Certain of Things Not Seen

2009-09-14T05:34:00.005-05:00

It's been a little while since I updated. Things have been wild and crazy and fantastic all at the same time.

Last weekend we went to the Iowa vs. UNI game courtesy of Make-A-Wish and the UofI Alumini Assoc. We had awesome seats where the kids got to sit right on the field to watch the game. Afterwards we got to meet some of the players and cheerleaders. The boys got their footballs that were signed by Coach Ferentz signed by about 30 football players too. It was a great day for them.

Then we spent the week in preparation for the BIG day. Saturday was National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day and the big Iowa vs. Iowa State game. I can't even put into words how amazing this day was. We started the day with a tailgate for 150 family members of childhood cancer from Iowa, we were all wearing out Beat Cancer shirts and it was an awesome sight. But the more amazing thing was we weren't the only ones wearing them. You would walk around and see them everywhere! We had people coming to our tent wanting to buy shirts, the press came and did interviews. The Hawkeye cheerleaders stopped by to cheer "Go HAWKS! BEAT CANCER!"

We all later headed over to the game. It was a beautiful day! The Cyclones were 110% behind our children. They all had gold ribbons on their helmets to represent childhood cancer. Many of the teams staff were wearing Beat Cancer Shirts. Even their mascot had a Beat Cancer shirt. It was AMAZING! There was an announcement just before the game sharing why they were wearing the ribbons and a few statistics about childhood cancer.

Overall the day was one I will never forget. I couldn't stop smiling all day, it was just unbelievable. Our message was getting out and people were listening. Even the Big 12 Comissioner requested a Beat Cancer Shirt!

You can still order your beat cancer shirts online at www.beatcancertoday.org for a limited time. We have raised an AMAZING amount of money for Curesearch to help find a CURE for this monster.

Thank you to everyone who supported Beat Cancer Today and helped get the word out. I am so thankful for the amazing families (Horn's, Cunningham's, Hulsing's and Pospeshils) that we were able to work with to make this dream a reality! Saturday went beyond anything we imagined it would be just two months ago. We can't wait to do it again next year, on Iowa's turf!

Christie

2009-09-03T09:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday our family was invited to the Kirk Ferentz Luncheon which was put on by Children's Miracle Network and University of Iowa Childrens Hospitals. Brent was askd to share our story and Mikayla was asked to do the introduction for Kirk Ferentz who was the final speaker. WOW, was it an amazing day!

We got to meet so many great people. Miss Iowa was there. She stopped by our table and talked with the kids. Mikayla couldn't stop staring at all the sparkles and the crown! She got a signed picture from her, when she asked the boys if they wanted a picture both boys said "NO". LOL Guess they aren't into the pretty girls yet, and that is ok! HA! We did get a picture though.

Brent was given 5 minutes to speak. When we heard he only had 5 minutes I said to him "Are you sure they asked the right person, you can't talk for 5 minutes?" HA, he agreed with me, if you know Brent, talking in front of people is NOT a problem! He did GREAT though and I think he only went a little over 5 minutes.

When he got done speaking Mikayla went up and introduced Kirk Ferentz. This was so cute. She practiced and practiced and practiced saying "And now introducing the man of hour in his 11th year as head coach, Kirk Ferentz!" She even kept practicing as we were waiting for her turn. She was determined to get it perfect and she did a GREAT JOB! Coach Ferentz said it was the best introduction he'd ever had. She was quite proud!

During the event a couple of the speakers showered our family with gifts. First came the owner of Bagolita. They are introducing a new line of Hawkeye bags this weekend at Fry Fest and they brought a purse for Mikayla and myself, they are AWESOME! Mikayla wouldn't let go of hers yesterday, she even had it with her while introducing Kirk Ferentz!

Then another speaker came up to discuss Fry Fest and handed the kids each a pair of Aviator glasses just like Hayden Fry. The kids LOVED these and Tyler instantly put them on and had the crowd laughing! Tyler says he is going to Hayden Fry for Halloween this year. LOL

After the luncheon we were able to get a few minutes with Kirk Ferentz and have him sign some footballs and shirts for the kids. They are so proud of these footballs. The boys have been dreaming up a vision of a Hawkeye theme for their bedroom and these will be the perfect addition to it!

Kirk Ferentz is such a great person. He talked with each of the kids and even brought a little gift for each of them.

And of course some of our most favorite people were there, Dance Marathon. They did the Morale Dance for the crowd. Mikayla kept wanting to go sit with the DM people.

It was an amazing day, we can't thank Children's Miracle Network and Michelle Altmaier enough for inviting us to the event. Our family felt so special yesterday and I am sure it will be something we all remember forever!

It is now officially September and that means it is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. What are you doing to let people know about childhood cancer? Tyler came home from school on Tuesday and said "Mom, I am going to wear a cancer shirt every day this month to support Childhood Cancer month" It brought tears to my eyes, he wants to help. This thing called cancer has affected every part of our family, some for the good and some not good. But through it all our family has grown together and I am so proud of our kids and the way they continue to want to give back. And they even come up with their own ways to do it.

We are looking forward to cheering on the Hawkeyes on Saturday! The kids will especially be looking for Coach Ferentz and rooting for those Hawks! Have a great long weekend!

Christie

First Day of School

2009-08-21T09:45:00.004-05:00

Mikayla started school on Wednesday and she was soooo excited! She was ready to go in no time and even had her hair flat ironed especially for the day. She went to school hopeful of making new friends and a great new year. It was weird to send her off to school and not have the boys around. We did the traditional first day of school pictures, but the boys were missing. We will do those on Monday!

Oh and she couldn't have a first day of school picture without our new family pets. Meet Alex and Addy. They are actually the boys but she is taking care of them while they are away.

She came home from her first day very excited. When I asked her if she made any friends she said "Yep, one" After asking a few questions she said "I just went up to her and said 'do you want to be my friend?' " So there you go her first friend! LOL She was nonstop talking about all the great things she did at school and what a great time she had. I was so glad and know it will be a great year.

Later in the evening we were still talking about school and she said, "Mom, this one girl said I was mean" Red flags went up everywhere because we have been working for the past month on being mean. With her behavior and attitude problems I have been saying "you can't be mean or you won't have any friends" She was quite concerned that someone called her mean. So, I asked some more questions. Turns out the girl budged (big deal in 1st grade!) and Mikayla said "HEY!" she promises that is all she said. The girl turned around and said "your mean, you know that" Of all the words she could have used, that one probably hit Mikayla the hardest because I have told her if she is mean she won't have friends. We talked about it some more and she was ok with it.

Yesterday we had a meeting with the Principal, Guidance Counselor and her teacher. The teacher and Principal are new to the school so were not aware of our situation, the Guidance Counselor knew both boys and had great things to say about them. It was a great meeting and we just shared some of the possible side effects, things we have experienced and informed them a little about what she has been through. We wanted to make sure they alert us of any concerns in her education or emotional state as these are known areas of long term effects. We left the meeting confident that we had the support of our school staff and that helped me to feel better. Some of you that were around at diagnosis may remember we had a bad experience with the school in dealing with Tyler, so I am almost glad we have a new principal and teacher on board.

