This Saturday, August 21! Be there to support or ride!

Hello Everyone,

I received an update from Jessica's parents on the Children's Hospital Caring Bridge Website. It is obvious that, although her treatment is going well, she is not out of the woods. She is in the final phase of her 4th stage of treatment and has had somewhat of a setback in the past week. We continue to have her and her family in our thoughts and prayers daily and look forward to seeing a healthy happy little girl once again. I can't wait to babysit again for those two sweet girls!!

Here is an excerpt from the latest Caring Bridge update:

Jessica started the week with a temperature that fluctuated between 98 and 99.6 degrees and at one point spiked over 100 degrees.  This is a concern because having a compromised immune system makes her vulnerable for a fever (or cold, flu, etc) to blow up into a life threatening situation.  She was not sleeping and we needed to check her temp every hour to make sure she did not spike to high (no one slept).  We were very fortunate as by mid week her temperature had stabilized but she started to develop mouth pain. 

Her ANC count (first responder white blood cells) were almost zero on Friday July 30th (a day she received chemo) and so continues to be in isolation (no visitors or being with other people).  The combination of higher temps and low counts caused mucositus. Mucositis is an "inflammation of the mucous membranes lining the digestive tract from the mouth on down to the anus. Mucositis is a common side effect of chemotherapy and of radiotherapy that involves any part of the digestive tract."  For Jessica it is visible huge sores in her mouth and unseen thought-out.  We needed to give her oxycodone (for pain), swish and swallow (for bacteria in the tract). Bactrum to prevent influenza and stool softener (because the other stuff binds her up).  By Friday (August 6th) we were back at the clinic for chemo treatments.  When the medical team did their evaluation the discovered more sores, blood work that showed her ANC's only at 60 and little girl in great pain.  They gave her morphine to calm Jessica down and rescheduled a follow up visit for today (Sunday) to see if she will need a platelet transfusion. 

Remember our 'big' little girl?  She has lost most of the weight due to the above issues (she has not really eaten for over a week).  Jessica is struggling with the pain and all the weeks of chemo treatments.  Please pray for our little girl that her sores will go and she continues on her healing path.

It's hard to read this and imagine this little warrior princess is not yet 4 years old!

I am continuing to make plans for the fund-raising bike ride on Saturday, August 21st at 10AM beginning at Birch Bay State Park. I have received donations for prizes and food for the BBQ, but I am still in need of a few more volunteers to help with taking registrations, handing out water, manning corners and helping with food afterwards. Please, if you can help, even for a little while, I would greatly appreciate it. You don't have to obligate yourself for the whole day!!

I hope to hear from many of you to volunteer or RSVP for the ride.....10 or 25 miles. You can do it!!

Go to www.littlewarriorprincess.com and register online today!!!

Olivia Sellinger
360 332-4470

Hello Everyone,

I’m happy to let you all know that Jessica is now officially in the 2nd half of her 4th stage of treatment for Leukemia. Here is an excerpt from the latest Caring Bridge update that her dad wrote:

“So, if you remember back to a post we did that called out our little Jessica's flamboyant behavior coming out of her post spinal procedure (sedation) and how cute it was...well today was what you may call a little different. 

We went to the clinic at 9AM and had her port accessed, her blood drawn (for counts), exam and consultation with the doctor and then into the "sleepy room".  Jessica loves the sleepy room because they have cool toys for her to play with...she played with the toys and away to sleepy land she went...all is quiet on the western front.  She woke up way earlier then the previous 18 times she has gone through similar procedures and she started to get a little agitated...ok she was like a boiling pot that simmers with gentle droplets only to erupt with large exploding bubbles.  She went into the recovery room demanding more toys and to get out of the room.  We took her to the infusion room (she still needed more chemo today) and Jessica was fighting us like a trapped wolverine (I am 260 pounds and she is not...but you couldn't tell!!!).  The nurses, Susan, Jenna (and anybody else in the neighboring county) scrambled to make her happy...nothing worked.  To make this long story short, after about an hour and a half (it usually takes 15 minutes to make the transition to infusion) we had to give her a little help to get her to calm down.  When we call her a Warrior we are being very literal at times...You have to love her!!!

Anyway, we drove around North Seattle (I got us lost...famous Canadian trait) until she fell asleep and we got back to a little normalcy.  Right now, she is sitting on her bed in the RMH with sunglasses on (it is 7:30PM...inside) and building little fairy paper models.  Besides throwing a few things, not listening and being a little concerned about taking her pills (chemo and anti-nausea meds tonight) all is once again quiet on the western front... How was your day?”

