Good News!

Got a call today from the doctor. Eva's urine tests were NORMAL! That means that the little piece that is still left inside of her is probably NOT neuroblastoma!

This is terrific news!

So, next week, we call the surgeon to see if we can remove the tumor.

Taking things a day at a time but this was a step in the RIGHT direction!!!

Five Things I Love About Christmas

My pal Laura, tagged me with the easiest tag I have ever received. Name five things I love about Christmas. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I could go on and on about the things that I love about it. But, since I only can name five, here you go!

As I sit here at my sister's house with children screaming in my ear, I am reminded of #1.

1) Being around my family. I know that many of you have large crazy families. You have to understand how wonderful and stressful and terrific and comforting it is to be around them. My sister and I have children the same age so we have five children between the age of 2 and 8 running around the house nonstop for a week. Some might find this a bit of a beat down, it makes me so happy.

2) The smell of Christmas trees. Can't be beat. Seriously.

3) How happy everyone seems to be this time of year. It is as if people just inject themselves with happiness. I LOVE that!

4) Christmas songs sung by my family. Ok, if you guys had not figured it out yet, we are geeks to the core. I think that my family just wishes that life were a musical because we can be known to burst into song at any time. It only takes one person to sing one note and the whole family joins in. Here's a perfect example. Christmas this year happens to coincide with Hanukkah. So, Jon brought our menorah and we've been celebrating this week here. Well, last night, Jon very quietly lit his menorah. Not to let any tradition slip past us, we all burst into"'Tis the week of Hanukkah", all just for Jon. Yes, nothing makes my husband happier than a room full of Doziers singing songs to him. Bring on the music!

5) Watching the kids open presents on Christmas morning. Awesome.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!!!!

25,000!

Today, I hit 25,000 visits on my blog! Holy cow! That is amazing to me. It is so amazing that so many folks care about my family.

Now, I know that since Eva got sick, the number of folks reading this went up dramatically. I mean, it's not like 25,000 folks suddenly decided that there was this quirky Mom blathering on about her kids and thought they should read about it. I know the real reason.

I tell you, that little baby is so fortunate to have so many folks who care about her!

While we're on the topic of the site meter, I have to say that I quite regularly take a look at who is looking at my blog. I mean, since I write so much about my kids, I want to make sure that there aren't any crazies downloading pictures of my kids, you know?

I once read from a pal of mine how someone she knew was so excited that so many folks were looking at her blog. Her site meter was going through the roof and she was feeling so confident in her writing! Of course, when she dug deeper, she discovered that people were finding her because they had a thing for women who wore eyeglasses. EWWW!

The reason I mention this is that there are often funny ways people find my blog from Google.

In honor of the 25,000 folks who accidentally or purposefully found me, I thought I would write
the top five google searches to find my blog that I see.

1-The one I see the most is that they are often googling Bon Jovi lyrics (I mean, who wouldn't? he's AWESOME!)

2-I get found because of the 10,000 times I talk about the Imagination Movers.

3-Recently, people have been finding me because of my love letter to my Dyda. Seems like "Love Letter to Mom" is a popular search.

4-Of course, neuroblastoma comes up A LOT.

BUT, by far my favorite, in honor of my friend who shall remain nameless is #5

5-Someone found me recently by googling "Zac Efron fan club."

Gotta love that internet!

More Results

Met with the doctor this morning. Have a clearer picture of what we've got. Here's the deal. Eva still has a very very small tumor in her, right on her spine on the lower left side. It is slightly smaller than it was when we saw it after round 2.

What does that mean? Lots.

The first thing we have to do is determine if this is immature NB cells. The doctors do not suspect that they are. They suspect that it was a mix of immature (bad) and mature (not bad on the scale) cells. They think that the chemo that we had killed those immature cells and left the mature cells, thus the slightly smaller size.

So, we did the urine test to see if her catacholemines are elevated. They also did lots of blood work to verify this.

If it comes back abnormal, stop. Go to path A, we do more chemo.

If it comes back normal, we go to path B. Path B is we meet with the surgeon to discuss whether or not we remove the tumor. Why would we not? Well, it's in a pretty tricky location, just hugging the spine.

Path B1-Surgery (most likely scenario)--this way we can remove the tumor, look at it and make sure that it was all mature as they suspect.

Path B2-Watchful waiting (the do nothing plan, as we call it)--this will have us getting just an MRI every eight weeks for the next year.

So, we get the results of all the blood work on Monday the 29th.

There is still much to celebrate. They think it is highly unlikely that we will need more chemo so we'll celebrate that. If it changes and we do, we'll deal with that when we come to it.

