02/28/06 - Yesterday's blood tests confirmed that Hannah has a BACTERIAL INFECTION in her central line. She will be IN HOSPITAL for a MINIMUM OF 10 DAYS on 2 IV antibiotics. If this does not clear the infection she will have to have her central line removed, then approximately 10 days later have it reinserted. Hannah received ANOTHER blood transfusion yesterday because her platelets dropped AGAIN. Hannah spends most of the day sleeping as her body is worn out from the antibiotics and chemotherapy. She also has a white blood cell count of 0 from the chemotherapy. Hannah is not keeping much food down. The nausea and vommiting is a side effect of the chemotherapy. STAY STRONG HANNAH!! WE KNOW THINGS ARE TOUGH NOW BUT YOU ARE A TROOPER!! YOU'LL MAKE IT THROUGH THIS AGAIN!!

02/27/06 - Hannah received platelets yesterday at Credit Valley Hospital. By the time she had her transfusion her platelets had dropped down to 2 (very dangerous due to the increased risk for bleeding). After the transfusion Hannah was released. Shortly after being released Hannah developed a fever at home and therefore had to go to Sick Kids last night. She has been admitted for IV antibiotics. She has also been vomitting ++. She was to have an ultrasound last night to rule out the possibility of some obstruction in her bowels or intestines. Over the past 2 weeks since Hannah's surgery she has not been eating much and has not been keeping down her feeds. She has lost about 3kg in 2 weeks (aprox. 6 1/2 pounds). OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU HANNAH. MAY GOD GIVE YOU THE STRENGTH YOU NEED TO KEEP ON FIGHTING. HUGS AND KISSES FROM US ALL!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

02/26/06 - Hannah's bloodwork came back yesterday, her platelets dropped again to 14 therfore she will require a blood transfusion. She went this morning to Credit Valley to have the transfusion done but had to be admitted in order to receive the treatment. No news yet as to when she will be released. Hopefully later today.

02/23/06 - Hannah received her last dose of chemotherapy for this session this afternoon. She was later released and able to go home. Hannah remains tired and weak, maybe some time at home is what she needs. Hannah will have blood work taken on Saturday and if a transfusion is needed she is able to have it closer to home and Credit Valley Hospital. She returns to Sick Kids Hospital on Tuesday. Hannah's next round of chemotherapy will start on March 16th.

02/17/06 - Things WERE NOT looking very good today. Hannah's white blood cells jumped dramatically overnight and her platelet count dropped. The doctors have decided not to wait any longer for her chemotherapy. Hannah was moved this afternoon from the surgical floor back up to the oncology floor and will start chemotherapy IMMEDIATELY (tomorrow morning). She will be receiving 3 different chemo drugs for approximately a total of week. The final dose will be given directly into the spinal fluid through a SPINAL TAP. If Hannah responds well to the chemotherapy she may be able to go home after (aprox. 10-12 days). The doctors feel that they may have to try the 2nd bone marrow transplant even earlier than anticipated to give Hannah the best chance. Jacob will be tested A.S.A.P. and if he is a match the bone marrow transplant preparation can begin. If he is not a match they will go back to the original donor but since Hannah's body has rejected the bone marrow already her chances of it taking again are only 1% as opposed to the 10% on the first try. We will all be praying that Jacob is a match and that his birth came at the PERFECT time to GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE TO HIS BIG SISTER!!!!

02/16/06 - This morning the OKAY was given for Hannah to begin eating again. She has not had anything to eat since Sunday night. Her G-Tube is properly in place and she will restart her feeds. She also can take food orally. Hannah DID SPIKE A FEVER this morning and therefore was started on IV antibiotics for 48 hours (protocol for fevers) Therefore, if she remains feverish she MAY NOT be able to come home before beginning her chemo on Tuesday. We will have to see how things go. Hannah still remains in a lot of pain from the incsicion BUT is encouraged by the doctors to get up walking. Hannah's platelet counts have been higher but she has been receiving blood transfusions because the docotrs want her level to remain high since she no longer has a spleen. We wish you all the best Hannah for a SPEEDY RECOVERY and pray that you can get back home SOON. WE LOVE YOU!!!!

02/13/06 - HANNAH'S SURGERY WAS SUCESSFULL!!! She is back in her room tonight and there were NO MAJOR COMPLICATIONS. Although there were some SURPRISES! When trying to take out Hannah's spleen doctors found it too large to remove laproscopic therefore had to make an incision in her lower abdomen, aprox. 6 cm. They did not only remove Hannah's spleen BUT found a second spleen. Surprisingly, this is not that uncommon. Both spleens were removed during the surgery which took over 3 hours. Hannah DID NOT require any blood during the surgery. If all goes well over the next few days Hannah will be able to go home later this week and will return on Feburary 21st for her chemotherapy. During her surgery her G-Tube did get dislodged and may have to be reinserted but that won't be known for a couple of days. Until then, Hannah will need PLENTY OF REST to make a FULL RECOVERY!!

