Hope4Peyton

The day started off with such promise. Peyton’s appointment was at 8:30 and our goal was to get in first and get out quick. They were seriously busy today with the holiday backup and had 3 spinal taps scheduled for morning.

Thanks to awesome friends, we left on time with EMLA all over Peyton…chest for her port access, back for her spinal tap and her leg for the flu shot. We got to the clinic to find out that the machine that processes all the blood for counts has gone on strike and everything is being sent to the hospital…then we find out that the pharmacist is running way behind…Peyton has eaten/drank nothing since bedtime the night before and she finally got her spinal tap at 11:30.

Poor kid was just miserable with hunger and thirst, but she was a trooper and got through the spinal procedure…she had the movie Hairspray in her goggles and she sang through the whole thing…like a drunk Irishman, it was great! She even managed through the flu shot in the leg….but when we de-accessed her port it bled quite a bit and the nurse Lisa had to put pressure on it to get it to stop. After having needles stuck all over your body, one would think pressing a piece of gauze to your skin would be a no problem kind of thing.

But it was the straw that broke my sweet little camel’s back. She was so angry and grumpy and covered in orange Cheetos crumbs and she just cried and cried for the longest time. We finally got out of the clinic around 12:45 and I took her straight to Olive Garden as a reward for a rough clinic day completed. Pete brought the other two kids up to meet us and we had such a nice lunch together, it’s just awesome to have him HOME!!!!

As I went to put her back in her carseat and head home, she started to cry and rub her head. She was so achy and grumpy, which is really unusual for her. Honestly, I guess I’ve gotten spoiled to the fact that she normally just takes off at full speed after these procedures, but today she got whammied in a big way. She whined that her back ached and her head hurt and I got her home and down for a nap with hopes that after a full belly and a good sleep, she’d feel better.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. As soon as she woke up and sat up in the bed, she started wailing and then screaming in pain. Her head was the cause of the pain. This is new to us, but I’ve heard of some kids that suffer through spinal headaches following an LP and it takes anywhere from 24-48 hours to subside. Luckily, the clinic called at just that time with results from her CBS (which were perfect, regardless of the bruising I’ve been watching obsessively) and I was able to talk to the nurse about the headache.

There really isn’t anything that can be done, so I just gave her a heavy dose of pain medication and had her lie flat for as long as she could stand it. After her meds kicked in she was up and going at Peyton speed, but I could tell that she was pretty achy and she kept rubbing her head. However, she is so funny when she's high as a kite! She would even lay her little head on my lap and tell me she was tired. So pitiful tonight. I gave her another dose of pain meds with her nightly chemo and hopefully she’ll have a peaceful night’s sleep and feel much improved in the AM.

My Christmas tree came down today….I guess I never knew that you’re supposed to keep it up until New Years. I was just thrilled that I got it down and back in the box before March. Mind you, the kids who were practically mauling each other to put the ornaments ON the tree couldn’t be bothered to help me take them OFF. Fairweather kids, I say!!

I still have receipts, my little offspring, oh yeah!

f.r.o.G….fully relying on God
–Anissa

It’s late Christmas day, the gifts have all been given and opened, the bulk of the mess cleaned up and I’m thrilled by the wonderful day we enjoyed….as well as ecstatic that it’s over!!

I talked to my mom tonight and agreed that I must be getting old to be so happy that the holiday is over when the kids are ready for it to be Christmas every day. I’m actually dreading next year’s Christmas chaos already…it’s only 365 days, people!!

We made a deal with our kids last night…there were certain things that had to happen in the morning for mom and dad to drag themselves out of bed. Can I just tell you that my kids are flat out amazing??

Rule #1 – All teeth must be brushed before even attempting to come into our bedroom. The first person who walked in and breathed funk breath on us would cause everyone to go back to bed for a half an hour! It was Rachael’s job to make sure all oral hygiene responsibilities were seen to.

Rule #2 – The coffee pot must be turned on, Peter had to make sure that it was set up with water and coffee, but someone had to actually turn the pot on so it would be beautifully perked by the time we got up. This job fell to Nathaniel, the one we most trust with handling our electronics.

