Tuesday

We are all settled in at the hospital. Madeline is working on homework, and anxiously awaiting "The Voice" to come on at 7pm. Chemo should start soon.  

We were excited to see a girl from McKinney on The Voice last night. If anyone knows her, let me know because we would love to see her wearing a #madelinestrong bracelet next time!! 

Just a reminder for our friends that come to our house. Flu season is almost here. Madeline cannot be around anyone who receives the "Flumist" vaccine because it is a live vaccine and could be dangerous to her weakened immune system. Please choose the the flu shot instead of the mist if you are planing a visit, bringing a meal, or visiting the hospital.  Thank you!!

Monday

We have enjoyed being home the last two and a half days. Sleeping in our own beds and not all living in one room is dreamy. 

Madeline has the same treatment this week as last week. At least this time we know what to expect, and our bags are packed for the full week. We go to clinic tomorrow at 11am for routine blood work, and then will check into the hospital after that. They hydrate her for six hours before chemo even starts so it's kind of a long day. Then we wait for her to clear the medicine - 0.10 is the magical number. 

Please pray Madeline will not feel so sick this week, that her nurses and doctors can manage the nausea better, and that we are back home as soon as possible. Ben turns 14 on Thursday. Please pray that he knows how much we love him and how proud we are of him for dealing with this new normal.

Thank you for all the love, prayers, and messages this week. We are so grateful. 

Saturday

Unfortunately her level came back at 0.12 last night so we will not be heading home quite yet. They will retest her this morning and hopefully we will get to that magical number of 0.10. The lab takes 3-6 hours to process so it's a long wait. Everyone is pretty disappointed, we were really hoping to have the weekend at home. My friend Lisa texted me this morning to remind me it's just that the medicine is still working to kill the cancer and it needs more time. In any case, please pray her level goes down and we go home as soon as possible. 

Our flight has been delayed...

So we are the Grand Prize winners of an extra night here at the lovely Medical City hotel. Her number was 0.13 at 9:15am and it had to be 0.10 to collect our departure tickets. So, so close!! They will recheck her at 9:15pm and hopefully we will be on our way tomorrow morning. 

Thank you for the texts and prayers!! 

Love,

Shana

Happy Friday

Good Morning! Madeline slept well last night after watching "Cinderella" and eating some Raisinets. We are just waiting for her level to go down to 0.10 to be released. After 24 hours she was at 9.34, and after 48 hours at 0.35. So she is close. The doctor agreed to run an extra lab this morning instead of making us wait until 9:15 tonight to test again. Whichever way it goes, I am thankful we are moving in the right direction and her body is metabolizing quickly. 

In the meantime, she is enjoyed her Cheerios and played "Smashy Roads" (a suggestion from Ben to pass the time) this morning and is now working on Science homework. 

Today is the LAST day to buy the t-shirt Madeline designed. Just thinking about 416 (at last count) people wearing that shirt is overwhelming to us. Thank you doesn't seem to be enough, but thank you. 

To order a shirt:  http://www.booster.com/madeline_strong

Also, our amazing friends, the Clark family, ordered another batch of #madelinestrong bracelets. If you would like more to share with friends please just fill out the form and we will get them to you. It's amazing to think of all the people thinking of and supporting our family. I ran into Albertsons the other day and saw two different people, who I don't know, wearing their bracelets. We feel the love you all have for our girl! 

To order free #madelinestrong bracelets: https://goo.gl/5a26j7

Finally, a special birthday SHOUT OUT to Mikayla Price. Her mom was Ben's 4th grade teacher, her sister was a classmate of Ben's at McGowen, and she is playing in Madeline's honor at the Circle of Hope volleyball game at McKinney HS tonight. What a thoughtful, kind gesture and we wish Mikayla a very Happy Birthday and a big win tonight!!! Go Lions! 

Thursday

Good morning! Thank you so much for all the texts, gifts, meals,calls, FB messages and prayers this week. We arrived on Tuesday morning and Madeline's blood counts were much improved from the week prior.  Great news because it allowed us to stay on schedule.  Her room wasn't quite ready, so we ended up with a late start to the second round of chemo.  Honestly, I think Madeline was pretty happy that we got to leave the hospital to grab some lunch! Big smiles when she found out there would be a delay.  Tuesday overall was pretty good during the day. The nurses were impressed with how diligent Madeline was while she did her homework.  We finally convinced her to take a break that night to watch TV pretty late!  Chemo started around 9:30pm Tuesday. 

