KOCC Christmas Events

The Kids of Childhood Cancer foundation was excited to participate in the parade this year. We were so blessed by an unusually warm and sunny day! Lola (Vinny's girlfriend) and Julia rode in our little float...

Cancer mamas share an unbreakable bond and are a force to be reckoned with. We live, love, and fight for our own warriors and angels and for dozens of others who a piece of our hearts.

 Amber, Sarah, and Debi...

 Julia had so much fun handing out candy to the children along the parade route...

We also started selling calendars and bags featuring the pictures of cancer warriors from our hospital.

 

 

We were able to use the money we raised to sponsor five of our oncology clinic families, who aside from fighting cancer in their child, also struggle to make ends meet. It was such a blessing to be able to fulfill the wishlists of those families with food, clothes, shoes, housewares, and toys. Most of their requests are so basic. Many families ask only for heat for the winter and food for the table. Fighting cancer is hard enough. We are so blessed to be able to reach out and help. It is my favorite part of Christmas every year!

Next to our sponsored families, my next favorite would be Polar Express Night. Every December we bring a little Christmas joy to the hospital.

 

 

 

It was so fun to walk around and surprise all the inpatient kids with a special couple and gifts to brighten their stay...

Vinny and Carter- best buddies! Vinny was having terrible shoulder pain from the new tumors that are growing in his spine. His morphine and time with friends proved to be the perfect medicine for a few hours of smiles and laughs that we will cherish always...

Kidney Update 2

I don't like hospital surprises.

Today was Julia's follow up with nephrology. She had her first appointment with them back in November. They had the same concerns we did and ran some preliminary tests. Dr. Chen ran some labs and nothing jumped out (aside from her missed UTI!), and we were told to follow up in 8 weeks. I assumed it would be a quick appointment just checking in.

Not so much.

Today we saw Dr. Lin, the department head. He had an agenda I did not see coming. We discussed her history and kidney issues- excessive water consumption, insatiable thirst, large volumes of urine, nightwetting, and dehydration. He also suspects it is diabetes insipidus, as did we and Dr. Hodges, her urologist. In order to check for this condition she is going to need a water deprivation test which is exactly what it sounds like. She will be deprived of all water, food, hydration for 24 hours and will have blood draws and urinalysis every hour. This will continue all day. If her electrolytes reach a critical level they will start an IV and intervene to stabilize.

If this test shows normal results, he will sedate her for an MRI to check her brain for pituitary issues. The pituitary gland secretes a hormone called ADH that tells your kidneys when to concentrate urine. This helps the body regulate fluids and is the reason why older children and adults do not wet the bed during the night.

If the MRI results are normal he will do a surgical biopsy of her remaining kidney and ureter. The ADH hormone receptors are located on the ureter. He is concerned that the abdominal radiation Julia had for her cancer may have damaged her ureter preventing these receptors from doing their job.

After everything she had been through the past few years because of the radiation damage to her colon this just feels like a sucker punch. It was two years ago in January 2011 that Julia was admitted for her week long golytey flush, CT, and colonic manometry. It was a traumatizing week for her and the psychological effects of the painful procedures as well as the incompetence of the nurses she had was devastating to her. Here are the links if you are new to our site... one , two, three, four, five, six, and seven. At this point I cannot even wrap my mind around the thought of doing something like that to her again.

He wants to start the test on Thursday but we are waiting for his office to call and verify. I hate this for her. It is all just so much. It feels like every time she makes progress forward, she gets knocked down again. It breaks my heart to tell her she has to go through all this again.

Wish I could just scoop her up and run away to the land of sunshine, beaches, and wagons full of puppies!

EMMA Christmas Musical

Both the kids take music at our homeschool co-op. I was so excited that they would have the chance to put on musicals this year. Their first one was, "The Best Christmas Present Ever". I was so proud of Carter for auditioning for several duet parts...

The music was great and the older kids were really sweet with their acting parts.

Thank you Mrs.White for all the time and love you pour into our children. We are so blessed that they have you for a music teacher. You have been a special person in our lives for a long time and they love being in your class!

Nutcracker

It has become one of our favorite Christmas traditions to see Greensboro Ballet's Nutcracker each year. They do a school performance for public, private, and homeschools. The cost is very reasonable and the length is just perfect. 

The kids are excited to have a few friends in the performance, too.

They really know the story know and anticipate their favorite parts...

Beautiful job, Greensboro Ballet!

Baby Mikey

We were happy to have a whole week in PA to spend time with family and enjoy the newest addition, Mikey. He is such sweet and cuddly boy...

Carter loved holding him. Poor big brother Logan had to share his favorite buddy with Mikey.

Julia loved giving him bottles...

Mimi gets a turn sometimes, too.

After baby snuggling, Carter still had time to get on his gear and head to the Legion to play Marines with Logan and Grandpa....

You can rest easy, the patrol is on duty.

Cousin Time at Crayola Factory

Our kids love spending time with their Texas cousins! We always have such a good time together- adults and kids. The only thing that could make our time better is if it happened more often! We had lots of fun at the Crayola Factory after Thanksgiving.

 Only here are you encouraged to color the walls and cars! Don't try this at home...

 

 Watching new crayons be made. The melted wax is poured across the metal molds where it fills all the tiny holes...

Then the fresh new crayons are dumped out and head into the labeler. This job used to be done by by hand by housewives around their kitchen tables.

 

Thanksgiving in PA

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I decided to surprise the kids with a trip to PA for a week.I managed to keep all my packing a secret and told them about it when they woke up that morning. It was a wonderful time with grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Nicole and Liam...

Julia snuggling with Great Grampa K...

Teaching Liam all about the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving...

Grandpa wrangling the 22lb turkey!!

Mimi's hard work paid off. Dinner is served!

There is nothing that compares to four generations gathered around the table (okay, tables) giving thanks and enjoying a meal together...

The newest addition to the K family this year... baby Mikey!

Some fun, cousin fooz ball...

Erin and the sweet boy...

Yummy treats for the little ones (and big ones, too!)

Lizzy and her turkey treat...

The new generation of K cousins (missing Anderson, Brooke, and Zachary)...

James, Liam, Carter Mikey, Logan Julia, Liz

It was a wonderful day of glorious food, laughs, tears, games, fun, stories, smiles, and hugs. We are all so very blessed!

And a few days later we woke up to SNOW!!

 

 

 

 Mimi and Julia had some sewing projects planned...

 She now has a collection of beautiful nightgowns!