Visitors from GI

Annie and the girls were treated to a visit from Uncle Jay, Aunt Deb, Doris, Trevor and Marcus this afternoon. They were in town for cousin Jeremy's Show Choir performance. The girls got to hang out and play legos with Cousin Trevor. Mostly they terrorized him and got very wound up! We enjoyed a nice dinner together before they had to head home.

Kerstin has been dressing up in this gorgeous Hawaiian dress for at least a few hours each day the past week. Thanks for the hand-me-down, Brenna! Here is a shot of her doing a Cheetah Girls song saying, "No, No, No-one else". I love it! American Idols, watch out!

Sheridan Visitor

We were all treated with a special visitor yesterday. Cindy, one of Kerstin's Sunday school teachers, came by with lots of nice gifts for the whole family. If you squint, you might be able to see Kerstin's gorgeous new blue and purple press on nails. We can't wait to have our pizza and movie night! Thanks, Cindy!

Today Kerstin had labs at the Infusion Center. Her counts are down a little, but her doctor is not concerned. We ran a few errands and even got to have lunch at the mall. Of course, when you are at the mall, you have to get a cookie! We bought three and took one to Jeff at work. It was nice to have a "coffee break" with Dad!

Kerstin and McKinsey pretty much destroyed the living room tonight with their restaurant for animals (stuffed ones)??? It even boasted live entertainment! I think I have heard that Cheetah Girls CD more times than any other human alive! Ha! We are so thankful that our girls like to be together and have some creative fun. Thanks for checking on us!

Puppet Show

Since Jeff is on duty today, the girls and I decided to spend the day goofing around. We went out for lunch and did a little shopping. There wasn't school today, but the teachers were working so I was able to visit with my Cavett teacher friends. The girls enjoyed visiting a number of classrooms and even had time to present a puppet show. Thanks Chris!

Kerstin had labwork done yesterday and her counts continue to go up! Hooray! Her ANC was 1092. As long as things keep going well, she should be back to school within the next few weeks. Are you ready Mrs. Swiatek? Kerstin is very excited about being with all of her friends again. Thanks for checking on us! Have a blessed day! 

Beautiful day

You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I have to agree. How can you look at Kerstin's smiling face and not praise God for taking such good care of her! We just had to get out and enjoy the beautiful day today. Jeff stayed home with Kerstin this morning while McKinsey and Annie went to church. We didn't want to take the chance of her "catching any bugs" with so many people there. Afterwards we all walked to a new restaurant in the neighborhood for lunch together. The rest of the afternoon was spent swinging, riding bikes, going for a walk, cleaning out the car, sweeping out the playhouse and just enjoying being outside. Thanks for checking on us! Enjoy the day!

School Time

We have been richly blessed to have Mr. K working with Kerstin every day while she is unable to go to school. We are so pleased with her progress and how hard these two work together. Kerstin is now reading little books and learns new words every day. Thanks Mr. K for all you have done for Kerstin!

Mom got to go to McKinsey's Brownie meeting yesterday and help the girls get ready for cookie sales. Cookies anyone?? :) Kerstin and Mom spent the day hanging out together and even ran a few errands. Kerstin is always anxious for her sister to get home from school and play. McKinsey doesn't have to go back to school until Wednesday, so the girls should get in a lot of playtime this weekend. The Barbies have been very busy already this afternoon! Thanks for checking on us. We are so grateful for all of our friends and family!

Counts are coming up!

Kerstin had labs done today. Her ANC is on its way up! It is still low (620), but we are so glad to see that it is higher than on Monday. Her hemoglobin is low, but not enough to need blood. We even got to stop by Dr. G's Lincoln clinic today for a quick visit. He is pleased with her progress. Kerstin handled her dressing change quite well today, but she will sure be glad when that central line is gone. Thanks for stopping in to check on us. We love reading all of your comments. Keep those prayers coming, and pray for all of Kerstin's new friends, too (Abby, Mary, Lauren, Hannah, and Megan)!

Baking

Kerstin had a pretty good day today. She even had time to bake some cookies.

