Saturday, October 15th I will be running in the Grand Canyon University Run to Fight Children's Cancer. Proceeds from the race will go to the Children's Cancer Network, a charity that helps support Arizona families that have children with cancer. Anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome! Here is the link: http://www.gcuraceseries.com/index.php

Since I am just getting back into running (lack of time and extreme heat have been my biggest determent) I will only be running the 5K.   Now that the weather is nicer (one less excuse!), my goal is to return to my old running self :)

The past month the mornings have been cool enough for Phillip and I to enjoy our weekly hikes in the desert. I'm looking forward to the day when Lily will be strong enough to join us again. She always was a super hiker.

Sunday, October 23rd is the Hope Walk. Lily will be there for this one, along with family and friends. Please let me know if you want to be added to Team Lily Love! We are going to have shirts made for our team so I also need shirt sizes.
About Hope Walk: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/alicialopez/3rdannualhopewalk-5kfamilywalkathon

This morning Lily had her bone marrow biopsy and the procedure went well. We were there bright and early- 7 am is way early for Lily these days- but what a beautiful morning it was! Our frequent drives to the East Valley PCH are often filled with worry and sometimes even dread, but a clear day, green fields and beautiful views are always something to be thankful for. Getting a good glimpse of Four Peaks and the Superstition Mountains help to bring my stress level down a few degrees. Not to mention a cool breeze and the smell of rain!

Although she didn't say so, I knew Lily was nervous about the procedure (who wouldn't be?).  But she was my strong brave girl as usual. We were with her until she went to sleep and then the procedure only took about 15 minutes. It took her longer than that to wake up from the anesthesia, but the nurse said she must have been having a good dream because she woke up laughing. Afterwards she was weak and shaky but in good spirits. Because it was cool outside, the nurse let her choose from some beautiful afghans that someone had crocheted and donated to the hospital. Lily was super happy to find a small baby blanket perfect for the baby doll that she recently made.

As soon as she got home, she was hungry and requested stir fry with noodles. Kind of a weird breakfast since it was 9 am, but who am I to argue? I was just glad she felt like eating. Afterwards, we cuddled up in bed and watched The Far Pavilions.

Right now she is sore, but feeling good otherwise. As usual, she's got the music blaring and is creating her fabulous artwork.

We will learn the results of the biopsy next week. Lily has chemo on Monday, but then has two weeks off.

The gift of the donated afghan has inspired me. I've decided that I'm going to crochet a bunch of hats and donate them. I would do blankets, but I have a feeling it would take more time and patience than I have. However, anyone who knows about my addiction to crochet also knows that I jump at the opportunity to purchase new yarn and try a new pattern. Luckily I've got about 10 new hat patterns I want to try! I've also got a few hats that I've already crocheted that Lily won't wear apparently due to the fact that they are "too girly."

Phillip only has one day of work left until he is laid off. I'm not sure if the full reality of this has hit us yet, but right now we both feel confident that he will find work fairly quickly. Until then, I've got a Honey-Do list a mile long. Anyone who wants to add to it, feel free :) He'll love me for saying that!

Lily will be going in for a bone marrow biopsy and aspiration this Thursday. This is a quick procedure, but it will be done under general anesthesia and she will be sore afterward. She had it done in the hospital when she was first diagnosed, so we know what to expect. The procedure will allow doctors to evaluate her bone marrow to determine if it has returned to normal.

As usual, I'm more nervous than she is. Luckily I'm off from work Thursday and Friday for fall break, and hopefully the painful side effects of the procedure won't last too long.

We recently got 6 baby chicks!

They were so cute and tiny, but are growing up fast!

Phillip and Marcus built them the most awesome coop! It's been so fun and we can't wait until they are old enough to start laying eggs.

Our dog also just had 4 tiny, super cute baby puppies. They are so adorable and Lily is completely in love!

We are loving this (somewhat) cooler weather. Time to put in our winter garden! I love that I can garden year round in AZ. Here Lily is standing by watermelon plants that she planted this summer.

We camped at the Christopher Creek Lodge this weekend and had a fun time playing at the creek!

 The boys stayed home with all our new babies (we have puppies and chicks!), so it was just the girls :)

Lily was able to spend time with three of her great aunts, her grandma, her great grandma and her mom.

 The water in the creek was low, but the weather couldn't have been better! We had a great time.

Amazingly Wonderful News!

