Update December 21-28

Morgan has been feeling great this past week. She tires quickly and needs to rest often, but we will take it. Life has gotten back to somewhat normal. It has been such a blessing to have Morgan home for Christmas as this was an unknown if it would even be possible a month or two ago.

We have enjoyed time with friends and family over the past week. We have gone out on little adventures and gotten back into a normal family routine.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were wonderful. We spent time with family, spoiled the kids and gained a new appreciation for our quality time together. We feel so unbelievably blessed.

This next week will be more of the same. We will be soaking up the family time while we can. Going places and spending time with friends and family.

Morgan will be starting her grade 8 year officially full time at the highschool on January 3. This week, we plan on making a few trips over to the highschool to get her acquainted with where her classes are etc.

The first few weeks of January will be quite hectic as I mentioned, Morgan will be starting highschool full time. In addition to that,  she will be going for numerous tests which include CT scan, MRI, heart test and finally a PET scan. We will also be going to a follow up appointment with her plastic surgeon to see how her new shoulder muscles are doing. Then finally, an appointment with her oncologist where we will get the results of her scans and heart test.

If her scans are NED (no evidence of disease/ cancer free!), we will then discuss what Morgan's future will look like. We will discuss what precautions we will need to take moving forward. What to watch out for in terms of relapse of Ewing Sarcoma as well as any other cancers that could occur because of the chemotherapy treatment she received. We will also discuss if she has any remaining chance of fertility in the future. Lastly, we will be looking at booking her surgery to remove her port which will hopefully be in the spring.

Once again I would just like to thank you all emensly for all of your continued support over this past year. It has lifted all of our spirits and has helped us get through. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and were able to spend time with loved ones.

**Slide show update- Thank you all so much for the pictures you have contributed! It has been so moving to see the love and support from you all. We have over 100 pictures and counting. We will be putting together the slideshow in the next few weeks to give to Morgan. I know she is going to love it. We will be keeping the slideshow a private video for just Morgan. It will make it more personal for her and also out of respect for everyone's personal images not being made public. I will be sure to post a picture or two of her watching it and maybe even a video of when she first sees it. Thank you all again so much! ❤️

Update December 12-20

Morgan is starting to feel normal again. She is still battling with this ever lasting cold but she has been a trooper.

A few notable moments over the last week have been as follows:

We mastered her long human hair wig and she has worn it a few times and loves it. It looks much more like her and suits her quite nicely!

We were lucky enough to attend the Christmas Toy drive put on at Children's Hospital by Wishes Without Borders. It was an amazing event. So heartwarming and overwhelming. Both Morgan and her little brother Max thoroughly enjoyed it. Morgan is hoping that she can help give back next year and be a part of the toy drive.

Morgan got to go on the Stanley Park Christmas Train just last night with a few of her friends. It was a great night out and really nice that she was able to reconnect with some of her close friends.

We are so thankful that Morgan is home and day by day she is starting feel feel more like herself. We couldn't ask for a better Christmas present. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas may you all enjoy the holidays and cherish time spent with loved ones.

Thank you again so much for your continued support for our sweet Morgan.

Update-December 5-11

Morgan spent her days recovering from chemo. She developed a cold and started to feel quite sick from it. By the morning of December 8th, she was feeling quite horrible and had developed a mild fever.

We were advised to bring her into the hospital to check her over. She was given a blood and platelet transfusion and some fluids. The doctor decided it would be best to admit her and keep her overnight for observation as she was feeling quite unwell and to monitor her temperature. The next morning, the fever had subsided so they sent her home.

Since she has been home, she has been battling this cold and has been feeling pretty run down. Her fever has not returned though, so we have remained at home. Hopefully over the next few days she will start to improve.

Saturday ( She is home!!)

Well, today Morgan came home from her final round of chemo. She feels weak, nauseous and utterly exhausted but so unbelievably happy to be finally home for good. No more hospital stays ( fingers crossed).

She arrived home at around noon today and has been resting all day. We will see how the next few days go as her last 5 day chemo, she was incredibly sick for quite some time afterwards.

So, we have completed our final round of chemo. Now what? Now she needs to recover and heal from all of the chemicals and toxins that have been pumped into her body for the last 8 or so months.

Now we go for blood work frequently, wait for our next doctor visit to discuss Morgan's current health and what to expect for the future. She will be going for CT and MRI scans every 2 to 3 months for a year and then we will go from there. The oncologist will closely monitor Morgan's health this next year in regards to any issues or setbacks that may occur because of the chemotherapy treatment.  We wait to do our post treatment PET ,CT and MRI scans. Hopefully all 3 will be completed by the end of January. Once those scans are complete, we pray that we will get word that she is NED (no evidence of disease). Then we will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, in the spring, she will have her last surgery to remove the port that was placed in her chest to administer the chemo.

I just want to thank you all again so much for all of your love and support through this journey Morgan has been on. No words could express how much all of the love and support has meant to us. It has been truly incredible and overwhelming to say the least. We have realized we did not go through this alone and our hearts are so full.❤️  I will continue on with the blog, but I will now do a weekly update vs every day.

Thank you all again! Much love, from the Levin's family❤️

Day 5 ( Friday) final day of chemo!

Overnight Morgan was awoken with the most extreme leg pain she has ever felt. She was in agony and inconsolable. At about 3am they called in a doctor to take a look at Morgan's leg. The doctor checked her over and found that her leg function was okay. They then gave her some morphine and she eventually fell asleep. It was a very rough night for Morgan.

Today her leg pain has subsided and she was just dealing with the usual nausea and exhaustion.

Morgan was administered her final dose of chemo today which was cause for celebration and mandatory photo ops. Morgan is excited and looking forward to almost being done.

*Update-Picture due date* Sideshow for Morgan

I just wanted to thank everyone who has sent in pictures so far for Morgan's slideshow. They are amazing!  So many people and so much love! I am so excited to make this slide show for Morgan. She is going to love it so much! ❤️

For those of you who are still wanting to send in a picture and are wondering when we would like them by...we are hoping to gather all of the pictures by the end of this weekend (Wednesday will be the cut off so we can start making the slideshow). Please send them to:  clevins@outlook.com

Thank you all again so so much for all of your love and support. Our hearts are so full 💖

Day 4 ( Thursday)

More of the same today. Fighting off nausea and pure exhaustion. She slept a lot again today.

The BC Lions stopped by the oncology ward and payed Morgan a visit. They signed a little football for her and a baseball cap.

Day 3 ( Wednesday)

Morgan felt pretty horrible for most of the day. She slept a lot today and is counting down the days until she can go home.

Day 2 ( Tuesday)

Morgan was tired and run down for most of the day. She is trying to fend off the nausea as well.

She managed to sneak out for a bit and go to the oncology playroom to build a gingerbread house with some of the other patients. She really enjoyed that.

Day 1 ( Monday)

Morgan started her final round of chemo today. She is excited that this is the final round but she is also dreading it as she knows it is going to make her feel so sick for such a prolonged time period.

She started off strong. Over the course of the day, she started to get extremely nauseous and tired. She is trying her best just to sleep this round of chemo off.

Sunday

Morgan had another good day today. This morning she went and had her blood work done at Delta Hospital. We got word this afternoon that she is ready to start her final round of chemo tomorrow.

This evening, Morgan and her dad went out to a movie.

Saturday

Morgan had another good day today. She was feeling tired off and on throughout the day but still managed to make the most of it.

She was taken out for lunch and to do a bit of shopping with a family friend and then spent the night at her grandparents house.

Friday

Morgan had a good day today. She felt great for most of the day. This evening, she went out for dinner and to see a few of her friends perform in a musical called Elf Jr at a theatre in Vancouver. It was a great night out and she thoroughly enjoyed the show.

