All Creatures Great and Small

Happy Friday! Georgia had another LP-ITC yesterday, with bonus PEG shots, so she's been taking it easy today. She feels pretty good, just sore. Luckily, we're not due back at the clinic for a week, so she can recharge until then. And after eating everything in sight while she was on the steroids, now she has hardly any appetite, but somehow always has room for popsicles or ice cream. Hmmm. The shift is totally normal and to be expected, and I'm pretty sure she's still growing like a weed in spite of it all. She's eyeing my shoes ever closer, willing her feet to grow just that little half a size more, after which, I will be shoeless.

In other news, seeing as Georgia has totally captivated the human world with her story, she is now inspiring our furry friends in the animal world as well:

Dear Georgia,

We have been thinking about you lately. Everyone in our family has your bracelets, and they even let us wear them! We are the talk of the neighborhood! All of our fellow furry friends are envious of us as we go for a walk around the neighborhood with your bracelets on.

I wonder if there are any other furry supporters of yours out there?

Do you think you could post our photo on your blog? While we do sleep a lot during the day, and our mom thinks that we are quite lazy, we think of you a lot. We “paws” to salute you.

Love,

Maggie and Penny

Your furry four-legged friends in St. Louis

I'd love to put a bracelet on our cat, JoJo, but I value my limbs and eyesight too much. That said, any other animal fans out there? Send us your picture and we'll post it here!

Have a great weekend, and please remember to Keep Georgia on Your Mind!

Snow Day! Snow Day! Snow Day!

Okay, more like a "snow" day - but, around here, it's cause for celebration! It was quick, but we had enough time for a quick snowball fight, a mini-snowman, and some yummy hot chocolate. Of course, this being Texas, we'll be back in the 50s tomorrow. Check out these snowbunnies:

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

Even after another long week, featuring another LP-ITC and another transfusion, Georgia had another great weekend! She felt so good yesterday, she and Ivy were playing Wii and giggling just like "normal." Her ANC was below 500 again, so we have to be extra careful this week to avoid any infection, but other than that, she's doing super!

Speaking of super, we met Will and Dianna Bacon last weekend when they were in town for a marathon. Georgia was thrilled with all of the Team in Training gear they brought her, but she was most excited about a very special gift - a Texas flag that flew over the State Capitol on the date of her remission! What a special way to remember a most special day. We enjoyed meeting Will and Dianna and look forward to cheering him on in May when he rides in the Shiner GASP. Click on his picture in the sidebar to see his updated TNT page, and if you haven't already, please donate in support of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

In other fundraising news, we're off and running with our St. Baldrick's campaign, so click on the link in the sidebar if you want to donate as we "shave the way" to conquer childhood cancers! Also, we just got in some more bracelets, and we now have youth size, too, so email us at the address in the sidebar and we'll get some out to you.

Finally, we've started a Facebook group called, what else, "Keepin' Georgia on Your Mind," as another way to share updates and pictures, etc.. Next time you're over there, make sure to join us and invite your friends - Georgia loves a party, so the more the merrier!

Thanks everyone - and have a great week!

Peach Fuzz

So remember that special announcement I said was coming soon? Well, here it is: Next month, March 20th to be exact, we're shaving our heads for Georgia! Yes! The Peachy Keens are participating in St. Baldrick's - the world's largest volunteer-driven fundraising program for childhood cancer research - and showing our naked noggin support for Georgia and other children in treatment. Our event will be held at Dell Children's and will feature lots of great games and family activities besides "the mane event" - see how I made that pun there? Ha! We invite everyone to donate! come watch! or even better ... join us! I'm the Team Captain and Trevor and Georgia's Poppa are my wingmen, but we can always use more heads! All ages are welcome, and while some of us may have more to lose than others (ahem), it should be lots of fun for everyone. Georgia has graciously offered to share her hats with me, and she is really looking forward to seeing some of her doctors and nurses take a turn under the clippers. St. Baldrick's has funded more childhood cancer research grants than any organization except the U.S. government, so we know this small sacrifice will make a big impact for all kids in the fight. Click on the logo over there in the sidebar to get to our team page - you can donate to the team or your favorite shavee, and all the funds raised will go to St. Baldrick's in honor of our superstar, Georgia Lee Moore! Thanks, y'all and we'll see you in the barber chair!

