15K Fundraiser Challenge

Team, four members of the LPFD crew have a fun challenge if you choose to accept. To bring some light hearted and warm fillings during this difficult time, Matt Brett, Eddie White, Jon Sorci, and Brandt Jorgenson will shave their entire heads together if we hit 15k on the youcaring.com fundraising site listed on the below post. They will be taking a before and after picture of all four of them together and we will share here once goal is met. Thanks for the support LPFD family.
Here's a fun picture too of Delaney, Merlin, and Mini Merlin on a firehouse trip.
Go TEAM DELANEY.

https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/team-delaney/92222

Afternoon Update

Afternoon Update:
Delaney slept well last night. She was NPO (nothing orally) from midnight on. She was out of the room by 8:30 for anesthesia again. This morning Delaney was able to get her stitches out from the incision site from her operation. The incision site looks good and is healing well. With the sedation Delaney is a little fussy again, but we are doing our best to keep her calm. Delaney's rapid heart rate may be due to her being slightly dehydrated and will be getting fluid bolus through her NG tube. We have gone out for a little ride this morning in the wheelchair, however we are back in her bed trying to relax and get some rest. PT should be by later along with some classes for us on injections and Broviac care.

Thank you for prayers, love, support, thought!

GO TEAM DELANEY!

Youcaring.com Update

Team, Everyone is simply AMAZING! We are touched at the support we have received since our fundraiser started this past Monday. The amount we have raised so far and continue to raise for Delaney leaves us speechless. Thank You from the bottom of our all hearts, to the families, friends, and complete strangers who have given support so Delaney can fight this battle and win! All proceeds will go to help in her treatment, physical therapy and any cost related to getting Delaney well again in this upcoming year and beyond. We cannot do it without all of your support so again Thank You. If you have any questions please feel free to contact TEAM DELANEY directly by message or by phone at 925-337-3371 or travisbnewton@yahoo.com Love, Uncle Travis I also want to thank everyone who has helped babysit Mini Merlin, supply meals, and offer prayers. Nothing has gone unnoticed.

https://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/team-delaney/92222

WAVE 3 Shirt Order

Team, WAVE 3 Shirt Orders are now open!

For anyone who missed the last deadline or checked if there were extra orders, or tried to place a late order now is your time!!!
The shirts are $10 each and available in the following sizes: Youth M-L and Adult S-3XL. The shirts are 100% cotton and run a little on the small side.
We will place the order this MONDAY Oct 7th so all orders must be submitted by 5 pm that day. Shirts can be picked up at Aunt Jackie’s house in the Livermore area and at our house in the Sacramento area. If you cannot pick them up in either location, please include an additional $10 in your order and we will ship all the shirts you order anywhere in the country.
To purchase, please do the following:
1. Submit the total amount for your shirts (and shipping if necessary) via Paypal.com to travisbnewton@yahoo.com
2. Include your name, the number of shirts you want in each size and your address if you need the shirts shipped in the comments for the payment.
3. Paypal needs to be used so we can track orders. We have over 343 shirts ordered last go around so it needs to be tracked.
Once we place the order, we anticipate receiving the shirts by October 24th When they arrive I will post an update on Facebook and provide more information on pickup locations. Thank you all for your love and support for our family.
Go Team Delaney!!!

Day 21 Post Op

This afternoon we met with the nurse practitioner of the neurosurgeon team to continue discussing the plan of chemotherapy that is to start in 4 short days. We went over many different items in our meeting consisting of who to call and when to call in the event of a fever or other complications. We discussed blood counts and what we need to watch out for with each (white, red and platelets). And also discussed who to call when we need more supplies (heparin, gloves, masks, blood draw vials, needles, syringes, NG tubes, etc.). Very overwhelming, but by the end of this all we should be chemo experts. The rest of the day was consumed with wheelchair rides and watching Despicable Me over and over and over. Delaney was very emotional today. She cried a lot. We are working with her to ask for what she wants rather than cry, but it is not easy as she is still suffering from the posterior fossa syndrome. PT was able to finally get a good visit in. Delaney sat up and played for a few minutes. The discharge nurse met with us and ordered a wheelchair to be delivered to the house. (No, this doesn't mean we will be going home anytime soon :-( ). We watched one of the PICU nurses change the dressing on Delaney's Broviac. This process is very sterile. You have to wear a mask, as does Delaney. Sterile gloves, sterile cleaner and then a tegaderm. Sounds easier than it is. Tomorrow we should start Broviac class (nurses bring a dummy in and we get to practice doing heparin locks, blood draws and proper Broviac cleaning). We should also start injection class. We will have to give Delaney an injection to help with her white blood cell production on a daily basis. Never wanted to be a nurse, but who knows after this! Delaney will get her stitches out tomorrow which means no food after midnight. Hopefully she won't wake up at 4am for her usually bowl or 2 of Cheerios. Thank you for all the love and support!

