Counts Remain Low

Prayers are needed! Alina has been off of her Chemo medications for three weeks. Last Friday the blood work came back with her lowest ANC number of 280. The Doctor advised us that we will have to go back this Thursday for further blood work to check her levels. Alina has typically been slow to recover after some of her treatments, but this is causing a little concern as we have not been down this road before. We are praying for her levels to rise and for the Doctors to make the correct adjustments in her medications when she is able to resume treatment. Alina is still in good spirits with no visible signs of slowing down(what five year old does). She is performing well with her school work which we pick up every Friday and do during the week. We are trying to keep her on track so when she is able to attend school she can step right in. Please keep Alina in your prayers for good news this week and continued strength.

Love to you all,

The King Family

Minor set back in treatment

Well Alina has suffered a little set back over the last week. As we have been progressing through the first section of maintenance things seemed to be going well. Alina has been her usual self and was feeling good with no signs of side effects from the chemo medications. We went for her scheduled lab appointment on Friday August 14th and the results came back that her ANC had risen to 680 (good as it was going up) but her liver counts had spiked above 721 which was concerning. The normal range is around 40. The Doctors had us come back for another blood draw the following Friday. At that point her ANC had dropped considerably down to 460 (not good) but the liver counts had also dropped down to 173 and were trending down (good). The Doctor called and had us STOP the chemo treatments immediately. Typically the first two to three months of maintenance are a guessing game for the Doctors in the chemo dosing which will provide the desired outcome. They assured us that this was NORMAL and happens frequently. Alina is still acting normally and continues to be in good spirits. We are scheduled for an additional follow up appointment this Friday. Blood work will be drawn and analyzed. These numbers will determine what the next course of action will be. We are praying that her liver counts have gotten to a normal state and her ANC will be on the rise. We hope to resume her chemo treatments as soon as she is able. The dose may be modified to allow her body to recover easier and maintain her ANC counts at a higher level. We will update early next week with the results. As always, thank you for your continued prayers, love and support.

Love,

The King Family

Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

Sent from my iPhone

First Maintenance Update

Alina has been on her maintenance program for about three weeks and things have been going well! She started when her counts were at 1056 and at her first blood draw after two weeks the counts dropped to 573. This is normal. The Doctors follow her progress over the course of the first two months to try to regulate the ANC count levels between the 750 to 1500 range. Alina will go for blood draws on Monday and we will have a better idea of how her body is responding.
The medication at home is going well. Alina likes the daily dose of her chemo medicine as it tastes like raspberries. The once a week dose is a different story. It is a bright yellow color and does not taste good at all. We mask this dose with apple juice which seems to help and then give the good tasting medicine after. Alina has been enrolled in kindergarten and is very excited!! This will be a big step for all of us as she will be away from home for the first time since she was diagnosed. We trust that God will continue to watch over her at all times and keep her well. Alina has not lost her zest for life! We have been very blessed that she has remained her playful self and continues to maintain a very positive attitude about everything!! We will continue to try to post every two weeks to keep you all up to date on Alina's progress as well as what is going on around the household. I want to post a special THANK YOU to our family Dentist Dr. Godino and his wonderful staff!! Dr. Godino and the team found out about Alina's condition back in March when I had to cancel our appointment. Immediately they contacted me about a week later and wanted to help! A program was established to provide a teeth whitening procedure to patients at a reduced price of $250.00 with the proceeds going to Alina's medical fund. So far it has had an amazing result and WE ARE TRUELY GRATEFUL to Dr. Godino, the staff, and the generous people who have participated!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! If you are interested in getting the most friendly, best dental care anywhere, PLEASE make an appointment and cruise down to Dana Point to the office. You will not be disappointed! And if you have been thinking of whitening your teeth, NOW IS THE TIME! Brighten your smile and keep Alina smiling. Dr. Godino Dana Niguel Dental 34190 Pacific Coast Highway Dana Point, CA. 92629 (949) 493-7004

Thank you to all of you who continue to pray for and follow Alina's progress.

Love the King Family.

Sent from my iPhone

MAINTENANCE BEGINS!!!

