Journal History
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Thursday,Jan 26, 2006 9:04 PM CST
***NEW PICTURES ADDED TO PHOTO PAGE***
CHRISTINA & MYSELF GOT TATTOOS TODAY IN MEMORY OF OUR PRECIOUS ANGEL MCKENZIE FAY THE PHOTOS WILL BE IN THE UNDER THE TAB AT THE TOP OR THE BOTTOM UNDER VIEW PHOTOS WE THINK THEY TURNED OUT AWSOME THEY WERE DONE BY NEW FRIENDS OF OURS ROGER & BRENDA FOSTER OWNERS OF RC,S TATTOOING IN STATESVILLE NC THERE INFO IS IN IN THE VIEW PHOTOS AS WELL. WE ALL ARE DOING GOOD SORRY HAVENT UP-DATED IN A WHILE LOVE AND PRAYERS TO YOU ALL
Monday, September 6, 2004 12:45 AM CDT
As alot of you know, Ricks mom (my mother-in-law) was killed in a tragic car wreck!We got home lastnight....the funeral was beautiful with sooo many flowers.We had plans to go to Wv. this weekend because it was Ricks moms birthday Sunday September 5 and it was our little Morgans 3 birthday....we had a big party planned but instead we had to bury someone very special to all of us!
Ricks mom was driving on Rt.7 in Belpre Oh. when she started having car trouble.... her husband was with her on the passenger side of the car....He said she had her hazard lights on and was driving around 40 mh when they were slammed in the rear end....the car burst into flames and no one was able to pull Karen from the burning car.
We were in Wv several weeks ago and Ricks mom wrote Rick a poem and also myself just letting us know how much she loved us!We spent lots of time together and she was talking about her earring, necklace and ring and how if something ever happened to her she wanted her our little Morgan to have it since they shared the same b-day and birthstone.We were able to get the ring of her badly burnt body and we are hoping it can be cleaned.... the necklace was not able to be retrieved and we found the earrings beside her bed.Rick seen her body and of course we all wish he had not done that but that was his mother among all the ashes and he felt he needed to see her one last time.
I guess Karen is with our little Mckenzie now and they are both happy and healthy.Karens husband said they were talking about Mckenzie 20 minutes before the car wreck.
Please remember our family in your prayers and we always thank all of you for still checking in on us!
Tuesday, August 31, 2004 10:49 PM CDT
I received a phone call around 11:00pm from Ricks Aunt in Parkersburg WV letting us know Ricks mom was killed in a car wreck this evening.I just got home from picking Rick up from work....we will be leaving for WV. here in a little while!Please remember our family once again in your prayers!!!!
Sunday, June 20, 2004 12:49 AM CDT PLEASE CHECK OUT MCKENZIE'S SMILE QUILTS LINKED BELOW
hello everyone, sorry we have'nt updated in quite some time,just have a lot going on right now.with this new house still getting things in order. we all are doing the best we can, the kids are in west virginia with there grand ma they start bible school this week. kind of lonley without them around. TODAY IS FATHERS DAY, THIS SHOULD BE A GOOD DAY FOR ME BUT ITS JUST NOT WITHOUT MCKENZIE ITS REALLY TOUGH I TRY TO BE HAPPY FOR I KNOW SHE IS BETTER OFF THAN I AM RIGHT NOW I JUST MISS HER SOO MUCH I STILL DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS ALL HAPPEND TO HER SHE WAS SUCH A GOOD LITTLE GIRL I MISS HER SWEET LITTLE VOICE SAYING I LOVE YOU DADDY WHOLE BUNCH! JUST WISH I COULD HOLD HER JUST ONE MORE TIME.LIFE IS SOO NOT FAIR I TRY TO REMEMBER THE TIMES THAT I DID GET TO SPEND WITH HER SHE WOULD RUN DOWN THE HALL OF DUKE HOSPITAL JUST AS FAST AS HER LITTLE LEGS WOULD LET HER YELLING I'M FREE I'M FREE. MAYBE SHE KNEW FOR SHE IS FREE NOW! SHE NEVER COMPLAINED ABOUT ANYTHING AND WAS ALWAYS WORRIED ABOUT EVERYONE ELSE I TRULY BELIEVE SHE WAS AN ANGEL SHE WAS THE BEST LITTLE GIRL..I HATE DEATH IT JUST TOO FINAL TAKEN FROM US FOREVER AND JUST LEFT WITH MEMORIES AND PICTURES . I MISS YOU MCKENZIE FAY SCHOENLEB AND I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU WILL ALWAYS BE DADDYS LITTLE GIRL! FOREVER
Sunday, April 25, 2004 9:47 PM CDT
*****My mom called me at 6:30 this morning to tell me my grandma passed away during the night.She will be greatly missed...we all love her very much!Grandma got to attended the viewing for Mckenzie in West Virginia and sat in a wheelchair beside Mckenzies casket holding her hand.I am sure They are holding hands now and Mckenzie is showing her all around!!!
I want to let everyone know that we will most likely not be attending the Heroes walk this year.My mom called me yesterday with the news my grandma is not doing well at all!She has been in a skilled nursing unit for a couple of years and has really taking a turn for the worse.She has not been eating or drinking and is very dehydrated and her wishes are not to have any IVs or feeding tubes...we may have to make a trip to Wv at any given time.My grandma and I are very close and as a matter fact, Mckenzie was named after her....her name is Fay!Rick and I took care of her in our home before we moved to Nc. she is a sweet sweet lady and all I want for her is not to suffer!!!
I talk to my Uncle yesterday about my other grandma(my dads mom) that has lung cancer...he said she is doing well...so I am happy to hear that!!!
We are moving into our new house Thursday....our phone # will stay the same.Our new address is....
356 Weathers Creek
Troutman nc 28166
Well, I am going to close for now.... Thank you for checking in on us!!!!!
Marie
I received your donation for the heroes walk and I will make sure Jane schroeder recieves it....Thank you soooo much for your support!!!!
Sunday, March 21, 2004 1:41 AM CST
I am adding this to the earlier update;
We went out to Mckenzie grave today....I really wanted to be there at 3:25 because that is what time she passedaway but of course that big dark cloud follows me everywhere and in everything I try to do....as soon as I left the house and pulled onto the entry ramp on the interstate a trooper was sitting there and pulled right out behind me and pulled me over for not wearing my seatbelt!So....after he held me up for about 10 minutes....I was able to go out to release the balloons to Mckenzie.There was a real strong wind and the balloons flew away pretty quickly....we stood and watched til they were out of sight....kissed the picture on her headstone...said our goodbyes...then we left!It is hard to believe we are starting our 2yr without our babygirl!!!!
Well, here it is March 21 and Mckenzie has been gone for a year!Rick spent the evening filling up ballons with helium so we can release them out at Mckenzies grave.Bobby{Mckenzies primary nurse}called me this evening and it was soooo nice to hear from her.We talked alot about Mckenzie and all the funny things she used to do....we talked about how brave she was and how we would take her to catscans and she would lay there like such a big girl.It is always soooo nice to talk about Mckenzie and keep her memory alive!
The time I think things are looking up for us our hopes come crashing to the ground!We are in the process of buying a bigger home and we are only weeks from the final closing...my house is packed up and then the ultimate has to happen....Ricks job had to let him go Friday!Great!!!Now what?What else could happen to us?I give up!!!I truly do not know how much more we can take!Our money we put down has been spent on apraisals permits and so on!Part of the loan process is not loosing your job or changing jobs...so I do not know what is going to happen now!I quit my job around christmas because it was costing me more in gas and daycare than what I was making...Morgan hated it and would cry for me as soon as I would pull up at the daycare.I do not know what the answer is and I am truly tired of trying to figure it out!!!!!
As for Ricks Birthday we spent it in the ER with Morgan....she decided to put a bead in her nose!She came up to me and said "Mommy, I have a ball in my nose!" I was in a freak...it scared me to death!!!She was all excited when we told her she had to go to the hospital to see the Dr. she has been around Drs. and nurses since she was 6 months old.....she has no fear of doctors....she laid there perfectly still and let the doctor do what he had to do...along with her doing a little flirting with the doctor..proud of the little bead she had stuffed up her nose.Happy to report she is all better now!!!
Dustin Brandon and Candice are all doing well....My oldest son{Dustin} is showing some interest in attending the Nascar college here in Mooresville after he graduates....we are very proud of him setting a goal for himself after high school.Brandon will be starting Middle school this Fall and he is very excited....he just graduated his Dare class and is very proud of that.Candice is doing good and will be going into the 2 grade this fall....she is doing good in school...I am very proud of all my kids...they are all troopers....they have been through soooo much over the last couple of years.March 29 will be 2yrs that Mckenzie was diagnosed.
Well...I really do not know what else to say....I guess in closing I will say...Thank you for checking in on our family and remember the kids on 5200 and childrens hospitals everywhere in your prayers.
Tuesday, March 9, 2004 10:24 PM CST
Wow, I can not believe a whole year has gone by since Mckenzie earned her wings.I can not say that any of the time that has went by has made it any easier to deal with our loss.She was soooo loving and funny and We all miss her very very much!Sometimes it is really hard just to make it through the day.It is really hard to be driving down the road and a song comes on and before you know it the tears start flowing.I hope you all have enjoyed the pictures I have posted at the top of the page.The last several pictures I posted are Mckenzie with her nurses and you can really see how special they were to her and how much Mckenzie loved them!The one posted right now is one of my favorites you can see what a true little dollbaby she was!!!I will continue to update the pictures often!
We will be going back to Duke May 1 for the Heros walk and I am looking forward to seeing everyone again!We will be staying with Bobby(Mckenzies primary nurse)while we are there and I am sooo excited about seeing her!
Since the last time I updated, my mom fell and broke her leg in three places.She has had several surgerys on it and the last surgery the had to put a big screw in her leg.She is doing ok but says it is very painful and she is not to happy about being stuck at home.We have learned the hard way that it could be sooo much worse atleast she does not have a lifethreatening disease or something!She is tough and making the best out of a bad situation!
Well, I better close now and as always thank you all for checking on our family and keeping us in your prayers!!!
I WANT TO WISH MY HUSBAND RICK A HAPPY BIRTHDAT TOMORROW!!!
Tara
I received your card and I want you to know that I think of you all the time!I love you and miss you soooo much!I hope you are doing ok!I truly want us to get together this summer.I know you are really missing Mckenzie but I can promise you she watches over you!I still have the big sunglasses you gave Mckenzie when you were both admitted at Carolinas Medical Center.Our phone # is at the bottom of this page please call sometime, I would love to hear your voice!Please tell your mom hello and that I miss her too!!!
Friday, February 13, 2004 4:01 AM CST
~~~~~~~HAPPY BIRTHDAY RICK, WE LOVE YOU!
I want to first start out by thanking a man by the name of Craig Rager, he is responsible for the recovery of Mckenzies pictures.The recovery was very complicated and we understand how fortunate we are by having them returned to us!Lisa Wilson at Western Digital and a faithful follower of Mckenzies webpage contacted us some time back and wanted to help us get our pictures back, I really do not know what I would have done, if the pictures were gone forever!SOOOO many memories just disapeared!God bless everyone involved in the recovery and know we are forever grateful!You do not have to enter a burning building to be someones hero!!!!!
WOW, I can not believe 1 year ago Mckenzie was discharged from 5200!I can remember updating this webpage and I can remember being soooo excited, I thought all the bad days were behind us, It was my birthday and I received the best birthday gift ever, watching all the people standing in the hallway with confetti and sillystring, waiting for my angelface to leave the unit for the first time in 7 months!This birthday will be a very sad one, I miss her and as I sit her typing this through my tears, I can hear her little voice telling me not to cry!Traci (One of the girls from the unit)will be here in a little while, she is spending the weekend with us.I am always happier when she comes to visit, I really feel closer to Mckenzie when I am around her, they had such a bond!Mckenzie used to call her "My Traci" and now when she walks into our house Morgan gets sooo excited!Morgan loooks and acts like Mckenzie more everyday, she is such a sweet little girl!
Mckenzies brothers and sisters are all doing ok, Candice still has a hard time dealing with Mckenzie passing away and spends alot of time in her room playing with toys that used to be Mckenzies.
Since the last time I updated, Rick and I went back to 5200 to visit little Tommy Bennett before he passed away.I really had a strong feeling to go see him and his family and I felt like Mckenzie would want me to go back and offer any strenghth and encouragement for his family.It was hard to walk back through them doors again and go to the room next door to the room where Mckenzie passed.Rick and I really loved Tommy and we both had so many fond memories of him.I was very concerned for him and his family at the time and to tell you truth I was just praying for him and praying another family would not have to feel the same pain that we endure everyday.May he rest in peace, we love you Tommy!
I am going to have to close now, I have to pick Rick up at work!I want you all to know we will be posting pictures of Mckenzie(the ones that were recovered)once a week.The picture at the top of the page is one!Thanks for checking in on us!Please sign the guestbook so we know you stopped by!Love to all of you!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, feb,4 2004 7:54 PM CST
i want to start by saying i'm sorry for not updating in such a very long time we all are still doing ok it is so hard just to deal with not having our little angle mckenzie fay we miss her so much i can not belive that next month she will have been gone for a year we love her so much and not being able to just touch her just to smell her to hold her just really hurts there is no words to explain the hurt and pain if i could only have wish granted i would wish for her there is a song by diamond rio one more day that song makes me cry every time i hear it one more day thats all i'll every wish for she was my life our life she was so full of life i remeber one night we was at the hospistal she had a fever of 107.9 so sick and still got out of bed to go pass out candy m&m's and beanny babys out to the other kids on the unit she was so strong memories like that help me go on she was a true angle i would of rather of had her for only three short years than not to of had her at all my wife and i want to thank all of you that helped us out for christmas this meant so much ti our family it made christmas a little better lisa i want too tripple thank you my hard drive crashed we had over 300 pictures of mckenzie that were lost that could not of been replaced we sent the hard drive to a shop in rockingham and they sent it back and said they were gone but thanks to lisa wilson at western digital in california she got them back for us thank you so very much well i guess i had better get some sleep i'll allways love all of you mckenzie,, daddy and mommy and the rest of the kids will allways love and miss you untill we all see you again i love you soooo very much my little angel face
Wednesday, November 5, 2003 10:56 AM CST
Please remember my little friend Tommy Bennett in your prayers, he is having a very rough time of it right now and I know all to well the roller coaster ride his family is on!You can visit his webpage at caringbridge.org/ca/bennettboys
Alicia
You are in my thoughts and prayers, hang in there!!!
Please kiss and hug Tommy and tell him "I LOVE HIM"
Friday, October 24, 2003 9:04 AM CDT
There just is no words to explain my aching heart!I miss you soooo much, as I leave for WV tonight I carry your love with me, you are always in my heart!
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELFACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dad, please squeeze my baby for me and let her know how much I love and miss her!!!I miss you very much too!!!
Saturday, October 18, 2003 3:33 PM CDT
Hello
I am sorry about slacking on my updates but the truth is there is not much to say!We did make it to Lowes motor speedway last weekend for the race, it was alot of fun!!!
Dale Earnhardts #3 car was on the track driven by one of his best friends and car owner Richard Childress, he did a couple of laps before the race started with all 43 cars in the race following behind, it was awsome and I am glad we got to go!!!We took Candice because the 10th was her bday and I felt like she would really enjoy going to a nascar race.She stood at the fence for a long time and watched the race where she found another little girl her age to pal around with.During the national anthem 4 jets flew by and I am here to tell you I still do not have 100% of my hearing back, well anyways Candice freaked out!I told her she was ok that they were gone and just as I got her to settle down they flew by again!Once the race started she was back to being a HUGE Jr. fan and chearing him on!!!
We ran into a problem with our laptop and I still do not know what we are going to do about it, we turned it on and it stayed a black screen and in white lettering it said primary hard disk can not be found, well the problem with this is we have hundreds of pictures of Mckenzie stored on the laptop, we took it to a computer place where the guy there says he can send it away for around 750.00 and maybe retrieve these pictures.If anyone knows of anyone that can save these pictures we would be sooooo greatful for we can not aford 750.00 these pictures can not ever be replaced.I just pray someone can help us get these pictures back!
All the kids are doing ok, growing like weeds!Little Mckenzie would be 4 years old next Saturday October 25.We are planning to make a trip to Durham and see all the nurses and families that mean so much to us!I would like to ask of all of you in honor of Mckenzie give blood or platelets or make a small donation to childrens hospital or if none of the above just do something nice for someone.
Rick and I are still working our lives away and we remain very busy, there seems like there is not enough time in a day!Rick works shift work which is 2 weeks day shift and 2 weeks midnights.I work Monday through Friday and I soooo look forward to the weekend.Rick has every other weekend off which is nice because we can go do things with the kids together.
Well, I better close now....I will try an update again soon!!!Please continue to pray for all of our transplant friends and for the families of angels!
Saturday, September 20, 2003 10:22 PM CDT
****update***
I just want everyone to know that I got the job I wanted.I started Thursday and I love it!!!I work for Pat Rogers Speedway Harley Davidson dealership in Concord, NC.I am just a minute from Lowes Motor Speedway....so if anyone is in the area for any Nascar races please stop in the shop and say hello!!
I want to thank you all for your continued suppport....it really means alot to our family!
6 months ago tonight I laid in bed with Mckenzie for the last time.We had a very good night, she seemed confortable and very happy to have mommy and daddy both staying with her.We miss her soooo much and I could never find the words to describe how much we miss her.I used to lay in bed with her and touch her and stare into her beautiful blue eyes(she had the brightest, bluest eyes) in fear of one day she would shut them and I would never see them again.Though she was only three years old, she was our best friend....she was sooo funny.She was the best teacher I have ever had.She was soooo courageous and fought for her life with such grace.She seemed to worry about all of us more than herself.We are very proud and honored to have been her parents.I know she is still with us, she sends butterflies from heaven, one that actually played chase with Morgan!She was such a sweet and caring little girl but I will say heaven truly has its hands full!
**Keri
It was soooo nice just to hear your voice....I am so glad your doing ok!
**Beffie
I am sooo excited about the new baby!!!!I have known for weeks though no one told me!How weird is that?I tell everyone that Mckenzie told me!!!!I am soooo happy for you and you are going to be the best mom!I LOVE YA, GIRL!!!!
Beffie was one of Mckenzies nurses and Mckenzie really adored her.I am really glad that 5200 has the best nursing staff there is...they made Mckenzies time on the unit special and I know she felt the love from all of them!I miss them all dearly and I can not wait to visit the unit in the near future.
We had our family portraits done the Friday...they will be back October 9...the day before Candices b-day.Morgan and I wore an angel pin in memory of Kenzie while Candice wore a dragonfly necklace.(Mckenzie loved dragonflies)We will post the pictures on here when we get them.
Well, I should now about my new job Monday or Tues. I really hope I get it!!!!!
***Please remember our little friend Tommy Bennett....He had his 3 transplant today.GROW CELLS GROW!!!
Please remember Cody in your prayers...you can visit his webpage at www.for cody.org....if you click on to updates on friends you can click onto Tommy Bennetts page
Baby Noah is back in the picu....this baby has been through soooo much....please continue to pray for him.(you can also visit his page through Codys updates on friends.
Mckenzies little friend Taylor was layed to rest Wed. I will never forget her.She came to the unit to visit Mckenzie a couple of days before Mckenzie passed and gave her a little duck....I have it on a shelf in the girls room...Mckenzie received sooo many gifts from other families on the unit while we were there...many of them are angels now!So as you can imagine, I cherish them!
Barb paul & Malcolm
I am soooo happy for you guys!I know it has been a long road but worth the trip!Love you bunches!!!!!
Carol(angel Meghans mom)
I was so happy to here about the new baby....that is awsome news....you have been blessed!!!
Till next time, Love you all!!!!!
Mckenzie I hope you heard mommy and daddy sing "one more day" to you.We all just wish we could have one more day with you.When I would stay with you in the hospital...the very first thing that would pop in my head as soon as I opened my eyes was the song "Good morning beautiful" I have a very hard time listening to that song now...I can remember you and I sitting in the car at the Wal-mart in Durham waiting for daddy and it came on the radio and I started singing it to you and you yelled at me "stop it" and turned the station.I guess you was not a big fan of my singing but thats ok!!!It makes me laugh to remember that!Candice loves that song "could god use another angel, to help pour out the rain" she sings it to you and she does such a good job!She misses you soooo much....it is so hard to watch her cry and I really sometimes do not know what to say!She draws all the time and every picture she draws has angels and always has your name on it!You are so special to us all...I can hear your sweet voice whispering to me "Look mommy, I am not sick no more!" and for that I am so happy but my heart has been ripped out and I just miss you!!!!I miss your smell, your hugs & Kisses, I miss your bald head!You are the best girl and I know while you were here, you knew that!My life revolved around you and as much as I hated the hospital and all the Drs. appt. I would do anything to have them days back!I know you probably disagree because you are in such a beautiful place....I guess the best thing to say is I wished none of this ever happened!I just want you to know we did everything we knew to do to help you!I will keep you with me throughout all of my days until the day we meet again.I love you angelface!!!!!!!!
Monday, September 8, 2003 0:22 AM CDT
Well, so much for getting to bed early tonight!Rick is working midnights and all the kids are in bed and I can do nothing but think of Kenzie!I keep thinking about her at Carolinas Medical Center and how she used to rip up and down the hallways...I would take her to clinic to see Dr. Golembe and I would have to chase her all over the place...oh how I miss that soooo much!She was always a trooper and showed such courage...I believe she kept us strong because we truly believed she was going to pull through.
We met soooo many nice people during our journey...people I will never forget.There are just soooo many children over the last year that has touched me and I will never forget them nor their families.
We watched video of Mckenzie the other night...we laughed and we cried.It was soooo nice to watch her play and laugh and she also was telling us all she loved us.(PRICELESS)
Beffie...you were on the video along with Bobbie and Traci and Keri.It was sooo nice just to see your faces and hear your voices.The video we watched was during first transplant and it was Sept. 9 2002.
I have a job interview tomorrow and I am scared out of my wits about it...I hope I get it!
Morgans B-day went well and she is as rotten as ever!The kids are all doing well in school.Candice is in cheerleading and loves it!
Well, I guess I am going to hope back to bed and watch Houston Medical until I fall asleep.I am addicted to the discovery health channel now days!They are at Duke hospital alot....that is always tough to watch!I can not get Rick to watch it much....he is still having a really tough time understanding why Mckenzie had to go through all she went through and still passed away!
I am going to be having a party...I hope for it to be on or as close to Mckenzies b-day as possible.October 25...Mckenzie would be four years old.I am going to have this party to raise money for a family at Duke that needs some financial help and it will be in honor of Mckenzie.I will add the info about it as I learn more about it.I also use the party as a chance to see some people that I miss very much!HINT_HINT
Love you all, sweet dreams
Goodnight Angelface, I love you whooooooole bunch!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 2, 2003 11:05 PM CDT
I am sooo sorry for taking so long to update but this computer has a virus and boots me off line after a few minutes.I want you all to know we are doing ok, everyday is a struggle but some how we make it through.Our little Morgan turns two Friday so we are planning something special for her.She is really growing up fast and I am sure Mckenzie is soooo proud of her.I am getting ready to be booted off, I will be back soon!Love you all!!!!
Saturday, August 16, 2003 3:27 PM CDT
I just want everyone to know we are ok...we have been homeless since Aug. 1 and just got into our house Thursday.Our brand new air conditioner quit working and the repair guys said it would be Tues. before they could come and look at it.We do not have our computer hooked up yet but Rick said he would have it hooked up by tomorrow.I want to give you all our new address....
106 Tennys Redhill Lane
Troutman NC 28166
Our phone number is the same
I promise to update no later than Tues.
Thank you for checking in on us.
We love you all!!!!!!
Friday, July 25, 2003 10:50 AM CDT
This will be very short...we have been very busy moving into our new house.Rick and I have moved just about everything we own in our mini-van.Needless to say it has taken 2 thousands trips and we still are not done.We will totaly be out of here by next weekend.We are praying our house will be done...as of now, it is not!We have been sleeping on the floor for about a week now and it is not fun.I promise to update more often once we get settled in...I mainly want to thank all of you who continue to check in on us.I want Alicia, Eleasa, Dan & Sue, Steve & Becky(congrats. on your new home, I really hope you enjoy it.) and all the other families we were on the unit with to know I check their webpages and keep them very close to my heart.Neena, I check on Taylor a few times a day and pray for her constantly.She really means alot to me.
To Garretts family,
It was so nice to get a message from you...we will always be here for you...day or night.We did hear about Garrett passing away...(I believe it was the next day) I am sooo sorry he really was a sweet little boy.I had no way to get in touch with you til now but know you are always in our thoughts and prayers.Sometimes it gets abit overwhelming, all these children I lived with while we were on 5200 passing away...sometimes I just have to ask God...why?
Well, onto my bit of good news....My mom had her surgery and the test done on the lump they removed was cancer-free!YIPHEE!!!!
Well, I really need to get busy cleaning and packing up what is left to go to the new house....I mainly just want you all to know I am still here....just very very busy.
*our phone number will be same*
Hey Bobbi, Lantane, Keri, Beffi, Chris, Traci and all of you up on 5200...I miss you all soooo much!I wish we could still be there.(Not with a sick Mckenzie but with a healthy Mckenzie)
I MISS HER SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!
