Category Archives: “Alice in Wonderland”

Alice in Wonderland

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January 24, 2011

Tanner’s big day finally arrived. She had her stage debut at Rosie in Alice in Wonderland Jr. on Sunday. She did great and had such a good time. She just loves performing and is definitely in her element. It is such a cute show!

We had a whole row of people there to see her. Thanks to everyone for coming; it meant a lot to her.

If anyone still wants to see it, she’s performing Wednesday and Thursday nights at 7pm. The show runs about an hour and 10 minutes and you can buy tickets by calling the Boiler Room Theatre in the Factory in Franklin at 794-7744 (that’s my shameless plug for Act Too Players!). It really is a cute and campy version of Alice in Wonderland.

Next up… Sleeping Beauty. We decided not to do Annie after all. The schedule was very tough and, after much agonizing, we just decided she couldn’t handle it. Tanner actually seemed a little relieved and agreed that she might rather do Sleeping Beauty with Act Too. They just rehearse once a week, which frees her up to go back to dance lessons. She is doing hip-hop and ballet. Sadly, she had gotten very worried that she would get sick and miss an Annie rehearsal or, worse yet, the show. It was causing her visible anxiety.

Frankly, Tanner is experiencing a lot of anxiety right now, for one reason or another. I’m not sure whether she’s just so sick of all this or what, but we’ve started seeing the play therapist again and are hoping she’ll get some relief (and then John and Jake and I will get some relief!).

Daisy Mae joined our family officially on Saturday… she’s our official adopted dog and she’s doing great. The kids adore her… especially Jake.

Tanner has clinic Friday morning with the dreaded lumbar puncture with chemo. It is the worst time for this to fall… she is just so anxious to begin with. We haven’t even told her because we don’t want her to worry about it and ruin her two shows this week. It will bring a crashing halt to her elation from the shows, I fear. The childlife specialist at the clinic, Sara, is going to accompany us to the OR again to help distract Tanner and keep her from working herself up as much. She will be tired from doing two shows two nights in a row on school nights so I’m not hopeful about it turning out all that well. Sigh. HOWEVER, this is the second to last one. Only one more spinal after this (fondly known in leukemia world as the “final spinal”). Truly a landmark.

An update on little Alli who I wrote about last time — she has FINALLY come off the ventilator and is breathing on her own again, but not really out of the woods yet. She still has a ways to go to recover from this and keeps getting other infections in the process. I can’t imagine how excruciating this has been for her little body to endure and for her family to withstand. But… progress nonetheless for her!

Love,
Beth

Big Black Dog

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January 17, 2011

Meet Daisy Mae Page
Age: 10 months
Breed: Big Black Dog
Temperament: All sweetness and kisses

We met her at Petco in Bellevue. She was one of the many dogs rescued by Proverbs 12:10. Daisy Mae (formerly Thelma) has been coming there every Saturday since she was a pup. I can’t imagine why. She loves everyone and gets along with everything. But, lucky for us she was still there last Saturday so we could spot her, fall in love and bring her home. Technically, we are “fostering to adopt.” We have until next Saturday to decide whether we are keeping her for good. But, I think it is safe to say the Pages are smitten and hopelessly committed, barring some kind of unforeseen Cujo moment, of course.

The interesting thing is that she has never been an inside dog. She has lived her whole life outside. But, she has been a perfect lady inside and is quickly figuring out what she’s been missing. Now, if she could just figure out what stairs are and how to navigate them!

Tanner has been doing well. She has struggled with some minor health issues like a urinary tract infection, a still unexplained rash on her arm and a persistent cough. But, it hasn’t stopped her from rehearsing for her Alice in Wonderland shows next week and loving it. She is the cutest rose! I can’t wait to see the show.

On a sober note, please pray for the little two-year-old girl, Alli, who I have mentioned in previous posts. She has pre-b ALL, just like Tanner, but is high risk. Their road has been unbelievably difficult and Alli has been on a ventilator since last week, fighting fungal pneumonia. Fungal pneumonia is very serious; so serious that all kids with ALL take daily antibiotics to prevent it. She had to be moved up to an oscillator today, which is apparently a step up from a ventilator, because she is having so much trouble breathing. I can’t imagine the pain of watching your child slowly get worse, instead of better. After all we have been through with Tanner, I don’t think we’ve ever had a situation that didn’t improve steadily. It must be absolute hell. This sweet little girl and her family need prayers.