Alina's counts were good at her last appointment so she began maintenance last Monday. This is a huge milestone and we are very excited to start this phase! Alina will now receive most of her chemo at home in a liquid form. She will have labs drawn once a month and she will get a lumbar puncture and chemo through her port once every three months. The main goal right now is to get her counts to a number that allows her to be in large crowds which would allow her to start school. This could take up to three months so we are praying for her numbers to not only increase, but to stay at a healthy number. Alina continues to be a brave little girl and lately she has been a little feisty! Her personality has not been slowed by any of the treatments or medications that she has received! We miss you all very much and appreciate the continued prayers and support!

Love the King Family

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Birthday Little Girl!

Well Alina turned five years old on July 1st and we are so excited about her progress! 

We had a small celebration at home on Wednesday as Alina's counts have been remaining a little low over the past two weeks after her last treatment. The Doctors informed us that this would be a possibility so we were not so surprised. Her counts last week had fallen to 433 which is one of the lowest so far. We had to delay the start of her maintenance program by a week so far but we are praying that her counts improve in the next few days so we can continue. Alina will go tomorrow for lab work and if the ANC counts are above 750 then she can proceed.

As you can see in the photo, Alina has begun to really grow back some of her hair which she kindly refers to as "her spikey dew". Her charisma and fun loving personality has NEVER been down for more than a day or two over the last few months. SHE IS SUCH A STRONG LITTLE GIRL!! We all LOVE her VERY much! 

We have learned a little more about the maintenance program over the last few weeks. Treatment occurs in twelve week repeating blocks until her treatment ends in about 18 months. The first day of treatment is a Vincristine dose of chemo along with a lumbar treatment of the spinal fluid. She also begins a five day steroid and a daily dose of chemo given at home. Once per week she will also get a chemo pill to take. In between the twelve week treatments there will only be lab appointments to monitor her ANC level to make sure that she is receiving the proper doses of medications to keep her levels between 750 and 1500. At the end of twelve weeks the cycle begins again with the same treatments. Less visits to the Hospital and higher counts that will hopefully be stable and we will get to see everyone AGAIN!! Looking forward to a stable routine and moving forward towards completing this journey. 

Thank you for your continued support and prayers!

Love the King Family

Interim Maintenance II Complete!

Well big news has arrived! Alina has completed her interim maintenance II road map as of Thursday last week. Everything has gone quite well with this section of her treatment. Her ANC counts stayed above the 500 threshold limits during the last three weeks which allowed the treatment course to continue. Now we are idle for two weeks or so until her Maintenance portion begins.

Maintenance will be a daily dose of chemo medicine given at home, one treatment in her button at the clinic once per month, and a weekly oral dose of chemo at home. NOT SO BAD!! The first few weeks of maintenance could be difficult as the doctors try to balance the correct dose of her chemo medicines to try to keep her ANC levels between 750 and 1500. This will help keep Alina healthier and ABLE TO DO MORE! We should be able to get out and visit friends, family and just get out of the house. Yeah! 

The first maintenance treatment course is twelve weeks and then another will follow. We don't know too much yet as we will have a meeting before Alina begins and find out all the information about the treatment courses. As always we thank you for your prayers, support and continued interest in Alina's progress.

Love,
The King Family

SUPPORT and COMMITMENT

Well Alina has been doing very well on this portion of her treatment. Believe it or not she is better than half way through.

Last week Alina's counts improved to 1300 which is outstanding. She will have blood work drawn on Friday and continue her treatment on Monday if her counts remain above 750. I believe she will be fine and continue on schedule for Monday. The treatment for Monday includes the lumbar puncture, a dose of the Vincristine, and a dose of the Methotrexate. After this, there is only ONE more treatment on this protocol and then around Alina's Birthday, she should be able to start the maintenance phase of her treatment course!!!!

We are all very excited for this to begin as things should become a lot easier once the maintenance doses are stabilized to keep her counts between 1000 and 1500. As you can see, Alina was very excited to SHAVE my head. I had promised her that when her hair had fallen out that I would let her shave my head in support. So on Saturday I fulfilled my commitment. Alina had a great time and it really does not look that bad.