MY ANGELFACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, July 6, 2003 11:33 PM CDT
***We have once again lost another transplant friend.Jillian earned her wings around 1:ooam this morning.I am shocked and saddened....She was such a sweet little girl...sooo full of life.She was really good to Mckenzie...right before Jillian was discharged...she came to our room and gave Mckenzie a clock...a clock that Mckenzie admired everytime we would go to Jillians room.Please remember Jillians family in your prayers...they are supper nice people and my heart aches for them.You can visit Jillians webpage at...caringbridge.org/fl/jillian
***Please say an extra little prayer for Candice(my 6year old)she has been very upset tonight...usually I try to settle her down but tonight I sat with her holding Mckenzies picture and we cried.She is feeling guilty saying things like... she was not a very good sister and it should have been her with cancer.She went on saying she can not wait til she gets old to be with Mckenzie again...that is to long...I told her I felt the same way.Candice is very motherly and she was the best sister in the world to Mckenzie.I feel sooo sorry for her.If you would like to leave any advise or even some words of encouragment, I will read your message to her.Thank you!
We had a big day today...we took the kids to a farm today a few miles down the road...it is a drive through petting zoo...it is 3 miles long and you drive real slow while the animals come up to the car and you can feed them...at one point a zebra almost had his entire body in our van.We had the side doors open so the kids could see real well..Morgan freaked out a few times when the animals tried to jump in the vehicle with us.I didn't like that part either.It was a real nice time for the kids.
We went out in our boat for the Fourth of July....they had some really nice fire works on the lake....from where we were at we could see fireworks from several different places.(It was awsome)I could not help but think of Mckenzie the whole time but I did make the best of it.The kids really had a good time so I guess that is all that matters.There were thousands of boats out there and it really was beatiful(excpecially after dark)
We got soooo lost...it was 3:00am before we found our van.I was ready to get out and kiss the ground by the time we found it.Lake Norman is huge and it is very easy to get lost...even with a map of the lake.
We got the kids a minature donkey tonight...he is really cute!I have been promising the kids a horse for a very long time but instead they got a donkey.They will be able to ride him and he is real good natured.I am scared of horses and I kept telling Rick that if we got a horse it would have to be a baby...he said it is real hard to find someone that would sell the baby...so a donkey is more my speed.I am sure the kids will have a blast with him.
********PRAYER REQUEST***********
Jacob..Jillian..Sarah..Brendal..
We were on the unit with all of them and they are now having some setbacks and are now back in the hospital with what could be very very serious problems.
***Malcolm is back on 5200 and has had his 2 transplant.I talked to his mom today and she says Malcolm is feeling good.We are just waiting on them new donor cells to grow!
***Tucker and Cody are testing positive for cmv virus...it most cases this is pretty curable but in some cases it can be fatal.
****My mom and and both my grandmas***
***Please pray for all the kids on 5200 and childrens
hospitals everywhere.
Wednesday, July 2, 2003 11:21 PM CDT
************Happy Wedding Anniversary Rick!!!!!!***********
My kids are back home safe and sound and it feels more like a home around here...except Dustin wants to stay in WV til school starts here.As I type this journal Candice and Morgan are snuggled in front of the big screen watching dragon tales...I can not help but vision Mckenzie snuggled up with them.They had sooo much love for each other.Morgan and I watched a show about St. Judes childrens Hospital...as I balled my eyes out, Morgan kept running up to the tv soooo excited yelling "sissy sissy" all them bald headed babies with mask, riding their bikes down the hallways of the transplant unit of St.Judes, they really did remind me too of our little angel face.Such courageous little fighters...each and everyone of them.
Mckenzie was discharged from Carolina Medical Center July 3 2002 so it has been one year ago she completed her chemo and we awaited our day of July 30 2002...the day we was admitted to 5200.We watched the fireworks in Charlotte July 4th and I can remember thinking this maybe the last time we watch the firworks with Mckenzie.I really did try to stay positive but as a mother of a child with cancer I knew how serious her disease was.I can remember when Mckenzie was first diagnosed her dr. came in and told me "we know she has leukemia, we just do not know what type" I did not even know there were different types.He went on to tell me about (aml and all) he told me lets hope for (all) it is pretty treatable in most cases.Well the day came...her dr. walked in the room and ask us to come across the hallway in a room so we could talk...away from the kids.I knew right away he had very very bad news.I will never forget his words as long as I live..."Mckenzie has (aml m7) a very very rare leukemia" I ask him what her chances of survival was?He said "she has about a 25% chance of living" at that point I was just dying inside...I walked out of the room...I had heard enough...I thought he had lost his mind...I was not soaking in the words that had just came out of his mouth.There had been a bad mistake in the lab...this could not be true.I was praying for god to take me and not her.Please god let her live...she loves life..she loves her brothers and sisters...they love her...I was scared for her...I have lived my life...she hasn't...Take me!!!I had to walk back into her room and look at her and could not believe there was a very good chance she would be leaving us.I still to this day do not understand what went wrong...I guess I am not suppose to understand.I would rather loose my arm and legs than one of my children.I have had a piece of my heart torn out of me that will never mend.
I guess we are going to Charlotte again this 4th...Rick has the day off so he will get to see them this year.I do not get to excited about doing things now days but I do try to make sure the kids get to live life to the fullest.The social worker from Carolina Medical Center called the other day and invited Rick and I to a dinner and they were having a ballon release....we both wanted sooo bad to go...We really miss everyone from there and talk about going up to the floor for a visit.Well, Rick and I went to Blowing Rock that day and we went to Tweetsies and rode the old steam train through the mountains...we left there having enough time to get to Charlotte but as Schoenleb luck has it, they were working on the mountain on the way out and we got stuck in traffic...it took an hour 1/2 just to get off the mountain.I was having a cow!!!If anyone from CMC is reading please tell Kim I am sooo sorry, I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again and I hope To real soon!
Morgan just came over here to show me her piggy tails Candice did for her.Candice thinks Morgan is a dress up baby, it is so cute!Every move Candice makes...Morgan copies her.If Candice is laying on her belly...than Morgan haves to lay on her belly.If Candice has her legs pulled up in her shirt...well, Morgan haves to pull her legs up in her shirt.Two peas in a pode
Dustin and Brandon are doing good.Brandon seems to be happy to be back home.I think he was getting a little homesick.The kids had a real good time in WV spending time with my mom and attending bible school.Dustin was at the carnival in our hometown (Parkersburg WV)the other night...he was playing some games there when a boy he did not even know started giving him a hard time....The boy left and a little while later Dustin was sitting alone when the boy shows back up with 6 of his friends...they held Dustin up against a car while the other boy hit him in the jaw a couple of times...he said his jaw was a little sore but besides that...he is ok!What cowards...it takes 6 boys to hold down 1 boy.I will get off the subject now or I will get mad all over again...I am just now calming down over the situation.
Rick is doing good...he is still working and on his days off we usually hope in the car and go somewhere...He is still having good days and bad days...there are just so many things that remind us of Mckenzie.After Mckenzie passed away we were having some problems with Morgan getting very upset with Rick and I holding hands or touching each other in any kind of way...for almost a year either she was with Rick alone or she was with me alone.She has had to get use to Rick and I being together again.Mckenzie on the other hand was all the time saying "kiss daddy" "hold daddys hand" she loved her daddy and she wanted everyone else to love him too!Rick always says...he has never had anyone love him as much as Mckenzie did.She truly adored him...he adored her!
Thank you to the staff of 5200 for the letter.You guys made me cry!Thats ok crying is my life now days.I think you all are the best and Mckenzie loved you all!Thank you for making her feel so special the last months of her life.Bethany, when I read what you wrote is when I felt the tears then I read keri Latane and Bobbies...you know how much I love you ya'll!Rick read it and the first thing he said was "ahhh little Kelley signed this" we really enjoyed her being Kenzies nurse.Latane, I will get ahold of you as soon as I get moved and settled in...we will have to get together when your in Charlotte.
WAT TO GO NOAH!!!JAIL BREAK!!!YOU ARE A LITTLE MIRACLE!!!!
Tara, I hope you are doing ok...I want you to know I miss you and keep you in my prayers.It was sooo nice to see you at Mckenzies service and I love your hair.I loved you without hair also....you and Mckenzie looked so much alike...you a bigger version of course!Mckenzie loved you and you were such an inspiration to me...you still are...I was so scared when Mckenzie was admitted at CMC...you let me know everything was going to be ok.I LOVE YOU FOR THAT!!!!!Please tell your mom hello and I really miss her...I miss our long talks.
Eleasha
My heart dropped tonight when I read your journal.I know Cody will be alright...I just hate that he is having a setback.I hate that your vacation had to be cancelled...I know you guys were looking very forward to your trip.I want you to know the cmv meds they give are very effective but Mckenzie went so long with no immune system...in Mckenzies case the meds failed her...it is very rare this med does not work.Dr.Martin told me the meds they were giving her were the best in the world for cmv.Hang in there....this is just another bump in the road.
Barb paul and Malcolm
I think of you guys all through the day...I am praying for you guys and I hope this second transplant gives Malcolm a new start at life.I miss you guys sooo much....Barb I miss our talks....I miss our laughs.Yes, I even miss Paul picking on me!Love ya'll
*****************Grow donor cells grow*********************
***Dustin(my oldest son) wrote a poem to Mckenzie on the guestbook.I will put on on the front of the webpage soon but if you would like to read it now, go to the guestbook.
*Thank you for checking in on us!!!!!
Saturday, June 28, 2003 2:43 PM CDT
Mckenzies stone is up on her grave and it is gorgeous!
It has a colored picture of her on it.I am soooo happy
that it has finally been fixed.
We are all doing ok...we have good days and then we have really bad days.I miss my kids really bad and I am looking forward to picking them up in WV Monday.They have been gone for a month.
We have been really busy and working hard getting the house packed and getting ready to move.We had the closing scheduled for Monday and like everything else in my life that does not go right, it has been cancelled.So now as it stands we do not know when the closing will be and our landlord has already contacted a realitor to show the house.If the closing does not happen before the 1 of Aug. and someone else signs a lease to move in here, we will be homeless!If it was not for bad luck, we would have no luck at all!
I am sooo tired of worrying about everything, it is none stop, always something!
This brings me to tell you all about a family that came to the US in hopes of a cure for their two boys that had the same disease Mckenzies boyfriend Kyle was diagnosed with.They lost their youngest son last month and lost their oldest son a couple of days ago.I have been sooo upset and heartbroken for them.I know the lost of loosing a child, it is soooo painful....I can not imagine loosing two of them.Now they are left to go back to Greece with no children.Please pray for them and I will leave their webpage...caringbridge.org/nc/koumpourasboys
Alicia,
Thank you sooo much for leaving that picture of Tommy and Mckenzie.They were truly good friends.I wish you all the best as you go forward with Tommys 3 transplant.I want you to know Mckenzies transplant worked....Mckenzie passed away from the cmv virus which attacked her lungs.The 1 and 2 transplant Mckenzie grew no cells not even her old ones so Mckenzie went for a very long time without an immune system, the cmv virus, we believe took over her lungs.Mckenzie did not pass away due to complications of third transplant she just did not have a strong enough immune system to fight off the viruses.The cmv medicine they gave her, failed her and they believed as her cells grew so did the cmv.The Drs. believed her cells were to inmature to know the cmv virus was bad and became friends with the virus and they grew together.I miss you guys and hope to hear from you soon!
I also have been thinking alot about pastor Mike Young and all the members of Westport Baptist.Pastor Young did a wonderful job at Mckenzies funeral service, it could have never been done more perfect.He is an amazing man and I am very thankful for him.We are very grateful for everyone at the church...you all have been soooo good to us and we are truly thankful for each and everyone of you.I wish we were a little closer so we could attend services more often.I am hoping once we get moved into our new house, things will not be as hectic as they are now.Once again, A HUGE THANK YOU!!!!
Shelley, I hope you are all doing good!I miss you!!!!!!!!
Sue, It was really good seeing you the other night.You really helped us out sooo much while we were at Duke.I do not know what we would have done without you the day Mckenzie passed away....I thank God you were there!I just could not believe all the questions and decisions that had to be made immediatly after Mckenzie passed away...Do you want an autopsy?What funeral home is coming to get her?When are they coming to get her?AAAHHH!!!!I did not know if I was coming or going!You have truly been heaven sent, you will always be a near and dear friend!
Prayer request....
Baby Noah.... caringbridge.org /hi/noah
Jillian....caringbridge.org/fl/jillian
Malcolm.....caringbridge.org/va/malcolm
Tommy.....caringbridge.org/ca/bennettboys
Taylor....caringbridge.org/va/taylor
Sarah....caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith
*My mom will be having surgery the end of July to remove the bb sized growth found and they will biopsy it once it has been removed.
*Remember the kids of 5200 and childrens hospital everwhere!
Sunday, June 8, 2003 11:26 PM CDT
WE hold our childrens hands for a while....their hearts forever!!!!
Hello....we are all doing ok.It has been a rough couple of weeks....Jose passed away, he was in the room next to us on the unit, he is also the boy I mentioned taking Mckenzies passing very hard.Garrett was another boy on the unit with us, he passed away also.WOW, I sure know alot of angels!There is just sooo many sick kids, their sicknesses and their passings just hit me so hard.I hate that any parent has to feel this pain, it is so unfair!
Ok, I am going to get off that subject.Well, we were approved for our loan, YEAH!!!Finally something goes right for Schoenlebs.We will be moving hopefully by the end of July.We will still be in the area but a little closer to Mckenzie.YEAH!!!We went out to her grave yesterday and we were so suprised to see her headstone there.There was a problem with it,(of course) they spelled her name wrong, they ended Schoenleb with a D instead of a B.We wanted them to put "we love you whole bunch angelface" but they put "I love you whole bunch"...it was suppose to have her picture on it, well guess what?NO PICTURE!We called about it and they said they would go out to her grave and fix it.I guess it is no big deal, it can be fixed!
My mom had a mamogram done and guess what?It showed up something, so now she has to go in and have a biopsy done.Oh joy!What is happening to my family?I just pray everything is ok, I am sure it is, my mom has a pretty good guardian angel.She is Mckenzies grandma tic-tac
We have not been doing much here lately, it just seems like Rick works all the time.We have family in right now from WV. It is nice having people here with us.Mckenzies primary nurse is coming here to visit with me...I can not wait, I miss her sooo much!She was sooo much apart of Mckenzies life, they adored each other.OK, Keri and Bethany when are you coming for a visit?Miss Latane, you live in Charlotte, NO EXCUSES FOR YOU!!!!
My kids have been in WV for a week now and I am sooo ready for them to come back home.They sure make a house a home.Morgan did not go, she is here with me.Thank God, I think I would go crazy without her!She really keeps me busy and on my toes.
I want you all to know I check the guestbook everyday and I love to still hear from all of you.I sit at this computer a couple of times a day and check on all the kids we went through transplant with and even some I have never met.There are just soooo many children fighting to beat the odds and soooo many that have gone to heaven.I still think and worry about our friends we had on the unit...It is so nice to read about the ones doing good and it is nice to report there are a few.
Well, I need to get off of here and check on baby Noah and baby Jordan I have been waiting for an update.Hopefully I will read some good news.Please remember the kids of 5200 and childrens hospitals everywhere in your prayers.Also remember my mom and grandma.
I will close with some more messages left on Mckenzies quilt before she was discharged Feb.2003......
"Kenzi"
I am so happy for you and your family.The day has come for you to leave the unit!You are truly a miracle child!You have inspired us all.Please take care and come back to visit us!
Love, Kari RN
Mckenzie,
You are such a sweet little girl.You have been an incredible inspiration to everyone on 5200.You have taught me to always have a positive attitude and remain strong.5200 will miss its mascot.Keep smiling and God bless you and your family.
Love Holly RN
Mckenzie,
You are a very special lttle girl who has brought sunshine to our days.Thanks for your smiles and love.I enjoyed every minute of taking care of you.Never forget how much you were loved while on this floor.
Love, Cathy RN
Monday, May 26, 2003 1:18 AM CDT
***I am adding this to my earlier update...I just received a call from my aunt and my grandmas(MY DADS MOM) cancer has returned, it is in her lung.Please remember her in your prayers.
Hello....I want to first start by asking everyone to remember baby Noah their prayers...he was taken over to the picu and put on the breathing machine.You can visit his webpage at...caringbridge.org/hi/noah
I got to visit baby Noah up on the transplant unit while I was in Durham several weeks ago.Mckenzie really loved the babies on the unit and I am sure she is watching over him.
My little buddy Cody is having some setbacks and could use some extra prayers also....he is a real cool kid!!!His web is...www.forcody.org
Last but not least, Baby Jordan...caringbridge.org/il/jordan
Jordan was on the unit with us and Mckenzie adored him.She would always ask me to take her to see the baby.Carrie, his mother came up to the unit to be with us the day Mckenzie passed...they had been discharged at the time.They have been having a time here lately and really could use some prayers.
I hold these families near and dear to me...It is very hard going through the whole transplant process...It is never ending worring...waiting for this test and that test to come back...worring about the disease and if the transplant even worked.Some of the kids on the unit have such rare diseases, they do not even know if transplant works but they have no other option but to try.I know alot of kids go through transplant and relapse....NEVER ENDING WORRY!!!!!
Well, we have been very busy house hunting.We found a home we really fell in love with.Pray our loan goes through!!!!
I am going to be soooo heart broken if things do not work out and the loan falls through.I am beginning to think that things are just not suppose to work out for me.
School is out for the kids and Dustin(my oldest son)will be starting high school this fall.(wow)I am getting old!!!!!!
Candice will be going into the first grade and Brandon will be in the fifth grade.Where do the years go?I believe the kids will be heading for WV next weekend sometime.They are really excited about seeing my mom and going to bible school.I think my mom is more excited she really misses the kids.
I have been slacking on the updates...the last couple of weeks have been really hard.My dad past away 13yrs ago May 16th and I always have a tough time this time of year...I just had a double whammy this year.
Morgan is growing like a weed, she is sooo funny.She gets soooo excited over everything...I think she is just now figuring out, there is a world away from the Ronald Mcdonald house.We took the kids to Myrtle Beach, Mothers day weekend, we really had a good time.The day after we returned home, we ordered Mckenzies headstone...That day was a very hard day, I cried about all day.Mckenzies stone is going to be beautiful, it will have a her picture on it.MY LITTLE ANGEL FACE
I have a picture of Morgan and Mckenzie sitting out on the table in the living room, that little Morgan grabs it all the time and kisses all over Mckenzie.It makes me soooo sad that they do not get to grow up together and the only memories she will have of her, is pictures and what I tell her.It just does not seem fair!!!
Now for some nascar news....
We took the kids and we met Rusty Wallace, Jimmy Spencer, Ron Hornaday and Ricky Craven.We went and met Rusty and got some pictures and autographs....we left him and headed to Lowes motor speedway and we seen a crowd, we stopped and found out what was going on...They were broadcasting MRN Radio(Nascar radio)with the guys I just mentioned, as guest.We got to talk to all of them and got some autographs.Woo-Hoo!!!!The kids really enjoy meeting nascar drivers but not like mommy does!!!!I could truly open my own store with all the stuff I have collected and had autographed.
Well, I am going to leave out of here with some more messages left on Mckenzies quilt.Thanks for checking in on us.
Mckenzie,
You are the sweetest!It has been so much fun having you here.I love to hear your sweet voice and seeing you ride your iv pole down the hallway.You have an awsome family to be very thankful for.Keep up the good work.
Joanna RN
Mckenzie
You are such a special little girl to everyone here on 5200!I know for me you have taught me alot about life...to always stay positive and to make the best out of hard times.I always look forward to coming to work in hopes that I can take care of sweet Mckenzie.You are without a doubt the strongest little girl I have ever met and if anyone can do it, you can!
Kerri RN
Dear Mckenzie,
My little pumpkin.You are the sweetest and most beautiful angel and I love being with you.I am so thankful that I've been able to be your nurse and take care of you.Thank you for being the smartest, best patient ever!I love you!
Michelle RN
Mckenzie,
You truly are a miracle.You are an inspiration for the whole world to see.Your beauty shines daily.Stay sweet!
Tina, PBMTUSW
Wednesday, May 21, 2003 10:04 PM CDT
Mckenzie,
You must be the cutiest, braviest girl I know.You are the brightest angel of them all!Keep the strenghth and determination to prove everyone wrong and show people that miracles do happen!Keep smiling and laughing sweetie!!
Love Jen E.RN
Kenzie-Pie
You are an inspiration because you have a very courageous and determined spirit.truly your guardian angel watches over you.
Love John NA
Dear Kenzie,
You are the bravest and most special girl I know.Have a wonderful time after you are discharged.
Love DR K.
Mckenzie
You are such a tough little girl!I am proud of you!I"ve never known a little girl quite like you...you are beautiful and amazing.We love you so much!
Love Jennifer H. RN
Mckenzie,
You are some kinda fighter!You have worked so hard to get better!See you in clinic.
Dr.Paul Martin
I am way behind on updating and I am soooo sorry!We are all doing ok.I keep waiting for the days to get easier but it just isn't happening.We have been staying very busy and that seems to make the days go by alittle faster.I want to thank you that still sign her webpage.It really helps to know we have not been forgotten.Morgan and Candice had their shots today and Morgan is not a very happy camper this evening.Rick is still working alot of hours, it is very hard just trying to get back on our feet.My kids are going to WV for about a month, what am I going to do?I am very nervous about them going but they are looking forward to staying with their grandma for a while.I do not know if it is just me or if it is a normal feeling after loosing a child but I fear loosing another one.I love my kids soooo much, I used to be one of them parents who used to say, "I can not imagine having a sick child, I can not imagine loosing a child" and here I am today without Mckenzie left wondering, What went wrong?Rick and I stayed up late lastnight watching Mckenzie on video.She was soooo full of life bouncing around, running, playing, laughing and telling us how much she loved us.It was soooo nice to hear those words from her.OK, here comes the tears if I go on... so, I will end here for tonight.I love you all and thank you so much for checking on us.I promise I will update soon...I am also going to have Rick update pictures soon!
Thursday, May 8, 2003 1:30 PM CDT
I was outside and I got to thinking about Mothers day.Last Mothers day Mckenzie was admitted at Carolinas Medical Center.She was going through chemo treatments at that time her wbc was low and while she was home between treatments she was bit on the finger by something and her finger got really infected.I remember we went to the clinic and Dr. Golembe told me he was going to admit her.My first thought was, Mothers day, we can not be in the hospital for Mothers day!I never dreamed that would be our last Mothers day together.She felt good and made the best of it as she always did.I can remember the tears running down my face and Dr. Golembe told me "there are going to be times Mckenzie will be hospitalized on holidays."I felt my world crumble all around me.I do not have a crystal ball and I had no way of seeing our future...I wish I did!In one year we spent every single holiday except the Fourth of July admitted in the Hospital.She was diagnosed April fools day 2002 and passed away the first day of Spring.Even after Mckenzie was discharged for that month in Durham she returned back to 5200 on Saint Patricks day.
I think the shock of Mckenzie passing away is wearing off and the reality of her being gone is really becoming more real.I miss her, I miss her more than there is even a word for.It is not fair.Why?Why?Why?Why did she go through all she had to go through?Why do my kids have to go through this pain?Why do Rick and I have to go through this pain?Does she know we were not being mean to her all the times we held her down for dressing changes?Does she know we were not being mean having her hooked up to an iv pole and all she kept asking is, "can I be free?" Does she know we were there because we were hoping for a cure?How did she feel about being back in diapers... after being so proud of herself for being potty trained before we got to Duke?These are questions that run laps in my head, I just want her to know how much she meant to us and that we never meant to be mean.
I know we did all we could do for her but is does not ease the pain of her being gone.I know death is a part of life but a child not being able to grow up and live her life with her parents and brothers and sisters should never be....JUST LIFE!
I have not lost my faith and I know things happen for a reason.I would rather have Mckenzie for 3 1/2yrs than to have never of had her at all.I cherish every moment I spent with her...she was sooooo sweet and caring.She loved life and she loved people.She made me laugh.I was truly blessed to be her mother, even if it was just for a short time.I am going to enjoy my Mothers day with my other children and remember my Angel face and how honored I am to be her mommy.
Here is another message from Mckenzies quilt.....
Mckenzie,
You are one of the strongest and sweetest little princesses!Your bright eyes and wonderful personality always makes me smile!You have taught me to enjoy life and to be thankful for everyday that I have.I love taking care of you and seeing you in the hall when I come to work.You are such a sweet girl with such a big heart.I will never forget you Mckenzie!
Kelley, RN
Lisa...I received your check for 25.00 and I will mail it to Jane Schroder, Dir. of pbmt family support program.
Thank you for your donation!
On a lighter note...The kids and I met nascar driver Kevin Harvick yesterday.It was alot of fun...he played around with my kids...Brandon and him hit it off...they had a fun time playing high fives...up high...down low...too slow!He was so nice and we really enjoyed talking with him.
GO KEVIN!!!!!!
Lastnight when Rick got home from work, we drove out to Lowes Motor Speedway and watched the Craftman trucks practice.It helps just to get out and do some things...It has been so long since we have been able to fun things together.
The other night, Rick and I was eating at the steak house and Nascar driver Ernie Ervin was there eating also.I thought that was pretty neat.
Thanks for still thinking of us!
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ALL THE MOTHERS!
Saturday, April 26, 2003 6:33 PM CDT
We had a quilt that hung outside of Mckenzies door on the unit...Everyone signed it before we were discharged.I want to post on here what everyone wrote to her before she left.Everytime I update I will put on here one of the messages left to her.
Mckenzie;
You are my sunshine...my "munchkin",my sweetie pie.My life has been the best and so wonderful with you in it.Your strenghth and courage is beyond anyone else I have ever met.
Lots of love and kisses.
Bobbi,RN
Kenzie,
Little Mermaid, you make my day...everytime I hear "Bef-fie."You are truly an inspiration to us all.God has truly blessed us with an angel here on earth!I have loved taking care of you and I will never forget the impact you have made in my life.Keep fighting baby girl, we are all rooting for you.
