This time last year

Last Wednesday it was one year ago that Shania first started showing signs that she had Neuroblastoma. At first we thought that she was getting the flu because she had head aches and threw up, but she didn't have a fever. So we took her to the doctors and at the time they thought that she was getting migraines, but they weren't going away. and by the time this long weekend came around we were getting very worried what was going on. When we had the fire works the noise and bright lights were frightening her. which was unusual because she loves watching fireworks every year. They had her get a CTscan but this showed nothing unusual, so our family Doctor set up an appointment to see a migraine specialist but this was not to be, because Shania ended up at Sick Children's Hospital with these severe headaches that weren't going away. They did more tests on her and another CTscan, but still couldn't find anything wrong with her.They said that if we noticed any other symptoms to bring her back. This was very concerning to us because she was having these headaches at night also and would wake up in severe pain. We just had this parents gut feeling that something wasn't right. We ended up back at Sick Children's Hospital again when Shania ended up having stoke like symptoms. This time they did the CTscan with the dye and found Three tumours on the inside of her scull, which were putting pressure on a major artery in her brain. And not long after that we got the news that Shania had this cancer that we had never heard of before. This week and Weekend has brought back a lot of memories of those first heart wrenching days of finding out that our Shania had this devastating disease.
Shania got her bone marrow back up from her Bone Marrow Transplant on Wednesday night to hopefully reboot her body into producing blood again. This can take up to Twelve days to en graft again. It is like her getting a bone marrow transplant minus the massive dose of chemo. Dr Baruchel thinks that the combination of her relapsing so soon after the transplant and having the shingles, that this could be why this last chemo wiped out her bone marrow. Friday night Shania's pain gradually got worse so they decided to switch her over to a self administered pump for morphine, which she can push a button when she feels she needs more pain relief. The highest Shania had gotten on the pain scale from one to ten was eleven up until this point. But by the time it was hooked up Shania had reached a twenty five on this scale. It is not easy to see your child going threw this much pain and you can't take the hurt away. The Doctors are trying to figure out why she is still getting pain surges that are still coming back even with this new type of pump. She hasn't had a fever since Saturday night so hopefully this is a sign that the anti-Fungal and anti -Biotics are working. they are going to do more tests and scans this week to find out how things are going. Karen said that last night Shania asked if she is going to die???? (Oh my!!!!!!!)Karen told Shania the truth, that everyone is doing everything possible to make sure that this does not happen. We are all working as a team to make her get better. We think that this Question has been weighing heavily on her mind since the re laps, and are glad that she wants to talk about what is on her mind. I remember back to when Shania was around two-three years old and she found out that people die, she was so upset, she asked if Karen and I would die, we said that we weren't going to die for a long time and that this was part life. But just seeing that innocent sorrow that people have to die someday, I won't ever forget it. This is the caring, loving, and compassionate girl Shania's has always been.
I do believe in Shania I do I do!!!!
Sincerely,
Shayne,Karen,Shania&Shannon.