Please also see the URL at the end of this post for a special message to all our supporters.... As we were travelling back from Hawaii late Saturday night/Sunday morning, Thera had to endure a serious bout of diarrhea for her 8 hour flight. We thought it was a passing case of food poisoning - which in and of itself is not fun at all. Then we got home and she started having serious cramps, a low grade fever and finally lots of blood in her stool (sorry to be so graphic...but this is a health related page after all). Her doctor told us to get her to the emergency room immediately. I had to cancel my work trip to San Antonio so we had coverage for the kids (Thanks as always for the support Greg!). Well as parents of a child with Leukemia we of course expected and were preparing ourselves for the worst. In cases like this the wonderful world of the web is more scary than helpful. According to the web, she could have had hepatitis, juvenile diabetes, Leukemia, or any number of other life threatening illnesses. She lost 7 pounds in two days and was massively dehydrated. They ran a complete blood count and took x-rays to see if there was an obstruction. After what seemed like a century, all her tests came back clean...Thank GOD. They are currently running a culture which will take a few days, but it looks like she just has a particularly nasty virus or infection (salmonella, e-coli, etc.). The hospital gave her an antibiotic and pumped her full of IV fluids and finally sent Thera home at 1:30 am last night/this morning. The poor thing is still having severe cramps from the gas today, but she seems to be improving ever so slightly. Now I guess we can consider our Hawaiian vacation excitement complete! Here is a video that I made last night as I was nervously waiting for news from the hospital. This is a brief synapsis of Thalia's story over the last year with some of our Hawaiin vacation footage.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
The Kids Hit The Ocean
Our first full day in Hawaii and we headed to the water! Our first stop was to Kona to dive deep under the ocean in a submarine. When we were talking about this activity back in dreary ole' Chicago, the kids were not too hot on the idea. The fresh Hawaiian air must have pumped up their mana because they were all begging to go on the submarine now that we were in Hawaii. While we were paying for our sub tickets we were suckered into the "pick an oyster, find a pearl" tourist trap. But for a cost of about $5 a kid, we couldn't refuse. Zacch, Thera and Thalia picked out the ugliest oyster they could find and the nice lady cracked 'em open. Both Zacch and Thera got a perfect white pearl, and low and behold, Thalia got a perfect pink pearl (her favorite color!).
OK…now the kids were ready to go be submariners. We dove over 100 feet down and became one with the surrounding aquatic life. We saw two wrecks and thousands of colorful fish on the coral reef. We even saw a 5-foot, free-swimming eel, which the captain said, was pretty rare since they like to keep hidden. I leaned over and kissed Demetria since the captain suggested that it would be the "deepest kiss we would ever experience"…needless to say Demetria thought I was a touristy dork…Ah, Demetria Aloha No Au Ia 'Oe (look it up for extra points!).
Our next stop was to Hapuna beach, which is consistently rated as one of the best beaches in the United States. This was the first trip for the kids to a beach so this was a great way for them to get introduced to the Hawaiian lifestyle. Needless to say the kids all loved everything about the beach. The sand and the surf were perfect. The salt water in the eyes, nose and mouth took a little getting used to for them, but they all acclimated quickly. Since we left the beach the kids have all wanted to get back as soon as possible.
OK…now the kids were ready to go be submariners. We dove over 100 feet down and became one with the surrounding aquatic life. We saw two wrecks and thousands of colorful fish on the coral reef. We even saw a 5-foot, free-swimming eel, which the captain said, was pretty rare since they like to keep hidden. I leaned over and kissed Demetria since the captain suggested that it would be the "deepest kiss we would ever experience"…needless to say Demetria thought I was a touristy dork…Ah, Demetria Aloha No Au Ia 'Oe (look it up for extra points!).