In first grade during the first week they bring a brown bag home and are to put a few things in that bag that tells a little about themselves. Mikayla was so excited to do this and she chose to put her port in her bag. I had talked with her a while ago about it being her choice if she told everyone she had had cancer or not. I told her no one would know and she could keep it that way or she could tell them. She has asked me if the kids would make fun of her because she had cancer and I couldn't answer that for her, you just don't know with kids. So, I was surprised a little when she decided on Day 2 to announce to the class what she had been through. I think it went well, her teacher, Mrs. Blackford said the kids had lots of questions and Mikayla was a little shocked they didn't know what a port is. In Mikayla's world this is all normal, she doesn't realize how rare it is to have cancer. I am so proud of her for talking about it and now she doesn't have to hide it.

She came home from Day 2 saying that "everyone is my friend, well only the girls" LOL So, she is adjusting well to her new school and loving every minute. Although it did seem to catch up with her last night. She was a little emotional and asked to go to bed at 6:30. She slept until 9:30 got up had a snack and went back to bed. I think school is wearing her out! Hopefully she will adjust to going to school all day, every day. But I do know she is enjoying it. She even asked me this morning why she couldn't go to school tomorrow. :)

We pick up the boys from Sib Camp in the morning and I can't wait! It has been a weird, quiet week and I am ready for my noisy, busy family to be back.

Don't forget to order your Beat Cancer Shirts at www.beatcancertoday.org and put my name as a pickup to avoid shipping. The last day to order is Tuesday! We have sold well over 1,000 shirts! AMAZING! We will get the word out and bring awareness to Childhood Cancer!

Also, continue to pray for Maddeson (cp: Maddesonsfight), I did get a chance to stop and see them this week. They were able to bring Sea World to her and it was a great day. But their moments are coming to an end and my heart aches terribly for them all. It is hard to see a purpose in this. Please pray for the Tersinar family especially in these next few days!

Christie

2009-08-10T12:45:00.006-05:00

We had such a great weekend. It seems we are trying to pack so much fun into the last days of summer! The whole weekend was full of fun with people we have met along our journey with cancer and we feel truly blessed to have met each and every one! We have been on the road quite a bit lately and I keep telling myself, school is starting so it will slow down a little. But that never seems to happen at the VanWey house! We won't complain we enjoy every minute of it.

Tomorrow is time for Mikayla's monthly check up. Brent will be taking her to her appointment and I will be staying home. I believe this will be the first time I have missed an appointment, so that may be hard on me. We are going to ask for a Neuro-pshyc evaluation, after talking to some people we feel this will be a valuable thing to see how the chemo has affected her and get a base line of how it affects her in the future. Maybe it will give us some answers about her learning and moods (which have been VERY bad lately!) I am also anxious to see her counts and see how she is doing. I know that she is losing weight, you can see it in her face and some of her clothes are starting to hang different on her the weight loss makes her look taller. I was wondering if she would lose weight, before Cancer Mikayla was a tiny little thing that would get blown over in the wind. Steroids helped to bulk her up quite a bit, it is interesting to see her change. I was going through pictures the other day and I honestly don't remember this little girl.

These were taken on her 4th birthday, about two weeks before she was diagnosed. Do you see how pale she is and the bruise on her leg? That is what I see and wonder how I didn't know. She has grown alot in the past 2 and a half years and she looks different. Her new favorite thing to do is flat iron her hair to take the curls out. This makes her look much older and her hair "so long" as she likes to say!

We will head back to Boone on Sunday to take the boys to Sib Camp. They are so excited. The boys will be missing the first 2 1/2 days of school but I am very pleased that both schools have been very accommodating and helpful in getting them ready for school before they head to camp. When you see their faces when they talk about camp, you know there is no way we could have taken this from them. I can't wait to hear all about it!

If you haven't heard already, we are trying to get the word out about National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. We are working with a group of 4 other parents to promote this in Iowa (and nationwide) as much as possible. Please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.beatcancertoday.org to get your Beat Cancer Shirt in Iowa or ISU colors (other colors are also available). The Cyclones are currently winning in sales so we need all our Hawkeye friends to help get the word out! (ok Cyclones can order too, its for the cause,right?) If you want to avoid shipping costs and just pick them up from me you can do that. If you have any questions just email me at mailto:cvanwey@gmail.com.

One last thing, but maybe most important. Our friend Maddeson (cp: maddesonsfight)will not find a cure for her cancer. She needs a miracle. Our family loves Maddeson, she lives in Marion, we visited her many times, Mikayla talked to her when she was first diagnosed about losing her hair, we sat in the surgery waiting room with Maddeson's family when Mikayla had her port out and we have been praying for this little girl since the beginning. Right now we ask you pray for her to be able to head on her Wish this Saturday to Sea World. Please keep the Tersinar family in your prayers over the next couple weeks and months. Our hearts are with them!

Please we need a cure. Go to http://www.beatcancertoday.org/ buy a tshirt and wear it EVERYWHERE. We need people to know our children need a cure!

Christie

Vacation

2009-08-04T12:52:00.004-05:00

We made it home from our vacation. It was a much needed time to relax. It was great to spend time with my dad and enjoy his pool. The weather could have been a little warmer but the kids didn't seem to mind. They had a great time going off the diving board, making up games and having all kinds of fun.

We did have to come home and back to reality though. It is always tough to recover from a vacation. We are working on that now. Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how our week was spent. I also posted a video of some of their games on Facebook if you want to look there.

This week we have been getting back into the swing of things and quickly realizing how fast school is approaching. Wow, where did the summer go? I am not sure if I am ready for school. The kids will go to register Thursday. They will find out who their teachers are and all that fun stuff. It should be an interesting year. I hope I am ready for it.

Today we were supposed to have a checkup but I think Dr. T is on vacation (at least that is what I was told) so we won't go until next week. I can't believe it is time to go already, I guess I have already lost track of our schedule being just 2 months off treatment.

This weekend when we were driving, I had Tyler alone in the car with me and we had several good conversations. It was a 5 hour drive after all! I asked him how he was doing and if things seemed different for him now that Mikayla was off treatment. I worry about Brenden and Tyler so very much, I know it effected them a lot. I was surprised by his response. He said "It isn't really all that different, except now it just feels like Mikayla is on steroids everyday instead of once a week" Ouch, that hit me. But I know what he is feeling. We have been really trying to crack down on Mikayla and curb some of the attitude she has but it seems to be worse. It is almost like she is on steroids all the time, but we don't have those to blame anymore. This is something we will work on.