Today we got the results of Lily's MRI and PET scan and they were fantastic! The doctor said her PET scan was perfect and is simply amazed at how well she is doing. He wants to do one more test- a bone marrow biopsy- but said the chances of that showing something the scans do not is very slim. Lily also had an Echo and EKG done on her heart to make sure it has not been damaged by some of the chemotherapy drugs, but everything looks great.

This picture of Lily's PET scan is just a photocopy, but you can see when you compare the first image from January to the image from this week what a difference there is between the two. Lily's first scan revealed cancer in her foot, knee, pelvis, spine, shoulders and arms. The second image is completely normal.

Words really can't describe how I felt after meeting with the doctor today. Joy. Gratitude. And a surreal feeling that I can't explain. The doctor actually said the words total and remission.

Lily will continue her scheduled chemotherapy treatment for the next three months, but it will not be as intense as it has been in the past. Monday she will have a transfusion with overnight hydration, but then she will get two weeks off from chemotherapy. This cycle will continue for the next 9 weeks, followed by even "easier" chemotherapy drugs. Once Lily has completed her treatment, she will have another evaluation. If everything still looks good, she will only need to be seen periodically to be evaluated. 

The doctor reminded us today of how far Lily has come when he mentioned the night, nearly 9 months ago, when Phillip and I sobbed in his office as our world came crashing down on us. I never could understand how anyone would want such a terribly heartbreaking career, but what a difference today's visit was. Now it makes a little more sense. 

When I thanked the doctor, however, he said, "Don't thank me. It's all her," and pointed at Lily. In a way, he is right. Lily's strength of body and mind is something simply amazing. But I also know where we would be without the doctors, nurses, medical science, holistic medicine, family, friends, love, prayers and human kindness (in no certain order) working for us. And for this, I am thankful!

Cousins!

Lily is quite the little mama. She has always loved babies so much. Since she is the youngest in our immediate family, it's lucky that all her cousins are younger than her so she can get some baby action!



Lily holding the smallest addition to our family. Isn't he sweet?



These 3 goof balls have so much fun together :)

We have another new addition on the way that we are excited to meet- Phillip's sister is having a baby girl!

Lily has been fighting a horrible cough and congestion the last few weeks and even ran a low grade fever this past week. Her white blood counts were extremely high due to the daily Neupogen shots I had to give her. When they are high like that, she feels sick and achy.

This week, even though we continued the shots, her white counts came crashing down because of the chemo. Her hemoglobin and platelets were also low, which makes her feel weak, tired and headachy, so today she had a blood transfusion. Although she has had several transfusions of hemoglobin, today was the first time that she needed a transfusion of platelets and she ended up having an allergic reaction with hives and itching. Today was also the first time I wasn't at the clinic with Lily during a blood transfusion.

I am so thankful to my mom for volunteering to go with her, as I had a lot of work I needed to do. It was a long day for them both- 6 hours! Thank you momma.

Today's transfusion should help Lily feel better and she has next week off from chemo for evaluations.

HopeWalk

HopeKids is a great organization that plans fun FREE events for children with life threatening illnesses and their families. It gives these kids a chance to experience things they may not otherwise be able to.

Through HopeKids, Lily was able to go to a Suns game and meet the team.  She also went to the ballet to see Sleeping Beauty. We would love to attend more events in the future with HopeKids, and need your support!

Our family will be walking in the HopeWalk, a 5K to raise money for HopeKids.

Go to our page to join Team Lily Love:

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/alicialopez/3rdannualhopewalk-5kfamilywalkathon

Hopefully we can get a big group to walk with us. This will be fun!

We've been so busy lately!

Last week Lily had chemo Monday and Tuesday and you would think she would be too tired and sick to do much afterwards, but surprisingly, very little slows her down these days. She stayed busy hanging out with friends, swimming, and last Saturday we had the clothing drive and John & Jen's anniversary celebration.

Lily had so much fun at the anniversary dinner and afterwards swimming in the hotel's pool. Everyone was so happy to see her there, full of energy, and having such a good time.

This week she only had chemo on Monday, but her blood counts dropped from the previous week's chemo, so she had a blood transfusion on Wednesday and what feels like endless Neupogen shots to bring her counts back up.

Tuesday was grandma's birthday. We had a birthday fiesta at our house:

Thursday we decided to start building a chicken coop (Thank you Marcus for inspiring us):

And Friday we had another tea party with one of our favorite fellow tea partiers, the Lovely Lacey :)

Next week will be a long chemo week. Lily will be getting chemotherapy everyday, Monday- Friday, with the home hydration pack every night.