Thursday

Another quiet day around here for Morgan. She had another visit from the teacher and continued on with her schoolwork. She is feeling good again today which is great..

Wednesday

Morgan had her blood work taken at Delta Hospital this morning. We found out this afternoon that her counts are back up and she will be ready to start her final round of chemo on Monday. She is nervous about it as she knows that she will feel horrible towards the end of it. Hopefully the thought of it being the final chemo round will help keep her spirits up.

Tuesday

Morgan is feeling good today. She had the traveling teacher here for a while and managed to get some schoolwork done. Then took it easy for the remainder of the day.

Monday

Morgan had her blood work done this morning. We got the results this afternoon and her white blood cells are still extremely low. The further along we go on this chemo treatment, the harder it is for her to bounce back.

She is feeling okay today. Still fighting off this cold but overall she is in good spirits.

Sunday

More of the same today. Morgan seems to be feeling a little better thankfully. Still no fever.

Tomorrow morning she will be going into Delta Hospital to get her blood work done.

Saturday

Morgan is still fighting off this cold. So far it is just that. A cold. No fever, which is great as that means her body is doing what it is supposed to do and she is fighting g it off.

She spent most of the day resting.

Friday

Morgan went in to Children's this morning. She had her blood drawn and waited for the results.

She was still feeling under the weather but her temperature was okay. She has been complaining of shortness of breath lately, so the doctor decided to send her for a chest x-ray as a precautionary measure. When she returned from getting the x-ray, it was decided that she should get some IV fluids just to hydrate her. She was able to return home after that.

Morgan was feeling a bit better after the IV fluids and rested for the remainder of the day.

Thursday

Morgan has felt pretty sick all day today. She was feeling nauseous and was having jaw pain along with a sore throat for the most part of the day. She has not developed a fever yet, which is good. Hopefully it will pass without a fever. If she does develop a fever, we will have to take her to the hospital.

Her brother seems to be getting a cold tonight so, chances are, Morgan is as well.

We have our scheduled doctor visit and blood work at Children's in the morning and they will be able to take a closer look at her then.

Wednesday

Morgan woke up feeling okay but started to feel weak and nauseous as the day went on. She also has developed a sore throat. Hopefully she will feel better tomorrow.

Tuesday- She's home!

Morgan woke up feeling okay again this morning. She finished her chemo and was discharged from the hospital at around 1pm. She was feeling quite tired and rested for the remainder of the day. Although she had moments of feeling nauseous, overall this was a good round of chemo.

She will now recover for just under 2 weeks and then she will go for her final round of chemo! Her last round of chemo will be a 5 day round.

Pictures For Morgan

As we come to the end of this part of our journey, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Morgan is starting to liven and is looking forward to the end of this nightmare that has been the last 7-8 months of her life. There have been many dark days, no question. Although through this journey we have felt the love and compassion of so many. From family members to friends to amazingly even complete strangers. We will never be able to thank you all enough and please know that you have uplifted and warmed the hearts of not only Carsen and I, but most importantly Morgan.

I have been trying to think of a way to finish off this part of Morgan's journey. Thinking of a way to celebrate her bravery and strength through all of this. A way to let her know that she is loved and that we are all so proud of her. This is going to be a lifelong battle for her, but we are so proud of all that she has been through.

I was thinking that I would like to give Morgan an inspirational slideshow/video. I had seen a video online for a girl who had gone through cancer treatment. It was a celebratory video that her friends, family and supporters had made and gave to her as a keepsake. It had a slide show with pictures of all of her friends, family and supporters holding signs with words of support and encouragement for the future and praise for all she had gone through.

So that is what I would like to do for Morgan. A slide show video set to inspirational songs with pictures of friends, family and supporters holding just simple paper signs of encouragement and love to celebrate the end of this treatment. Signs can be as simple as " You can do this" or " We love you! " Whatever you see fit. Feel free to pass this along to anyone you think would be interested in sending a picture.

If you are interested in being a part of this slideshow, we thank you so very much. This will mean so much to Morgan. Please feel free to email me your picture to:

clevins@outlook.com

Thank you all again for all of your support and love️️️️

*** We are going to try to keep this a surprise for Morgan.

Day 1 (Monday)

Morgan went into Children's this morning. She started her chemo late this morning. So far she has been feeling well. She is feeling quite tired and has slept most of the day. She managed to fend off the nausea so far with the help of numerous anti nausea meds. If all goes well, she will be on her way back home tomorrow afternoon.

Sunday

Morgan had her blood drawn this morning in Delta. We got word this afternoon that she will be ready to start her 1 day chemo tomorrow.

She is still feeling well and in good spirits.

Saturday

Another good day. Tomorrow Morgan will go in first thing in the morning to get her blood taken at Delta Hospital in hopes of starting chemo on Monday.

Friday

Morgan was feeling well again today. She had a quiet day at home and went out to a movie this afternoon.

Thursday

Morgan had her blood drawn in Delta today. As suspected, her platelets are still very low and she is not ready to start chemo today. We will get her blood work done again on Sunday. Hopefully she will be ready to start the next round of chemo on Monday.

Morgan had another quiet day. She took it easy and rested for most of the day.

Wednesday

Morgan had a quiet day at home today. She is feeling better other than being a little run down and she is in good spirits.

Tuesday

Morgan went in to Children's this morning and had her blood transfusion. We spent most of the day at Children's.

We stopped for dinner on the way home and Morgan is feeling a bit better this evening. She is taking it easy and going to go to bed early again tonight.

Monday

Morgan was feeling unwell again today. She had a headache and was feeling a little dizzy and nauseous.

She went to Delta Hospital and had her blood work done. When they called to give us the results of her blood work we found out her hemoglobin was low and she needed a transfusion. Our nurse decided to have Morgan come in tomorrow morning to do so.

Morgan rested for the remainder of the day and will be going in first thing tomorrow for her blood transfusion.

Sunday

Morgan was feeling a bit better today. She is feeling less nauseous as each day passes. She is still feeling quite weak and tired. It was another quiet day around here today.

Saturday

Morgan woke up feeling a bit better today. She continued to fight off nausea and dizziness for most of the day, bit it was much more manageable today. She rested for most of the day.

Friday

Today Morgan woke up still feeling fairly sick and dizzy. She went in to Children's for her scheduled appointment and had her blood drawn then waited to meet with the doctor. After meeting with the doctor, it was decided to give Morgan some IV fluids to help hydrate her and she was given the next level up anti nausea medication through her IV. She is up to 4 anti nausea medications now at home and even they were not cutting it for her.

The IV fluid and  additional anti nausea medication seemed to do the trick. She felt much better by the time she left the hospital.

While meeting with the doctor, we were given the news that her MRI and CT scans were all clear! This was fabulous news and a big sigh of relief. We will have her final post chemo scans to check for any residual cancer in late January.

Morgan came home and rested for the remainder of the day. She was feeling a little better this evening and went to bed early.

Thursday

Morgan had another bad day today. She had moments where she would feel okay but, for the majority of the day she was very sick. She was nauseous, dizzy and really weak. This round of chemo has definitely been the worst so far for her.

Tomorrow we will be going in to Children's for her scheduled appointment and to do blood work.

Wednesday

Today Morgan had her MRI and CT scans. At this point they are just checking to make sure no new cancer tumors have popped up. Our doctor is confident that the scans will be clear. She said we will not hear any news about the scans unless something shows up. So no news is good news.

We do have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and we will enquire about the scans just to set our minds at ease.

While at the hospital they did some bloodwork in the clinic as Morgan has still been feeling miserable. She is feeling nauseous, dizzy and weak. The bloodwork came back okay and she did not need a blood transfusion. They have her some IV fluids and sent us home.

