Category: Earlier Chapters

Brooke quote of the day “Some people think they have to be sad if they have cancer, but I figured out how to make it fun!” For real. What a spirit! 46 weeks down, 10 to go!! We are so close now!!

44 treatment weeks down, 12 to go!! I think I can, I think I can…. Brooke’s treatment is paused again this week as we wait for her counts to recover. She’s scheduled to be admitted next Tuesday so we can knock some more chemo weeks out of the park!! This girl is simply magical the…

Today is Brooke’s 20th day in the hospital! She’s doing great but also really looking forward to going home – which we expect to happen in another 5-6 days! I’m home with my special boy tonight – only my 4th night out in those 20 days! I can not even express how beautiful the sunset…

Here we go!!! 32 treatment weeks down, 24 to go til Maintenance!! These last 24 weeks (a treatment phase called Intensification 2), she will be in the hospital more than she’s out, just due to the high doses of chemo she’s getting and how much it will compromise her immunity. She moved back into CHOC…

HALFWAY!!!!! Today Brooke completed her 28th treatment week of the 56 weeks of intense chemo she has to get through before she gets to Maintenance. It took 8 months to get through 28 weeks because of all the times they pause to let her counts come up…but we’re finally here. HALFWAY!!!! I am experiencing an…

Miss Brooke is losing her hair again. It’s totally unpredictable. I don’t know why it’s been growing in throughout her treatment over the past 3 months, or why it’s falling out now, when she hasn’t even had chemo in a couple weeks. But there you have it – the little hairs all over our clothes,…

Super big THANK YOU to our friends for setting up a fundraiser site to raise money to help us get through the rest of Brooke’s treatment! We still have 8-9 months before Brooke gets to Maintenance, and things have been pretty tight with me not working or seeing clients while Brooke goes through this, so…

Upon rising my sweet Brooke says “Do you know where my Life is Good shirt is Mommy? I want to wear it today because it says ‘Life is Good’ on it and life IS good!” Heading back to CHOC today for another brief admission – treatment week 22 of 56 starts today. Almost halfway there!!

Whew! Made it through 5 straight days of chemo at the outpatient clinic. Long 6-8 hour days plus logistics to get Aidan to and from school and keeping up with homework. We made it work and Brooke is doing great! Some mild nausea, but no vomiting and still eating great! High spirits and high energy!…

We’re out!! Brooke was released from the hospital yesterday, after 30 days on the inside! Almost twice as long as we’ve ever stayed before, we were very ready for this visit to end!! 9 weeks down, 47 to go!!