GO TEAM DELANEY! Quote of the day

"This too, shall pass. When things are bad, remember: they won't always be this way. Take one day at a time. When things are good, remember: it won't always be this way. Enjoy every great moment."

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Delaney-Home-Page/219289764902599

Day 20 Post Op

LONG day today or so it felt like it...as you may have seen on an earlier post Delany woke up at 5 am asking for Cheerios and that was the start of 4 bowls throughout the day. The Neuro team came by, like they do every morning and looked at Delany and her progress. They said that she is progressing well and that after 22 days in the PICU it was time to be transferred to the Pediatric Ward across the hall. Physical Therapy was able to get us a wheelchair for Delaney. We believe this was a little freedom that she needed to lift her spirit even more, she went in to the wheelchair 3 separate times today by herself, and she sure enjoyed it! This helps her gain more strength in her core and beck muscles. Just by chance she came across Sadie the therapy dog and Delaney was able to feed Sadie a doggie treat. That made her smile... Then Sadie tickled her feet with her tail. We all look forward to more rides in the wheelchair for the days and weeks to come to spend less time in bed. Again Grandma, Grandpa and baby Brother Merlin came to Delaney's bedside. Grandpa took Delaney's "Blankey" (pink blanket) as he does at least 2 times a week for a good wash so it is fresh and clean for her. As you may have read Delaney is to start chemo on Monday Oct. 7th. When in chemo it is possible for her to become severely neutropenic and at high risk for infection because her body may not be able to fight off bacterial infection. Knowing this we got our flu shots done today, and anyone in the family that does not have it cannot be in contact with Delaney for her safety. Our nurses in the PICU were sad to see us go! We were sad also. We have made very close friends with all of Delaney's nurses and she has really grown to love them! Over the next few days we will learn how to care for and use the Broviac. In the mean time we are setting up in our new room, trying to make it as bright and beautiful as the baby girl we all love! Delaney Thank you all for your love and support!

GO TEAM DELANEY!

Quote of the day "it is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity, that determines how your life's story will develop"

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https://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Delaney-Home-Page/219289764902599

Day 19 Post Op

Today Delaney had a rough day as compared to the past couple of days. Delaney was not able to have any food or liquids past 12am last night because she was preparing for her 2nd surgery today. As you could imagine she wanted her fix of chocolate milk and mac n' cheese, but it had to wait until about 2 pm this afternoon. She had to let the anesthesia wear off and then have little sips of water to make sure she could keep liquids and foods down, then she could eat. No PT today as well because of the the surgery. It would have been nice to work on her sitting up and using her neck muscle. The 2nd surgery consisted of inserting a Broviac catheter, a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) and replacing her feeding to the other nostril. The Broviac or central line, will be in place until the chemo treatment is completed. From the Broviac, all IV fluids will be administered, from normal saline to the chemo treatment. The lumbar puncture was performed as a baseline to see if there are any cancerous tumor cells in the spinal fluid. Delaney did express some pain in her back, and looked to be in some degree of discomfort from the surgery and she was given a small dose of morphine to curb the pain. After surgery, emerging from the haze of anesthesia and morphine Delaney spent the rest of the evening recovering. Looks like we will be moving to the pediatric unit within the next few days. It will be a transition for us because we have gotten used to our amazing PICU nurses and individualized care!! This week we will be learning how to care for the Broviac (flush and heparin lock on a daily basis, draw labs from it and change the dressing) these are all very sterile procedures and make us very anxious! Thank you all again for the love and support!

GO TEAM DELANEY!!

Quote of the day "Everyone wants happiness, no one wants pain, but you can't make a rainbow without a little rain."