Support comes in many forms. Sometimes it's as simple as doing what you say you are going to do. Most of all, support your kids, family and friends in all that you do. Your life will be rewarded in ways you could not imagine!! We will update next week as we continue to move forward on this journey.

Thank you all for your continued prayers!

LOVE,

The King Family

Treatment continues

Well, Alina had another round of chemo medication last week as her counts remained good. This is very encouraging as we enter this last phase of her treatment before she is able to start the maintenance program. Alina will go for her lab work on Wednesday this week and if her ANC counts are again high enough, she will have her treatment on Thursday. This will be the third treatment of five, so after this week we only have two more!!! Treatment continues every ten days if the counts stay good. That puts Alina at an early July start date for the maintenance program. Right around her Birthday!!! What a GREAT present that will be for her! We are grateful to God for Alina's strength and courage through this so far! We know that He is in control of this and has Alina embraced in His Love. Thank you all for your continued love and support over these last six months, we could not do this without all of you!!

Love to you all,

The King Family

TREATMENT Starts again!

Well after a delay of two and a half weeks Alina was able start her treatment again last week on Thursday. Her counts rose to 900 which was a great improvement from the previous weeks low of 413. Alina responded well to the first chemo treatment and tomorrow we go for her blood work to check and see if her counts are still high enough for her to continue on Monday. We are so proud of Alina and her progress so far through all of the treatment process over the last six months. Her courage and strength is immeasurable. As we continue through this part of her treatment, we are encouraged that when she begins the maintenance portion that Alina will be able to STOP taking her daily shots of the blood thinner. This will be a big boost for Alina as she will see that she is improving.
As always, a BIG THANK YOU goes out to all of our friends, family, and those praying for Alina's FULL recovery. We are truly a blessed family! Love to you all, The King Family

Sent from my iPhone

Treatment Delayed

Sorry we haven't updated the site in a while. Alina had lab work today and her counts are still too low for chemo to begin. Her next chemo phase was supposed to start last Tuesday. She will return for labs on Thursday and if they get to the right numbers she will get her next chemo dose on Friday. Alina is still her normal, happy little self keeping busy with her little sister and brother. Although we were hoping Alina's chemo treatments would stay on schedule, we are trusting in Gods timing. Thank you all for your support and prayers!

Love, The King Family

Break in Treatment

Well Alina has finished her last treatment for this section and she did extremely well!

The pill issues were resolved by crushing them and placing them into bites of a coconut yogurt which she liked very much. Her chemotherapy ended last Friday and the last pill was on this past Monday. This week she had blood woe drawn on Tuesday and her ANC counts were low as expected due to the chemotherapy. Today Alina had her blood drawn and her red blood cell count had dropped to low levels which required her to receive a blood transfusion. Roxanne and Alina spent all day from 8 am to 4:30 pm at CHOC.

There is light at the end of the tunnel! Around April 15th Alina may be able to start the Interim maintenance II part of the treatment. If she is well enough and stays on schedule, she will begin Maintenance as early as July! This would be amazing and a true blessing from God. I know it sounds like a long time but we have already been through six months of treatment.

We are very thankful that Alina has stayed strong and healthy so far and attribute this to all the prayers from everyone who follows and prays for her during this journey. WE THANK AND PRAISE GOD FOR GIVING US ALL STRENGTH AND HIS CONTINUED HEALING AND GRACE UPON ALINA!!

The kids had a really good Easter at the house. We colored eggs on Saturday and had an egg hunt on Sunday with a wonderful dinner that evening. As you can see the smiles filled the day. As always we THANK YOU ALL for your continued prayers and support through these times!

Love to you all,
The King Family

Midway Through this Road Map of Treatment

We have made it through the first half of Alina's treatment and she has done GREAT!!

A little nausea from the chemo doses the first week, but since then she has been doing well. Alina went for her four days of treatment Tuesday through Friday last week and has gone two days this week with only Thursday and Friday treatments remaining. The only hard part was the first night of the home chemo pills that she is required to take. Alina is not good at taking pills yet(what four year old is) so it was a struggle. We now have been crushing her pills and placing it in an almond milk yogurt which she readily takes especially since it is CHOCOLATE flavor.

