Kelly Laude

Live, Love Give

2009-09-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

Live, Love, Give was an amazing event last Saturday night held by a family who generously opened their beautiful home in Newport Coast to help raise money for CHOC Neuroscience. Kelly was happy to be able to speak about her experiences with CHOC.

Kelly with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonen.

The photo below shows the dance floor and stage in the background.

Kelly and Shannon being entertained by a magician

Kelly with one of her roommates from CHOC. Lindsey is another brain tumor patient.

Kevin enjoying the sunset with Kelly and Shannon looking out over the ocean

Last week, Kelly was visited by the biggest therapy dog I have ever seen. This is Kelly with Shera, an English Mastiff.

These therapy dogs help bring a smile to Kelly's face when she is in the hospital. Shera's owner said he has never seen Shera take to anyone like she did to Kelly. She tried to get in bed with her, (like Kelly wanted her to) but she was bigger than the bed.

New Website for Kelly

2009-02-06T20:45:00.000-08:00

We have started a new website for Kelly. This blog has been great, but I can't update it from the hospital, and that is when I want to update the most. Kelly was admitted to the hospital Tuesday with a fever. She had chemo last night, but the fever spiked again this afternoon, so she isn't coming home yet. She also tested postitive for influenza A. She is just miserable today. I just came home to see Megan's Musical, and get some more clean clothes and pjs for Kelly. I am headed back to CHOC now.

If you log onto her new website, you will automatically get email notifications everytime we update. I have been having trouble with my group emails, so now that will be taken care of! I can also update that website from the hospital. The first time you go to the new website, you will need to enter your email address and create your own password, If you click remember me, you won't to keep logging on, the link will take you right to Kelly's page. For those of you familiar with carepages, her page is KellyLaude.

Here is the link to her new website: www.carepages.com/carepages/KellyLaude

You can also go to www.carepages.com After you sign it, type KellyLaude in the box for visit.I If anyone has any questions or has a problem getting on the first time, just email me. kathylaude@cox.net

Thanks for your support of Kelly! We can't tell you how much we appreciate it!

Relay for Life website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/TeamKelly

CHOC Gala

2009-01-26T21:33:00.000-08:00

Thank you so much to everyone who left nice comments for Kelly here after our last post. They really helped her (and me!) over a rough patch. (Actually, we love the comments any time.) Not that IV hydration is such a major deal, but Kelly was really upset about having to have medical procedures done to her in our home. She did get adjusted to it and was OK with it after we got her started. OK, the Borders bribe was really what made her accept it! She was looking forward to helping with the CHOC Gala Saturday night, and since she was feeling better, I unhooked her from her hydration bag, leaving the IV in her hand so we could hook her back up when she got home. The Gala was at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach. Kelly was a greeter as the guests arrived. Luckily, another family that was speaking at the event had two extra tickets and asked if Kelly and I would like to use them. Thanks so much Erin! We really enjoyed it. So we got to stay and attend the Gala. Erin's daughter, Sammy, has also been an oncology patient at CHOC and was presenting an award and giving a speech that night. Sammy is doing great now. She has been in remission for a year and a half! It is always encouraging to hear good stories like hers. Cheyenne and her mom were also at our table. Below is a pictures of Sammy, Cheyenne and Kelly. Cheyenne also presented an award.

Kelly was happy to see her neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonon, at the Gala.

She also got to meet his daughters, who are her age.

We were happy to see Cathy, who works for the CHOC Foundation. She is one of the people at CHOC we are so glad we have had the chance to get to know.

This is Lisa, who also works at the CHOC Foundation, and Virginia, Cheyenne's mom. After the girls went to bed, the adults stayed downstairs for some fun. Too bad I had to drive, so I was just the photographer! The bottles are ice and the martinis would be poured through them.

Kelly did get tired pretty easily that night. It was her first time off the couch after 3 days! So after dinner, she and Cheyenne went upstairs and went to bed. Cheyenne and her mom had a room for the night because they live far from Newport Beach. By the time I came up to get her, she was sound asleep, so she spent the night at the hotel and I picked her up in the morning. Thanks for having her stay Virginia! You can see Kelly's hand with the IV in it still! I did have to hook her back up when she got home in the morning.

Kelly is doing much better now and is planning on going to school tomorrow. We actually spent the afternoon at Disneyland today (IV free!) since all the girls were off school today. Thanks so much for all the prayers and good wishes for Kelly.

Kevin is traveling to Colorado Springs today for the rest of the week. I'm glad it's not a chemo week! Megan is the one whose schedule we are juggling right now. She is in Physical therapy for her ankle, plus she is beginning rehearsals for Singin' In the Rain, which she is very excited about, plus her normal dance classes and homework. (That darn homework) I really have to thank the Schultes for helping get her to dance when I am driving Megan and Kelly to where they need to be with CHOC and physical therapy appointments. You don't know how much you have helped us out, Misty! Thank you so much for always being there for Shannon.

The Hospital comes Home

2009-01-22T20:21:00.000-08:00

Kelly spent a long day in the Infusion Center for chemo yesterday. We tried to keep her a little longer to run her IV hydration for an extra hour or so since she was getting so sick. But it just continued when we got home and through the night. Thanks to our little nurse Shannon for taking care of Kelly last night and changing her buckets! She is so sweet and helpful to Kelly when she is not feeling well. Kelly's case manager from CHOC called this morning to check on her, since they were worried about her when we left last night. Since she still couldn't keep anything down, her doctor ordered home IV hydration. We thought this would be nicer for her so she could stay home and not have to go back to the hospital. But she was really upset when I told her what was going to happen. She really looks at home as her refuge from medical procedures and treatments and the thought of the hospital coming to her was really hard for her. I finally got her to agree to it, but it is going to take a trip to Borders where she can pick out any book she wants. Whatever it takes! It is actually kind of nice to think that I can bribe her with books. Not what most 16 year old girls would want so much.

So this afternoon a home nurse came to our house and started an IV for Kelly. She will have 12 hours of hydration for the next three nights. Hopefully this will help her feel better for the next few days and she'll make it to school more next week. She wants to try to go to school tomorrow. We'll see in the morning. Plus she'll still have the IV in her hand. I can disconnect her, but the IV will be in until Sunday. She didn't want her port accessed because she can taste saline and heparin flushes in her port and that makes her sick. She would really appreciate any notes in the comments! This has been a hard couple days for her.

Megan is finishing finals tomorrow, which she will be very happy about. She was also really excited to find out this week that she was cast in her high school's musical, Singing In The Rain, which will be the first two weekends in May. She is thrilled to be able to dance in such a fun show. Kelly will also be involved in the show as she will be working be in the crew! This should be a fun way for her to be involved with something at their high school. Anything that helps her feel like a normal teenager is a good thing!

Good News!

2009-01-14T16:03:00.000-08:00

Kelly had her MRI today. We went to Dr. Muhonen's office right afterward and looked at the the scans with him. The scans look good - just like the last one. There is no highlighting in the area where the tumor was. He was very happy with the results. There is a small area of enhancement, but it has always been there and Dr. Muhonen is not concerned with it. It is possibly post op changes. So we are very relieved tonight! Especially since she has had headaches this week, which is very unusual for her. I think she is just fighting off a virus - she is taking a nap right now! It was nice to see you today Erin!

Kelly was asked to attend the CHOC Gala in Newport Beach later this month as a greeter. This is a big fundraiser for CHOC, and since it is all about the kids, they asked some patients to come and be greeters for the guests.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers for Kelly. We appreciate it so much and the power of prayer is so evident in her. We are so blessed.

Happy New Year

2009-01-08T21:41:00.000-08:00

Well, we are back home and back to our normal routines again. If you can call our life normal! It was hard to come back to school, work, and doctor appts. and treatments after such a great vacation. But we are moving on, and hoping for a good 2009. Kelly did have chemo yesterday. The good news is that she slept through most of it and didn't get sick at all. The bad news is that ever since she got home last night she can't keep anything down, and is feeling miserable today. Hopefully she'll have a better tomorrow. She has an MRI next Wednesday, the 14th. We are praying for her continue to beat the odds with her clear scans. But the fact is, she is beating the odds because no one expected her to be doing as well as she is right now. It is very unusual for her type of tumor. So it is very nerve wracking anticipating this MRI, especially since we have seen so many other kids getting bad news lately. Too many families have lost their little ones in the last few weeks. It really reminds of us of the reality of childhood cancer.

I have a few more photos from last week in Oregon. (Was that just last week?) I am working on putting many of the pictures from our trip on a webpage. As soon as I am finished, I will post a link. We took a beautiful drive through the Columbia River Gorge, just outside of Portland. The first place we stopped was the View Point Inn. The girls really wanted to stop here because the prom scene from Twilight was filmed there. Remember what a big fan of the Twilight Books Kelly is. Megan, Emily and Jake are very interested in the books too. It was such a scenic spot with wonderful views and a really pretty restaurant. Here is Kelly along their Twilight Walk of Fame. There are bricks with all the actors names on them.

This is the restaurant at the View Point Inn (where the prom was held for the movie,) It was so pretty with all the Christmas decorations. There were pictures in the lobby of the filming.

We kept driving and stopped at a few of the waterfalls along the drive. This is part of Multnomah Falls with a lodge in front of it. We had lunch here. It was just beautiful.

We brought the dogs, who became quite soggy, but they really liked playing in the snow that was still there. The water is all mist from the waterfalls.

We wish everyone a Happy New Year and a good 2009 full of hope.

Special Friends

2008-12-30T20:10:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas vacation in Portland has continued to be wonderful. We have had some special times the last couple days. I'll start with yesterday. We went to visit the Radford family across the river in Washington! Kasey has the same tumor as Kelly, and his mom, Amy, and I have talked to each other a lot online and we finally got to meet them yesterday. Here are Kelly and Kasey. They had fun playing Wii together with Kasey's brother, Colby, and Kelly's cousin, Jake, that came with us. Kasey's birthday is Thursday. If anyone wants to wish him Happy Birthday, his website is www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaseyradford

Kasey and his mom, Amy. It was so nice to be able to finally be able to talk to Amy in person! Kasey taught us his dice game. He was so cute and really was fun to talk to yesterday. He showed us his special scrapbook too.

Kasey, Amy, Colby, Tracy, me, Jake and Kelly

On Sunday night, our we were happy to see our friends, the Diemers, again. The Diemers lived in California until last August and have moved back home to Portland. We met them at CHOC, and if you have been following this website, you may remember Chloe, another oncology patient. They did Relay for Life with us last April. We miss them, so it was great to see them again! They invited us to a Christmas concert at their church, then we went out after the concert for dessert and coffee at Papa Haydns in downtown Portland. It was a wonderful night with good music, delicious desserts and great friends and family.

The Diemer's church put on an amazing concert with an orchestra and choir.

Here are all the kids at Papa Haydns. In the front are Chloe, Shannon, Hannah, Ashley and Emily. Behind them are Jake, Megan and Kelly.

Today, we went to David Hill Winery in Forest Grove, Oregon. It was beautiful and there was still some snow there. While the adults tasted wine, most of the kids made a snowman outside.

The house above is where the tasting room is, and the photo below is a view of the house from the hill behind it. It was such a beautiful setting.

Wow, so many wines to try ~ Not a bad way to spend the afternoon!

Happy Birthday to Kevin's mom, Nancy Laude!

Her birthday is today.

Portland Holidays

2008-12-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

We have had a wonderful Christmas here in Portland. I finally uploaded some photos from Christmas. We are so thankful that Kelly was feeling good this year and was able to enjoy herself. It did snow one more time on Christmas Day, which was beautiful. It was such a treat for us since we never have that at home.

Shannon, Emily and Kelly in their new pajamas. It is a tradition on receive new pajamas on Christmas Eve.

Megan and Emily opening gifts

Of course we couldn't forget the dogs. Oreo is Murphy's dog cousin - they are so cute together. They even opened presents together. They are quite a team. Murphy is wearing a new Christmas sweater.

Jake and Shannon handing out stockings.

Later in the afternoon, Emily and Kelly played Christmas carols on the piano.

The kids (including Kevin) had a great time making a snowman. Shannon made her own little snowman. We learned that Murphy really hates the rain, but loves the snow. He had a great time out there too.

Here are both families at a favorite restaurant the day after Christmas. We always go to this restaurant, Cornelius Pass Roadhouse, when we visit Tracy and Tom.

The snow has melted here and it is green again, but that also means the roads are clear also. We had a really nice night last night, but I haven't uploaded any of the pictures yet. So I will make a separate post about yesterday when I get some photos ready.

We feel so blessed that Kelly is doing so well this Christmas. We pray for all the families with cancer warriors who are fighting this horrible disease.

A White Christmas

2008-12-23T18:54:00.000-08:00

We arrived safely in Portland last night. We had to stop in Salem and put chains on because it was snowing so much and the roads were full of snow. After a couple of hours of very slow driving and noisy chains, we finally made it. It is so good to be here at last. The girls are so happy to be with their cousins. All the kids are all having fun playing in the snow together. This is the most snow Portland has had in many, many years. It is beautiful!

Here are the girls playing with their cousins, Emily and Jake, in their front yard. They also walked to a park and went sledding today.

Kelly making snow angels.

Snow and ice everywhere in Tracy's yard. Our girls have never had a white Christmas before so this is a special treat. (Now that we are done driving through it!) It is supposed to snow tomorrow again.

Kelly is thrilled to be this far away from her hospital and doctors. Last year she had to have chemo on Christmas Eve and was miserable on Christmas too. This year I promised her we would avoid chemo anywhere near Christmas. She feels good and is enjoying being here with her cousins. We are all so grateful to be together here with Kelly feeling as well as she does.

We are looking forward to a cozy Christmas Eve tomorrow, even if we are snowed in!

I am having problems sending out my group emails when I update this website, I am sorry if I am missing anyone. I am working on a better way to let people know when we update!

Roadtrip to Oregon!

2008-12-21T19:14:00.001-08:00

We are in Ashland, Oregon tonight! We have been driving for two days, and as you'll see, we are enjoying the drive. Tomorrow we will continue to Portland to my sister Tracy's house. Kelly did better last week with chemo. We realized how important one of her premeds is. It is the only one of her anti nausea meds that is pill form instead of IV. The last couple times she took it, she threw up right after. So this time, her nurse had given me one of the pills to take home, and she took it before she got to the Infusion Center, before she could start feeling nauseous. It really helped. She did pretty good, right until she sat up to go home. So she had a rough evening, and didn't feel very well the next day, but on Friday she was determined to go to school and she did. She even walked to Chronic Tacos after school with Megan and some friends. (They had early dismissal, so they went out to lunch.) Our whole family went to a Christmas party that night for the staff of our dance studio. All the girls (and adults!) had a fun time.

Then early the next morning, we left for Oregon. We were excited to get on the road. We had decided to take the scenic route instead of just going up I-5 the first day. It was a beautiful day and we drove along a lot of the California coast.

The coast along Big Sur is just stunning. We hadn't done this in a several years, so it was great to take this drive again. This is definitely one the of prettiest drives we have ever taken.

Shannon and Murphy at one of our stops along Big Sur. We stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and went for a walk overlooking this waterfall to the beach. Did I mention we brought Murphy? He is doing great on his first big car trip.

We stopped along the coast where these gigantic elephant seals were sunning on the beach. See the two big blobs on the beach? They were huge!

This is the sunrise view from our hotel we stayed in the first night. After driving through darling downtown Carmel just as it was getting dark and the Christmas lights were coming on, we stayed on Monterey Bay and had an ocean view room! It was beautiful. It would have been a nice place to stay longer. We could hear the seals barking in the harbor from our room. This was a very nice hotel that doesn't allow pets. Good thing Murphy is small and fits in an empty piece of luggage. He was very well behaved. Kevin didn't realize Murphy would be traveling with us when he made this reservation, or we would have chosen a hotel that allowed dogs. Tonight in Ashland, we are in a hotel that does allow dogs.

The second day, we took a scenic drive from Monterey to San Francisco. We drove around a little bit, but it was raining, and we wanted to get to Ashland before dark because we knew the weather might be bad ahead, so we didn't stop anywhere. It was fun to see the pretty townhouses lining the streets of San Francisco.

This is Shannon and Murphy taking a walk on one of our stops. Notice his Christmas sweater. It was quite chilly for this little Southern California dog. He is a bit of a wimp. He is really in for a shock when we get to Portland. It is much colder there!

We saw our first snow close to Mt. Shasta! It was snowing pretty hard for a while. Luckily, that didn't last too long. There is a lot of snow in Portland and we are excited to see it, but it is nice to not drive through it too much. (Kevin and I both grew up in snowy climates, but we are sure not used to driving in it anymore. We are so spoiled by our Southern California weather!)
We are very excited to get to Portland tomorrow! It will be so nice to be with family for Christmas. Diemers and Radfords, we are really looking forward to seeing you too! We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas!

Holiday Happenings

2008-12-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

The last couple weeks have been full of ups and downs. Luckily there have been a lot more ups than downs. Kelly did have a rough recovery from her last chemo. She was feeling better, then last Sunday she came down with a stomach virus and could not keep anything down. A day of throwing up that is unrelated to chemo should not be allowed for a cancer patient! She did have a fun day on Saturday last weekend though. Last summer, one of the highlights for the girls was Camp Ronald McDonald, a camp for oncology kids and their siblings. The Camp had a Christmas party last Saturday at Warner Brothers Studio Ranch in Burbank for all the kids that have been to camp. The girls were excited to see friends they made last summer. There was food, activities, and gifts for the kids. They had a great time.

Here are the girls with one of their friends from camp with none other than Ronald McDonald. Thanks Ronald for providing a wonderful camp for these kids where they don't feel different from anyone and can forget about doctors and treatments for awhile.

This is the fountain from the beginning of the "Friends" TV show at Warner Bros.

Kelly started feeling better last night and got to help celebrate a big birthday for our friend, Pam at Buco di Beppo. The Turners have been there so many times for us since Kelly was diagnosed. It was nice to help celebrate with them.

