Low Platelets

November 23 to 29, 2009

Vomiting issues have subsided greatly in the past few weeks with her maternal grandfather's advice of drinking a cup of hot water in the morning to keep the stomach warm while suppressing the nausea. However, her platelets and red blood cell counts tested extremely low. As a result, another blood transfusion was administered on Monday. Platelets were not transfused since the oncology pediatrician wanted to wait and see if it will recover on its own. So we have to be on the look out for petechiae and prevent her from engaging in activities that might cause her to bruise easily.

Alisha picked up cross-stitching and started on a challenging pattern involving desserts and played a little tennis during the week. When she has a quiet moment or while she listens to the Phantom of the Opera (did not know that she could reach high-pitched notes as she immulates Sarah Brightman singing as Christine Daae), she continues to read her Magic Tree House series, keeps up with school, Chinese and abacus homework and focuses on counting down to Thanksgiving and Christmas. The highlight this week other than celebrating Thanksgiving was setting up and decorating the Christmas tree. Alisha loves holidays and reading about how different cultures celebrate this time of the year.

Two-Long Weeks

November 9 - 22, 2009

Alisha began her second round of the 4-day a week chemotherapy for two weeks with an 8-hour treatment on the first day. Her appetite has dropped dramatically so as her weight. The first round of the 4-day a week for two weeks last month took a toll and was quite unpleasant, so we entered this second round with much trepidation. Luckily, Alisha vomited only twice and kept busy with her latest Lego creation, which included an ice cream/barbecue equipment next to the 3-level condo. As for food, there's no strong interest to eat and the motivation to feel better started to slip.

Coupled with her less than stellar desire to eat, her eyesight started to slip where she had to have glasses. The optometrist mentioned that her agressive decline in eyesight may be caused by the chemotherapy. Alisha wanted to stay fashion forward, so she picked a Disney princess frame with a cute glasses carrying case.

Toothless Again

November 2 to 8, 2009

Dressing up for Halloween and a few quick visits for candies exhausted her immensely, but the process was full of excitement nonetheless. She had another lumbar puncture on Monday and will not need another one until a month later - yeah! Alisha lost another tooth on the top and couldn't wait for the tooth fairy to visit. We've often tried to tease her by asking her to pronounce words with "th" in it; however, the gaping space isn't hindering her speech. On the days that she feels upbeat, she doesn't hesitate about diving for the Wii remote to start her bowling and boxing matches. Lately, her Wii collection was added with the Disney Princess, Build-a-Bear and Beach Resort sports games, including frisbee, rowing, archery, etc.

Food Choices

October 26 to November 1, 2009

Hello to all. Sorry it has taken so long to up date Alisha's blog. The past few weeks have been hectic to say the least.

The weekly procedures (stabs on the spine) were getting on Alisha's nerves (pardon the pun). She has grown very aware of her condition, the drugs used and procedures conducted. Needless to say, she vehemently hates "procedures" and having to be put to sleep, squeezed during the process and poked on the spine (more if the doctor is having a hard time).
The only time she vomited this week was the mornings after eating certain types of food. We're starting to see the correlation between diet and vomiting. This will make her a lot more comfortable for the future. Alisha decided to revert back to her old custom of a butterfly she wore 2 years ago for Halloween. She looked forward to this event so much that she even made a diorama with pumpkins, ghosts, goblins, etc.

Not So Lucky

October 19 to 25, 2009

Alisha experienced nausea and vomiting several times a day along w/ massive headaches for the first time since the beginning of chemotherapy. She lost her appetite, laid down or slept for most of the day. The CT scan on Thursday did not help; however, she didn't need to drink the awful white contrast liquid for 1 hour prior to the CT scan since she couldn't hold anything down. The doctors thought she might have contracted meningitis, but quickly ruled that out b/c she had no fevers. After various prodding and poking from the doctors and nurses, nobody could explain her intermittent painful headaches and episodes of vomiting. Luckily, she was back to her old self by Friday and we didn't have to guess the cause! Alisha is not too keen on her new wig that arrived this week. She reluctantly tried it on while telling us that she will not ever need it - we're all hopeful of a miracle.

Wii

October 6 to 18, 2009

Alisha went in for lab work on 10/8 to determine whether she made count to start her next phase of chemotherapy for 56 days (consolidation) on 10/9. Unfortunately, her platelets and Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) were too low. ANC is a way for doctors to scientifically determine the stage that the immune system is in after response to chemotherapy. ANC is the real or actual number of white blood cells that a patient has to fight an infection. The nurse delivering the blood results was skeptical about her making count on Monday, 10/12; however, Alisha made count w/ flying colors. The first, second, five and sixth weeks of consolidation consisted of four days of chemotherapy followed by three days of rest. Alisha went through the week of 10/12, unscathed. Alisha was also in great spirits taking time to play a little Wii. As a little incentive, we took some pictures at the gazebo at St. Regis, Dana Point.

Dramatic Turn Around

September 29 - October 5, 2009

Alisha's disposition has changed dramatically. She's back to her jovial self. Her appetite, unfortunately, did not diminish despite the cessation of the steroids two weeks ago. Within one week, her platlets went from extremely low, to the point of needing transfusions, to the higher end of the normal range. We are all thrilled at the spectacular rate that she's recovering, and hope she will continue down this road with her red and white blood cells.

Last Friday, she had an LP (Lumbar Puncture) and BM (Bone Marrow) aspiration, and we are eagerly awaiting for the results of both. These results will determine her road map for the following month.

Alisha's in-home school teacher is trying to keep her challenged with more advanced math and reading.

Lately Alisha has become mesmerized by recipes, cookbooks, and the Food Channel. She often sits for hours going from one page to the next reading every ingredient, and the directions. She has picked a few interesting recipes, and we have successfully experimented with a few over the weekend, including a tomato basil sauce for pastas and salads as well as a sunny side dressing. all of these recipes are raw or vegan. It was a challenge getting Alisha to embrace this diet at first, but she has slowly come around.

First Week At Home

September 22 - 28, 2009

Alisha's first week home went relatively well. The only snag happened early last week was when Ashley caught herself a bug from school. As a precaution the girls were kept separated, and within a couple of days Ashley was back to normal. Alisha has been responding very well to all treatment, medicines, etc. Everyone has been getting into their roles of assisting her quite nicely, and quite effectively. Alisha definitely has a very good and strong support system.

On Friday September 25, 2009 She had another chemo treatment. To date she has not had any of the nausea that often accompanies it.

Today, September 28, 2009, she started home school and thoroughly enjoyed it!

Alisha's new diet seems to being a good part in increasing her energy levels. Though she isn't always keen on the taste.

Alisha at times seems to be acting just as she did prior to falling ill. She is back to coloring and reading for hours.

Good News

September 21, 2009

Today is the day! After 22 days at Children's Hospital of Orange County Alisha was finally released!!

On top of that her Blast count was 2%. What does that mean you ask? The aim is to induce a lasting remission, defined as the absence of detectable cancer cells in the body (usually less than 5% blast cells on the bone marrow). This, however, does not mean the treatments stop. She is still looking at about two and a half years of treatments.

New Pictures

September 20, 2009


Here are some recent pictures of Alisha!

The puzzle was worked on over a period of four days.

The soccer balls were signed by David Beckham on Tuesday.

The other pictures are just a fraction of the many gifts Alisha has received. ALL gifts are appreciated, and are being enjoyed by Alisha.