Our next stop was to Hapuna beach, which is consistently rated as one of the best beaches in the United States. This was the first trip for the kids to a beach so this was a great way for them to get introduced to the Hawaiian lifestyle. Needless to say the kids all loved everything about the beach. The sand and the surf were perfect. The salt water in the eyes, nose and mouth took a little getting used to for them, but they all acclimated quickly. Since we left the beach the kids have all wanted to get back as soon as possible.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
World Neighbor Goes to Hawaii for Thalia’s Wish Trip
OK...I am going to post some personal BLOGS that I have already posted to my daughter's "CarePage"...Her name is Thalia, she is 6 years old and she has Leukemia. We recently went on her Make a Wish trip to Hawaii with the family and we had a GREAT time. here ya go....
Thalia has her monthly visit to the hospital next week. This is visit number two on her three month cycle. On the third month she gets a break with no spinal tap procedures at the hospital. Naturally we like those third months the best! She is still on her cycle of home chemo and other medications and mommy is ensuring that she is 100% compliant to the routine with zero variance. She will continue on this "maintenance" cycle until August 2009. We are coming up on one year since Thalia was diagnosed (April 27) and she is doing very well. Her hair is continuing to grow in. She has a cute little 'do and has given up her headscarves entirely (I will be posting new pictures in the photo gallery soon). She has been eating a ton for the past few months but has recently tapered off to a level more consistent with her sister. I think she was trying to catch up for all those months that she was wasting away during her hard-core chemo phases. She looks healthier and is getting more active and strong with her swimming and gymnastics.
Between May 3 and May 11 Thalia gets to live her wish. She has asked the Make a Wish foundation to go be a veterinarian to a golden zebra. This golden striped zebra with blue eyes is due to a condition called "amelanosis" and not to being an albino. This is a rare birth defect and there have only been a few golden zebras documented in captivity. There have undoubtedly been golden zebras born in the wild, but since they stick out like a sore thumb they more than likely become lion food rather quickly. The zebra's name is Zoe and she lives in Hawaii. When Thalia requested this wish and I found out that the zebra was in Hawaii, I thought "wow this kid is truly a genius…what a great idea!" ;-) Thalia's original wish to go to the Power Rangers TV series shoot, didn't pan out so we are going with the golden zebra wish. The Power Rangers show was done shooting by the time Thalia was in maintenance and ready to go. Thalia and Thera have both been talking about being veterinarians for a long while now, so I think she/they will get great joy out of this wish. We will be sure to take lots of pictures and video of this once in a lifetime event.
Thalia has her monthly visit to the hospital next week. This is visit number two on her three month cycle. On the third month she gets a break with no spinal tap procedures at the hospital. Naturally we like those third months the best! She is still on her cycle of home chemo and other medications and mommy is ensuring that she is 100% compliant to the routine with zero variance. She will continue on this "maintenance" cycle until August 2009. We are coming up on one year since Thalia was diagnosed (April 27) and she is doing very well. Her hair is continuing to grow in. She has a cute little 'do and has given up her headscarves entirely (I will be posting new pictures in the photo gallery soon). She has been eating a ton for the past few months but has recently tapered off to a level more consistent with her sister. I think she was trying to catch up for all those months that she was wasting away during her hard-core chemo phases. She looks healthier and is getting more active and strong with her swimming and gymnastics.
Between May 3 and May 11 Thalia gets to live her wish. She has asked the Make a Wish foundation to go be a veterinarian to a golden zebra. This golden striped zebra with blue eyes is due to a condition called "amelanosis" and not to being an albino. This is a rare birth defect and there have only been a few golden zebras documented in captivity. There have undoubtedly been golden zebras born in the wild, but since they stick out like a sore thumb they more than likely become lion food rather quickly. The zebra's name is Zoe and she lives in Hawaii. When Thalia requested this wish and I found out that the zebra was in Hawaii, I thought "wow this kid is truly a genius…what a great idea!" ;-) Thalia's original wish to go to the Power Rangers TV series shoot, didn't pan out so we are going with the golden zebra wish. The Power Rangers show was done shooting by the time Thalia was in maintenance and ready to go. Thalia and Thera have both been talking about being veterinarians for a long while now, so I think she/they will get great joy out of this wish. We will be sure to take lots of pictures and video of this once in a lifetime event.
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