Love you,
Bethany, RN
*WARNING>>>WARNING>>>WARNING>>>WARNING>>>WARNING>>>WARNING*
I posted a warning because we are putting a few pictures from the funeral.These pictures can only be seen if you click onto the camera icon at the bottom of the page.Rick and I both have family all over and some of them did not get to attend Mckenzies funeral.
I really find comfort in these pictures, she looks so beautiful and she is surrounded with some of her favorite things.She even has tic tacs in her hand from my mom...Mckenzie called my mom "Grandma tic tac" mom always had tic tacs for her....orange ones...her favorite.
***I hope you all enjoy the pictures of Mckenzie!
**Please remember the kids on 5200 and hospital everywhere**
*****NEEDING EXTRA PRAYERS*****
**caringbridge.org/hi/noah
**caringbridge.org/va/malcolm
**caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith
**caringbridge.org/fl/jillian
**caringbridge.org/va/jacob
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1:37 AM CDT
****Sabrina...Parkersburg WV...10.00
****Wendy....Rock Hill SC..25.00
****Teresa...Middleburg FL...50.00
****A HUGE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Hello...I am still with you all.I am a little slow on updating and I am sorry for that.We have been staying very busy.I want to first answer your questions about who to write the checks payableto...PBMT- 03RH
If you have already sent out a check made out to me...I can cash it and it will be turned in as well, NO PROBLEMO.....
Christina Schoenleb
1421 Triplett Rd.
Cleveland NC 27013
I am also giving Jane Schroeder the names of everyone that has donated in honor of Mckenzie.She is the director of the family support program.
A HUGE THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WEll, tonight was my first night at Mitchell college in Moorsville.I had to take a locator test in math and reading.I know I failed the math with flying colors....Who is the wise guy that through in the alphabet among all them numbers?I am going to be taking math classes for the next 10 years and probably still not understand it!OH WELL...I am trying!
Rick will be starting back to work tomorrow night after having two days off...He worked 7 days of midnights... over 80 hours...needless to say he has been staying very busy.He planted a garden and has been working hard on it his days off.
The kids are all doing well and are adjusting fine to their new schools.Candice still has her moments and starts to cry about Mckenzie...We all do...it is very hard to have to go on without her.I still talk to her as if nothing ever happened to her...expecially in the car alone.I tell her things like...she is the best girl and I love her whoooole bunch.I told her those things every single day and I always will.
OK, this is for you Miss Latane...
Whats up!!!
I really miss you and everyone else on 5200...it is so nice to know you all have not forgot about us.I still have the glass ship with the dolphin that you brought back from you honeymoon for Kenzie in my kitchen window.I look at it everyday and think of you.I remember when you gave it to Kenzie...she loved it...she would want to hold it all the time and I was so afraid it was going to get broke...Mckenzie would fall asleep and I would sneak it away from her and put it up by the tv....she would wake up and ask me...Where is my ship? OH..precious memories!!!!!
Please stay in touch and thank you for being so nice to Mckenzie...as I say all the time...SHE LOVED YOU ALL AND I DO TOO!!!!!!
keri..
It was so nice to talk to you also.I am glad you were our nurse the night before Mckenzie passed.We really had a good night, didn't we?I really miss talking to you....I know it is just not the same with Rick being gone...you probably have no one to pick on you and mess up your hair all day long.You were always such a good sport and would give it back to him.I was going through some pictures the other day of Kenzie and I came across one of you and her...she was riding her bike just as fast as she could and you are running behind her with her iv pole and you have a look on your face like...HELP ME!!!SHe was a hand full, wasn't she?wide open and sooo full of life.I remember how we would talk all the time and how we really both felt she was going to pull through.We both realized how serious things were but miracle Mckenzie would prevail.She made it so many times before.Remember the day she was discharged?Everyone was there to see her...I will never forget that day...a day the drs. said would probably not happen.That was truly one of the happiest moments in my life.I was as proud as a mom could be!I know you was too...I remember you in the hallway as her dad carried her out the door and I can remember the big tears in your eyes and I told you...NO CRYING, THIS IS A HAPPY DAY!You said, I am just so happy for her.You know what Keri?She did make it and our feelings were true...she is with us all everyday with her perfect healthy body, running the halls of 5200...I AM FREE..I AM FREE!!!!
Please tell everyone else I said hello...
Bethany
Jen K.
Sameeya
Michelle
Kelli
Cheryl
Donna
Jennifer
Carrie G
Bobbi
Traci
Kitty
Amy
And anyone else I forgot to mention...That is why I do not like listing names...I am afraid I will forget someone.I listed the ones that mostly took care of Kenzie.
Angie and Tom:
We recieved the plant you sent us today and I was totally suprised...It is beautiful!I have it as a center piece on my kitchen table that is by the sliding glass door.In just several hours of recieving it,three of the bulbs bloomed.Thank you so much for being such good friends...we love you guys very much.
Well,I am going to sign out...Thank you all for visiting Mckenzie webpage.Please pray extra hard for....
Sarah....caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith
Malcolm....caringbridge.org/va/malcolm
My son(Brandon)and Malcolm became best friends during our stay in Durham...his mom and I became very close and is now one of my best friends.
Travis....caringbridge.org/hi/twilliams
Morgan....caringbridge.org/nc/morganbarnes
baby Noah....caringbridge.org/hi/noah
These chidren I have mentioned are having some set backs and really could use your prayers.Please remember all the children of 5200 and childrens hospitals everywhere.
Wednesday, April 23, 2003 1:37 AM CDT
Hello...I am still with you all.I am a little slow on updating and I am sorry for that.We have been staying very busy.:))
Thursday, April 17, 2003 4:33 PM CDT
Hello...I want to mention that I will be going back to Durham on May 3...I will be attending the rainbow of heroes walk...this is to raise money for the family support program...this program really makes the stay on the bone marrow unit alot easier for patients and their families.This program is what makes cellmates(art time)possible.The kids really look forward to having time out their rooms and every week making really nice projects.Duke University gives NO MONEY to help with the family support program...Believe me, this program makes things a little easier for the families of 5200.I am asking for all my friends and family to please send a donation even if it is only a dollar...each dollar adds up.You can send your donation to me and I can pass it over to Jane Schroeder...she is the director for the pbmt family support program.
Christina Schoenleb
1421 Triplett Rd
Cleveland, NC
27013
I have a goal...I would be just sooo proud to be able to give 100.00 in honor of Mckenzie...I know it would make Mckenzie proud too!
I talk to Jane Schroeder today and the calenders with the kids of 5200 are still for sell.There is 2 pictures of Mckenzie in the calender.The money made of this calender is to raise money for the Hope lodge...This will be a home built in Durham where transplant families can stay while going through the transplant procedure.
calenders $10
attn:Jane Schroeder-Hope Lodge
box 3350
Durham NC 27710
I really and truly want to thank all of you for the support you have all given us and there are so many more families that need our help and we can all help them...one dollar at a time.
I will take pictures and hopefully real soon I can have them posted on the webpage.
Wendy:Mckenzie meals is a wonderful idea...Let me know, maybe I can attend...it makes me soo proud to hear things are being done in honor of Mckenzie....trees are being planted and money is being raised to help other families and cancer related pragrams and events.SHE WOULD BE SOOO PROUD!!!!!
You can learn more about the walk May 3 by going to the Rainbow of Heroes Walk website
www.cancer.duke.edu/pbmt/support.asp
Saturday, April 12, 2003 1:07 AM CDT
Dear mom and dad,
Hey-it's me-Kenzie!I wanted you to know that Heaven is awsome.I love it here.Guess what?-I am normal again.I have my hair back and there is no more lumens.I've been running and playing.I want you to know that I feel no more pain.I'm not scared.I'm happy...
Guess who was waiting for me when I got here-my boyfriend Kyle.He had one long stem rose for me.He's showing me all the cool places to play.I've also played with Mitch,Keshon,Reese,Ryan and Brittney.Everyone up here is healthy.
I saw you today. mommy you looked so pretty-and daddy,you were never so handsome. But I am worried about you because you looked so sad.Please don't be sad.I know you miss me_I miss you too.But we'll all be together one day.I know you did the very best you could for me and I love you for that.You made so many sacrifices just so I could be healthy.You're the best parents I could ever ask for.I ask Jesus all the time to make sure you have angels watching over you.
I am with you-I'm the wind that blows in your hair.I'm the sunshine on your face, and I'm the tears that fall from your eyes.I'm the birds that fly, and the butterfly that floats on the air.I am here, with you, and sending you kisses.
Until the day we meet again, please know that I love you.I think I did a pretty good job of picking out my parents.
Hugs and Kisses from above
Love Mckenzie
Rick found this letter at the church laying on the table before Mckenzies funeral began.I was in the parking lot of the church talking to a couple of friends, when Rick brought it out to me.I opened it and cried my eyes out.I now have it in a frame and I have it sitting out along side a picture of Mckenzie.I wanted to share it with all of you.
Thanks for stopping by and checking on our family.It really means so much to get online and hear from all of you even though some of you I do not know.Through Mckenzie we all have become like family.I know alot of you are feeling pain from Mckenzies passing even though some of you never got to meet her.She had a way about her that peeple just fell in love with.I can remember her asking her daddy to tickle her, she would just laugh so hard, then she would tell him "stop tickling me, daddy!"One of the parents sent up a couple of thomas trains and we gave them to Mckenzie a couple of hours before she passed away, she handed them back to me and ask me to open them, I did and she held onto them and as sick as she was tinkered around with them for a few minutes then laid them down by her side.She was a true little fighter and really did not complain about to much.
I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT HAS BEEN 3 WEEKS SINCE MY ANGEL FACE PASSED AWAY!!!!
I can remember it was about 1/2 hour before she died, she was laying in her bed and all the nurses and the Drs., Rick and I was gathered around her, we were all crying, she had her eyes closed and all the sudden she opened her eyes and said "uh-oh!!!" and pointed at the tv.She ask us earlier to put her favorite movie in the vcr and she heard her favorite part and woke up and pointed it out to all of us.We all laughed, the Dr. said, "leave it to Mckenzie, she could sense we really needed some laughter in the room." Like I said before she really hated to see people cry.I can remember at Carolina Medical Center, she would see a small child being pulled in a wagon and they would be crying because they just did not feel good, she would always walk up to them and say "don't cry, you're ok!" It was sooo cute to watch her mother over everyone.The Drs. would come in and talk to us and she was always asking us "whats wrong? what did they say?" I had to be reminded she was only 3yrs. old.The nurses would come in and she knew every routine and she would not hesitate on telling them step by step on how to do there job and she did not like for them to open a cabinet door and leave it open, she would tell them to shut it the door.She would ask the nurses if they did not put there gloves on immediatly "where's your sterile gloves?"She was sooo smart!
Mckenzie loved crushed ice, well one day one of the fellow drs. came up with the idea that we could put ice in little baggies and put the baggies between the door and the frame and shut the door, this worked but it really made alot of noise. it would be all hours of the night and we would be crushing ice and everyone eventually learned what that loud noise coming out of room 3.It was so funny, the same fellow Dr. that came up with the crushing ice in the door bit, was doing rounds with Mckenzies primary doctor, Mckenzie was wanting crushed ice and I was scared to put the ice in the door because I am telling you it really was loud, I called for her to come in the room and I told her Mckenzie was wanting her crushed ice but I was scared to do it because I did not want Dr. Martin to freak out on me, she took the baggie from me and put it in the crack of the door and shut it, Dr. Martin come to the room and he was asking what was that noise?The fellow dr. answered him and said Mckenzie was needing some crushed ice!He did not tell us we could not do that anymore, I figured he would and it was really a good thing he did't.We all learned real quick, when Mckenzie wasn't happy, none of us were happy.She really could be contrary sometimes.She made it very clear to the picu nurses she did not care to much for them, when she was over there she was not allowed to have a drink and she would beg and plea with them to give her a drink, they would not, they were not trying to be mean to her, they just had orders to try and dry her out, no fluids, this set Mckenzie into a frantic, she started screaming " I want to go back to my room!"(back to 5200)
I also want to mention, I have not forgotten about updating pictures, I do not know how to do it, Rick has to do it and he told me tonight he is just not ready to get back on her webpage.
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!We plan on going to church and after the service we will visit Mckenzies grave, it is right behind the church.Everyone there at Westport Baptist has been so nice to us, everyone in the Denver, Lake Norman area.Through donations Rick and I were able to stay in Durham with Mckenzie for the whole time she was at Duke.I also want to thank the rest of you for your thoughts, prayers, cards, letters, flowers and donations.I never dreamed I would ever be put in the situation but I was and we truly could not have made it work, if we did not have everyones help.I thank god all the time for each and everyone of you.
Please sign the guestbook, I really enjoy still hearing from all of you.
Lots of love from our family to yours, God bless!
Please remember Travis williams in your prayers, he is still in the picu and today was his 15 birthday.Caringbridge.org/hi/twilliams
Sarah smith was on the 5200 with Mckenzie, pray her test all come back ok.caringbridge.org/nc/sarahsmith
Kayla lewis needing your prayers, adorable 3 year old, check out her webpage at caringbridge.org/ks/kaylalewis
To the Doorhy family:I received your package in the mail, thank you so much, it is beautiful gift, I have it up on our computer desk by Mckenzies picture.
alisha:I check on Cody and you all the time, for some reason I can not get my entries to go through.I love Cody's webpage, I bet that took some time to do!Call me sometime.
Julie:Thanks for inspirational words you left in the guestbook.You were always one then never lacked in that department.(ha-ha)
It was so good to see you and Teresa in Parkersburg.Before we got there, I was really hoping you would be there.I really feel bad that I did not get to talk to you more than what I did.That day was like, walking around in a dream.I promise we will stay in touch and never let years come between us again.Send my love to Randy, the kids and your parents.
Wednesday, April 9, 2003 10:21 PM CDT
Hello!I got Mckenzie RFLP test back today(dna test)she was 91%donor and 9%hers.I called my friend that works on the bone marrow unit and had her ask Dr. Martin, I guess it does not matter now but I just needed to know.When I think of Mckenzie, which is constantly, I am just sooo proud of her.She kept us strong, she hated to see us cry.Even now, I cry and I can hear her little voice,"mommy don't cry."I remember talking to a childs parents right after he passed, they told me his passing was very peaceful.I was thinking to myself, How can something like holding your child in your arms and watching them take there last breath be peaceful?Well, now I have gone through loosing my child and holding her in my arms while she took her last breath and it really was very peaceful.It all happened so fast I really remember feeling that this really could not be happening, not my miracle Mckenzie.I knew she was going to pull through this like she had so many time before.I remember we laid her on the bed after she passed and Dr. Martin listening to her heart and he said it was still beating.Once again, I had a moments hope that what just happened maybe really did not happen.I asked him if she was still alive and he replied "no, she is gone, sometimes young ones hearts will beat up to five minutes after they pass."Rick asked for the stethascope and listened to her heart beat for the last time, Rick looked at Dr. Martin and told him that her heart had stopped beating, Dr. Martin listened and pronounced her gone at 3:25.I talked to Bobbi(Mckenzies primary nurse)after the funeral and she said Mckenzies passing was very, very peaceful, she said it was very beautiful and I remember it being the same way,looking back on it. Bobbi and mckenzie became very close and Bobbi told me, she loved to come to work just so she could be with Mckenzie.Even after Mckenzie was discharged she would come over to the clinic just to see her "munchkin"(that is what Bobbi called her.)Rick is still having a hard time in the mornings, he told me today, "I wake up and look over to see her and she is not there."I just try and stay positive, I am grateful for the 3yrs. I had with her, I would rather have her for the short time that I did than not to have had her at all.She was a champ and I am truly honored that I am her mommy.I am at peace with, we spent quality time together,she knows how much we loved her and we know how much she loved us.Even though we were in the hospital, we had sooo much fun.We made alot of things and I can remember her having me out in the hallway of the unit riding her bike sooo fast, I had to run behind her as fast as I could with her iv pole.I can remember her laugh, those beautiful blue eyes and the smile that always melted my heart.A love like ours can never die and she is still with me, I feel her everywhere, I know in my heart she is all better now and everyday when I wake up, I am one day closer with being with her again.Her bug juice is in our refrigerator, I found it in the car, Rick bought it for her in Durham and she has had a couple of drinks out of it.We have her hair that she lost after her chemo treatments.I have pictures out of her everywhere, my angel face!!!Well, today was Brandons 10 b-day we had just a small party, I felt sooo sorry for him, poor little guy, it was just really weird celebrating and Mckenzie just passed away 3weeks ago.Just everyone misses Mckenzie soooo much.We really tried to make it nice for him.Candice ask me all the time where is Mckenzie?When is Mckenzie coming back?I tell her Mckenzie is in heaven and she is all better now but she keeps asking!Well, I better get off here, thank you all for still checking on us, we love you all!Shelley, my number is (704)528-2244 Wendy, I got your card today with the penney, thanks!We would like to meet you, too!To all the nurses on the bone marrow unit, we love and miss you, thanks for being so great with Mckenzie, she loved you guys!!!!
Sunday, April 6, 2003 9:45 PM CDT
Hello everyone!I think I am able to talk a little bit about Mckenzies services.As you all know Mckenzie passed March 21 2003 at 3:25pm.Rick and I both stayed with Mckenzie Wednesday night, she really did have a good night.We stayed up and watched a movie and cuddled in bed together.Sue, a friend of ours picked up the kids Wednesday after they spent some quality time with Mckenzie up on the unit.They were going to stay with Sue in Denver NC til Sunday but things changed so fast on Friday we had to call her to rush them back and in the mean time Mckenzie passed about an hour before they arrived.The hospital set Mckenzie up in a room downstairs where we stayed with her til the funeral home came around 2:00am.It made me feel good when Rick asked if he could pick her up and carry her to the van that would be transporting her to the funeral home and the man agreed.Rick picked her up off the table and handed her to me and I gave her big hugs and kisses and then Rick took her from me, he carried her down the long hallway and and we exited out some double doors and went out to the funeral homes van where Rick placed her in the front seat, we put a seat belt on her and she looked so peaceful, she just looked like she was going for a car ride.As strange as it probably sounds, I was really relieved she got to ride up front and she was just not tossed in the back of the van by herself.She looked perfect, her color did not change at all, her lips stayed pretty and soft.Even the day she was buried her skin on her arms were so soft, her cheek was too!
We had a funeral home in Huntersville NC pick her up and they transported her to WV for us, Rick and I both have family there so it was only right we have a service there.It was really nice to see everyone after a very long time.The service was very nice.We had a service at Westport Baptist in Denver NC. Pastor Mike Young did a wonderful job in honoring our daughters life, he read a few poems, even one my 9yr old son wrote for Mckenzie the day before her funeral.Brandons poem talked about when they would see each other again in heaven and what a happy day that will be.He ended his poem with, he will bring the bug juice!Mckenzie loved bug juice!The burial was also very beautiful, we released several hundred balloons and when we all went to the van to gather the balloons a huge gust of wind came and jerked them right out of our hands.She was really anxious to get her balloons.
Several parents from the bone marrow unit attended the funeral along with several nurses that had once taken care of Mckenzie.It was so nice to have everyone there.Reeses mom and dad was there and as most of you know reese passed a few weeks before Mckenzie, It was so nice to see them. I know it had to be hard for them and I admire there strenghth.We all became family on 5200, nurses included.I go to bed everynight and pray to god to let me wake up at Duke hospital or at the Ronald Mcdonald house.
We miss Mckenzie so much, I can not do anything without thinking of her.I am going to go to school hopefully this fall, I want to get in to nursing, I want to make Mckenzie proud of me.After everything I have learned over the last year I think I should have MD after my name.Rick goes back to work Thursday and I am going to try and find some sort of partime job, maybe fulltime.As far in the hole as we are, maybe we should both consider a couple of jobs.Our goals we have set for ourselves is to live our lives where one day we can be with Mckenzie again.We want to make her very proud of us, as we are as proud of her.
Thursday, April 3, 2003 5:21 PM CST
Hello everyone, we are all doing ok.We continue to live our lives day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.Rick has been having a real hard time in the mornings, Rick and Mckenzie were a couple of cuddle bears, it is very strange to see Rick and Mckenzie not hanging onto him.We were and still are sooo in love with her.She was the best girl and we told her that a million times a day.It was very well known how much our lives revolved around Mckenzie and how much we loved her.I know she loved all of us.I have not cried in a couple of days now, I have cried soooo much, I have no more tears left.We have had more than one strange thing happen since Mckenzie has passed and I know she is still right here with us.
We will be attending the relay for life tomorrow night in Denver, Nc...It will be held at East Lincoln High School.It starts at 7:00pm and last all night into Saturday, there will be things for the kids to do and plenty of food.I heard it is the biggest relay for life in NC. Steve Nations with athletes for chidren will be honoring Mckenzie and her little friend Brittney.His station will be in memory of the girls.You can visit Brittneys webpage at.. caringbridge.org/nc/brittney If you click on to the camera icon on Brittneys webpage there is a very cute picture of Mckenzie and Brittney.Mckenzie really loved her, she is probably mothering over her in heaven the way she did on the bone marrow unit.
I could never be more proud of anyone than what I am of Mckenzie.She touched more lives in three short years than some people can do in a lifetime.I really hope some of you can make it to Lincolnton, It is really nice to meet the people who has prayed and helped out our family in many ways and we really do thank you!
Thursday, April 3, 2003 5:21 PM CST
Hello everyone, we are all doing ok.We continue to live our lives day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute.Rick has been having a real hard time in the mornings, Rick and Mckenzie were a couple of cuddle bears, it is very strange to see Rick and Mckenzie not hanging on to him.We were and still are sooo in love with her.She was the best girl and we told her that a million times a day.It was very well known how much our lives revolved around Mckenzie and how much we loved her.I know she loved all of us.I have not cried in a couple of days now, I have cried soooo much, I have no more tears left.We have had more than one strange thing happen since Mckenzie has passed and I know she is still right here with us.
We will be attending the relay for life tomorrow night in Lincolnton, Nc...It will be held at Lincolnton High School.It starts at 7:00pm and last all night into Saturday, there will be things for the kids to do and plenty of food.I heard it is the biggest relay for life in NC. Steve Nations with athletes for chidren will be honoring Mckenzie and her little friend Brittney.His station will be in memory of the girls.You can visit Brittneys webpage at.. caringbridge.org/nc/brittney If you click on to the camera icon on Brittneys webpage there is a very cute picture of Mckenzie and Brittney.Mckenzie really loved her, she is probably mothering over her in heaven the way she did on the bone marrow unit.
I could never be more proud of anyone than what I am of Mckenzie.She touched more lives in three short years than some people can do in a lifetime.I would like to see people show up at the relay for life in honor of our little Angel face.I know it is totaly impossible for some of to attend and that is ok, I would really love to meet some of you.I will update again in a day or two.
Monday, March 31, 2003 9:01 PM CST
I want to first thank all of you for your love and support.I love you all!I will update in more detail in the days to come but right now I just can not do it.It is very painful just to get on here.I have been checking the guestbook and it really does make us feel good just to see how loved Mckenzie was.I really feel like I am dreaming and I just can not seem to wake up.Our lives revolved around Mckenzie and we miss her sooooo much.Everything happened really fast the morning of March 21, Mckenzie talked to us up til a few minutes before she passed.She died in mine and her daddies arms.After she passed Rick and I walked out of the room and when we came back someone had opened the blinds, she had a big butterfly balloon with her in the bed, she asked for it a few minutes before she died, the sun was shining right through this balloon and made a perfect rainbow on her head.I am so sorry please give me a few more days, I mainly wanted you all to know that I have been getting all your messages and thank you all.We will be updating pictures of Mckenzie real soon.
Saturday, March 22, 2003 5:35 PM CST
MCKENZIE FAY SCHOENLEB
OCTOBER 25, 1999 - MARCH 21, 2003
MEMORIAL SERVICES WILL BE HELD FOR MCKENZIE AT WESTPORT BAPTIST CHURCH IN DENVER, NC ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 26, 2003 @ 2:00 PM. THERE WILL BE A VIEWING PRIOR TO THE SERVICE FROM 1:00 PM UNTIL 2:00 PM. THERE WILL BE A VIEWING OF MCKENZIE AT LAMBERT TATMAN FUNERAL HOME IN PARKERSBURG, WV ON SUNDAY MARCH 23, 2003 FROM 4:00 PM UNTIL...THEN THERE WILL BE A VIEWING ON MONDAY MARCH 24, 2003 FROM 5:00 PM UNTIL 7:00 PM. ALSO, AN UNCONFIRMED VIEWING EARLIER IN THE AFTERNOON ON MONDAY. I WILL UPDATE AS THAT INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. THE FAMILY IS ASKING THAT YOU DO NOT SEND FLOWERS TO THE FUNERAL HOME IN WEST VIRGINIA, THEY DO NOT HAVE A WAY TO TRANSPORT THEM BACK TO NORTH CAROLINA WHERE MCKENZIE WILL BE PUT TO HER FINAL RESTING PLACE. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND FLOWERS, PLEASE SEND THEM FOR THE MEMORIAL SERVICES AT WESTPORT BAPTIST CHURCH: 2372 LAKE SHORE DR SOUTH, DENVER, NC 28037. LAMBERT TATMAN IS AT 4TH AND GREENE IN DOWNTOWN PARKERSBURG, WV 26101. IF YOU NEED DIRECTIONS TO EITHER OF THESE LOCATIONS YOU MAY CALL SHELLEY AT 704-483-6730 OR 980-429-0134.