02/12/06 - Hannah did go in to Hospital this afternoon. She is having some prep work done before her surgery tomorrow. Upon returning to hospital today her platelets had dropped WAY DOWN TO 8. Hannah recieved 3 units of blood and will have more blood work done a few hours after as well as in the morning before surgery in case a transfusion is needed prior to the operation. The doctors decided to remove Hannah's spleen first because her platelets have been dropping so dramatically they feel that the spleen is absorbing the platelets and not allowing the body to use them effectively. They are hoping that with the spleen gone the plateletes will be able to remain within the body. This surgery is done laproscopic (meaning it only requires a few tiny incisons) BUT due to Hannah's history of low platelets their is some CONCERN for EXCESSIVE BLEEDING. There will be platelets on hand in the operating room IF NEEDED. The whole procedure/recovery is about 3 hours. Hannah will begin her chemotherapy on February 21st. GOOD LUCK TOMORROW HANNAH!!! WE WILL ALL BE PRAYING FOR YOU AS WELL AS YOUR MOM & DAD. You have had to endure so much in the past year but we know this will only make you STRONGER!!! KEEP SMILING SWEETHEART. WE LOVE YOU!!!!

02/07/06 - Hannah went to Hospital today expecting to stay and receive her chemotherapy. After a long meeting between Karen, Stephen and the doctors they decided to hold off on the chemo and first do Hannah's surgery (removing her spleen). Hannah did receive a blood transfusion because her Platelets remained low but then was able to go back home again. Her surgery was scheduled for Feburary 13th at 12:30pm. She will return to hospital in a few days for blood work. NOTHING BETTER THAN A FEW MORE DAYS AT HOME!!!

02/03/06 - THANK YOU EVERYONE who came out to share in Hannah's special night. Due to Hannah's unforseen circumstances we threw her an EARLY 4TH BIRTHDAY PARTY at Chuck E Cheese. It was great to see so many people turn out to support Hannah. She had a BLAST!!! She was so ACTIVE, we couldn't keep up with her. Since Hannah spent her 3rd birthday in Hospital last year and things weren't looking so good right now. Chances of her being in hospital for her 4th birthday at the end of March are greater we decided to throw Hannah an EARLY BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH GREAT SUCCESS! Thanks again to all the family and friends who came out. Hannah had so much FUN and it was so GREAT to see her LAUGHING, SMILING AND ENJOYING herself like a child her age should!!!!! Hannah also had another UNIQUE and EXCITING OPPORTUNITY on Sunday. She got to visit Marineland and pet and feed the whales. Hannah had never been to Marineland before but has always loved WHALES! The Marineland staff were kind enough to allow Hannah the opportunity to visit eventhough it was closed for the season. It was another dream come true. Hannah has been so VERY FORTUNATE to have experienced the true KINDNESS and GENEROSITY of family, friends and even complete strangers who have gone above & beyond to make dreams come true for her and to make sure she enjoys LIFE to the FULLEST each day!!!

02/01/06 - PLEASE PRAY FOR HANNAH & HER FAMILY!!!!!WE GOT SOME VERY UPSETTING NEWS TODAY!!!! Hannah went in for her bloodwork today and things took a TURN FOR THE WORSE!! Hannah's preliminary work from her bone marrow aspiration show's a RELAPSE in Hannah's condition. Her blood counts have all been rising VERY SIMILAR to her first admission 1 year ago this week. Her platelets dropped down to 24 today and she required a blood transfusion. The doctors have told Karen & Stephen that they are 95% sure that her cancer has returned. All the blood results are testing positive for J.M.M.L. Hannah was released later this afternoon to go home and ENJOY the weekend. She will be admitted to Sick Kids Hospital on Monday or Tuesday to start chemotherapy. It has been an EXTREMELY EMOTIONAL, AND TRYING day for Karen & Stephen. It was exactly a year ago this week that Karen & Steve got the news that Hannah was diagnosed with J.M.M.L. and they are now RELIVING the cycle all over again. The doctors have said for Hannah to go do WHATEVER she wants to do this weekend and HAVE FUN. She has a AN0THER ROUGH ROAD AHEAD. They will start by giving her 3 rounds of chemotherapy (3-10 days each). They will also be removing her spleen. This will HOPEFULLY hold off some of Hannah's BAD CELLS until she is able to have another bone marrow transplant. Usually it is a minimum of 1 year wait before the body can handle another round of intense chemo for conditioning the body for a bone marrow transplant. The doctors feel that if Hannah can hold on until her 10 month mark which is May they may be able to do a transplant early. But it will require her to have FULL BOOY radiation before the transplant, which is also risky. In the next month Jacob will be tested as a possible donor. His cord blood was saved at birth and if he is a match it can be used for Hannah's transplant. Maybe Hannah's little brother will have the chance to be his big sister's HERO!!!! If Jacob is not a match they will have to go back to Hannah's previous donor. But since her body has already started to reject the new bone marrow and her BAD CELLS have over taken the GOOD ONES her chances of a successful transplant are minimal. Things are NOT LOOKING GOOD right now, but until Monday comes Hannah is going to have as MUCH FUN AS SHE POSSIBLY CAN!!! PLEASE KEEP HANNAH & HER FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS!!! SHE HAS BEATEN THIS BEFORE AND SHE CAN DO IT AGAIN!!!! WE LOVE YOU HANNAH!!! STAY STRONG!!!!YOU ARE A TRUE CHAMPION!!!