This afternoon Morgan was still feeling horrible and this evening she threw up quite alot, twice. She ate dinner and went to bed fairly early.

Tuesday ( She's home!)

Morgan was discharged from the hospital at around 10am this morning. She was feeling well.

This afternoon she took a turn for the worse.  She was feeling extremely dizzy and nauseous. Usually when we come home from chemo she is unwell, but this was a lot worse. She continued to feel horrible all afternoon and then finally we decided to call the oncologist on call.

The Dr. told us to hydrate and bump up her anti nausea medications by 3 hours and to call back in 30 minutes if she was still unwell. An hour passed and she was still feeling horrible. So, we called the doctor back and we were advised to bring her back in to the hospital.

We started to prepare the hospital bag and we were getting ready to take her. We got Morgan out of bed and up and moving.  As we were about to head out the door, she said she was feeling a tiny bit better. We made the decision to stay home and see how she felt over the next hour to see if the meds would kick in.

They did. She felt much better as the evening progressed and went to bed early.

Tomorrow we are back at the hospital for her scheduled CT and MRI scans. 

Day 5 ( Monday ) Happy Halloween! 🎃

Morgan had a good day today overall. This afternoon all of the patients at Children's got to participate in a trick or treat scavenger hunt throughout the hospital. It was lots of fun.  The BC Lions, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Finn from the Vancouver Canucks were all there to visit. The news and radio stations where there as well. Morgan ended up being interviewed by News 1130. It was all quite fun.

Then as we were about half way through, Morgan said she was feeling a little off and wanted to go back to her room. So we got in the elevator to head back to her room. Once in the elevator she told me she felt like she was going to pass out. Thank the lord there was a nurse that just so happened to be in the elevator with us. She grabbed Morgan as she started to collapse and we escorted her off the elevator. There were people all around and it was very busy. One of the child life specialists, who knew Morgan noticed something was wrong with her and jumped in to help as well. The nurse, the child life specialist and I made it down the hall with her where we saw a. random chair and got her to sit down. She then began to violently throw up. We eventually made it back to her hospital room. She felt much better after being sick and rested for the remainder of the afternoon.

I just wanted to throw out a humungous thank you to the nurse and child life specialist who jumped in to help with Morgan today. I was so shaken and overwhemed and they just whisked in and took over. We are so blessed to be under the care of such an amazing group of people at Children's. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Morgan was feeling much better this evening and had a good night hanging out with her Aunt tonight while her father and I took our son out trick or treating.

Hope everyone had a great night! Happy Halloween 🎃❤

Day 4 ( Sunday )

Morgan was feeling unwell for most of the day. She ended up needing a blood transfusion which is fairly normal for this round of chemo. She rested for most of the day.

Day 3 ( Saturday )

Morgan was feeling a bit better today. She watched some shows and napped throughout the day.

Day 2 ( Friday )

Morgan felt nauseous for most of the day. She spent a lot of the day sleeping and resting. Her spirits are low right now.

Day 1 ( Thursday )

Morgan went in to Childrens Hospital this morning and was able to start her 5 day chemo. She battled on and off all day with nausea.

There are two oncology wards at Children's. One is in the second floor and one on the third.  Both are completely full with the overflow of about 5 children being admitted and put into the regular surgical ward. We were fortunate enough to get one of  the last rooms in one of the oncology wards. It is upsetting to think of how many children are here right now batteling cancer. The wards are overflowing. Thinking good thoughts for them all . 💗

Wednesday

Morgan went in and had her bloodwork done first thing this morning. We got word in the afternoon that her counts are good and we will be starting her 5 day chemo tomorrow.

Morgan had a good day today. We carved some pumpkins together as today is the last day she will be home before Halloween. Sadly she will be in the hospital for Halloween but, she has come to terms with it and said that is would be okay as long as she still was able to have candy ☺

Tuesday

It was a quiet day around here today. Morgan had her visiting teacher over this afternoon and got caught up in her schoolwork.

Tomorrow morning she will be going into  Delta Hospital to get her bloodwork done. Her counts should still be good and hopefully she will be starting her 5 day chemo on Thursday.

Monday

Today we went into Children's and dropped off all of the items we had purchased. We also dropped off some Halloween treats for the kids and parents. We still have quite a few treats left over that we will take in on Thursday when Morgan starts her next round of chemo.

Sunday

For Morgan's birthday, she had asked family and friends to donate to BC Children's Hospital. She was given some cash as well. Morgan woke up feeling great again today, so we went shopping and bought quite a few much needed items for the parent kitchen in the oncology ward. We also bought coffee kcups for the parents and Halloween candy. Morgan was pleased with all of the items that she was able to buy with her birthday money for the hospital.

Tomorrow we will be going in to drop it all off.

Saturday

Morgan was feeling good today. Since her counts were good and one of her classes just so happened to be going in a field trip, she was able to attend as well.

Morgan was quite excited to do so and it gave her the rare opportunity to socialize and meet some of her new classmates. She had a blast. Morgan then had one of her friends over for a bit last night.

All in all she had a fantastic day. 

Friday

Morgan went in to Children's this morning for her bloodwork and to meet with her doctor.  There was quite a wait today as the clinic was quite busy.

Once she met with the doctor, we discovered her blood counts had already seemingly bounced back from chemo. It is great news as usually it takes a lot longer for her to recover. Switching to the 1 day chemo and loosing the additional chemo drug really made a difference for her recovery for this round. She is feeling well today and the doctor was pleased to see that.

Thursday

Morgan had a good day today. We went to the local pumpkin patch this afternoon ( an annual tradition)  and it was really nice to spend some somewhat normal time as a family all together.

Wednesday

Another quiet day at home today. Morgan had a good day, was feeling well and was in good spirits.

Tuesday

Morgan was up bright and early this morning to get her bloodwork done at Delta hospital. We got the results back this afternoon and her counts are still looking okay. She has yet to bottom out.

She is feeling a little tired and slightly nauseous today but overall, pretty good.

We were able to take a look at Morgan's grade 8 photo online today and placed our order. We were quite pleased with how well it turned out!

Monday

Morgan had a good day today. This morning she went into the high school before it opened and got her school picture taken.

Then Morgan and I went to the new mall in Tsawwassen. We rented a wheelchair as she did not have the energy to walk for very long. We toured the mall and finished it off with lunch. She really enjoyed being able to get out today.

She spent the rest of the day resting. She was feeling a little nauseous for most of the day but was well other than that.

Sunday

Another quiet day around these parts. Morgan is feeling pretty good. She is feeling a little tired and dizzy but overall another good day.

Saturday

Morgan had a quiet day at home. She had minimal nausea and was feeling generally okay. It was a good day for her.

Friday- She's home!

Morgan finished up and was able to come home early this afternoon from the hispital. She is actually feeling pretty good today which is a big change as usually when she comes home from her 2 day chemo, she feels pretty horrible.

She rested for the remainder of the day as she was feeling quite exhausted and was off to bed fairly early tonight.

Day 1 (Thursday)

Morgan went in to Children's this morning. She had her blood drawn and as we were hoping, she was able to start her chemo today.

She had a good day today. She is in good spirits and hasn't been feeling nauseous at all this round so far.  Hopefully it will be more of the same tomorrow.

Wednesday

Another quiet day today. We are hoping Morgan will be ready to start chemo tomorrow. She will be going into Children's tomorrow morning and they will check her bloodwork to see if her platlet count is high enough to start.

We were happy to hear last week from Morgan's doctor, that Morgan's 2 day chemo rounds are now only going to be one day. One of the chemo drugs that  she was taking is now complete. This is great news as it will mean only one day in the hospital for this round of chemo.