Kelly felt well enough today to go to school. Then tonight, Make A Wish had its Holiday Harbor Cruise in Newport Harbor. It is such a beautiful boat and it's fun to cruise around Newport Harbor seeing all the Christmas lights. Some of the houses right on the water have amazing lights displays! There were a lot of boats that were lit up for the holidays also.

The girls on the boat. They were handed champagne glasses of

sparkling apple cider when they boarded the boat.

You can't see the whole thing in this photo, but if you see the black on Megan's leg, she is in an orthopedic boot. Last June she had a stress fracture, and her ankle has been bothering her again in dance. Her doctor says it isn't as serious (yet) but he wanted to take advantage of Christmas vacation coming up and really give her ankle a rest. She has a heavy dance schedule starting in January as her dance team prepares for a competition in February.

Our table was on the top level - we had great views of the harbor

Kelly receiving her gift from Santa. I would take a picture of it, but she is wearing it and she is sleeping right now. She got a necklace with an angel on it and there is another little charm that says peace. She loves it.

Linda and Diemers, we really missed you this year! It just wasn't the same. The girls wanted you to take pictures of them with stalkers Linda! (There were boys following them around last year!)

Kelly's confirmation group is doing a service project for CHOC. (Kelly's idea) They are raising money to buy things for the teen patients on the oncology floor. There are always stuffed animals and toys for the younger patients, but there isn't always fun things for the teens. Her group showed a movie at church Friday night and sold candy and are on a good start with their fundraising! One thing Kelly wants to buy is a Wii Fit. When she is inpatient, they always want her to get up and walking when she starts feeling up to it. She thinks the Wii Fit and some other Wii games would be a much more fun way to get moving instead of just walking laps around the third floor. They are looking for other types of games and fun things for teens while they are in the hospital. If anyone has any more good ideas, let us know!

Tomorrow is chemo day. We just want to get through it, then Kelly gets a three week break because we are leaving Saturday to go to Oregon! We are visiting my sister Tracy and her family for Christmas. We are excited to get on the road and see them.

Couch Days

2008-12-05T13:28:00.000-08:00

Kelly had chemo on Wednesday and is having a rough week. She is having a tough recovery this time. Usually she does so much better the day after chemo and is just tired, but she was nauseous and could not keep anything down yesterday. She is doing a little better today, but is still not feeling very well. She did get up and make a bowl for her ceramics class. She really likes that class! But now she is back on the couch. She even turned down an invitation to a friends house this afternoon. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow since she is helping one of her friends celebrate her 16th birthday and she really wants to feel good enough to get out and have some fun.

Kelly and Bailey did have some fun at the infusion center Wednesday before she started her chemo. Bailey is already receiving his chemo, and as you can see, it does not affect him like it affects Kelly. Now you can see why his mom says, "My son excels at chemo." He really does. Thanks for helping me get our Christmas cards done Michelle!

Deck The Halls

2008-12-01T19:57:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend. We have so much to be thankful for this year. We are so thankful Kelly is doing so well right now. We are extremely grateful to our friends and family who have been so supportive over the last year and a half. This would be so much harder on our own. We can never thank you enough.

Kelly still was fighting her cold, and didn't eat much for Thanksgiving, but she found a little energy when we got out all the Christmas decorations after we ate on Thanksgiving. We ate early so we could get started on the decorating. We usually don't start so early, but Kevin was leaving on Sunday and we wanted everything done and put away before he left. We enjoyed putting the tree and the rest of the decorations up over the long weekend.

Our red front doors always look their best at Christmas! We also had time for some fun Christmas outings. Late Saturday afternoon we went to the Sawdust Festival in Laguna Beach. It is so Christmasy there and we did a little Christmas shopping. We then headed up the coast to Newport Beach and visited Roger's Gardens to look at their Christmas displays. It is so nice to walk though all their decorated trees. It was a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit.

Kevin left Sunday morning to fly to Newport, Rhode Island for a 2 week class with the military . Unfortunately, there was a mistake in his reservations and he ended spending 12 hours in the San Francisco airport trying to get on a flight to the East Coast. After flying all night, and missing his first morning of classes, he is finally in Newport and hopefully the rest of the trip will be smooth.

Kelly is feeling better and actually went to school today for her two classes at the high school. She is trying to catch up in French, and her teacher has been wonderful and flexible making her feel comfortable, even though she misses a lot of school. She just said today that she can't imagine having nicer teachers and that makes her high school experience so much easier for her.

Tomorrow she has labs and chemo on Wednesday. Hopefully this week we can get her to feel better the whole day, including when she comes home.

~Kathy

Team Unite..... Help Cure Childhood Cancer

Yes, Virginia, there is an update...

2008-11-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been quite a while since I updated. I know it is time to update when we start getting phone calls making sure Kelly is OK. For the most part, no news is good news. Kelly did have chemo last week. She did pretty well during chemo, and luckily slept through a couple hours of it. But as soon as she sat up to go home, she got sick. It didn't end until she went to bed late that night. So we need to figure out how to keep her more comfortable not just during chemo, but the rest of the evening also. Then just as she recovered from chemo, she came down with a cold. What she thought were allergies yesterday turned into a full blown cold (hopefully just a cold) today. She is feeling pretty bad and is just resting today. We're keeping a close eye on her.

While we were at CHOC last week for labs, Kelly's fourth grade teacher, Clare, had an appt. for her daughter for an MRI and then an appt. with Dr. Muhonen, who is also her neurosurgeon. So after labs, Kelly and I met them so Kelly could help Clare with her 3 year old twin girls. It is always good to see Clare, and Kelly just loves being with her girls. She also was happy to get to see Dr. Muhonen. This is Kelly with Caitlin and Brianna waiting Caitlin's MRI.

If is finally cooling off here and feeling like Fall. Perfect weather for Thanksgiving this week. We are looking forward to a cozy day at home Thursday. Kevin is leaving on Sunday for a military class in Rhode Island (I wish we could go!) Since he is going to be gone for a couple weeks, we are going to get out all of our Christmas Decorations and put everything up - starting Thursday after Thanksgiving dinner! It takes us several days to get everything decorating and get all the boxes put back away. We are really looking forward to it.

Kelly is featured in a calendar made my Heide Randall for Team Unite. Heide, mom to angel Jessica, works tirelessly to raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer. These beautiful calendars are for sale at the Team Unite store on Cafe Press (link following) They feature kids like Kelly and also include information on Childhood Cancer. Kelly is on the December page. You can see photos of the calendar by following the link. So if you need a 2008 calendar, here is one with a really good cause. Here is a message about the calendars from Heide:

The Team Unite calendars are officially AVAILABLE!!

http://cafepress.com/teamunite

Please note that on our smallest calendar ("Team Unite Wall Calendar"), the informational text is a bit difficult to read from a distance. Please consider one of the larger sizes ("Team Unite Vertical Wall Calendar" or "Team Unite Oversized Wall Calendar") if you feel this may be an issue.

The profits from these calendars will be split evenly between CureSearch and the Jessica Catherine Randall Memorial Scholarship.

Team Unite ...... Help Cure Childhood Cancer

Las Vegas Dance Convention

2008-11-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Megan and Shannon's Dance Team attended "The Pulse" Dance Convention in Las Vegas sponsored by the Broadway Dance Center of New York City. They had the opportunity to take dance classes on Saturday and Sunday with the choreographers from "So You Think You Can Dance," one of their favorite TV shows. Saturday evening, Megan's advanced team performed in a Showcase. It was great for the girls to be exposed to different styles of dance and take classes with well-known choreographers. All the girls were excited to take Mia Michael's class and Kelly was happy to have a chance to talk to her. (See first photo below. The guys in black are her bodyguards.) If you were following Kelly's story a year ago, Kelly's fourth grade teacher, and good friend now, Clare Reding, contacted Mia and told her about Kelly and what big fan she was. So shortly after Kelly was released from the hospital after her recurrence last year, Mia came down to our house to visit Kelly. (It is in the October archives if you missed it last year.) So it was fun for everyone to get to see her again. We had such a fun trip with the girls' dance friends and teachers. Since Dance is such a huge part of Shannon and Megan's life, this weekend was exceptional for them. Kelly had a good time just being away for the weekend. Thanks for being such a fun car companion Louise! And as always, Thanks Misty for taking such good care of Shannon.

Kelly talking with Mia Michaels

Megan, Amy, and Kelly at New York, New York

Our first night in Las Vegas.

Gold Teammates Amy, Paige, Kate and Megan.

The convention was held at the Las Vegas Hilton. All the girls on the teams had fun staying on the same floor of the hotel.

This is all the girls with their teachers.

Shannon with her Red Team

This is the ballroom where they took their classes.

All the girls with the Pulse Faculty: Shane Sparks, Tyce Diorio, Laurieann Gibson, Mia Michaels, Cris Judd

A Weekend Away

2008-11-06T14:29:00.000-08:00

Kelly had chemo yesterday and we were very happy to be able to come home at the end of the day. She was pretty nervous after what happened last time when she was admitted and spent five days in the hospital. But her doctor reassured her that it shouldn't happen again, and it didn't. She has been on two different meds to protect her stomach. She did much better and actually slept through a couple hours of the afternoon. She did get sick at the end, but that is still much better than all the buckets she went through last time. They think she was fighting something viral two weeks ago and that is what made her so sick and eventually caused the fever. She is resting comfortably today and catching up on her "Charmed" reruns. She feels better as long as she has food in her stomach. She has a theory that if food is going down, it can't be coming up. As long as she feels better today.

If you have been following Kelly's story long enough, you may remember last year when she got to meet Mia Michaels, one of the choreographers from So You Think You Can Dance? The girls get to see her again this weekend. Megan and Shannon's Dance Team is going to "The Pulse", a dance convention in Las Vegas. They will get to take classes with some the the Dance Choreographers from the show. They are so excited. Megan's advanced team will be performing in the the showcase Saturday night in front of the choreographers. Kelly is going too and looking forward to a weekend away and getting to see Mia again.

CHOC Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

Infusion Center Staff and kids

Friday morning, Kelly, Shannon and I went trick or treating at CHOC. It was nice to be there for a fun reason! We met Ashley there, then trick or treated with the Spoonies and Cheyenne and her mom, Virginia. We're sorry we missed you Sharon, we would have loved to have you and AJ with us the whole time. I'm glad we got to see you though. We have to get together soon. All the kids had fun walking through the hallways at CHOC lined with different departments handing out goodies. Kelly was happy to see some of her nurses, especially when they weren't about to infuse her with chemo!

Kelly with two of the Infusion Center Nurses, Barb and Angela

Kelly with nurse Dana. Their costumes looked good together!

Of course we had to go to the neurosurgery office. Kelly was happy to see Erin and Myrlee there, and she also got to see Dr. Muhonen, who looked really good as a tiger.

Kelly and Shannon with the Spoonies

Kelly and Cheyenne

Thanks so much for spending the morning with us Ashley!

Shannon with Bailey - they had a fun morning together.

Kelly is feeling more herself again. She is having a fun weekend. The girls went trick or treating with friends last night, who all came back to our house afterwards. Tonight, Megan and Kelly are spending the night in Palm Desert with a group of girls for one of their friend's 16th birthday. Yes, that was a little bit hard to let Kelly go after the week she had last week, but luckily, one of the moms that is there with the girls is a nurse, so that made me feel better. (Thanks Michelle!) I know a night away with friends will be good for Kelly!

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2008-10-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

Well Miss Kelly had been feeling better and better this week. She went to school yesterday and enjoyed being in her classes again. We went to the clinic this morning to have her labs checked and the good news is her counts are coming up nicely. They have come up quite a bit from Sunday when she was discharged from the hospital. After we left the clinic, we went out to breakfast with her friend from CHOC, Cheyenne and her mom, Virginia. (www.caringbridge.org/visit/cheyennebroswell ) As soon as the waitress put the plate down in front of Kelly, she suddenly felt sick. She took a bite or two, and that was it. Back home to the couch. She has spent the rest of the day resting, and hopefully will feel better tomorrow. It looks like it is just taking her some time to bounce back. She has to feel better this weekend since she has a lot of fun plans, starting with a Halloween sleepover at their friend Sydney's (Megan's foster sister!) house tomorrow night. Friday morning we are planning to go up to CHOC to go trick or treating, Shannon is looking forward to that also.

I have had some questions about Bailey and how he is doing. You will all be glad to know that his scans from Monday of his chest were CLEAR! What a relief! Another answer to prayers.

Home Sweet Home

2008-10-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Stevie, for bring Shannon and Megan to the hospital to visit Kelly. She was happy to all of you!

Kelly enjoyed all of her visitors Saturday, which was the first day she felt good enough to want to see people. Thanks Linda and Turners for bringing us food "from the outside." That is so appreciated! It was great to see you Sarah and Eileen.

Kelly was happy to have lots of reading time in the hospital when she started feeling better.

This is her bear her friend Katie gave her after one of her surgeries last summer. "Rudy" the bear has to come with Kelly whenever she is admitted. He makes a good pillow and she likes to snuggle with him. He is the same bear in the photo in the right margin.

Hello everyone,

I am back at home from the hospital. I will not say I am normal, for apparently that is not a word that exists at CHOC. Everytime I said that something ( i wont say what ) was normal, they would ask , " what is normal?" it got SO irritating!!! so, i guess i could say that i feel FINE. good, fine, dandy..... NORMAL. so, ya, thats about it. well lets see, what else? umm... i guess i will leave the rest up to my mom. i slept, saw lots of tv, ate a little... and thats it. bye.

-kelly*

It is very nice to be back in our own home with all three girls under one roof again. Thanks so much to the Schultes and Elliotts for helping out with Megan and Shannon (their foster families!) I don't know how we'd do this without you! The girls really enjoyed staying with families they are so comfortable with.

Kelly is doing better, as she says above. Her blood counts are lower than normal, so she'll have them checked again this week. We need to be careful of germs also until they start coming back up. I think she is feeling better just being home with her sisters (and of course Murphy!)

Still at CHOC

2008-10-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

Kelly is still in the hospital. The bleeding seems under control and they aren't too worried because she has no pain with it. Her fever is keeping her here. We originally thought we'd be there just one night, but that was the night her fever became high. Fevers in oncology kids are serious and must be treated. She is still on IV antibiotics and they want to keep an eye on her until tomorrow. So she is getting a lot of rest and fluids. She still feels a little nauseous and as she says "wiped out." Hopefully she'll feel better this weekend by the time we go home on Sunday.

Kevin is in New Jersey for his high school reunion. Of course it had to be this weekend, amazing timing. Everytime Kelly is inpatient, he is not home the whole time. He did delay his flight for a day after she was so sick on Wednesday night. By the time he left, she was doing better and we knew she would be OK.

Thank you to those of you leaving comments for us, it helps more than you know, especially times like this. It really cheers Kelly up when she is feeling yucky, to know people are thinking about her and leave a little note in comments (It helps me a lot too!) It gets lonely in the hospital. She hasn't wanted visitors until yesterday afternoon, so if you like to come see her, she would like that now. You can call me on my cell phone first. Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes for Kelly!

INPATIENT

2008-10-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Kelly went to the infusion center yesterday for chemo, and her bad day from Tuesday just continued. She was getting very sick, and there was blood in her vomit. So her oncologist admitted her to find out why she was bleeding so much. Then during the night, her fever spiked, so there was another issue to unravel. The GI doctor came to see her and, since her hemoglobin was stable and she has no stomach pain, he didn't feel the need to scope her as we expected. He's just watching her blood levels. The good news is, since she was there anyway, they did her MRI this morning. Dr. Muhonen came to see us and was very happy with her MRI results. No sign of tumor. As Kelly says, unfortunately this doesn't mean she's cancer free, but she is tumor free. With a grade 4 tumor, which is what glioblastoma is, there are almost always cancer cells left that don't show up on the MRI. That's why the chemotherapy continues. But we're thrilled with how good her MRI is one year after her last surgery. What a coincidence that she was admitted on Oct 22, which is exactly one year from the last time she was admitted. We are much more optimistic at this time than we were a year ago. She is still beating the odds.

2008-10-23T17:06:00.001-07:00

A Walk in the Park

2008-10-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

The CHOC Walk on Sunday was a great success. Thanks so much to everyone who joined us (and made it so much more fun) and everyone who donated to CHOC. It was a great experience for all of us and we enjoyed being part of Team SuperBay. Shannon and Bailey promised each other they would walk together.

Pam and Ashley enjoyed walking much of the time with Shannon and Bailey!

Kevin being Kevin. He did help carry the banner part of the time.

Unfortunately, Megan stayed home sick (she just had a cold, but we didn't want to spread her germs) , but it was so nice to spend the daywith Shannon and Kelly!

Kelly was happy her friends Katie, Kristen and Sandy came.

Shannon and Ashley dancing their way along the walk through Disneyland

California Adventure was also part of the walk.

Baby AJ, a leukemia survivor, (carepage: Papa Anthony Joseph) gets out of his stroller to pose with the girls and Bailey.

Bailey did ride piggy back for part of the walk.

It was really moving to see so many people come together for this event to support CHOC.

Tomorrow, Kelly has chemo. Hopefully she'll do OK, She had a rough day today when she went to CHOC to have her labs done. We were happy to meet Michelle and her son Grayson, who came down for his MRI. I met Michelle on the website, People Against Childhood Cancer http://curechildhoodcancer.ning.com/

This is such a great group, looking for ways together to promote awareness of childhood cancer so it will receive the funding it needs. I have mentioned this website on here before, but it is a really good group to join if you are interested in helping childhood cancer. It doesn't cost anything and you don't have to have a child with cancer to be part of it.

Here is Kelly with Grayson waiting for his MRI. (I'm going to email you this photo Michelle!)

Beating the Odds

2008-10-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Kelly had an appointment with her opthamologist at CHOC today. He has been following her since he first saw her in the hospital 2 days after surgery, when she couldn't read. Dr. Sami hadn't seen her in 6 months. After hearing how she has done with treatments and MRIs the during that time, he looked at her, smiled, and said "You're beating the odds." She really is so far. No one expected her to be doing as well as she is right now when she recurred about a year ago.

Kelly's next MRI is October 29th, 2 weeks from today. We pray she will still be beating the odds.