We are very pleased with her progress so far and continue to pray that her side effects stay minimal. More to come soon as we finish this phase if her treatment.

Love you all,
The King Family

Tuesday's Start to a Long Day

This weeks counts were at 800 which allowed Alina to begin her treatment on Tuesday.  This week consisted of four days of treatment and will be followed by an additional four days next week. 

Tuesday was a VERY LONG day! We left the house at 6:00am for the 8:00am check in. Treatment started around 9:00 with a lumbar puncture to treat the spinal fluid. When this was completed Alina received a three hour flush which enabled her to receive the first of two more chemotherapy doses that day. The purpose of the flush is to protect the stomach from potential bleeding from a side effect of the medication. This all went well with no problems. THANKS TO GOD! The last dose was an I V drip for about a half an hour and we finally left after an additional three hour fluid flush. So at 4:00 p.m. We started our two hour drive home to complete the 12 hour day. We all were exhausted. At the end of that, Alina is required to take a chemotherapy pill every night for the next 14 days. This is a struggle as she can't take a pill very well. We have decided to crush the pill and give with a non dairy yogurt which has really helped! We complete this weeks treatment tomorrow and will continue next Tuesday for the four days. Please keep Alina in your prayers! We thank you as always for your continued support and love!

Love,

The King Family

Low Counts Delay Treatment

Well Alina had a minor set back this week. On Monday she went to CHOC to have blood drawn for her lab work and the results came back with her lowest ANC (actual nuetrafil count) counts so far. Her count was at 425 which is low and puts her immune system at a higher risk for infection. The minimum count is 750 for her treatment to continue.

We will try again on Monday and if all is well, she will begin the first of four days of treatment starting on Tuesday. Although this is a small break from treatment she has been doing extremely well thus far! We are very proud of her!!!! Please pray that Alina is well enough to continue next week and handles this next round of chemotherapy with no side effects. More to follow next Monday.

Love to you all,

The King Family

Rough Times

Well Alina has finished one third of this road map treatment course and it has been the toughest time since we started this journey. We had the flu go thru the house for a week with everyone but Bryce getting it, Alina has struggled with the dose of steroids this time which caused mood swings and depression and the chemo medicine that she has been receiving has caused weight loss and a significant loss of hair.

We expect her to lose all her hair within the next week. Although we had talked to her several times about this happening, you still can not prepare for the visual and emotional changes that you see in your child. Alina continues to battle everyday and we pray that she stays healthy through the remainder of this course of treatment. Next week Alina will have blood work drawn on Monday to see if her blood counts are high enough to continue the treatment on Tuesday.

If she is able to continue on schedule, Tuesday will be a nine hour day of treatment along with the three hours of drive time to and from the hospital. (A long day for anyone to go through.) Then we will be going everyday for four days to complete that weeks treatment. The following week she will again go four days in a row but the durations will be significantly shorter.

This treatment schedule will be repeated twice in the next month so a lot of treatments to go through for this little girl. Please keep Alina in your prayers and thoughts as she continues to progress through this treatment. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers for our family.

All our Love,

The King Family

Rough Start to this Road Map Course of Treatment

Well, Alina finished her last treatment course on schedule and without any major complications.  But this new phase of treatment (which started last week) has gotten off to a rough start.

The treatment started on Tuesday when Alina began with new chemo medication which has caused her to be sick as soon as the same day and as late as three days after treatment (powerful stuff).

We have gone to three treatments in the last week: Tuesday, Friday, and this past Tuesday.  It's been a tuff haul for this little warrior.  We have been given anti nausea medication to help and are hopeful that she will do better next week. This treatment course also includes a four day process on two consecutive weeks starting on March 17th.  We are praying that she will be strong and handle the process well.

Please pray for her.