This is a great Christmas gift, that is for sure.

Results

Tonight, I raced home from work today to get Jack ready for his big night at the Christmas pagent. I had both kids in the bath when the phone rang. It was Dr. Goldman. My heart stopped.
He thought he would just go ahead and call us about the news with Eva.

It is good.

Here's the deal. Eva's MRI was exactly the same as the last time. After two rounds of chemo. Nothing on the left but there is a one inch something on the left side. What does that mean? Well, it means that the cells that are there are either scar tissue or mature neuroblastoma cells.

So, what's next? Well, after the new year, we'll meet with the surgeon. We'll talk about whether or not to resect that little piece. What the dr. thinks is that we should leave it there and then look at it in eight weeks to see what it is doing. If it is growing, we'll resect it. If not, we'll just leave it.

Anyway, it is just great news and we'll take it. That is the best Christmas present I could ever get.

No more chemo.

Merry Christmas to you.

Tomorrow

Well, we've had quite a bit of slack time over here in Goodnight Mom Land. Back to reality tomorrow. Jon is taking Eva to have an MRI tomorrow. This will be the real test to see if the chemo worked.

From here, as I've said, we have many decisions to make once we get the results Friday morning.

I can't go because I have a meeting I can't get out of tomorrow. So, Jon is taking her. I'm sure she'll do fine.

More to come!

They're Coming to Dallas!!!

Well, it was a BANNER day today in the Goodnight Mom household! The Imagination Movers are coming to Dallas! Well, Fort Worth, anyway.

Here's the great news, they are playing on Jack's birthday weekend in March! We told him a couple of days ago that they were coming and that we would be celebrating his birthday with his favorite band!

If you live in this area and have preschool kids, I would highly recommend you pick up some tickets. I won't even go into how much Eva loves the Movers. I talk about it enough here.

This ain't your mama's Wiggles! (Although, truth be told, The Wiggles don't bother me that much.) This is a rockin' dance party for you and your kids.

I won't go into the details of how Jon injured himself at the last Movers concert we attended, BUT feel free to read about it here!

If you want to find out which show we're attending to join us in Jack's birthday celebration, feel free to shoot me an email.

My Secret Santa

This arrived at my house today. No card, nothing. I am assuming that the florist who sent it (not on the box) probably forgot to include the card. So, I am unable to thank my wonderful friend, whomever it is.

Anyone want to claim it?

THANK YOU! It looks gorgeous on my mantle!!!

AH-OOOOOH Werewolves in London! AH-OOOOO!

Tonight, my very funny child Jack thought that in honor of the full moon, he would make crazy faces at me. Here's the collection.

The Skirt

If there is ever a good story about the commercialism of Christmas, it is this one.

I left the office early today to take Eva to the doctor. Late this evening, I realized that I have my Board of Directors Christmas party tomorrow night. I had no idea what the dress code was as I have been at my job for less than a year.

So, I called one of my co-workers who told me that while it was not imperative, most of the women wore skirts. Skirts. Skirts?

It hit the closet immediately to take a look at what I had. Guess what? No skirts. Now, don't get me wrong, I wear summer skirts with flip flops all summer long. Once it becomes too cold to wear open-toed shoes, I run out of skirts. I'm all pants all the time.

Here's why the commercialism of Christmas is sometimes a good thing. I left the house at 10:00pm to hit two stores to find a skirt. Stores are still open on a Wednesday night! More than one store! Wahoo! I came home with a perfectly appropriate winter skirt. Oh, and an ice scraper for my car.

Here's a Quick Note on Eva

Went to the doctor this afternoon. Eva's counts are back to normal! WBC 9.6 ANC 3.24 Wahoo!!! I stopped the neupogen shots on Saturday so this is an ACTUAL not enhanced by the shots reading! YIPPEE!

So, that said, we have an appointment on Wednesday for an MRI.

As you know, when we started chemo, Eva had a tumor hugging her spine about four inches long and about an inch wide. After two rounds of chemo, we did an MRI and it showed that the tumor had shrunk to one by one inch!

So, it is our hope that after two more rounds, all is clear. That would be the best way to celebrate Christmas. If it is not clear, we look at more chemo, maybe surgery or what the doctors call "watchful waiting" and Jon and I call the "do nothing plan."

We get the results of the MRI on Friday (the 19th) morning. Then, we decide what the next steps will be.

Oh, Christmas Tree, Oh, Christmas Tree...

Today I came home from work sick. Sick. Sick. Sick. Both kids were up all night long last night and I got no sleep at all. I was exhausted and probably have a sinus infection. I immediately went to bed.