Love,
Beth

Good News!

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January 8, 2011

Dr. Mixan called with great news. Tanner tested positive for rhinovirus and enterovirus, both of which are very common respiratory/cold viruses! Hurray! She was able to go to Alice in Wonderland rehearsal last night and her first Annie rehearsal today… she’s in heaven.

She also never got a headache from the transfusion… amazing. None of the bad things that could have happened, did… that’s refreshing.

Love,
Beth

Update — Feeling Much Better!

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January 6, 2011

Tanner woke up feeling A-Okay this morning! No neck pain or rash, but still coughing some. I kept her home from school just in case she was contagious, but throughout the day she became more and more animated and seemed like her normal feisty self by bedtime. Barring that nasty headache from the IgG transfusion rearing it’s ugly head, I see no reason she won’t be able to go back to school tomorrow and Alice in Wonderland rehearsal. Annie starts on Saturday!

No results yet on the virus panels… that will take another day or so. If she’s positive for either virus, we’ll probably have to go in for a counts check next week and cross our fingers that they haven’t dropped to a dangerous level.

Thanks, as always, for the good wishes and concern. I really does help to know we’re not in this alone.

Love,
Beth

Spent the Day at the Hospital

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January 5, 2011

As we suspected, we did end up at the hospital today. We made it through the night with no fever, but Tanner woke up with no improvement in the neck pain, coughing and feeling bad. While we were waiting to be seen, I noticed she had developed a lacy rash on her arms and neck. I actually felt relieved about that because it meant that she probably had a virus as opposed to swollen lymph nodes because of reasons I can’t even bring myself to write.

The doctor agreed that she probably has some kind of virus and has tested her for all viruses, but specifically for Epstein Barr and Parvo Virus. Epstein Barr is the virus that leads to monolucleiosis for some people, but not all. Parvo is commonly called Fifth’s Disease or Slapped Cheeks because it can cause red cheeks and is accompanied by a lacy rash. Neither will be a great situation as both viruses are known to compromise bone marrow and can cause anemia. In the normal person, their bone marrow can compensate and regenerate quickly. Tanner’s will not. If she has either of these viruses, her counts will likely drop across the board and necessitate blood and platelet transfusions and bottom out her neutraphils. It would take a while for her body to recover. The results of the virus panels will not come back for a few days.

Waiting for an antibody transfusion

Dr. Mixan decided to give her an IVIG transfusion. This is an antibody transfusion that might help her recover from this virus. The effect of an IVIG transfusion is not proven on ALL patients, but anecdotally, it has helped Tanner in the past. She is almost always low on the IgG antibody, but we usually don’t transfuse until she’s below 400 (600 is the low side of normal for a kid her age). She was at 481 today, but we thought it might help. Unfortunately, it has a common side effect of nasty headaches for a few days. Tanner had one last time (this is her third IVIG transfusion) so I’m waiting for that shoe to drop.

Tanner cried today thinking she might not get to go to Alice in Wonderland rehearsal on Friday night or her first Annie rehearsal Saturday. I’m hoping she’ll get to be in the plays at all.

She cried a lot today. About going to the hospital this morning, about being “sick,” about possibly missing things. She is just so sick of all of this. I want to hug her and comfort her and tell her I understand, but unfortunately, I think it doesn’t help her be strong… and she needs to be strong. We reminded her today that everyone gets sick, not just people with leukemia, and that this isn’t that big of a deal. But, I think she is smart enough to know that when “normal” kids get sick, they don’t have to go to the hospital and have blood drawn and get transfusions. As always, though, she bucked up and is holding it together, at least for now.

Please, please send good thoughts or pray or whatever you do that this is just a bump in the road and not a break down that will cause her to miss lots of school and these plays she so desperately wants to do.

Love,
Beth