I had hoped this one would go a bit smoother but it's been a rough one for sweet Madeline with lots of nausea. Everything we read and heard indicated that this drug would be relatively easier than the last round of drugs, so all of us were a little thrown off to see her having such a rough time.  Brad and I planned to rotate nights because we thought this would be an uneventful week.  Madeline and Brad had a long night Tuesday, and Madeline ended up sleeping until 3:00pm Wednesday!  Rotating on bad nights doesn't really work... I couldn't sleep after Brad updated me late that night, so no one got much rest. Because of that, we both stayed with her last night.  The good news is that Madeline slept through the night Wednesday. Today she seems a tiny bit better, but still tired and not feeling quite like herself. 

Brad got her hooked on the TV series "Once Upon A Time" on Netflix the first night, and now she is halfway through season 1. The chemo completed Tuesday night, so we are just waiting for her body to clear the chemo drug and trying to find the right combination of food and medicine to help with the nausea.  We can go home once the chemo has cleared and we are hoping that may happen by Friday night, but we've also read this could take awhile... We have to be back next Tuesday to repeat this drug, so we are really hoping she'll get a couple nights in her own bed in between.

In other Prugh news, Ben has had a busy week with baseball and 8th grade football so we have been doing lots of driving back and forth to McKinney to cheer him on!  Baseball Monday and Wednesday and football Tuesday.  Tonight is free, so planning to bring him to visit Madeline this evening.  I will say that technology is pretty awesome.  It's nice to FaceTime with Ben when I'm here with Madeline.

Again, thank you all so much for the thoughts and prayers! And the t-shirts!!?  We can't believe how many t-shirts have sold!  Almost 400 as of this morning!  We are excited to wear them.  Madeline asked yesterday when we would have them to wear and we think around October 9th.

Tomorrow is the last day to order shirts:  http://www.booster.com/madeline_strong

Please pray that the nausea passes, that the medicine moves through her quickly, that we are home soon, and that the chemo is working to shrink the tumor in her leg and killing any other cancer cells in her body. Love you all so much. Thank you for thinking and praying for our family. 

Weekend Update

It's Sunday and we are enjoying a quiet weekend at home, resting, and trying to stay germ free. Madeline was able to meet with most of her teachers last week so she can continue with her home bound studies. I'm proud of her since I am sure it's hard being the only one in the class. You have no choice but to answer every question and find every answer yourself! Hard work for my sweet introvert but she's doing great. 

I am completely overwhelmed by the response to the t-shirts. As of this morning, we have sold almost 300 t-shirts. The last day to order is this Friday so please order one this week if you can. 

Link for shirts: https://goo.gl/NgkfwA

A huge THANK YOU to everyone for taking such good care of our family. We appreciate every kind gesture and prayer. We do ask that you call, text, or Email before stopping by. We are happy to see everyone but sometimes we just need some family time or Madeline may not feel up for visitors. When you come in our house, please wash your hands so we can avoid germs and extra nights in the hospital. And finally, if you are not feeling well, please postpone your visit until you are healthy. If you get the flu vaccine, choose the shot rather than the mist if you will be around our family. The FlumIst is a live vaccine and very dangerous to those with weakened immune systems. Thank you so much!! 

The plan is to head back to the hospital on Tuesday morning. She will start the second round of chemo that evening. This one must be cleared from the body before you can go home, which usually takes 60-72 hours. Pray she can drink fluids to clear quickly and get home as she has to do the same thing again the following Tuesday. 

Please pray the cancer is still isolated on her fibula and has not spread. Pray that she will continue to be brave and patient as her body and the medicines fight this cancer. Please pray that she can be at peace with losing her hair and realize how beautiful she is inside and out, hair or no hair. 

MadelineStrong T-shirts!

Get your official #MadelineStrong t-shirts!  

http://www.booster.com/madeline_strong

The Kaylors approached us a few weeks ago about creating a t-shirt for of a fund raising campaign to help with any costs we might have. While Madeline's diagnosis has been extremely stressful on our family, the one thing that we don't have to worry about right now is medical expenses. Our health insurance has been awesome, and our anticipated out of pocket is very reasonable and thank goodness for keeping a rainy day fund socked away. 

That being said, there are many families out there that are not as fortunate. Shana and I thought this might be a good way to raise awareness and money to help others. Sadly, we were pretty oblivious to the prevalence of childhood cancer and osteosarcoma before Madeline was diagnosed, and we want to do our part to help raise awareness. We are currently researching various foundations and opportunities to help. We haven't made any decisions yet, but we were excited to get the t-shirts out there!

We had a great time working with Madeline to design the t-shirt and we are excited to see them being worn around McKinney and beyond!  Thanks to Chuck, Wendy, and Zoe Kaylor for organizing for us!  We are surrounded by such great people. It's truly amazing. 

Girls Night In...

