No cancer cells detected

Yes, you read that right! They did my bone marrow testing and the results revealed that there were no detectable cancer cells. The treatment during induction did what my doctors wanted it to do and I'm cancer free today!

God is good and our prayers have been answered. Thanks for keeping me in your hearts and minds. Thanks for supporting my parents and siblings through this first month of Leukemia treatment.
I still have a lot of chemo ahead of me. My hair will still fall out and I'm still at big risk for infection, but my MRD (minimum residual disease) percentage is 0.0%! My spinal fluid was free of cancer cells too.
So we are celebrating tonight and praying some prayers of Thanksgiving.




Prop sitting.




My port bandage.




The port was placed for easy medicine delivery in the future.




All smiles.




Except when I make my fishy face...




But mostly I like to smile!!
God bless you and thank you for your continued prayers.

Day 29- The end of Induction

We made it!!! With your prayers and good wishes, your Clorox wipes and gasoline cards, your snacks and letters and love, we made it to the end of Induction. The first 28 days are behind us and now we wait for test results.
Katherine had another bone marrow aspirate yesterday and we should find out if the first round of chemotherapy cleared her marrow of cancer cells completely. Yesterday she also had a lumbar puncture to check for any cancer cells in her spinal fluid, and had a port placed for future medicine delivery. It was a long hard day for our little trooper.




Thanks again for your prayers. They have lifted us up and protected us from fear. Our doctors have been great. The facility absolutely wonderful, clean and efficient. Thank you for keeping us in your hearts and minds. May God bless you all.




Happy together.




Snuggling with a new toy.




Getting to enjoy a little outside time after 29 days in the hospital, room 586.




Taking time to smell the marigolds!




There she goes again, spreading joy!

Day 25- early Christmas

Sure enough they released me from the hospital three days early. Day 25. Some amazing angels swooped into our house, with less than 24 hours notice, and made it all clean for my return home. It was all sparkly and smelled so good. They even put up some signs about some new house rules. I bet Mom made them do it, you know how she is about house rules. These ones are for me though, so, I guess it's ok. No shoes, no shirt, no service. No wait, that's not it.
No shoes,
Wash hands, and
no visiting if you're not feeling well.
Pretty simple.
Now I'm back home, but still in the induction part of my therapy. I still take medicine twice a day. I also have four mouth washes a day, because with my immune system so poor, even my mouth bacteria can make me sick.
My legs have really given out on me. I can't even stand up anymore. I'm super wobbly. That just means that I can't really get myself into trouble because I can't move anywhere. But I do want to be carried around a lot.
Now that I'm home I get to spend time with John and Diana. Yesterday it sure was fun seeing them again! Today, however they're not home. They took "me" (well, a balloon that has my picture on it, that my friend made for me) to the Wisconsin Buddy Walk to raise awareness about Down Syndrome. I think they even talked to folks about how kids with Down Syndrome are more likely to get leukemia and how to notice the symptoms and catch it early. They probably also talked about the good news, which is that kids like me also respond better to treatment for leukemia.
After this weekend and even though I'm home now, I still have a lot of treatment and medicines on the road ahead of me. On Tuesday, I have three minor operations. One of them is another bone marrow draw, that will hopefully reveal that all the cancer is gone from my bones. I sure hope it is...and, dare I say, I can feel it in my bones, well, CAN'T feel it... You know what I mean.
Please say an extra prayer for me and my surgeons on Tuesday.
I am so glad to be home and so blessed to be in your prayers. Thank you!!








Thanks to everyone who has donated to the Keep Klean for Katherine box. Wow!! John and Diana have a nightly chore of wiping down all the door knobs and telephone receivers with all the Clorox wipes you gave.




Diana is a great reader!




I love it when John practices his NEW French horn!




Mom's other Sign ideas:
A) Feeling well?
B) Felling sick?
If the answer is B, run away quick!


My family at the Buddy Walk 2013!!








Another sign:
Take off your shoes, slip on our slippers, if you're not feeling well, put on some flippers (and go jump in the lake, you're not wanted 'round these parts, til you're feeling better.)




Another sign idea:
Take off your shoes, please wash your hands, if you're not feeling well, please make other plans...
And finally:
Katherine is home and doing quite well;
but any bad germs could mean a trip to the hospital for a spell.
So we appreciate your thoughts, prayers and good will;
But please come back later if you're feeling ill!