I will say I love that Mikayla is off treatment and that we made it through those 2+ years. But it also doesn't feel like the end, even though to everyone else it seems the end. Those fears are still there, the effects are still there, and actually the emotions seem to be more raw now than ever. I don't know if we didn't allow ourselves to feel it before but going off treatment has brought a flood of emotions, today is one of those days.

I will post an update from her next doctors visit. I am anxious to see how much her blood counts have rebounded in 2 months.

Christie

Always up to something....

2009-07-27T09:43:00.005-05:00

The VanWey's are officially on vacation!

We started our vacation with a trip to Lost Island Water Park courtesy of Dance Marathon. We spent the day Saturday going down water slides and braving the wave pool. We always have fun seeing our DM friends and the weather was beautiful.

We left the water park and headed to Sioux City. We are spending the week with my dad. The kids were so excited to get here. My dad has a pool with a diving board in his back yard and the kids wanted to get in as soon as we got here (at 10pm!) but we put them to bed instead. They were up and in the pool by 8am the next morning and didn't get out except to eat. It is going to be a fun week of swimming and relaxing by the pool. They are already in the pool again this morning after begging the adults for at least an hour! I will post some pictures later in the week of our pool fun!

I wanted to let everyone know of some exciting things that are going on. You may remember that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. This year Sept 12th is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. There have been many people who have been working hard to make the Gold ribbon, representing Childhood cancer, as well known as the Pink Ribbon is today. A group of parents from Iowa noticed that Childhood Cancer Awareness Day fell on the same day as the BIG game in Iowa. Iowa vs Iowa State. We are hoping to utilize this connection to bring awareness to the state of Iowa. You can get all the details as they unfold at beatcancertoday.org

This is also where you can order your t-shirts to support Childhood Cancer AND your favorite team at the same time. Aren't these shirts perfect?

The cost for the shirts is just $10, you can order from the site and have them shipped directly to you (all orders will ship the end of August, in time for the big game!). Soon you will be able to order online and choose to pick them up from me (or other committee members) to avoid shipping charges. You can also order by mail with the printable order form. Wouldn't it be awesome to fill the stadium with Beat Cancer shirts? Please pass on the website to everyone you know, our whole focus is awareness and we want to get the word out.

Thanks for helping raise awareness for Childhod Cancer. Kids get cancer too!

Christie

2009-07-20T07:49:00.002-05:00

The can drive was a great success. The kids enjoyed giving back to Dance Marathon and other cancer families. They did learn that sorting cans is a dirty, messy job. They all said they didn't want this to be their job when they grew up. LOL But they were doing it for Dance Marathon and that made it all ok.

The kids were already talking about what they want to do to make it better next month. They will be doing this once a month until the big event at Dance Marathon. The next date is August 15th, so if you missed us this month come bring them by next month!

Tyler has his goal for the total by the big event set. I think he will make that goal but I don't want to share that goal just yet. I will tell you that the equivalent of almost 5,000 cans were collected this month!

You should have seen Brent hauling the trailer away with those cans. I wish I would have gotten a picture! It reminded me of the scene on The Grinch where his sled is bulging at the seems. LOL

Thanks for supporting Tyler (and the rest of the kids) AND Dance Marathon this weekend. We look forward to doing it again next month.

This week the kids will be at bible school every night, Brent is out of town and mom is getting some much needed down time in the evenings. Perfect timing for a week that Brent is gone!

Have a great week!
Christie

Sooo much fun!

2009-06-29T09:30:00.010-05:00

The month of June is quickly coming to an end. It is certainly a month of many memories. We have been running non-stop all month but we are so happy that we can have so much fun these days and we are not complaining! I wanted to share some highlights and pictures from the last few weeks.

I just HAD to take a picture of Mikayla with her LAST dose of oral chemo. What an amazing night!
Oncology Camp

I never fully updated on Mikayla's week at camp. She had an AMAZING year this year. She has grown up so much this year and you could tell. She made so many great friends and was much more social this year. In fact, when we came to pick her up she was happy to see us but when it was time to leave she started crying (WHAT?!?) She didn't want to leave her friends. I was so happy that she enjoyed camp that much but I wanted her home! LOL On the way home she was counting how many years of camp she has left. I have a feeling those girls will be lifetime long friends after their 13 years together!

Flashes of Hope

We also did the Flashes of Hope photo shoots at camp on Thursday. It was a perfect day, no rain but a little hot. We will take it. We were able to photograph 133 kids and all in one day! I can't wait to see the photos come in. The kids LOVED having their photos taken and it was such a great time interacting with the kids at camp.

The Spoonies
We had a the Spoonies from California come and stay with us for three days (wish it could have been longer!). Their son Bailey (cp: SuperBay) had cancer too and finished his chemo just a month ago. They are on a cross country trip to see many things. We were so glad they stopped to stay with us. Their kids were GREAT and my kids fell in love with them quickly. It is amazing to us how we can make friends across the country and feel like we are family. Cancer certainly has brought so many GREAT people into our lives and we are forever thankful for that!

The EARS!!!

Mikayla has been looking forward to the day her port came out forever! She knew that was the day she could get her ears pierced and she was not going to waste any time. She got dressed in her Easter dress, flat ironed her hair and put on a little glitter so she was beautiful for the occasion. She picked out some sparkly stars for her ears and she is so proud to show EVERYONE her new jewels. I swear sometimes I look at her and think we have a whole new little girl. She got glasses, earrings and a port removed all in one month...who is this little girl?!?!

Adventureland with Dance Marathon!

Saturday we headed to Des Moines to have some fun at Adventureland. It was a beautiful day with lots of fun. We got to see so many of our friends and had a great time as a family. My sister (Amy) and her family came with us and everyone had a great time. We arrived at Adventureland shortly after opening and we left just before closing, so it was a fun filled day! Mikayla did scare us a little. She rode the Tornado (her favorite last year) but I think it was a little too much for her this year. She sat out and was a little pale afterwards. She also had a bloody nose on Saturday (she has never had one before!) and the worry started to set in. But she perked up and was leading the pack for more fun in the evening! It was a quick reminder to me that the fear will never leave. And I am VERY anxious to see her counts when she has her next appointment on July 7th.

We also went to Rockwell Collins to watch Brent receive his Good Citizenship Award. They are supposed to be sharing pictures with us and I will post those when we get them. You can see the press release regarding his award at http://http://www.rockwellcollins.com/news/page11770.html I would like to add to the article that Heart Connection was a HUGE part in the success of Flashes of Hope in Iowa and somehow that wasn't mentioned in the article but there is another article coming out that will mention that. It was a great day to see Brent get this award and we are so very proud of him!

We are hoping July will be a little slower for us but we are still planning lots of family time and DON'T FORGET our BIG CELEBRATION on July 11th. We hope to see everyone there.

Christie

Congratulations Brent!

2009-06-17T07:14:00.004-05:00

A couple weeks ago I posted that we had some other exciting things that were going on during the month of June. I can finally share what is going on.