Rule #3 – The dog must be fed and watered…this was sort of a last ditch effort in giving Peyton a job to do in the morning, so she’d feel like she was one of the big kids.

I fully expected to be roused at the crack of dawn, but was pleasantly surprised when Nathaniel and Rachael crept into our bedroom at 8:30!! That has to be a record somewhere.

They were coming in quietly and cautiously because Peyton was still snuggled in between Pete and me in the bed…sound asleep…and the dog was unfed because Peyton was still in bed. The kids had totally reached the last of their patience and Rachael whispers to me, “Mommy, Peyton’s still sleeping, if I feed the dog, is it ok if I wake you up now?” Are you kidding me? I’m fully prepared to go out and buy them all an extra present for letting us sleep until 8:30!!…AND I can smell the coffee.

I love that my kids are getting older now. They rock.

We got up and dug into stockings and quickly divvied up presents and went to work. The kids were good about waiting semi-patiently for everyone to take turns opening presents, they were excited about every gift and got many of the “must have’s” on their lists. Nathaniel wanted Pete’s old IPod and we are thankful that after some serious panic because it got lost in the moving shuffle, we found it in plenty of time to get it loaded up with his favorite music, wrapped and under the tree. He also got the coolest gift in a RoboQuad…this robotic 4-legged thing that is just a complete hoot…he got a Razor scooter from his Grandma Sharon as well as a ton of other gifts that he totally deserves for making coffee.

Rachael’s wants were simple but plentiful. She got gobs of goodies, but her favorites were the High School Musical 2 DVD and a box full of makeup. Peyton’s big favorites were her trampoline and pogo stick. Yes, I got the child with lousy balance and a penchant for bruising a pogo stick. But she loves it even if she’s not heavy enough to actually make it bounce….it’s become a wonderful full body workout for whoever has to help her bounce across the room.

You might notice that both Santa AND the Tooth Fairy made a trip to our house last night!!

I don’t know that I’ve EVER been that excited about a gift…in my entire life. Do you love that crazy-toothless combo??

Pete and I both went out of our way to surprise each other. I got a ROCK ON gift certificate to the[url=http://www.ikea.com] IKEA[/url] store!!! I know you’re all excited for me. I’m already mentally spending it for the new house that doesn’t exist yet. But I blew him out of the water with gift cards dedicated to buying a Wii…No, he didn’t lick his elbow, but I really dig him, so I’m getting him one anyway…whenever the Wii’s come back in stock. We were both absolutely delighted with our gifts, plus all the sweet things the kids had made and chosen for us.

We spent the afternoon the way every Christmas should be spent. We ate too much, we all napped and snoozed, and then we went over to visit our special friend Mary Ann, from the Children’s Cancer Center. We went with the intentions of just popping in and saying Merry Christmas…4 hours later we finally left with enough baked goods and leftovers to feed a small army! What a good time we had with this wonderful lady. A HUGE thank you to Mary Ann for opening her home to us and inviting us to spend time with her on this most wonderful of days.

What a day. I hope your day was as fantastic as ours, I pray that you celebrated in a way that will fill your heart with joy and memories. We missed being with some friends and family who are too far away to see, but you were all in our thoughts and hearts today.

Tomorrow Peyton and I will be heading into the clinic bright and early for her 8:30 spinal tap. She gets her chemo and starts her monthly steroids. What a way to bring in the New Year, right? But hopefully we’ll have a repeat of last month when the steroids didn’t seem to have too bad an impact on her. Pray for an easy procedure and for her to withstand all these medications.

We ask for many prayers for a few of our brave friends and their families:

1. Justin Gaudineer is in the hospital with fevers and a GI bleed. He’s been suffering through a LOT of pain and please keep this little sweetie in your prayers that there will some healing and comfort for him.

