RockingJuJu

I have spent nearly the last 2 years jumping over every little bump, fever, ache and sniffle that Jacey has had. The last few months it has been easier to let go of some of the fear. Tonight my world seems to be taking yet another turn onto a path that I do not wish to take, not with Jacey but with Justin. He noticed a rash on his arm, a rash I know all to well. I quickly wanted to write it off as something else but it is not a rash that is easily confused for something else. Petechiae seems to want to become a mortal enemy to me. I looked at his arm 5 or 6 times each time hoping I would see something that was not petechiae but it was there each time. I got a flashlight but that only allowed me to see more clearly that it was petechiae. We instantly starting looking for more but there were none to be found but I knew that he had to have his blood checked so off to the ER we went.

Poor Justin seemed so calm about the whole thing but once we got him in there he was broken out in hives. He knows as well as I do what it could mean. The doctor (who I have a whole lot to say about but will do so at another time) drew the blood and the wait began. In my mind I was thinking there is NO WAY this could happen again. We have had our share of this world and Justin has already had his share of medical problems. The doctor came back and gave us the all clear and said everything looked normal. Justin's hives were gone in less than 2 minutes and a calm came over me. If that were the end of the story I would be doing one of those silly happy dances I do each time I get Jacey's counts.

Not more than 10 minutes later the doctor return to let us know there was indeed a problem. Justin's lymphocytes & monocytes are slightly elevated and his neutrophil count (ANC) level is slightly low. Nothing is elevated or low enough for them to say why. I asked for a copy of his counts because I just had to see what numbers we we're talking about. The numbers are in percentages which I am not familiar with. All they would tell us is to have him retested in a few days.

My mind is racing and I really hope beyond hope that this some how turns out to be some really odd fluke. I have been on a search since we got home. Saying to myself anything but cancer. It has to be anything but cancer. I guess we will just have to wait a see what the next test shows.

UPDATE:

The picture above is of a petechial rash that Jacey had during treatment. I have tried to take pictures of Justin's but the camera isn't working right. His is located on his right arm just above his elbow. It seems to have faded slightly this morning but he may have a few new dots. It is hard to know for sure. I have measured it and drew around it to help us know for sure if it changes. Is it Monday yet?

The doctor went quick this morning. He took one look at the spot and said yep we will get that gone. He wanted to do it at the office but Jacey wasn't having any of that. I understand her fear but it would be better to not put her under. I am going to talk with her and see. They are going to call us later to set up the appointment. So I still really have no idea when it will come off.

The big news for the day is news that brings the biggest and brightest smile to Jacey's face. We are going to be seeing........JESSE! How wonderful it is. Jacey has been in Jesse withdraw and has been counting down the days until the release of his new CD in April and the tour that will follow. Seems Santa has brought her an early gift as we will get to see Jesse next Friday, Dec 7th. Jacey was jumping for joy! Justin said he will pass ( I think all the screaming girls get to him). It will be nice to get away from home. It has been some time since we have taken a road trip. It will be a short trip to Kentucky and back the next day. Jesse's management has delivered more smiles than anyone could ever ask for. There are no words to express the thanks they deserve. They even went out of their way to send Jacey a gift on her birthday. Jacey says Jesse is like family now and she just misses him when she doesn't get to see him. She is very excited that Jesse has a movie coming out Dec 14th, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Jesse is the voice of Theodore.

Both plays have now came to an end. The Aladdin show was GREAT! I was lucky enough to see it twice. All the kids did an amazing job and you can tell how hard they worked. Jacey is already looking forward to doing more plays and was sad it was over. I have added pictures to the gallery from both plays. I think Jacey is going to start voice lessons pretty soon. I think it will give her more confidence in her voice. She did a really good job with all the dance moves in the 2nd play. I was so very proud of her. We have video but I have not yet even began to look at it. I will let you know once I get them edited together.

For now it is back to the cancer world. We are going to see the surgeon soon. I will be glad to get the surgery scheduled and done. Justin is also going on the same day to talk with the doctor about what he would like done. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is his last one.

The honored hero's poster has been put on hold. They are going to try to use several different kids on the same poster. I think this is a great idea. It will bring more awareness that lots of kids are diagnosed with Cancer.  Speaking of diagnoses please keep David in your prayers he was just recently diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. David's family brought lots of smiles to Jacey while she was going through her treatment.

Tonight is the 1st show for Aladdin. We have been running Jacey back and forth to play practice all week. Jacey looks so grown up in her stage make up. I am pretty sure that I am going to the show tonight and I can hardly wait to see how it all comes together. Jacey has been pretty tired but is hanging in there. I am not sure what she is going to do with herself after this weekend. Both plays will be over. No more play practice to keep her busy. She has shown some interest in getting voice lessons so we might look into that.

It is so nice that she has been busy with stuff that she enjoys rather than busy with doctors. I have made the appointment with the surgeon for the end of the month so we will see what he has to say about how soon this spot can be removed. Jacey isn't fighting us about it anymore, which is nice. She is now at the lets make a deal stage. There is no Jesse to bribe her with this time though. She decided that she will get the spot removed if the doctor will also fix the scar from her broviac. I am not sure this doctor will but we are going to ask. It seems like a fair deal to me.

We just had parent teacher conferences and Jacey is at a solid 4th grade level, which is great except that she is in the 5th grade. School seems to be easier for her this year. She isn't struggling as much and seems more comfortable around her peers. The teacher feels that she may be able to get caught up as long as she keeps working hard.

Justin's report card came yesterday and he did pretty good. He had a 3.8 grade point average. He had a few things he could have done a little better in but he is turning his work in for a change. His debate and academic challenge seasons are both in full swing. He stays after school nearly everyday. He also has debate almost every weekend. He came in 7th last weekend. He must really enjoy it if he is willing to give up so much of his time to do it.

Well I am off to gather Jacey's costumes for her play tonight. I still have a few tickets if any one is interested in going.

I have added a new page to Jacey's site for her play performances. Just click the link at the top of this page to find out the information about her upcoming plays. I have had this question asked a lot so I thought this would just make it easier. I am going to leave this as the main post for awhile so be sure to sign in to see the other updates.

In just 5 days Jacey will be at the 20 month remission mark. She is pushing 2 yrs and we can hardly wait to see that. I am not sure why I am so anxious to see it but I am.

Her appointment went well today. All her counts were with-in the normal range. She was not to happy because she had to get her finger poke for the normal counts then turned around and had to get blood drawn from her vein so they could test her thyroid. They could get the 1st vein to work so they had to poke her other arm. As if that wasn't enough pokes for one day she also got her flu shot while we were there. She got over it quickly when they told her she could get more than one prize for all the pokes. She has gained another 12 almost 13 pounds so that is why they are testing her thyroid. We won't have those results for a few days. It would make sense if she was having problems with her thyroid because she has gained so much weight in the last 6 months. 38 pounds as a matter of fact. She has also been very tired lately, can't seem to get enough rest. I hope that is what it is because it can be treated and maybe she will slim back down. If it is not her thyroid then we are looking at blaming the chemo for slowing down her metabolism, which was already slow enough.

Dr. Patton completely agreed that the spot just needs to be removed. I was very glad that I didn't have to fight her about it. Looks as though Justin is going to be sharing his plastic surgeon with her. I am going to call tomorrow and see if I can get her in to see him soon. I just want this thing off of her, the sooner the better.