Brent was nominated for the Citizenship of the Year award at Rockwell Collins, where he works. We were notified about a month ago that he was the winner of this award. I am so very proud of my husband and the work he does!

The winner of this award gets $500 donated to the charity of their choice, a presentation celebration with the CEO of Rockwell and an article in the magazine put out by the company. It was such an honor to just be nominated, we were shocked to find that he was the winner. Rockwell employees around 20,000 people nationwide, so we thought surely there was someone more deserving.

When we read the recommendations it brought me to tears and made Brent speachless. The nomination was based mainly his work with Flashes of Hope but also included work with Heart Connection and Dance Marathon as we built those relationships through Flashes.

The nomination also mentioned his work at our church and GPL Foundation. Many of you may not know that we were not introduced to the childhood cancer world through Mikayla. Brent was a founding board member for the GPL Foundation. It was named for Grady Paul Larson, a little boy who died from a brain tumor. The organization held an annual softball tournament to raise money to support a child's Wish, with proceeds going to Make-A-Wish. Each year our family would meet and pray for a new child that was facing this battle. I will say that made it hard to tell Tyler Mikayla's diagnosis, because he knew what cancer was and unfortunatley several of the kids that were sponsored passed away, so that is what he knew of cancer and it was the first thing he asked when we told him what Mikayla had.

I wanted to share a few comments from the recommendation...

"Brent has overwhelmingly surpassed every expectation we have for our volunteer chapter directors. In 2008, he provided services to nearly 250 families, far exceeding our target of providing free portrait photography to 50 families. He has held numerous fundraisers – each more creative than the one before. He has created a presence and name recognition for Flashes of Hope in the state of Iowa.
On a larger scale, the work Brent has done to establish a camp chapter program in now a nationwide model for Flashes of Hope. This year Flashes of Hope is establishing camp chapters in 8 other states and expects to be able to provide services to over 1400 additional families through this model." Kristine DiFiore, Flashes of Hope

"Brent took an active role with Flashes of Hope bringing it to Iowa and starting the Iowa Chapter. Brent made it possible for photographers to come out and photograph our Oncology patients at camp last summer. Last summer was the first year for this program to kick off. Brent did a great job getting everything organized. Due to weather and the floods last summer the photo shoots didn’t run as smoothly as was planned, and made it somewhat difficult for photographers to take pictures of the campers. Brent didn’t let that stop him from making this first time successful. Brent worked hard and made the trip to Boone from Cedar Rapids several times that week making sure that every camper that needed their picture taken was taken." Channon Timm, Heart Connection

"For as long as I have known him, Brent has always embodied the values of citizenship. During the most difficult moments of his life, as his daughter was being diagnosed and treated for cancer, Brent always made sure his family came first. Throughout the entire ordeal, he kept his faith strong and remembered the values of stewardship and selflessness." Brian Martin, Dance Marathon

Brent is very humble about the award. He doesn't see what he does as "anything different than what others do" but I must say our entire family is quite proud of him! Brent has a heart for helping others and I love him for that.

Brent will have a meeting with Clay Jones, CEO of Rockwell on Monday. The article for the magazine will come out soon. And we are so excited that $500 will go to Flashes of hope, that will help us to photograph 20 children!

We head out bright and early in the morning to camp. We hope to photograph 120-130 kids. Please pray for good weather, these are outdoor shots and we have one day to get them. We are so excited. We both feel that we get way more than we give by doing this photos. The time with the kids is priceless and our photographers are the best.

Congratulations Brent, I am so proud of you and you deserve this award!
Christie

Glasses

2009-06-12T06:41:00.004-05:00

Several months ago I noticed that Mikayla was squinting and pulling things toward her when she was looking at them. She wouldn't do it all the time but enough that I started to question her on what she could see.

The next month when we went to the hospital I mentioned that I was concerned about her eyes and asked if that was a chemo side effect. I was told it was not a side effect but they would test her. They did a little eye chart they had in the hall and said her vision was 20/40 and that was fine for her age.

But the squinting continued off and on. So, I called and made the appointment. While we were waiting for her appointment she went to the pediatricians for a normal physical and they also tested her eyes. They said again she was 20/40 and that was within normal for her.

That is when I began to start feeling like a paranoid mom. I considered cancelling her eye doctor appointment, but then decided it wouldn't hurt anything for her to go and be checked out.

So, off to the eye doctor we went on Monday. I was quite surprised to learn that Mikayla's vision has lots of problems. First off he noticed a pretty substantial astigmatism. Then he stated that she also had amblyopia, which is more commonly known as lazy eye. Children with this wear a patch on their good eye to make their bad eye stronger. The problem is Mikayla has it in both eyes. So the only way to fix that is to giver her a very strong prescription for both eyes.

So, we went to pick out some glasses for Mikayla. As you know she is my fashion queen so this was fun. We tried on many pairs and she looked at me and said "My we should probably get a couple pairs don't you think?" HA! NO! She picked out a very cute pink pair with hearts first thing. But I told her to keep trying different pairs. She narrowed it down to two and she couldn't decide. She looked at me and said "which pair matches my outfit better?" I laughed and told her that she would have to wear these every day, all day so she needed to find something that would match everything she wore.

So, she made her decision and I must say, she looks pretty cute, don't you think?

We weren't supposed to get them until next week (which she would have been at camp) but they came in early so we picked them up yesterday. She didn't seem to notice much of a difference, at least she said she didn't. But we tested her on seeing a few things and when she realized that her glasses allowed her to see things she couldn't see before she was pretty excited. She wore them all night last night and when she took them off to go to bed she told Brent "Wow, everything is really blurry!"

The doctor mentioned that this vision problem could have caused her problems in school. I am anxious to see if that was the case or not. She did ok in school but she did have her struggles. And now seeing what she couldn't see, it is no wonder reading and recognizing letters was hard for her!

She is pretty excited about the glasses but has made a couple comments about not wanting people to laugh at her. So, I know she thinks about it. But we tell her the glasses make her so cute no one will laugh.

Oh and in case your curious (because I was) the eye problems is completely hereditary and not a chemo issue.

Today is the last dose of oral chemo, June 12, 2009 has been written on her medical file for 2 years now. And today is that day, her official off treatment day. She will get steroids still tomorrow and then she will be done with all meds except Bactrim and troches. It is almost surreal, like it isn't really happening. But it is here and we are so very excited!

We will be busy today and tomorrow packing Mikayla up for camp. She is excited to go swimming (in the non-flooded pool!) and horseback riding and hanging out with her friends. I am excited she gets this opportunity!

Have a great weekend!

Christie

Last Chemo treatment

2009-06-09T16:26:00.005-05:00

Today we headed to Iowa City for our final chemo treatment and spinal tap. Wow, was it a day!

