Hope4Peyton

Hope everyone has had as great a day as we have. We wish you lots of holiday joy filled with food, presents, and the real reason for Christmas joy — having enough batteries to make all the toys work!

Truly though, we wish you a Christ filled Christmas, and we hope you are just overwhelmed with happiness and love this year.

We'll post all the fun pictures and details when I've come off my "too much holiday food" high.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
—Anissa

Our family has a show that we watch together every week called “Avatar, The Last Airbender”. It’s a cartoon on Nick and it’s a really awesome show. The main character is Aang and he’s a monk who has these arrows on his head and arms.

Now, Peyton got a gift of skin crayons for her birthday. They’re to make skin art and they wash off with soap and water and we’ve been having a good old time with them. Rachael comes out on a regular basis with her face completely tattooed.

So, think Aang the Avatar + skin crayons =

Good times! She ran around saying “I’m the Avatar!!”

f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
—Anissa

So, we’re one week into our Christmas break and we still have three kids! It’s been a test of patience some days, but for the most time it’s been a blast. We’ve stayed up and slept in late, there’s been a constant stream of neighborhood kids in and out of the house, we’ve enjoyed the 80-ish weather we’ve had. As Nathaniel put it so clearly “Florida doesn’t really get much of a Christmas weather thing, does it?” No, no, we don’t and he says he’d like some snow, but this kid has never been sent out to shovel snow so you can try to leave the house. The grass is always greener.

Today was a fun day for the kids and me because we met up with a bunch of friends for a lunch and park. We showed up with kids and food and let them all run wild.

Nathaniel with Andrew and David Wylie, about a second after I shot this picture I took that rocket in the kidney….boys!

Lily Kennedy, our favorite 5th grader!

It’s neat when your kids actually get old enough to organize themselves into an activity, kickball was the game of the day. The littler kids played in the water fountain…no, not some elegant shooting water display…they actually just played in a drinking water fountain, with a plastic baggie and an empty water bottle occupied themselves for quite a while.

Rachael and Paige Toth

Out of 14 kids, Peyton was the only one that managed to find herself in a nest of ants, bites all over her arms and legs. Poor kid, she just can’t get a break. But regardless of the mild infestation, she has an absolutely great time at the park.

Sarah Wylie, our resident gymnast, #3 in the state in her age bracket!

Morgan Toth, one of the sweeeeetest kids I've ever met.

When I watched my kids playing with their friends, laughing and just being carefree, I felt so blessed. I got picked to be their mom and there’s nothing more important to me than that.

Peyton’s going through some weird changes, they’re hard to predict and understand and some are really hard to cope with. She’s got this great appetite all of a sudden, which we were gearing up for because of the upcoming steroid treatment, but she hasn’t started it so we’re not sure why she’s eating like mad. She’s a skinny little thing so we’re not fighting it, she needs the extra padding as she’s lost all she’d gained plus some. Her sleep cycle is so messed up. She isn’t sleeping at night well, and that’s when we can GET her to go to sleep. She hasn’t gone to sleep before midnight any night in the last week, it’s driving me nuts, because I can’t tell if she’s tired during the day because she’s not feeling well or if she’s just tired.

It doesn’t take them long to figure out how to work the system. We’re struggling with how to discipline this poor kid who’s been through so much and continues to just be amazement to us. Because, seriously, there are moments that “amazement” over there needs her fanny paddled. The clinic told us about a dad who called one day to ask if he could bring his son in for a blood count. When the nurse asked if he thought his son was sick he explained “No, but I need to know what his platelet count is so I know if I can spank him or not. (Basically he needed to know if the kid was going to bruise from a spanking).” I know how he feels. And you haven’t been glared at until you’re the person chastising your cancer kid until she cries in Target….bring out the tar and feathers!

The thing we tell each other is that we have to continue to be parents and discipline as we normally would, because eventually she’s going to be well and we don’t want to have to get her an apartment because we can’t live with her. Please pray for us to have understanding and patience, and that we’re able to cope with mood swings and temper tantrums AND keep our sanity.