Tuesday

Morgan went first thing to Delta Hospital and had her blood drawn. Later this morning we got word that her platelets are far too low to start chemo. We have rescheduled her to now go in to Children's on Thursday morning in hopes she will be ready to start.

Monday

Morgan felt good today. She had a nice relaxing day and we topped it off with a nice family dinner at home. It was really great to have a nice home cooked meal with all four members around the dinner table tonight as they are few and far between lately. Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday- She's back home!

Morgan woke up feeling much better this morning. After meeting with the Dr this afternoon, it was decided that she could indeed go home. She was happily back home late this afternoon.

Her platelets are still fairly low and we are doubtful that she will be starting chemo on Tuesday as scheduled. She will rest for the remainder of the weekend and then go in to Delta Hospital first thing Tuesday morning to get her blood drawn and we will see if she is ready to start chemo. If not, we will try again Wednesday morning.

Sadly we are having to miss out on both sides of the family's Thanksgiving gatherings because of the unexpected hospital stay and recovery. We managed to pick up a nice little turkey breast roast and I will be cooking a little feast for the four of us to enjoy tomorrow evening.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Hope everyone is having a great weekend surrounded by their loved ones! ❤

Saturday

Morgan woke up still in pain this morning and not feeling well. Over the course of the day, she started feeling much better. This evening she is feeling great and in good spirits. We are hopeful that she will get to come home tomorrow.

Friday

Morgan woke up feeling really horrible this morning. She was feeling nauseous and was having incredibly bad jaw pain. She headed in to Children's Hospital for her appointment and to have her blood drawn. Once the results became back from her bloodwork, they confirmed that  she needed a blood transfusion. The doctor also gave her some morphine for the pain in her jaw.

A little while later we where told that she had spiked a fever while at the hospital. Therefore she needed to be admitted and put on an IV antibiotic. She will be staying at the hospital for a minimum of two days. She has been feeling nauseous and has been experiencing quite a bit of pain all day long. They have been trying to manage her pain with morphine but it doesn't seem to be helping as much as it should. She is unable to eat anything at this point because her mouth is too sore.

Carsen and I think she may have some sort of infection in her mouth which caused her to spike a fever and causing the pain. The doctors have not expressed their thoughts on what it could be as of yet. I think they are just waiting to see if the antibiotics help with reducing the pain in her mouth over the next two days. 

Hopefully she will wake up feeling a bit better tomorrow morning. 

Thursday

Morgan bas been feeling pretty off for most of the day. She has been feeling nauseous, exhausted, and hasn't eaten much of anything. This evening she also had a headache. Her tempature is still normal though, which is good. We are pretty sure it is low hemoglobin and that a blood transfusion is what is needed to make her feel a bit better.

Tomorrow she will be going in to Children's Hospital first thing to get bloodwork done and meet with the oncologist for her regular appointment. So we will see what they have to say and we will go from there.

Wednesday

Morgan's stomach is feeling much better today. She has been feeling nauseous on and off for most of the day. Other than that, she feels well.

Both her little brother Maxwell and I have come down with yet another cold. So we are trying to keep things as sterile as possible. Morgan has no immunity right now as her counts are at their lowest point. Hopefully she can avoid this round of colds.

Tuesday

Morgan had a tough day today. She was batteling with stomach pains all day long.

Finally tonight we gave the oncologist on call a phonecall. There is no immediate concern but we are to keep an eye on her overnight and we will see how she feels in the morning.

Monday

Morgan had a quiet day today. She is feeling less nauseous and was able to eat fairly well today. She spent most of the day watching tv and reading.

Sunday- Morgan's 13th Birthday!

Morgan woke up to us bringing on two large helium balloons into her bedroom. A silver 1 and 3 ballon. She was feeling okay so I made her pancakes and bacon for breakfast.

She had a low key day and as per her birthday dinner request she had chicken breast, broccoli and mashed potatoes for dinner. Followed up by a superb cake for dessert. All in all she had a great day.

Saturday- She's home!

Morgan was able to leave the hospital at around 11am and she was so happy to go home. She spent the rest of the day relaxing and reading. She is looking forward to her birthday tomorrow. It will be a quiet day at home.

Day 5 (Friday)

Much of the same today. Morgan felt nauseous and unwell for most of the day. She is counting down the hours until she gets to go home tomorrow.

Day 4 (Thursday)

More of the same today. Morgan was fairly nauseous for most of the day. She did some drawing and watched tv and napped. She is looking forward to coming home on Saturday.

Day 3 (Wednesday)

Morgan felt sick for most of the day today. She managed to eat a bit and slept in and off throughout the day.

Day 2 (Tuesday)

Morgan is feeling pretty nauseous today. She has not eaten much and has slept a lot today. Hopefully she will feel a bit better tomorrow.

Day 1 (Monday)

Morgan went in to Children's this morning and had her blood drawn. We soon found out her counts were good and she has started chemo.

She is feeling quite nauseous and tired. She has rested for most of the day.

Sunday

Another quiet day. Morgan did some reading and drawing today. Then she caught up on some school work.

Tomorrow she will be going into Children's to get her bloodwork done in hopes of starting her 5 day chemo.

Saturday

Morgan had yet another cold. She is feeling okay other than that. Quiet day today.

Friday

This morning Morgan went to Children's first thing. She had a test with physio to check her reflexes and to see how much change has occured since she started chemo.

She then went and got her blood drawn. When we got the results of the bloodwork, we found out her platelets were still too low to start chemo. Her hemoglobin was also very low. So she was given a blood transfusion and was back home early this evening. We will go back in to Children's on Monday morning in hopes that her platelets will then be high enough to start her chemo.

Thursday

Morgan met with the traveling teacher today. She brought Morgan some school work and will be back next week to bring her some more.

Morgan had a good day today and is feeling well. Tomorrow morning she will head in to Children's to get bloodwork done and if all goes well, she will be starting her 5 day chemo tomorrow.

Wednesday

Morgan had her bloodwork done this morning in Delta. We found out this afternoon that her platelets are too low to start chemo on Thursday.

So now she will go in to Children's on Friday morning and get her bloodwork done there. If her counts are high enough, she will start her 5 day chemo. If they are still too low, she will just come home and try again on Monday.

On a positive note, because we are not starting chemo Thursday, Morgan is able to meet with the South Delta roaming teacher for the first time. The roaming teacher will collect Morgan's schoolwork from her teachers at the high school and will meet with Morgan at our house on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We are looking forward to meeting with her and getting Morgan back on track with her schoolwork.

Tuesday

Morgan had a good day today at home. She was feeling well. She watched tv, did some drawing and reading.

After careful consideration, we have decided to keep Morgan from attending school until her treatment is complete (hopefully January). There is just too much risk involved with contracting a cold or any bug for that matter which could potentially be life threatening and/or set back her treatment.

We heard from the roaming teacher ( She will be collecting Morgan's school work from the high school and bringing it to her once a week). We hope to meet with her either this week or next so that Morgan can get started.

Tomorrow Morgan will be going into Delta Hospital to get her bloodwork done. They will be looking to see if her platelets and white blood cells have come up enough to start her 5 day chemo on Thursday.

Monday

Morgan got her bloodwork done this morning at Delta Hospital.

This afternoon Morgan went for another follow up appointment at the plastic surgeon. He informed us that everything looks great and is healing well. Her range of motion looks great and the scars on her shoulder and down her back are healing nicely.

We found out late this afternoon that Morgan's counts are still low. Most importantly, her platelets. We are hoping they will bounce back so she can start her next round of chemo that is scheduled for this Thursday. She will get bloodwork done on Wednesday to determine that.