Friday, March 21, 2003 3:41 PM CST
OUR ANGEL MCKENZIE FAY HAS GONE TO BE WITH JESUS TODAY AT 3:25 PM. SHE IS NOW WITH HER
BOYFRIEND KYLE AND GRANDPA ROGER. NO MORE SUFFERING FOR LITTLE KENZIE. SHE WAS SUCH
A LITTLE FIGHTER AND SHE NEVER GAVE UP, BUT GOD DECIDED HE NEEDED HER IN HEAVEN. I AM A
FRIEND OF THE FAMILY AND THIS IS ONE OF THE HARDEST THINGS THAT I HAVE EVER HAD TO DO,
BUT AS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE FAMILY IS UNABLE TO UPDATE AT THIS TIME. AN UPDATE WILL BE
ADDED AS TO MEMORIAL SERVICES AND FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS AS THEY BECOME AVAILABLE.
PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR THE FAMILY FOR THIS IS WHEN THEY NEED SUPPORT MORE THAN
EVER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND PRAYERS THROUGHOUT MCKENZIE'S
JOURNEY.
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 2:58 PM CST
Well, things have went from bad to worse.We were getting ready to move Mckenzie from picu back to 5200, they took her oxygen mask off for about 30 seconds and her stats dropped from the high 90's to 27.The picu Drs. along with the bone marrow Dr. came in and said she has really taken a turn for the worse.We discussed whether or not to put her on a ventalator, they said in her case it would not do a bit of good, it would just prolong her suffering.They said if we decided to put her on a ventalator, she would be sedated and we could not even hold her and she would not even know we were there.We made the decision to bring her back on 5200 and pray for a miracle.Mckenzies brothers and sisters are on there way up here where we plan on spending some family quality time.I can not believe this is happening, our lives revolve around her, she is my sunshine everyday.Please pray very hard for her she is in a critical situation right now, it happened so fast.Everyone up here right now is feeling really upset, you can feel it in the air.
Mckenzie, Daddy and I love you soooo much, I know you are tired.I also Know you are a fighter.Please don't leave us!I know heaven is not a bad place to be but please Angel face, hang on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, March 18, 2003 11:26 PM CST
We are waiting to be transported to the peds. intensive care unit.I can not even believe all this is happening!The Drs. are very worried,to why Mckenzie is needing so much oxygen.She was fine yesterday, I went to her apartment and visited with her, than a couple hours after I got back home Rick called me and told me she could not stop coughing and that her nose was bleeding.The Dr. just called me in the room and said they want to take her to picu because they are not sure which way she is going, for the better or for the worst.God please help her!!!! please pray that she will not have to be put on the ventalator thank you all God bless!!!!
Tuesday, March 18, 2003 10:44 AM CST
The doctor's say there is nothing else they can do for Mckenzie. She has CMV pneumonia. She only has 60% oxygen level, therefore having a real hard time breathing. She is now back on 5200 room #5201. Please pray very hard for another miracle. We know God is still in the business of miracles. Please pray for him not to take our baby. She's been through so much and has come so far. Please PRAY!!
Sunday, March 16, 2003 1:19 PM CST
If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22
"I will bring back your health and heal your injuries" says the lord...Jeremiah 30:17
These scriptures were sent to me around Christmas from Cheryl and Charles Richardson.I put them down in my purse and the day I found out all the news about Mckenzies pancreas I was sooo down, I was going through my purse and came across them.It is amazing how a scripture can bring you back up when you feel you are falling so far down.It was perfect timing and really eased my mind.
Mckenzies white blood count went back up today, it is now 6.3 her anc is 5500.YEAH!She will have her mini-transplant tomorrow.Her pancreas numbers are still very high but a little lower than yesterday.She ate a pickle yesterday, so we are very happy about that, it is a start!She is awful tiny and frale but she is getting around pretty good.Her hemoglobin was 7.6 so she was given blood today she is transfused at 8.0 she has gone 6 days without needing blood.We should have the numbers back from her cmv test Tuesday.
I was talking to lady here last night that I had never seen before and we were talking about Benny Hinn, she is a christian and we got to talking about one day Rick had Mckenzie at wal-mart in Mooresville before we came here to Duke and a man walked up to them and asked Rick how Mckenzie was doing with her treatments,(Mckenzie was bald so he assumed she had cancer)he went on to tell Rick he was never religous til he was diagnosed with cancer, now he is at church everytime the doors are open and he reads the bible all the time.He asked Rick if Mckenzies name was Christina and RIck told him "No, that is her mothers name" the man said he was getting the name Christina with her and he also felt she was going to make it through all this.Well, I was telling this woman last night this story and I said, "that was sooo weird, that would be like me knowing your name was Tammy."Guess what?
Her name is Tammy!I flipped out, maybe it was total coinsidence but I feel it was more than that.
I also want to add that Mckenzies picture will be in a commercial airing April 5-13 during the family circle tennis tournament on CBS.This commercial is to raise awareness for the need of bone marrow donors, sponsored by Hendricks motorsports.Rick Hendricks is the car owner of the well known #24 car of Jeff Gordan and my son(Brandons)favorite driver in the world Terry Labonte.Rick Hendricks too has had to battle this terrible disease(leukemia)and I can remember several years ago he was so sick and weak, he could not even go to the race track.I remember Jeff Gordan would win races and in victory lane he would talk to Rick Hendrick on his cell phone, it was really touching the day Rick Hendrick had enough strenghth to make it back to the race track.I remember thinking of him almost immediatly after Mckenzie was diagnosed.I was so scared but also remembered what Mr. Hendricks had gone through and I thought to myself, if he can beat this disease, my Mckenzie can too!He has really stepped up to the plate and has gotten the word out that lives can be saved through bone marrow transplants.He is a perfect example of how one mans strenghth to beat the odds can change many lives of others.Our thoughts and prayers are always with him and we pray for his continued health.I hope to one day meet him and give him a big hug!!!
Well that is about all for today, I will update tomorrow.
Love you all and please keep Mckenzie in your prayers!
Saturday, March 15, 2003 11:19 AM CST
Are we ever going to get to go home?It is always something!Today Mckenzies white blood count dropped from 7.1 to 3.1, her pancreas numbers are still very high and they believe the ebv virus is trying to make its grand return.Dr. Martin came in the room yesterday and informed us they are going to do a minni-transplant in the clinic on Monday.What this means is, they saved the cells from the 3 transplant and froze them, they will unthaw them and when they do this all the real strong cells will rise to the top, they will take them cells and transfuse them into Mckenzie.The Drs. believe the cmv and her new cells have become friends.With giving her the boost of these other cells they are hoping it will fight what is going on in her body, we are running out of options.Please pray very hard for Mckenzie, she needs alot of prayers right now and so do we.Mckenzie is feeling good and still showing no syptoms to these virus or the prancreitis.
Thursday, March 13, 2003 8:43 PM CST
Hello everyone, sorry for not updating sooner but alot has been going on.I did not want to update on things that I was not totaly clear on.I am still confused but I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge.Mckenzies pancreas is giving us all a little scare, the Drs. are unclear to what is going on but what we do know is the enzymes from her pancreas are way out of wack.The Drs. said it could be the cmv or even a medication they are giving her, they told me they are watching her labs and they are very concerned.They ordered a ultrasound of her belly today and the results from it was the pancreas looked to be normal in size, one kidney is a little larger than the other one, which they are not to concerned with that, her bun and creatine(kidney functions)are fine.Mckenzies t-billi(liver function)is also doing fine.I went up to the clinic for a while today and hung out with Kenzi-bear, she really looks good,she has not thrown up or complained about her belly in sometime now.I had a talk with the Dr. because once again I have aged another 50 years, she told me to let them worry about the labs and that I would truly know something was wrong before they would.She is non-syptomatic to everything that is going on in her little body, which they say is a very good thing.Mckenzie,Rick,Morgan and I went out and enjoyed the warm weather today, it was 77.It really makes us all miss home when the weather is nice.I miss watching my kids run through the yard and playing on their swing set.I also want to answer a question left in the guestbook about Mckenzies b-day.Mckenzie turned 3 years old October 25 on the bone marrow unit.We had her a party in the family lounge with nurses and all our new friends we made on the unit.It was right after 2 transplant and she was not feeling good at all.I was thinking the other day, it will be 1 year April the 1 that Mckenzie was diagnosed, since then there has only been 1 holiday she has spent out of the hospital and that was July 4, she was discharged July 3 from Carolinas Medical Center.Rick had to work July 4 but I took all the kids to Charlotte and watched the fireworks, I can remember thinking this may be the last fireworks I ever watch with Mckenzie, I know this not to be true now because I have witnessed to many miracles with her.I ask of all of you to please pray for this cmv to go away and for her labs on her pancreas to be in range.I am so tired of worrying and feeling like someone kicked me in my stomach and I know Rick is too.Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
(ps)OK, Angie you paid me back and made me cry!We love you guys too, there is truly not a day goes by, I do not think of Kyle, I loved him and I miss him terribly, he will always be my little son-in-law.I know we have talked about it before and you know how much he loved Mckenzie and it makes me smile to know when I am not around her, he is!!!!
Thursday, March 13, 2003 8:43 PM CST
Hello everyone, sorry for not updating sooner but alot has been going on.I did not want to update on things that I was not totaly clear on.I am still confused but I will try to explain to the best of my knowledge.Mckenzies pancreas is giving us all a little scare, the Drs. are unclear to what is going on but what we do know is the enzymes from her pancreas are way out of wack.The Drs. said it could be the cmv or even a medication they are giving her, they told me they are watching her labs and they are very concerned.They ordered a ultrasound of her belly today and the results from it was the pancreas looked to be normal in size, one kidney is a little larger than the other one, which they are not to concerned with that, her bun and creatine(kidney functions)are fine.Mckenzies t-billi(liver function)is also doing fine.I went up to the clinic for a while today and hung out with Kenzi-bear, she really looks good,she has not thrown up or complained about her belly in sometime now.I had a talk with the Dr. because once again I have aged another 50 years, she told me to let them worry about the labs and that I would truly know something was wrong before they would.She is non-syptomatic to everything that is going on in her little body, which they say is a very good thing.Mckenzie,Rick,Morgan and I went out and enjoyed the warm weather today, it was 77.It really makes us all miss home when the weather is nice.I miss watching my kids run through the yard and playing on their swing set.I also want to answer a question left in the guestbook about Mckenzies b-day.Mckenzie turned 3 years old October 25 on the bone marrow unit.We had her a party in the family lounge with nurses and all our new friends we made on the unit.It was right after 2 transplant and she was not feeling good at all.I was thinking the other day, it will be 1 yaer April the 1 that Mckenzie was diagnosed, since then ther has only been 1 holiday she has spent out of the hospital and that was July 4, she was discharged July 3 from Carolinas Medical Center.Rick had to work July 4 but I took all the kids to Charlotte and watched the fireworks, I can remember thinking this may be the last fireworks I ever watch with Mckenzie, I know this not to be true now because I have witnessed to many miracles with her.I ask of all of you to please pray for this cmv to go away and for her labs on her panreas to be in range.I am so tired of worrying and feeling like someone kicked me in my stomach and I know Rick is too.Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.
(ps)OK, Angie you paid me back and made me cry!We love you guys too, there is truly not a day goes by, I do not think of Kyle, I loved him and I miss him terribly, he will always be my little son-in-law.I know we have talked about it before and you know how much he loved Mckenzie and it makes me smile to know when I am not around her, he is!!!!
Monday, March 10, 2003 2:21 PM CST
I want to first say our thoughts and prayers are with Reese Coble and his entire family, we pray there has been improvement over the last 24 hours and they will not have to make the decision to take him off the oscillator.Mckenzie is doing well, she is getting around all by herself and she looks really good.She still is not eating but she did eat about 30 peanuts which is a big no-no for transplant patients but Rick did not know.She held them down and had no problems with eating them.Today is Ricks b-day and he is spending it all day at clinic.Mckenzie had to have blood today,she has gone a week now without needing blood and she is getting platelets every 2 days, her test came back last week and she is making red blood cells.Red blood cells and plateets are the last to start growing.Mckenzies cmv test came back higher numbers but no one seems to know what the numbers mean, it is a new test and not even the person that does the test knows what it means.I talked to the Dr. Friday and she said clinicly Mckenzie is improving everyday,she is feeling great, throwing up less and not complaining about her belly hurting as much.She is showing no symptoms of the cmv.The Dr. told me they are very concerned about the cmv but she is being treated for it.We are putting our trust in god that he will take care of this virus as he has done in the past.They did an x-ray of Mckenzies belly Friday and the only thing it showed was that her liver was enlarged,which we have known that for sometime now.The good thing about the liver is that it can repair itself.I asked the Drs. if they could see the cmv growing in her belly from the x-ray and they said no, but they could pick up on some clues from the x-ray.Mckenzies kidneys are still working well and all her other labs are looking good.Her white blood count today was 6.1 and her anc was over 5000.I am sorry I did not update but on the weekends the kids and I go home.This weekend one of the girls that works on the unit came and stayed with us, we took her to Dale Earnhardt Inc.
It is really nice to go home but I also feel so bad leaving Rick and Mckenzie behind.I know it is a step forward just getting things ready for Mckenzie to come home.We have been gone for so long I have problems finding things around the house, it is like being in someone elses house.It sure does not feel like home without Mckenzie.Mckenzie is wide open and you always know she is around and you know when she is not.I talked to her on the phone and she wanted to know where her boat was.I told her it was there at that house so sounds to me like she is ready to head out on Lake Norman.She loves the lake and going out on the boat.Well, I have blabbered on enough, I will update later, I want to thank all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers.Rick just called me from clinic and little Reese passed away at 3:00, please remember his family in your prayers.
Friday, March 7, 2003 1:05 PM CST
Just a quick note to let you all know, news is not good.The cmv numbers were 20 last week and over 100 this week.Her tongue culture came back positive for yeast.She has 2 positive central lines.Please pray very hard for Mckenzie.
Wednesday, March 5, 2003 5:10 PM CST
Mckenzies cmv test will not be back til tomorrow, the part of the test that said she is positive is back but no numbers are back.Once you are tested positive you will always be positive, 80% of the population test positive for this virus, it is just not always active.One of Mckenzies lines came back positive so they are going to start her on vancamiocin, a very strong antibiotic.They cultured her tongue today because it does not look so hot.She ate a piece of cheese today and then Rick gave her a bite of cheeseburger and he said as soon as she swallowed it, she threw up for an hour.Her primary nurse came to clinic to visit her today, that always makes her happy.Traci ,who works on the unit also came over for a visit.Mckenzie and her are very close and her and I are too.I am going home to Mooresville this weekend and Traci is going with me.Mckenzie will have her 100 day after transplant study the end of March.Dr.Martin told Rick today he wants to have most of her iv meds. taken oral and no active cmv before she can go home.Hopefully this will all be accomplished in the next several weeks.Mckenzie has been such a trooper through out all this, the Dr. said he does not know of many people who could go through, what she has been through.She truly has a guardian angel watching over her.Well that is about all for tonight I will update tomorrow when I get the test results back.I want to thank Carolyn Mack in Florida for all her support, it has only been several weeks ago she lost her little Meghan, she was a beautiful little girl and I followed her progress everyday.Carolyn, Meghan was a dollbaby and I am soooo sorry for your loss, her passing was truly a loss to us all.You and your family will always remain in my thoughts and prayers.Another thing, I checked on Reese a little while ago and he is not doing very well.His mom asking everyone to pray for him tonight at 7:00 and you can read her prayer on his webpage she is requesting at... caringbridge.org/nc/reesecup/index.htm
Tuesday, March 4, 2003 2:55 PM CST
As most of you know, Mckenzie has had some sort of infection in her lungs for sometime now.Her catscan January 17 showed what looked to be shattered glass in her lungs.The only way to tell exactly what kind of infection would to be a lung wash and in January she was just not strong enough to have this procedure done.It could have been the ebv virus or the cmv virus, who knows?What matters now is that yesterdays catscan showed a huge improvement.The issue with her heart has cleared up and everyone is very happy!Her kidneys are still in good shape and she is acts like she feels great.She still will not eat, we have tried everything.I told her Dr. Martin said we could go home if she ate her food all gone, does not work with her, she is a cantrary little thing.I wonder where she gets that?The some of the nurses from 5200 come to clinic to visit her, we really developed a special friendship with some of them.Mckenzies primary nurse, Bobbi has 4 boys so Mckenzie is her little girl she never had, there is a real special bond between the two of them.I love her too!We should have some results tonight about the cmv, lets keep our fingers crossed.
Monday, March 3, 2003 4:14 PM CST
All here is good today.Mckenzie had her catscan a couple of hours ago and I am waiting on Rick to call me with the results.She is doing real good today, she needed blood and platelets this afternoon.The Drs. are real happy that she has gone 2 days without needing platelets and over a week without needing blood.Mckenzie was getting a steady drip of platelets and then she was getting them 2 a day.Red blood cells and platelets are the last to grow and her needing them less and less is a very good thing.Her white blood count today was 4.2 and her anc was over 4000.Test show her body is making some red blood cells and as of last week she was not.The test for the ebv virus is still negative, so that is really good news.They sent of another test for the cmv virus and we should have results Tue. or Wed. I pray it is gone.This virus can attack her lungs and be very life threatening to her.She still is not eating but the Drs. said she just needs some more time.Dr. discontinued her methadone, this is a med. that keeps her from having withdraws since she was narcotics for so long on the unit.We are very happy that she has been weaned off that medication it makes her very tired and very irrational.The Drs. said her lungs sound crystal clear and they are very pleased with all the progress she has made.One of the Drs. told Rick the other day that Mckenzie should not be here today, she has truly beaten the odds.She really scared me a time or two and I have had to be held up more than once, after my legs turned into jello.She is such a good kid, she makes everyone laugh and she is just so pleasant to be around, I do not know how I could ever go on without her.It makes me so happy to read all the entrys and to see how much she is loved all over the world.To all of you that sign Mckenzie guestbook on a regular bases, it means so much to me, even though some of you I do not know, you always leave such encouraging messages and that has really help get through the days here.The entries are going to be saved for her so when she gets older she is really going to be surprised to see what a fan club she had during this whole ordeal.Rick and I truly believe prayer has brought her where she is today, we have never lost faith and with faith you can accomplish anything.Well, I better get back down stairs and wait for Rick to call me with the ctscan results, pray it is more good news, I can not take no more bad news.This place is tearing me down!I want to go home and live a normal life again, I do not even have normal dreams anymore, all my dreams revolve around the hospital and test results.I am babbling, sorry!
Sunday, March 2, 2003 3:28 PM CST
The kids and I just returned from our vacation at home.I could not update from there because our computer is all unplugged and I did not know how to hook it back up.I took a load of stuff home and I did some serious cleaning.There is still so much more to do but I put a huge dent in it.I am not going to sterilize the carpet or the furniture til a couple of weeks before Mckenzie is released.I have decided to go home every weekend and start getting things ready.The kids really enjoyed being home.Mckenzie is has developed a cough and her white blood count went from 4.0 to 5.1, this can mean several different things so the Drs. scheduled her for a viral battery and a catscan for tomorrow.Pray all is well and Mckenzie stays on the road to a full recovery.I seen Mckenzie a few minutes ago and I must say she looks good.She was very happy to see me as I was very happy to see her.Well, thats all for today.Please remember Mckenzie in your prayers.Vivian we want to thank you for taking the time out to sell and sign your childrens books to raise money for our family.I wanted to be there but Morgan has not been feeling well.We truly could not have made it where we are today without fundraisers and donations.Rick has been unable to work since July and we have everyday bills and 5 kids to take care of.I hope someday we can once be on our feet again, I am sure in time it will all work out, the main thing is that Mckenzie makes a complete recovery.Thanks for being so good to us.I mentioned a week or so ago about a little baby named Reese who needed prayer, well tonight he really needs some extra prayers, he is over in the picu on an iscolator.You can visit his webpage at caringbridge.org/nc/reesecup/index.htm
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 6:11 PM CST
I TALKED TO THE DRS TO FIND OUT WHEN WE MIGHT GET TO GO HOME AND THEY TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD BE AT LEAST ANOTHER THREE MONTHS WE STILL SPEND THE WHOLE DAY IN CLINIC SHE STILL HAS ALOT OF OTHER THINGS THAT HAS TO GET BETTER BUT THE DRS SAY MCKENZIE HAS PROVED US WRONG EVERY TIME SO LETS ALL PRAY THAT SHE WILL GET TO GO HOME SOONER THANK YOU
I had a big scare lastnight, Rick called me about 12;00am and told me to meet him back on 5200.Mckenzie woke up throwing up and holding her head screaming.Rick called the Dr. and they said, since Mckenzie is not one to complain about pain, they wanted her to be brought in for observation.We never really found out what the problem was, they said it was very posible she was loosing to much fluid so they hooked her up to iv fluid, they drew her labs and her hemoglobin was 8.0, so she got blood.She could have went home around 4;00am but since she had to be at clinic at 8;30 Rick asked if they could go ahead and stay and they said, yes.She is feeling good today and has not thrown up anymore, I seen her for a few minutes and she really looks good.I talked to her on the phone while they were at the apartment on break,she told me daddy is cooking.I asked her if she was going to eat her food all gone and she told me no it was nasty.Rick fixed us all a big supper and brought it to us on the way back from clinic.It was real good, thank you, Rick!The Dr. told Rick to try and get Mckenzie to eat slim jims, he tried with no luck, she is not interested in food right now.The Drs. stopped her actagul which is a med. for her t-billi(liver function)they said by taking this away may increase her apetite.I SURE HOPE SO!!!Her liver function is in range and her kidneys are as well.If Mckenzie continues to do well, the kids and I will be going home real soon, as you can imagine we have not been home in over 7 months everything is going to have to be cleaned and sterile before Mckenzie comes home, it should only take about a month, I am not looking forward to that task!We have so much stuff here, I have no idea how I am going to get it home.Well, that is all for today, I will update again tomorrow.Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.I would like to add that Vivian Meletis will be live on the radio tomorrow morning February 26 talking about her book signing Sat. March 1 in Statesville,Nc at the Signal Mall.She will be selling and signing her childrens books.She also has several interviews with some newspapers in the Lake Norman, Statesville, Nc. areas.AM radio wsic 1400 at 8:30am.I want to also take a minute to thank the transplant team here at Duke for never giving up on Mckenzie and doing everything possible to make her better.They have all been so good to us, and as bad as I want to go home, I will really miss them all when we leave.I have made alot of friends and I have met alot of amazing kids that have fought so hard, they are all heros and I will never forget any of them, they all will hold a special place in my heart and will always be in my prayers.Travis, thank you for allowing Tina to post a picture on your webpage of Mckenzie, it was so nice of both of you, you are always in my prayers.caringbridge.org/hi/twilliams click on the camera icon.
Monday, February 24, 2003 4:06 PM CST
Sorry I have not updated in a couple of days.Mckenzie is doing good, her white blood count today was 2.6 and her anc was over 2000.WAY TO GO, MCKENZIE!We had a big day yesterday, we went to the Carolina Hurricanes hockey game, the mighty ducks killed them, 4 to 0.Dustin was happy, he has always liked the mighty ducks.We got home from the game and I laid down and took a long nap.Rick and Mckenzie stopped by and invited the kids and me to go to the drive-in and watch Kangaroo Jack with them, we went in 2 seperate cars because the other kids can not be around Mckenzie right now.The kids had a real good time, it was the first time they have all been together in a long time.The kids really enjoyed the movie, there were some parts that really cracked us up.Rick said when the movie came on Mckenzie said "Look daddy a big tv." Mckenzie is walking by herself a little bit, she is still weak but doing a good job of moving around.She ate a popcicle the other night, the first thing she has put in her mouth in months.Rick said today she ate 1 bite of hotdog, 1 bite of bread and 1 bite of bacon.The Drs. said today her 100 days will be up the end of March and if she is eating and totally of tpn, she can go home.They said her test for cmv is still coming back positive and actually the last test they sent came back with higher numbers, this has to be cleared up before she can go home.She is on that medication that is hard on the kidneys to treat the cmv, so far her little kidneys are doing fine.Please keep Mckenzie in your prayers, thank you
Friday, February 21, 2003 7:13 PM CST
Mckenzie is having a good day.She just left clinic and stopped by to tell me hello.She stayed in the car and I got to talk to her through the window of the car.She looks awsome.Rick tried for over an hour to update the pictures on her webpage but with no luck.Our buddy Tucker has posted a picture on his webpage of Mckenzies going home party, you can see it at caringbridge.org/nc/tuckerhall click on the little camera icon.Dr. Martin is the one with the ponytail in the bottom right of the picture, we love him!Thanks to Tucker,Dan and Sue for posting the picture of Mckenzie, it was the first one I have seen of our going away party, what a celabration it was!!!Well it has been a quiet day and there is not really much more to say.As always thank you for your prayers and support, we love you all!!
There are now pictures of Mckenzie's discharge so please check them out!
Thursday, February 20, 2003 5:05 PM CST
Mckenzie is doing well today, I talked to Rick on the phone and he said more of the cmv virus has showed up, not to be confused with ebv.Mckenzie tested positive a while back ago for cmv, the Drs. said 80% of the worlds population has this virus and flairs up after your imune system is supressed.