All in all we could not be more proud of this little girl! She is making amazing progress and has had relatively small side effects up to this stage of her treatment. We are very blessed and thankful for God to be taking care of her with His healing hands. Aubrey and Bryce continue to be two little blessings and seem to be just normal little kids. They too are amazing little children who don't know how proud and blessed we are to have them! They continue to provide happiness and support in Alina's days! Please continue to keep Alina in your prayers as we embark on this journey of her treatment. We thank you all for your continued Love, support, prayers, and help through this process! We could not do this without each and every one of you! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Love,
The King Family

A Long Over Due Update

First we want to apologize for not updating the site for the last few weeks. We know that there are a lot of people out there who follow Alina's progress and want to know what is happening and we have not done a good job keeping you up to date. We are very appreciative of your love, support, prayers, and interest in this journey!

Soooo here is what has happened in the las few weeks. Alina has done AMAZINGLY well in this course of treatment. We were able to make every scheduled treatment through the last road map. Her ANC levels stayed well above the required 750 threshold and at two treatments were actually at 2400 which is OUTSTANDING. These numbers allow Alina to fight off infection and remain healthy enough for treatment. As we completed this section, another road map lies ahead in the next week. Alina went for her blood work today and she is scheduled on Friday for an EKG and more blood tests to see if she can begin treatment as soon as Tuesday next week.

We continue to find strength in prayer and the support from all of you out there who call, text, and send good wishes. THANK YOU!!

Another event that has transpired is through a charitable foundation called KNOTS OF LOVE. My sister Nicole had contacted them for some of the knit beanies that they supply for people who are going through treatment and have hair loss. The founder actually made one if Alina's hats. As a thank you, Nicole sent some photos and a note which turned into several e-mails between the founder and Nicole. The question was asked if we would allow them to use some of the photos of Alina to be the 2015 donor button child. We were floored and excited! Of course we agreed and Alina has been placed on the thank you button that is sent to donors who donate to KNOTS OF LOVE. I think the donation amount is ten dollars or more and you can receive a button. If you would like to donate to the charity, you can click here and help give a cap to another in need. They are based out of Orange County California and do some amazing things for Veterans as well.

As of today Alina seems like any four year old little girl! She plays daily with Aubrey and Bryce runs, dances, sings and just enjoys being a kid. We are blessed to have such a brave little girl who will look back on this and gain more strength for the rest of her life. We will make every effort to update the site more frequently as we have so many of you following the site and wanting to know what is happening. Thank you all again for all your prayers, well wishes and support.

Love The King Family!

Scot, Roxanne, Alina, Aubrey, and Bryce.

Happy New Year!

Alina has been doing great since the last update. Her counts went back up so she was able to receive her chemotherapy treatments as scheduled the week of Christmas and New Year's.

There is a slight change to the type of chemo she is getting in this next phase of the road map. This chemo is given every ten days through her port (as long as her blood counts are good) and the dose is increased at each treatment.

We are blessed that Alina has handled the chemo very well. In this new phase she does have some nausea after the treatment, but it's tolerable and usually goes away in a short amount of time.

We had an appointment today with the hematologist to discuss Alina's blood clot. Her last ultrasound in November showed that the clot was completely cleared, but they would like to do a follow up ultrasound in four weeks to make sure the clot remains cleared. Depending on the results, we may be able to reduce her injections to once a day. She is currently getting two injections a day and will most likely continue the injections until the intense part of her chemo is complete, which should be in June or July of this year. I'm confident that her next ultrasound will bring us positive news.

Alina's walking continues to improve daily, she's pretty much back to her normal self and is able to get around and do the things that most four year olds love to do....run, ride a bike and of course DANCE!!! ;-)

Christmas was a bit quiet this year. Since Alina's immune system is compromised we cannot be in large crowds or have too many visitors at one time. We still had a great Christmas and after being cooped up in the house for a few days we decided to take a drive out to the apple farm in Oak Glen. Alina along with her younger sister and brother were able to run around in the crisp fresh air and we also went for a walk on the nature trail. As you can see by the photos attached we had a great time.

Alina's next treatment is scheduled for Monday. Please continue to keep her in your prayers and THANK YOU for the many prayers and words of encouragement. We have truly been blessed with an outpouring of love and support.

Love,

The King Family