Dinner Delivered

On Monday Kerstin and her family were treated to a steak dinner delivered to their house, courtesy of Chuck C. (The steaks were perfect, thanks again Chuck.)

Kerstin also had labs done today. Her ANC dropped dramatically since Thursday when it was 2000. Today it is down to 500 which means she's pretty much on lockdown and the germ patrol is on high alert. Her hemoglobin was also down today. She'll probably get blood on Thursday when she goes in for labs. Even though her numbers are down, she continues to be energetic and in good spirits.

We are continually grateful for all the prayers and support, especially during this time when Kerstin's immune system is most vulnerable.

Tea In The New Basement

The basement is really looking nice. Kerstin and McKinsey posed in their new play area.
Kerstin had a much better day today. She took all of her meds like a champ and had pleanty of energy to play all day long. She even got to spend a few hours with one of her special friends, Jenny, while Jeff and Annie went to donate blood. Even though her counts are dropping as expected, we are hoping that she has turned the corner from her last cycle of chemo and it's nothing but up hill from here. Please keep her in your prayers as we continue to witness God's grace and power on our family. 

Rough Night

Kerstin woke up during the night with a neck ache and a headache. Jeff and Annie took turns laying with her, trying to get her settled down and back to sleep. She finally nodded off about 7am and we let her sleep until 10:30. We went to St. E's this afternoon for labs. Looks like her ANC dropped to 2000. Her appetite is also pretty poor and the ATRA has dehydrated her again, so we are pushing plenty of fluids and lip balm. We also had to do a dressing change today which is one of Kerstin's most dis-liked things. All around kind of a rough day.

"Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear."

            -- Mark Twain

Chemo takes effect

Kerstin got to go to St. E's on Monday for labs. Her counts are still high. Her ANC was over 2500! We expect that to be dropping soon as the chemotherapy gets to work. She has been feeling really tired the last few days. Today she did a lot of sleeping and not much playing. She has been nauseous and not very hungry and threw up once today. We have noticed that strong food smells make her queasy. McKinsey goes back to school tomorrow. We will miss her at home, but it will be good to get back into the routine again. I know she is looking forward to seeing all her friends. Thanks for stopping by to check on us. Leave us a message if you can! Have a blessed day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Annie and the girls rang in the new year at the neighbors (sorry, no pictures), and Jeff was at work. We all went to church this morning and then ate lunch with some friends from church. Kerstin started to feel ill during lunch, so Annie took her home before she got sick in the restaurant. McKinsey and Jeff got a ride home from the Scheele's. Kerstin was feeling better by late afternoon and decided she needed to go shopping with some money she found in one of her other purses. She has had her eye on a Barbie laptop computer at Radio Shack. The computer was on sale, but Kerstin didn't have quite enough for it. It was the last one in the store and it's hard to say no for an educational toy, so Jeff spotted her the rest.

This is probably the last public socializing for Kerstin for a while because her counts should be dropping from her last cycle of chemo last week. She will go in tomorrow to get her counts checked and we'll go from there.

We hope everyone had a safe new year's eve, and you all will have a blessed new year!

3rd Cycle of Chemo

We spent the last couple of days in Omaha so Kerstin could get her 3rd (and hopefully last) cycle of chemo. This time she was able to do it as an "outpatient" at the oncology clinic. We met a lot of new people who are going through the same things we are. We count our blessings though because Kerstin has only had to deal with this a fraction of what some of these kids have. Some of these children have been doing this for up to three years.

After she was done with her first dose on Thursday, Kerstin visited the 6th floor to deliver some chocolate covered pretzel rods to the nurses up there. It was good to see them. I'm always impressed by how well they remember their patients. Kerstin had a stomach ache after her first dose on Thursday. She seemed to feel better after we met some friends for supper and then went to their house to play for a while. (Fun time is always a good distraction for aches and pains.) Friday morning during her chemo, Kerstin did get sick. On the bright side, she hadn't had an appetite so there wasn't much to come up. We made it home on Friday for lunch and spent the rest of the day unpacking and playing.