The medication for this is very hard on the kidneys so they will have to keep a close eye on them.Mckenzie gets this med. every other day now but now she will be getting it everyday.As for everything else, all seems good.Mckenzie has not eaten anything at all in months, she continues to get tpn(nutrition by iv) this runs over 16hrs, she has it in a little faney pack she carries along with her.The Drs. really want her to start eating or they are going to have to consider a feeding tube.The tpn is hard on the liver if on it for to long.Mckenzie had to have platelets today, she gets these infused almost everyday.I want to send a special thanks out to Diane for donating platelets and to Wendy for donating blood.Lives can be saved by taking a hour or so out of your day and donating blood or platelets.We are all very happy about the little girl here at Duke she had another heart lung transplant and a second chance at life.There are camera crews everywhere around here, she will remain in our prayers, she is in very critical condition.The Ronald Mcdonald House gave me five tickets to the Hurricanes Hockey game for Sunday, so I guess if everything is going ok with Mckenzie, I will take the kids to the game.I just hate Mckenzie can not go.Well thats all for today, please remember Mckenzie in your prayers.I would also like to mention a book signing March 1 at Signal Mall in Statesville from 10-4.Vivian Meletis is an author of childrens books and has offered to do a book signing and all profits from her childrens books will go to Mckenzie.We met Vivian and her husband Pete in Mooresville while we were house hunting, they are very nice people and they fell so in love with Mckenzie.Vivian and Mckenzie played and wrestled around on the floor you would have thought they've known each other for years.We are very blessed to have people in our lives like the Meletis's that has really helped out our family.For more info you can visit Vivians webpage at Hearts-A-Fire-Pub.com
Wednesday, February 19, 2003 4:18 PM CST
We got our good news we have been waiting soooo long for, Mckenzies dna test came back and it was 77% donor cells.YEAH!!!What should happen now is the donor cells will take over her cells.We also got word that the ebv is gone.What happen the first dna test, it came back 54% donor and then the 2 was 16% the ebv was trying to take over, todays news 77% is very, very good news.The Drs.also said if Mckenzie keeps doing well we may be able to go home the end of March.YIPHEE!!!!Mckenzie has had a long day at the clinic, she has been asleep most of the day, she needed blood and platelets and was medicated with benadryl and it knocked her out.She got to see her buddy Jacob at the clinic and Rick told me Jacob told Mckenzie he loved her and she told him she loved him too!Jacob is the sweetest kid ever and as most of you know by now, he has relapsed.We are praying very hard for him and I ask you all do the same.Well, that is about all for today, Candice is down stairs sick, she stayed home from school today, so I need to get back down there with her.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003 5:52 PM CST
PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!!!Mckenzies white blood count jumped back up to 1.6, yesterday it was 1.0.Her anc was 500 yesterday(not high enough to be off the unit, they want it over 1000) today it was over 1100, THANK YOU JESUS!I was up all night lastnight praying and watching every church service I could find to watch.I called Rick this morning before he left for clinic and told him, Mckenzie was going to be fine.It is amazing how prayer can give you new faith and give you the strenghth to keep going.I have a couple of more children I would like for everyone to remember in your prayers, Reese has been admitted back on the unit, he is a baby and could really use some extra prayers right now, you can visit his page at www.caringbridge.org/nc/reesecup/index.htm sign their guestbook and let them know you where there.Mckenzies buddy Jacob has been seeing double so they are running test on him to see what is going on, his page is caringbridge.org/va/jacob, get better soon Jacob, we love you!!Mckenzies favorite family in the world has to be back on the unit for Tucker has to have his splean removed, best of luck to you guys, we love you also!!!Dan thanks for all your help last week getting Rick and Mckenzie settled into the apartment.Traci: thank you for taking the time out and going over to the clinic to see Mckenzie, she loves you so much and Rick said it made her sooo happy.Bobbi:thank you so much for my bracelette, I love it!!We were fortunate to have you as our primary nurse.I would like to also thank all of you that sent valentines cards and gifts, B-day cards and gifts, everyone has been so thoughtful throughout this whole ordeal.Please keep the prayers rolling this away, we truly need them and they have truly worked, God is good!!Shelley my phone card ran out of time, I did not hang up on you, you can call me here at the RMH (919-286-9305)ext.152 I hope you all are well!!I will update tomorrow, Love from our family to yours!!
Monday, February 17, 2003 5:25 PM CST
Mckenzie needs some serious prayers tonight, her white blood count is dropping and the Drs. are talking about admitting her back into the unit.They are also talking about putting her on a medication that is very hard on the kidneys, she gets this med. now but only every other day, now they are talking about giving it everyday if her white blood count continues to drop.The Drs. said with her kidneys not working right, she will regain fluid which once again can spill over into her lungs and heart.The Drs. said Mckenzie is in a very frail situation right now.Please, please pray very hard, I just want her to be ok, I am still sick, I can not even be around her, this whole thing is killing me, I miss her sooo much!
Monday, February 17, 2003 5:25 PM CST
Mckenzie needs some serious prayers tonight, her white blood count is dropping and the Drs. are talking about admitting her back into the unit.They are also talking about putting her on a medication that is very hard on the kidneys, she gets this med. now but only every other day, now they are talking about giving it everyday if her white blood count continues to drop.The Drs. said with her kidneys not working right, she will regain fluid which once again can spill over into her lungs and heart.The Drs. said Mckenzie is in a very frail situation right now.Please, please pray very hard, I just want her to be ok, I am still sick, I can not even be around her, this whole thing is killing me, I miss her sooo much!
Friday, February 14, 2003 3:33 PM CST
Mckenzie is free!!!!I got up to the unit around 6:30, I had to gown, glove and mask up because I have been sick.Mckenzie seen me and she just could not quit smiling, we have been telling her when mommy feels better I would come up and throw confetti on her and she would get to go home.About 6:45 people really started to pour in the unit, almost every nurse was there to see her off.Everyone had huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, it was truly a happy time.The Dr. stopped me out in the hallway and told me Mckenzie immune system is very weak, she had more of an immune system when she was born because she had coverage from me.Mckenzie still can not be around her brothers and sisters because they are in public school and we do not know what they have been exposed to.Mckenzie has to be at the clinic everyday at 8:30AM AND BE THERE TILL 8:00pm long days but atleast she does not have to stay all night.Rick said this morning when they went, she threw a fit she wanted no part of that hospital.Last night at the apartment Mckenzie seemed to be very confused, she woke up in the middle of the night crying, saying she wanted to go back to her room.It is a strange place and Mckenzie is very smart, she knows the apartment is not home.I feel so sorry for her but I know she is a fighter and it won't be long, we will be on our way back to Mooresville.Just getting out of the hospital is a huge step.The DR. told Rick, this is not the end, this is the beginning.Please pray for Mckenzie and I will still continue to update on her progress.We will be putting new pictures on here in the next day or so.Angie and Tom: Thank you guys soo much for all the balloons, Mckenzie loved them, they made it kinda hard to see her as she was coming out of her room with all of them.Silly string was flying and glitter confetti, you could not see anything for a few minutes.There was a huge mess, but Dan (Tuckers dad) and the nurses were right on it.Thanks guys!!
Friday, February 14, 2003 3:33 PM CST
Mckenzie is free!!!!I got up to the unit around 6:30, I had to gown, glove and mask up because I have been sick.Mckenzie seen me and she just could not quit smiling, we have been telling her when mommy feels better I would come up and throw confetti on her and she would get to go home.About 6:45 people really started to pour in the unit, almost every nurse was there to see her off.Everyone had huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, it was truly a happy time.The Dr. stopped me out in the hallway and told me Mckenzie immune system is very weak, she had more of an immune system when she was born because she had coverage from me.Mckenzie still can not be around her brothers and sisters because they are in public school and we do not know what they have been exposed to.Mckenzie has to be at the clinic everyday at 8:30AM AND BE THERE TILL 8:00pm long days but atleast she does not have to stay all night.Rick said this morning when they went, she threw a fit she wanted no part of that hospital.Last night at the apartment Mckenzie seemed to be very confused, she woke up in the middle of the night crying, saying she wanted to go back to her room.It is a strange place and Mckenzie is very smart, she knows the apartment is not home.I feel so sorry for her but I know she is a fighter and it won't be long, we will be on our way back to Mooresville.Just getting out of the hospital is a huge step.The DR. told Rick, this is not the end, this is the beginning.Please pray for Mckenzie and I will still continue to update on her progress.We will be putting new pictures on here in the next day or so.Angie and Tom: Thank you guys soo much for all the balloons, Mckenzie loved them, they made it kinda hard to see her as she was coming out of her room with all of them.Silly string was flying and glitter confetti, you could not see anything for a few minutes.There was a huge mess, but Dan (Tuckers dad) and the nurses were right on it.Thanks guys!!
Friday, February 14, 2003 3:33 PM CST
Mckenzie is free!!!!I got up to the unit around 6:30, I had to gown, glove and mask up because I have been sick.Mckenzie seen me and she just could not quit smiling, we have been telling her when mommy feels better I would come up and throw confetti on her and she would get to go home.About 6:45 people really started to pour in the unit, almost every nurse was there to see her off.Everyone had huge smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes, it was truly a happy time.The Dr. stopped me out in the hallway and told me Mckenzie immune system is very weak, she had more of an immune system when she was born because she had coverage from me.Mckenzie still can not be around her brothers and sisters because they are in public school and we do not know what they have been exposed to.Mckenzie has to be at the clinic everyday at 8:30AM AND BE THERE TILL 8:00pm long days but atleast she does not have to stay all night.Rick said this morning when they went, she threw a fit she wanted no part of that hospital.Last night at the apartment Mckenzie seemed to be very confused, she woke up in the middle of the night crying, saying she wanted to go back to her room.It is a strange place and Mckenzie is very smart, she knows the apartment is not home.I feel so sorry for her but I know she is a fighter and it won't be long, we will be on our way back to Mooresville.Just getting out of the hospital is a huge step.The DR. told Rick, this is not the end, this is the beginning.Please pray for Mckenzie and I will still continue to update on her progress.We will be putting new pictures on here in the next day or so.Angie and Tom: Thank you guys soo much for all the balloons, Mckenzie loved them, they made it kinda hard to see her as she was coming out of her room with all of them.Silly string was flying and glitter confetti, you could not see anything for a few minutes.There was a huge mess, but Dan (Tuckers dad) and the nurses were right on it.Thanks guys!!
Monday, February 10, 2003 2:38 PM CST
Todays word is, Mckenzie is getting discharged Thursday!We are soooo excited and we can not wait to see her run free in the apartment.She will still have to go to the clinic everyday, but that is ok.My b-day is Saturday and I truly could not receive a better gift than Mckenzie getting out of that unit, it has been almost 7 months.It has been by far the most scariest time of my life.We have learned so much, most of all we have learned what a wonderful god we have.The Drs. actually told us, it is truly a miracle Mckenzie is here today.Thank you, to all of you that has prayed so hard for our little Mckenzie.I also want to thank you for the gifts, cards and financial support, we could not have done it without each and everyone of you.We still have along time of going to the Dr. even when we go home, we will have to be seen at Carolinas Medical Center.Please continue to pray hard for Mckenzie, she still has a long road ahead of her.I have work to do, too.When this is all said and done, I am going to get very involved in a cancer organization, also I want people to know the importance of giving blood and plateletts.It was just last week little Mckenzie needed blood and the ran out of her blood type and they had to resort to frozen blood(not good, that should never happen.)Mckenzie gets to go on a 4 hour pass today, I do not get to see her because I am still sick.I am sure her and daddy will find something fun to do.I want to thank all the nurses on 5200, you know we love all you guys.I know you all will miss me running around in the hallway at 4:00am asking "Is Mckenzies labs back yet?"Well thats about all for today, we will keep this webpage updated even after we go home, back to Mooresville.Lots of love from our family to yours.God bless you all!To Reeses nana: We met Ricky Craven before we came here to Duke, he is a really nice guy, we took some pictures with him.We too, would be very excited to see him win the Daytona 500.-------------------p.s. we will still have to stay in durham for a least 50 to a 100 more days mckenzie will have to stay in a apartment while the other kids will have to stay at the ronald mcdonald house she can not be around them for quit some timebut at least we will not be in the hostpital
Thursday, February 6, 2003 1:23 AM CST 
mckenzie is doing great today we just got back from a pass we had fun still not sure when we get to go to the apartment some drs say this week some say next we want NOW she responded to the chemo /campath her cell count went down but the nutrafils went up we will know if there is any donor cells left on monday so lets all pray my wife is so sick for three days now please pray for her as well saterday is her birthday she will be 33years old i'm pushing for mckenzie to be released before this saterday this would be the greatest present she could ever get our oldest boy dustin will be 14 tuesday this will be nice for him to i will update as i know more love and prayers to you and your's GOD BLESS YOU ALL
Wednesday, February 5, 2003 1:44 PM CST
we are sorry for not up-dating yet we are wating to see what the dr.s say today she gets to go for a car ride today she is so happy and i am to she let me trade places with my wife last night so i got to stay with her we will update later tonight pray that mckenzie will get over this bump the dr.s are worried about the e.b.v
Monday, February 3, 2003 1:00 PM CST
Just a quick update, Mckenzie is going outside here in alittle bit, the first time in over 6 months.I am so excited!I will update this evening to let you all know what a great time we had.We will take some pictures and post them on the webpage.By they way, Mckenzie looks great today!!
Sunday, February 2, 2003 1:58 AM CST
Mckenzie is doing great!She got to go for a wagon ride for about 45 minutes today off the unit.She has been laughing and smiling and even once again giving kisses and hugs.She looks even better than yesterday.Today was the first time of taking her off the unit that she did not require any oxygen.She tested positive for an infection in her nose, so for the first time in 6 months that we have been here, we have to gown, glove and mask up everytime we leave her room.(NOT FUN!)Her white blood count today was 10.6(10,600)her anc was 2000.Rick called me this afternoon and woke me up to tell me that the space shuttle had blown up, it made me very sad, because I lived in Tittusville Florida, which is right across the river from Nasa, so I have visited there on several occasions.Mckenzie has even been there for a tour when I was pregnant for Morgan.My thoughts and prayers go out to the families, what a terrible tragedy.Dustin, Brandon,Candice and Morgan are all doing fine, I miss them terribly, they have been sick, so I have not been around them in several weeeks, they are getting better, so hopefully I will get to see them in the next couple of days.Someone broke into our car the other night and stole some money out of the console, I hope they needed it more than we do.I am getting excited, it is February and racing season is back, I hope we are out of here and watching the Daytona 500 at home.I wish we could be there!We need a vacation!!!!!!!!Well, thats about all for today, please keep Mckenzie in your prayers.we hate to even ask but if anyone can aford to send a donation to help with livin expensives it would help out so much thank you all God is good!
Friday, January 31, 2003 at 08:13 PM (CST)
We added new pictures of Mckenzie, click onto the camera link at the bottom of this page.She seems to get stronger and stronger each day.They Dr. came in today and said she looks much better but they are running more test to see what is going on in her bone marrow.He said it will be about 5 days or so to get the results back, also next week he wants to do a bone marrow aspiration and try to get some answers.This is where they go in the hip bone with a large needle and draw out bone marrow(the bone marrow is the factory where the cells are created.)As you will be able to tell from the pictures we posted, Mckenzie looks very good!I am so glad she does not seem to be in pain and she is not as swollen as she once was.The Dr. said today she is in stable condition and improving each day.Well, thats about all for today, please keep Mckenzie in your prayers.
Thursday, January 30, 2003 at 09:17 PM (CST)
Mckenzie has once again stumped the best Drs. in the world.She has been growing back her old cells, of course we did not want this to happen, we wanted donor cells.After we heard the 2 transplant did not work, we decided to take her home and pray she would never relapse, the Drs. told us then her cells would never grow back the way they once did.Day 65 or so after 2 transplant she had less than 100 of her old cells grow back, not enough to survive more than a couple of weeks.We had no choice but to go forward with the 3 transplant.Today the Drs. told me they have no idea to what is going on, but her old cells are growing back and they do not know how or why.Her white blood count today was 8,600 84% of those are her old cells.Remember what I just said about day 65 after 2 transplant she had less than 100 of her old cells, then she had full body radiation, chemo and campath to kill off them cells she had left over in her body.Is it possible god is healing her with her old cells?Looks like it!So far there are no signs of relapse and even if her donor cells were to grow she could still relapse, I have seen it happen several times already.The Dr. said maybe with all the treatment she has had will keep her from relapsing.Mckenzie has aml(m7) and not much is none about it, it is very aggressive and hard to treat.It is a very good sign she has been here 6 months and has not relapsed.Mckenzie is the first to have 3 stem cell transplant back to back to back.Mckenzie has been here since July 30 and we spent 2 nights in the picu.They took 270cc of fluid off her heart.Mckenzie went for another bike ride this afternoon, she really enjoys leaving the unit.The Dr. told me today she is amazed that Mckenzie is still here today and to top it off she is doing well.She is truly a miracle and the Drs. are confirming it, there is no other explaination for her old cells to be coming back, they said I had a better chance of hitting the 400 million dollar lotto.Maybe I need to play the lottery.(ha-ha)I am feeling good about things, because I believe God is not going to let her old cells come back then let her relapse, I am so amazed if this is what is going on.Please remember Mckenzie in your prayers, God is hearing all of us.Thank you to all of you for your love, prayers and support.We love you all!
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 at 10:13 PM (CST)
WHAT WAS THAT PINK AND PUPLE FLASH TEARING UP THE HALLWAYS OF DUKE HOSPITAL?......IT WAS MCKENZIE RIDING HER GLITTER GIRL BIKE!!!!!YEAH!!!She got right on her bike and rode right out of the unit.She rode it all the way to the childrens clinic and halfway back(which is a good distance)She had such a good day, she laughed and even played with her new toys from Christmas.Lastnight I got in bed with her and I said to her "You better not tickle me, it tickles and I do not like to be tickled" she got an huge grin on her face and then she began tickling me.I laughed so hard at her, she was just having so much fun.Her nurse today turned of her oxygen and turned her onto room are and she did fine all afternoon.Dr. Mustafa was very impressed with her improvement over the last couple of days.Her t-billy(liver function) is coming down and the Drs are very happy about that.She was given the medicine again this morning to treat the ebv virus(she has this once a week)hopefully this ebv can be treated before it damages her new cells.The test for the ebv has to be sent to Ca. so hopefully next time they send it, it will be gone.Well, I better get back to the room, I am sure she is dying to tickle me some more, I think I started something!Oh well, it is so nice to see her laughing again!Please remember Mckenzie in your prayers.
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 at 02:38 PM (CST)
I am going to try and explain everything going on, I will start with the good news, Mckenzie is improving everyday, the bad news is the Drs. believe the ebv virus has returned.This was a fear from the very beginning before we went forward with the 3 transplant.As most of you probably remember, this is what wiped out her 2 transplant.They believe this is what is attacking her lungs, the only way to tell would to be a lung wash and she is not strong enough for this procedure to be done.She is being treated for ebv because they are almost positive this is what is going on.The new dna test came back today 84% her cells 16% donor cells last we had 54%donor cells the ebv is killing her cells(this is not news we wanted to hear)we wanted donor cells.Hopefully by treating the ebv it will allow her new donor cells to take over.This poor little girl can not catch a break.I think taking her to the fish tank has really helped her mental health because she is laughing now and really acts like she is feeling better.We all really need to pray hard for this ebv to leave her body and never come back, this is very life threatening to her and can wipe out her cells and with out cells to fight infections Mckenzie can not live, no matter how strong she is or how hard she fights to live.I posted new pictures of Mckenzie, which makes me very sad, I was not going to put them on her webpage but then I decided to go ahead and show all of you what this poor baby has had to go through.The bruising was from her new central lines that were placed and they could not get the bleeding to stop so they wrapped her up tight in koflex then the blood had no where to go so it bleed up underneath the skin and caused all the bruising, she looked terrible.The picture with her daddy and all the nurses was just taken last week, she looks better today, like I said she is smiling today and even laughing a little bit.She is a trooper and she is going to pull through all this, she has fought to hard, not to.Well, that is all for today, please, please remember Mckenzie in your prayers, we know god can heal her.
Tuesday, January 28, 2003 at 02:38 PM (CST)
I am going to try and explain everything going on, I will start with the good news, Mckenzie is improving everyday, the bad news is the Drs. believe the ebv virus has returned.This was a fear from the very beginning before we went forward with the 3 transplant.As most of you probably remember, this is what wiped out her 2 transplant.They believe this is what is attacking her lungs, the only way to tell would to be a lung wash and she is not strong enough for this procedure to be done.She is being treated for ebv because they are almost positive this is what is going on.The new dna test came back today 84% her cells(this is not news we wanted to hear)we wanted donor cells.Hopefully by treating the ebv it will allow her new donor cells to take over.This poor little girl can not catch a break.I think taking her to the fish tank has really helped her mental health because she is laughing now and really acts like she is feeling better.We all really need to pray hard for this ebv to leave her body and never come back, this is very life threatening to her and can wipe out her cells and with out cells to fight infections Mckenzie can not live, no matter how strong she is or how hard she fights to live.I posted new pictures of Mckenzie, which makes me very sad, I was not going to put them on her webpage but then I decided to go ahead and show all of you what this poor baby has had to go through.The bruising was from her new central lines that were placed and they could not get the bleeding to stop so they wrapped her up tight in koflex then the blood had no where to go so it bleed up underneath the skin and caused all the bruising, she looked terrible.The picture with her daddy and all the nurses was just taken last week, she looks better today, like I said she is smiling today and even laughing a little bit.She is a trooper and she is going to pull through all this, she has fought to hard, not to.Well, that is all for today, please, please remember Mckenzie in your prayers, we know god can heal her.
Sunday, January 26, 2003 at 08:20 PM (CST)
MCKENZIE DID IT, SHE HAS OFFICIALLY ENGRAFTED!!!This means her transplant worked and her new cells are growing, growing.Once a transplant is done and the cells start to grow and the anc =500 for 3 days they are said to be engrafted, they then start talking about discharge MCkenzies anc today was 2200,YEAH!!!!Since Mckenzie still has a few issues it may be a couple of weeks but guys, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we now can see it!For the first time in over 6 months Mckenzie got to leave the iscolated unit and we took her for a wagon ride to the fish tank and for a walk down new halls, she was so happy!We were so happy I would not trade those few minutes we had out of this unit for no money in the world, not even for front row tickets for the Daytona 500, and most of you know what a huge nascar fan I am.We are very excited about today but we have learned to live day by day, hour by hour,minute by minute.She has done what they believe could not be done, she has beaten all odds and the Drs. are truly amazed by her strength and courage.She was given a 10% chance of living and god has kept his hands on her and look where she is today.Today Mckenzie is on 36% oxygen(the very least amount)we breath 21%.THe plan is having her totaly off oxygen within the next couple days.She is in the room right now with her favorite nurse watching the scooby doo movie.She is an awsome little girl and everyone here is just overwhelmed with happiness for her.A huge send off party is in the plannings, it is going to be a day that one little girl has worked so hard for and I am honored to be her mother.YOU DID IT BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, January 25, 2003 at 01:51 PM (CST)
I was laying in bed lastnight and I looked up at Mckenzies monitor and her heart rate was reading 97, for months now it has been 170-180 very high, I thought something was bad wrong, so I called her nurse in and showed her and she had a huge smile on her face, that is a normal heart rate for a 3yr old. Her respiratory dropped into the 30-40, it had been 70-80 breaths a minute, she had really been breathing hard really, working just to catch her breath.She had a wonderful night lastnight, very comfortable.She seems to be getting a better.I can not explain her turn around but she is doing alot better.Dr. Mustafa came in and said she is looks and sounds great.She is an amazing little girl and we are so proud of her.I want to share some pictures with all of you, they are of Mckenzie and her boyfriend(Kyle) he passed away a couple of days before Christmas.You can see them at... caringbridge.org/wa/kyle they truly loved each other and you will be able to see how much in each photo.I truly believe he is watching over his girlfriend.I want to thank God for her turn around over night.Mckenzies white blood count is 3.7 today, YEAH!!!!!!Please continue to pray because it is truly affective and has got us where we are today.If you know of anyone that does not believe in miracles, introduce them to our miracle!
Friday, January 24, 2003 at 06:47 PM (CST)
mckenzie's lungs and liver is gettin worse GOD PLEASE HELP HER SHE IS SO SICK PLEASE PRAY AS MANY PEOPLE THAT IS PRAYIN YOU WOULD THINK SHE WOULD BE GETTIN BETTER AND NOT WORSE I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND DADDY LOVES YOU MORE THAN LIFE IT'S SELF MCKENZIE
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 at 06:56 PM (CST)
Dr. Martin just left our room and the latest is, some sort of virus is attacking Mckenzies lungs.He said we have a decision to make, if 3-5 days Mckenzies lungs do not improve we have to descuss putting her on a ventalator where she has only 1 in a million chance of ever coming off of it or keeping her comfortable in her room til her lungs finally shut down.I am so sad I can not imagine life without her, she is so precious to me.Rick is in the room with her right now and he is just so upset.How do you prepare yourself?I can not quit crying I feel like the world is crumbling down on me!Please pray very hard for our little angel.
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 at 02:35 PM (CST)
PLEASE PRAY EXTRA HARD FOR MCKENZIE FOR SHE IS NOT DOING VERY WELL PLEASE GOD HELP MY LITTLE GIRL
Sunday, January 19, 2003 at 11:00 AM (CST)
They are getting Mckenzie ready to take Mckenzie over to the picu.I had to sign those dreadful papers that no mother should have to sign.She is having alot of trouble breathing so they are going to drain the fluid away from her heart.The Drs. said they may need to put her on a ventalator but they are hoping they will not have to.Rick was in the emergency room all night last night, he has a bad sore throat and fever, perfect timing huh?If it was not for bad luck, we would have no luck at all.Well, I need to get back to the room and continue on with this awful nightmare.Please pray very hard for Mckenzie for this could be very serious.
Saturday, January 18, 2003 at 12:42 PM (CST)
As most of you know we got very good news yesterday about Mckenzies new donor cells growing.This morning I woke up with a cardiologist standing over top of me saying, Mckenzies cat scan from yesterday shows alot of fluid around her heart.They came in her room and performed a echocardiograhm and a ekg.The Drs. are now discussing if it is severe enough to have to take her to picu and sedate her and tap her heart with a needle to drain the fluid.I will update as I know, to what is going on.Please, please pray very hard for Mckenzie.