With the boys being out of school we decided with her final chemo that we wanted to go as a family. So the boys went with us. We tried to wake them earlier than Mikayla so they could eat breakfast before she woke up. Going NPO (no food or drink) before spinals is hard on us we didn't want the boys to have to go too.

We checked into clinic and every step we thought, this is the last time...

We got to have Mary Lou as our nurse today which we were so happy about since it was our last chemo, plus she is so good with Mikayla on spinal days. Mikayla had a visit from Christie, her camp counselor come and sit with us in clinic too. This gave Mikayla the much needed boost for her excitement for camp (she leaves Sunday!). Morgan (our DM rep)also came to help us entertain the boys during the spinal tap. It was the perfect way to spend our last clinic day, it was much like a party!

Final port access

And then, low and behold a party did come to our room. Emily from childlife came down with Kirsten, who does music therapy at the hospital. They brought presents, a big sign and cookie cake to celebrate the big occasion. They also sang her an end of chemo song. We had a real party going on in that clinic room. Mikayla was loving it and at one point I even think I saw a tear forming in her eyes. I think this is a very special day for her! I wish I would have video taped the song and celebration because it was amazing. It brought tears to my eyes and goosebumps to my arms, just realizing we are at the end! These nurses, doctors, child life and all the UIHC staff have become friends that we will never forget. And the celebration was amazing!
Mikayla and Dr. Tannous

We were having a great time but we were also there to do some business. We got her last dose of Vincristine in her port. Her port has been accessed for the LAST time (hopefully). We headed for her spinal tap and she was in great spirits. Usually I have to hold her hand and rub her head but today she did it all alone. This left me to actually SEE my first spinal tap. I can honestly say I am glad I waited until the last one to actually see what they were doing. All the other ones I was preoccupied with keeping Mikayla happy (she is awake but loopy during spinal taps). She is known for coming out of the clinic grumpy (usually kicking and screaming)after spinals but today she was just in a mood. She didn't want to say good-bye to anyone she just wanted to leave.

We met with surgery about her port removal and had to go downstairs after the spinal to meet with anesthesia. This was NOT a good idea. We sat in the waiting area and you could just see the color leave Mikayla's face. She said she was going to throw up so we quickly tried to get a bucket for her. I took her into the bathroom and she just sat there not saying anything with continuous tears running down her face. Her eyes kept rolling back into her head and I honestly was getting VERY nervous. I kept talking to her and she said she was ok. She fell asleep on Brent was still not feeling well. We finally got through the surgery check and headed home. She slept the whole way home.

Shortly after we got home she did throw up. Those spinal taps just do that to her. But as soon as she did, her color came back and so did our sweet little girl. She is feeling fine now and even wants to head to swim lessons. Can you even imagine? It has been a rough last spinal day, but I keep saying, it's all done now, NO MORE!

We still have 4 doses of chemo to give at home and 5 days of steroids. But we will get through that too.

I can't explain all the emotions I went through today. My eyes welled with tears a couple times. It is a relief to be done and yet there is that scary aspect to it.

June 24th is when Mikayla will have surgery for her port removal. Then we will be Done DONE!

I have more to say but we are off for our evening activities. It was a good day, an emotional day and hard day all in one. Everyone was exhausted when we left the hospital, I think we were emotionally drained. :)

Christie

Graduation

2009-05-22T15:21:00.003-05:00

It's been awhile since I have updated. Thankfully that means things are busy and good around the VanWey house. We have been very busy with baseball, soccer, and softball practices and games. It's going to be a fun summer of activities with 3 kids! Tyler has played sports before but Brenden and Mikayla really haven't because the last 2 years we have been occupied with other things. So this year we jump to three different sports schedules and we are LOVING it! The kids are all excited to be in the sports and love to have spectators come and watch them.

Today was a very special day. It was Mikayla's Kindergarten Graduation day. Wow, was it great. It was bittersweet, since March 16, 2007 I have been saying "Mikayla will graduate from Kindergarten and Cancer at the same time" so to really see this day come was such a great feeling.

Mikayla wrote her graduation story and read it to the crowd. Here is her story...

"I am sad to leave Holloway House. I will miss all my friends. My favorite thing to do was running time and math. This year I learned to read. I got good at keychains too. The books I like best are about Biscuit, the dog. I will go to Emerson school in Marion for 1st Grade. When I grow up I want to be a cheerleader. My job will be doing daycare. I will miss you Holloway House."

When it came time to graduate, Mrs. Varn read a little bit about each kid and chose a verse for them. I want to share what she said about Mikayla (through tears, hers and mine!) "Mikayla Marie VanWey - To look at this angelic face and sweet smile you may not realize what a warrior lives within. Mikayla knows more about spinal taps, leukemia and finger pokes than probably any one here. Even though she had to miss some school, she has become a nice little reader and handles math like a pro. She came to school, worked hard and achieved much. She is a very social little girl and a good friend to others. She and her family have perservered this challenge and touched many others along the way." Hebrews 12:1,2 "...Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus..."

Oh, what a precious gift we were given with the two years Mikayla went to Holloway House (and the boys too!). Remember my fears of Mikayla reading at the beginning of the school year? Well today she received her certificate stating she read 63 books this year at school and home. While she still is not the strongest reader, she continues to work hard and we are so proud of her!

All the kids sang and recited verses and the ceremony was just amazing. Mikayla's friend Tera was even sobbing at the end. The kids will miss each other as they each go to different schools and the will miss their teachers Mrs. Varn and Miss Rhonda.

Our little girl will start 1st Grade in the fall and we couldn't be prouder of her. I love the words Mrs. Varn used "warrior". She is a strong little girl and a hard worker. I can't believe my baby is done with Kindergarten, the time goes too fast and after the tears I shed today, I can't imagine High School graduation! But they are tears of joy, proud tears and tears of rememberance of where we came from.

Mikayla is officially on summer break, the boys have two more weeks of school. The summer will be so much fun and go too fast I am sure.

I do have a couple of prayer requests.

First, Mikayla has been exposed to Chicken Pox. While tests show she is immune to them, the chance is still there. With the incubation time we were given she could come down with these around the time of her last treatment. So, please pray she is immune and that neither her or the boys will get them.

Second, Cameron Weddles (cp: cameronweddle) is in the hospital with stomach pains. The doctors think it is a virus but nothing is changing. Please pray for the Weddles and the doctors as they try to figure out what is going on with Cameron. It is always scary when they can't tell you why your child is screaming in pain!

And don't forget to keep all the kids in your prayers. Cancer isn't quitting and we must find a cure!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!
Christie

2009-03-19T13:28:00.007-05:00

Wow, I haven't updated in awhile and ALOT has happened in that time. So, I guess I need to share!

Last weekend Mikayla had some fun. She got a gift certificate to get a pedicure and manicure for her birthday. We decided to take her cousin along with us for her birthday present too. So we had two little girls ready for some girlie fun.

