Still at Children's Hospital

Hi everyone,
Well I am still at Children's Hospital. This, I think, is my longest stay here yet.

I finished my radiation treatments this past Friday. While I am feeling better, I have not been eating a whole lot. On Sunday the doctors decided that I haven't been eating enough so they gave me a feeding tube. It is suppose to be a temporary thing; the doctors want to build me up nutritionally so I will be better able to handle my new chemo treatments. The tube will only provide half of what I should be eating, and mom and dad are suppose to encourage me to continue eating.

Mom and dad are still waiting to hear from the doctors on exactly how my new chemo treatments will happen. It may be that I will be in the hospital for the week I am receiving treatments, or I will receive them as an outpatient each day. As soon as they get more information, I will let you know.

Love and kisses,
Amelya

Radiation Treatments Begin Again

Hi everyone,
Thought I would give you an update on what is going on. As you can see by my picture, I am still at Children's Hospital, but I definitely am feeling better. I'm wearing my pretty pink polka dot headband. I also have Tinkerbelle in bed with me. It is a present my cousin Randee brought me from Disneyland. She got me lots of goodies, including a Tinkerbelle necklace and a dolphin that I like.

I started receiving radiation treatments again yesterday. The doctors decided to keep me in the hospital while I receive the rest of my treatments so that they can manage my pain meds closely. They said I will have to stay until my bottom is healed and I no longer need any pain meds. I have to stay in my bed while I am here because they keep me hooked up to a machine that beeps everytime my heart rate or breathing gets too low.

The doctors are also changing my chemo therapy. Every third week I will have to stay in the hospital because I will receive chemo every single day that week. Right now I am not sure as to how long that will go on.

Well, that's all for now. Hugs and kisses to you all -- I love you!
Amelya

Amelya back in her room at Children's Hospital

Hi everybody,
Well I am back in a regular room at Children's Hospital now. They moved me out of Intensive Care on Thurday evening. The doctors say that I will still be here a while so they can continue to monitor my heart rate and breathe rate. I am now on a machine that buzzes (very loudly) every time my heart rate gets too low (or too high) and my breathing gets too slow.

I still am on a lot of pain medicine because my bottom is still very raw and blistered. But is it starting to heal and is not so swollen now. Of course, I still do not feel very well and cry a lot because of the pain.

Saturday is the first day I felt good enough to have visitors. Uncle Doug and my cousin Lainy came to visit me. In the picture you can see me and Lainy. Having Lainy there did make me feel better -- I hugged on her, let her hold my finger, and helped give her a bottle. I even cracked a smile for her.

Later daddy and my brothers (who I started calling "my boys") came to visit. I actually laughed and played with daddy and "my boys". I got so excited laughing, my machine started buzzing because my heart rate got too high!!

Please keep praying. The doctors say that I am staying at Children's until my bottom is much better. They said that then they would talk about what is next in the treatment plan for me.

Love and kisses,
Amelya

PS -- My grandma met a lady and her daughter who came to visit her for the weekend. The mom is at Children's with her six-year old son who has leukemia (diagnosed in 2006). They are from Mississippi, and this mom has been at Children's for a while now -- her son just got a bone marrow transplant. In addition to all this, her 17 year old son has now been diagnosed with leukemia (last year). He is being treated in Birmingham. Please pray for this mom and her family!

Amelya in Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital

Hello everyone.
I have not been having a very good week at all this week. On Monday I went and got my radiation treatment, and I went to clinic and got my chemo treatment. Everything was fine except my counts were low, so I also got a blood transfusion.

Very early Tuesday morning mom woke up and realized I had a 104 degree temperature, and so off to Children's Hospital I went. Since then, it has been a downhill slide.

My bottom area, both in the front and back is now very swollen, red, and blistered as a result of my radiation treatments. As you can imagine, it hurts -- alot!!

I also started having problems breathing and the doctors decided I had some sort of "croup-like" virus. So they started giving me lots of medicine (including steroids), along with lots of methedone (my pain med). Then my breathing got worse and they started me on breathing treatments and oxygen. My breathing got better yesterday evening so everyone thought I was getting better. Only today, my breathing got much worse -- mom said I was only taking 4 breaths a minute. Very scary for everybody. So off to intensive care I went.

The doctors think I am having a reaction to the pain medication -- and that possibly I was getting too big a dose. They gave me medicine to combat that, only now I am in a lot of pain again. They are trying to decide what to do for pain and are watching me very closely. My respiration rate is still low.

Pray that Jesus takes good care of me. Pray that my respiration rate goes back to normal and my bottom area heals and I am not in pain there any more. Pray that I will receive a complete healing from the cancer. Also pray that God gives the doctors wisdom and understanding on what to do. One more thing -- please pray for Mom, Dad and my brothers.

Love and kisses,
Amelya

Meet Candy

Hi Everyone,
I just wanted you to meet Candy, my dragon. Candy came to me all the way from Georgia. I love to hold Candy, especially when I am going to get treatments, or when I am in the hospital. I pet the side of her face because it is soft and reminds me of Roscoe, my grandma's cat. I love her floppy tail, and I show it to everyone. I named her Candy because she is pink with streaks of blue, just like cotton candy. Candy is a Webkin, so I get to go online and play games with Candy, feed her, and set up her house. Some of the other kids at Hope Lodge help me play some of the games, and we have lots of fun together. Thank you Aunt Eileen for sending Candy to me! Grandma says every princess needs a dragon, so now I have my very own dragon.

Just to let you know, I've completed another week of radiation treatments, and all is going well. The doctors did decide that I will have at least 28 treatments. Another big girl thing for me -- I have been expressing a desire to potty like big girls. The doctors told mom from the beginning to not try to potty-train me, but little do they know, I make the decisions. It looks like I am deciding enough of these diapers!

Love and kisses,
Amelya