Christmas is just a few days away, and we’re looking forward to a visit from my Mom and Dad. They only live a few hours away in Daytona Beach, but with all the schedules involved, it’s still hard to get together as much as we’d like. It’s going to be fun to have them here for the present free for all that is my living room on Christmas morning. I just hope no one gets hurts in the mad trample.

We have made the kind of plans for New Years that can only be made between two families that both have kids with cancer: IF no one is in the hospital, IF no on is sick, IF treatments go well, and IF there’s no other unforeseen event, would you like to go out for dinner? But we hope to have a nice evening out with the Powells, to bring in the New Year with new friends and to start it out with a fun bang.

We pray for love, health, peace and happiness for all of you and that God will bless you in a mighty way in this upcoming year.

f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
–Anissa

ps…Please say a special pray for my friend Chris’s dad who is in the hospital in Gainesville trying to recover from a liver transplant. He’s having a lot of complications and I just ask that we all pray for God’s healing love to surround him and strength for the whole family as they help him fight for his life.

Hey, more pictures of Mayhews at a Christmas party! Whooo hoo!

Yes, we did it again, another party and it was a wonderful experience AGAIN. The American Cancer Society, All Children’s Hospital and our pediatric oncology group gave the families of the Tampa area a lovely Christmas party and a fun time of celebration for the kids. It was at the Renaissance-Vinoy in St. Pete, there were over 100 families there and we were able to spend time with our friends the Powells and Garegs.

The Powell family

The Gareg family

Precious Carly

We enjoyed a nice buffet lunch, the families all got to have some Santa time and there were sweet gifts for each child. We saw many familiar faces from the clinic and hospital, it’s amazing how this becomes a regular part of your life, these people become friends and you form special bonds. We become a family.

Adelaine and Peyton were both in happy spirits, smiling and playing throughout the afternoon.

Angela and Mason

Peyton and I, and Adelaine and Angela even the got to do the Hokey Pokey and the Chicken Dance together….so glad Pete didn’t figure out how to get the video capture working on the camera for that little bit. I guess God really does answer little prayers! Hahaha

This week was full of fun, Nathaniel and Rachael both had Christmas parties in their classes on Friday and Peyton went with her grandma so that I could attend. It was wonderful to be there with them, they are both such amazing kids who’ve coped with me being absent for many of their functions this year, and I was thrilled to be able to share this day with them. They only had a half day that day, so we went to the mall and had a nice lunch together and did some Christmas shopping and just indulged in time together.

We are looking forward to this upcoming vacation time as an opportunity to sleep in and have some fun. We have a clinic visit on Monday to see how Peyton’s blood counts are doing and that should set the tone for the majority of our vacation. Any way it goes, we are going to have a great Christmas and be truly thankful for all the blessings we continue to receive.

I want to thank all those who continue to pray for Peyton’s health, as so many have been sick around us lately. During the last weeks of school there were multiple illnesses, very contagious and serious sicknesses, and my kids didn’t bring home so much as a sniffle. God has certainly protected her and kept her safe from the germs and out of the hospital and for that we are so grateful. I know she would not be doing as well as she is if it weren’t for the prayers and support of our loved ones.

f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
—-Anissa

ps…we had a great laugh about the way the ACH managed to absolutely mangle our kids' names…Peyton Mayhew and Adelaine Powell…can't be that hard to spell right??

pss…as I am almost always the photographer, I never get to BE in the pictures. So this picture was taken by my friend Jennifer Fletcher at the kid's school on the day that the moms gave Peyton her extra-special birthday party. I LOVE this picture and my heart just about melted into a little puddle. Thank you, Jennifer, for taking it and making sure I got a copy!

With all the excitement of birthdays and holiday parties, clinic visits seem sort of bland in comparison. Monday was a long, but easy-going day. She has finished her current cycle of chemotherapy and we went in for a simple blood infusion. I keep using the term transfusion, which was pointed out to me as incorrect, she’s not having any blood taken out, just new blood put in…so, it’s infusion.