Build A Bear

Kerstin and her sister went to Build A Bear in the Oakview Mall (Omaha) today. They both had gift certificates to spend. Kerstin goes in to the oncology clinic for outpatient chemo tomorrow and Friday (hopefully her last cycle). We came down a day early to take her to the mall while she is feeling well (and so we didn't have to get up so early tomorrow morning to get here). Click on the title "Build A Bear" for more pictures.

News Update

I was going to entitle this "Good News and Bad News," but I didn't want to freak anyone out! Let's start with the good news. Kerstin's counts are high enough that she can go in for her last round of chemo on Thursday and Friday. Since she doesn't need a bone marrow biopsy this time, she can get her treatment as an outpatient at the oncology clinic in Omaha! Kerstin remembers the clinic from her first visit there in October as the place with all the toys and the Dora's talking house. She is excited for her sister to be able to see it as well. McKinsey and Kerstin got new doll beds last night, handmade by Uncle Jay, Aunt Debbie, Jeremy, Trevor, and Marcus. They are adorable, and the girls' dolls are all fighting to get to sleep in the new comfy beds. The girls and their dolls had a sleepover last night in their new sleeping bags in the new basement!


Now for the bad news. Some vandals came through our neighborhood early this morning and destroyed at least 15 of the candy canes on our street. As you can see, ours was broken in half. The girls and I were just sick this morning when we saw it. They have quite an elaborate plan in place to catch the "bad people." I have assured them that LPD is on the case so we should let them do their jobs. We have decided to leave the candy canes up as they are for now. We hope that the culprits will be caught soon. Both Channel 8 and 10-11 News crews were in the neighborhood today. I know we'll be watching the news tonight.

Infusion Center

The whole family got to go to the infusion center at St. E's today for Kerstin's blood draw. Kerstin and McKinsey parked themselves in front of the tv while Jeff and Annie kept themselves busy with other things. Kerstin's ANC came back at just over 2700, so we are expecting to take a trip to Omaha tomorrow. We'll have to wait to hear from the clinic in the morning before we make any plans.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all from the Lincoln Leafs. We had a nice, quiet Christmas at home. Grandma and Grandpa Gnuse were able to stay with us. We always enjoy their visits. Santa was able to come down the chimney and leave a few things in the new basement this year! Kerstin wasn't able to go to church with us because her counts are down, but she put on her pretty dress anyway.

McKinsey is riding her new scooter from Santa. McKinsey also got a McDonalds cash register playset from her sister. Would you like fries with that?

Kerstin got a Dora doll from Santa and twin babies from her sister. We were able to spend lots of time today playing with the new toys. (Of course it takes at least 45 minutes to get each toy out of its box!!)








We will be in Lincoln for a few more days at least until Kerstin's counts get high enough to go back to Omaha for her next round of chemo. We will get some lab work done at the Infusion Center at St. E's tomorrow. Thanks for all of your prayers. Take some time to remember baby Jesus today and every day. God's blessings to you!

Recess with friends

Kerstin also got to participate in one of her favorite subjects at school on Friday, RECESS!! She had lots of fun with her friends climbing on the equipment. She whipped across the monkey bars just like the little monkey she has always been (even in a pretty dress). Her classmates were very caring and kind. Thank you Mrs. Swiatek and kindergarten friends for a fun afternoon! (To see all of the pictures, click on the title "Recess with friends")

Kerstin visits her Kindergarten Friends

Kerstin could hardly wait for 1:00 to arrive all day today. We got to go visit her class at school. The kids had a snack together and some nice visiting time. Kerstin was excited to tell them about her holiday visitor last night. While we were there, the Character Council presented Kerstin and her Mom with the proceeds from their amazing candy cane sale. They sold 2850 candy canes! Wow! We are so blessed to be a part of such a generous school community. Thank you to everyone who bought candy canes, delivered candy canes, counted candy canes, and of course, ate candy canes! 

Santa Stopped By Early

The girls had a visit from Santa Claus tonight. He said he was out and about making some pre-Christmas stops to some "special" boys and girls. The girls were very surprised. They were were also glad that we recently had the chimney and fireplace cleaned out so Santa wouldn't get dirty when he stopped by. (Click on the title "Santa Stopped By Early" to see more pictures.)