"Get Well Elle" A Great Success

If you were unable to attend the benefit last night, you missed a good time. Get Well Elle filled Champions in Biddeford last night and at evening's end, we had raised over $3,000 for Elle's expenses. It was just an incredible night and the generosity and kindness from everyone was just amazing.

Thank you to the owner and staff of Champions for allowing us to hold the event there and for being great to everyone all night long. And a huge thanks to Michelle, Emily and Lea for all the hard work they did in arranging the evening. It never would have happened without the all the effort they put into it.

And where was Elle, you may ask? We wanted to bring her in at the start, but her white blood cell count is at its nadir right now. That means big crowds are out for her until the count goes back up. So she spent the night along with Davey and her cousins at their grandparents' house. It was a big ol' sleepover and everyone had a good time.

One Last Note On The Benefit

Several people have asked about buying tickets for "Get Well Elle" tomorrow night even though they cannot attend. If it were more than 48 hours before the event, I would say to just mail the money to the address I posted earlier and just add a note saying you cannot attend. At this point, though, the money would likely get there after the event.

So if you would still like to do this, the easiest thing to do would be to send the money to the bank account we have set up for Elle at Saco & Biddeford Savings. All the money raised for Elle goes to this account, so you're just cutting out the middleman at this point. :) Here's the address:

Power of Elle/Eleanor Paye
c/o Lynne Belanger
Saco and Biddeford Savings Institution
252 Main Street
Saco, Maine 04072

And thank you to everyone who is buying a ticket, has sent a check to her account, has sent her a hat, a nice note or anything at all. All of your support is so appreciated and has just blown our whole family away.

Couple Of Pics

Not much to report. Elle is doing well but approaching the nadir of her white blood cell count. This usually occurs 7-10 days after she gets her high-level chemo treatments. This is the time you have to keep her out of large crowds and ban anyone with the sniffles from coming within 500 yards of her. It also means Elle gets her Filgrastim shots, and that results in a lot of crying and yelling that stops the second the shot is over. It's an Oscar-worthy performance.

So rather than take pictures of Elle screaming at us and/or the visiting nurse as she gets the shot, here's a couple of happier pictures.

This is Elle and I posing for a picture on the dining room floor using my cell phone camera. It's really the only way to do it, because I have to practically dislocate my shoulder stretching my arm out to get the framing wide enough for the shot. And when Davey saw this, he wanted to take a picture as well.

This one got a little silly. We decided to do a "crazy face" photo. I'd say we met the crazy quota with little trouble.

Also, a reminder that the "Give 'Em Hell, Get Well Elle!" benefit fundraiser/dance/good time is happening this Saturday from 7:00 - 11:00 PM at Champions Sports Bar in Biddeford. The address is 15 Thornton St. in Biddeford and here is a map if you need directions. Tickets are $10 at the door and there will be a raffle for all sorts of neat stuff. I think they have beer there as well. So if you are looking for something to do on Saturday night, come and join us!

So Where Are All The Updates?

You know you've been asking that question. Rest assured, everything has been fine.

Beth and I attended a friend's wedding over the weekend and my parents were gracious enough to watch the kids in our absence. We left on Friday morning and returned last night. And during that whole time, Elle and Davey were...wonderful.

They played a ton and behaved themselves perfectly. Elle took her Zofran and didn't have a single episode of nausea. She didn't need any pain medication. All she did was bounce around all weekend with the energy dial on 11. It couldn't have gone any better.

So right now Elle has a couple of weeks off from chemo to recover from the potency of the doxorubicin and cisplatin. She also has to get some filgrastim shots to boost her white cell count back up. But she is still doing great. As always, no news is good news.

Back Home

Elle is back home after her latest round of chemo. And while she is happy to be here, there is the unfortunate side effects of her chemo to deal with. Specifically, all the barfing.

For the next couple of days, Elle will be throwing up. Not non-stop, but more than anyone would want to do. Last night was rough b/c we got home late and the pharmacy was closed. So all we could do was use Benadryl to try and calm her stomach. It didn't work too well; she threw up about every 90 minutes.

This morning at the crack o' dawn, I went to the pharmacy and got her prescription filled for an anti-nausea drug called Zofran. It's designed to battle this kind of nausea. Sure enough, Elle went three hours after taking her first dose before she threw up again. And she seems more relaxed and comfortable. So hopefully this continues and Elle can try to eat something light.

When she isn't throwing up, she is in a pretty good mood. It is just incredible to see how upbeat she is after getting a one-two Punch of Doom like Doxorubicin/Cisplatin. Even after throwing up she smiles at me and then takes a sip of her juice. The kid is a trooper.

Not So Easy

Yesterday Elle went to Maine Med for her round of chemo involving Doxorubicin and Cisplatin. These two chemo drugs are heavy hitters; they can make you feel awful and lay you out. They both present their own dangers if not flushed out of the system; Doxorubicin can affect your heart and Cisplatin can damage your kidneys. Both can cause some nasty vomiting. And the doxorubicin is red...the stuff just looks alien and evil in the IV bag.

So this is not going to be an easy one for Elle. There are some good things, though. First, she has a double line in her chest. That means they can give her the chemo and flush her system with an IV drip at the same time. Usually, they have to interchange between the chemo drug and the IV flush. This way, both happen at once and it keeps the levels of the two drugs from getting too high and it shortens the overall time. Second, she slept through the first part last night, so that will cut down on her overall "feeling bad time." And third, they gave her an anti-nausea medicine that is steroid-based but completely safe (believe me, I asked!) It makes her hungry and a bit moody, but really seems to be controlling her nausea.

So right now she is in her room. I left her with Beth, eating a cup of Jello and watching television. Which is about as good as she can be doing at this point. She'll be there all day and tonight to keep flushing the chemo drugs out of her system, and then she is supposed to come home tomorrow.

Reading what I wrote at the top...these two drugs are rough, but they are also very effective. Doxorubicin has been around almost 30 years and is the genesis for a new class of anthracycline antibiotic-related drugs that may be useful in cancer treatment. Cisplatin has been around almost as long and is a cornerstone drug in treating numerous types of cancer. It absolutely sucks that we have to pump this toxic stuff into Elle...but it gives her the best chance to beat this.

Visiting With Uncle Eirik

The big deal this weekend was my cousin Eirik and his girlfriend Tanya coming up to Maine to visit the family. Elle was thrilled her "favorite artist" was visiting and it didn't hurt that Tanya brought her a sweet treat.

That is a handmade box, inside of which resided some tasty jellybeans. And that happens to be Elle's favorite candy. So to say that Tanya and Elle became fast friends would be an understatement.

It was a great visit and we all had a blast. Today was drinking Shipyard beer, grilling up some streaks and telling some funny stories. And Elle is still in seventh heaven tonight after the visit. Davey as well; he wants to be "a moviemaker" when he grows up and with Eirik being an animator at Nickelodeon...the word "hero" may be too tame.