Madeline woke up with a sore throat, stuffy ears and a slight fever. When her fever went up this afternoon, we headed to the hospital and they admitted her. One of the nurses we met last time hooked her up with a big, nice room with a ton of windows. They are pretty sure it is just a cold, but we will stay for a couple of days to make sure. 

So we are having a Girls Night In!  First coloring (see our talent??) and now Dancing with the Stars. We know how to party... at medical city!! 

Special fans

Tigers win!  Off to the championship later this evening!  

I'm thinking it's because of some special fans the Tigers had in attendance!  Madeline & Maddison have been Tigers fans for a LONG time!!  When did all four of these kiddos grow up?? 

Glad Madeline was feeling well enough to get out in the fresh air. Beautiful day outside!!! Go Tigers!

Beautiful day at ball park!

Ben's team in the final four today.  Look at the awesome patches that the Clark's had made up for the boy's uniforms!  

So cool. Madeline's soccer number and blue for her Manchester team and yellow for bone cancer awareness.  Thanks Sue Clark!!!  Madeline thought it was pretty darn cool when Ben came home with that on his jersey! The Tigers are #MadelineStrong !! Go Tigers!

Saturday

Madeline is feeling great! We are enjoying the weekend and our family time. A friend brought us these darling cookies to share, aren't they just adorable?

If you ordered bracelets they are either in the mail, or you have an email from my friend Lisa saying where to pick them up. Please post photos if you can. I am saving all of the photos to make something special for her and she loves seeing them. Let me know if you have any questions. 

Thank you for all of the emails, cards, messages, meals, treats, thoughtful gifts, and prayers. We are just in awe of the number of people praying for our family and for Madeline. We are so very thankful. 

Patience

I have never thought of myself as a patient person, truth be told. I like to talk fast and move quickly, I read fast, I prefer to shop fast, I think fast...see what I mean? The act of slowing down does not come naturally to me. Last week, going through chemo for the first time with Madeline and being at the hospital for four days, I felt I had purpose. It almost felt good to sit and absorb all of this information, to care for Madeline, to figure out how to fight this awful cancer that is inside my baby. Honestly, it is hard to look at and think about the the treatment plan because it is so long. It is overwhelming. Why does fighting cancer takes so long? I need to have patience.

We are home this week and Madeline is feeling better. The nausea seems to be over, she is sleeping well, she is bored. The next two weeks are her recovery weeks before three weeks and more three rounds of chemo. I feel pressure to make the days count but it feels strange to be home and not in my classroom, to have meals delivered, to sleep in, and putter around the house all day. What is my purpose? Everything is moving so slowly. I want to hurry this part up, so it can be over sooner! 

Speaking of patience, the #madelinestrong bracelets will not be delivered until next week. If you want one, please use the google form linked at the bottom of my post, as it is the easiest way for everyone to keep up. If you already signed up, we will send them out as soon as we get them. Madeline is working on a t-shirt design too. I can't wait to share it with all of her prayer warriors.

Thank you for blessing our family in so many ways. We are so appreciative of your kindness. Please pray Madeline continues to feel strong, that we all have patient hearts while we wait, and that when her hair starts to fall out in the next few days/weeks, she will still feel beautiful. 

To order #madelinestrong bracelets: https://goo.gl/5a26j7

First Clinic appointment today

Madeline had her first clinic appointment today. All good. Actually it was pretty short and sweet. 

A quick checkup from doc and they drew some labs. Results were really good. Counts are where they expected them to be. Low enough to know the chemo is working, but not enough to cause alarm. We still need to keep her away from crowds or anyone with the sniffles, but no need to live in a bubble just yet!  Counts will probably drop more over the next week, but it seems as though we are past some of the nauseous stage. 

So relieved!  #MadelineStrong

Labor Day Weekend

Meant to post this last night...

Not the Labor Day weekend that we had planned, but it turned out pretty good.  We had both Nana's and Grandpa Mike over for the first day.  Uncle Thad even stopped by for awhile!  But the majority of the weekend was trying to get everything back to "normal".

Madeline didn't feel that well until Sunday, but was almost back to "normal" by Sunday afternoon and most of the day Monday.  Was good to see her smiling and laughing like her old self again!  She even ate pretty well Monday.  Hopefully it will get better, but now we have some idea of how long it will take to "recover" after each week 1 treatment.  Five more "week 1's" in our future.

One thing I wanted to mention - if your child hasn't received a text back from her, please let them know that they shouldn't let it hurt their feelings if she hasn't responded.  I think she has been a little overwhelmed by the number of texts she received from friends, and just hasn't felt like responding.  In fact, I'm not sure her phone has moved much in the last week other than when Shana or I have plugged it in for charging.  So she may not have even read some of them yet.  I did see there were a LOT which is so nice.  Great to see how many friends she has out there!  Tell them they don't have to stop!  It just may take her awhile to sort through them.

