Attention FRiends: 11-month old Penny needs your prayers. Fighting Stage 4 Neuroblastoma cancer.

From Penny’s Mom via Pennies4Penny.org:

Still holding strong!
by Carina on April 11, 2010

We have had a few wonderful days! I know it’s been a few days since we posted and we appreciate your patience with us! Things have been going very well. Penelope and I have had to go to the clinic at Rady’s everyday to get her GCS-F shots and check her labs and we are all still trying to catch up on getting organized at home. After round two of chemo and only a one night stay at the hospital, I know Aaron updated you on that part but I can’t express to you how happy it made us, I got sick. Blah. It was kind of a blessing that it happened when it did because had I gotten sick a week later and her counts dropped we would have had a lot on our hands. I am just about worthless for a few days when I get sick so Aaron took up a lot of the baby duty, minus taking her to clinic because he still has to work. Luckily Penelope, being the champion that she is, maintained her counts and was safe from the mommy germs! We found it very funny that I didn’t get sick the whole MONTH we were in the hospital before but when we only had to be there one night I catch something.

Penelope has only had a few minor bumps in the road this round of chemo though. She got really sick two nights in a row and threw up everything she had for dinner. She so very skinny that is worries us when she gets sick like that so when she isn’t sick we try to bulk her up with some high nutrition, high fat and calorie foods…like avocado! She is doing well now though. She had a couple of little milestones in the past few days too. She went from a belly down position to pushing herself up into a seated position! She just did it once but we have faith she is figuring it out. She also started dancing and clapping, she is so sweet. It always amazes me, as a first time mom, to see how she just starts doing something out of the blue. One day she’s not dancing, the next day she is moving her little belly and shoulders all around to get down.

On the immediate forefront we have a busy week. We went in today, Sunday, to have labs drawn and check her counts as a follow up from Friday’s lab draw. On Friday her ANC came back 22,000, which is really high (normal is between 3,000-5,000). The counts are an indication of how well the GCS-F shots are working in her body after chemo so obviously as of Friday she was doing great. Today her ANC was 6,600. The ANC normally drops it’s lowest between day seven and ten after chemo so we expected it but to have it drop so much shocked us a little bit. So the shots continue. This whole week we will be going to clinic everyday for shots, which alone takes about an hour and a half. Tuesday and Friday she will have labs drawn also which tacks on an additional thirty minutes. Thursday morning we have physical therapy at 7:30a and Friday morning at 7:30a she has a follow up bone marrow aspiration. The following week she will have her follow up MIBG scan as well as an MRI, all to recheck the cancer indicators to assess how well the chemo is working and adjust her chemo roadmap, in length, as needed.

Thank you to EVERYONE who came to the benefit at the Royal Dive on Friday. It was a huge success and we are very lucky to have had so many people work so hard for us. Thank you to the bands for their time and talent also. There are a lot of great events coming up too that we will make sure to keep everyone in the loop. Claim Jumper in Carlsbad has the fund raising event tomorrow, there are a couple of additional benefit shows, we have an amazing family running for Penelope in the Rock n’ Roll marathon…many things coming our way! Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about anything. I will keep you posted on my ladybug’s calendar too. She is tentatively scheduled for her next chemo stay (which will be a 3-5 day stay for sure) April 27th. The rounds normally run 22 days from the first day of her previous round, just to give you an idea of what we work around. Please keep her in your thoughts! She is doing well and I know it’s because she has the love of not just her family but all of our friends, old and new, and just everyone who she has touched. She is a tiny hero.

Here is a New Update on Penny, the Precious Baby who is Fighting for her Life against Stage 4 Neuroblastoma Cancer.
Please See Post #101.
(((((((Penny)))))))

prayers continue

So glad to hear the good news!

I will continue to keep little Penny in my prayers.

Thank you so much for the update. Prayers continue...

She needs Gods intervention. At this age she is not only totally innocent, she also can become very strong. I ask my Saviour to come into her Life and heal her body. Give her a chance to survive and become a part of your witness body. In your name Jesus, Amen.

That is so encouraging, and exhausting to read what the schedule is. God Bless little Penny, her mom and dad, and all who are supporting and praying for them.

Prayer Bump

BTTT

Bless Penny and her family Father God, beyond anything they could think of our imagine. Bless Penny with a long life and good health and give the family peace beyond understanding. In Jesus Holy name, Amen!!!!

Prayers up for little Penny. Thanks for the ping.

Thanks for the update. Continued prayers.