Friday, January 17, 2003 at 07:52 PM (CST)
Dna test results are back and......MCKENZIE HAS DONOR CELLS GROWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We are so excited!Mckenzie white blood count today was 1.0, she has 1,000 cells that are donors.GROW CELLS GROW!!!Rick had his surgery today to replace his central line and all went well.Well, I guess we just sit back and wait a couple of weeks for them new cells to grow and then we can get out of here.Once we are discharged we have to stay here in Durham 4-6 weeks so we can go to clinic everyday, sounds good to me!After 4-6 weeks we are going home!!!!Thanks to all of you for praying for Mckenzie, she still has a very long road ahead of her and still needs lots of prayers.I will update as I know things, I am still in a daze, I have a million things running through my head and I truly can not think.I am just so happy this feels like a dream.I have not had any good news in such a long time, I do not even now how to take it.Once again, please keep Mckenzie in your prayers, it is truly a miracle she is here today!Love all of you....
Thursday, January 16, 2003 at 05:42 PM (CST)
Mckenzie continues to be doing great!She is on a little bit of blow by oxygen at night.She is showing several signs of growing cells but we will not know til tomorrow, her dna test results should be her tomorrow.Well, as our luck would have it, Rick went to clinic today to get fereased and the nurse broke his central line.Dr. Martin ordered a kit to fix it but we will not know if it is fixed for 24 hours, he may need to go back to surgery and have that line removed and another one put in.I hope not, we just got the bill for 13,000 for the central line he has now and medicaid will not pay for it.You would think medicaid would pay for all these things they are doing to Rick to help Mckenzie but they won't cover it.It cost a 1,000 for the two shots Rick gets twice a week.Well, thats about all for tonight, I will update tomorrow when I get her dna test results back.Please continue to keep Mckenzie in your prayers.Love from our family to yours!
Sunday, January 12, 2003 at 10:14 AM (CST)
It is day 25 after 3 transplant and Mckenzie is doing very well.Her nurse removed the tube that went through her nose and down into her stomach, she looks 100% better.The nurse just rounded with the Drs. and the only thing different today is they want to wean her off 1 of her blood pressure medications(she is on 3)She has not received any white blood cells from Rick since yesterday, she will not get any today because Ricks cells are irradiated and only live in her body 6-10 hours, so when they do 2;00am labs they can get more of an idea what her true wbc is.The Dr. said even though Ricks cells are irradiated, they can not reproduce but the lymphocites(a type of cell)can linger in the body for sometime.They are going to send of some blood tomorrow for dna testing to see if there are donor cells present, it will take about a week to get the results.The Drs. were pretty worried about Rick because his blood pressure was high and he was having some problems with his blood clotting factors.The Drs. gave him a perscription for vitiamin k and they seem to have it all under control.The Drs. came in and told me the have actually had a person die from being fereased, so to make sure he takes his pills or they will have to stop fereasing him.Well thats about all for today, I will update as I know things.Thank you for your prayers and support.
Saturday, January 11, 2003 at 08:53 AM (CST)
Sorry, I have not updated in a couple of days, everything here is good!Mckenzies Drs. actually come in with smiles on their faces, instead of that infamous dreadful look.She has been spending a good bit in the hallway and riding her bike a little bit more.She still ask me everyday, can we go home?The Drs. say she is showing signs of growing cells but it is yet to early to tell.They said it looks very encouraging but they do not want to promise me anything.Dr. K came in yesterday, she is the Dr. that researched and performed the very first stem cell transplant, she said Mckenzie is really doing good.We ask her, is Mckenzie doing better than what you expected?She said, they really did not know what to expect because this has never been done.She told us they have their fingers and toes crossed and only time will tell.The bruising on her chest is clearing up real good and she actually looks great!The Drs. sent off some blood last week to test her blood for the ebv virus and it came back neg. in her blood.This is the virus that she had during 2 transplant that they believe wiped out all her new cells, so for this test to come back neg. is very good news.(Thank you God!)She has not had a positive culture since the 19 of December.The Dr. actually told Rick, it is his cells keeping her safe from infections and keeping her alive.(Thanks Daddy!)Well, I need to get back to the room, Mckenzie is awake and watching cartoons.Continue to keep Kenzie in your prayers.
Tuesday, January 07, 2003 at 09:06 AM (CST)
Mckenzie is continuing her quest on breaking through medical history.She is amazing and doing better and better each day.She woke up this morning in a good mood and she even has some rash(a sign of cells growing)We are so proud of her, she is fighting this awful disease and amazing everyone.The Dr. came in yesterday and said she is truly beating the odds and they have never had anyone here that has fought as hard as she has.She is truly a champion and I am gleaming today, I am just so proud of her.Mckenzie has taught me so much and going through all this with her has tought me so much about life and how precoius life really is.Mckenzie is by no means out of the woods, she has had alot of chemo and radiation and she can have side effects from all that years down the road but we are not going to worry about that, we are going to live each day one day at a time and live it as if it were our last.I believe God is healing Mckenzie and giving her a second chance at life.I truly want to thank the Drs. for believing in Mckenzie and going forward with the 3 transplant, They told me the odds were truly against her but we knew what was going to happen if we took her home.God has kept her safe and gave the Drs. the knowledge to let Mckenzie be where she is today.Well, thats all for today, hopefully worse is behind us and we can keep going forward.Thanks to all of you for your love and support.Vivian; thank you for writing the poem for Mckenzie, I am going to print it and put it in a frame and hang it over her bed.I hope to talk to you soon.
Monday, January 06, 2003 at 04:25 AM (CST)
Mckenzie is doing real good, the Drs. are saying she is truly amazing and absolutly unpredictable.She had platelets yesterday and her labs at 2;00am showed they went to 315,000 totaly in range, they were 38,000 before she was transfused, they try to keep her above 50,000, usually after a transfusion her platelet count will rise but not like they have tonight, they even double checked to make sure there was not a mistake.But as the Drs. are always telling me the strangest things happen with Mckenzie.High platelets are a good thing, so I am very happy about tonights labs.Platelets are sticky and they help the blood clot.Well it happened again, Keshon passed away at 2;10 yesterday afternoon, please keep his family in your prayers.You can visit his webpage at caringbridge.org/sc/keshon please sign his guestbook.Mckenzie rode her bike last night and was out in the hallway a good bit.She is still very sleepy and when she is awake she is very lazy but she is getting stronger and stronger every single day.She is truly a real life power puff girl!Well, as I always say keep all these kids and their families in your prayers.Thanks to all of you for your support.
Saturday, January 04, 2003 at 12:56 AM (CST)
Mckenzie is getting stronger and stronger each day.She was in the hallway and walking a little bit more today.Her labs are all in range and the Drs. said she is doing great!She is having a little problem with high blood pressure but that is a common thing here.We received some bad news this evening about Mckenzies buddy, Ryan.He passed away this evening at 8:30pm I guess he is in a better place free of any pain, he was such a nice guy, we are very sad and will keep his family in our prayers.You can sign Ryans guestbook at caringbridge.org/nc/ryan his mother was one of the nicest people I had ever met.Another cellmate was rushed to the picu tonight and as of now, I have not heard on his condition, please keep Keshon in your prayers, he is a cute little guy!I actually got out of here for a little bit, Rick and I went to walmart and the Golden Coral, didn't get to eat much though, to many knots in my stomach and even guilt about being there enjoying a meal.I got kinda sad tonight thinking about this time last year how everything was good and we put our house up for sale and decided to make a fresh start here in North Carolina, not ever knowing what our future had in store for us, we went out house hunting and found the perfect house and moved in just to find out about Mckenzies illness and everything we had unpacked once again had to be packed back up and moved into another house.Oh well, maybe one day we can get back on our feet and once again go house hunting, I guess there is more important things going on than having to worry about where we are going to live.I am beginning to except this unit as home and I am thankful that all 5 of my kids are still with me and where ever they are that will be home to me.Well sorry about whinning, I guess I have been here just way to long, it felt good just to let some things flow.keep all these kids and their families in your prayers.
Friday, January 03, 2003 at 12:51 AM (CST)
Today was another good day!Mckenzie looks so much better, she had her bandage changed today and the bleeding has seemed to stop.The bruising on her chest is fading and turning green and yellow.Mckenzie walked a little bit today and rode her pole this evening.All we need now is for her new cells to grow, without white blood cells she can not live.I pray constantly, this transplant has to work and if not we have to take Mckenzie home with no immune system, Dr. Martin said she would live probably a month.Mckenzie cellmate that has been in the picu for weeks is not doing well this evening, he is 18 years old and so very sweet, he thought alot of Mckenzie, in his journals he would talk about Mckenzie and what a special little girl she is, he would ask everyone to remember her in their prayers, that is the way these kids here on 5200 are, they think of each other and not so much themselves.I guess they have alot in common and they all stick together, it is actually heart warming to watch the love between all of them.Please say extra prayers for Mckenzies buddy, Ryan. Well, I guess I better get back down to my jail cell and check on Mckenzie.Thanks to all of you for your prayers.As I always say, remember all these kids and their families in your prayers.Tom and Angie: you are still so much in our prayers, we love and miss you dearly. Barb: I tried to sign Malcolms webpage but everytime I would hit send it would not go through, I love you!Betsy: I am thinking of you too, a year now in the hospital, (WOW) but it is all worth it, to take home a healthy child, God is watching over you and giving you the strenghth you need to keep going.He let us all become great friends because he new we were going to need each other to lean on.
Thursday, January 02, 2003 at 12:10 AM (CST)
Today was a wonderful day!Mckenzie rode the bike that her boyfriend(Kyle) left behind, she went to the family lounge this evening with Jacob, Scott(Jacobs dad),Rick and I and hung out for a long time.Her bruises look so much better.The tube in her nose is still there but has been unhooked from suction all day.The Drs. and nurses are so amazed by her as well as we are, she has been a trooper through out all this.She is actually talking more and even laughing a little bit.We are just so proud of her, she is truly amazing.My oldest son Dustin was here all day today and she was just showing him everything in her room.We keep getting more bad news on past cellmates, we have 2 that has relapsed and nothing more can be done for them and 1 that went a home a couple of months ago passed away Sunday.We still have 2 cellmates still in the picu, we have to ask ourselves, What is going on?To be surrounded by so much sickness and death is starting to take its toll on all of us.If this place don't bring you down, I don't know what will.We are all in desperate need for some good news!My heart breaks everyday for our friends that have lost their children.We love all theses children and in a weird way they kinda become all of our chidren and we want the very best for them.I try to keep telling myself this is all just a part of life but it does not make things any easier.I have seen alot of kids get to go home and they are doing well, so that is what encourages me.A little girl came her to visit the kids a couple of days before Christmas, she was a patient here for a year and she was very sick her mom told me she had a fever for 3 months and still to this day they do not know why, she was over in picu and was not expected to live, that was 3 years ago!Stories like that are very encouraging and they really motivate us and help us to keep going.We have some wonderful nurses here and they truly love Mckenzie and she loves them.Well, that is about all for today, please keep Mckenzie and all these kids and their families in your prayers.Dan, Sue and Tucker:I am sorry I missed your visit, You should have woke us up.Love you guys!
Wednesday, January 01, 2003 at 12:02 AM (CST)
Happy New Year everyone!Well today was a fairly good day.Mckenzies bruises actually look a little better today.The Drs. came in today and said her t-billi (liver function)is actually elavated and they are keeping a close eye on it.They said all the kids here are risk for liver disease and with Mckenzie having 3 transplants, of course she is higher risk.It is something new to worry about everyday.Well, we had Mckenzie out of her room 2 times tonight, she actually walked a little bit.She went down to see her new friend Jacob, he is 9 years old and had his transplant today.They have become pretty good buddies.You can visit his webpage at caringbridge.org/va/jacob make sure you check out his pictures he had taken today.He is an awsome kid, he means alot to me.He loves to check out all his messages, so be sure to sign his guestbook.I made a mistake on Brittneys webpage, it is caringbridge.org/nc/brittney.We brought in the New Year here in the family lounge with all of the nurses, it was awsome just seeing Mckenzie out of her room and throwing confetti.We stopped by Jacobs room because a couple hours earlier he told me he wanted to celebrate the New Year with Mckenzie but when we went to his door, he was out for the count.I guess we will have to celebrate tomorrow.Well I am hoping for a better New Year, for 2002 had not been to good to us.Please remember all these kids and their families in your prayers for they are all very special to us.Thank you all for your prayers and support.
Monday, December 30, 2002 at 10:22 PM (CST)
Well another one of Mckenzies cellmates passed away this evening.Brittney was 1, 2 days older than our Morgan.She died during surgery.Just the night before last Mckenzie was out riding her iv pole and we stopped at her room and was talking to her, Mckenzie loved her and was always checking on her.Our hearts and prayers go out to her family.You can visit her webpage at caringbridge.org/va/brittney, there is a very cute picture of her and Mckenzie.While your there please sign her guestbook.We talked to Angie tonight(Kyles mom) and they made it back to Washington ok and they seem to be hanging in there.Mckenzie seemed to have a much better day, she is still bleeding pretty bad around her central line site, so today they wrapped her up real tight, to try and apply pressure.We shaved her head today because it was starting to fall out all over the place and making a huge mess.She actually laughed today and seemed to feel a little better.The Drs. came in today and both of them said they had never seen anything like what Mckenzies chest looks like, it looks awful!It looks like it hurts so bad but when you ask her if it hurts she always says, no.The Drs. and nurses are amazed with her, she is so strong and really does not complain about much.She still has the tube in her nose and that does not even seem to bother her.All her labs are pretty good, so we are happy with that.This place can bring you way down, real quick and I am just thankful that so far Mckenzie has really hung in there, we are so proud of her!She is writing a new chapter for the Drs. and things they have never seen before and or know why.The Dr. came in today and told us he does not know what it is but everthing that happens to Mckenzie is unexplainable, she always has them stumped.Well thats all tonight, please remember all these kids and there families in your prayers.
Saturday, December 28, 2002 at 09:45 PM (CST)
Mckenziess labs are much better, for the most part they are in range.God is good!She just returned back to her room after riding her iv pole for a little while and she checked on all her friends.She has a new friend that has been here for about a week now.His name is Jacob and we just adore him.Tonight is his first night of atg, which is medication that wipes out the immune systym, it makes them very, very sick.Jacob as sick as he is, picked his head up off his pillow and with a smile asked her "who is the pretty girl" and Mckenzie replied "I am."Please remember Jacob in your prayers, he is pretty amazing.Rick has the kids at the movies tonight, They came here before they went and Candice did not take seeing her sister to well.She is 6 years old and it has been a while since she seen Mckenzie and she does look different, she is swollen with huge bruises all over her chest, wrapped up like a mummy, with a tube in her nose.Candice tried not to cry and Mckenzie asked me to get up out of the bed and asked Candice to sit with her and as soon as Candice got up in the bed, Mckenzie held her hand out for Candice and as soon as Candice grabbed her hand the tears started to flow.Megan, one of Mckenzies Drs. came in and talked to Candice and told her Mckenzie is doing much better than yesterday and told her Mckenzie is by far an amazing little girl and that they are going to do everything for Mckenzie, so that here soon we can talk about taking Mckenzie home.It was kinda ironic, Mckenzie kidneys was for sure very stessed last night, then Rick and I went to the chapel and prayed, wrote a letter to God and then the next lab results came back, improvement!She has her labs drawn every 6 hours and they keep coming back better and better.The Drs. said she is by far not out of the woods yet but they are truly amazed with her.I asked God to let us all spend many, many years together and when I die, please let all my kids be with me and I would truly be honored if Mckenzie could be with me, holding my hand, as I take my last breath.
Saturday, December 28, 2002 at 12:43 AM (CST)
Well here is the latest.I updated earlier and mentioned that Mckenzies blood work, liver and kidney fuctions are all out of wack.Tonight there was a slight improvement, they did a chest x-ray to see if there was any bleeding into her lungs because her hemoglobin dropped a good bit over several hours and they felt maybe there was some bleeding going on inside.The night Dr. came in and said the x-ray looked good.Yesterday was just as bad as today, the poor little thing was tormented, she had her new central lines placed and they brought her back to the room and she was bleeding from her sites real bad, so then the Drs. came in while she was awake and put in a stitch to try and close the hole they left under her collar bone.She received so many blood products yesterday and today, frozon plasma,red blood cells,platelets and Ricks cells.Having all these blood products given to her, plus all the medications she is on, is alot of volume for her kidneys to have to deal with.She has huge bruises on her chest where she had the surgery yesterday, she also has huge bruises on her back from the leads they placed on her back to hook her up to the monitors, and everyday they need replaced and when they take them off of her, it pulls all her hair that has grown on her back and leaves terrible bruises.One of the meds. she is on makes her very hairy that is why she has a uni-brow, she is very hairy all over.The Drs. also put a feeding tube in her nose that goes into her stomache so they can suction out her belly, because she had been throwing up so much.Let's just pray yesterday and today was just a bump in the road and these bad days are behind us.
Friday, December 27, 2002 at 06:14 PM (CST)
Please pray very hard for Mckenzie.The Drs. just came in the room and told us her kidneys may be starting to fail.They also believe there is bleeding coming from somewhere and they have ordered a chest x-ray to make sure she is not bleeding into her lungs.She is very weak but sitting up in her bed and talking to us.This is so hard and we are scared to death.I do not want to live my life without her, as a matter of fact I do not think I can.I love her so much, she is my sunshine!Please God,let her stay here with me!
Thursday, December 26, 2002 at 02:39 AM (CST)
Hello everyone!Well Mckenzie had a better day today, she actually walked in the hallway today and socialized with the nurses and her other cellmates.She has been very depressed here lately and I feel so sorry for her.Santa Claus came to visit yesterday and she vanished him out of her room, she was not in the mood.Her white blood count is .4, which means she has 400 cells fighting in her body, that came from her daddy.Rick had his shots tonight because he has to be fereased in the morning.Mckenzie has not had a positive culture since the 19, great news!Mckenzie has to go down for surgery in the morning to have her temporary lines removed and her permanant ones placed.Her nose started bleeding today a little bit but the Drs. said it is a side affect to the chemotherapy.Her mouth has some nasty looking sores in it and the Drs. said it probably looks like that all the way down her digestive system.The chemotherapy eats the lining.Well, we had a pretty nice Christmas all the kids got everything they could ever ask for.Thank you everyone!We have been here so long, we spent Christmas with people that really has become family, and it really was not that bad being here.You know, as bad as I want to go home, I am going to miss everyone here so much, it will be a great day but also a very sad one.Kyles passing is still very much on everyones minds and we will all miss him and keep him in our hearts forever.I am thankful we have some great pictures of him and Mckenzie.Please keep Cotteys, Mckenzie and all these chidren here on 5200 in your prayers.
Monday, December 23, 2002 at 11:14 PM (CST)
I want to start off by asking each an everyone of you to go to caringbridge.org/wa/kyle and sign his guest book.Kyle(Mckenzies boyfriend)passed away this evening in the picu.I know words of encouragment will help Tom and Angie make it through this very sad time in their lives.Remember Cassey(Kyles brother)in your prayers, for he is not going to understand all this, they were very close.We are very saddened this evening and we are truly going to miss Kyle and Mckenzie riding their bikes up and down the hallway.Tom and Angie have been here a long time and truly have done all they can do as parents.Tom and Angie: we love you and miss you and may God bless you and keep you strong.We can not be with you right now but you will always be with us in our hearts.
Mckenzie is about the same as yesterday, she is still throwing up and is feeling yuckey.Santa Claus will be here tomorrow, so hopefully she will feel like opening some gifts.Well thats about all for today, please remember all these kids in your prayers.
Monday, December 23, 2002 at 03:00 AM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzie has been very sick today, she can not hold anything down.She is drinking alot but as soon as she drinks something it comes right back up.She has not eaten in weeks but she is on tpn and she is getting all the nutrition she needs.Her heart rate is very high, it is staying right around 200, even when she is a sleep.Drs. are saying it could be because of her fever or because of pain, she does have some mouth sores due to radiation and chemotherapy.A lady from Make-A-Wish came here today and interviewed us, she told Mckenzie, anything she wants, anything she wants to do or anyone she wants to meet, they would try to make it happen.Before we came here, we were wanting to take her on a Disney cruise but now we have chosen laughter for her, someone she has enjoyed watching since she was a tiny little peanut, Mr. Bill Cosby.I remember when Mckenzie was a tiny little thing in Wv. she would sit so still in front of the tv and watch, Kids say the darndest things.Mr. Cosby is wonderful and I really believe she would enjoy meeting him.Well thats about all for today.Please remember all these children here on 5200 in your prayers, each and everyone one of them are amazing and forever will be in our thoghts and prayers.They are pictures of strength and courage and I am honored to have gotten to know all them.Love from are family to yours, Happy Holidays!
Friday, December 20, 2002 at 05:04 PM (CST)
Last night was the longest night, Mckenzie was so sick.She has been getting an anti-fungal medication and the Drs. increased her dose last night, she was throwing up, high fever, high heart rate and was having some problems breathing, it was so scary.I thought for sure we were going to the picu.I was scared to go to sleep, I was watching monitors all night.Today she is still throwing up but she is real alert and sitting up in her bed, we even went for a little walk in the hallway.Her cultures are still coming back positive for yeast.Rick was fureased today, which means he was hooked up to a machine that takes all his blood, seperates out his white blood cells so they can give them to Mckenzie.He has this done twice a week and it takes several hours and drains every bit of energy out of him.He has 2 shots 1 in each arm the night before he has this procedure done and the shots give him flu like syptoms.Hey, you got to do, what you got to do!Well I better get back to the room, Rick went to the Golden Coral to get me something to eat, I have not ate in days, except for a few cookies.Well keep praying for Mckenzie, she needs prayer.Dan, Sue and Tucker thank you so much for the gift Mckenzie loves it.I was so whipped when you came to the room, I am sorry we did not get to visit.We love you guys!Tucker tell your grandparents Mckenzie loves her Barbie outfit, she is wearing it right now.Please tell them thank you for us!Shelley: call me!!!!
Thursday, December 19, 2002 at 04:12 PM (CST)
Mckenzie had her transplant yesterday afternoon and all went well.We have had a some bad news over the last couple of days, Mckenzies cultures from her new lines have tested positive for a fungal infection.The Drs. are very worried, they said this could be very life threatening to her.The Drs. called Rick at home and rushed him here to place once again, another central line.Mckenzie will recieve his white blood cells 6 days a week.She felt good yesterday evening, she actully rode kyles(her boyfriends)bike a couple of laps in the hallway.Today she is very sick, she has been throwing up all day.She is very tired and she is also acting very sad.It is so hard to sit and watch all this go on.Last night Rick and the kids went with the Ronald Mcdonald house to the Hurricanes hockey game, they had a good time.Well I need to go back to the room, I feel like I am about to tip over.Please Remember Mckenzie in your prayers.
Monday, December 16, 2002 at 12:47 AM (CST)
Hello, sorry I have not updated in a couple of days but I have been very busy.Mckenzies surgery went well, she had her central lines removed due to a bacteria growing in the lines.The Drs. came in today and informed me a fungal infection started growing in them the day they were removed, which could have been very fatal to her if a fungal infection where to enter her blood stream.She is on all kind of antibiotics to cover her just in case.She spiked a pretty high fever tonight but that was due to a reaction from a medication they are using to wipe out any remainig cells she has left in her body.The Drs. also said since her lines tested positive for a fungal infection they want to put another central line in Rick to give Mckenzie his white blood cells, he will be having the surgery probably Tuesday or Wed. they said.They also informed me they need us to take out Mckenzies Christmas tree, the rooms are very small here and in case of a medical emergency they need to be able to move around in her room.We know this could be her last Christmas and we wanted this to be a very nice Christmas for her and it will be, just maybe minus a tree.My other 4 kids came up to the unit tonight to see Mckenzie, she gets so excited to see them.Some people from Hendricks motor sports came to day and brought gifts for all the kids, Thanks guys!The town we moved to from Wv held a fund raiser for us yesterday and we got to go and visit and meet people that have been helping us and praying for us.Retired nascar driver Buddy Baker was there signing autographs, it was really a good feeling to see and meet all the people that care.I know one thing there will be a huge celabration when Mckenzie gets to go home and I so much hope she gets to meet each and everyone of you.Rusty, you were a very nice man, thank you for all you did for us.Sue, I know you had a lot of time and effort in organizing everything for the fundraiser and we truly want to thank you!Buddy Baker, thank you for taking time out of your day and signing autograph to help raise money for our family.Anne, thank you for doing stories about Mckenzie and making people aware to what is going on.Tina, congratulations on that new baby and for always being there for us and for coming to Duke several times and helping us out.Karen, your so cazy!I am sorry I did not keep a good eye on your cheeseburger.I guess I owe you one!There are so many more people we want to thank and I hope you know who you are!You are old friends, new friends and people we do not even know, that have been sending us letters,cards,gifts and most importantly prayers.Please continue to keep Kyle(Mckenzies boyfriend)in your prayers, he is still in the picu on a ventilator.Well thats about all for tonight I will update later.Shelley and Shawn it was good to see both of you, I am glad you made it to the fundraiser, you were truly a sight for sore eyes.I love you!To the mother that left me a message on Mckenzies web page who son was diagnosed with acute luekemia,please call me my #is 919-681-5203 or 919-970-4243 is my pager.