Off to the clinic on Tuesday afternoon for labs to check her counts, etc.  Should be a quick visit and then back home.

Manchester SC is #madelinestrong

We are supposed to be in Austin this weekend with our soccer family for a Labor Day tournament. Madeline was so disappointed not to be able to go. The team just posted these awesome pictures for her. So thankful for our soccer family!!

Cockrill Cowboy Support

This picture of Madeline's teachers made her smile big this afternoon. So glad to part of the Cockrill family.

Day 5 - Pretty good day

Madeline had a great night of sleep in her own bed!  After a few nights in a hospital bed she woke up and told us her bed is "amazing". 

Today wasn't bad at all. A little queasy this morning after she ate some breakfast, but overall had a relaxing day on the couch and had a late lunch. She perked up this afternoon after Shana brought home her make up work from school. Only Madeline would be excited to get homework!  She says she just wants everything to go back to "normal", and homework feels more like normal. She worked at that for awhile and then sat outside with her Nana's and Shana by the pool. 

Overall she's still fairly groggy, and kind of in slow motion, but definitely improved from the majority of the week. And man, what a long week it's been... I hope we can make things seem as "normal" as possible for her this weekend.

Day 4 - Home sweet home!

Discharged and now at home!  

#madelinestrong bracelets

We are so humbled by the outpouring of love and support for our amazing girl! I cannot tell you how much your calls, texts, messages, and prayers have lifted our spirits. Our wonderful friends, the Clarks, surprised us with the fabulous #madelinestrong bracelets last week, and we have loved showing all the photos to Madeline while we have been in the hospital this week. 

They have placed another bracelet order and we want to be sure everyone who wants one, has one. They are free, but please post a photo on social media or text us, so we can show Madeline just how many people are praying for her. 

You can use the link below to order. If you live in McKinney you can pick them up, or we are happy to send them to you if you leave us your address. 

Thank you!!

Click Here to Order

Day 4 - discharge in our future!

Madeline had a great evening and slept pretty well last night!  She woke up feeling a little nauseous, but looking & feeling better late this morning. 

It looks like there is a good chance that she will get to go home this evening as long as she feels ok and hydrates well today. She is excited to sleep in her OWN bed tonight!  

Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. We hope everyone is having a great day! #MadelineStrong

Day 3 - Much improved!

After a pretty rough day, Madeline is looking GREAT right now!!  And we are right in the middle of tonight's chemo treatment!!  

The Clarks brought Ben by to visit and maybe that was what we needed- the Prugh Crew was back together for the first time this week!  Maybe she just needed big brother around!  

If all goes well, hopefully she'll be able to go home tomorrow night!

Day 3 - Not so hot...

Quick update - she started feeling bad late last night after chemo. Took some medicine and got a relatively good night's sleep. She woke up feeling bad and out of sorts, so some more medicine this morning and sleeping now. 

She will start her second round of chemo this evening. If all goes well, she may get to go home Thursday night, but a chance it could be Friday. 

Just hate seeing her not feeling well, but we know it's just part of the process. 

Will try to update everyone later this evening. 

Day 2, Part 2

Well it's 10:15 and Madeline is done with her first chemo treatment. The chemo started quite a bit later than expected, so just wrapping up.  She is doing well. A little tired, but it's pretty late and we've had a long few days. 

The additional MRIs earlier today came back clear, so another confirmation that the cancer seems to be isolated in the fibula. Always a chance that some microscopic pieces have spread, but nothing that has materialized besides in the one spot we initially found. That's really great news.  Pray the chemo does its job to stop any others trying to form or grow. 

Tomorrow we will pretty much be a lot like today. Lots of fluids, repeat the chemo treatment from today tomorrow evening, and lots more fluids. Then a day or two of even more fluids. 

Again, so thankful for all the prayers and messages and comments. Fun to see Madeline smile when we show her. The bracelet pics are just awesome!  

It's officially Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Many of us have become very aware in the last week... Sue Clark said it best today- I pray there is a day when we don't need a Childhood Cancer Awareness Month...  We are so happy with our decision on hospital and clinicians. These people rock!  I am amazed at how wonderful everyone has been. It takes a special person to have to see children dealing with this on a daily basis. Keep them in your prayers as well!

Day 2 - Recovery and Chemo Starts

She spent the morning recovering and getting additional MRI images. Feeling much better now than last night or early this morning. 

Nothing unexpected today, so that's good news. 

Chemo is scheduled to start in a couple of hours. Let's pray that the chemo beats up the cancer and Madeline can keep up her strength. 

Her smile is back!  She wasn't feeling all that great earlier today.