Cookies for Kids Cancer

When Annie was diagnosed, her Aunt Alex was inspired by her friend whose sister had started Cookies for Kids' Cancer, a foundation that raises money for pediatric cancer research. Alex started "A Card for a Cookie For Annie Campaign" on Facebook. Alex began by inviting her FB friends to send Annie cards throughout the duration of her chemo treatment. For each card that someone sends to Annie, a dollar will be donated to Cookies for Kids Cancer. The campaign has multiplied as friends have inturn invited their FB friends, and so on, until there are now over 1,000 people involved and are sending Annie cards. She can't wait for the mailman to come each day and to see the cards, pictures and generous gifts that people send her. Here's Annie surrounded by cards and gifts from friends and family and even from people that Annie has never met. We are totally overwhelmed by the kindness, encouraging words, and prayers in Annie's behalf, especially by those who don't even know her.

Post-VAC update

We have just marked a milestone in Annie's treatment. Annie had her last VAC on Tuesday, which was our last scheduled in-patient round of chemo. From here on out, her treatment will all be done out-patient in the oncology clinic. She has been on a regimen of chemo which consists of three medications called VAC--vincristine, actinomyacin-D, and cytoxin. She was in-patient (1-3 days overnight)for this treatment every three weeks, then for the two weeks in between, she went in for just vincistine in the oncology clinic. She has finished the four rounds of VAC that were scheduled, and now we get to have a little break from treatment for about three weeks! She will have scans again during this time to determine the success of the chemotherapy to this point. I am so happy to have a respite from treatment! Of course, from what I hear from the doctors and other cancer moms, we still have a hard road ahead with radiation. Annie will start radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks at the end of this month. She will also be getting the VA (minus cytoxin) combination of chemo meds once a week along with the radiation. At least we'll have a little window of the happy Annie before that all begins! Annie continues to amaze me with her positive attitude and simple, but strong faith. She has influenced all of us with her faith. Last week Sadie and Abby were playing rough with each other, and Abby ended up getting injured in her mouth (don't ask...). After Abby whimpering and making quite a fuss, Annie, very matter-of-factly, told her to go say a prayer and tell Heavenly Father about her owie and He will make it better. These are the moments we treasure.

The words no parent wants to hear

(March 14, 2012)"The biopsy showed that Annie has cancer..." Dr. Bradley said as Chris and I sat in his office. I went numb head to toe. I looked at Annie in the exam chair. She was happily playing with a puzzle on her lap. How could this be? She hadn't been sick or had any change in her overall health or behavior--just an "owie" in her mouth that she had shown to me a few weeks before. Dr Bradley explained that the tumor on Annie's soft pallet, which he had removed the previous week, was a type of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. We learned a lot in the next few minutes, then Dr. Bradley sent us on our way to Primary Children's Medical Center to meet with the oncologists. Time seemed to freeze. We were moving in slow-motion, still trying to understand what the doctors were explaining to us. Annie has embryonal type rhabdo, which thankfully, is the most treatable of this type of sarcoma. It typically appears in children ages 4-10 and the prognosis in this age range is over 70%. The doctors said that the fact that I discovered the tumor and got it removed early on is a huge factor in Annie's treatment and recovery. I am thankful that when Chris and I looked at it in her mouth, we decided to take her to the doctor that same day.

The next ten days were spent getting an MRI, bone scan, PET/CT scan, and blood tests. Fortunately, there was no evidence of cancer anywhere else in her little body. A surgery was scheduled to remove more tissue from her soft pallet, place a PowerPort (Google it, it's fascinating), and do a bone marrow aspirate. Because the ENT at Primary's, Dr. Meier, was able to remove even more of the soft tissue with cancer cells on Annie's pallet, her treatment will be six months, as opposed to a year-long chemotherapy treatment. The bone marrow aspirate came back from the lab with no evidence of disease. Annie's first chemo treatment was March 27th, and we have a long road ahead. Four rounds of strong chemo, followed by a reduced chemo and radiation. If all goes well, Annie should be finishing treatment right around her birthday, September 21st.