Saturday night we had some visitors arrive at our house for the week. The Avery's are back in Iowa! And this time they didn't bring snow, they brought warm temperatures and it has been GREAT! The kids were so excited to see each other again and it was like they had never left. We have been enjoying having them back this week.

Monday was March 16th. You knew that right? March 16th is a day we will never forget because that is the day Mikayla was diagnosed. I would be lying if I said my thoughts didn't go back to that day two years ago, because they did. But it wasn't a bad thing. I am so thankful for where we are today and how Mikayla is doing and most of my thoughts were, "WOW, it's been 2 years!" I remember when they told me the treatment would last 2 1/2 years, my first thought was "how am I going to do this for 2 1/2 years?" and now my thoughts are, we are almost there, I can't believe it is almost over. Honestly, Monday the thoughts came several times throughout the day but overall it wasn't consuming my thoughts. It was a great day and I was feeling thankful. So much to be thankful for.

Tuesday we went for treatment. This was spinal tap week and I wasn't looking forward to it. We spent our time waiting (the pharmacy took forever to send up the chemo!) with Becky, a teen with ALL, Mikayla loved talking and playing with Becky and it helped both of our families while we waited for our chemo. Becky and Mikayla were trying to bargain for who was going to get their spinal first. Thanks Jan and Becky for making clinic fun Tuesday!

While we were waiting I was standing in the hall and the Nurse Practictioner grabbed me and handed me a bunch of paperwork. She then proceeded to talk to me about scheduling Mikayla's pre-op appointment for getting her port out and what off treatment life will be like. I was so stunned standing in the hall hearing these words. We knew the end was coming but it was very surreal to be talking with her about it. It just hit me, we are almost done. This round will be Mikayla's last full round of chemo. (Each round starts with a spinal) She will get her last dose of IV chemo and spinal tap on June 9th, she will continue steroids and oral chemo until June 13th and then we will be done. We will probably wait to have the port out when she gets back from camp as she will go to camp on June 14th. I can hardly believe that I am even saying these things, it is so close now and I am excited and nervous all at the same time. We will just take it all one day at a time.

Her spinal tap went well and her counts were good (ANC 1170) we will be checking counts again next week to see how she is doing but they seem to get elevated with steroids so that would not surprise me at all. Speaking of steroids, it has been a rough week with those. Mikayla is having Roid Rage pretty bad this week. It is so hard on her and me. I feel bad because she can't control it and you never know what is going to set her off. It is especially hard for the kids in the house to understand. My boys are used to it and dread steroid week but the daycare kids and Avery boys are not sure what to think of her. I feel bad for them too. How do you explain the medicine that is supposed to make her better makes her act like this. Oh, well we will get through it. One thing I will gladly say goodbye to in June is STEROIDS!

Yesterday Mikayla had a field trip to see how Maple Syrup is made. It was a fun time and a beautiful day. I was so excited that I got to go along, I don't usually get to go on field trips because I have other kids at home, but we could all go on this time. Mikayla was extra clingy to me, which was the steroids in her but it was ok. At the end of the field trip we all got ice cream with real maple syrup on it. Mikayla fell in love, she wanted to bring some home with her but silly mom left her money in the car. That was all it took to trigger one MAJOR steroid fit! Screaming and fighting me to get in the car and all the way home. Poor little William was looking at her like she had three heads. It was hard to have her act like that in front of our company, good thing Mimi has a little experience with that, but it still was not fun for anyone. At least we had a good time at the nature center, I just wish she wasn't on steroids when we went.

This is how she usually ends up after a fit...

She is sleeping on Biscuit, her dog (it's a toy). She is still loving that dog! LOL

Last night we went skating with our church group. It was a BLAST! All the kids had so much fun. Here are just a few pics from last night.

As always we are keeping busy, taking everything one day at a time. The kids are on spring break next week and I am sure we will have lots of fun next week too! Thanks for checking in.

Christie

The Great Tooth Race

2009-02-20T09:19:00.004-06:00

Yesterday was a grand event in the VanWey house.

As you know Mikayla has a loose tooth, her first one and she is quite proud of it. She has been talking about it nonstop and we all were amazed that her younger brother Brenden hasn't lost any teeth yet andMikayla was getting ready to lose her.

Now Brenden and Mikayla are only 15 1/2 months apart in age, (No that was NOT planned!) so it really isn't all that surprising. Brenden was a late bloomer in regards to his teeth. He didn't get his first tooth until he was 14 months. We were starting to worry that he may never get his teeth. LOL They told us at that time that he would probably keep them longer than most kids too, so we knew this was a possibility.

Mikayla has been busy wiggling that tooth and trying to make it come out. All of sudden yesterday she got scared and she decided she doesn't want it to come out. That is until big brother Brenden came home from school. All of a sudden the kid who had no loose teeth had one about to fall out. I tried so hard not to laugh when he showed me. When I asked him how that happened he said it happened when he was eating an orange at school. LOL Apple might make sense but an orange? HA.

My theory is that Brenden was not going to let his little sister show him up in this and he started wiggling that tooth like crazy. So yesterday afternoon we had two kids wiggling their teeth and I told them it was a race.

Here are the two grins full of teeth..

We did get a winner by the end of the night. Can you guess who the winner is?

Brenden beat his sister and got that tooth out. Mikayla is still wiggling that tooth but is very scared to get the tooth out now. She went to bed shaking last night afraid of that tooth coming out. It is very loose and will be out by the weekend I predict. But it was a fun night in the VanWey house waiting to see who would lose their tooth first.

Steroid week is almost over and it has been a good week as far as steroids go. She has her moments but she seems much more happy this round and we will take it!

Christie

2009-02-12T10:57:00.002-06:00

We love Dance Marathon so as a thank you this year our video was all DM. Thank you for all you do for our family Dance Marathon, you will always have a special place in our hearts!

2009-02-11T09:49:00.008-06:00

I'M HOME!

It looks like Brent did a pretty good job summarizing the start of our trip. It even made me laugh looking back at those first days of our trip. I only wish I could say that once we FINALLY got on the boat things changed. LOL We sure have lots of memories from this trip!

Lunch in Mobile, at an Oyster restaurant.

We finally were able to board the boat at 3pm (only 3 hours behind schedule) but our rooms were not ready so we hung out on the main deck. We were to ship out at 5pm, but we didn't, then we were to go out at 9pm, then 10pm, then they quit telling us when. Misty and I took in some concerts and the buffet, we headed back to our room at 12:30 only to find we were still in port. As we got ready for bed I said "I have a feeling we will be in Mobile when we wake up" It's a good thing we could laugh about the whole thing. But just minutes later at around 1am the boat started to leave port. And it wasn't until they had us in the middle of the gulf that they explained they were experiencing "mechanical difficulties". Not something that gives you warm feelings but we were on a boat of Christian women, I am sure many prayers were going up for our safe arrival to and from Mexico! I know I was many times! LOL

It was great to get to know Misty better and we were able to share so much about our faith, family and cancer experiences. We attended many of the christian speakers and concerts. These were the most amazing part of the experience. The speakers spoke direct to my heart and the worship times were AMAZING. I spent many a worship time in tears over the awesomeness of God. We got to see Phil Joel, Shane and Shane, Bethany Dillion, Jamie Jamgochian, Carried Away and Big Daddy Weave, the speakers included Karen Kingsbury, Candace Cameron Bure, Angela Thomas, Lisa Terkurst, Shannon Ethridge and many others. We were blessed by many women speaking and it was so refreshing.