Shannon is away at 6th grade science camp near Big Bear. She was so excited to go away to camp for 4 days with her classmates. It is quiet here without her, but we know she is having a great time. She comes home Friday afternoon. Then we are going to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood that night (thanks Kevin, this was a birthday present from him last weekend.) Shannon is very hesitant about going to see this show. She used to be obsessed with this musical. But the first time we were going to see it was when Kelly had her seizure, which was so scary for Megan and Shannon to see. Kevin and Kelly were still at the hospital when I left with Megan and Shannon to get them to the show. The plan was that Kevin and Kelly would meet us there as soon as she was released, which we were led to believe would be soon after we left. They never made it. Instead of being released, the doctor came in and told Kevin they found a mass on her CT scan. He called me at the theater to tell me, and I don't remember watching the rest of the show. This was the night our lives turned upside down. We couldn't leave the theater, we had been picked up by friends from the hospital. Shannon must have felt my anxiety and had a hard time enjoying the show, knowing that her dad and sister were supposed to be there with us and they weren't.

I told Shannon that going to see the show with Kelly would be a good way to be able to enjoy it again, knowing we were finally all there together. I hope it works and she can finally enjoy what used to be her favorite musical.

It's not to late to join us for CHOC walk, or sponsor one of us to raise money for the hospital that helped Kelly still be with us today. Thank you so much for those of you that have contributed or will be joining us Sunday. If you still would like to help, please scroll down to the CHOC walk post below for the links. You'll be making a difference in so many children's lives.

Help Wanted

2008-10-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

hey, it's kelly. my mom knows i'm writing this time. : ) we have had a busy week. my mom and i went to a radio station, 104.3, in los angeles, well burbank actually, and we did an interview for a show called my community. we were interviewed for a half hour by a nice guy at the station named jason. my mom had all kinds of facts and notes she had for the interview because we were talking about childhood cancer awareness, but she forgot them at the hospital when we stopped on the way to have my labs checked. but she seemed to remembered a lot and i got to talk too. we talked about how childhood cancer does not get enough attention and what people can do to help. the interview will be broadcast sunday night at 11:00 pm. i know that is late, but it will also be on their website http://www.1043myfm.com probably after sunday night. we got to meet Kari Steele, the daytime dj at the station while she was working. thank you so much Kari for helping get this set up. she is good friends with karen, whose niece also had a brain tumor. Karen told Kari how not many people knew september was childhood cancer awareness month and it didn't get the attention it needs. so Kari helped get her radio station to do a show about it.

One of the things i am really looking forward to this month is the CHOC Walk. it is coming up really fast. we still need donations to be able to participate, plus i just want to be able to help CHOC because they have helped me and other kids so much. we have already had a few people join the team we are walking with, Superbay with Bailey and his family. thanks so much. make sure you sign up online (below) if you want to walk with us. but now we still need your help. we really need donations. if you scroll down to the post below, my mom put links with each of our names. we would really like it if you would donate. if you don't want to donate online, you can mail us a check and we will take it to CHOC. Email my mom if you need our address or have any questions. kathylaude@cox.net

We have to check in for the walk by next Friday, Oct. 17th so we need to get all donations by then.

OK, my turn! This is Kathy now. I have one more request. One of the things that has helped us on this journey is meeting other families online that are going through the same thing we are. I have received a lot of good help and support from other moms whose children have the same or similiar diagnosis as Kelly. One of those families just received some bad news yesterday after an MRI. Even though I have never met Amy Radford, she has become a friend and I feel like I know her from all of our emails back and forth. This family could really use some prayers right now for Kasey, who has the same tumor as Kelly. You can visit his website at www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaseyradford. You may also remember Coleman Larson. They are also looking at tumor progression and are at Sloan Kettering in New York for treatment. You can visit Coleman at www.carepages.com/carepages/colemanscott. Also keep Bailey in your prayers. His MRI will be repeated in a few weeks to recheck the small spots in his lungs. His family could use your prayers. (His website is in the post below.)

Your prayers are evident in Kelly. She continues to do well. She had a long chemo day yesterday, but felt better and didn't get sick until the very end (when some of her meds wore off) We didn't get home until after 8:00 pm. She is pretty wiped out today, but hopefully will have some of her spunk back tomorrow. (She says that is why she couldn't be her usual funny self in her own post above. She just really wanted to talk about the CHOC walk! That is very important to her.) Thanks to all of you for you continued support!

CHOC Walk

2008-09-30T22:00:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Bailey at CHOC

A year ago last October, Kelly's tumor recurred right after she had finished radiation and a round of daily chemotherapy. This was very bad news, and her doctors were very worried about her prognosis. But through another surgery, gamma knife radiosurgery, plus her current chemotherapy protocol, she is doing so much better a year later they expected her to be doing. We really credit her doctors, nurses, and CHOC (Children's Hospital of Orange County) with how well she is doing right now. We are thankful for every good day we have with her.

So now we feel it is time to give back to CHOC. The 2008 CHOC / Disneyland Resort Walk in the Park is October 19th and we are looking forward to participating this year for the first time. Last year, this event occured at the same time Kelly was preparing for her surgery for recurrent tumor, so we couldn't be part of 2007 CHOC walk, so we are very grateful that everything is going well right now and we can be part of this important fundraising event for the Hospital that has done so much for Kelly. We are not forming our own team, as we did for Relay for Life, but have chosen to join the team of our good friends, the Spoonhowers - Bailey's family. We would love to have anyone who is interested, join us in walking with Team SuperBay. If you would like to be part of team SuperBay, please follow this link to sign up.

JOIN TEAM SUPERBAY

Make sure you click on SuperBay.

Each participant needs to have at least $50. in sponsors to take part in the walk. When you sign up, there is a prewritten email you can send out to ask people to sponsor you. (Or you can ask any way you choose - phone calls, your own emails, telegrams, smoke signals, etc....)

If you don't live close by, or you don't want to join the CHOC walk, we still need donations to reach our family's goal of raising at least $1,000. for CHOC. Each member of our family needs to receive donations, so follow one of the links below to donate.

You can also send a check to us and we will submit it to CHOC. Make the check out to CHOC Walk. If you need our address, please email me at kathylaude@cox.net and I will send it to you.

I am also going to include Michelle Spoonhower's (Bailey's mom) story about why they feel so strongly about giving back and participating in the CHOC walk. She wrote this before she got the results of Bailey's scans this week. Two nodules were found on Bailey's lungs. The tumor board at CHOC was meeting this afternoon to decide which direction Bailey's treatment should go now. Prayers for Bailey and his family are much appreciated! You can also go to his website to read more about him, and leave a message if you'd like. You may have to create an identity and password if you have never been to Carepages before. It's easy and worth it!

Bailey's Website

Michelle's Story~

Through out the past two and a half years (wow that is a long time) we have received so much love and support from everybody that we have been truly blessed. One of our huge blessings has been Children’s Hospital of Orange County. I could not have imagined a better hospital. Our kid’s absolutely love going to CHOC and that is because of how wonderful everybody has been to them. They have not only treated our son and kept him alive but they have been there for us as well. They have given me a shoulder to cry on when I needed one, made me laugh when I needed to laugh, answered all of our ten thousand questions and Drews never ending questions, they even rubbed my back when I was in labor, wheeled me to the big people hospital across the street, and promised me that they would take care of Bay (when I went into labor at CHOC while Bailey had a fever that would not go away). They also came to visit Addison and I at the hospital and they even brought Bailey over to visit me and let us take a nap together. There were so many situations that were not ideal but yet they were made ten times better being at CHOC. Oh and did I also mention that when our stem cell collection was denied by our insurance that CHOC picked up the bill for it. That was a biggie.
A year and a half ago when Bay relapsed we went to a Rhabdo specialist at another children’s hospital and all he talked about was hospice and Palliative care. He was just looking at Bay as a statistic and not as my son. Although our Doctor’s at CHOC were very honest with us about Bailey’s prognosis they have never given up hope on him and for that I will thank them forever.
We are so grateful that we have such a wonderful Hospital. That brings me to my next point. It is time for that time of year again for the Spoonies to give back. CHOC is having their annual CHOC walk at Disneyland Sunday October 19th. This is a time that we can thank them for everything they have done for us. Last year we started our SuperBay team and we had a huge success. My goal was a hundred walkers and we ended up with 145 and we raised over 10,000 dollars.

We had so much fun last year and I am looking forward to seeing a bunch of you again this year. It is a very fun family event and you get to walk through Disneyland and California Adventure how cool is that. So please help us out and come and have fun with the Spoonies. We would love to see and spend the day with all of you. If anything you get a SuperBay shirt.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to contact me (its Kathy again!) Hopefully I can find an answer for you! We'd love to have you walk with us and Team SuperBay, or donate through us and Team SuperBay. Thanks so much!

One more thing (remember yesterday I said I had a lot to say!) Here is a link to an article in a Boston Newspaper recognizing Childhood Cancer. Take a minute to look at these photos that tell a lot about childhood cancer. Sadly, I recongized some of these kids. Please leave a comment on the article, even if is it just thanks for recognizing Childhood Cancer and raising awareness. We need to really make an impact that this awareness is needed so cures can be found for kids like Kelly and Bailey, and so many more......

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/childhood_cancer_awareness_mon.html

A New Family Member

2008-09-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

We have a new family member. Kelly had found this dog and couldn't stop thinking about him, All the girls were anxious to get a dog, but Kelly was set on this particular dog. So far we like Murphy for a name, but let us know if you have any good ideas for a name for a male dog. Thanks for all your ideas, Diana!
Don't forget to eat at Chili's tonight. All profits will go to St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. We will be at the Chili's in MIssion Viejo on Crown Valley. If you can't eat there, you can get your food to go, and they will still donate the profits. This is taking place at all Chili's across the country all day and evening.

I have more I want to write about, but it's time to go pick up kids. I'll have more tomorrow!

Vote For Project Brain Child

2008-09-26T13:48:00.001-07:00

Project Brain Child is an iniative of the Pediatric Low Grade Glioma Association.

Members Project is a program sponsored by American Express where cardmembers submit innovative ideas for projects that make a difference. Cardmembers vote on the projects, and the winning 5 projects will receive up to $1.5 million in funding from American Express, awarded as follows:

$1,500,000 for the winning project
$500,000 for the 2nd place project
$300,000 for the 3rd place project
$100,000 each for the two remaining finalist projects
The Pediatric Low Grade Glioma Association (PLGA) submitted their project idea to American Express in August. They will use the funds to conduct a feasibility study to create a National Pediatric Genomic Brain Tumor Registry. The information collected in this registry would allow scientific researchers and medical experts to target specific genetic abnormalities with existing drugs most effectively.

The registry will embody all brain tumor types, not just low grade gliomas. (Kelly has a high grade glioma.)

Project Brain Child was selected from over 1190 other projects to be in the top 25. As of September 17, they are in 9th place.

They need to be one in fifth place or better to receive an award. Votes must be cast by September 28.

Any American Express cardholder may vote. If you don't have an American Express card, you can still help by spreading the word to your friends.

Brain tumors kill more children every year than all other diseases combined. Please help this effort.

So please consider taking two minutes of your time to vote for this worthy project. There are only 3 days left, so let's vote today! Or spread the word if you aren't an American Express card holder!

Bailey went in for his scans today. His family would really love prayers for clean results!

A No Bucket Day!!

2008-09-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Kelly actually had a good chemo day today! Thanks to my online friend and fellow brain tumor mom, Ellen, for her advice with what helped her daughter with the same chemo treatment. We tried it today for the first time and the difference was amazing. Kelly stayed in the common area painting and chatting with her friend Cheyenne, then they both moved to Cheyenne's room to watch TV together and work on their pillow kits that they got from Child Life (thanks Christy!) Normally, Kelly would be in her own room most of the day being sick. This was such a wonderful change for her. Hopefully she will continue to feel good through this evening and tonight! She really wants to go to school tomorrow and of course, make it to Cold Stone Creamery to help with their Make A Wish Ice Cream Social.

This is Kelly's pillow she made today.

You can click on it to enlarge it.

The balloons say Love, Hope, Believe.

That really tells how Kelly is dealing with her illness.

Don't forget to get your ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery tomorrow, then on Monday, Chili's is donating all their profits to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. What a great reason to eat out. You can also get your dinner to go. If you click on the Chili's box to the right, (yes, the one that is cut off at the edge of the page) there is more information on how Chili's is helping St. Judes this month.

Anyone who is interested in helping find a cure for Childhood Cancer, here is a great place to see how to help. We are now part of this. www.teamunite.net

Make A Wish Fundraiser

2008-09-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for our 16 year olds! It is also good to hear many of you will be at Cold Stone Creamery Thursday which will benefit Make A Wish. A Public Relations Coordinator from Kahala Corp, which is the parent company of Cold Stone, sent me an email letting me know that some of their other restaurants were also hosting giveaway events this week between 5:00 and 8:00 pm, which will also benefit Make A Wish. If you live near any of these restaurants, here is a great reason to go out to eat this week. Below are the give away signature items at each restaurant in exchange for a goodwill donation to Make A Wish. Make A Wish Stars will also be sold throughout the month of September as part of the effort to raise money for Make A Wish. As most of you know, Make a Wish grants wishes for children with life threatening medical conditions, such as Kelly's.

• Tuesday, September 23 – Blimpie – 3 inch Turkey sub www.blimpie.com

* Not valid in Blimpie locations within Hess convenience stores.

• Wednesday, September 24 – TacoTime – small order of MexiFries www.tacotime.com

* Not valid in TacoTime stores in IN, MI, IA, CO and the Seattle area.

• Thursday, September 25 – Cold Stone Creamery - a choice of two 3-ounce ice cream Creations:

o Emily’s Creation – Nutter Butter® ice cream mixed with yellow cake, Kit Kat® and white chocolate chips

o Jack’s Creation – Marshmallow ice cream mixed with OREO® cookies, chocolate chips and fudge www.coldstonecreamery.com

• Friday, September 26 - Great Steak & Potato – small order of Great Fries www.thegreatsteak.com

Kelly has labs today and chemo tomorrow, so hopefully she'll be ready to help at Cold Stone on Thursday evening! She loves all the cards and goodies she received in person and in the mail! It is nice to for her to have something so fun happen on her chemo week especially. It is no fun for her to keep going to these treatments knowing how they make her feel. We really appreciate all your good wishes for her!

Happy Birthday!

2008-09-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't read our comments, Kevin is back home! He got home last weekend from his military duty in Hawaii and hopefully will be here for awhile now. (Every time I say he is home for good, something happens, so I am not saying that!) So we are all happy to have our whole family at home together again. He is home just in time to help us celebrate a big day tomorrow. Kelly and Megan's 16th birthday is tomorrow! We are taking them out to dinner tonight since tomorrow is busy with school and dance (that Megan won't miss, even for her birthday.) Megan also just got her driving permit and is driving every chance she can get.

This week, on September 25th, Cold Stone Creamery is having a Make A Wish Ice Cream Social between 5:00 and 8:00 pm. So here is a good reason to go have some Ice Cream and support Make A Wish. Kelly will be helping at our Mission Viejo Cold Stone Creamery at Gateway Center as a Wish Kid Greeter. This is what we received in an email about the event:

Throughout the month of September, Cold Stone Creamery will be selling Make-A-Wish wall stars to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions. Be sure to visit your local Cold Stone Creamery to try two new flavors, Nutter Butter® and Marshmallow, and the very special “Make-A-Wish Creations” inspired by Jack and Emily, two Wish Children.

· Jack's Creation - Marshmallow ice cream with OREO® Cookies, Chocolate Chips and Fudge
· Emily's Creation - Nutter Butter® ice cream with White Chocolate Chips, Kit Kat® and Yellow Cake

To cap off this special month, don't miss the 7th Annual World’s Largest Ice Cream Social at participating Cold Stone Creamery locations nationwide, a special night to join together and share the simple pleasures of life with a FREE ice cream and family fun. On September 25th from 5:00 - 8:00PM, guests will be treated to a 3 oz. serving of Jack or Emily's Creation. Donations will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Hopefully, Kelly will feel well enough to participate since her chemo day is this Wednesday. We are going back to our morning time. When she had her treatment in the afternoon, she was sick most of the night, so she wants to go back to morning so she'll hopefully feel better by bedtime and be able to sleep.

Kelly's Moose Stamp

2008-09-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

Special Thanks go out to my friends, Daisy and Joy. They have a wonderful online paper craft business called eclectic Paperie. They put out a weekly email newsletter and the first week of September they had a special newsletter for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! I was thrilled that they recognized this, as many people don't know about it. Not only did they promote Childhood Cancer Awareness month, but they had a story about Kelly, who they introduced in their newsletter last year, right after she recurred and had her second craniotomy. So this month, they put Kelly in their newsletter again, and they did something very special for her. Below is the photo of Kelly they put in their newsletter (in her moose room of course!) Read below to see what these wonderful friends have done for Kelly. (OK, this looked way better in their newsletter!) If anyone would like to see their newsletter, let me know and I'll forward it to you! They do a great job with it and if you are interested in paper crafts, stamping and card making, or scrapbooking, you'll love their website! (There is a link at the end.) Kelly absolutely loves her moose stamp. Thanks so much Daisy and Joy and Kristen!

Revisting eP friend Kelly Laude

A Courageous Battle with Cancer

About a year ago we introduced you to Kelly Laude, a brave young girl in the battle of her life! Her treatment continues and she has had a remarkable year that you can read about in her blog. Kelly's mom, Kathy Laude, is a special friend and our former Stampin' Up! Upline who contributes and maintains Kelly's blog so we can share in her story

A Dancing Moose for Kelly

eP & Hanna Stamps Special Stamp Release

Several months ago we approached Hanna Stamps in helping us do something to help Kelly in her fight against cancer. We knew that Kelly has a love for moose, performing arts(dancing) and stamps with her Mom who is an avid stamper. I mentioned this to Kristi and she told us about Sophie(the Moose) in her ballerina outfit. Kristi worked with us and kindly agreed to participate in this special endeavor.

