Summer 2003

8/30/03

Sorry for leaving everyone hanging. Erin's bone marrow aspiration and biopsy were A-okay. We just got caught up in the beginning of school and forgot to update the website. Oops. That gives us another completely clean bill of health. The next round of scans will be

October 24, bone marrow aspiration and biopsy
October 29, Bone scan
October 30, CT scan
October 31, MIBG scan

Next Thursday, September 4, is Erin's last day of accutane. The following Thursday, September 11, she will receive her final vaccine. She will then be officially off-treatment!

First grade is tremendous, and Erin has a big time everyday. Dance has started back up and Erin is now a third-year student which means she adds a jazz class to her ballet and tap instruction. Davis and I will be coaching her soccer team this fall. That starts in about a week.

8/15/03

Erin had a sore throat and fever on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, and we thought that might delay her vaccine. Luckily, she recovered and we spent the day at the research clinic at Texas Children's on Thursday. Erin received her next to last vaccine, her last accutane prescription

8/12/03

Medical news first--Erin's scans last week were good. We won't have the results of the bone marrow aspiration until Thursday when we go down for Erin's next to last tumor vaccine, but I will report the results when we have them.

Details from Erin's Make-A-Wish trip and our subsequent vacation:

Walter, Erin, Davis, and I along with my mother flew out of Dallas on July 20 to Jackson Hole, WY. We had to stop in the middle of the road on the way to the Red Rock Ranch to let a baby bison pass. It was separated from its mother and was really disoriented, so it took quite a while for the road to clear. We were all awed by having such a close look at the little, wild beast. What a way to start our week!

Erin positively loved everything that followed. She had her own pony, Macaroni, and two kid wranglers, Brent and Leigh, who let her be a cowgirl all day, everyday. Those two were absolutely fantastic. Besides riding for hours and hours around the beautiful valley that surrounds the ranch, Erin camped out, learned trick riding, square danced, groomed horses, and took part in team penning and many, many other horse-related activities. She saved part of each one of her meals back, so that she would have treats for Macaroni!

The rest of us had an equally grand time. We all enjoyed be completely unplugged from our home lives--no televisions, telephones, or anything electronic. Erin was completely medicine-free, so no worries there either. The weather was gorgeous--very cool nights and very clear days. There were two chefs on staff, so we never went hungry! In fact, we all came back a bit heavier. The folks at Red Rock Ranch took care of us in every way--breakfast on the trail, adult social time, fly fishing, even a trip to the Teton County Fair to ride the midway and watch the Red Rock Ranch pig wrestling team.

We hated leaving Wyoming when the week ended. Luckily for us, we went straight in to the rest of our vacation. We flew back to Dallas for a family reunion with all of the wonderful Thompson clan. We also got to see Aunt Kat, Aunt Elisabeth, and Annabelle before driving west to Santa Fe, NM. Our dear, dear friends from Nashville, Carla and Larry Elmore opened their home (and washing machine) to our family. Erin got to meet and commune with Scarlett, the beautiful rescued dog that Carla and Larry adopted last year. Davis retired to Larry's media room to catch up on a week without electronics (who knows what he might have missed on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show)? The rest of us were content to sit on the portacallis and soak up the scenery (and the cool desert breezes).

After Santa Fe, we drove to Riudoso, another beautiful and cool spot (are you noticing the trend of our trip...we'll go anywhere that it is cool?). Uncle Dave and Aunt Norma spend the summers there in their RV, so we try to swing through Riudoso when we get the chance. This year we had the added bonus of having eight of our friends from Texas (Mike and Diane, Don and Denise, Don and Mary Jo, and Ron and Mary) in Riudoso at the same time. We hiked during the day and cut up with our friends in the evenings. When we had gone through all of our clean clothes, we headed home.