The weather was not what we were prepared for. When you think Mexico you think sun and warm. We had clouds and wind. The highest temp was 70 but the winds never let up so it was cool most of the trip. We never wore our swimsuits, or even shorts. But along with the chill the winds brought, it also brought a ROCKY boat. Man was it rocky and rumor had it our stabilizer broke during the night. That night neither of us slept, we were rocking right out of our bed. Misty woke up not feeling well at all. We were on the 6th floor and there was salt on our windows from the waves the night before. We even heard one of the performers got sick during their performance, the boat was a little mellow that day, we were all just trying to keep our balance and stomachs in check.

Because of our delays we did not get to go to Cozumel as planned, we went to a little spot called Progresso. Instead of having all day we only had 5 hours in port. It was fine for us, we went inland and got some shopping, good authentic Mexican food and walked along the beach. It was everything we wanted to do.

While nothing seemed to go as planned or expected, I am so thankful for the trip and the time away. It was refreshing, relaxing and inspirational. We were able to share our story with quite a few on the boat and that was amazing to do. Just sharing how God works sends shivers through me each time. Isn't He AWESOME?!!

Oh, and I don't know if you remember that Candace Cameron (DJ from Full House) and the editor of CWO were the ones who chose our entry as the winning one. As part of winning the package we were able to have lunch with Candace and her sister Bridget. I didn't know what to expect from that lunch but it was such a special moment. They both sat and listened as we each our children's story's and they shed tears with us. It was a genuine time of sharing and marveling it God's amazing grace. And I am thankful for the time we had with them.

We did make it safely back to land and our flights home went without problems. I spent the night in Dallas with the Avery's. Thank you guys for welcoming me in! I was so ready to be home and see my kids BUT I felt home when I walked into the Avery house. It made me smile all night. Mimi and William took me back to the airport and William started crying, it broke my heart. Oh, how I love the Avery's and it was so great to see them, even if just overnight!

William was so tired, love this little guy!

I made it home yesterday afternoon and I was so ready to hug Brent and the kids. I missed them so much and probably the hardest thing for me was to not be able to communicate with them most of the trip. I missed them so much and they were never far from my thoughts. But the vacation was just what I needed, even if it wasn't "perfect" it was a break from bills, medicine, children and the daily responsibilities. I was able to leave it all behind and my prayer is that because of it I am a better wife, mother, sister, daughter and friend. I feel refreshed, rejuvenated and ready to join the real world again. Although I do wonder when I will quit feeling the boat move! LOL

Thank you for praying for Misty and I as we travelled. God was working in my heart the entire week and I am thankful for the time I had to refresh my mind and spirit and the time to spend with my friend Misty.

Brent hasn't update about Dance Marathon, believe me I haven't stopped asking him questions since I got home. I was thinking about it the entire time, I would think "now they would be announcing the families" "now they are on the radio" "now they are speaking on stage" etc. My heart was aching for the events of DM and it sounds like it was just AMAZING! I will try and get Brent to do an update soon. We don't have many pictures so if ANYONE has pictures to share with me I would LOVE them! I have been scouring Carepages and Facebook for any glimpse of DM I can get. So please email me at cvanwey@gmail.com if you have anything to share with me! I have heard so much about Manish, Brian, Katie, Cassondra and Morgan. So many others too, the kids have been talking non stop about it and my family was pretty amazed with the organization as well, since they were helping with Flashes of Hope. Oh and speaking of that it sounds like that went GREAT too. I really need Brent to update you about it. It sounds like it was ALL amazing.

Thanks for following us through the journey. Thanks for praying, I know God was with us ALL this past week.

Christie

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T08:03:00.009-06:00

Mikayla's Christmas started a little early this year. We had a knock on the door from the Fed Ex delivery guy on Christmas Eve. It was a very special package. Anyone who was around Mikayla knew the ONE thing she wanted for Christmas this year.

I will let the pictures do the talking....

Mikayla got Biscuit as that first early gift. She asked and asked, who gave this to me? We don't know, it was sent to us and no name was on it. She searched the box and found the shipping label, it said "Hasbro" and she keeps saying the makers of Biscuit sent ME one? LOL I think Santa's elves were working over time this year. You know who you are and I hope you read this. Thank you for bringing the biggest smile to a little girls face! Biscuit has gone with us everywhere and even has her own bed made up in Mikayla's room. That one gift has brought so much joy to Mikayla and I will never forget watching her face light up as she opened Biscuit!

We had a good Christmas. Here are a few pictures from our day....

I know I have mentioned Coleman so many times and I am sure most of you read his carepage as well, but their Christmas did not go as planned and they were heavy in our thoughts yesterday. Please say a prayer for our precious friends. Scott, Peggy, Caden and Coleman....We love you and you were never far from our thoughts this Christmas!

Christie

Avery's

2008-12-01T22:28:00.001-06:00

I won the cruise!

2008-11-03T20:28:00.004-06:00

I can't believe I won the contest for the cruise. I just HAVE to tell the story of how this all came about. If you can't see God's hand at work in this, I don't know what will convince you!

God has really been laying on my heart that I need to write. Write what? I don't know, I am not a writer. Many people who follow our carepage tell me I should consider writing but I thought they were crazy. But God kept laying it on my heart and I couldn't shake it. So, I decided I would start a blog. It would be a place where I could practice writing what God was laying on my heart. I set this blog up the beginning of October.

Once I started the blog for some reason it got blocked, it was flagged as a Spam blog so I was not able to do anything with my blog for a couple weeks. Finally it opened up for me to edit and post. That very same day I got a message telling me about this contest for a cruise. It said to tell them creatively why you and a friend needed a getaway cruise. I read the email and said wow that would be nice but I could never pick one friend. I closed my computer and continued to get ready for bible study that night. But as I walked away there was a huge burden placed on my heart. I thought of my friend Misty. I sat back down at the computer and quickly put some thoughts down. I sent them to my friend to see what she thought about it and the contest. She was moved to tears and then we both were filled with such joy. The possiblity of meeting, the chance to getaway from it all.

The thing is the contest was ending the next day. So, I had to figure out my blog and get it posted quickly. I stayed up late that night composing my entry. I felt like this was an assignment from God to practice my writing and I wanted it to be just right. I was very proud of my entry and thought it protrayed the friendship that we have and how God is so amazing even in the midst of a storm. I had to recruit some help to learn some of the ins and outs of blogging quickly. With their help I was able to get it posted. I was so excited. I just felt a peace.