Friday, December 13, 2002 at 01:17 AM (CST)
Well here is the latest, Mckenzies central lines have to be removed due to they tested positive for a bacteria growing in them.She has to go into surgery tomorrow at 11:00 am.After surgery she will start her 5 days of chemotherapy, she will have 2 rounds of total body radiation probably the beginning of next week.They have her scheduled for her bone transplant Wed. afternoon.The Drs. are giving her a 1 out of 10 chance of surviving.Since this has never been done they have no information in there data base to compare the statistics.I asked the Dr. if he would be surprised if Mckenzie made it through all this and he said Mckenzie is very strong and healthy and thats why he believes 3 transplant is our best option.We know if we take her home in a matter of weeks she would passaway from infection.If we go forward with other transplant she could be cured.There is a million dollar hepa filter system here on the unit that really cleans the air here and keeps the risk of infection lower than if she was on the outside.We asked Dr. Martin, what would you do?And he said he would without a doubt being his daughter as healthy as Kenzie,he would go forward with another transplant.I feel good about going forward with 3 transplant and trust in God and know in my heart he will heal her.Last night we brought Morgan(my 1yr.old)to the unit to see her sister, they just loved on each other and Mckenzies big sister mode kicked in, she is so proud of her baby sister.Mckenzie was free from her iv pole all evening, she ran and rode her bike and was full of energy.She is a very poular little girl up here on the unit, the other parents, nurses and Drs. just love her and Mckenzie really loves all them too!We are the veterans here, considering we have been here without leaving for 5 months but That is ok, we will be here as long as it takes.I just don't want to ever quit hearing "mommy, I love you whooooole bunch" I have said this time and time again and I am going to say it again, Mckenzie is an amazing little girl and she is so full of strenghth, courage and love and look at all she has conquered, maybe we can all learn what is really important in our lives and how fragile and short life here on earth really is.I hope in my heart to each and everyone of you that come everyday to visit Mckenzies journal, that she has touched your lives the way she has touched ours.I know alot of you visit that do not even know her but to know her, is to love her, she is truly heaven sent and is my angel here on earth.Mckenzie, may God bless you and keep you safe here in my arms, forever!I love you more than life itself, mommy and daddy are by your side baby,Love you whooooooole bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, December 10, 2002 at 12:40 PM (CST)
Hello everyone!Just sitting here in my room playing on the lap top.I just got done reading messages left for Mckenzie.That is the highlight of my day, reading all the different messages.We have met so many nice people and I love hearing from friends I have not seen for a long time.Poor little Mckenzie, Dustin(my oldest son)went up to the unit to visit Mckenzie the other night and as soon as he walked in Mckenzie looked at him and said "Dustin, may I be free?"He went and asked her nurse and she said"not to night Mckenzie, your getting your meds."He said a little later they were out in the hallway and Mckenzie seen her nurse and Mckenzie yelled"nurse, I am done with my medicine, now can I be free?"I laughed when Dustin tolded me but then it made me very sad.She is a 3 year old baby that just wants to play and she does get to play but most of the time there is an iv pole by her side.Mckenzie lost 2 cellmates last week 2 more are in the picu and a past cellmate quit breathing the other night and is now in the hospital in Va. please keep these chidren and their families in your prayers.The kids here on 5200 and their families have become our family, we truly care for them and want the best for them.Mckenzies boyfriend(Kyle)is back from the picu and 2 rooms down from Mckenzie.I was up there last night and she wanted me to keep taking her by his room, she worries about him.He is doing much better but he still is not awake.I also want to thank the people of Westport Baptist they have been so good to us and have been right with us from the beginning.We truly miss you all!This Sat. in Denver,Nc there will be a fundraiser for us.I guess several nascar drivers will be there signing autographes.My kids are very excited about meeting the drivers.We will try to attend but we will just have to see how Mckenzie is feeling.Well thats about all for today, I will update later.Julie thanks for the words of encouragement!I Love and miss you, Randy too!
Sunday, December 08, 2002 at 07:22 PM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzie is doing good, Dustin, my oldest son is there at the hospital visiting her.We had another big day today.We went with the RMH to watch the womens basketball games.It was so exciting, my kids where honorary captains again and got to sit on the benches with the girls, the teams also let them go in the locker rooms during halftime.Thanks Buffalo, St. Josephs and Duke for being so nice to my kids they had so much fun and they have been telling everyone.It felt so good to go out and do something normal, it has been a long time!One of the girls that plays for Duke is Chubby Checkers daughter, she is real good.It was funny, Dustin sat with him and did not realize who it was til we were in the van going home.We were telling him he had several songs out along time ago with the twist being a big hit for him.I really miss all the teams there gone and we are back here, back to what is normal for us.I hope to one day take our little Mckenzie to a game and maybe she too can be an honorary captain, that would be awesome!We have to talk with the Drs. tomorrow and they will let us know what the game plan is.Please keep Mckenzie in your prayers!
Saturday, December 07, 2002 at 06:09 PM (CST)
Hello, Mckenzie is feeling good today.She was free from her iv pole today for several hours, which she loves to be free.We just got our electric back today at the Ronald Mcdonald house.We have been without electric since Wed. night.We all had to sleep in the living room around the fireplace.I finally had a night of fun last night, the kids and I went to the girls Duke basketball game where 3 other teams played.Today all 4 teams came to the RMH and had lunch with us, the kids where so excited, they got a bunch of autographes.My kids were honorary captains for the games last night.Tomorrow the teams play winners and we are going with the RMH.The girls were so nice and the head coach for Buffalo was so very sweet and talked to me for a long time about Mckenzie.I guess Mckenzie will start her chemo and radiation this week.We are so scared but I feel in my heart, she is going to make history!I told the Drs. it would be easier to except how serious all this is, if She was in icu unconcious but she is not, she is so alert, running, playing and riding her bike.I have seen alot of sadness since we have been here and I have seen miracles too!I am living day by day and praying god will heal her.Please tell everyone you know and tell them to tell everyone they know to pray for our little Mckenzie.It is so nice to hear from all of you.
Tuesday, December 03, 2002 at 10:41 PM (CST)
HELLO, We just got done putting up Mckenzies Christmas tree, she is so proud of it!I am just so sad we are still here and will be for a while.We have been here since July 30th.I have so many of you to thank but I am going to do it this way, a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you, for your financial support, emotional support and most of all your prayers.It is so hard to be here expecially during the holidays.I am praying for a miracle and starting the new year with my miracle baby and the rest of my family.This so much needs to work and I am confident, it will!I know alot of you do not know her but she is amazing.She loves everyone and touches everyone she meets.We are truly blessed to be her parents!It feels so good to check her journal everyday and to see all of your messages you all leave for Mckenzie and the rest of us, people that have never met her, friends, family and old friends I have not spoken to in years, thats the good thing about good friends, your lives go on and sometimes you go different ways but you are always there for one another.I love all of you!Be sure to click on Mckenzies photo alblum and check out the new pictures that were taken tonight.There is so much more I want to say but I do not have time, visitation is over and I have Candice with me and she has school tomorrow.Thank you for visiting Mckenzies journal.
Friday, November 29, 2002 at 03:28 PM (CST)
hello,everyone we have very bad news mckenzie's cells grew back 99% hers 1% her dad's cells witch means the second transplant did not work we dont know what to do now the dr's say that if we take her home to bee with her family all we could do is keep her comfortable and try to keep her hammy for she would not live very long at two weeks to a month at the most they might be able to do a third transplant but not sure yet they have done several third transplants but no one has livedafter havein one the dr's dont know if they can fine another match for her again and if they do we dont know if medicare will pay for it again they allmost didnt pay for the second one for one transplant starts at a half a millon dollors we all have been prayin for a miracial for we truly dont know what to do i dont think she will make it through another one for the second one all most killed her and today you could not even tell that she is even sick she is runnin around and so happy she does not know she is fightin for her life i have added another web-page for mckenzie please visit it allso for we could use all the help we could get right not we need to raise some money to get our truch fixed it broked down yesterday and i have not been able to work in over 125 days that we have been here thank you so very much love and prayers GOD BLESS YOU ALL
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 11:00 AM (CST)
Hello everyone, just a quick update.Mckenzies wbc has fallen to .3 which we are very nervous about, but we should know who cells are growing this week.Everyone pray they are donor cells!Mckenzie has a virus in her nose called ebv, we know that having any infection can slow down the growth of the new cells growing, hopefully we can get the infection cleared up and her new cells can grow.I am a nervous wreck and I can not keep bad thoughts out of my head, I am so scared!Mckenzie is totaly off her tpn which is nutrition by iv.She is eating like a little pig!She is walking and riding her bike in the hallway, she seems to have a good bit of energy.It just amazes me how strong she is and everything going on in her body, you would never guess she is sick.Mckenzies boyfriend, Kyle was brought back on the unit, He can not even lift his head up, he needs some extra prayers,so please remember him in yours.Well thats about all for today, I will update later.Shelley;I love and miss you,too! have a happy birthday, I hope Cheyanne is doing much better!
Tuesday, November 26, 2002 at 05:32 AM (CST)
hello this will have to be short i'm sorry but i have only had three hours sleep in two day mckenzie wbc is .3 this morning we are still waiting for the results back from the bone marrow test on last thuresday the drs. say maybe friday i'm sorry i have not updated latley just a lot going on with her lets all pray extra hard for our little woman GOD BLESS YOU ALL THANKS FOR THE DONATIONS FOR SO MANY OF YOU ALL THAT HAS GIVIN THIS HAS HELPED SO VERY MUCH
Saturday, November 23, 2002 at 10:37 AM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzie is doing good today, she has been eating a little bit and walking and even riding her bike.We are so proud of her!I got back from Wv. last night and it snowed 1/2 of the drive.The dumbest thing we ever did was sell our van, with 5 kids a van is a must!They drove me crazy for 6 hours.I prayed all the way to Wv. and all the way home that we would make it, when we got here in Durham back in July the transmission went out on our cherokee, we took it to Aamco transmission, since then we have taken it back 3 times.It has a bad vibration now, so Rick called them back and they hung up on him.I told Rick not to worry about it, I was going to go ahead and drive the truck to Wv and if it broke down they could come and get it.I hate that some people are just so hard to deal with.I also want to thank the people from West port Baptist for raising over 3 thousand dollars for us before we came here, if it was not for them we would not have had the money to have the cherokee fixed, even though there is obviously something still wrong with it they have to fix it.Dustin and Mckenzie were so happy to see each other, we are getting ready to back to the hospital here in a little bit.Dustin will be here till next weekend, then I have to take him back home.Thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers, everyone has been so nice to us!Well thats about all for today thanks for visiting Mckenzies Journal.
Friday, November 22, 2002 at 06:01 AM (CST)
hello everyone i want to thank every one for the help and suport a special thanks to anna fortenberry of the news@norman for the story on our family mc kenzie is .5 today she had a bone marrow test yesterday the dr.s say no cancer cells a good sign but for the mane results of who's cells are they?we will not know for about a week so lets all pray together "grow donor cells grow"my wife is in wv.now to pick up our oldest son for a week mckenzie will be so happy to see him they will be back today she is doing so much better there for the longest time she gave us all a big scare it is a shame that anyone would have to go through this let alone a child we have seen her at deaths door and back again still a long road ahead the power a strenght of prayer has helped so much thanks to everyone i'm so sorry i have not up-dated in a while my wife has not been here since tuesday night and she is the at doing this love and prayers to you and your's GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, November 18, 2002 at 02:57 AM (CST)
Hello, Mckenzies white blood count is .6 this morning, we are so excited!she had a very good day.she rode her bike today and did some walking in the hallway.I am so proud of her!she looks so much better and seems to get better every day.I pray the worse is behind us.A little girl that was on the unit when we first got here has relapsed.She is 5 years old and her name is Taylor, please pray for her and her family.Well thats about all for today, I will update later. Thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage!
Saturday, November 16, 2002 at 03:40 AM (CST)
Hello, it is day 35 after transplant and Mckenzies new bone marrow seems to be growing, her wbc has been .4, 2 days in a row.She walked the hallways a bit today and seemed to have a pretty good day.She has not eaten anything in over a month, that is due to mucouscitis.All the treatments she has had damages the lining of the mouth, even the lining in her stomach, it is very painful.Her legs ache due to use of steroids over the last several months, which also cause her to be very moody.I can not wait to have our little Mckenzie 100%.Well that is about all for today, I need to get some sleep, it is 4:50 am.They draw her labs at 2:00am and I can not sleep til I get the results.Tonight it was 4:00am before they were back, I was having a heart attack thinking something was wrong.I know this place has taken 20 years off my life!My heart pounds none stop!Keep Mckenzie in your prayers, we miss and love all of you!GROW CELLS GROW!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, November 15, 2002 at 12:56 AM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzies wbc was .3 today and we are very excited about that.she went down this morning for ct scan and as usual Mckenzie was very brave.The ct scan showed she has a viral infection in her nose and it is worse than the one taken a couple of weeks ago.I do not understand that, her nose is not running and she looks and acts alot better.The Drs. said the good news is, it has not spread to the bone.She has a recorder hooked up to her right now which is actually a tiny ekg, they are montoring her for 24 hours to see why she has such a high heart rate.You get good news around here, than the Drs. always have some bad news to throw in with it! when will all the bad news cease?We love her so much and I really do not know why she has to go through all this.It breaks my heart to see her suffer.I go in with her during her ct scans and I just watch her eyes and how she lays so still and watches the machine and I wonder what she thinks,it makes me so sad.I hope she thinks I am a good mommy, I just want her to know we are here because we love her and this is the last thing we could do for her.I keep trying to remember she is so small and everything she has been through she will not remember.Well thats about all for tonight, I will try to update tomorrow.Thanks for all of your prayers!John and Jessica good hearing from you!Hope to see you again, soon!To my family in Parkersburg;I will be in Parkersburg next Thus. I am going to pick up Dustin and bring him back here to spend the week.I will probably stay at the old stables on rt.50.I will be leaving early Friday afternoon to return back here.Hope to see all of you!
Thursday, November 14, 2002 at 12:14 AM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzie had a fairly good day.She slept most of the day and after being awake for a while she did some laps in the hallway.I am a little nervous about tomorrow, The Drs. ordered another ct scan.They want to check her sinuses and while she is there they want to check her liver and splean.They want to compare this ct to the last ct done a couple of weeks ago.This morning she was having problems with her heart rate again being around 200, even when she is a sleep.Tomorrow they are going to hook her up to a 24 hr. ekg to see what is going on with her heart.She seems to have problems when she is getting ready to spike a fever, after her fever breaks her heart rate seems to slow down.The Drs. said it could be from the fevers but they just want to stay 3 steps ahead.All these test and waiting for the results are making me insane.Her wbc this afternoon was .2 so that was good news.Once them new cells start growing we can get out of here.We have now been her 105 days, but whos counting?The other kids are doing good, rotten as ever!Well that is about all for today, pray for Mckenzie test to all come back ok and for her new cells to grow!We miss and love all of you and can not wait to get to go home!
Tuesday, November 12, 2002 at 12:21 AM (CST)
Hello everyone, it is day 31 after transplant and Mckenzie woke up feeling really good today.The last couple of weeks a lot has been going on, I can not believe my heart has made it through all that has been going on!They were thinking maybe she had some heart damage,due to her heart rate staying at 200 and over even when she was sleeping, they ordered an ekg and echo cardio gram and those test showed her heart to be ok.Her chest x-ray showed fluid around her lungs and they believe that is from all the blood products she has been given.She actually had a good night and a wonderful day, she acted more like her self today.We have not seen the real Mckenzie in a long time.She still is not eating.We are still just waiting on her wbc to come up, the Drs. told us today the main thing they are worried about is, she has had no immune system in over 100 days, she is very high risk to infection.Well thats about all for today,I will update, as I know myself to what is going on.attn: carolinas medical center I miss all of you and thanks to all of you for taking such good care of Mckenzie and being so good to us, hope to see you all soon!Tina:Thank you for coming to Durham and stopping by and visiting and taking my other kids and spending time with them.They had a great time!Tell your husband thank you for taking time out of his day to come with you.I am sorry I was so tired when you where here, most of the time I run around here like a zombie.Wanda; I am sorry I missed you today, thank you for stopping by and visiting, I am glad to here Ricks test all came back ok.He has been an inspiration to us.To the rest of you who have been praying for Mckenzie, sending cards and traveling here to visit us, Thank you so much!!We miss and love all of you!
Monday, November 11, 2002 at 05:10 PM (CST)
hello things are a little better today she is still at .1 to .2 on higher yet lets pray she had an ekg tody it came back ok i will try to update the pitcures soom time this week thanks for visiting
Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 02:16 AM (CST)
Hello, Mckenzie had a fairly good day she actually rode her bike and walked the halls today.She looks alot better and really seems to be in a better mood.Her wbc this morning is .2 and the rest of her blood work came back ok.I have her on blow by oxygen right now and she seems to be tolerating it ok, the next step will be to take her off oxygen all together.She had to go down this morning for another ct scan, she was so brave!They said usually they have to sedate small chidren but she just laid there with her arms above her head and let them do what they needed to do.She is such a good baby!They wanted to check her lungs and compare them to the last ct scan.I take it everything is ok, they never came in and told me anything, no news is good news around here.We have now been here 100 days today and I am so ready to go home.well I need to get back in the room with my little peanut, she is asleep and I have a nurse sitting outside her door looking through the window at her so I could update her web page.Thanks for checking out her webpage.There is another web page I would like to give to all of you it is www.smilequilts.com it is pretty self explanitory, you can get to Mckenzie on the 3 page, 1 row. There is another Mckenzie but the name is spelled different.From that web page there is a link, you click on to Mckenzies journal and it will bring you back to this web page.Check it out!!!!!
Tuesday, November 05, 2002 at 04:05 AM (CST)
Hello!Mckenzie is doing alot better this morning, she has been so sick the last couple of weeks.She woke up yesterday and tolerated the nurses turning down her oxygen, if she would not have tolerated it, she they were going to send her to the intensive care and put her on a ventalator and put a scope down into her lungs to test her for a fungal infection, thank god she woke up feeling better.I know I have said this time and time again but she amazes me and she gives me my strenghth to keep going day after day.Her wbc is .4 this morning which is great news!she is still on a small amount of oxygen this morning and stating well, so they will wheaning her off hopfully this morning,She still is not walking much but she does stand up and will take a few steps.She has really fought so hard over these last couple of weeks and it has been so sad to see her lay there in the bed on oxygen,choking on huge blood clots,temps. as high as 107 and blood running down her face at all times from her nose,which is doing much better this morning.Dr. Martin said today if her wbc keeps the path it is on, we may be discharged from here the end of next week or the begining of the next,which sounds good to us,we have been here almost 100 days.Please keep Mckenzie in your prayers and pray she has been through the worst!I love her so much and it is hard to sit back and watch her suffer.God bless all of you and thanks for checking Mckenzies web page.All the messages from the guest book will be printed and put in a scrape book for Mckenzie to always have.So please sign and give her encouragement, for the road does not end here!
Monday, November 04, 2002 at 04:54 PM (CST)
HELLO EVERYONE MCKENZIE SEEMS TO BE A LOT BETTER TODAY SEE WENT FROM 60% OXYGEN TO 37% WITH 7 LITTERS WITCH IS VERY GOOD CONSIDERIN WHERE SEE WAS THE DRS. REMOVED MY LINE TODAY NOW THAT HURT THEY JUST GRABED IT AND PULLEDSHE SHOULD NOT NEED MY CELLS ANYMORE WE HOPE SHE IS .4 TODAY LETS PRAY THERE DONOR CELL THANK YOU LEANNA ,BUB AND KIDS ,MAMA AND RENNE THANK YOU TINA FOR EVERY THING YOU HAVE DONE FOR US YOU ARE A BLESSIN GOD BLESS YOU ALL KEEP UP THE PRAYERS THEY ARE WORKIN LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, November 01, 2002 at 05:16 PM (CST)
HELLO EVERYONE MCKENZIE HAS BEEN SO SICK SHE IS ON OXYGEN FOR ABOUT A WEEK SHE HAD A NOSE BLEED SINCE LAST FRIDAY HER BIRTHDAY AND YESTERDAY WE HAD A BIG SCARE SHE WAS JUST SITTING ON THE BED WE SHE THROUGH HER SELF BACK AND STARTED FLOPPING LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER SHE COULD NOT BREATH SHE WAS CHOCKING ON A BLOOD CLOT AS BIG AS A GOLF BALL A AS LONG AS MY FORARM THE DRS. SAY SHE WILL BE OK IT WAS FROM THE NOSE BLEED DRAINING TO THE BACK OF HER THROUT SHE SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BETTER TODAY AFTER SHE GOT ALL THE BLOOD OF HER STOMACH I WILL TRY TO UPDATE TOMMOROW I FEEL SO BAD FOR HER SHE HAS BEEN TO DEATH'S DOOR AND BACK I JUST HOPE SHE PULLS THROUGHT ALL OF THIS THE DRS. SAY THIS IS WHERE THEY WANT HER TO BE SO PLEASE LETS ALL PRAY EXTRA FOR HER THANK YOU
Monday, October 28, 2002 at 06:21 PM (CST)
Hello everyone!Mckenzie has been sleeping about all day, she is walking a little bit.I had her in the hallway yesterday and she walked 2 laps.Rick walked her 4 laps.She is very weak and seems to be very tired.The Drs. are very happy she has a good rash, and they said it is a good sign that she is so sick, even though it is so hard to see her this way.They just got done doing a chest xray on her to make sure everything is ok in her chest area.Rick is very weak and tired, he was hooked up today on the machine that takes his wbc.Having this done feels like it takes all of his energy and gives him flu like syptoms.Mckenzie actally is doing a little better than yesterday,that poor baby has been through so much!Her strength is the only thing that keeps me going,I do not know how she does it.Well thats about all for today, We miss and love all of you!
Sunday, October 27, 2002 at 12:57 PM (CST)
Hello everyone it is day 16 after transplant and Mckenzie is not doing to good.My heart has been in the pit of my stomach for the last couple of days.The night before last I had to leave my kids with Barb, her and I have become very good friends, she stays next door to me here at the Ronald Mcdonald house.Her son will be on the transplant unit tues. he has sickle cell, anyway she kept the kids while Rick and I stayed with Mckenzie.We were so scared, she had a temp. of 106.9, she has been put on oxygen the last couple of nights.She woke up on her B-day actually acting like she felt ok, then they took her to the er and went in through her nose and opened up her sinus passway and she has been bleeding every since.Rick had his new central line put in and is now giving her his cells,her wbc this morning was .5. She is on morphine for pain and meds. for high blood pressure.She has broke out in rash all over which is a good sign her new cells are growing.We are all praying all this she is going through is just engraftment.I have never been so scared in all my life!She had a wonderful b-day she was so excited to get all her gifts, she just giggled and was so happy.She had a pile of gifts I might add!A lady I became friends with from Moorsville came here yesterday with one of her friends which is a cancer survivor.They brought my kids all kinds of winter clothes,coats and a box of toys.They even took them and spent the day with them, so Rick and I both could spend time with Mckenzie.They had a blast!Thanks Tina and Karen!Kris thanks for calling me this morning it was so good to here from you, all is being done that can be done.Please keep our baby in your prayers.
Thursday, October 24, 2002 at 07:39 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 13 after transplant and Mckenzie is very sick.Rick called me this morning and told me they were taking her down for catscan, my heart dropped down into my stomach.It came back, she has a sinus infection.The Drs. said they need to put another central line in one of us and he felt it would be better for Rick to do it than me.I am scared because of what happened to Rick last week, but it is very important Mckenzie gets some wbc in her as soon as possible.Surgery is scheduled for in the morning and Mckenzie will start getting his cells tomorrow evening.Tomorrow is also her b-day and I want to thank all of you for all the cards and gifts you have sent to her.Her boyfriend Kyle came and seen her today and she got her hug she been wanting.Her face lit up when she seen him at her door, she was happier to see him, than me, I think its true love!Thanks Tom and Angie!!!!!!!!!You made her a very happy girl!Well thats about all for today I will update tomorrow evening.bless you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday, October 23, 2002 at 05:21 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone, it is day 12 after transplant and Mckenzie is feeling pretty yucky.She does not want to get out of bed but is having a good time watching little mermaid over and over again.She has been spiking fevers over the last couple of days.They have her on all kinds of antibiotics to cover her since she does not have a white blood count.I sat at the hospital all day yesterday with the baby, she was having dificulty breathing I thought maybe she had pneumonia, but the Drs. said she has a pretty bad ear infection in one ear and the other one is getting that way.So needless to say she is on antibiotics.I hope Mckenzie feels better for her b-day on Friday.I can not believe she is going to be three!Her Little boyfriend,Kyle got to leave today and Rick said after he left, Mckenzie went back to her room and cried, she said "hug boyfriend" She did not get to hug him goodbye.I thought that was so sweet.Well thats about all for today,I am sorry I am slacking on updating but these last couple of weeks have been unreal.
Sunday, October 20, 2002 at 06:29 PM (CDT)
Hello, things are much better today.Rick is out of the hospital and back with Mckenzie.They took his central line out, and he seems to be feeling much better.Mckenzie is ok, she does not want to walk much,but that could be from her new cells starting to grow.Her labs were ok this morning, she has been running some temps. over the last couple days but the Drs seem to think that it is a reaction from all the meds. she had leading up to transplant.They have her on antibiotics just to cover her.Well thats about all going on today thanks for visiting.
Sunday, October 20, 2002 at 06:29 PM (CDT)
Hello, things are much better today.Rick is out of the hospital and back with Mckenzie.They took his central line out, and he seems to be feeling much better.Mckenzie is ok, she does not want to walk much,but that could be from her new cells starting to grow.Her labs were ok this morning, she has been running some temps. over the last couple days but the Drs seem to think that it is a reaction from all the meds. she had leading up to transplant.They have her on antibiotics just to cover her.Well thats about all going on today thanks for visiting.