Of course, this is the night that we had already decided to put up the Christmas tree and the kids were NOT going to let me put it off another day. So, I dragged myself out of bed to help put up the tree. The kids were going crazy with excitement. I was running on fumes.

Then, the most amazing thing happened right here in Dallas. While we were putting up the tree, it started snowing outside for the first time this year. It never snows in Dallas and here it was, early December. Snowing outside.

I suddenly felt energized. My fever was gone. The chills were gone. It was Christmas!!!!

The kids and I all went outside danced around the front yard. I got to teach Eva how to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Jack tried to make a snowball off of the five snowflakes that landed on his head. We all laughed and laughed and laughed.

I could see my beautiful new tree glistening in the window.

Ahh, the medicine of Christmas.

The Kissing Place

Tonight Jon and I went into the attic to pull down all the Christmas gear. Keeping two very curious children out of the boxes proved to be quite a challenge.

What to do? Well, I put them to bed so I could quietly open each box.

I love many things about Christmas. It is, by far, my favorite time of year. One thing that I love more than anything is opening up those boxes and looking at all my family "treasures."

This is the Dozier Family Grand Prize when it comes to Christmas stuff. It is a plastic snowman that has a bit of mistletoe dangling down from it.

I believe that my grandmother, Bama, bought this thing in the 1960's. One thing I know for sure is that this alone brings more memories than anything else that I have in my home.

My grandmother would walk each of us under the mistletoe and kiss us every year on Christmas morning. She kissed my parents, my friends, anyone who happened by to drop off, say, a newspaper. This was the kissing place.

My first Christmas in Texas after I got married, I pulled out my Christmas boxes and hark and behold, here was the Dozier Family Grand Prize. I immediately called Dyda to tell him that I would be shipping it back to him immediately.

He said, "Dahlin', this is for your home now. Make sure you kiss your husband under it for many years."

This is my first Christmas without my Dyda, but I did just that tonight.

What Time Is It in Southeast Asia?

This is an actual conversation that occurred in the car today as we headed to East Texas to cut down our Christmas tree.

Jack was sound asleep in the back seat.

He pops his head up and says, "Mommy, what time is it in Southeast Asia?"

Jon and I just look at each other.

Jon: "3:15am, buddy"

Jack: "Oh"

End of conversation.

I think that might have been quite possibly the funniest random conversation I have ever been involved in.

Lunch for Life

Hi everyone! Our good NB friend Erin posted about the Lunch for Life program. This is a program that is a fundraiser for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. The money they raise goes to fund neuroblastmoa research.

Each year, they do a fundraiser where children can sign up to have a virtual tree. You can "give up a lunch" ($5, $10, whatever you would spend) and donate it to help fund research to save a life like Eva's. For every $5 you donate, Eva gets an ornament for her "tree."

Here’s how it works: Eva has her own virtual giving tree, and your donations will decorate those trees with ornaments and (ultimately) presents. Every donation has three effects: 1) Eva's tree receives 1 ornament for every $5 you donate; 2) every donation generates a Giving Code which can get you bonus ornaments when your friends type it in; and 3) each ornament placed on a Eva's tree creates one entry for Eva into our Disney World giveaway.

For example, if I donate $15 to Eva's tree, then that places 3 ornaments on her tree, creates 3 contest entries for Eva, and generates a Giving Code for me to pass along. When a tree is full (500 ornaments), those ornaments transform into a present underneath that tree, and the decoration process begins all over again.

To donate, go to Eva's Lunch for Life website
Our Giving Code is 31557

Here's your shot to eat healthier by bringing lunch from home AND help children like Eva fight.

Thank you all so much for your support.

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

When I got home from work this afternoon, Jack and Eva wanted to play "Mommy is a Jungle Gym."

Although I usually end up kicked in the face on multiple occasions, battered and bruised, I'm usually ok with this little game. It makes the kids very happy and since I'm always trying to find ways to get though the 5:30-7:00pm "witching hour", I agreed today.

What does "Mommy is a Jungle Gym" entail? Let's tackle Mom. Let's smack Mom with a pillow. Let's try to hang on to Mom's legs while she tries to walk away. Let's tag team dangling from Mom's appendages.

Anyway, back to the bed. Mommy is a Jungle Gym led to a pretty raucous game of hide and seek. I'm a great hider. The kids are horrible seekers.

Jack found me on the bed and went to jump on top of me. When I leapt to catch him to prevent his 45lb solid body from landing on my head, I landed on the corner of our bed. CRASH!

Broken.

I broke my own bed while playing with the kids today. Not a little bit broken. REALLY broken. Like Jon's sleeping on the couch because he will roll off the bed broken. Like we need a new bed broken.

Bummer.