4/29/05 - It has been confirmed that Hannah will be going to Sick Kids on Monday for a THIRD round of chemotherapy. No news yet about the bone marrow match. Hannah has been THRIVING at home this week. She is eating and sleeping AMAZINGLY. Hannah will enjoy the rest of her weekend at home before returning to the hospital Monday. It is unsure yet how long this course of chemo will be. GOOD LUCK HANNAH!!! WE ARE ALL PRAYING FOR YOU!!!

4/28/05 - Hannah has an agency nurse visit her once a day when she is at home to monitor her condition. She had a great night last night at home. She is enjoying playing with all her own toys and helping mom with her sister Emily. It looks like Monday when Hannah goes back for blood work she MAY be readmitted for another round of chemotherapy. Because no bone marrow match has been found YET and Hannah's levels are rising RAPIDLY she will need another round of chemo to give more time for the match to be made. Hannah has the whole weekend at home to ENJOY herself and does not have to worry about any of that until Monday. She is HAPPY to live day by day and is THANKFUL for anytime she has at home with her WHOLE FAMILY!!!

4/27/05 - Hannah attended her first outpatient clinic appointment this morning. Her blood counts were GREAT with both her hemoglobin and platelets in the 90's. Hannah had no fever. HOORAY!!!! She does have a slight cough but that may be due to allergies. Therefore with Hannah's AMAZING checkup she is back at home until Monday's appointment. WAY TO GO HANNAH!!!!

HANNAH IS HOME

4/24/05 - HANNAH IS HOME!!!! After 11 LONG WEEKS in the hospital Hannah is FINALLY HOME!!! Hannah was discharged from the hospital this afternoon. Her blood counts have been stable and rising well on their own. She has had no blood transfusions in the past week and no fever. Hannah will attend the outpatient clinic at Sick Kids every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for blood work. If she remains stable she will be able to stay at home until a bone marrow match is found. If a match is not found within the next 3 to 4 weeks and Hannah begins to deteriorate she will have to go in for another round of chemo. BUT UNTIL THEN, Hannah will enjoy her time at home with her mom, dad and sister Emily. Something she has waited for and FOUGHT for. Being with her WHOLE family TOGETHER AGAIN!! Hannah has NO RESTRICTIONS while at home. In order to keep Hannah at home as LONG AS POSSIBLE it has been advised that Hannah not have any contact with ANYONE that has had a fever, cough, flu-like symptoms, etc. in the past 10 DAYS. This is only to PROTECT HER since at the moment her immune system is compromised and she is VERY SUSCEPTIBLE to infections. We wish Hannah all the BEST and PRAY that once HER MATCH is found she has a SPEEDY RECOVERY. WE LOVE YOU HANNAH!!!!!

4/21/05 - Another step FORWARD and two more steps BACK!!!! Hannah begins to make progress and another roadblock is set in front of her. After a great weekend of passes Hannah was to be released on Tuesday morning following an ultrasound. Unfortunately Hannah developed a fever AGAIN early Tuesday morning and that means she is back on antibiotics for 7 days and must remain FEVER FREE for 48hrs. The GOOD NEWS is Hannah has not had a fever since but has had low blood counts and has needed a few blood transfusions also her magnesium has been low and she has been taking oral meds for that. The results from the ultrasound showed that Hannah's spleen was now 13cm. That is a 1.5cm decrease since her last ultrasound. They also checked her pelvic area because of the small lump found above her rectum. The results showed no obstruction in her bowels. (BOTH GOOD NEWS). The doctors ARE NOT concerned about the small pebble size lump and are not alarmed that it could be some type of tumor. They feel that Hannah may have just strained herself because of her constipation and have a small hemmorhoid or just pulled a muscle. Hannah has been receiving morphine because she is not able to sit flat on her bum due to pain. Hannah is remaining in hospital for monitoring. No news yet as to when she'll be released. Hannah STILL REMAINS in isolation and is not allowed any outside visitors. The hospital has made an exception to allow Grandma 2 visits per week to give Karen some relief as well as 2 -2hour visits per week for Emily to spend time with her big sister. These visits have been great for Hannah's spirits. When she sees Emily come to the door she gets SO EXCITED and gives Emily the BIGGEST HUGS!! It also gives Karen the opportunity to spend time with BOTH of her girls together since Emily has been living with Grandma and Grandpa for the past 10 weeks. The visits with Emily have been very important for Hannah socially as well as emotionally. We are still waiiting on a bone marrow match. No news yet. Hannah has completed both of her chemo rounds so getting the bone marrow transplant is the next step and very crucial now. Continue to pray that a match is found VERY SOON!!

4/18/05 - Hannah had an AMAZING WEEKEND!! On Saturday and Sunday Hannah was allowed home on a 6 HOUR PASS. She spent the time at home playing with her toys. It was GREAT to be in FAMILIAR surroundings. Hannah enjoyed the time most of all with her LITTLE SISTER EMILY. Hannah had a few visits from family and friends that she had not been able to see in almost 10 weeks. The most EXCITING VISITOR being her NEW COUSIN A.J. now 6 weeks old, seeing and holding him for the first time (As well as Uncle Tony & Aunty Jen). Hannah did receive platelets yesterday before leaving on her pass and today at the hospital. She is to have an ultrasound tomorrow morning to determine if there has been any more growth to her spleen as well as to investigate a small lump above her rectum. Hoping and praying for GOOD NEWS. If all is well and Hannah's chemistry is stable she MAY be released from the hospital some time tomorrow.