Sunday

Morgan spent the night at her grandparents last night and had a great time. She came home this morning and was still feeling good. Over the course of the day, her sore throat has gotten worse. It has been very painful for her. We called the oncologist on call and they gave us some helpful tips to soothe her throat. Hopefully it is nothing major and will eventually pass. We will continue to monitor her tempature to make sure she does not develop a fever.

I forgot to post this picture from the other day when we where at the hospital. Morgan drawing to pass the time ☺

Saturday

Morgan had a quiet day. She is feeling okay for the most part but has been developing a sore throat. We will keep an eye on it and monitor her tempature but, so far so good.

Friday

This morning Morgan went to Delta Hospital to get her blood drawn. This afternoon we recived the call that her counts are okay and no blood transfusion is needed. White blood cells are non existent right now, so as per usual we need to take extra precautions to avoid Morgan getting sick.

Thursday

Quiet day for Morgan today. She is feeling better and only occasionally nauseous.

Wednesday

Morgan headed out to Children's first thing this morning. She spent the day being hydrated, tested and having her blood drawn. The testing was to reaveal how her liver and kidneys are functioning. 

All went well and she was on her way back home by about 3:30pm. She spent the rest of the day taking it easy. She was feeling quite tired but overall better today.

Tuesday

Another quiet day today. Morgan is feeling much better and has minimal nausea.

Tomorrow we will be going in to Children's to get a liver and kidney test and to meet with her doctor.

Monday

Another quiet day around here. Morgan spent the day watching tv and drawing. She is feeling a little better today.

Sunday

Quiet day today. Morgan is still feeling nauseated and quite exhausted. She has just rested for most of the day today.

Saturday- She's home!

Morgan had another quiet day today. She battled nausea throughout the day.

She was discharged this evening and was back home tonight by about 5:30pm.

Day 2 (Friday)

Quiet day at the hospital today. Morgan was feeling nauseous all day but was in good spirits. She managed to read and draw for most of the day.

Day 1 (Thursday)

Today Morgan went to Delta first thing and had her blood taken. She then headed off to school. Late morning we got the call from Children's that her platelet count from Delta hospital came back inconclusive. They decided that it would be best to have her come in to Children's and have her bloodwork redone as they would like to start her chemo as soon as possible.

At lunchtime, Morgan headed out to Childrens and had her bloodwork done there. We soon found out her platelets were up enough to begin chemo! Great news. So she was admitted and has begun her 2 day chemo. If all goes well, she will be back home to recover on Saturday.

She is in great spirits and so far has been handling the chemo well with minimal nausea. She is still fighting off a cold but is feeling generally okay.

Wednesday

Today Morgan went to school in the morning and got her locker for the year. Then she headed in to Children's in anticipation of starting chemo today. She got her bloodwork done when they arrived and got prepped. When the bloodwork results returned, we discovered that her platelet count ( that is the part of the blood that enables it to clot.) was still far to low to start her chemo today. So they came back home. Her white blood cell count is the one that allows her to fight off infection, is great.

On a positive note, Morgan's spirits are way up and she has really enjoyed going to the high school these past few days. I think the fear of the unknown is gone and she feels more positive about high school. The social aspect and feeling disconnected from friends is something we can continue to work at while she is on treatment and she will gradually be able to pick back up socially with friends and even make new friends once she returns in January.

Tomorrow morning she will go for bloodwork in Delta and then she will head off for a full day of school. We should get the results for her bloodwork late morning and if her counts are up, we will pull her out of school and take her in to start her chemo. 

Tuesday

Morgan attended her first day of grade 8 today which consisted of 2 hours. She was nervous and excited but happy that she had the opportunity to attend.

The plan for the afternoon was supposed to be that we would go into Children's to be admitted and start her chemo. Unfortunately, do to her being sick over the past few days, her blood platelets have not recovered enough from the last round of chemo. So we could not start today. We are hoping by tomorrow she will be strong enough to start her chemo.

Monday

Morgan was seen by the doctor this morning and was discharged just before lunchtime. She is feeling a bit better today. She still has a cold and is feeling quite tired, but her fever has not returned which is positive.

Sunday

Today Morgan continued on the iv antibiotics and received a blood transfusion as her hemoglobin was low. She has not had a fever at all today which is great. She has really perked up and seems much better.

If all continues to go well, she should be coming home tomorrow.

Saturday

Morgan had a horrible night's sleep last night.  She woke up every 40 minutes or so and was feeling nauseous, hot and dizzy all night.

This morning was more of the same. She was not herself and feeling very sick. Her tempature was slowly climbing. So we decided to call the oncologist on call. They told us to bring her into the hospital to have her looked at. After looking her over and watching her spike a fever while in emergency, they decided to admit her and put her on IV antibiotics and do some blood cultures to see if they could identify the infection.

The blood cultures will take 48 hours to complete, so she will be in the hospital for that length of time at least. Possibly longer depending on how she is feeling and what they find. Hopefully she will start to feel better once the antibiotics fully kick in.

Friday

Today Morgan went into Children's and had her blood drawn. She then met with our social worker and finally the oncologist. After meeting with them, she went for her heart test.

Our plan was to then go to the mall to do some back to school clothes shopping. Unfortunately Morgan's bloodwork showed her counts were still really low so we were unable to go shopping today.

This evening she is still fighting this cold and feels pretty horrible. Her tempature has slowly been rising but she has not developed a fever as of yet. We will keep a close eye on her.

Thursday

Today Morgan went to visit her new high school. We met with her new counselor and she gave us a tour of the school and showed Morgan where her classes will be. On the tour, we were able to meet with some of her new teachers for grade 8.

She is still nervous and unsure how the first half of the year will play out for her. She is still worried about the work load and the social aspect. She will have a teacher who will work with her outside of the school and will bring her schoolwork and help her get through the next few months while she is absent from school.

Morgan will be able to physically attend school once or twice a month if she is healthy enough to do so. We hope that she will be back to school full time come January when, fingers crossed, her treament should be complete.

Tomorrow we will be going in to Children's to get blood drawn, meet with the oncologist and have a couple of heart tests done in preparation for her 2 day chemo that will be starting on Tuesday.

Wednesday

Morgan's spirits were low today. She has developed a cold, so we are keeping an eye on her tempature to make sure she does not develop a fever.

She is feeling overwhelmed with back to school and is having concerns starting high school and maintaining a social life while she is having to go through the rest of her treatments.

We will be meeting with her guidance counselor tomorrow to get her schedule and to find out more info on how the year will play out for her.

Tuesday

Morgan is feeling much better today. She managed to cut down on her anti nausea meds and is coping well. We spent the morning baking together and she took it easy this afternoon.

Monday

Another tough day today. Morgan was nauseous all day today. She rested for the most part of the day. Her brother Max has a bit of a cold right now so we need to be extra vigilant about hand washing and making sure not to spread germs. Hopefully she can avoid the cold.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month- My take on that....

I used to be that person that would see a child with a serious illness or injury and I would have the urge to turn away. Not that I didn't have compassion. Selfishly, I would turn away because my heart just couldn't handle seeing them suffer. I would just refuse to even imagine what they where going through. What their parents must be going through. I couldn't bare to face the thought of it. Let alone thinking of my own children going through something like that.  I just didn't have the heart. I couldn't handle it. Not even a bit.

I can't turn away now. It is my child who people may look away from. It is my child who people may think to themselves that they can't bare to imagine what she is going through. At what her parents must be going through. It is surreal. It is hard.

I can't even begin to explain what this is like to anyone on the outside of this bubble of childhood cancer. Only those who have been through it or are going through it can truly understand.