We are very excited to announce that eclectic Paperie and Hanna Stamps is going to offer a special stamp, Ballet Sophie. A portion of the sale of this stamp will be given to The Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation in Kelly's name. This wood stamp will be exclusive to eclectic Paperie and Hanna Stamps.

165 Little Heroes

2008-09-13T20:23:00.001-07:00

This is a video for Childhood Cancer Awareness made by a mom who lost her 4 year old son to a brain tumor. If you watched Stand Up 2 Cancer last week, Mimi's words about Julian were read by Forrest Whitaker. I met her last weekend when she was in California to attend the show at the Kodak Theater. She and her husband stayed with the Spoonies (Bailey's Family!) Thanks Mimi for all your efforts to bring awareness.

Kelly is in the video (in the 8th minute.) It is long, but it shows that there are so many kids affected by cancer.

Childhood Cancer Awareness Day

2008-09-13T15:58:00.000-07:00

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Today, September 13th, is the very FIRST National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day.

Childhood Cancer Facts

Childhood Cancers are the #1 disease killer of children - more than asthma, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, and pediatric AIDS combined.

One in every 330 children will develop cancer before the age of 19.

One out of every five children diagnosed with cancer dies.

The National Cancer Institute's (NCI) federal budget was $4.6 billion. Of that, breast cancer received 12%, prostrate cancer received 7%, and all 12 major groups of pediatric cancers combined received less than 3%.

Common cancer symptoms in children - fever, swollen glands, anemia, bruises and infection - are often suspected to be, and at the early stages are treated as other childhood illnesses.

Three out of every five children diagnosed with cancer suffer from long-term or late onset side effects.

Cancer in childhood is 20 times more prevalent than pediatric AIDS yet pediatric AIDS receives four times the funding childhood cancer receives.

Cancer in childhood occurs regularly, randomly, and spares no ethnic group, socioeconomic class, or geographic region.

The cause of most childhood cancers are unknown and at present, cannot be prevented. (Most adult cancers result from lifestyle factors such as smoking, diet, occupation, and other exposure to cancer-causing agents.)

On the average, 12,500 children and adolescents in the US are diagnosed with cancer each year.

On the average, one in every four elementary schools has a child with cancer.

On the average, every high school in America has two students who are a current or former cancer patient.

In the US, about 46 children and adolescents are diagnosed with cancer every single school day. That's about the equivalant of two entire classrooms.

While the cancer death rate has dropped more dramatically for children than for any other age group, 2,300 children and teenagers will die each year from cancer.

Today, up to 75% of the children with cancer can be cured, yet some forms of childhood cancers have proven so resistant to treatment that in spite of resesarch, a cure is illusive.

Several childhood cancers continue to have a very poor prognosis, including: brain stem tumors, metastatic sarcomas, relapsed acute lymphoblastic Leukemia, and relapsed non-Hodgkin's.

So, now you're saying, "Wow! That's absolutely ridiculous... what can I do to HELP?"

Here are some things you can do this month (and ALL YEAR ROUND, and for the most part!) to support Childhood Cancer Awareness. None of these things involves any financial burden of any kind (except eating at Chili's... but hey, ya gotta eat right?)

~Join Team Unite - http://www.teamunite.net to become a part of a unified voice against childhood cancer.

~Join people against childhood cancer (pac2) www.curechildhoodcancer.ning.com - to learn of efforts being made around the world to find a cure, raise awareness, and lend support.

~Eat at Chili's on Monday, September 29th, when Chili's will donate 100% of profits

~Wear gold for the kids! http://www.cafepress.com/teamunite

~Let a family that's been touched by childhoood cancer know you STILL CARE and haven't forgotten about their struggles.

~Sign the Cure Childhood Cancer petition if you haven't already. Ask you friends and family to sign as well.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/CureChildhoodCancer

~The information I'm sharing came from Heidi Randall, another cancer mom whose daughter lost her battle with a malignant brain tumor. She works tirelessly to help raise awareness and support for pediatric cancer research. You can check out her daughter's website at www.caringbridge.org/visit/jessicarandall

~Have a great weekend.....Keep praying. Love, Kathy and Kelly

Yay, High School!

2008-09-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

The title is Kelly's idea. That should give you an idea of how she likes being back at school, even though it is just part time. Actually part time is perfect for her. She does the rest of her classes at home, so she has the mornings to work on those before school. Then she goes to school at lunch time and has two classes after lunch. A regular school schedule would still be too much for her right now, with chemo treatments every other week.

You can read the secret post below to see how Kelly is doing from her own point of view. You'll also notice that she is a little out of it the day after chemo. But as usual, the sense of humor is still there. Now it is my turn to give you the latest Kelly news! She started her two classes at school last Thursday and is really enjoying being back at school. She actually wanted to try to go today, but as you will see when you read her post, yesterday's chemo didn't go so well. She was pretty sick, but still wanted to try to eat dinner last night (as she said, she just felt empty) The dinner did not want to stay down, so that kept her awake quite a bit last night. She gets caught in the fact that she feels better with something in her stomach, but it just won't stay there on chemo day. She was eating a hamburger in the infusion center at the beginning of chemo yesterday (while she still felt good) when her doctor stopped by to see her. He said, "I see you have a good appetite." To which she replied, "I am enjoying this now before I have to give it back."

School has been such a good thing for Kelly! She is so happy to be back. She is really enjoying her classes and loves being around her friends and classmates again. Thanks so much to everyone at her high school that has been so supportive of her. (Especially you, Karey!!) Her teachers at school are great - very understanding with her. She likes the classes she chose. She is having fun learning French and really likes having one of her good friends in class with her. (While we are at it Rachel, it is also so nice seeing you dance at the studio again!!) Ceramics is fun and she enjoys making things with clay, even though so far she has only made the top of a pinch pot. This class was comfortable for her since she already knew the teacher. Thanks for making her feel so welcome, Heather.

Kelly was so excited to get a locker this week. It made her feel like a real high school student, even though she is only there part time. Amazing how little things can mean so much.

Megan and Shannon are busy with their full schedules of school and dance. Since Kelly has been feeling so well, with the exception of chemo day and the day after, I have been spending more time at the dance studio. As some of you know, I worked in the office there before Kelly was diagnosed. It is fun to be back there a little more, getting to know the students and helping out where I can. I have also started some of the adult dance classes in the mornings again. It is fun for me to get back to some of my old routines. It is also good for Kelly to have some time without me around all the time. As much as I love being with her all the time, she does need her teenage freedom too. Hopefully, she will continue to have clear MRIs so we can continue to enjoy what is looking to be such a good new school year.

hee hee hee. shhhh....

2008-09-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

ok, my mom has left. she has gone to drop off shannon at school. she had a stomach ache, so she went to school at lunch. so, this gives me a chance to write a secret post. : D mwaa ha ha. totally out of the ordinary, i know, but i had chemo yesterday, so i cant go to school today. : ( anyway, i had a pretty suckish day yesterday, but thats old news. but, since i have absolutly no new news, this proves to be a problem. so, you may be wondering why im writing when there is absolutly nothing to talk about. well, i just thought that i would let my millions of fans know that i am alive and doing fine and dandy. oh! i thought of something, and this goes out to sophie miller. HEY SOPHIE!!!! who are you teachers? end of question. well, i know that my mom always tells me to write on here. but you see, there is a reason why i only post every so often. you see, i do this for you. and this has nothing to do with the fact that i am lazy. now i know you all like hearing me post more than my mom because, well, im just cool like that. i do this because whenever i do the occasional post, it seems more special. do you see the brilliance of my logic? well, mom will be home soon. but beforei sign off, i would like to apologize for my teenagerish write. i am nearly 16 you know, i cant be blamed. toodles!

-kelly

Celebrating Summer's End

2008-09-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

It seems like I was just writing about summer vacation beginning. Summer has gone so fast, but I think that is because it was such a good summer this year. School starts tomorrow, so we decided to take our last day of summer vacation and do something fun. We spent the day at Disneyland and C alifornia Adventure. Shannon was excited last night about the idea of have a "Family Day" today (even though Kevin is still in Hawaii and couldn't be with us.) It was a wonderful day at the parks since most schools have already started. There weren't any crowds there and we could walk onto the rides without waiting in line. It was amazing how much you can do there when there aren't a lot of people there!

Megan, Shannon and Kelly at California Adventure.

Kelly's hair is much shorter and lighter. It looks so nice. Thanks Heather!

Megan in California Adventure

Kelly and Shannon on Splash Mountain. It was a good day to get wet!

Shannon with her favorite animal - a goat!

Kelly is more excited than her sisters about school starting tomorrow. She has learned not to take the privelage of going to school for granted anymore. (I'm not sure all kids think of going to school as a privelage like Kelly does.) Shannon and Megan are happy to go see their friends.

As many of you are already aware, there is a show on all the major TV networks this Friday at 8:00. It is Called STAND UP TO CANCER. This is quote from their website, "Here comes the event that will make television and cancer history. Watch one night, only, Friday, September 5th at 8pm ET/PT, live and commerical free. Broadcast simultaneously on ABC, CBS, and NBC. Over 50 of the biggest names in entertainment, sports and music will come together to stand up to cancer. Talk to one of your favorite stars at our live phone bank. And catch the world premier performance of the new hit single, "Just Stand Up!" This is Where the End of Cancer Begins." There will include a part on childhood cancer. Bailey is one of the kids that will be shown. Go Here to see the website for Stand up 2 Cancer.

Help Cure Childhood Cancer

2008-09-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

September is

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

September 13th is Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. Gold is the official color for Childhood Cancer. There are a couple things you can do if you would like to be part of this. If you haven't signed the petition for childhood cancer you can click here to sign the petition to help raise awareness. More awareness = more research funding $$$$.

I recently joined a group called People Against Childhood Cancer. (PAC2) If anyone is interested in joining, especially you cancer parents. But is open to anyone such as family and friends of children who have had or are fighting this horrible disease. The new chair of the CureSearch Board of Trustees has joined, along with David Loeb, a pediatric oncologist at John Hopkins. Check out his blog if you are interested at Dr. David's Blog. Laurian, a regional coordinator for Make A Wish has also joined.

If you would like to join the People against Childhood Cancer Group, click here

You can forward this to anyone you think may be interested in joining.

Chili's Restaurant is hosting events nationwide in support of Childhood Cancer and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Visit your local Chili's or go here to see how you can help.

I will be posting more information about Childhood Cancer Awareness during this month.

Thanks to all of you who are helping make awareness happen!

Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

2008-08-28T20:24:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Chemo Day. It was hard to believe when they handed me her roadmap (treatment plan) that this was course 21 of this chemo for Kelly. She actually did a little better yesterday. I was worried after her last treatment two weeks ago, when I stopped counting at 7 buckets. So I talked to Dana, her nurse, and she suggested that we slow down the Irinotecan infusion for her. (You should be a nurse, Michelle!) So we ran it over 3 hours (plus the avastin, anti nausea meds, and flushes) She was still sick, but not as much, and she wasn't so out of it. She looked up at me from her bucket at one point and smiled. She just said, "I really don't feel that bad." Comparatively speaking. Most kids would be miserable with Kelly's "I don't feel that bad." Today she is just tired, but doing OK. We scheduled her next chemo treamtment for two weeks from now, but instead of the morning like we usually do, we are going to try 2:30 so she can make it to her French Class, and then go to her chemo appt. That way, she at least won't miss French on Wednesday. I just hope we still have time to run her infusion slowly since they close at 7:00 pm. Her next appointment will be an experiment to see if this will work. Once again, Shannon came with us all day to the Infusion Center. She really enjoys going there and is going to miss it when school starts.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Even though Relay for Life is for all ages and all types of cancer, I just wanted to share this video from the Relay for Life we did this year. You can see several shots of "Team Kelly" and Kelly in her purple fuzzy hat. The beads she is holding are her survivor beads. They get one strand for every year they have survived cancer. Our team's theme was Childhood Cancer, and you can see the poster I made with facts and stories of childhood cancer. Amy and Michelle, look for the stars with Kasey and Bailey! Our poster and stars were gold because gold is the color of childhood cancer. By the way, the luminary bag that says "In Memory of Gramcracker" is for my mom, who died of cancer 4 years ago. All of her grandchildren called her that. The Opening of the video shows Dana Point, the town we did the Relay in, which is close by. The park where Relay was held overlooked Dana Point Harbor and the Pacific Ocean, which was such a nice view to have!

I just noticed something funny after I watched this video again. After it is over, there are other videos you can choose to watch (since this is from YouTube) If you scroll over the other choices and see one called CSI Dana Point, that is also something the girls did at Relay at Dana Point. Kelly video taped it and they are just being silly and having some fun since we were there for 24 hours. Ashley Diemer (Chloe's older sister) is the reporter. Megan and her friend, Amy, are Phil and Tony. The "guns" they use are marshmallow blasters. They really do just shoot marshmallows and really can't hurt anyone! Thanks to Christy, who did all the editing on the girls' video.

A New School Plan

2008-08-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

We are enjoying the last couple weeks of summer. It has been such a good summer, which we don't take for granted after a summer of hospitals, surgeries, and radiation last year. As we came closer to this next school year starting, one of Kelly's goals was to be able to attend school part of the time. She knows she can't keep up with school full time since she has her chemo treatments every other week that she'll have to miss school for, and it takes a couple days to recover. But she was isolated much of the time last year from kids her age, so she really wanted to be able to go to school and be with other teenagers for at least part time. So, after some discussion with the guidance counselor at her high school, we had a meeting today with her, and some other high school staff to come up with a plan that work for Kelly and the high school. I am so grateful to these people that have come up with ideas that Kelly is so excited about. Kelly will remain with her home tutor at home for her main subjects (she is so happy to have you, Karey!) and she will get to go to school in the afternoon for her electives, French and Ceramics. If she wants to, she can have lunch at school too, since her 2 classes will start right after lunch. The French class will be a trial the first month or two to make sure Kelly can keep up with the absences she will have. She is also happy because she already knows that one of her friends will be in her French class. That really made her day, Rachel! Kelly is thrilled she will get to spend time on campus with everyone else and just be a normal teenager for part of her day once school start September 4th. Until then, she is working with her tutor to finish some of her freshman credits. She is still behind in her freshman classes since she couldn't do any school work last year until late November. Thanks to everyone who helped make this happen for Kelly. It means so much to her to be able to do something normal.

MRI Day

2008-08-12T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our day started early with labs. They left her port accessed so we could use it to inject the contrast that is need during her MRI. Kelly often feels nauseous just being in the clinic. I think there is too much association with what has happened too often there. So she started out early this morning not feeling too good. Then we walked across the street for her MRI. She was still not feeling so well, so when it was time to add the contrast through her port, she knew she was going to be sick. I think she was almost relieved to get it all out of her system so she could feel better to go back inside the MRI machine. She was worried she would be sick while she was inside. The rest of the MRI went smoothly.

We went to Dr. Muhonen's office next and received great news! He said that her MRI is clear and there is no sign of recurrence. Another huge sigh of relief. It was nice to have time while we were in the neurosurgery clinic to visit with Erin and show her pictures from our trip last week. Kelly was happy to talk to her about Breaking Dawn, the book she was so anxious to read while we were away. Erin had read it too and Kelly was glad to have someone to talk to about it. I still have a couple chapters left.

So we can breathe easy for awhile again. The chemo continues since it is doing what it is meant to do, keeping her tumor from recurring. At least we can go to the infusion center tomorrow knowing it is for a very good reason and that it is working. Thanks for all of your prayers for her scans. They are really helping!

More Make A Wish Trip Photos

2008-08-10T20:45:00.001-07:00

I added more photos from our Disney Cruise to our photo website. Here is the link if you would like to see them:

Disney Cruise Photos

We had a fun day yesterday. Make A Wish sponsored a day for their wish kids at Wild Rivers, our local water park. It was nice to play in the water and be wet on hot summer day. We had a great day and were glad to be able to spend time with our friends the Diemers and Spoonhowers. The Diemers are moving to Portland this weekend and we will miss them greatly.

Kelly's MRI is Tuesday at 9:45, then she has an appt. with Dr. Muhonen, her neurosurgeon, at 12:30 so we can get the results of the scans. Thanks for all of your good thoughts and prayers for her! I'll post the results when we get home.

Make A Wish

2008-08-08T19:57:00.000-07:00

We just returned last night from Kelly's Make A Wish Trip. We had a wonderful Disney Cruise to the Bahamas. We did some amazing things that we'll always remember. There are a lot of photos we'd like to share, so I'll see how many I can fit on one post. Hopefully I'll make a webpage on our photo website within a couple days, then I'll put the link here. Remember you can click on the photos to enlarge them.

The girls dressed up for dinner. Notice Kelly and Shannon's hair - they had it braided on the ship. It was a nice way to keep it out of their way during the trip. They both still have their braids and it still looks good.

Kelly in front of the girls' stateroom. Thanks for the door decorations Debbie! It helped Shannon find the room when she came down herself!

The Disney Wonder docked at their private Island, Castaway Cay. The other ship is the Flying Dutchman, used in the filming of the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Kelly couldn't wait to read her new book, Breaking Dawn. So she read on the beach until she was done! Notice all the empty chairs around her because we were all snorkeling. Luckily she finished it the first morning so she didn't spend the whole cruise reading! Thanks for bringing it to her Jen! We also took a boat trip from Castaway Cay to a nearby reef for snorkeling. It was beautiful with a lot of coral and colorful fish. Kevin and Shannon and I took a bike ride around the island, which was a good way to see it.

Megan and Shannon relaxing on the beach on Castaway Cay.

One of the big highlights, and a big part of Kelly's Wish, was swimming with Dolphins while we were in the Bahamas. She is getting a kiss from Andy, who played Flipper in the movie.

Parasailing was another favorite activity at Castaway Cay. Kevin and Kelly rode tandem.

Megan and Shannon rode together (below)

Coming home was hard, but being met at the airport by a limosine made it much more fun! I have many more pictures I want to share, so hopefully I'll have a link to them soon. Thanks so much to the Make A Wish Foundation for giving Kelly and our family a wonderful trip, a nice break from doctors and treatments, and memories that will last a lifetime.