Anyways, the infusion went well and it’s put a new pep in her step. She always perks up after she gets blood, and someone asked me why, so this is the explanation I give. When she’s low on red blood cells, her body has to work extra hard to provide the needed oxygen. It uses up a lot of her energy and she starts to get tired and run down. So the added packed red cells they give her allow her body to function as it should with a proper amount of red cells and she feels all sassy and spunky. Which is fantastic….until she runs me ragged! But I’ll take ragged any day of the week.

We have an appointment to do a blood count on next Monday, just a check to make sure she won’t need more red cells or platelets before Christmas shuts down the clinic for a few days. After that, she doesn’t have chemo scheduled until the 29th! Yeah!!! We are just so excited that this break fell in a way that we could look forward to a nice Christmas break, and enjoy this time together. Please pray that she doesn’t get sick because I just don’t want to spend the holiday in the hospital…they’re nice people and all, but still.

When we start back for chemo on the 29th, Peyton will start a cycle called “Augmented Delayed Intensification”….otherwise known as “Yuck yuck and more yuck”. It’s just a crazy schedule of medications, she’s going to feel terrible and it’s probably going to be fairly trying for the whole family.

Her medication list is insane! Here’s the rundown:

Vincristine (which she gets pretty much all the time, it doesn’t do a whole lot to her but make her unable to sleep well)

Methotrexate (which is extra bad because it’s the spinal form instead of the IV form)

Peg Asperiginaise (that means two painful leg pokes at the same time, usually followed by a lot of screaming and biting)

Dexamthasone (this is the dreaded steroid…she’s going to get fat, grumpy, and depressed….mix third trimester with the worst PMS you’ve ever seen or heard of, with a dash of the movie “Sybil”….you’ve got a three year old on steroids)

Cytoxin (any medication with the word toxin in it just sounds bad, but it’s one that drags her blood counts seriously low, and we have to be very careful because it can damage the bladder)

Cyclophosphimide (we got 4 times a week for a shot either in the leg, or in the port, depending on whether or not they’ll let us keep her accessed for the whole week when her counts are really bad, it makes her feel lousy also)

Doxorubicin (this is a new one for us, it has a nickname “the Red Devil” because the color of the medication and because it turns the urine red….that should be entertaining for all of us! I’ve heard and read that it’s pretty brutal, so we’re praying for the best)

Thioguinine (this is an oral medication; I don’t know much about it, but on top of
everything else, what’s one more?)

To accent that lovely grocery list of meds will be all the stuff she’ll be on at home, Septra (an antibiotic she takes every week to fight off pneumonia), Zantac (to help her stomach through the steroids), Lactulose (because everything that goes in a three year old eating 12 meals a day has to come back out at some point and we want that to go smoothly as possibly), Zofran (to fight nausea), and Ativan (which is to help sooth the savage beast when her moods get really bad….if it doesn’t work for her, I might try taking some).

The cycle lasts 8 weeks, our nurse was pretty blunt about the fact that they don’t stop this cycle for anything les than a “serious infection”, so her blood counts and ANC will probably hit rock bottom. But we’re going to worry about that on the 29th, and enjoy the holiday!

On a bright note, Kaylie, our little 10 month old friend who was doing so poorly just a few weeks ago, is doing great according to her mother Tisha. Kaylie and Tisha were finally able to leave St. Joseph’s Cancer Clinic after spending more than 2 months there, with Kaylie eating well, feeling like a normal healthy baby again and Tisha says that she’s been enjoying her time home. Kaylie was readmitted today for her chemo treatments, but if all goes well, she’ll only be there for 4 days and then she’ll be able to go back home. Continue to pray for Tisha and Kaylie, that they will be able to feel God’s love and comfort surround them every day.

Just to keep us laughing…one of the gifts that Rachael received from the Tim Taylor family was a makeup set. It had lots of fun girly stuff, lipsticks, eye shadows, glitter. Oodles and oodles of glitter. Did I mention glitter? Sunday night we went to bed with a normal house, Monday morning Rachael got up before the rest of us and there was glitter from one end of the living room to the other, it’s permanently imbedded in the couch fabric, it’s everywhere. It looks like Timkerbell got mugged in our loving room! So, a day just can’t be bad when you look down and you have a fine dusting of pink glitter all over your clothes.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
Anissa