Friday, October 18, 2002 at 09:04 PM (CDT)
This is going to be short,but I wanted to let everyone know,Rick has been admitted here in the hospital,his central line culture has come back positive, and the infection is around his heart and in his blood stream.They are getting ready to pull his line and put him on antibiotics and observe him for a 2-3 days.I need to get back to the Ronald Mcdonald house with my other kids.The hospital has contacted a lady to sit with Mckenzie for tonight since I am only one person and can not be three places at one time.They asured me she is doing well and will be ok.I am sure I will be getting no sleep tonight!Just as I think things can not get no worse, look what happens!Rick was just trying to help our daughter and now he is so sick.It makes no sense!Well I will update as I find out things.Thanks for all your prayers.
Wednesday, October 16, 2002 at 07:28 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone, today Mckenzie was put back on tpn which is nutrition by iv.I really hoped she would not have to be put on it again but she has not eaten in a couple of days.She has thrush in her mouth.She also is on high blood pressure medication now.Her blood pressure is ok now but can rise due to increase of steroids they are having to give her.Her wbc is .3 today but those are daddies cells.She is being her typical happy self loving all over her daddy, she knows he is not feeling well.She always worries about everyone else.I have a good feeling about this 2 transplant and I am hoping in about 3 weeks maybe she can get out of there.I just can not wait to take her outside again, she has not been outside since August 30.Well thats about all for today. Thank you pastor Young!
Tuesday, October 15, 2002 at 07:29 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone it is day 5 after transplant.I just left the hospital and Mckenzie is feeling pretty yucky.She has the chills and is running a fever.She fell asleep right before I left,so hopefully she will rest peacefully the rest of the night.Rick is in severe pain and can hardly move, he had his central line put in yesterday afternoon, He was hooked up today for a couple hours to a machine which removed his white blood cells and was then given to Mckenzie.He has to do this 2 times a week and they will give Kenz his wbc 6 days a week.It has been very hectic for me trying to take care of Rick,Morgan and Mckenzie.I feel like I want to pull my hair out!I wanted so bad for Mckenzie to be out of the hospital for her 3 b-day next Fri. but that can not be!I miss everyone so much, I just wish we were home.I really feel like we are in prision.Thanks to all of you who leave encouraging messages it is nice to know we are in your prayers.Thanks to Rick and Wanda for visiting and your gifts for Mckenzie, you seem like really nice people!I am sorry to all of you for not updating but I have been so busy the last couple of days,I haven't even had time to sit and collect my thoughts. God Bless all of you!!!Grow Cells Grow!!!!!
Saturday, October 12, 2002 at 11:12 PM (CDT)
hello everyone mckenzie had her radiation treatment and the new bone marrow transplant on friday every thing went as planed she did so good through it all got sick a couple of times but seems to be fine now i'm getting ready for my lines to be put in monday so i can start giving her my white blood cells i will try to update the photos tomorrow thanks for visiting please pray for mckenzie that this will work this time and we all dont have to go through this again love and prayers to you all
GOD BLESS
Sunday, October 06, 2002 at 07:10 PM (CDT)
hello,everyone sorry i have'nt up-dated in a while well we are starting all over again she has started chemotheary yesterday and last night was rough she was so sick could not keep nothin down we have to go through 5 days of chemo then 6 days a.t.g. which is her blood injected into a rabbit and when the rabbit makes antibodys against her blood they then inject the blood from the rabbit into her and this realy makes her sick because the blood from the rabbit starts to kill off her cells then she will have to go through a round of radiation the side affects from it are no hair i.q. damanges ,,stunts your growth,,she will not be able to have babys this is just a few the list goes on and on even to coma and death at the worse next friday will be her new transplant then on monday i will have to go to surgary to have two lines put into my chest to my heart so they can give me two shots one in each of my arms the night before i have to be hooked up to the mechine to take my blood out of my body and remove my white blood cells to give to her it takes 3 to 6 hrs twice a week but with out this she is at risk for infection and just a cold could kill her we have been here 70 days should of been only 30 to go then we could go home but we have 110 more days to go now lets all pray that this works this timei will up-date later please sign the guest book so we know who all is keepin up with her we love just to hear from so of you all its nice to see that people care this means a lot to us thank you for visiting
Wednesday, October 02, 2002 at 05:07 PM (CDT)
Hello, we just talked to the Drs. and Mckenzie will get her new transplant Tuesday.Ricks blood work came back neg. from disease and infection,so he will be getting the central line Friday.They will draw his blood and seperate his white blood cells and give them to Mckenzie.She has such a great dad!He has done everything in his power to help her.The DRs. said today they really do not know much about her disease.She has what they call aml m-7, it is very rare.They have only transplanted a few children with her disease.It is a very agressive cancer.If anyone can beat this disease, Mckenzie can!Bless her little heart,d she is having such a good time and just does realize she is fighting for her life.God is with her, and we see it on a daily basis.please keep her in your prayers, we love and miss all of you.
Tuesday, October 01, 2002 at 08:04 PM (CDT)
Hello, well we are back to square one.The Drs. came in today and said what probably happened was her cells fought off the donor cells, they are not real sure what happened.They did say they are going to do full body radiation this time.She will probably have her new transplant early next week.She has to have all kinds of test run on her again to make sure there are no hidden infections.Rick was tested today to see if he is able to get the central line, because they need to take his cells and give them to her.She is up and running being her crazy little self.Her apetite is great, she has been tearing up some dill pickles, popcorn,too!she is a strong little girl and she truly keeps us going!She has a B-day this month which I guess we will be celebrating in the hospital, but thats ok, we still have her!We have our game faces on and we are ready to do this!Please keep her in your prayers.
Monday, September 30, 2002 at 05:42 PM (CDT)
Hello,Mckenzie test came back today and she needs a second transplant.The cells in her bone marrow are all hers.They are going to start all over again.I am sorry but there is not much more to say!We are very sad and wanted so bad for the first transplant to work.Please keep her in your prayers for she has to go through everything all over again,I really do not understand!
Monday, September 30, 2002 at 03:28 AM (CDT)
HEY EVERYONE I'M SORRY I HAVE'NT UP-DATED IN A FEW DAYS JUST BEEN A LITTLE UPSET WELL WE SEEN HER WHITE BLOOD COUNT GO UP TO .2 WE WERE SO EXCITED WELL SEE IS BACK TO .1 STILL WE SHOULD HAVE GOTTON HER TEST RESOULTS BACK THURSDAY THEN ON FRIDAY NOW THEY TELL US ON MONDAY WE WERE ALSO TOLD THAT MAYBE THE REASON SHE WENT TO .2 WAS SHE GOT BLOOD AND PLATELETTS THE DAY BEFORE AND SOME TIMES THE WHITE BLOOD CELLS DONT ALLWAYS GET TAKEN OUT SO THIS COULD MAKE HER COUNT GO UP FOR THAT DAY WE SHOULD GET THE TEST BACK TODAY ON HER BONE MARROW I WILL UPDATE LATER SO BE SURE TO CHECK BECK LATER TONIGHT LOVE PRAYER TO YOU ALL
Thursday, September 26, 2002 at 03:00 AM (CDT)
HEY EVERY ONE IT'S DAY 48 AND BACK DOWN TO .1 THE DOCTORS SAY DONT BE DISCOURAGED THIS WILL HAPPEN EASY TO SAY BUT TO DO IS DIFFERENT WE STILL HAVE TO HOPE AND PRAY THAT IT IS DONOR CELLS GROWING AND NOT HER'S SHE HAS BEEN SO STRONG THROUGHT OUT ALL OF THIS I JUST HOPE SHE DOES'NT HAVE TO GO THROUGHT THIS AGAIN WE WILL KNOW FRIDAY ABOUT THE BONE MARROW TEST THE DOCTORS DID LAST FRIDAY LETS PRAY DONNOR CELLS THANKS FOR VISITING I WILL UPDATE AGAIN FRIDAY HOPEFULLY WITH GOOD NEWS GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS LOVE FROM ALL OF US HERE
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 03:52 PM (CDT)
Hello, we have great news!Mckenzie is .2 today, the Drs. and nurses are very excited!When they get excited,we do too!We are still waiting for Friday for the dna test to come back to see if the cells they seen in her bone marrow are donor cells or hers.The waiting is killing us.I am going to stay positive and believe our daughter is healed.I want to thank all of you for the cards,and letters and packages you have sent in the mail,it really means so much!I also want to thank the ones who I have called and you have listened to all my worries and kept me positive.Mckenzie is a special little girl, that has been an inspiration to everyone that has met her,We are honored to be her parents!Thank you so much for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.We love and miss all of you!
Wednesday, September 25, 2002 at 03:52 PM (CDT)
Hello, we have great news!Mckenzie is .2 today, the Drs. and nurses are very excited!When they get excited,we do too!We are still waiting for Friday for the dna test to come back to see if the cells they seen in her bone marrow are donor cells or hers.The waiting is killing us.I am going to stay positive and believe our daughter is healed.I want to thank all of you for the cards,and letters and packages you have sent in the mail,it really means so much!I also want to thank the ones who I have called and you have listened to all my worries and kept me positive.Mckenzie is a special little girl, that has been an inspiration to everyone that has met her,We are honored to be her parents!Thank you so much for keeping her in your thoughts and prayers.We love and miss all of you!
Sunday, September 22, 2002 at 03:57 AM (CDT)
HELLO EVERYONE DAY 44 AFTER TRANSPLANT AND STILL NO WHITE BLOOD COUNT LESS THAN .1 SO IF SHE WOULD GRT A COLD IT WOULD NOT BE GOOD THE DOCTORS DID A BONE MARROW TEST ON HER YESTERDAY THEY SAID THEY SAW A FEW CELLS NO CANCER WHICH IS GOOD BUT WE WONT KNOW WHO'S CELLS THEY ARE LETS ALL PRAY THEY ARE DONOR CELLS AND NOT HERS FOR THAT WOULD NOT BE GOOD THAT MEANS THAT CANCER CELLS CAN TAKE OVER AGAIN WE WILL KNOW NEXT FRIDAY WHO'S CELLS THEY ARE THANKS FOR VISITING LOVE YOU ALL VERY MUCH GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS LOVE MCKENZIE
Tuesday, September 17, 2002 at 01:59 PM (CDT)
Hello,wbc is .1 today a little better than yesterday,the rest of her blood work came back perfect.Drs. said we will know more next week after the bone marrow results are back.This waiting game is stressing us out.Poor little Kenzie has a birthday the end of October and I do not want her to still be in the hospital,she already missed Morgans B-day and she loves her so much.Candices B-day is in October,too!she will be 6.Where do the years go?These kids are growing up so fast.Mckenzie has really grown up so much in the last several months, she is so funny she cracks everyone up.She loves to help do things.The nurses unhook her a couple hours a day and she looks so forward to it,she says "I am free" it is so funny!Mommy and Daddy look forward to her being unhooked,she is so hard to keep up with running behind her full speed with an iv pole.Well please pray real hard for kenzie Fay, that her new cells will start to grow.We love and miss all of you.Grow Cells Grow!
Monday, September 16, 2002 at 02:56 PM (CDT)
hello, today is day 38 the drs are going to do a bone marrow test friday so we need every to pray exter hard for mckenzie to have donor cells and not her cells for this would be ugly please pray we do not want to have to go through another transplant if she does not engraft we will have to give another one thank you for visiting be sure to check out our pictures love and prayers to you and yours!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, September 15, 2002 at 04:26 PM (CDT)
Hello, it is day 36 and Drs. are talking another transplant.They are going to test her friday to see if the donor cells are still in her body,if not they are going to prepare her for another transplant.This has been our worse nightmare.They said there still enough time to engraft but it needs to happen this week.Please keep her in your prayers.
Saturday, September 14, 2002 at 06:13 PM (CDT)
Hello,it is day 36 and her wbc has dropped down to -.1.The Dr. said he is starting to get concerned now.He said what could have happened is she had enough of her imune system left that it could have eaten up her new cells.He also said she is strong enough to go through another transplant which I am not looking forward to.I guess for transplants not to graft only happens 15% of the time,I hope we do not have to start all over again after all we have acomplished.Well thats all for today,thanks for visiting.
Friday, September 13, 2002 at 01:31 PM (CDT)
Hello,it is day 35 and still the same news we hear everyday,.1 The Drs. came in today and said they tested her a week ago for a certain infection that could be keeping her from grafting and it came back negative.They are still believing she will graft soon.They promised us they are not holding nothing from us.They actually said the kids that graft later seem to do better,I hope that will be the case.Mckenzie has got a new boyfriend his name is Kyle,he is the one in the picture with mckenzie at the top of her webpage.They are the best of friends.Well thats about all for today,thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage,please keep her in your prayers.GROW CELLS GROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I want to send out special thanks to Tina and Nicole thanks for being such good friends to me,you are appreciated!Lauren,I am sorry you could not make it down to see us, we were looking forward to seeing you,I hope you are feeling better!I am sorry this week has been so hard for you,Ihope you have found peace for what happened to your good friend Sept.11,we love you!
Friday, September 13, 2002 at 01:31 PM (CDT)
Hello,it is day 35 and still the same news we hear everyday,.1 The Drs. came in today and said they tested her a week ago for a certain infection that could be keeping her from grafting and it came back negative.They are still believing she will graft soon.They promised us they are not holding nothing from us.They actually said the kids that graft later seem to do better,I hope that will be the case.Mckenzie has got a new boyfriend his name is Kyle,he is the one in the picture with mckenzie at the top of her webpage.They are the best of friends.Well thats about all for today,thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage,please keep her in your prayers.GROW CELLS GROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I want to send out special thanks to Tina and Nicole thanks for being such good friends to me,you are appreciated!Lauren,I am sorry you could not make it down to see us, we were looking forward to seeing you,I hope you are feeling better!I am sorry this week has been so hard for you,Ihope you have found peace for what happened to your good friend Sept.11,we love you!
Thursday, September 12, 2002 at 02:48 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 34 and Mckenzies white blood count is still .1,she is feeling good and doing what she does best,running the hallway.The Drs. has scheduled her for a bone marrow aspiration for next friday to see what is going on with her new cells.If her wbc goes up before then, which we pray it does, the procedure will be cancelled.We are still very scared but the Drs. say they have no reason to believe the new bone marrow is not going to grow.Thet also said if it does not grow they still have 2 more matches for her and we can go forward with a second transplant,which means more chemo and this whole thing all over again.This waiting game is taking it's toll on both of us,we are both up all night long waiting for her labs to return just hoping to her her wbc is .2 that will be such great news.Please keep Mckenzie in your prayers and lets pray her new cells grow!We love and miss all of you.
Tuesday, September 10, 2002 at 02:02 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 32 and still Mckenzies white blood count is .1, we are worried sick, but the Drs.say it totaly normal for the new bone marrow not to graft at this time.They will not worrie about it til day 42,then they will do test to see what is going on.This waiting game is stressing us out.I guess if the Drs. are not worried we should not be either.I just want this whole thing to work.She is still eating and drinking,she has a very good apetite.She gets up every day wanting to go out to the hallway and play.Please keep her in your prayers and lets pray tomorrow her wbc will be .2 atleast then we will know her new bone marrow is starting to engraft.Thats all for today,thanks for visiting.
Sunday, September 08, 2002 at 04:46 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 30 and Mckenzies wbc is still .1,we are just waiting for her counts to rise so we can be discharged.She is eating everything in site.She ate 2 bags of popcorn last night by herself.She has to have a breathing treatment today,it is something they do to all the patients every 30 days to prevent pneumonia.She is still very active and hates being in her room.Her best buddie spent the day with her today and rick and I took the other kids to chuckie cheese,which they really enjoyed.Drs. came into Mckenzies room today and said she is doing exeptionally well.It still amazes us all she has been through with Drs. and nurses and she is not at all scared of them and really does show love for them.We taught her to say "grow cells grow" it is so cute to hear her say.Well that is all for today,thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage.We love and miss you all.
Friday, September 06, 2002 at 03:59 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 28 and Mckenzies wbc is still .1.It has been a good day for her so far,she has been eating and drinking which is always a good sign,she looks very healthy and the Drs. say she is doing great.Her kidneys and liver are working very well and her lungs are very clear.She is unhooked from her iv pole for an hour so she can run and play.She loves when they unhook her she says "I am free" she makes us all laugh.It has been a hard day for me,a girl we know from Charlotte,had a transplant 2 weeks before Mckenzie has relapsed and was sent back to Charlotte today.She came by the room to say good bye to Mckenzie and she told us the news,I was very shocked.She was one of the 2 girls I have told you about that was sent to icu,but then came back to our unit and was doing well,she almost got to go home the other day but she had fever and made her stay,today they tested her and the donors cells are not growing hers are.Please keep her in your prayers.Be sure to look at Mckenzies new pictures weput on Mckenzies webpage.
Thursday, September 05, 2002 at 12:42 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 27 and Mckenzies wbc is still .1.The Drs. are taking her completly off her tpn which is iv nutrition.She is eating real well.I ask her Dr. yesterday what the survival rate for aml was and he told me 50 percent.Duke university has only done around 15 transplants on aml patients.They told me not to worry about her relapesing,but to know it could always happen.It is very possible she can be cured from the bone marrow transplant.She is our angel and I can not imagine ever losing her.The Drs.told me she is doing just so well,they are totaly thrilled with her.I look at her and she looks so healthy I pray she has been cured.I see some of these kids up here and they are pale with dark circles under their eyes and can hardly move around,Mckenzies complection looks beautiful.Well thats about all for today I will update later.Thanks for visiting,we love and miss you all!
Monday, September 02, 2002 at 02:05 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 24 and Mckenzie is being her crazy little self.Her wbc has went to .1 over night which is good news.Mckenzie is painting a very pretty picture at the table behind me.It is child life activity time which she really enjoys.She got her a new pair of blues clues slippers that she absolutly loves.Kyle,which is another patient here,got them for her last night.Everyone here is so good to one another,I will really miss everyone here when we leave.We are just waiting for her wbc to rise so we can be discharged.When she is dicharged she will be on 15 different medications for a while then she will be weaned of them.She will have to be seen by the Drs. here everyday til day 100 after transplant,Then we can go back to Charlotte where we will have a big celebration for her.Please keep all these children in your prayers,they have all been through alot and they are all the sweetest chidren you would ever want to know.I told several of you about 2 patients getting sent to icu and they were not doing good,Well they are back and doing well!Thanks for your prayers it worked.well thats all today.I will update tomorrow.
Sunday, September 01, 2002 at 03:21 PM (CDT)
Hello,it is day 23 and Mckenzie is doing real good!She has been eating real good and drinking plenty of milk.Her white blood count is -1 but the dr. is not worried he said sometimes it just takes time for the cells to start to grow.She is playing out in the hallway right now with her best buddie,Kriten.She comes a couple hours a week and spends time with Mckenzie so we can have a break.Thank you so much,Kristen.Last night Mckenzie was hard at work behind the nurses station,she was helping all the nurses do their jobs.I think she is going to grow up and be a nurse because she truly knows their job.she really enjoys hanging around with the nurses and helping them out.I think she should be put on the payroll.Daddy is still sick at the Ronald Mcdonald house.Mckenzie ask for him a million times a day.Get well soon,Daddy!Well thats about all thats going on today I will update you all tomorrow.Thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage. ATTN:lauren call me asap (919)681-5203
Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 02:48 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone it is day 22 after transplant and Mckenzie is doing great.we had a good nights sleep last night and we have been running the hallways since we been up.She ate some ham today and loves to drink milk,at least her apetite is coming back slowly but we'll take that.Her drs. were in this morning and the are very pleased with her lab work and how well she is getting around.Dr. Martin says she acts like she thinks she is on vacation.He also said he expects cells to start growing 25-30 days after transplant.when that happens as soon as her counts come up we can go.Everyonr else is doing ok.I will update this webpage tomorrow thanks for visiting,We love and miss all of you.PLease keep in touch!
Friday, August 30, 2002 at 01:07 PM (CDT)
Hello it is day 21 and Mckenzie is feeling good.The Drs. just came in Mckenzies room and talked to me and said she is doing great!She looks good and is full of energy.Mckenzie and I are in the lounge area right now while I update her webpage.She is sitting at the table behind me with the child life girl making crafts,she seems to be having a real good time.She heen in the hallway riding her bike already today working me out!Daddy is still at the ronald Mcdonald house under the weather,feeling pretty bad.Mckenzie misses him terribly.Daddy is more fun,he lets her run the hallways all night long,I make her go to bed at around 11:00.Mckenzie really does have a good time here,I am sure she would rather be home and she does ask to go home and hopefully that will be soon,we are just waiting for her white blood count to rise.she tells me all the time she wants to go to school.She know Candice started school and what big sister does,Mckenzie wants to do too!She has been so big and brave and we are so proud of her.She has done won the hearts of the nurses here"hold me" she says.everyone her is amazed by how well she gets around.I have found being out of the room and playing in the hallways and hanging out in the lounge passes time alot faster,the room after time really starts feeling like jail.We are hoping to get to leave here in a couple of weeks that will be a great day!Mckenzies baby sister will be having a Birthday in a couple days and the Ronald Mcdonald house is hosting a birthday party for her which Mckenzie will miss,but we will take pictures.Well I will update tomorrow thanks for visiting Mckenzies webpage.
Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 06:26 PM (CDT)
Hello,its day 20 and Mckenzie is full of energy as usual.Her dr. says she is doing wonderful!We are waiting for her blood counts to come up which takes a little time.she ate a little bit today which is a good sign.Her best buddie came today and played with her for a little while today which she always enjoys and so does mommy and daddy.Daddy has been pretty sick with the flu for a couple days so he has not been here for a couple of days.Mckenzie misses him alot,and ask for him constantly."Get well soon Daddy" Well thats about all for today,Thanks for visiting Mckenzies web page.
Wednesday, August 28, 2002 at 01:45 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone it is day 19 after transplant and Mckenzie is doing real good!She is broke out in a new rash which the dr. said is very good news,signs her new bone marrow is grafting.She has gotten plenty of exercise already today,riding her bike.She looks beautiful!And is acting very happy and does not appear to be in any pain.Mckenzie is playing candyland with a couple of kids here in the lounge area.Her white blood count is .1 going up a little compared to last week it was -0.She still remains to get platlets and blood transfusions and she will for a while.She seems to get stronger and stronger each day.The dr. said yesterday he would be seeing us in the clinic soon.When Mckenzie gets dicharged she has to be seen at the clinic every day til day 45 after transplant,then see will be seen acouple times a week till day 100,then hopefully we can go home where Carolina Medical will see her quite often for a while, then in time, she will be seen by Doctors less and less.I want to thank everyone for your prayers and we miss all of you very much!
Monday, August 26, 2002 at 06:37 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone.It is day seventeen after transplant and Mckenzie is still doing very well.She does not want to stay in her room she wants to run and play all day,she loves to ride her bike up and down the hallway.Her rash seems to be getting better and she looks great.If things keep going the way they are,she should be discharged in a couple weeks.We will have to stay in Durham til probably mid November,but thats ok.As long as she is feeling good thats all that matters to all of us.The other kids have adapted well and are in school,and have made new friends.Morgan is getting ready to celebrate her first birthday,September 5, by the way she is starting to walk a couple steps at a time.We are very proud of all the kids they have really been understanding to why we are here and just want their sister to get better.And we will all be here as long as it takes,and will update this page every couple days or as things change.Thanks for visiting Mckenzies web page.Be sure to look at her pictures we update them,too.
Sunday, August 25, 2002 at 04:49 PM (CDT)
Hello everyone!It is day sixteen and Mckenzie is doing great!She ate chicken tenders from burger king and held them down.She spends most of her time in the hallway of the hospital running and riding her bike,Jeff Foxworthy came to the hospital and visited all the kids on the unit,he was very funny!Mckenzies Dr says she is the healthiest patient on the unit,it is sometimes hard to believe how sick she really is.Please keep Mckenzie in your prayers,they have got us this far.We will update this page every couple of days or as things change.Thanks for thinking and visiting Mckenzies web page.Be sure to check pictures we update them,too!
Wednesday, August 21, 2002 at 08:03 PM (CDT)
HELLO THIS IS DAY 13.mCKENZIE IS ACTUALLY DOING ALOT BETTER. SHE IS ALITTLE TIRED TODAY BUT SHE IS DRINKING AND SNACKING,A LITTLE BIT.SHE HAS A LITTLE BIKE SHE RIDES UP AND DOWN THE HALLWAY HERE,PRETTY FAST I MIGHT ADD. SHE IS BROKE OUT INTO A RASH ALL OVER WHICH IS NORMAL WHEN THE CELLS BEGIN TO GROW.THE DR. SAYS SHE IS VERY HEALTHY AND DOING WELL.IT HAS BEEN A VERY HARD WEEK FOR US HERE DUE TO TWO CHIDREN PASSING AWAY.WE JUST CONTINUE TO LIVE DAY BY DAY AND KEEP TRUST IN GOD THAT HE WILL HEAL MCKENZIE.THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR PRAYERS.THANKS FOR VISITING HER WEB PAGE.
Monday, August 19, 2002 at 01:24 PM (CDT)
hello thank you for visiting mckenzie's web page. this is day 10 she has been really sick for a few days now temp.104.7 to 105.2 the shakes really bad has not eating any thing in 9 days or drank anything either the doctor had to give her oxygen yesterday. she is on strong doses of morphine and demaroal she has strong sprits maybe this is what will get us through all of this.thank you for visiting
Friday, August 16, 2002 at 07:11 PM (CDT)
hello this is day 7 after the transplant. she is doing fine today. a little druged up from the morphine that they are giving to her for the pain i will try to update this everyday if i can thanks for visiting love you all mckenzie
Friday, August 16, 2002 at 06:11 PM (CDT)
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Wednesday, August 14, 2002 at 03:25 PM (CDT)
hello everyone thank you for visiting our web site.mckenzie is doing well today .this is day 5 after her transplant see is a little cranky and hase mouth sores but other than that see is fine i will update this evrey day
Sunday, July 28, 2002 at 04:15 PM (CDT)
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