Next week, we really get back to our real life. Kelly has her next MRI on Tuesday and chemo on Wednesday. We pray her MRI results will be good. The trip was a good distraction from thinking about these things like MRIs and chemo, but now the reality of it is coming back. MRIs are always nervewracking as we await to see if her scans will remain clear, since we know glioblastoma can recur any time (as it already has once.) That is why she is still on a regular chemo schedule. We thank all of you who have been with us and supportive through this journey, even if it is just good thoughts and prayers for Kelly. That is what she needs most and we all really appreciate it.

Back to Florida!

2008-08-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day! We are being picked up at 5:18 am to go to the airport. Kelly's Make a Wish Trip is finally here. We are all excited about the Disney cruise and being in Caribbean Water.

Kelly relaxing on the trampoline teenage style. Gotta have the laptop. This has actually been a good way for her to stay in touch with her friends, especially when she is not in school with them.

Wednesday was Chemo Day. Since it is summer Shannon comes with us. She really enjoys the Infusion Center since there is a lot for the kids to do there. She was really happy that it was a chemo day for Bailey too. She spent the afternoon with Bailey and his little sister. At the end of the day, she asked if we could come back the next day, like Bailey had to. I explained that Kelly only came once every two weeks and all their treatments are different. She really wanted to come back the next day. I was really thankful we didn't have to, but Shannon felt so strongly that she wanted to be there the next day with Bailey and his family. So she ended up going home with them, spending the night, then coming back to CHOC with them the next day. I just picked her up when they were almost done. The nurses are offering to put her on payroll.

Kelly did pretty well through the first half of her treatment. It is so nice to have distractions to keep her busy at the infusion center. She was very happy that her friend, Sarah, came to spend some time with her there. Sarah was also on our trip to Lourdes, France last Spring. Thanks for coming to see Kelly, Sarah. She really was excited to see you, even though she started feeling pretty bad. I don't know what makes these chemo days different from one another. Last time, I really thought we had come up with a good plan for anti-nausea meds because she never got sick. We did the same thing this time, and I can't count how many buckets she went through. Even after we came home, she kept getting sick until she fell asleep at 10:00. The good thing is, she is feeling good now and ready to go tomorrow!

Her Make a Wish Party was also earlier this week. Her wish granters gave her a backpack with her Make a Wish shirt and some other goodies for the trip. She had a just a couple friends over (the wish party budget had just been cut!) but had a really nice night. Thanks to her wish granters, Marissa and Rachel, for making this trip special for her. This is her friend, Katie, who hopefully will be planning her own Make a Wish trip soon!

Camp Memories

2008-07-27T22:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I picked up three girls that wished camp wasn't over. I am so glad they had such a wonderful time. They have hardly stopped talking about it since they got home. Here are some things they want to share:

Camp Ronald McDonald for Good Times was amazing. We met incredible friends, did fun things, and had good food. We did things that varied from fishing, to sleeping under the stars on teepee night, to dressing up as men one night. And it was funny because the guy cabin next to us said, "hey guys, " then they looked closer and were like, "Whoa, those are chics!" It was funny.

Of course, all I caught was a duck. Yes, I said duck. The duck tried to take my bait and it would not let go of my fishing line. We also got to ride horses. And I always love being up in the mountains! This camp was near Idyllwild, where we visited our friends Mark and Laurie last winter. It was beautiful there.

It is good to be home, but I am still camp-sick. I miss my cabin family. The photo below shows my cabin family, which included Megan. I can't wait till winter session.

-Kelly

Here is Shannon's story:

Camp was so much fun. I wish I could go back and play more games with my cabin family. One time when we were playing games outside, it started hailing, even though it was summer. It was so cool, since I don't ever remember seeing hail before. I liked catching minnows in the pond. One of my favorite things to do was horseback riding. I really liked my horse, Pokey. I got to feed the horses carrots and I got to take off Pokey's saddle. As you can see below, I caught a fish, but it was an accident. One of my friends gave my their fishing rod to hold so she could go get water. I was kind of spacing out as I held the rod, and the hook fell into the water. A fish grabbed on and I caught it! I don't like catching fish though because I don't like seeing them on the hook. So after that, I just stuck to catching minnows with a net and then releasing them back into the water. Everyday we also got to go swimming in the pool. My favorite memory was the dance because I love dancing. I really miss my friends and counselors. I wish I was back at camp.

~Shannon
Thanks to Camp Ronald McDonald for providing this wonderful camp experience for these pediatric oncology patients and their siblings. These are truly memories that will last forever. Even Megan, who I always worry about how she handles having a twin sister with cancer came home and said, "We really were like a big family. And it was so nice because everybody understands what it is like to deal with cancer. Everyone just gets it."

And summer fun is not over yet. Remember how Kelly picked a Disney Caribbean Cruise as her Make A Wish? Well, we are leaving this Saturday! Kevin is flying home Friday night to go with us, then we fly to Florida early Saturday morning. We get on the ship Sunday morning. And somewhere in Florida, we have to find a bookstore so Kelly can get the latest Stephanie Meyer book in the Twilight Series that she has been so eagerly anticipating. She has read the first three books in the series countless times. The fourth book, Breaking Dawn, is being released Saturday.

So like they have been doing all summer, the girls are unpacking, getting laundry done, and repacking their suitcases. Of course, Megan and Shannon will squeeze in as many dance classes as they can this week while they are home. What an amazing summer we are having! After last spending most of last summer at the hospital, we really appreciate this fun summer this year. We don't take this for granted anymore! Tomorrow night is Kelly's "Wish" Party where we get all the details for our trip.

Kelly does have chemo on Wednesday, so hopefully she will recover in time to feel good for our flight Saturday morning. Send your good thoughts and prayers her way to have a quick recovery this week from chemo!

Another Special Request

2008-07-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

The girls will be home from camp tomorrow. It looks like they are having a good time from the photos on the camp website. One of the camp directors called the second night they were there just to let me know the girls were fine, making friends, and having a lot of fun. We are very thankful that the girls have had this opportunity for this week at camp. I wasn't sure about spending the week alone, but it has been a very nice week for me also. I have had the chance to spend more time with friends and do things I don't normally do. Thanks to Pam, yesterday was wonderful! We had a spa morning, which I have never done before. I don't think I would have if it weren't for Pam. (Lunch was a nice treat too - thanks Soni!)

I have a special request for another little boy in Iowa that is fighting another type of brain cancer. Coleman is only four and also has a twin. In March, he had a stem cell transplant that was their hope to totally eliminate his cancer. But last week he had an MRI that revealed cancer cells and tumors in his spinal cord. We have been through recurrence and know how devasting that news is. The Larson family could really use some extra prayers right now as they decide their next steps in this rough journey. For those of you that are following our friend, Bailey, you may have already seen this on their website, but I'd like to post it here to support the Larsons. Bailey's family visited the Larsons in Iowa this week on their cross county trip. They had become friends through their carepages and finally got to meet.

INTERNATIONAL ((((((HUGS))))))) COLEMAN DAY

Friday, July 25th

We are asking all of you out there to send everything you have (prayers, hugs, thoughts) to Team Larson on this Friday, especially at 11:00 am. The power of prayer (collectively) can help them right now. Please pass this message along to everyone. And remember to hug your children or anyone close to you! Thanks for your help.

Bob and Peggy, we are right here with you.

This is Coleman and his twin brother, Caden.

If you would like to visit their website, they have a carepage. Click on this link: www.carepages.com then sign in and go the the carepage ColemanScott

There is one more thing you can do now to help all the kids fighting childhood cancer. There is a petition online to raise awareness and funding for childhood cancer. If you to to carepages, you can visit the carepage, ajsspace to learn more about what this dad is doing to help childhood cancer. He also had a blog with good information on it. Here is the link to that. www.curechildhoodcancer.blogspot.com/

Click here to sign the petition CURE CHILDHOOD CANCER PETITION

We can make a difference! Every day 46 kids will be diagnosed with cancer, and this will continue unless WE do something about it. It doesn't cost anything, just a moment of your time. Thank for caring!

Camp Ronald McDonald

2008-07-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Our house is so quiet. I am not used to being here without anyone. Even during the school year, Kelly is always here and I haven't been away from her since she was diagnosed a year ago. And Kevin is back in Hawaii. I was a little worried about it and yesterday morning as we were loading the car, I thought, Why did I sign them up for this??? But we arrived at the Ronald McDonald House in Orange where the bus was meeting them to take them up to camp and met other campers and the wonderful counselors, they were already at ease and looking forward to the fun week ahead. I drove home happy that they were going to have such a great week in the mountains. And I am looking forward to going out to dinner and a movie with friends tonight!

If anyone is interested, there is a website for the camp they are at and they are posting photos thoughout the week. They already have photos up of the cabin groups. Shannon is in cabin 4 and Megan and Kelly are both in cabin 12. Follow the link below to the website, click enter, then on the Home page, click the camera where it says Find Your Camper. The current session will be at the top center of the photo page.

Link to Camp Website: www.campronaldmcdonald.org

If you haven't read Kelly's post from yesterday, it is just below.

Gooseberries and Burrito Bliss

2008-07-20T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hello! I assume that you are wondering why I have such an interesting title. Well, I walked in for chemo on Wednesday when Christy ( from the clinic ) walks in holding the strangest looking berries I have ever seen. They were about the size of a grape, green, and those weird stripes like a watermelon. They were GOOSEBERRIES!!! And let me tell you, if you have never tried them before, they are the most delicious berries EVER!!! I had, like, a bajillion.

Moving on, I didn't play guitar hero this time, ( because Bailey wasn't there, why else? ♥) so I painted. I painted what a good day, and a bad day looked like. They are going to be on display next spring with other painting from oncology kids. Then, just for fun, I painted my initials into styrofoam plates. By the end of chemo, I HADN'T THROWN UP ONCE!!!!! It was miraculous I tell you! I think it was this magic pill called Emend that they added to my anti nausea meds before chemo. So afterward, I had a burrito and a large Dr. Pepper. Delish.

I have felt nausous since, but I eat, and it goes away. Woot Woot! I am fine now, which is good because I am going to camp today!!!! I can't wait. Well, I gotta go. Breakfast is a callin'. Oh yeah!!! Shout out to Katie, as soon as I get back, I will call you asap.

Adios!!!

Kelly

P.S. Gooseberries are disgusting. They are yucky, gross, BLECH!!! I only had one. You are welcome to try them though. EEWW. Bon appetite!

More Florida Photos

2008-07-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

We arrived home from Florida last night. I just wanted to share some more photos from our trip. This is Shannon on the sand bar we went to on Anna Maria Island. She is looking for shells and sand dollars.

Sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, west coast of Florida

We had a wonderful two weeks visiting with my sisters and their families that we don't get to see often enough. We spent a fews days at Anna Maria Island before we came home, thanks to Tom's mom letting us use her condos there. Thanks so much, Marilyn! We enjoyed spending time there and being so close to the wonderful beach on the Gulf of Mexico. The sand was white and felt like powder, and the girls were thrilled that they could actually find shells there. We took a boat ride (photo above) to a sand bar,where we got out of the boat and found lots of sand dollars in the shallow, clear water.

Shannon and her cousin, Kylie. They had a blast playing in the sand and water together.

Playing in the soft, white sand was a favorite thing for Shannon. This sand never seemed to get hot the way it does here. The water in the Gulf was nice and warm, for those of us used to the cold Pacific Ocean. We spent hours in the water.

This bird would come almost all the way up to our sliding back door at the condo. He was looking for a snack. He let the kids get pretty close to him. This is taken from the back door of the condo.

One of the nice things about this vacation for Kelly was not having to think about doctor appts. and chemo treatments. Unfortunately, we are back home and back to real life. She had labs today and has chemo tomorrow morning at the infusion center. It was a nice three weeks off, which is the longest she has ever gone between chemo treatments.

Kevin is also leaving again tomorrow morning for another two months in Hawaii with Marine Forces Pacific. We will miss him. We were getting used to having him around.

Kelly, Megan and Shannon leave Sunday for Camp Ronald McDonald in our local mountains. It is for Oncology patients and their siblings. They are looking forward to a week of fun. Kelly has met quite a few kids that are also cancer patients and have situations similar to hers. But Megan and Shannon don't know too many friends that are dealing with sisters having cancer. I hope this will be good for them to be with other kids who understand what they are dealing with. When a child has cancer, it definitely affects the entire family, including the siblings.

Florida Fun

2008-07-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

Kelly and Shannon with their cousins Kylie and Emily. This is in France at Epcot in DisneyWorld. Yesterday we went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We squeezed in as much Disney as we could into one day. Notice Shannon and Kylie have matching outfits. We went shopping one day and those two got a couple matching outfits, which they still like to do. Kylie is only 7 months younger than Shannon.

We have been having a fun week in Florida so far. We have spent a lot of time at my sister's house since she has a pool, and the kids have also been playing on a new slip and slide as you can see.

Shannon on the slip and slide. Notice the purple bracelet she is wearing.

It says "Cancer Sucks." Thanks Amy! That is one of the ones you sent us.

Here are most of the kids in the pool. Kelly, Ryan, Kylie, Shanon, Megan and Emily. The kids really enjoy being with their cousins.

The Fourth of July was a lot of fun, especially since we are used to living in dry California where it is illegal to set off our own fireworks. We walked down to the dock on the lake, where we saw a lot of different fireworks displays around the shore, (and an alligator!) then we came back to Jenny and Bob's house and set off a bunch that we had bought that day. The kids had a blast setting off fireworks and watching the dads who also had a blast setting off fireworks.

Megan and Kelly (and their cousins) learned something new last week - how to play poker. Uncle Bob taught them all to play poker and we had a hard time convincing them to go to bed several nights when they were playing cards.

We are getting ready to leave to head to Anna Maria Island off the west coast of Florida. We will stay there the rest of the week. Tom's (Tracy's husband) mom owns two condos there and we are looking forward to spending some time at the beach.

As many of you have noticed, I can't send out my emails like I usually do when I update. That email list is on my computer at home. Hopefully, many people have noticed that we are still updating while we are gone, and happily it is all fun news. It is so nice not to be just posting medical updates. We almost feel like everything is normal right now. More pictures will be posted soon!

Vacation!

2008-07-01T16:59:00.000-07:00

We are in Florida! So far, it has been so nice relaxing at my sister Jenny's house near Orlando. My sister, Tracy, and her family are also here from Oregon. The cousins are all enjoying being together again. We had a great day relaxing by and in her pool. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Hollywood Studios at Disney. It helps that Jenny's husband works for DisneyWorld here. We'll be taking photos and I'll post them later this week.

We did put some photos from Megan and Shannon's Dance Show on a new website I just started. I hope to keep updating it with photos. Here is a link if you want to see some more dance photos. There are also photos on that website from our trip to France.

http://web.mac.com/kathylaude/LaudePhotos/Dance_Show.html

Dance Saturday

2008-06-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, last night was fantabulous!!!! I went to the Prom at CHOC with my friend Kelly, and we met up with Katie and Daniel. It was oriental themed. It was decorated so much, it was hard to recognize a place I go to every week. We danced, ate, and played black jack. It was super fun. The four of us probably looked like idiots dancing alone to the Chicken Dance. But it was way fun. I cant wait until next year. After the prom, Kelly and I went to the cast party for my sisters' dance show.

~Kelly

Megan in center

Shannon on the far end. She is usually the smallest in her classes.

Megan and Shannon had two very good dance shows yesterday also. We have more photos that we will post sometime this week. The girls did very well, and it is so nice to see their efforts of the year on stage. (Even if I am watching it from the wings!)

After so much time and effort getting this show together, we are ready for a vacation! We are leaving for Florida in the morning and we'll be gone until the 14th of July. We are visiting my sister, Jenny, there and my other sister, Tracy from Oregon will also be there, so it will be fun to see everyone at once. The girls are looking forward to spending time with their cousins. I am taking my laptop, so we be updating from there. Kelly of course, is looking forward to two weeks with no doctor appts, labs, or treatments. It is a break that will be good for her.

Chemo Day Distractions

2008-06-25T20:55:00.000-07:00

Kelly had chemo today and she doesn't feel so good right now, but she actually did better during the day than usual. We went back to running the Avastin first, and that lets her feel good for a little while. Long enough to have some fun today! Normally she likes to stay in her own little private area, but today, she came out in the common area for some fun distractions. I think she like keeping her mind occupied. She did a puzzle (as you can see above- notice the bucket on her IV pole. She is always prepared.) Then she even tried Guitar Hero - see the photos below. Bailey came in for chemo today too and joined her with another guitar. It was nice to see her have a little bit of fun there, since it usually isn't a place she looks forward to coming.

Kelly with Dr. Torno, one of her oncologists.

Kelly and Bailey playing Guitar Hero

One last helpful distraction today was Taffy, one of the therapy dogs.

There's that bucket again.

One big event Kelly has coming up this weekend is the CHOC Prom for Oncology patients between 15 and 18 years old. They hold this event every year and Kelly is looking forward to going Saturday. One of the local bridal shops donated gowns for the girls, so Kelly got to pick one out and bring it home. She had fun trying on dresses and found one that fit her perfectly and looks great on her. We'll post pictures this weekend.

It is so nice that school is over and summer is here. The girls are happy not to be getting up early every morning and having some more time to visit with their friends.

We have been very busy getting ready for Megan and Shannon's annual dance show, which is also this Saturday. There have been a lot of extra rehearsals and I have been helping with costumes and getting everything organized. I'll be backstage at the show getting the kids on and off stage. Many of you know I used to work at the dance studio until Kelly was diagnosed. I have made taking care of her my priority this year, and have appreciated all the time we have been able to spend together. Even though it has been very busy, it has fun being involved in helping out again and doing something "normal." It also gives me some more time with Megan and Shannon while Kevin has been working at home some of the time so he can stay home with Kelly while I am gone. Except for chemo days, she is feeling good lately.

Thanks to everyone who helped Bailey by writing to Paula Deen's show. They have contacted Bailey's family, and while he won't get to be on her show, it sounds like he will get to meet her. He had scans done today and we are praying for good results for him!