2. Mathew Gliddon is still in the hospital starting a new round of chemo tomorrow. It’s a NASTY chemo med, but we are all praying that this is the one that kicks his body into remission. He needs to reach a full remission so that he can move into the bone marrow transplant stage of treatment. He’s also dealing with a lot of side effect issues, he’s got a virus that’s caused him to develop pneumonia, he’s still not able to talk due to unknown reasons at this point and his family is struggling to stay on top of each issue as they arise. Just keep this family in your prayers as they cope with each new problem, that they will get the answers they so badly need and that Mathew’s body will respond to this new treatment with positive results.

3. There are so many more who need our prayers, some have needs that seem greater than others, but I know God hears and holds each prayer, so just ask for his power to be in the lives of all the families struggling with their burden. It wouldn’t take a terrible amount of time to just log onto one or all of these kids’ site and just leave a small message of support, encouragement and let them know that there are many praying them through each day.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa

I’m the third one from the left.

We wish you all the Merriest Christmas, a wonderful start to a bright New Year and many precious blessings as we celebrate family, friends and our Savior’s birth. I hope every moment is a gift that your heart holds forever.

Love and f.r.o.G.
The whole Mayhew gang
Pete, Anissa, Nathaniel, Rachael, and Peyton

We’d hoped that Pete would be able to leave for home on Thursday, but due to an exceptionally busy day he didn’t take off homeward bound until Friday morning. He knocked on the door and I sent the kids to answer.

Truly you would have thought he’d been gone for years instead of 3 weeks!! But we were all so glad to see him. Rachael leaped straight off the ground, 4 feet in the air and just hung from his neck for the longest time, the impact of her body nearly knocked Pete back out the door. I chose not to do that because I didn’t want to spend the holiday with Pete in traction due to back injury or a major hernia. I’m so conscientious that way. Nathaniel greeted him with a much more macho and manly hug but I could see him still thrilled with to be in his dad’s arms again. Peyton was napping so Pete went in to wake her up and it took her a few moments to realize what his face meant, but she too was excited to be hugging her daddy again.

I totally burned dinner and Nathaniel was all “this is crap”, but Pete told him it was the best dinner he’d had all month. I saw that look that said “Dad must be a really lousy cook, and nothing had better happen to mom or we’ll all starve to death”. But I know for Pete, after a month eating alone in his apartment, this over-cooked meatloaf with his family really was the best meal he’d had in a long while.

In our giddy delight to be together again, Pete and I decided that we’d leave the kids with his mom and head out to run some errands today. We went to Target, Toys R Us and the mall. The Holy Trinity of Christmas shopping.

The giddy went away quickly.

Hell will look a lot like the mall parking lot three days before Christmas! I’m standing there thinking, “What are all your morons doing, waiting until the last possible moment to go to the mall?” Then I acknowledge that I too am one of those morons and I deserve my own scorn. I almost had a panic attack in Toys R Us, it was so crowded and busy that I nearly took out some poor lady with my cart in an attempt to get away from the hoards. I found a corner with some really cruddy gift ideas and just hung there while Pete braved the shelves to find the IT toy. IT wasn’t there, forcing us to go the mall.

After we’d made it out alive….actually out of the parking lot with the hopes of getting free of the madness, I told Pete these wonderful gems of holiday cheer….

“Our kids had better be ecstatic Christmas morning…I’m talking tears of joy!! I may have to beat the tears of out of them, but there will be tears of freaking joy Christmas morning!”

Ahhhh, those are the holiday sentiments they don’t put on cards.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
–Anissa

ps…I’ve lost my EMLA cream and Peyton has a spinal on Wednesday morning at 8:30 AM….if anyone can share some “magic cream” OH would it be appreciated!

***EMLA has been offered and accepted and we’ll have it in hand this afternoon thanks to Kaylie’s mom Tisha!! Thank you to each awesome friend who scrambled to help find some for Peyton. We sure appreciate it and love you for it.

Seeing as how we got home late from the hockey game last night….in bed at 11:30 at night…I was hoping for a nice lazy morning. The kid’s had their last day of school yesterday, so we had NOWHERE to be!

Peyton pokes me awake, I can hear all the kids moving around, already awake, and says “Mommy, we slept REALLY late this morning!”

I roll over. I look at the clock. It’s 8:00AM.

My kids really stink.

f.r.o.G.
–Anissa