My time with her...

I am so sad I have not been able to spend as much time with Tenley as I want to. When we got back from Arizona my whole family was sick except for me (which usually happens). We were really busy Friday and Saturday when we got home, so we couldn't go see her at Primary's, but when I woke up on Sunday....I was sick. Darn cold stuck around way too long too so i couldn't go see her till i was 100% better, which wasn't until the next Sunday!! Jordan and I were able to go up and see her the night before he left for LA. I'm glad he was able to see her, cuz who knows when he'll get to see her next.

Tenley has been a little fighter. She finished her 1st round of Chemo last Saturday. She has 10 days of Chemo and then has to stay in the hospital till her ANC levels get up to 500 (a normal persons ANC level is between 1500 - 3000). Which will probably take 4-6 weeks, so she has to do the 10 days, then the additional 4-6 weeks. She can then go home for 1, maybe 2 weeks. Then the Chemo will start again and the process repeats till she finishes 6 rounds. The doctors said that during the Chemo she will be really nausous, probably throw up, not want to eat, and be really tired all the time. This little girl proved them wrong. She had a great appetite, I'm pretty sure she never threw up and she would get down and play a lot.

Fast forward to 2 days after she finished Chemo...she started not eating much, getting a lot of mouth sores (you can see how she holds her mouth in the pictures), her hair started falling out, and she was very tired. She started throwing some tantrums (who can blame her?), but she's settled down and is pretty good most of the time when nurses come in to give her medicine, check her vitals, and change/clean her dressings.

Friday night I was finally able to go up and spend some 1 on 1 time with her. We have a schedule so that someone is always up there with her. She was asleep when I got there but woke about about 15 minutes later. We had lots of fun together. She LOVES the movie Tangled and it is on a constant cycle playing on her TV in her room. It's the only movie she will sit and pay attention to the whole time. Anyway, she always wants to be held so when she woke up I got her out of her bed and we watched the end of Tangled. After that we played with some cute play cupcakes my aunt got her. She loved it! The nurse then came in and took her vitals and she clung to me! Then she actually wanted to watch a different movie...she picked Finding Nemo. She also let me brush her teeth, which is very impressive considering her mouth has lots of mouth sores (she's stopped using her binky...that's a good thing. I'm sure this will get her off it for good because of the pain). Anyway, I knew she hadn't eaten yet so I ordered her some food and tried to get her to eat. She actually ate really good. She took like 7 small bites of yogurt and ate quite a bit of her smoothie. That's about all she ate...she fed me some other stuff like crackers and her chicken quessadilla (wow, is that how you spell it?). We then played on her little bed and I actually got her to smile. I have never personally seen her smile when I've been up there, so that was quite an accomplishment. I actually got her to smile with teeth, but I didn't get a picture of that. Anyway, we then snuggled a little bit more and then my few hours were up.

She really is a little fighter and I know she will be just fine and will get past this trial and her life. She's special and I love the little feeling in her room. It's a positive, special feeling and it lets me know that everything will be just fine. I love you Tenley! Thanks for letting me play with you!


This is from when we went to see her the Sunday when Jordan came too. She loves snuggling with her Mommy. I love her pretty hair and I'm glad I got a picture of it before they shaved her head.


This is how she was when my time with her started. It was the first time I had seen her with her head shaved. She's the cutest little bald girl I've ever seen.


Getting some snuggle time with her. She keeps her lips pursed like this from her mouth sores.


I got her to get down and play. It's hard with all of her cords, and she was a little wobbly, but she had fun.


This is the best part of my night. When we played and she smiled...a lot!


This is a picture my brother (her dad) sent to me just a few days after she was diagnosed with Leukemia. I just thought it was cute and wanted to include it. She's experienced so much since this picture.

I'm so glad I got to go up and be with her. The next day I woke up not feeling well again. Except this time I am just completely wiped out. Because her ANC level is 0, she has absolutely no immunity so she could easily get sick, which would not be good. I was supposed to go up and be with her again tonight and then Sunday morning too, but because I don't feel well, I have to pass sadly. I only get a month with her. I want to spend as much time as I can up there. So i'm not happy about this little bug I have. Hopefully it will pass quickly!