Sweet Tenley

This is Tenley at 18 months. I stole this picture from Shawna's blog because I don't have any recent ones of her.

I have the cutest family and extended family. I love them. My sweet grandma (Nonnie) died about 2 weeks ago. We had a viewing and a funeral up in Utah that I think everyone but 1 person made it to. We then came down to Arizona for a viewing and for her burial. I love my family and I love Nonnie. She will be missed greatly and she was the best grandma and I have so many awesome memories that I will forever cherish.

Because my grandma died, my brother Robbie and his wife and 2 adorable little girls came into town from Reno. Their youngest girl, Tenley, is only 19 months old and is just so cute. A day or two before they flew out here, tenley started acting a little different. She was wanting to be held all the time and wouldnt walk. After they got here a few days later, she was still not wanting to walk and would whine when she was put down. There were a few all nighters for Shawna (her mom) where Tenley didn't sleep for whatever reason.

After the funeral on Wednesday, they decided something was definitely wrong so they went to the instacare. The doctor there just thought it was from a lingering virus she had recently that was just settling into her joints and causing discomfort. They said to just give her some Motrin and so they did. For a couple days it worked great. She was back to walking and being her cute little self. On Saturday she was back to not wanting to walk and it was definitely obvious something was wrong again. They went to the doctor and they told them to give her some motrin. The motrin helped and she walked and was fine for a day or two. It was another all nighter and she was in a lot of pain. They were supposed to fly home on Sunday evening, but they still didn't know what was going on with Tenley. They decided to call their old pediatrician who lived close by. He had them come over and watched her walk. He still didn't think it was anything big but decided to have them go up to Primary Children's to have Tenley get an ultrasound done of her hip or leg (i'm not sure which one). While they were up there I think they did some bloodwork.

While they were driving home they got a phone call. The doctor told them they needed to come back to the hospital right away. The ultrasound showed some fluid in her hip, but the main concern was her blood tests. Everything came back low. Like abnormally low. Red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, everything. The only thing that was high was her lymphocytes. The doctor tried breaking news to them over the phone. They were worried that it might be leukemia.

They got back to the hospital and ran some more tests on little Tenley. By Monday night they had a diagnosis.

Leukemia.....

This sweet little girl has leukemia and she is only 19 months old. My heart aches for my brother and Shawna. It aches for little Tenley and all that she has to endure for the months ahead. From what I understand, there are two classifications of leukemia. Acute (rapidly developing) and chronic (slow developing). In children, about 98% are acute. Acute childhood leukemias are also divided into two types. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL), and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). ALL is the one that is the most common, occuring in about 60% of children, and about 38% have AML.

Little Tenley has been diagnosed with AML. I'm not sure what the difference is between the two, but I know the treatment she will have to go through is very invasive, intense and and long. She will be in the hospital for 4-6 weeks doing treatment. She will get to go home for a few weeks, and then she will have to be back in the hospital for another 4-6 weeks, and that will continue for anywhere from 6 months to a year. Fortunately, the sucess rate is quite high for children with leukemia. I think i read that some forms of childhood leukemia have a remission rate of up to 90%.

We are all hopeful and are having to exercise our faith at this time. I feel like she will be ok and that whatever happens is all part of Heavenly Father's plan for her. They are a strong family and have lots of support and love behind them. My heart just aches for them though. I can't help but think of if it was Chamberlain. She is only 2 months older than him. I know it won't be easy and there are so many things that we don't understand, but I feel like she will be ok. We are praying for you little Tenley. We love you.

If you want to read on their blog about little Tenley, go to my family links and click on Wilson Family.