How hard it is to watch your perfect, beautiful, polite, straight A student, the daughter that you love more than life itself go through something as heinous as this. The multiple surgeries causing scarring all over her body. The chemotherapy that gets funneled into her body through a port in her chest week after week. The nurses that come into her hospital room in full protective masks, gloves and gowns to administer this cancer curing poison. The heaps of medications she has to take daily. The pain she has had to endure. The anger. The stress. The constant worry. There is just so much. I am numb to it all now.

To have the hospital become your second home. The constant feeling of exhaustion that never goes away. Seeing so many other children in the hospital who are going through treatments and having to watch them and even sometimes listen to them through the walls of our hospital room suffering as well. To see the pain in their parents eyes that you relate to all too well.

I can tell you that I have learned a lot and as crazy as it sounds I am greatful for this experience. It has made me a stronger person. It has opened my eyes. I have learned so much. I have educated myself on a topic that had always scared me to merely think of in the past.

I have learned how incredibly strong my daughter is. She has been through so much and she just keeps fighting. Her strength is admirable. I have learned what amazing lifelong friends and family I have. They have really stepped up throughout all of this and supported me beyond belief. I love them all so much and don't think I would have my sanity without their ongoing support. I have learned how a community can come together, rally and support a family in need. There really are good people in this world.

I have learned how strong and brave all of these little cancer warriors really are. How positive they are. How even though they are going through tremendous pain both physically and emotionally, they still laugh, play and have enjoyment in every day. I have learned how much of a gem the oncology unit is at BC Children's Hospital as well as all of the staff and the hospital itself. We are so blessed to have them so close to us.

I have learned how aggressive and scary Ewing's Sarcoma can be. How blessed we are that they caught it so early with Morgan. I have learned how common all childhood cancer really is. That is frightening. I have learned that in Canada, only 3% of cancer research funding goes to pediatric cancer. 3%!!! I find this astounding.

You don't think about your child getting a life threatening illness. You just don't. I didn't. Our lives have been changed forever. There will never come a day that I will be able to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that my daughter is completely healthy. Ever again. Every little headache or growing pain or cold. We will worry. Anxiously awaiting annual scans and test results for the rest of her life. There will always be worry. There will always be the looming threat that the cancer could someday return. She may also face many other health related roadblocks in her life because of the treatment that helped to cure her of her cancer.

September is childhood cancer awareness month. Our story, sadly enough, is one of the more positive ones. Morgan's treatment thus far has gone incredibly well. The best possible outcome so far. We are so unbelievably fortunate. Many other children face far more legnthy and challenging treatments. Some spend years in treatment. Some have to travel far and wide having to split up their families, pay tremendous amounts of money for treatments and housing for months on end just to get the tests, scans, radiation, chemotherapy and medical attention that they so desperately need to survive this vicious disease.

More needs to be done to help prevent and also cure childhood cancer. More awareness needs to be brought to this cause. I, like many people was unaware and not educated in the matter. It is not fair. It is hard to see these young innocent babies and children suffer like this. Please take a moment to pray, think positive thoughts for all of these poor children and families that are currently suffering or have been touched by childhood cancer. Maybe even do your own research into childhood cancer or place a donation to Canadian Childhood Cancer Foundation or BC Children's Hospital. Or donate blood.

I am incredibly greatful for all that I have learned and plan to help support this cause and spread the word. If you made it through my ramble, thank you. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy life. Much love to you all 💗

Sunday- She's home!

Morgan came home this morning. She is feeling very nauseous and was sick on the drive home. She got home, cleaned up and headed to bed. Quiet day for her today.

Day 5 (Saturday)

Morgan is still feeling quite nauseous but she was able to eat. Quiet day again today. She is looking forward to coming home tomorrow. Her chemo finishes up tonight and then she has post hydration until the morning. She should be ready to come home in the morning once the doctors make their rounds.

Day 4 (Friday)

More of the same today. Morgan is still batteling with nausea. Mood is still low. Trying to sleep as much as she can to pass the time.

Day 3 (Thursday)

Morgan felt nauseous all day again today. It was a pretty quiet day for her. She slept quite a bit.

Day 2 (Wednesday)

Morgan battled with nausea again all day today. She slept quite a bit today and managed to eat some soup. She met with our social worker to discuss her feelings and help improve her mood. The social worker will be coming to visit her daily while she is in treatment this week which is great. Hopefully that will help boost her spirits as they are fairly low right now.

Day 1 (Tuesday)

Morgan started her chemo today. She is doing okay. She is feeling extremely nauseous today and her spirits are low. Hopefully she will feel a bit better tomorrow.

Monday

Morgan went in first thing to get her blood work done this morning. It all came back great as expected and she will start her chemotherapy tomorrow morning.

This afternoon she met with the plastic surgeon. He is pleased with how well everything is healing and her range of motion. We will meet with him again in 4 weeks.

Sunday

Morgan had a good day today. She is feeling much better the past few days and did not need any pain medication again today.

Tomorrow morning she will be going in to Delta Hospital to get her blood work done in preparation for chemo which starts back up Tuesday morning. We start back up on the 5 day chemo.

Also, tomorrow we will be meeting with the plastic surgeon for a follow up appointment in the afternoon.

Saturday

Morgan had another quiet day today. She is feeling much better and has not needed any pain medication today.

Friday

Another good day. Morgan was feeling great today. She is healing nicely. We took her out for lunch today locally which she quite enjoyed.

Thursday

Morgan was feeling quite a bit better today. She did not need pain medication until the evening, which is great. She still has trouble over night with finding a comfortable way to sleep and tends to wake up a lot. Overall though, she is feeling much better.

Paintings

Morgan has started painting canvases the past few days. Here is what she has done so far.

Wednesday

Morgan is slowly feeling better each day. She had a good day today. She managed to make it out for dinner and to a movie with friends.

Tuesday

Morgan had a great day today. She woke up well rested at the hotel and we headed to the Vancouver Aquarium. We spent a few hours there, went for lunch and then headed home. She rested for the rest of the day.

We got word today that Morgan will meet with her plastic surgeon for a follow up appointment on Monday and will start her 5 day chemo on Tuesday.

Monday

Morgan had a great day today. We had a mother daughter afternoon evening out. We spent the afternoon downtown walking around and are spending the night in a hotel downtown Vancouver.

This is something Morgan and I do anually and we figured we may as well take advantage of her good immune health while we can before she starts back up on chemo.

She had a good time but tired quickly and ended up falling asleep fairly early tonight.

 

Sunday

Another quiet day. Morgan battled with pain in and off but she did okay.

We managed to get out today to see her dance studio put on a performance of The Lion King. It was fantastic! It was really nice to do something as a family of four again. We are really savoring this time we have right now before Morgan has to head back in for chemo.

Saturday

Morgan had a quiet day today. She is still feeling uncomfortable and in quite a bit of pain, but she is doing well. She spent the day watching tv and relaxing. Each day she feels a little bit better.

Friday

Morgan was feeling much better today and she was looking forward to coming home.

After meeting with the doctors and going over recovery at home, she left the hospital just before lunchtime. She then stopped in at Children's to drop off some paperwork and ended up meeting with her oncologist while she was there.

The doctor was very pleased with how well everything went and they discussed when Morgan should start her chemo again. We thought she would have a few weeks off to recover after the surgery but it turns out, she may be starting her chemo again this Thursday.

Even though the tumor was removed and she has tested clean in that area for cancer, she will still need to complete her chemotherapy regimen. The reason for that is ewings sarcoma is one of the most aggressive forms of childhood cancer. There is still the potential that microscopic undetectable bits of cancer are still floating around in her body. Studies have shown that surgery alone would not eradicate the cancer completely. It would just return either in the same spot or somewhere else in her body and most likely metastisize. The chemotherapy will further blast her body to kill off any and all bits of cancer left in her body and therefore, hopefully prevent it from spreading at this point and hopefully prevent it from ever returning in the future.

