquet

We attended the Foundation for Lincoln Public Schools Gold Star Banquet tonight where Kerstin was one of many honorees. Kerstin's principal (shown on the left) nominated her for the award and wrote this on the nomination application: "Bravery is defined as extreme courage in the face of difficulty. Rousseau kindergartener Kerstin Leaf deserves a gold star for demonstrating such bravery. This bright-eyed five year old has shown fierce determination in her battle with leukemia. Despite her illness, Kerstin has been able to keep up on her kindergarten schoolwork, has passed all assessments with flying colors, and is back with her friends and classmates at Rousseau School. She has taught us all what it's like to live courageously." Kerstin received a medal and a certificate.

Also pictured is one of the outstanding para-professionals at Rousseau who was also honored at the banquet.

May Day

Kerstin, McKinsey, and Annie spent a rainy Sunday making May Day baskets. It was all worth it when the girls got to deliver the goodies this evening. They were ready for a speedy get-a-way on their scooters. They did get caught once, but not kissed! Ha!

Books and Beyond

Kerstin woke up this morning and declared that nothing was hurting! She felt just "perfect"! Praise God! We are so glad to have our joyful child back! She missed an awards assembly on Friday, so Mrs. Braun, the principal, came in to her class today to present her and another friend with their medals. Rousseau has this great program called Books and Beyond where the students read books and write them down. For the kindergarteners they have to record 15 books per sheet. Any student that filled at least 5 sheets in the 6 week period got a medal, a certificate, and a new book. Kerstin was thrilled to get her "first medal ever"!

Rough 24 Hours

The past 24 hours have been pretty rough. Starting Thursday Kerstin was complaining of a headache and some general body aches. The Tylenol and Motrin was taking the edge off, but not getting rid of the pain. Yesterday morning Kerstin was in a lot of pain. She finally got exhausted enough to sleep for a while in the afternoon, but that was just a temporary reprieve for her. By bed time last night she was writhing in pain from head to toe. This is the most uncomfortable we have ever seen her. It was bad enough that she would even hold her breath to give her just a few seconds of relief. So, after a late night phone conversation with the on-call doctor and a trip to one of the 24 hour pharmacies in town, we have some stronger pain medicine which as of this morning seems to be helping. Kerstin is still experiencing some arm pain, but she is feeling good enough to get up and move around without complete misery.

Life is full of peaks and valleys, and we are obviously going through one of our valleys right now. Even with all the pain we have never heard Kerstin say, "Why me?" Since the beginning of this journey we have tried to teach her that life is not fair and God has a special purpose for all of us. Kerstin knows that she is not alone on this journey and there are many other children on the same path. With the help and support of these other "cancer kids", family, and friends, she has adopted our "take it head on" attitude and takes every day in stride knowing that we do what we have to do to make forward progress.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, and please keep all of the other "cancer kids" lifted up as well.

New Scooter

Kerstin has been saving her money for something special. Yesterday she found it: a new scooter.

Today she had her doctor's appointment with Dr. G. Labs were good: ANC up to 2412. This is her ATRA week and she didn't get a headache until yesterday. Today she woke up with neck/back/arm/leg pain. We are hoping it is just from all the scooter riding yesterday. Dr. G is still concerned about the headaches and may become concerned about the whole body aches if the scooter riding theory doesn't hold up. Everything else checked out ok.

We hope everyone else has had a good week. The weekend is just around the corner :)

Sister's Web Site

Kerstin's sister, McKinsey, has started her own web site now. The link is over on the left titled "McKinsey's Corner".

ATRA Sunday

Today is day one of ATRA week. We are hoping a consistent dose of phenergan will help prevent (or reduce) the headaches that Kerstin experiences during her ATRA weeks. We are also scheduled to see Dr. G in Lincoln on Thursday for counts and a checkup.

The last couple of days have been great for playing outside and the girls made the most of them. We even had an spur of the moment picnic yesterday in the park. (Sorry, no pictures.) We hope you all had a great weekend. Abby and Hanna, hang in there.

Good Wednesday

Kerstin's headaches have finally gone away. Unfortunately she starts the ATRA again on Sunday and we fear the headaches will return. She is scheduled to see Dr. G next Thursday. Hopefully he will be able to do something about the headaches after seeing her mid-ATRA week. Until then we will try to enjoy the nice (windy) weather.

Easter Sunday

Kerstin and her sister got their Easter dresses on and went Easter egg hunting this morning. Kerstin's ATRA week is over, but she is still having some bad headaches. We continue to "experiment" with her medications to find a good combination to reduce the side effects. Other than that, her appetite is very good and her hair continues to grow back.

We hope you all enjoyed a blessed Easter. Take care and God bless.