Special Request

2008-06-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

Bailey is a friend of ours that we met at CHOC. He is also an oncology patient and has been on chemo for over two years. His family is finally taking a break to take a cross country road trip this summer. One of Bailey's biggest wishes is to meet Paula Dean, from the Food Network. He would really like to be on her show. So one of their stops will be Savannah, Georgia, where her show is taped. Take a look at this video his mom made that Bailey would like Paula to see.

His family has learned that you have to be 18 years old to be on the show. Bailey has been given a 10% chance of survival, so his family is anxious for him to meet her this summer. They are hoping that if the show hears from enough people, it may have an impact on them to consider Bailey. They would appreciate anyone who could forward this video to her, email her, or write a letter. I'm working on finding an address - I'll post one as soon as I can find it. If anyone has any tips for contacting the Paula Dean Show, let me know! Here is one website that has some information: http://www.pauladeen.com/tv If you would like to learn more about Bailey, he also has a website. www.carepages.com Then go to the carepage named SuperBay. You may have to sign in first, but it is easy. There is an About Me section that gives his background. His mom has a lot of pictures and videos on his carepage. You won't be dissapointed, he is quite entertaining.

Thanks for your support for Bailey.

Kelly and I spent the day at the infusion center for her chemo. They changed the order of the drugs they gave her, so she felt sick longer today. This is the way the research shows the drugs work best, but I'm not convinced it is best for Kelly. It seemed to be working the old way just fine, according to her MRIs. I'll talk to her tomorrow about how she feels about it. She has been snuggled up in her bed since dinner. She did manage to have a few bites to eat. These days really take a lot out of her. I know not to even try to talk to her tonight. She just has to rest quietly and she'll start talking tomorrow again when she gets some energy again.

Megan and Shannon have one more week of school. We are ready for summer! It is exciting to have fun plans for this summer, after the summer we had last year. Everything started happening as soon as school was over last year with Kelly. Megan and Shannon are also very busy getting ready for their dance show coming up. Megan is doing better and better with dance and her ankle is healing.

Just added: website for Paula's restaurant in Savannah (there is a place to leave a message under contact us) http://www.ladyandsons.com/

Also - click on comments (below) Henry just posted two addresses for her in his second comment. Thanks Henry.

Paula has been on QVC a lot, and here is an email address for the host she is always with, David Venable. It is a long shot, but if we contact everyone around her, maybe it will help!

d_venable@qvc.com

Good News!

2008-06-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

Kelly had her MRI today and it went very well. We went to Dr. Muhonen's office right afterward and he was very pleased with the results. Her scans were all clear! I would post a picture, but it looks just like her last MRI. There was a very small spot of enhancement 8 weeks ago, and that isn't even there anymore. So it is a great night at our house. It is such a relief to have an MRI over and have good results.

Next week Kelly has labs on Tuesday and chemo on Wednesday. At least we know the chemo is doing its job!

Megan's good news is that her cast came off yesterday and she is starting to use her ankle again. She has to ease back into dance slowly, but she is doing dance classes again ( as much as she can) and should be able to participate in our dance show June 28th.

Thanks for all your prayers for Kelly. They are definitely working!

Celebrating Courageous Kids

2008-06-02T18:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we attending an event at Newport Dunes in Newport Beach for the CHOC oncology patients and their families. It was a beautiful day on the water and Kelly and Shannon had a lot of fun. (Megan had a confirmation retreat at our church.) It was Luau themed with bands, hula dancers, crafts and games for the kids. Since it was Hawaiian themed, naturally lunch was catered by Panda Express, a chinese restaurant. It was good though.

Kelly was interviewed by our local newspaper, The Orange County Register. They talked to Kevin and I also, as you'll notice when you read the article. (Yes, Kevin just got home this last weekend!)

Here is a link to the article if you want to read it. Also, click on More Photos to see photos of Kelly and us.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/laude-cancer-ammari-2057273-daughter-sunday

Kelly has a doctor appt. and labs at the clinic tomorrow. We will leave her port accessed so they can use it for the contrast for her MRI on Wednesday. I will post results Wednesday evening when we get home. Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes for Kelly.

Sadly, we say goodbye to one of our special oncology nurses at the clinic. We hope to see you again soon, Trina! We will miss you more than we can say.

Chemo Day

2008-05-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was chemo day for Kelly. She is never crazy about these days since she knows she is going to end up sick. It does help to have a nice place to go for her infusions now. Below are some photos of CHOC's new Outpatient Infusion Center, which is right behind the oncology clinic. There is a big common area in the middle so if the kids feel like it, they can go there and watch tv, play video games (or play with other toys there if they are younger) and just have a chance to be social instead of being closed into a room like they used to be. Kelly still likes to be in her own space once her chemo starts, but it is nice for me to be able to talk to other moms here, especially when Kelly has a brand new book with her and doesn't care if she has me with her all the time.

Yesterday also went faster because our friend, Bailey and his family were there for a long chemo infusion also. We had the last two rooms across from each other (they are open, with curtain that can close. Here is Bailey with his two little sisters. They are watching E.T. - so is Kelly right across from them. Thanks for making a long day go faster, Michelle. Next time I'll bring the muffins!

Kelly was given an extra anti-nausea medicine yesterday since she has been having a hard time with her chemo, and it really knocked her out. This is the first time she has ever fallen asleep during chemo and I think she liked it that way. After she fell asleep, I noticed what she had tucked in her pocket and I thought this was touching. This is a special rosary she received while she was in Lourdes. It is blessed and has actual Lourdes water in it. That trip is still helping her through her journey.

She is feeling much better today, just pretty tired. We are happy to see that she has her appetite. Speaking of her appetite, in case you haven't heard, she is eating wheat again! She couldn't resist trying a piece of bread on our trip to France. Bread is one of the things that the French make well. As we were flying over to Lourdes on Air France, she tried a piece of my bread to see if it would make her sick. Twenty minutes later, she still felt fine, so she had her own piece. She was thrilled that she was able to eat croissants every morning at our hotel! So she is still eating bread and tolerating it well. She may have outgrown her intolerance to wheat, or her digestion may be affected by her chemo. Whatever happened, she is very happy to be able to eat all things wheat again.

Kelly's next MRI is a week from today on Wednesday, June 4th. She has an appointment right after her MRI with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonen, to go over the results. Please join us in praying for clear scans.

Thanks for your love and support,

Kathy

Kelly's Kabin

2008-05-20T18:17:00.000-07:00

We are finally unveiling Kelly's room makeover. A wonderful group of volunteers called Room to Heal, pictured below, transformed Kelly's room into a cabin in the wintery mountains, complete with three moose. Room to Heal redecorates kid's rooms who are seriously ill so they have a nice place to rest and heal. They came and talked to Kelly about how she would like her room to look, and she wanted a winter, woodsy room with moose of course. They painted her whole room with murals of snowy, woodsy mountains. Since she has so many stuffed animals (mostly gifts since her diagnosis) they added a shelf all the way around her room near the ceiling. Below the shelf, they added a pine cone garland with white twinkly lights. Yes, it looks a little Christmasy and Kelly loves it that way. She wanted to keep a Christmas tree in her room all year because she loves Christmas so much. I've added several photos so you can see her new room. She is thrilled with it and loves to spend time there now.

This is painted on the door to her room.

They added moose pillows, and new blankets to her bed that looks like it belongs in a cabin.

There is a moose peeking out from behind the trees right over her bed. They wanted to make the moose realistic, but moose are actually not real pretty animals close up. We love the way the volunteers made the moose look realistic and friendly.

Another Moose

Here are two of the volunteers hanging the white lights around the top of Kelly's room. Notice her closet doors. There are moose tracks and a sign that says "Moose Xing" It looks great.

We are so thankful to the Room to Heal volunteers for transforming Kelly's room and giving her a beautiful, peaceful place to rest. Thanks also to our wonderful pediatrician, Dr. del Valle, for telling them about Kelly.

Check out the website www.room2heal.org to find out more about this fantastic group of volunteers. There are also a lot more pictures of Kelly's room under Projects - Kelly's Moose Room.

Update From Thailand

2008-05-17T04:41:00.000-07:00

Sawadee, everyone. I was sent to Thailand on May 3 to participate in a regularly scheduled annual military exercise. As I flew in, I didn't realize that 30,000 feet below, tens of thousands of people in Burma were perishing in a cyclone. As soon as I arrived at headquarters, I was assigned to the Burma relief mission.

Burma is a very closed country and mistrustful of others. For days they refused all offers of aid and would not allow aid workers into the country. Eventualy, they began to allow a small amount of relief supplies into the country, but only as far as Rangoon airport. Foreign planes are required to unload their cargo and leave immediately. Internal distribution is done only by the Burmese government. There are reports that labels are changed on the supplies so people will think they were supplied by the Burmese government. Reports of donated goods being sold or sent to army warehouses. The worst reports say that aid is only going to communities that the government deems loyal.

Because of the exercise, there is a Navy task force carrying Marines in the vicinity. A task force like this was used to help after the tsunami a few years ago and last November after a cyclone hit Bangladesh. They were moved around the Malaysian peninsula and are ready to ferry supplies quickly to the most devastated areas, but we won't do it until we have permission from the Burmese government. Right now a French cargo ship loaded with supplies has been denied permission to dock.

I wish the "Code Pink" ladies who are protesting the Marines up in Berkley, California could see how many volunteered to go into an unfriendly country where death and disease are all around, just to deliver relief supplies to those in need. Unfortunately, none have been permitted to go. Why are we working so hard to give relief supplies to such an unwilling recipient? 1. The people really need it. 2. Much of the world thinks the US is the cause of most of what's wrong with the world and we want to change that perception. 3. Burma has been shut off from us for two generations and this may be an opportunity to open a dialog (even though we disapprove of their government).

There's a lot more, but I wanted to keep this short. I'd give you some impressions of Thailand, but I haven't seen any of it. All I've done is work and sleep. It feels like Florida in the summer. Heat, humidity, and spectacular thunder storms that mess with your satellite communications.

CHOC Glass Slipper Guild Dinner Photos

2008-05-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

These are photos from the Dinner Kelly and I attended last weekend. This is Dr. Muhonen on stage with Kelly. He is talking about Kelly and CHOC and they are looking at the slides he had.

Now it is Kelly's turn to talk. Dr. Muhonen is chuckling as Kelly is talking about the hole he made in her head. (It is a good hole - where he resected her tumors. Twice)

After Dr. Muhonen and Kelly were done speaking the whole ballroom gave them a standing ovation.

Kelly said she was nervous until she got on stage, and then she felt fine. It doesn't hurt that she was with Dr. Muhonen, who is such a source of comfort to her.

Our Dancers

2008-05-14T12:16:00.000-07:00

While Kelly and I were away in France, Megan and Shannon competed in the West Coast Dance Explosion with their Center Stage Dance Team. Their team did very well earning one gold medal and one silver medal and placing third in each category. Their team qualified to go to Nationals in Las Vegas in July, which no one expected them to do their first year of competition. Unfortunately, since no one was planning on going, a few of the familes already have vacation plans for the time of competion, so it doesn't look like they will be able to compete. Next year we'll know to allow for this possibility.

This might actually be just as well for Megan. She spends many hours a week dancing and is running every week for her PE class at school, and lately her ankle has really been bothering her. We took her to the doctor yesterday to find out what was wrong, and she has a stress fracture. Her legs take an awful lot of impact, so the doctor wants her to rest it for a few weeks to let it heal. This is hard for someone who is so active and enjoys dance so much. They also realized that if they just told her to take it easy, she would still try to do some dance. So below you can see what the decision was to give her ankle a break.

Notice the lovely paper shorts they gave her to put the cast on. She is holding them up so they don't fall off! She should be able to get her cast off in time to still dance in their big spring dance show on June 28th. The only good thing about giving her ankle a break is that she is thrilled she doesn't have to run the mile any more for PE this year.

Courageous Kelly

2008-05-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

Kelly was invited by her neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonen, to a fundraising dinner last Saturday night. It was put on by the Glass Slipper Guild to raise money for the CHOC Neuroscience Institute. The dinner was held at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. After dinner, Dr. Muhonen took Kelly up on stage and told her story with slides. Then Kelly talked about what CHOC meant to her, and how she appreciated her doctors and nurses. She received a standing ovation. I was very impressed with how well she did in such a large ballroom full of a lot of adults.

Today was chemo day. Let's just say she is glad it is over. She is not tolerating the Irinotecan very well. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow.

We mentioned how we attended a teen oncology event a few weeks ago called It Can't Own Me at Dave and Busters. Kelly made a video that night that has now been posted on their website (Shannon got in on it too!) Here is the website where you can find the video. When you get to the website, click on Videos and then look for Kelly Laude. She is also in a few photos under Photos. There is one of all of us (except Megan who wasn't with us that night)

www.itcantownme.org

Kevin is in Thailand the rest of the month. They are helping the relief effort for Burma.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes for Shannon. She turned 11 last Thursday, the day after we came home.

More Photos from Lourdes, France

2008-05-11T15:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, its Kelly. I'm writing in green because there is so much vegetation in Lourdes. It's beautiful. The picture below it the grotto where Mary appeared to Bernadette in the 1800's. Bernadette was told to dig in the ground, where she found a spring. It has been said that miracles have happened by bathing in the water. While I was there, I went in the spring water. Aside the fact that the water was beyond freezing, and left me gasping for breath, it was the most amazing thing I have ever done. When I got out, I was almost completely dry, and felt nice and toasty. There were no towels too, I promise. Talk about AMAZING!!!

Me, and a few volunteers one day in my spare time shopping. Of course, this is the ONE day it rained. We were actually lucky with the weather. Since Lourdes is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, we were expecting cool, rainy weather, but it was almost always beautiful and sunny except for this morning.

Cardinal Mahoney blessing the sick in a magnificant, underground Basilica.

My friend, Diana, and I in the underground Basilica.

A view from the top of the Rosary Basilica inside the Domaine.

This is one of the court yards in the castle we went to.

Processing to the washing of the feet. This is Diana in the touristy part of town. You

can also see if was her day to have Carpool, the pig.

Me and my friend Sarah at the top of the castle. Amazing view huh?

Our last group dinner. We went to a cute house in the country for dinner. Our leader Pat was(is) amazing. I am really looking forward to getting together with our group again.

A Trip to Remember

2008-05-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

Kelly and I just got back (Wednesday evening) from our trip to Lourdes, France. It is almost hard to put into words the amazing experience we had. We went with a group called the Order of Malta, which is an incredible group of people. This annual pilgrimage is a big part of their ministry to the sick. Kelly was so taken care of and feels very blessed to have had the privilege to travel to this beautiful, special place. I'll try to have Kelly write about the trip tomorrow, but she just went out to the movies with Megan and some friends (which is a very good thing for her also!) For now, I have some photos to share, and they will tell some of the story. We'll add more this weekend. You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

The sick people that come to Lourdes are affectionately called "Malades" and are pushed and pulled in these carts, also called voitures. Kelly thought they would be embarrassing and unnecessary before we got there, but she got used to them right away and really enjoyed getting to ride. Everyday, we would have different volunteers from our group who would push and pull her and just take care of her. It was a great way to get to know everyone - we had such a great group. I think she wished we had one in the grocery store yesterday!

Here is Kelly on a bridge over the River Gave. We enjoyed walking through the town. (She did want to get out of the cart and walk too.) One of the men who was pushing Kelly got her this beret one of the first days we were there. (Thanks Gary!) She wore it almost all the time.

Every night, there was a candlelight procession through the Domaine. Our group took part in it one night. There were thousands of people, each with a candle. It was quite a sight and very moving. This is Kelly holding her candle.

One day we walked up to a castle from the 1100s. It was up on a hill and had amazing views of Lourdes and the Pyrenees Mountains.

We brought water back from the spring found by St. Bernadette. Kelly is filling bottles at one of the faucets.

Another beautiful view from the Domaine. Even though the town of Lourdes is touristy, once you were inside the Domaine, there seemed to be a peaceful feeling.

We took a bus into the country one day to St. Savin and went to an old stone church. Kelly was happy to find several other young people in our group, who really enjoyed getting to know each other and spending time together.

Kelly loved this gold crown on the Rosary Basilica. Michael and Melody, two of the volunteers from our group, pulled her up to the top to get a closer look. And yes, she is holding a stuffed pig. Father Janze, who was also part of our group, brought this pig named Carpool and every malade in our group had a turn to carry him around for the day (some of the guys did threaten to throw him in the river if they had to carry him, so the girls all took turns!) It just added some fun.

Sawadee!

2008-05-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

That's "hello" in Thai.

As Kathy and Kelly went off on their pilgrimage to Lourdes, Uncle Sam was sending me to Thailand. It feels strange to have the family spread across three continents. Ironically, we're here to do an HA/DR (humanitarian assistence / disaster relief) exercise, but we may end up doing an HA/DR operation. We are ready, willing, and able if the Burmese government ever decides to allow foreign assistence in.

Kathy and Kelly should be returning from Lourdes in a few hours, and I'm as anxious as anyone to hear about their trip.

Thank you for all of your help and prayers,

Kevin

2008-05-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Aloha everyone.

Just got my first message from Kathy and Kelly in Lourdes, France. Kathy says they're having a great time and loving the Euorpean lifestyle. Her note was brief and didn't describe the shrine they traveled so far to visit. I'm looking forward to that as much as everyone else. She says she found a wireless connection and, hopefully, will be writing her own post before they leave Lourdes.

We cannot sufficiently describe our gratitude to all of our family, friends, neighbors, and dozens of people we never met that have helped us make it through this trial. We are extremely thankful. I want to cook you all a BBQ. I know it's not much, but BBQs are my "thing".

All the best,

Catalina Eddy

Three Dog Day

2008-04-25T19:53:00.001-07:00

This was not a good day for Kelly. She had one of her roughest chemo days ever. It started out good, we got to go to the new (just opened this week) Infusion Center. It is very nice, and if I hadn't forgotten my camera at home, I would post some pictures. Next time. Then she did have a "Three Dog Day." This morning, there were three therapy dogs that came to the infusion center, so Kelly had a nice morning with a dog on her lap most of the time. She is very happy when she has a dog on her lap. But the bad news was that the accupunturist that usually treats Kelly with accupressure for her nausea was out sick today. Which means Kelly was also sick today - she really had a rough time and went through a lot of buckets.