Thursday

Good day today. Morgan is up and moving around a lot more today. She is still in pain and that will of course, take time, but she is feeling much better.

They removed her drainage tubes from her back this morning. It was quite a painful procedure and she is happy it is over and done with. She has been taken off of iv fluids and was told that she will be able to come home tomorrow. We were so pleased to hear that.

This afternoon we got the most amazing news. The results of the pathology from the bones and tumor removed. The tumor removed was completely dead already! Which in turn means that there is no live cancer remaining in her at this point. This means that she will not need radiation!

We are so relieved and overjoyed as having radiation would mean further risks of cancer and illness in the future.  The surgeon said that the tissue surrounding the tumor was cancer free as well. This is all great news and we are so happy.

Now Morgan will take the time she needs to heal while being monitored by her oncology team. Then, when they feel she is strong enough, they will continue with the chemotherapy regimen. If all goes well, Morgan could be done her treatment as early as December. Today was a good day for us all.

Wednesday

Morgan's day today was a little bit brighter thankfully. She managed to take a few laps around the ward and was able to sit up in a chair for a while today. She is still batteling with the pain but every day it seems to be getting a little bit easier.

We are hopeful that she may be able to come home either this weekend or early next week. She has definitely made some great progress this week and her spirits although still fairly low, are improving daily.

Tuesday

Another challenging day. Morgan is tired of being in pain. She is struggling with staying positive but, looking forward to feeling better and going home.

She was able to get up today and take a few steps around her hospital room. She then sat in a chair for half an hour. Every day she feels a tiny bit better.

Monday

Another tough day. The pain came in waves today as did Morgan's mood. This has definitely been the toughest and most raw part of cancer so far. It is so hard to watch a child go through this. It is just not fair.

Morgan managed to stand up today and walk over to the window and sit down to enjoy the view. It was short lived before the pain took over and she was back in bed.

She had a visit from her oncology doctor and her personal nurse from children's hospital today. It was nice to see a familiar face at VGH. They were pleased with Morgan's progress and hopefull she will start feeling better soon. Hopfully Morgan will get the rest she needs and continue to feel a tiny bit better each day.

Sunday

Morgan had a very difficult day today. She was in a tremendous amount of pain all day and couldn't get comfortable at all. Pain medications just were not cutting it at all. She was pretty miserable.

The physiotherapist did manage to get her to stand up, which is great progress for her.

Hopefully tomorrow We can get the pain under control. It is really hard to watch her in so much pain.

Saturday

Morgan struggled again today with pain. She was able to sit up a bit today with help from the physiotherapist with a little less pain than yesterday. Tomorrow they are hopefull she will be able to stand. Baby steps. They changed the large bandage on her back today and said everything was looking good. She has two drain tubes coming out of her back and they seem to be draining less fluid today which is also positive.

She managed to eat a tiny bit today. She had some soup and juice.

Tomorrow is a new day...

Friday

Morgan had a difficult day today. She was in a lot if pain all day and her spirits where quite low for most of the day.

We had numerous visits from multiple thoracic surgeons as well as plastic surgeons throughout the day. Her shoulder and back are both healing well so far and the doctors were all quite pleased with how well the procedure went.

It will take some time I'm sure, before Morgan starts to feel better. Hopefully each day that passes, she will feel a little bit better. VGH, the doctors, and nurses have been so accomidating to us and have made us feel quite welcome here. Morgan ended up getting another room with a beautiful view.

Thursday

Thank you all so much for your love and support. It uplifted us all today and helped us get through.

The surgery went well! The thoracic surgeon removed most of her collarbone a part of her sternum and part of her top rib. Then the plastic surgeon took muscle and skin from her back to help fill in where the collar bone was and to help with function.

The surgery was about 5 hours all together which was a lot shorter than we had antisipated. We are all unbelievably happy and relived it went so well.

The tumor that was removed will now go to pathology to be tested to see if all of the cancer cells were removed from Morgan's body. They will decide from there if Morgan will need radiation treatment alongside with her additional chemo treatment once she has recovered from the surgery.

Wednesday

Morgan had a busy day today. We were at Children's first thing this morning to access her port for her surgery tomorrow and also do some bloodwork. We then headed over to VGH and Morgan was admitted. She met with a few doctors and the anestitist this afternoon and then rested for the rest of the day. She is extremely anxious and nervous for the surgery tomorrow but, is looking forward to it being over.

She was given a room in the 12th floor with a BEAUTIFUL view. We have been looking out at it all day. This evening we even got to see the ambulance helicopter land below her window and watch a gorgeous sunset.

Tuesday

Morgan had a good day today. She went to watch a matinee movie today and then rested for the rest of the day.

Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Children's to get her port accessed in preparation for the surgery. She will then be heading over to VGH to be admitted to the hospital. We will be meeting with the anestitist for her 2 hour appointment and then will be spending the night at the hospital in preparation for the surgery first thing Thursday morning.

Monday

Morgan had a quiet day at home today. She went to Delta Hospital to get her bloodwork done. We got the results this afternoon and her counts are looking good.

Sunday

Another quiet day for Morgan today. Not much to report. She will be going for bloodwork tomorrow morning at Delta Hospital to check her counts.

Saturday

Morgan had a quiet day today. She has had a sore throat all day. It is a bit concerning as her counts are at zero right now. She does not have a fever though, so that is a good thing. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Friday

Morgan went to her oncology check up at Children's today. She had her bloodwork done. Her white blood cells are at zero as expected. Her hemoglobin is okay, so no blood transfusion today.

She was feeling good all day and even managed to get out for a walk this evening.

Thursday

Morgan had a good day today. She was feeling well and in good spirits.

We met with the plastic surgeon today that will be working along side the thoracic surgeon.

The doctor informed us that after the thoracic surgeon removes Morgan's clavicle, possibly top rib and part of her sternum, he will be taking some muscle and tissue from either her leg or her back to put in place of where the clavicle was removed to help her with mobility.

The entire surgery should take around 8 hours and then Morgan will be in ICU for about a day. Once she is stable, they will move her to the ward where she will recover in the hospital for 1 to 2 weeks.

We are now waiting for an appointment with the anesthesiologist which we are told will be a 2 hour appointment.

It was a stressful day for Morgan and us as well just hearing how in depth the surgery will be. We will be happy to get over this hurdle as it will bring us one step closer to curing Morgan of her cancer.

Wednesday

Morgan had another good day today. She was able to spend some time outside and was in good spirits.

Tomorrow she will be meeting with the plastic surgeon that will be working along side the thoracic surgeon.

The surgery has officially been booked for next Thursday morning at VGH. She will be recovering at VGH for aproximatley 1 week and then we will consult with the oncologist and go from there. Full recovery from her operation is aproximatley 1 month. Morgan is extremely nervous for the procedure as are we. The unknown is always the hardest part.

Tuesday

Morgan had a great day today. She was feeling better so she decided to join us on our walk to the park. She had just gotten the new pokemon go app on her phone and was eager to test it out. She had a great time ( attached to this blog post is a picture of Morgan on the hunt for pokemons).

Max was so excited to have Morgan out with him today that he decided to forgo the playground and follow her around on her hunt for pokemons instead. It was really sweet.

She had a bit of nausea today but overall it was a great day for her.

Monday

Morgan had another quiet day. She is still having some nausea but is in better spirits today.

Sunday

It was a quiet day for Morgan at home. She was feeling nauseous all day and was having some troubles with acid reflux. She managed to eat okay today and spent the day playing in her computer and watching tv.

Saturday- She's home!

Morgan had another okay day. She has felt unwell and nauseous throughout the day. She still managed to eat well. She was able to come home early this evening. She rested this evening and was off to bed early.

