LAUREN & MCKINLEY'S JOURNEYS
Hello Friends,
We are two months into the maintenance phase of Lauren's treatment and everything seems to be going as expected so far. Life is starting to get somewhat back to "normal" . We have been out and about more since we are less paranoid about Lauren needing a blood or platelet transfusion. The last year was pretty touch and go and we never knew if we would be driving to the hospital on the weekend to receive blood products. Lauren's ANC, which is her ability to fight off infections, was consistently low most of the year as well. It is still much lower than that of a "normal" person so we still have to be pretty cautious about germs. A fever can mean an automatic admission to the hospital for days or weeks. We are trying very hard to avoid that but balance having a more normal life. Needless to say I am pretty stocked up on hand sanitizer and soap at our house!!
This last month has been pretty full of emotions. We attended a celebration of life for one of our 9 year old friends from the hospital who was in treatment for the same leukemia that Lauren has and also lost a 3 year old friend from Neuroblastoma. I have been so heartbroken for their families. Cancer truly is a monster. In the last month we have attended a few cancer awareness events and it feels good to help to get the word out that more action is needed and more funding is needed for pediatric cancer research. Lauren is doing great today but there are so many other kids who are not and they deserve so much more.
By the time you read this Lauren will have made her runway debut in the fashion show benefiting the National Pediatric Cancer Foundation. There are also two other brave cancer fighters from the mom's group (McKinley and Weston) walking the show. I am so thankful for these opportunities for these kids to have some fun all for a good cause. They SO deserve it.
Thank you again for all of your support this last year. It's been a roller coaster ride but you guys have all been there from the beginning.
xoxo,
Shawna