I have tried to leave the blog alone since that entry just to make sure that my post didn't get lost in the blog. My original plan for this blog was a private place to practice writing. But I soon realized it would be a place the judges would come to look. So, I have let the blog sit. I tried not to think about the contest for the next couple weeks. The winner was to be announced November 1st.

As the date got closer, Misty and I dreamed of what it would be like to meet on a cruise. But we knew that it would all work out if that is what God wanted. We left it in His hands with hope. I began to feel that God wanted me to share the story of how He provided a friend in the midst of trial so I decided to post it on carepages. Everyone was so supportive and "just knew" we were going to win. That encouraged and excited us, but we knew they were not the judges.

I was planning to stay up until midnight on Halloween night to see if they would post the winner. But after a long day I was exhausted. It was about 10:30pm and I was chatting online with a friend. I told her I would not be able to stay up long enough to check. She told me to send her the link and she would watch for it. After I sent her the link I clicked it to make sure it worked. When I did that I noticed the page had been updated. My heart was racing and I could hardly stand to look. I opened the page and I saw my name listed as the winner. I wanted to scream but didn't want to wake the sleeping kids. I told my friend and my husband, I think we were all in shock. Then I picked up the phone and called Misty. I knew it was late but I couldn't wait to tell her! She knew when I was calling that late at night what I was calling about, but she was still surprised. We both were thanking God for His wonderful miracle. It is unbelievable! God worked out every detail.

We are so thankful for God's amazing provisions for this trip. We are looking forward to this trip and we just know that God had this all planned and so we are confident that all the details will work out.

Thank you to christianwomenonline for giving us the chance to win this cruise and then choosing my entry. We can't wait for February 4th when we head to Mobile, AL!

Christie
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

Me? Enter a contest? Why not?

2008-10-14T11:46:00.007-05:00

Why my friend and I need a girls Get-A-Way Vacation?

I just saw a contest that would allow me to win a Get-A-Way Vacation on a Woman’s Get-A-Way Cruise. All I have to do is tell you why I NEED it.

My daughter Mikayla was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in March of 2007. She was just 4 years old at the time. While the prognosis for Leukemia is good, the treatment is long. Treatment for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia is 2 ½ years for girls and 3 ½ years for boys. We have approximately 9 months left on our journey and it has been a long faith filled journey that has shown me God’s grace and mercy every day. You are never prepared to hear the words cancer, but especially in reference to your child. We have had many hard days and my daughter has a vocabulary that includes port, spinal tap, chemo, bone marrow, blood counts, IV and so much more. I have watched my daughter go through more than any child or adult should ever endure. Mikayla is doing well and will go off treatment in June 2009. We continue to pray that the cancer will stay away, that the effects of the chemo will be minimal and that she will grow to lead a wonderful life with an amazing testimony to share!

The day Mikayla was diagnosed I established a “Carepage” (http://www.carepages.com/ carepage name: MikaylaVanWey) which is a blog for keeping people informed of your medical journey. This has been a great way for me to inform family, friends and many prayer warriors about our daily struggles, victories and activities. Through Carepages I have met many friends, parents of children with cancer, just like me. There is a bond among "cancer moms” that is instant. But there is one mom that I feel God has brought into my life, and I into hers. Her name is Misty.

I “stumbled” (with God there are no accidents!) upon a Carepage (http://www.carepages.com/ carepage name: CameronWeddle) for a little boy named Cameron. He was about the same age as Mikayla and was diagnosed just three months after my daughter with the same type of cancer. Cameron’s diagnosis date is also my anniversary so this little boy stuck out in my mind. But the postings on the Carepage drew me to this woman who wrote about her son’s battle with leukemia. She was walking my trial, and she was doing it with extreme grace and faith. She opens every entry with a scripture each day, which speaks to your heart and shows you hers. I wanted to get to know this woman and so I emailed Misty and it was the beginning of a relationship that was only brought about by God’s amazing grace. Not only do Mikayla and Cameron have the same cancer, they are on steroids the same week (this is one of the most trying times of treatment as these 5 year olds deal with roid rage), they have chemo the same exact day every month and we both have 2 other children who struggle with all that having a sibling with cancer entails. It was as if God knew that we needed each other, He gave each of us a prayer partner, a sister, someone to vent with, cry to, rejoice with and just someone who “gets it” when so many don’t.

Misty often refers to a passage in Exodus and it paints a picture of what God provided for us when he made us friends. In Exodus 17 Joshua was fighting the Amalekite army as Moses had told him to do. Moses went to the top of the hill and when he would raise his hands, Joshua’s army would be winning, when Moses arms would fall then Joshua’s army would begin to lose the battle. God provided Moses with two friends. “When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up – one on one side, one on the other – so that his hands remained steady til sunset.” (Exodus 17:12) This is a picture of what Misty is to me and I pray I am to her. When we get tired and weak, God has given us each other to “hold our hands up” encourage each other and make it through to the next day. I thank God for bringing Misty into my life. She makes the daily struggles and “roid rage” much more tolerable. There is seldom a day that we are don’t talk to one another. It is such a source of strength and encouragement for both of us. Our friendship is a blessing that we can only explain as a gift from God. How else do you explain that a mom from Iowa and a mom from Texas would be brought together with an instant bond? Both enduring the same trial (leukemia), with kids on steroids the exact same week every month, with treatment days exactly the same, and a joy and peace that only God can give in the midst of storm.

Misty and I have vowed that one day we WILL meet. We aren’t sure of the time or the place. But we have cried with each other, prayed for each other and encouraged one another daily and we are determined to come together some way, somehow. Winning this contest would be another amazing way to see God’s amazing provision to us as we walk through this storm called childhood cancer. But even if we don’t win, I have faith that God will make a way for us to meet. I know He did not bring us together on accident, He has a plan.

It would be a dream come true to meet my dear friend, Misty. And to share a once in a lifetime cruise with other Christian Women would be the ultimate way to bring our friendship together. As you can imagine the journey is long and hard, and this trip would give two “cancer moms” a much needed reprieve from the daily struggles that childhood cancer can bring, it would give us a chance to reenergize our faith, meet AND be surrounded by great women of faith, what more could we dream for?

Here are a couple videos that showcase our journey's with cancer. Enjoy...

Christie
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of things not seen" Hebrews 11:1

First Post

2008-10-05T23:00:00.002-05:00

I have had a real burden on my heart to start writing. I don't consider myself a writer, I don't know that this is something I can do but I am trying to be open to anything that God calls me to do. There are many times that God impresses something on my heart and I just want a place to write it down and share it with others. So, I decided to start a blog, this blog will be a place will I will post my biblical studies and insights. It is my prayer that this would be a place that I can practice writing to see if God really intends for me to write and if so, through these writings I would find directions in what His plan is for me.

Christie
"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1