4/13/05 - Well, where to begin. Hannah went this morning to the clinic for blood work. Her platelet count was 17 therefore she received a blood transfusion in the clinic. She was to come back home after that but during the transfusion she developed a fever which is an automatic readmit for IV antibiotics. So Hannah's EXTREMELY short visit home is over for the time being. She will remain on anitibiotics and if fever-free for the next 48 hours and her chemistry is stable she MAY be able to return home again. Otherwise, she could be in hospital for up to 10 days on antibiotics. Hannah did get the opportunity to go home last night and play a bit with her toys and sleep in her OWN BED, things she has been waiting to do for a long time. Those few hours at home was all she had since her and Karen had to leave home at 6:30am this morning to get to Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. Eventhough Hannah did not get to spend the day at her house she was very excited for the time she got to spend with her sister Emily whom she MISSED SO MUCH!!! Hannah is back in her same room at Sick Kid's and back into isolation. Those few moments of sunshine and few hours spent with her family will have to carry her through the next part of her journey. We can only hope that this minor set back doesn't discourage her. KEEP SMILING HANNAH AND KEEP YOUR SPIRITS UP! YOU'LL BE HOME AGAIN SOON!!!

WE'VE GOT SOME EXCITING NEWS!!!!

4/12/05 - WE'VE GOT SOME EXCITING NEWS!!!! HOORAY!!! Hannah came home tonight on a temporary pass. It has been 9 LONG WEEKS since Hannah was admitted to the hospital. She finished her second round of chemo on Friday and has had some ups and downs. This week her blood levels have remained low as a result of the chemotherapy and she has been receiving blood transfusions about every other day. Hannah was taken off her IV last night and then monitored for any changes in her blood levels. She did well overnight and therefore has been allowed to COME HOME FINALLY!!! She does have to go back to the out patient clinic first thing tomorrow morning for blood tests. She will then get a blood transfusion (if needed) at the clinic and come back home again for another day. This will continue on a day to day basis as long as she remains stable. If at anytime Hannah develops a fever or is not well she will be readmitted to the hospital. But for the time being we are SO HAPPY and GRATEFUL for the opportunity to see her again after so long, even if it's just for a few days. Hannah was EXTREMELY excited to see her 9 month old sister Emily after almost 4 weeks of isolation. Her sister was just as excited to see her, showing off how she has learned to crawl EVERYWHERE in the house. Hannah was in great spirits tonight playing with her sister and cousins, Grandma & Grandpa, Aunts and Uncle. Hannah was most excited about going home and sleeping in her OWN bed!!! Hannah has had a long, challenging past few months BUT IS A FIGHTER and is GOING STRONG!!!! She still has a long road ahead but with her strength, determination and courage she will come out SHINING. No luck yet on the bone marrow match but we are hoping for some GOOD NEWS SOON! Hannah remains fragile and a bit unsteady but has gained 2lbs in the past few weeks WAY TO GO! (THE HOSPITAL FOOD MUST BE GOOD!) Hannah enjoyed being outside today. She could not believe all the snow was gone and how warm it was. She has not been outside since the winter time and has not seen the sun shining in 9 weeks. It was great to see her SMILE!

4/5/05 - Thank you to everyone who came out on Saturday night and for those who gave donations. "Hope for Hannah" was a great success. Seeing all of you just shows how much Hannah is loved and how much support Karen, Steve and there families have. Thank you for your continued prayers. Hannah started her second round of chemo last night. Her blood levels were starting to rise on their own but the past couple days they began to drop again so the doctors decided not to wait any longer. Hannah has had a long recovery process since her first round of chemo more than a month ago. After these 5 days of chemo treatment it is possible that once her levels stabilize again she will need to have a spleenectomy (have her spleen removed) since it has grown 2-3" bigger than its normal size. In J.M.M.L. the cells tend to hide themselves in the spleen and therefore it becomes enlarged. No luck yet on the bone marrow donor. The Canadian bank has been searched but NO matches were found. They will now be searching worldwide. We continue to pray that a match is found soon. After Hannah's first dose of chemo last night her potassium level went way up and therefore she was put on a heart monitor. She was having blood drawn every few hours. As the day went on her potassium level steadily dropped but continues to be closely monitored. Hannah has not been able to leave her bed today being that she is connected to the monitor. She has had a pretty rough day and has been extremely moody & cranky (who can blame her). She has had a great appetite and has gained almost a full pound this week. Hannah still remains in isolation and it has been over 3 weeks since she has been allowed outside visitors. There is no news yet as to when the visiting will be open again. The hospital has made an exception and is allowing Grandma to go in one day a week to give mommy a much deserved break and allow her to spend time with Emily. Staff are concerned that without any other family contact (other than Karen and Stephen) Hannah may become more withdrawn. Unfortunately, Infectious Control are the ones that decide whether or not the situation is under control and with so many new cases of VRE on many different floors in the hospital it does not look like any visitors will be allowed anytime soon. This round of chemotherapy for Hannah will end on Friday.