Ella went in for clinic today and her counts are all good. She doesn’t like getting the dressing on her Hickman changed, but other than that she had a pretty good visit. Lots of walking and playing, and she got to hang out with her clinic buddies Brysin, Melina, and Melina’s sister Jenna.
The plan is to get admitted for Round 6 of chemo on Friday. She’ll be resting at home until then. Keep it up Ella!
Shirts are still available here for those who want them!
Ella and co. got to spend Christmas at home. She had a busy day of opening presents and playing with grandma. A day of playing and no nap wore her out, though, and she slept from 7:30pm-6:00am.
Ella also got to avoid a clinic visit today. Joe took her blood and dropped it off at the hospital, and it showed that she doesn’t need any platelets. Her white blood cells need a boost, though, so Joe will have to give her neupogen shots for the next 2 days in order to get her bone marrow to produce more WBCs. She’ll have to get shots, but she won’t have to go to the hospital/clinic until Monday!
There are 15 days left to get a tshirt and help Ella crush cancer HERE.
Ella’s neutrophil count continues to climb! It’s above 500. So her bone marrow is on overdrive. Ella had a very rough night Friday night. She was super crabby and didn’t sleep well at all. They realized Ella was having bone pain due to her marrow working so hard. This morning, Joe and Sarah asked the nurse to give Ella medication and she’s a whole new toddler again. Joe says she’s back to her crazy self!
If her counts keep going up, they’re hoping to be out of the hospital by early next week. Great news that they may get to spend Christmas at home.
Ella also got a visit from Santa this week, though she was a bit suspicious of him. (Of course, once he was gone she demanded “Go see Santa, go see Santa, go see Santa.”)
Joe and Sarah continue to be amazed by all the love and support they’ve received — including from people they don’t even know. “We have been BLOWN AWAY at the outpouring of prayers, donations, and kind words from family, friends, coworkers, and even complete strangers. Kind of restores your faith in humanity.”
Joe and Sarah also made some shirts in support of Ella. After getting some requests, they’ve created a site so more folks can buy them and donate. Click here for the site!
Ella had a rough night on Thursday. She woke up a few times vomiting and ended up throwing up her nasogastric tube during one episode. Ella got sick 4 or 5 times yesterday. I know Joe and Sarah feel totally helpless during all this and just try and keep her calm. Ella is such a trooper. She doesn’t really cry afterwards. So impressive.
The doctors stopped one of her nausea medicines Thursday and weren’t sure if that was why she was getting sick. Friday, they restarted the medicine again. They wondered if she was nauseous or if she has sores in her throat (mucositis). Regardless of the cause, Ella has been so resilient. Even after getting sick in the playroom, she went right back to playing (not fun for Joe and Sarah to carry a vomit bucket everywhere, but the little lady doesn’t miss a beat). Yesterday afternoon, Ella did some crafts and took a well deserved nap. (You’ll also see below that Aunt Libby did some crafts of her own. Ella gets her own Positively Ella shirt)!
The doctors are giving Ella a break from her tube feeds and not reinserting her NG tube. Ella will receive nutrition through her Hickman line straight into the bloodstream (called TPN). They’ve done so much to get weight back on Ella and this will help give her the calories she needs and let her belly rest. Plus, if they were to reinsert her NG tube, she could possibly vomit it up again. So, they’re going to save Ella the trauma of reinserting it for now (Yeah! We get to see her beautiful face for a while longer) and wait for the vomiting to pass before putting it back in.
Sarah says things are much better today since they added her zofran back as scheduled. Hopefully this continues to help because Thursday and Friday were rough! Ella is DONE with round five of chemo, but they’ll be at the hospital quite a while as they wait for all of her counts to return to normal. Let’s go Ella!
Crushing Cancer, Round 5:
Ella made her counts on Friday and was admitted for round 5 of chemo. Today is day 2, and Joe says Ella is doing pretty well. She’s isolated and rocking her baths. (Hates the baths, but she’s doing better with them than she did last round).
Ella got her NG tube taken out Friday! So amazing to see that beautiful little face. (Photo below). She’s becoming such a big girl — singing songs, playing with the nurses without Sarah and Joe. They say she’s really started expressing her independence. She’s getting more comfortable with the people at the hospital and even taking walks with the nurses on her own.
Hoping Round 5 goes smoothly! GO ELLA!
TWINKLE 1
TWINKLE 2
Hanging with the nurses.
I OWN this hospital wing!
Solo-ish expedition.
Tube free!
Ella weighs 12.1 kg (26.6 lbs). Nutritionist says her “ideal weight” is 11.8 kb. The doctor loves how she’s looking and told Sarah to keep doing what they’re doing! Ella is rocking it. Admission for round 5 planned for Friday.
Joe’s parents visited yesterday and brought gifts from Joe’s brother in Dallas. (Photos below). They got BBQ during the visit, and Ella — who normally isn’t a fan of meat — loved Sarah’s pulled pork. She’s becoming a real KC girl. (Photo of Ella embracing the KC life below).
Joe and Sarah did some light Christmas decorating, and Ella is loving it. Enjoy the greatest videos ever below. She’s growing up so quickly and is so full of life and joy. It’s awesome to see. (Also, true to Mary Kay fashion, the kid loves shiny things. Today, she saw a pin on Sarah’s coat and said, “I like your pin, it’s so beautiful!”)
There’s a chance the Tosch clan could be home for Christmas. If Ella has “light” symptoms from the next treatment, they could get discharged early, but that is all tbd. Let’s hope and pray for another good round.
“I LIKE IT!” Ella loves Christmas decorations!
“Juggling”
She’s practically Elf.
New hat!
New sparkly Toms from Uncle Jim and Aunt Chrissy!
New shoes!
Crushing some pulled pork while also crushing cancer. No biggie.
Helping dad decorate.
Positively Ella 