Thank you for your continued prayers!!

Day 24- Overachiever

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.
-Mother Teresa

It looks like they might let me outta this joint early for good behavior. In fact, my counts are so good that there may be no good medical reason to keep me here.

So, here are some pictures from my last few days at the hospital, which might actually BE my last few days at the hospital.


Morning smiles.


Breakfast in bed.


Starting to suck my thumb.


Cuddles with Mom.


My new PINK ride.


My hospital physical therapist. I recently stopped walking, and she recommends things that will help me regain my strength. Right now my leg muscles are all floppy.


Sometimes I feel sad.


But music therapy cheers me up.








Time for bed again. Maybe soon I'll wake up in my own crib.



Thank you for your continued prayers.



God bless you.

Day 19 - Joy

Katherine's night nurse suggested that she was "the most joyful little patient." God just wrapped up joy and put it in a cute little package. Katherine leaves joy in her wake! She doesn't understand adversity or anything of what she's going through or will go through because of her age - and what a gift that is in itself.
Here are some pics of Katherine from this weekend. She's still got her hair, and again, she won't know to miss it when it's gone. Plus, by then it will be hat season.
Playing with a new toy. Thank you to our friends!








Loving her push car.




Taking 'joy ride' to a new level.




Enjoying a Packer touchdown.




Playing 'Where's Katherine?'




Peek a boo!




Smiling in her crib.




What a nice quiet weekend. No fevers, no troubles, a few new teeth. Katherine is teething right now and is making some funny squeaky sounds as she is chewing on her hand before falling asleep.
Have a joyful week. Thank you for your prayers.

Day 14/Day 15 - HUMP DAY

It's not Wednesday, but as a good friend of Mom suggested, we ARE at the half way point of my inpatient hospital stay. They told us at the end of "induction" we could go home. For me, induction is only 28 days, so here we are at day 15 - the half way point! The doctors have discovered that kids like me, with Down Syndrome, sometimes have more trouble with chemotherapy and neutropenia (having a low white blood cell count) which is why kids with DS typically stay in the hospital for all of induction. I haven't had any trouble yet, and they think that I'll likely be able to go home on schedule, which if you know my mom, is really good news. She's crazy about staying "on schedule."
We've had a good few days. I'm still eating tons of pizza, which I call for by name, but on my day with my fabulous nanny, she tricked me into eating ravioli, carrots and peas.

Some friends of my Nannu and Nanna came by and left these cookies for me. Mom and I helped ourselves to a few of them, and boy were they delicious. I love Italian cookies! Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. C! Dad took a few home to share with Nannu and Nanna too.

I played a little bit of peek-a-boo with a blankie from my Gran that I got when I was first born

A couple of my mom's good friends came to visit for a bit today. They brought some treats, too. Bottled water, toilet paper and brownies. Essentials.  I took a really good nap while they were here and Mom got to get out of our little room to see the sun a bit and have lunch at Café West.

This afternoon I had some more IV chemotherapy. All in all the chemotherapy injection took less than a minute. I have a PICC line and the medicine gets into my body real quickly and starts to work right away. It doesn't hurt at all. I am not too fond of people holding me steady, which is why I'm not looking too happy in these pictures.

After my chemotherapy, I was ready to eat MORE Cheerios while Mom talked with the head nurse about my life after I'm released from the hospital. HAND WASHING, HAND WASHING, HAND WASHING! That's it. That and NO SICK VISITORS! I can play and eat and sleep and read, just like old times. I just have to make sure that everyone around me stays healthy and washes their hands A LOT!  They talked about some other stuff, like the stages of chemo that will follow, it got pretty boring, look at my face:

The stages are Induction, Consolidation and Maintenance - a three year journey. There's no set plan as to what days I start what or what days I get chemo. Mom's going to have to let go some of her scheduling issues, as each of the treatments depend on the outcome of the treatment before it. Basically, how well I do after each treatment, determines the  next treatment. It's a guessing game at this point, but the doctors have a whole big plan and flow chart that they will follow.

Mom signed me up for a photo shoot on Thursday! ME and a CAMERA? I think I know what to do! Mom tried using her hot rollers in my hair! And they worked. What do you think of my new bangs?

I'm ready for my close up!!!
Thank you for your prayers and support! We couldn't do it without you!!!