A Huge Thank You!!

Thanks so much to everyone who donated at the clothing drive last weekend. It was a huge success!! A ton of clothes were donated. So much so that even after a great turn out with lots of shopping, we had two trucks full of clothes to give to Desert Industries.

We also really appreciate all the hard work that went into getting everything set up and ready to go. Thank you to all those that helped! And a extra big thanks to Cami, who planned it all.

I'm back to work, so the last few weeks have been busy. I'm so thankful that I am able to work from home. I just might have the best job ever!

Lily finished radiation to her foot and the skin in that area is healing very well. In the time that she was off from chemo, her hair also started growing back. After 5 days of chemo last week and 2 days next week, it probably won't last, but she looks really cute right now with a fuzzy head. Her white blood counts are low this week, so she is cooped up at home and I have to give her daily shots to get her counts back up in time for next week's chemo. She's so resilient, though, it's amazing! She is full of energy and literally bounces around the house (on my aerobic ball).

One of my fellow teachers put together another fundraiser for Lily!  Are we not incredibly blessed in terms of all the support we have received from so many people? Your love and kindness keeps us going! Thank you Cameron! Here is the info:

The “We Love Lil Clothing Event”!!

We are holding a “Back-to-School Clothing Drive” on August 6,  from 10: 00am-2:00 pm for Lily Lopez.  The Clothing Drive will be held at the LDS church located on 1010 S Recker, between Warner and Ray.

In order to help offset the cost of her treatment, and try and ease the burden of her family, we will be holding this clothing drive.  It will be really easy to participate.  As you clean out your children’s closets in preparation for school, please bring clothing that you no longer need to Cami Kistemann’s house, 2895 E Cathy Drive, Gilbert, AZ 85296.

We would like to have all donations before August 6.  If, however, you also want to bring your clothing to the church on the day of the event (August 6), it will be happily accepted at that time.  We will be selling the clothing by the bag.  All the clothing you can stuff into a bag provided for $5.00.  Please donate your clothing, and come to buy a bag or two.  Even if you don’t need the clothing, please come and lend your support.  Please forward this to anyone who you know would like to participate so that we can make this beneficial for everyone.   If you would like to help out further still, please contact Cami Kistemann at 480-626-1405. 

We had a much needed vacation this week on the beach in Mexico.

This was the view from our patio.

It was so great to be able to recharge and relax with no worries and no doctor visits!

Lily spent hours tirelessly searching the beach for cool shells, crabs and other sea life.

She acquired a huge collection, and immediately went to work making tiny sculptures out of shells.

We were also able to go to an aquarium to view more fish and other sea creatures up close.

Lily got to pet turtles

and hold star fish, as well as feed a seal.

We ate lots of yummy food, including the best clam chowder ever.

and best of all, we got to share the fun with good friends.

None of us wanted to leave!!

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping ~ Chinese Proverb

Lily hiking in Woods Canyon last summer

It has been 6 months since Lily was diagnosed and we have made it halfway through the treatment plan that her oncologists have recommended so far.

She has been through more in that short time than anyone should have to go through, but the biggest lesson we have learned is to appreciate the blessings of each day as they come. There is always joy and beauty to be found in the world no matter what your circumstances and we have many, many blessings to be thankful for. The hard days only help us to appreciate the good all the more, and lend a different perspective to what is truly important in life and just how precious it is.

Lily has a long journey ahead of her still, but I know she will be strong enough to face the challenges she is presented with. Lily’s perseverance and positive attitude is such an inspiration to me. She has taught me that you cannot hide from life; it’s there- the good and the bad- and it’s best to face it head on without fear. That doesn’t mean that I don’t worry (because I do) but I feel more and more like I am able to let go and accept life for what it is- terribly imperfect, yes, but also wonderfully beautiful if you are willing to look.

Beads of Courage

Lily with her beads of courage.

Each time Lily has a procedure such as a chemo infusion, radiation treatment or blood transfusion, she receives a bead to string on a necklace. She also has beads for hospital stays and surgeries, like the bone marrow biopsy and port placement surgery. So far, she has two and a half long necklaces full of beads.

This is an awesome program because it is a tangible way for her to see and show others what she has been through and how courageous she has been.