Kelly was in the Dana Point Times today for Relay for Life. Here is a link to the article.

http://www.danapointtimes.com Then click on "Relay for Life Biggest Ever" under This Week (photo changes - watch until it come to the Relay title.) The other girl with Kelly is Ashley Diemer, Chloe's oldest sister who is Kelly's age.

We have a big event coming up next week. Kelly was nominated by our church to go to Lourdes, France with a group called the Order of Malta. They chose a group of 50 out of 150 applications and Kelly was chosen. We are leaving next Tuesday - Just Kelly and I are going. Some of you have probably heard the story of what happened in Lourdes in the 1850s. Many believe in miracles that happen in Lourdes. We don't count on miracles, but we don't pass any possiblities. And no matter what, it will be an amazing and spiritual trip for both of us. It will be very busy - since it is a group trip, it is very scheduled and full. We may need a vacation when we get back. Unfortunately, Kevin will be in Thailand when we get back. He is doing a military exercise there with the Marine Reserves. But it is only for a few weeks this time. Thanks once again to the Elliotts and Schultes for helping us with Megan and Shannon while we are gone. Megan and Shannon also have a dance competition in Burbank while we are gone. Kelly and I will be back on May 7th and I will write a lot more about our trip then.

Dana Point Relay Weekend

2008-04-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

We had an amazing Relay for Life weekend. This was the first year we have participated in this event because we wanted to do something to fight back against cancer. We really want to thank everyone who donated and those of you who joined us and helped make it such a great weekend. We did as well as we did because of all of you! We can't thank you enough. For those of you who missed the awards Sunday morning, TEAM KELLY won Top Fundraising Team, Best Team Spirit, and Rookie Team of Relay.

Thanks, Pat, for the Ice Cream Ball you sent Kelly! It arrived the day before Relay (perfect timing!) and we took it with us. It did many laps rolling along the ground and made delicious ice cream at the same time.

Many people stopped and told us they were inspired by Kelly and Chloe. Chloe is a good friend of ours that we met at CHOC that has been fighting Leukemia. Her family has been involved in Relay with us from the beginning. We are so thankful to have gotten to know the Diemer Family so well. Her sister, Ashley, made the signs you'll see in the photos below. We were really touched by all the people that came to Relay during the weekend. Thank you to the Sodaro Family who showed up even before we did in the morning to help us set up. Katie, we are so glad you came and received your 9 strands of survivor beads! The survivors received one strand of "victory beads" for each year since diagnosis. Katie is only 15 and had 9 strands of beads! You are an inspiration to us! Thanks, Trina, it was so good to see you there, and we loved your caregiver sash at the clinic today!

I will let these pictures help tell about our wonderful weekend. Our camera did not work the whole weekend, and I missed a lot of good shots - if anyone has good photos, can you send them to us? Thanks Schultes! Some of these are sent from them.

Kelly and Chloe holding a team sign after their opening survivor lap.

Megan and Kelly with Brooke, a good friend of Shannon's.

Our team site - our green easy up is in the right background with the gold stars. It is hard to see, but the blue under the red easy up is the ocean!

It is hard to see, but all the gold stars have pictures of kids fighting or kids who have fought cancer. So many people were moved when they stopped at looked at all the kids on the stars. Gold is the color for Childhood Cancer, so we have lots of gold!

This is how the stars looked close up. (Notice the one on the right, Michelle!)

Kelly, Ashley and Austin in the Crazy Hat Lap. The different themed laps kept it fun.

Chloe and Kelly were given these handmade butterflies by another team.

They were the only children that were survivors in the survivor lap.

Once again, ocean in the background through the trees.

Jackie and Kelly

Chloe, Shannon and Brooke

One of Kelly's luminary bags

The luminaries were kept lit the entire night. Each bag is in honor of someone fighting cancer in memory of someone who fought cancer. It was a moving sight.

Countdown to Relay

2008-04-15T15:45:00.000-07:00

Kelly had her 12th course of this chemo yesterday. It wasn't quite a three bucket day, but close. She still has a hard time with the Irinotecan. The one thing that was better for her was when we got home she seemed to feel better than usual. She is doing really well today too. Her wonderful nurse, Trina, ran her hydration longer after her chemo, and that seemed to really help. So thanks so much, Trina. Kelly has never been so perky the day after chemo.

It was one year ago today that Kelly had her seizure. We are actually thankful that she had it, since it led to CTscans and the MRI that might not have happened so fast. It is hard to believe that this journey started a whole year ago. Kelly has been through so much since then, and has grown up so much faster than she should have to (so have her sisters.)

Our Relay for Life is this weekend! We are busy getting everything ready. All of us, especially the girls, are really looking forward to it. For our first year, our team has done well raising money for the American Cancer Society. I found out at our meeting last night that if we raise a certain amount of donations, we can designate where we want our money to go (what kind of cancer research) That was good news, since childhood cancers to not get nearly as much research funding as adult cancers.
Thank you so much to everyone who has joined us or donated. It isn't too late if you would still like to donate!
TEAM KELLY website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Whirlwind Weekend

2008-04-13T19:14:00.000-07:00

I forgot to say in the last post that we did get Kelly's chemo rescheduled from Friday to Monday, so she will be going in tomorrow to have have her labs checked, then chemo. She was very happy not to have chemo on Friday, since it makes her so tired for a day or so, and she really wanted to enjoy this weekend. She is feeling pretty good, and is still breathing a sigh of relief over her latest MRI. (OK, she'll say that's me. She says I am the only one that worries about those!)

Friday night we all went to "Matrimonial Mayhem" - a murder mystery dinner at the girls' high school. We were supposed to be guests at a wedding and of course someone is killed and we have to figure out who did it. The high school kids did a good job putting it on and everyone had a lot of fun. Many of Kelly's friends were there and were very happy to see her. Kelly even caught the bouquet, but hasn't been to enough weddings to realize that means some man is going to put a garter on her leg in front of everyone. She was a good sport though, even though she was embarrassed.

Saturday evening, Kelly had a special event at Dave and Busters in Orange called "It Can't Own Me" for teens with cancer from her hospital and one other hospital. There was food, some of her doctors and clinic staff were there, a comedian that was a cancer survivor, and then they made videos that will be posted on You Tube. The photo above is Kelly and Shannon making their video. Kelly was interviewed by herself first about what her life has been like, good and bad, since she was diagnosed with cancer. Then Shannon did a little talking too about what is was like to have a sister with cancer. I think these will be put on You Tube in a couple weeks. I will let everyone know as soon as I hear.

Today Kevin took all three girls horseback riding in the Hollywood Hills with their Trailmates Group (a father daughter group through the YMCA.) They had a lot of fun, even though it was very hot here today. I will end this post with photos from today.

Here is Kelly on her horse with the Hollywood sign in the background.

Megan and Shannon on their horses

Shannon on the trail with Los Angeles in the background.

Picture Perfect Day

2008-04-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

We received wonderful news this morning. Kelly's MRI is clear! Thanks for all the prayers for her - they really helped. Thanks for driving us up, Linda, I do better with moral support for MRI days. Kevin stayed home to get Megan and Shannon to school. We had a good morning, starting with an early MRI that went very smoothly. The new outpatient MRI center at the St. Joseph Pavillion is so nice with their new machines.

Then we walked over to the hospital across the street so we could meet with Dr. Muhonen to review her results. Kelly's fourth grade teacher, Clare Reding, takes one of her twin girls to see Dr. Muhonen too, so we had back to back appointments today. Kelly was very excited to have Clare and her girls with her at Dr. Muhonen's office. We all shared the turtle room. (I've posted pictures on here from that room in February - it is his biggest room, right beside the computer where the MRIs are viewed.) Dr. Muhonen took a look at Kelly's MRI, then called Kelly out to look at it. (I was not invited - this was just between him and Kelly) Kelly looked so happy when she came in, I didn't have to ask what the MRI looked like. She has been smiling ever since. I did get to see the MRI, and all of you get to see it too! I posted it below, which is our perfect picture! This is the best MRI she has had since her recurrence in October. No enhancement at all for the first time! As always, we know not to take this beautiful MRI for granted. Glioblastoma can recur (and almost always does) at any time. But at least for now, we are very happy and relieved. As Dr. Muhonen told me as we were leaving, "Just enjoy each day." She will have another MRI in 8 weeks. We all celebrated with lunch at In and Out, which is currently Kelly's favorite place for lunch. We will be at Claim Jumper tonight, Heather, for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society fundraiser. The celebration continues!

You can see the empty space in the lower right quarter of her brain, which is actually the left parietal occipital lobe. The empty black is the old tumor bed. There has always been a little bit of enhancement close to it, (the contrast that is injected through her port during the MRI highlights anything unusual that shouldn't be there.) It is our prayer that this picture stays just like this. Once again, thanks to everyone who has been so supportive to Kelly and all of us.

A Busy Week

2008-04-07T21:59:00.001-07:00

After a rough chemo day last week, Kelly has been feeling good. She has a busy week at CHOC this week. Tomorrow she has an appointment at the oncology clinic to see her doctor and have labs checked.

Then the big thing this week is her MRI. It was originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, but the Neurosurgery office called saying Dr. Muhonen was going to be out of the office that afternoon and needed to reschedule her. Since I really wanted to see him right after her MRI, his office called and rescheduled her MRI for the morning, then moved her appointment to the morning, so we could still come see him right away to go over the results with him. Thank you so much Yolanda! Prayers for a clear MRI are much appreciated!

Friday she has a chemo treatment all day. (Unless I can reschedule it to Monday, so she can enjoy some events she has coming up this weekend!) We'll see what her oncologist says in the clinic tomorrow!

A Three Bucket Day

2008-04-01T21:24:00.000-07:00

Another chemo day over with. Kelly decided she liked doing labs and chemo on the same day. Her chemo is count dependent, so they don't give it to her unless her blood counts are at certain levels. That means she has to have labs done before chemo. We have always gone to the clinic the day before chemo for labs. Yesterday, we went to the clinic early for labs, then we went out to breakfast while we waited for the results to come back. Then we went back, and by that time, the clinic was really crowded - it was quite a busy day there. We had to wait to get back into a room. Hopefully this will get better when they open the new infusion center later this month. But once they got her back there, they got her chemo going pretty quickly (thanks for that, Lori!) We actually ended up leaving at about the same time as usual. The only bad thing was, since we started chemo later than usual, Kelly didn't get the little seeds taped on her pressure points. We realized what a difference it makes. In the photo, Kelly has a bucket on her head (this was after she had her ativan, the anti nausea drug that makes her a bit silly.) The bucket didn't stay on her head, since it's real purpose is for when the kids get sick. She went through a couple of them yesterday at the clinic, and another when we got home. (We have them in almost every room of our house and the car. Other cancer families will understand this!) Next time, we have to make sure she gets the seeds!

Kelly is so wobbly when by the time she gets done with her chemo, we use a wheelchair to get her to the car. Yesterday, she didn't want any help getting herself to the car. (She really likes the ramp into the parking garage!) Thanks for bringing us lunch, Linda! That is greatly appreciated and so is your company.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life by donating or joining our team. I also appreciate the photos I have been getting of other kids fighting cancer and those who have fought and are now angels. Hopefully our team will make an impact on everyone there on how many kids are affected by this disease.
TEAM KELLY website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

There is one more photo I meant to post from our week in the mountains. One of the things I appreciated most about our trip was our girls spending time with each other without the normal things that usually keep them apart like school, activities, and different friends. This photo shows the three of them just appreciating each other's company.

Kelly's next MRI is a week from tomorrow, April 9th. We are praying for another clear scan. It is still nerve wracking to me as we get close to MRIs as we know this nasty tumor can recur at any time. We are trying to think positive though! Thanks for everyone who remembers Kelly in their prayers. It really is helping and we appreciate it so much. Thanks also to all of you for the prayers for Kasey and Katherine also.

Mountain Getaway

2008-03-30T22:34:00.001-07:00

We had a wonderful weekend in the San Bernadino Mountains in Running Springs near Lake Arrowhead. Thanks again Marilyn for letting us use your cabin. We had such a nice time together and it was nice to have such a great place to stay. There was a little bit of snow left when we got there, so Shannon and Kelly made a little hill with it so they could ride their sleds on it. There was a treehouse in front of the cabin, which the girls are in below.

We did go for a drive and found a good place to go sledding. Kelly really enjoyed being able to play in the snow, like a normal kid. Shannon had fun with her too.

We visited a garden near Running Springs where thousands of daffodils have been planted and cared for by one family. It was beautiful and we're glad we went there. Thanks for telling us about that, Marilyn. We would never have known about it.

Kelly at Daffodil Garden

Megan and Shannon in the garden

As Kelly mentioned in her last post, she really wanted to go skiing. She got her wish and she and Kevin spent one morning skiing. It was pretty warm, so the conditions weren't great, but she had a lot of fun. They were happy that there were hardly any other people there, as you can see. That made me feel better, since my biggest fear of her skiing was other people running into her. After the year she has had, she just loves to get out and do things that she used to like to do and just feel like she is normal. It is so nice when she can forget about cancer, hospitals, doctors and treatments.

We also went to Lake Arrowhead a couple times for lunch, browsing through stores and enjoying the beautiful views. We went on a boat ride around the lake that was really nice. It was fun to see the shoreline from the water, and it was narrated so it was interesting learning about the lake and the famous people that lived there.

We are back home and school starts again tomorrow. Kelly also has a long day at the clinic. We usually have her labs done the day before chemo, but since we weren't here on Friday, we are going up to the clinic early to have her labs checked, then when the results come back and her counts are high enough, (which they should be) and she is checked by her oncologist, she will start her chemo. So we'll be there longer than we usually are. But it was worth it to get away together!

We have a special prayer request. There is a family we keep in touch with in Washington and their ten year old boy, Kasey, has the same tumor Kelly does. His MRI was supposed to be the same day as Kelly's, but it was moved up since he was having awful headaches. His tumor that was just resected in January is recurring again. Kasey and his family could really use the extra prayers as they face decisions in this next phase of their journey. www.caringbridge.org/visit/kaseyradford

One other family that is facing a very difficult time is eleven year old Katherine Barnard and her family. She has been fighting a brain tumor also and they have just found a mass in her liver since she hasn't been able to eat or drink. This is most likely unrelated to her brain tumor, and they get biopsy results tomorrow. www.caringbridge.org/visit/katherinebarnard

Thanks, we know all your prayers have helped Kelly so much!

Spring Break!

2008-03-25T09:51:00.000-07:00

Easter was very nice here - we had summer weather, so we had lunch in Laguna Beach then just spent the afternoon walking around. Kelly took the photo above, so that is why she isn't in it. We are heading up to the mountains any minute now. We're just waiting for Kevin to finish up a call for work. I have a feeling he'll be working on vacation also. We are really looking forward to just getting away together though. We should have some photos to post next week. Kelly has her next chemo treatment on Monday, March 31st when we get back.

Thanks for everyone who has shared their kids with me so far for Relay for Life. If you still would like to send me a photo, my email is kathylaude@cox.net
Our team website is http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Kelly is going to add some of her own writing below! She is really feeling good and has been very happy lately.

Kathy
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over Easter, we got to puppy sit an adorable boxer named Hana. ( hon-a ) after the place in Hawaii. She is this skinny little girl who just about kills you with kisses, in a good way. She was a big cuddler, and was soon acting like a limp noodle. Although, she always slept by Megan or Shannon. This because she groans, snores, and moves around(alot) when she sleeps. So me, I being the still type when I sleep, handed her to Shannon, who practically DANCES in her sleep. Perfect match. So, Megan and Shannon got her at night, and I got her all day while they were at school. I got the better end of the deal I think. We had her from Thursday to Tuesday, today. Trina, one of my many wonderful nurses, picked her up this morning. We were all very sad to see her leave.
Well, we are off to Big Bear soon, so I have got to go. Earlier, I had to convince most of my doctors that it was okay for me to ski. They thought that I would run into trees, falls over, get hit by snowborders, and stuff. It is almost offending, for I am a most fabulous skiier. Dr. Muhonen even emailed my back from London to say it was fine. Well, I have to go finish getting ready.
Until later,
Kelly

Bouncing Back

2008-03-22T08:09:00.000-07:00

After a rough day on Tuesday, Kelly has bounced back to her cheerful self rather quickly this week. She has felt good and you would never know it was a chemo week.

We are really moving along with our Relay for Life. We are doing well moving toward our fundraising goals. Thanks to O'Neill Elementary School, where Shannon goes to school and Megan and Kelly attended their first seven years of school, for the coin drive. (and many thanks to Pam for getting that together!!) Shannon is touched to see how many of her classmates care about Kelly and want to donate to the American Cancer Society to help cancer patients like her sister.

Now we are working on decorations and a purpose for our campsite. Each team is representing a type of cancer. Our team is representing Childhood Cancer. Since the color for childhood cancer is gold, we are going to use gold stars and have each one represent a child who is fighting, or has fought cancer. I am putting their photo, name and diagnosis on the stars so everyone can see that his is not just an adult disease. So many children are also affecting by cancer. We will also have some facts and statistics on Childhood Cancer. So for anyone in our PBT group, or any family with a child dealing with any type of cancer, (both survivors and angels) can I have your permission to display your child's picture, name, diagnosis on a gold star to hang at our tent? This is such a tough fight and I want to recognize as many kids as we can and make an impact on at least our community of just how many children are impacted by this disease. You can leave a message under comments, or email me at kathylaude@cox.net Thank you so much for sharing your children to help bring awareness of Childhood Cancer.

View from Lantern Bay Park, where our Relay for Life will be help April 19 -20

Lantern Bay Park - Pacific Ocean through the trees

Speaking of other children fighting cancer, we had a fun night last night with our friends the Diemers. Chloe has been fighting leukemia since last May and she had her Make A Wish party last night to receive her wish. They are headed to Disney World Monday morning for a week of Florida fun. Have a great time Diemer Family!! We'll see you when you get back and are looking forward to seeing your photos.