8/3/03

Wow! We just returned from Erin's Make-A-Wish trip to Wyoming with extended vacation to New Mexico, and we all had such a great time! The Red Rock Ranch in Wyoming was truly spectacular and exactly what Erin hoped it would be. The arrangements were wonderful thanks to Trish Langley and Cathy Anderson in the Houston area Make-A-Wish Foundation and to unnamed volunteers in the Wyoming chapter of MAW. We also need to extend special thank yous for the superb hospitality to David and Deborah McKenzie, Carolyn and Harley Stimmel, Hunter and Jon, and Seth, Lizzie, Annie, and Nick. Also, thanks to the all of the other wranglers, chefs, and specialty staff at the Red Rock Ranch for making every minute of everyday to most fun we could imagine. We will be back!

I promise I will update the site with trip details, but we are home for a very quick turn around. I have about 36 hours to wash ten loads of clothes, respond to 155 e-mails, and return all the phone messages blinking on my machine. Erin goes through another round of scans in Houston at Texas Children's Hospital beginning on Tuesday (8/5) and lasting through Friday (8/8). We are hoping for continued good news.

7/6/03

Erin (and the rest of us) continues to have a happy and peaceful summer. This round of accutane is going especially smoothly--mainly chapped lips. She will finish with it on Thursday, and will have only two more cycles to go (my fingers are crossed as a write this. . .which makes typing very treacherous). The last biweekly vaccine will be this Friday. After that she will have vaccines every four weeks, with no intervening blood labs. Yea! Scans are scheduled for the first full week of August (the fifth through eighth, I think).

Erin's Make-A-Wish trip to Wyoming has been confirmed. Erin's wish was to go to the Rocky Mountains and take care of horse and other farm/ranch animals. I think we will fit in some hiking and other mountain activities as well. We leave on July 20 and will be gone a week. Since we didn't know whether the Make-A-Wish trip would get scheduled this summer or next, we went ahead and planned our usual family vacation to New Mexico to begin on July 27. Looks like we'll get two weeks out of the Texas heat! Hooray!

Erin and I will be alone this week. Davis has chess camp in Austin. It is just a day camp, so Walter is going, too. He will do research during the day, and they will stay in a hotel at night. The following week is Vacation Bible School. Then Wyoming here we come.

6/22/03

The birthday party on Friday was a roaring success. Special thanks to Erin's adult friends, Judy and Sharon, and their horse friends, Scamp and Napoleon, for making the horse back riding wish a reality!

Back to Houston again this week (Friday, I think) for the 4th tumor vaccine and the start of the fourth round of Accutane.

6/18/03

Things are rocking along in the Buenger's household, with lots of plans and preparations being made for Erin's BIG NUMBER 6 BIRTHDAY coming up on Friday. The party will include lake swimming, horse back riding, a pinata, lots of games, hamburgers, hash browns, and ranch style bean, a strawberry cake with pink icing, a movie (not yet decided), and a sleepover. Can you tell who has given a lot of thought to EXACTLY how her birthday party will go?

Last week's tumor vaccine went smoothly (a little longer than we expected, but no real problems). No punch biopsy this time, which is a real relief. This week and next week are off weeks for Accutane. On the whole, we are quite happy. I did have to take Erin in to her pediatrician last Saturday morning. We came home with a diagnosis of swimmer's ear. She will take Cipro drops for a week. It's been a long time since we've had a normal childhood illness, but we don't mind.

6/10/03

Speaking of soccer, Erin mixed it up like a champ last week at soccer camp. She scored two goals and won a game called Knock Out! Her only disappointment was that it only lasted a week. Her cousin Annabelle is visiting this week, which means a lot of swimming and other excitement. Today was the first day back at the First Christian Church summer program. She has gone to FCC with Ms. Pat, Ms. Miriam, and Ms. Blanche for many summers. Last summer, she had to miss the last week of the program because she was hospitalized to begin treatment of this horrible disease. It was a triumphant return this morning!

For those of you who keep track of the medical side--only two more days of accutane this round, and then she will be halfway through. This Friday we will go back to Houston for her third (of eight) tumor vaccine. Everything else is running smoothly.