More chemo

The spot in Morgan's arm is fading; the radiation takes a while to work. We are going home to do two more rounds of irenotecan. She may be eligible for the humanized 3F8 trial, but the doctors need to wait for bone marrow results to make sure the chromosome abnormality is continuing to stay low in percentage. Last results were around 2 percent.

Clint and I are happy to be going home, and very anxious about waiting for trial info.
Ally and Morgan are sad to leave their friends here, it's very difficult to transition from one life to the next so quickly.....we do our best.

Thanks for the prayers and well wishes.

Laying Low

Thanks for being so patient. Morgan has been in good spirits since finishing her second round of chemo the week before the new year. We are returning to NYC for scans January 23rd and 24th, and Clint and I are hoping to meet with Dr Modak the Wednesday after scans to discuss Morgan's next step in treatment.

Looking at Morgan, you'd never guess what a fight she's been through. Talking to her though, she's starting to let us know just how awfully difficult it is. Please pray for clear scans, a good treatment plan and guidance for Clint and I to help our girls navigate this life with disease.

Thanks for checking in, your positive thoughts and prayers are just what we need right now.

Taylor Swift at the Ronald McDonald House NYC!

(download)
(download)

Long Trips and Good People

We are HOME! After a few hours in Friday afternoon December rush hour traffic we made ohr way to VA for a few hours of sleep then high tailed it to Charleston, SC for the girls to take part in a cancer awareness comercial by our friends at Chase After a Cure we joined them for a brief visit and a hockey game where they sold T-shirts and bracelets to raise funds we pulled an all nighter to get home by 4am for a few more hours of sleep then on to a softball tournament fundraiser held for Morgan in Plant City for the rest of the day. MAN! Its been a looong weekend but we are home settling in like we always do and thankful to be here for the Holidays.

Speaking of thankful, over the years during our fight a great many people have shown random acts of kindness, thoughtfulness, and hard work in making our lives less stressful and ensuring the fact that we could take Morgan to NY for treatments without worrying about weather or not we could afford to do so, allowing us to focus on Morgan and doing our best to make the right decisions to keep her alive and fighting. We couldn't possibly begin to name everyone and wouldn't have the words to express our gratitude if we could. Recently there has been a resurgence of friends and complete strangers coming to our aid and I would like to let them know as well that we do not take you for granted, from cooking us dinner to watching our pets, selling candy at work, holding yard sales, signing up for softball tournaments to spending much personal time organizing fundraising events, it's selfless acts like these done by individuals who could have just as easily left it to someone else to worry about that make me so very proud to know and get to know all of you. A simple "Thank You" seems so small compared to the things you all have done for us.

Going home!

The good news is, Morgan has finished radiation and she is feeling great. We're so happy this didn't cause her much discomfort.
Tha bad news is, we are leaving the city in the middle of rush hour, on a Friday, a week before Christmas.

It is what it is, we are happy to be heading south and I (Emily) can't wait for some much warmer weather!

Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas cards and letters, care packages and goodies! Having great reminders that we are loved and prayed for is very uplifting being so far from home.

The Pierce family wishes you all a very Merry Christmas!

Chemo week is finished! Morgan had some cramps earlier today but is feeling great tonight. It is wonderful to know her appetite is still going strong and her energy level is good, too.

We will try and keep busy this weekend with friends and gear up for the last ten doses of rt next week.

Thanks for all the Christmas cards, I think the Ronald is a little surprised at all the mail! We are leaving a week from today, so keep that in mind if you still plan to mail something. After we're gone the Ronald doesn't forward or hold mail, it will be returned to sender.

Thanks for checking in!

2011 Ronald McDonald House of NYC Christmas Party

(download)

The Plan

This plan is a short one. It calls for finishing this round of irenotecan on Friday, finish radiation the Friday after that (12-16) and repeat irenotecan the first week of January. Scans will follow the second round of chemo, and then more decisions about more plans. It was great to see Dr Modak today, he took time to see us while the entire nb team is very busy. It's sad to understand just how many pediatric oncology patients are in this one hospital.

Morgan is feeling good right now. Yesterday had stomach cramping and nausea, so they gave her a dose of atropine and it helped her get through the afternoon.
Today, the nurse gave her atropine before the irenotecan (chemo) and she is feeling better.

We have another radiation dose @ 4pm.

Thanks for checking in.

Getting started

Chemo is still boring as usual! We were happy to have some friends in clinic today to help pass the time. It helped to ease Morgan's anxiety over starting chemo again, it's been a year since she's had any chemo at all.
Everything went well today, both doses of radiaition and chemo infusion. She was a little nausious traveling to rt and back to Ronald, but she's feeling fine now!

Thanks for the Christmas cards- please keep them coming! Will post a pic soon.