Day 2 (Friday)

Morgan had an okay day today. She battled nausea for most of the day and spirits were low. She managed to eat today and slept quite a bit. She should be coming back home tomorrow late afternoon.

Day 1 (Thursday)

Morgan went into Delta Hospital this morning to get her bloodwork done. We found out later in the morning that she was all set to start her 2 day chemo today. It is great news as we were really hoping to get one more round of chemo in before her surgery.

So far so good. She is feeling okay. She is little tired but she is eating well and in good spirits.

Wednesday

Morgan had a good day today. She went to Delta Hospital first thing to get her bloodwork done. Then late this afternoon we found out that her counts are on their way back up. Her white blood cells look great, now we just need to wait for her platelets to go up so that she can hopefully go in for one more round of chemo before the surgery.

She managed to go out for dinner and to a movie tonight which was a nice break for her. She will go back in to Delta Hospital tomorrow morning to get another round of bloodwork done. If it looks good, we will be starting her 2 day chemo tomorrow.

Tuesday -Back home!

Morgan had a good day today. She isn't feeling 100% yet but is doing much better. Her doctor thought she was well enough to go home today which is great!

She will be going to Delta Hospital in the morning to get her bloodwork done. She may need a platelet transfusion in the next few days as they have remained quite low. If her counts bounce back by either Thursday or Friday she will go in for her final round of chemo before the surgery. If her counts do not bounce back by then, we will just skip this last round and wait for the surgery.

Monday

Morgan had an okay day. She is still fighting off this virus, but is in good spirits

Her white blood cells and platelets are still extremely low, so they are keeping a close eye on her. She is still receiving iv antibiotics as well.

The doctor informed us today that if her counts do not return to normal by Thursday they will be canceling her scheduled 2 day round of chemo this week. The doctors would like to see her counts return to normal in preparation for her surgery. They will not do another round of chemo until after her surgery which is set to tentatively take place on August 4th.

Sunday

Today Morgan is still suffering with a swollen sore throat. In addition to that, one of her eyes became irritated last night and was puffy and red for most of the day today.

Morgan received a blood transfusion this afternoon, is still on iv antibiotics, and her tempature has been normal today.

Fingers crossed she will feel better tomorrow and be able to return home.

Saturday

Morgan had a rough day today. When she got up this morning, she told me she had been up most of the night not feeling well and feeling extremely hot. We called the hospital and her doctor told us to bring her in.

She was admitted this morning and has undergone an x ray to check her lungs as well as she had some additional blood cultures done to see if they can nail down the virus she has. She was then put on an IV antibiotic and fluids. She is still feeling pretty horrible and has had a sore throat for most of the day. She has been on the cusp of a fever for most of the day as well.

Hopefully she will be able to get some rest tonight and will be feeling a bit better when she wakes up tomorrow morning. She will be in the hospital for a minimum of 48 hours for the antibiotics and we will go from there.

Friday

Morgan had a long night last night. She had trouble sleeping and was feeling hot.

This morning we went for our usual bloodwork and appointment at Children's.

Morgan has no white blood cells right now as per usual. Therefore, she has no way to fight off this ongoing cold. The doctor was a little concerned today that she may spike a fever over the weekend because of the cold. They decided to give Morgan some IV fluids at the hospital to give her a little extra boost of hydration and then they let us go home.

We are to keep a close eye on her tempature over the course of the weekend. If she develops a fever we will need to go back in and be admitted so that they can start an antibiotic IV. So far so good! She is feeling tired and hot, but no fever.

Thursday

Morgan had a quiet day today. She is feeling very tired.

Tomorrow morning we head into Children's for bloodwork and to meet with the doctor.

Wednesday

Morgan had a good day. She felt nauseous throughout the day but still managed to eat well. She seems to be slowly kicking this cold and hopefully she will be over it in the next few days.

Morgan had an exciting evening. A few weeks ago, we found out that Morgan had been approved to receive a wish from the Make A Wish Foundation!

She of course has been over the moon since then and has been thinking about what her wish would be. Tonight we met with a lady from Make A Wish to talk about what Morgan would like her wish to be. She has decided on a trip to DisneyWorld in Florida!

She let the lady know this evening that Disneyworld was what she would like her wish to be. The wish will be fulfilled once we are fully done all of her chemo treatments hopefully sometime between January- April 2017. Needless to say, Morgan is extremely excited and this has given her a huge, happy, and exciting light at the end of the tunnel.

Tuesday - Back home!

Morgan had a good day today. She is feeling tired and a bit nauseous but, overall good. She had a blood transfusion this afternoon and was finally released from the hospital at about 3:30pm this afternoon. She was extremely happy to arrive back at home.

Day 5 ( Monday )

Morgan had a quiet day again today. Much of the same. She is really looking forward to coming home tomorrow.

Day 4 ( Sunday )

Morgan was in good spirits today. She is still batteling this cold but she ate well today.

Day 3 ( Saturday )

Morgan still was feeling sick today but, she was in better spirits. She is still eating well. She played on her computer today and watched movies.

Day 2 ( Friday )

Morgan is still feeling quite sick today. She rested, watched some tv and slept quite a bit. She is also feeling a bit nauseous from the chemo but still managed to eat today. Hopefully she feels a bit better tomorrow.

Day 1 ( Thursday)

Morgan is still batteling this cold and is not feeling very well today. She has no fever though, so that is a good thing.

She started her chemo and has a bit of nausea but is doing okay so far.

Wednesday

Morgan had come down with a bit of a cold today. This morning she went in for bloodwork and then early this afternoon we found out she needed a blood transfusion. She headed off to children's hospital and was back home by around 8:30 this evening. She is feeling quite tired and under the weather today.

Tomorrow morning we are back into Children's to start her 5 day chemo.

Tuesday

Good day today. Morgan took it easy for most of the day. She did some drawing and watched a few movies.

Tomorrow morning she will go into Delta Hospital to get bloodwork done in preparation for the 5 day chemo that starts Thursday morning.

Monday

Morgan had a good day today. She got up early and went to Delta Hospital to get her blood drawn. We got word that her counts were okay so we headed into Vancouver. We went shopping downtown and then went out for lunch. She had a great day.

She was complaining of a headache today so we are keeping an eye on it as it may be a sign that her hemoglobin is dropping. She took it easy this evening.

Sunday

Morgan had another quiet day today. She was in good spirits and are well.

She will be going into Delta Hospital tomorrow morning to do bloodwork. We should find out late morning if she needs to go in for a blood transfusion.

Saturday

Another quiet day. Morgan was in good spirits and ate well. She did some drawing today and watched movies.

Friday

Morgan had a quiet day today. She watched movies and relaxed for most of the day. She ate well and was in good spirits.

Thursday

Morgan had a busy day today. We headed to Children's first thing in the morning to get bloodwork done. After that, we went to VGH to meet with the surgeon who will be performing Morgan's surgery.

We were told that they will be removing her entire collar bone and possibly her top rib as well as a bit of her sternum. Hopefully that will remove all of the cancer cells. They will then test the bone removed and if there is any live cancer cells they feel they have missed, she will then need radiation. The surgeon is quite confident that he can remove it all to try to avoid having the radiation as that can cause long term effects.

We then went back to Children's to meet with Morgan's oncologist. All went well and her blood counts are bottoming out as expected. We will need to get additional blood work on Monday to see if she will need a blood transfusion.

Wednesday

Morgan had a fantastic day today.She went to the elementary school assembly and has officially finished elementary school. On to high school next year! She really enjoyed the assembly, visiting with her friends, and saying her good byes. She then got to go out for lunch to Earls with some of her friends and thoroughly enjoyed that as well.