I have been busy making plans for the August 21st fund-raising bike ride which I have named “Ride For The Warrior Princess”. There will be a 10 and 25 mile ride which will allow almost anyone to ride. The cost will be $10 or $25 and there will be pledge sheets to take pledges from your family, friends and neighbors who won’t be able to ride. Registration forms will be available soon at some local businesses and on the little warrior princess website.

I am in great need of volunteers to help on the day of the bike ride. I am also hoping to have a BBQ at the beach following the ride so I could use some volunteers for that as well. Could you please respond to my email to let me know if you are planning to ride, pledge or volunteer your time so I can get some idea of how many will be involved.

Please feel free to email or call me with any questions or comments at 332-4470.The Northern Light and Bellingham Herald are going to be printing articles about this so I’m hoping that will bring more participants.

Thank you all for your continued support! I know many of you don’t know this family but you can be sure that they are extremely appreciative of any, and all, the help, thoughts and prayers they continue to receive.
Don’t forget to pass this on to all your email contacts and go to www.LittleWarriorPrincess.com

Olivia Sellinger

Hi everyone!

Here is the latest update on the Little Warrior Princess. Jessica is in the middle of her 4th stage of treatment and it is a brutal one. She is doing as well as can be expected and here is an excerpt from the Caring Bridge website where her parents keep friends and family up to date:

"So in the words of Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) ..."We have our heading!"  We have made it to the mid point of the 4th stage and are now heading toward the next steps.  We will need to wait a week in order for the chemo to complete its cycle through Jessica's body.  She has been a great little Warrior thus far but her body has been impacted in some unexpected ways.

If you look at the updated pictures (we added 8 more today) and specifically the cover,  you will notice that Jessica has added a little weight.  Ok, she added about 15 pounds in 10 days and now weighs over 50 pounds (remember she is just 3 years old).  This is completely the result of the steroids she has been taking and has caused her to have an insatiable appetite.  She is now off the 'roids and we are praying that the calorie onslaught was temporary and that she has not turned this into an overwhelming need.  She slowed down tonight, so her heading is starting right."

The fund-raising bike ride is in the works for August 21st this summer. If you are not able to ride in the bike race, but would love to help, I would appreciate anyone who would be willing to volunteer, in the weeks before and during the race, to help make this a success. Also, I am hoping to get donations from local businesses for prizes. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please email me! Thank You! I will hopefully see you all on August 21st!

I will be updating the website: www.LittleWarriorPrincess.com with new pictures and information on the Bike Ride, which we will be calling Ride for the Warrior Princess. I will also post the registration form if you want to participate. There will also be a form to take pledges if you wish to.

Please continue to donate and spread the word to everyone you know. The total we've raised to date is $1,360.81 thanks to the many generous people out there.

THANK YOU!!!

Olivia

Hi everyone! Just sending a quick update on how much we have raised for Jessica and her family.  So far, we have raised a total of: $ 1,004.30.  Thank you all so much for all your donations!

If you still haven't had a chance to visit the website or donate, please do! Any little bit helps!
http://littlewarriorprincess.com/

Thank you for taking time to read this and for caring about Jessica so greatly!

Olivia Sellinger

Another week has gone by, and our donation total has grown to $486.40. Thanks to all of you who donated for your generosity.

Here is an excerpt from the Thursday March 18th Caring Bridge journal:

"We are officially in the third stage of Jessica's treatment! 

 Jessica has had 4 Chemo Treatments between Wednesday and today and is doing quite well under the circumstances.  She received a back injection (a procedure that requires anesthesia) and 2 leg injects today.  Yesterday Jessica recieved 2 Chemo pushes through her port.  We request your prayers for her continued progress as she moves through this phase of her treatment.

We spent the last 2 days in Seattle and enjoyed seeing many of our new friends at Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House.  We are glad to be back for our second longest stint in Blaine since December 3rd of last year.  The first one was before we left for Seattle.  We enjoyed being in our home, getting a warm welcome from our Church and the many, many fantastic friends we saw and spoke to.  The time at home also included some Loopiville moments including:  Having our second vehicle not start...at the grocery store, the stove ignitor not turning off (until the breaker was pulled), the furnance flashing red lights...for no reason that can be good and locking ourselves in the house...long story!!!  We are thankful to be back...

Jenna is going back to school full time and Jeff is going to work at his office on a regular schedule.  Susan and Jessica are resuming their time together (most likely why she is so smart) and we are full of hope as we enter the next part of Gods journey..."

If you haven't had a chance to visit the website yet, please do! http://littlewarriorprincess.com/

Sincerely,
Olivia Sellinger