Nurses make all the difference!

2008-03-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today has been a long day for Kelly. She did pretty good with her chemo until the last hour or so. That is usually when it hits her. We did use the seeds again, but sometimes no matter what we do, it is impossible to avoid getting sick. But, as Kelly said herself today, " It could be much worse... it's not that bad." She also had a bad reaction to one of her anti-nausea meds. She gets a dose at the end of her treatment right before we go home. It is the one that makes her a little silly and a bit out of it. We use a wheelchair to get her to the car. (Thanks Trina!) Well, she had lots of fun with the wheelchair, especially while she waited for me to make her next appointments. But by the time we got to the car, she seemed more out of it than usual. As we drove out of the parking garage, she started noted all the things she was seeing two of. She had never experienced double vision before, and I was a little worried since that is not a good sign with a brain tumor patient, so I drove around the block and went right back to the clinic. Her nurse looked up the side effects of the last med they had given her, and double vision was one of them (along with all the other symptoms she was having.) She was also getting upset about being so confused. So at least we knew it was the medication. Now we know just to give her less next time so she doesn't have those reactions. She is comfortable in bed right now and hopefully will feel a lot better tomorrow. We sure learn along the way what works and what doesn't work.

I can't say enough about the nurses at the CHOC oncology clinic. They were just wonderful with her today (as usual.) Thanks so much Dana and Trina for making her day so much easier. She loves how these nurses spend time with her and make the day go faster. Welcome to CHOC, Trina, we are so glad you are here. And thanks to Dana, who came out to the car to check on Kelly when I was so worried about her and then called me when we got home to make sure she was OK. And Sarah, we're glad you came in for our weekly movie talk. Sometimes it is hard for Kelly to keep going back for these treatments and appointments, but she looks forward to seeing her nurses and that makes it easier to keep going back. The first photo below is Kelly and Dana. Below that is Kelly with Sarah.

Our girls have Spring Break next week! Since our family hasn't been away together for more than a day or two in a long time, we are going up to the mountains. We have a friend on our Relay for Life team who is letting us use her cabin. Thank you so much Marilyn! We are excited to get up there and have some relaxing time together. We do have to take Kelly to the clinic first next Monday morning. Her doctor wants to check her out, have her labs checked and make sure she is OK before we take her away for the rest of the week.

Relay for Life is April 19-20. There is still time to join us, donate or order a luminaria. Thank you so much to those of you that have joined us or made donations to the American Cancer Society through our Relay for Life Team.
TEAM KELLY page: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Almost like Normal

2008-03-15T16:53:00.000-07:00

It has been a pretty good week for Kelly. After having such a better chemo week last week, she did get sick a couple times this week, but in general, is feeling pretty good. You would never know she is fighting cancer by looking at her. She looks so healthy and normal. We are so grateful she is handling her treatments so well.

She is really trying to get back into some normal activities. In addition to her home tutoring, she has been participating in activities with her Trailmates group, a father daughter program through the YMCA. They went kayaking in LaJolla last weekend. I'll try to post some photos later (they're in Kevin's laptop right now.) Last night she went to a play at Mission Viejo High School, where she would be going to school. It was fun for her to see some friends she hasn't seen in a long time. She also started volunteering for the Pacific Symphony again and helped with one of their family concerts at the Performing Arts Center this morning. This is something she and Kevin did a lot last year, and she finally felt up to doing it again this week. And I am trying to let her get out in crowded places a bit more. This was hard to do at first, since we are always cautious about exposing her to germs with her lower than average blood counts and immune system, but she is at a point where she needs to be with people besides us and participate in some of her "normal" activities. It is so good for her to be with friends her own age now! Please feel free to come visit her as long as you are healthy.

It is also great to leave her a message her by clicking on "comments" below. There are directions in the right margin if you aren't sure how to post a comment. It is so good for all of us to see encouraging messages and she loves to see people are thinking about her. Thanks to all of you that take a minute to write to her - it means more than you know.

One exciting this happened to her a couple days ago. There is a wonderful volunteer group in our area called Room to Heal. They redo kids' bedrooms that are seriously ill so they have a nice place for rest and relaxation (and of course healing!) Our pediatrician knows one of the ladies in this group and told them about Kelly. So they contacted me and came to see Kelly. They measured her room and talked to her about how she would like it to look. Those of you that know her will not be surpised to hear that she wants a room that looks a cabin in the snowy woods, and of course there needs to be a moose in the woods! They already have some ideas and Kelly is more than excited. They will start painting her walls in 3 or 4 weeks.
Kelly really has been blessed with some wonderful people along her journey and this is sure another good example of that.

Kelly has her next chemo treatment this Tuesday after her blood levels are checked Monday. Her next MRI is April 9th and we are praying it will remain clear like her last one.

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed to Relay for Life. It feels great to give back and do something to help fight this disease.
Team Website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Arts X-press and RFL Luminaria Ceremony

2008-03-07T16:16:00.000-08:00

Kelly has been featured on another blog - Arts X-press. This is a wonderful summer program through the Pacific Symphony at UCI that she was part of two years ago. The staff there has been so wonderful about keeping up with Kelly and supporting her. Some of them have brought us meals also. Check out the post on their blog - there are photos too. You can also click on the yellow link in the post that says "Kelly's Blog" to see their first post about her. Thank you so much Pacific Symphony and Arts-X-press staff. You have been such a blessing for Kelly!
http://www.arts-x-press.blogspot.com/

Kelly is having such a better week than normal for a chemo week! There really is something to those seeds on her pressure points. The ones on her wrist came off right away in the shower, but the ones in her ear are still there. She felt nauseous yesterday morning, but when she rubbed the seed on her ear, she felt better. Yay! It is so nice for her to feel better without extra meds. She is just pretty tired. We'll take that over her usual chemo yuckiness.

Relay for Life News ~ I have Luminaria bags that will be used in a special luminaria ceremony the evening of the Relay. Names are put on the bags In Honor of a cancer survivor, or someone currently fighting cancer, or In Memory of someone lost to cancer. This is an easy way to contribute to Relay for Life while honoring a friend or family member. You can order a luminaria online through our team website, or you can order one directly through me. Either way, the name will be on the bag, but I will be decorating our bags also. Luminaria bags are $10 whether you order them online or directly through me. If you want to order one through me, you can just send me a check for $10 per bag, made out to the American Cancer Society and will count toward our Team Kelly total. Let me know what name you would like added and whether it is In Honor of, or In Memory of. I can add a photo if you send on to me.These luminarias will line the track and the candles inside the bags will be lit at a special ceremony at twilight, and then burn all night. Email me if you need our address or have any questions. kathylaude@cox.net
TEAM KELLY website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Also, if there is anyone who is interested in joining TEAM KELLY and hasn't signed up online yet, we will be having a team picnic and meeting Sunday, March 16. Contact me for more details if you are interested.

Chemo Day Improvements

2008-03-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

Kelly and Dr. Esparza

Today was a better chemo day for Kelly. We added a couple new tricks that seem to help her. First, we had Dr. Loudon's (one of the neurosurgeons) wife come to the clinic this morning. She practices Chinese Medicine and accupunture. She taped little seeds on Kelly's wrists and left ear on pressure points. Kelly rubs them and they helped with her nausea. Today was the first time in a long time she hasn't gotten sick while receiving her chemo treatment. She got pretty nauseous a couple times, but rubbing on the seeds really seemed to help dissipate it, especially the ones in her ear.

She was also very happy to see Dr. Esparza today. He is the doctor that wrote the letter to her in the last post.

The other thing her nurse (coincidentally named Kelli and also has a twin sister) helped her to discover was that if she flushes her port herself, she can control the speed that it goes into her port. She she is now pushing the saline and heparin through her port herself. She also pushed her anti-nausea meds through her port. (Photo below) Having this control helps her a lot. If anything goes into her port too fast, it makes her sick. She can taste the saline and heparin that flush her port. She has a whole routine to help with the tastes - scented lipgloss, tic tacs... anything that puts a good taste in her mouth.

Thanks to all of the generous donations we are receiving, we are about to raise our goal for Relay for Life again. Thanks to everyone who has contributed. The event is April 19, so for those of you that have asked, it is not too late to donate, and any amount is appreciated. Anything we can do to contribute to finding a cure for cancer is such a giving gift to all those affecting by cancer!
Relay for Life team page - http://acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Kudos for Kelly (and Megan & Shannon too!)

2008-02-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

Relay for Life TEAM KELLY page: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude
Please visit our site to join us or make a donation.

Kelly has had a good week. So I guess it is good that I have nothing new to report on her. Her sisters, Megan and Shannon have been very busy with their dance team at our dance studio. Their team participated in the Los Angeles Dance Force Competition last weekend. It was the first competition for their team, and they won two silvers. Pretty good for their first time out. They got to take a lot of different dance classes with different teachers and they learned a lot. They really liked staying at the hotel with all of their teammates.

I wanted to share a letter that one of Kelly's oncologists emailed to her back in December after she invited him to come to the Christmas presentation that Dr. Muhonen did for her at CHOC. This makes me very proud of our daughter that has been through so much this year and still remains so positive. It is just nice to see her recognized for it. Dr. Esparza, who wrote this to Kelly, was happy to have me share it.

Dear Kelly,
I just wanted to send you an email to tell you a few things. First, I want to apologize for not being able to make it to your presentation on Thursday. I would have liked nothing better than to see you recognized for what a wonderful young lady you are. I am really grateful that you took the time to invite me. I was busy in the clinic and I have 2 family conferences for new patients that day.

I want you to know that I am very proud to be one of your doctors. I have been a doctor for over 7 years and I have never seen a young lady with more courage, strength, and compassion than you have. Your smile lights up a room and your presence makes people feel happy. I want to thank you also you being so kind to Cheyenne. I know that she gets very scared sometimes and I think that she looks up to you and tries to be strong like you.

I know it can't be easy to deal with all of the difficult things you have had to go through. Sometimes life is not only hard, it can be downright unfair at times. Your approach to life will not only help you get through this illness, it will help you do anything you want to do with your life.

Anyway, I could go on and on but I just want you to know how special you are. I'm sure your parents are so very proud of you.

Sincerely,
Dr. Sam - attending physician for GHOC (Gingerbread Hospital of Orange County)

OK, you have to remember this was December when Kelly and her friend, Diana, made the gingerbread hospital. I just liked the way he described Kelly, and he is right, her parents are so very proud of her!

We got a call from Make a Wish this week and Kelly's trip is planned! We are going on a Disney Cruise in August. Kelly (and all of us!) are excited to have such a fun trip to look forward to.

Kelly has labs on Monday and her next chemo treatment on Tuesday, March 4th.
Extra prayers would be appreciated for Cheyenne, Kelly's 7 year old friend from the clinc who is also fighting brain cancer. She is going through a rough time right now. www.caringbridge.org/visit/cheyennebroswell

THANK YOU to everyone who has joined us for Relay for Life and TEAM KELLY or who made a donation. Everything helps as we work together to help the American Cancer Society fight cancer. The link to our TEAM KELLY page is at the top of this post.

Long Day

2008-02-21T08:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a long day at the clinic for Kelly. She had her chemo treatment, which goes pretty well now until the last couple hours. The anti nausea drugs help, but she still gets sick toward the end of the treatment. The second drug they give her to help with the nausea is the one that makes her a bit loopy and giggly for awhile. (See photo below) But we'll take that over being sick. Eventually the sick does win out unfortunately. We finally left our 9:30 am appointment at 6:00 that evening. They kept her longer because she had gotten so sick and the doctor wanted to send us home with another prescription. She slept all the way home, and then actually wanted to eat last night, which is unusual on a chemo night. She explained that her stomach was completely empty after her afternoon with chemo. So we were very happy that she was able to eat. Then she took a long bath (after American Idol, of course) and felt better.

Thank you so much to everyone who has joined us or donated to Relay for Life. We are glad to be part of something involved in the fight against cancer. You can go to our team page if you would like to join our team or make a donation in Kelly's honor. I will be learning more about the event specifics next week, so I'll have more information then.

Relay For Life Team Page:

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Relay for Life

2008-02-12T20:53:00.000-08:00

Each year, across the nation, one event brings together entire communities to take part in the fight against cancer. That event is the American Cancer Society Relay For Life®. It’s a time and place where people come to celebrate those who have survived cancer, remember those we’ve lost, and fight back against a disease that touches too many lives.

We are forming a Relay for Life team not only to help Kelly in her fight against cancer, but for everyone who has or is currently battling cancer. The American Cancer works to find cures for all kinds of cancers. Of course, we are interested in finding a cure for Pediatric Brain Cancer. but it is nice to support an organization that works for all cancers.

We would love to have anyone who is intersted in joining our team, TEAM KELLY, sign up with us. There is a link below that will take you to our team website where you can join. Relay for Life takes place on April 19-20 in Dana Point at Lantern Bay Park. This will be our first year participating in Relay for Life since it is the first year we are dealing with cancer on a day to day basis with Kelly. But a friend of mine that particpated last year said, "I definitely would say it was a highlight of our year lots of fun, and very worth your time!"

Please contact me if you have any questions. My email address is in the right margin or you can leave a comment. It will be a lot of fun and most of all, supporting such a worthy cause. If you don't want to join, please consider making a donation in Kelly's honor. Here is the link to our team webpage:
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude

Celebrate!

2008-02-09T17:51:00.000-08:00

As you can see, Kelly's website has had a facelift. We had it designed by Nikki at Blogs for a Cause (link to the right) to brighten it up. She is doing this to raise money for a humanitarian trip to the Dominican Republic this summer. She also donates $5. to a different charity every month. She was wonderful to work with and was very fast. Kelly picked out all the patterns and colors - she wanted to brighten up her website. Thanks to Karla, who I "borrowed" the quote from in the header. Her daughter, Chloe, is being treated for Leukemia at CHOC. It just seems to describe our lives so well right now. It has been so nice getting to know their family.

Today we took Kelly to Laguna Beach to celebrate her good MRI this week (now that Kevin is home again.) We had lunch at Splashes at the Surf and Sand Hotel. The restaurant is right on the beach and it was a beautiful day. After lunch we went down to the beach and just enjoyed being somewhere so pretty. It is so nice to live so close to such a beautiful beach town that is warm enough to enjoy in February! It feels like we are on vacation, even if we are only 15 minutes from home. It was very relaxing after such a stressful week. We know Kelly still has a long road ahead of her and there is no guarantee these MRIs will stay clear, but it just feels so good for now. She will remain on her same chemotherapy protocol since it is working so well.

Kelly on the beach in front of the Surf and Sand Hotel.

MRI Day Photos

2008-02-06T19:36:00.000-08:00

Kelly is getting goggles and headphones put on so she can watch a video during her MRI. This is just before she is moved inside the machine.

She is all set with her goggles and headphones. The microphone is so they can talk to her and she can answer back. The frame behind her head is then snapped over her head and then she is moved inside the machine. She liked this new machine and said the table and headrest were much softer than the old machines.

Kelly is always tired the day after chemo, especially a day that includes an MRI. She is taking a nap in Dr. Muhonen's office as we wait to see him.

Kelly with Erin and Heather, who work with Dr. Muhonen. It was so good to see them today.

Clear Skies

2008-02-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

We received very good news today! Kelly's MRI was clear!! As Dr. Muhonen said, "It looks like a rose." That must be a neurosurgery term for a beautiful brain MRI. He was very pleased with the images. He showed us her MRI from just before her last surgery in October and put it side by side with today's scan. It was amazing to see the difference - it was a good way to show us how good today's MRI looked. It was a very good visit. Erin came over to see us and we got to see Heather too. I have some photos I am going to try to upload later tonight, I just had to get this news posted first and it takes me longer to get photos posted. Thanks for coming with us, Linda. It was good to have someone else there with Kevin out of town. Thanks also to Tricia for bringing us lunch yesterday during our long day at the clinic. Kelly can't deal with the cafeteria food right now. Even the smell of the cafeteria makes her sick. That was probably the only bad part of today. We walked past the cafeteria on the way to Radiology and the smell did make her get sick. Kelly, being her positive self, said, "Well at least everything is out of my stomach now so I don't have to worry about getting sick during the MRI." We went to the new MRI department at the Outpatient Pavillion across the street from CHOC, and it is so nice now. They have new machines and Kelly got to watch a video. I have a photo of her getting set up with her goggles and headphones for her video that hopefully I will put on a second post tonight.

Just Make it Through the Day

2008-02-05T18:40:00.000-08:00

Kelly almost made it through chemo today. We tried some new anti-nausea medications in her IV before each chemo drug and it seemed to help. She definitely did better than her last treatment. As she got up to walk, she sure could not have passed a field sobriety test! She was actually pretty funny for awhile since she felt giggly and loopy, but that is much better than feeling so sick. As we were leaving (7 hours after we had arrived), we got about halfway to the car, when she suddenly got very sick. So back in we went and when she felt better one of the nurses took her to the car in a wheelchair. She is doing better now that we are home. She is just very tired.

We would appreciate prayers for her MRI tomorrow. We are praying it is clear, like it was in December. She is also worried about the contrast making her sick. It is at 1:30, then she has an appointment with her neurosurgeon, Dr. Muhonen, at 3:00. I will post again tomorrow night when we have the results.

Holding Steady

2008-01-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

Kelly had a good doctor visit at the clinic today. She is doing pretty well and hopefully we have a plan to make her next chemo easier. We have realized that everything needs to go through her port very slowly or it makes her sick. Even having it flushed after her labs made her sick today because it was a little too fast. Her doctors are impressed with how good she looks though. Next week is a big week for her - she has chemo on Tuesday, then her next MRI is Wednesday. We will be going straight to Dr. Muhonen's office after her MRI so he can go over the results with us. We are praying for another clear MRI.

Kelly really appreciates hearing from her friends. Her week off from chemo, like this week, she feels good and likes to talk to friends. So, please leave her a message here, or give her a call. Visits can also be arranged. It is so nice for her to feel in touch since she isn't in school and misses seeing people her age.