Purple Love*

Purple toes

Purple hair

Purple co-workers

Purple friends

Purple Valentines

Thanks again to everyone who participated in Georgia Day, and we hope you had a Happy Happy Valentine's Day! Much love to all of you!

* Here is the link for the first of four Georgia Day videos. Enjoy!

The Final Frontier

Georgia has received comments here from someone in every state in the United States. She's also received comments from people in countries all over the world, from all seven continents, including two comments from some friendly scientists down in Antarctica. We have enjoyed reading every one of them and plotting them on our maps. But really, once you've conquered the world, what's a girl to do? How about have wonderful friends (Hi Michele! Hi Frank!) who work at NASA that can get you a comment from SPACE?!

Yup. Look what was in our inbox last night:

Dear Georgia:

My friend Michele tells me that you're a big space fan, so I thought you'd like to get an email from the space shuttle Endeavor. Right now we're 200 miles above the south Atlantic, headed for a rendezvous with the International Space Station. The view of Earth is breathtaking. Michele can tell you how to see the photos of the mission online.

Good luck with your chemotherapy.

With my best wishes,

Nicholas Patrick

STS-130 Mission Specialist

To infinity and beyond, indeed! Here's a picture of the whole shuttle crew, with our personal hero there on the far left:

This is his second shuttle mission, and this time, he'll be performing three space walks! Click here for more information about this mission, crew interviews, and training photos - so very cool. Unless we can work out some kind of Back to the Future time travel, I'm not sure we can top this!

Georgia had another long-ish day at the clinic yesterday, mostly because she needed two units of blood. Low hemoglobin counts are pretty par for the course during treatment, so she'll probably be getting more transfusions as we go. It takes about two hours per unit of blood, but she is always energized for several days afterward - giving her more power to fight! She was feeling a little puny yesterday morning, but so far, she seems to be fairly side effect-free after the new medicines, so that's a relief. After a short day today and tomorrow, she'll have three days to rest, and then we start all over again on Tuesday. She's doing so well though, we know she can do it!

Let The Consolidating Begin

Today was a long, LONG day at the clinic for Georgia's first day of the Consolidation phase of treatment. We checked in this morning at 7:45 am, and we left at 5:30 pm! She had a Lumbar Puncture with Intrathecal Chemotherapy (LP-ITC) and then two new IV medicines, one of which requires a lot of fluids before and after administration. We also got a prescription for her first oral chemotherapy medicine. While we're glad to be moving on to the next phase, it's a bit intimidating because there is a lot more to learn and a lot of "new" coming at us. Hopefully, Georgia will tolerate everything as well as she has so far, and if not, we've got medicines to help her through the side effects. But let's think positive, okay? : )

This phase of treatment is more intense than the initial Induction phase, so we're very thankful Georgia had last week "off" to gear up for it. For these next two weeks, she'll go to the clinic Tuesday-Friday, and then once or twice a week for the following two weeks. Rinse, repeat for another four weeks, minus any day surgery. This first month, she'll have one LP-ITC each week, plus one round of PEG shots in the third week (remember those from the hospital?). She and I figured out that over the next three phases of treatment (which are eight weeks each), she'll have to be "asleep" nine times (counting today) and have PEG shots six times. But she's ready - our girl is made of steel, y'all! And everyone, everyone, comments on how sweet she is. The absolute model patient.

We have more "purple pictures" to post (say that three times fast), and we've got a special announcement coming soon, so stay tuned. This week, we're really focused on this new phase of treatment, so please send all your positive energy and prayers Georgia's way. Thanks for always keeping her on your mind!

Simple Gifts

Most every Friday during the school year, the Parkside community gathers for group singing and movement. It is a very sweet, very cherished tradition called "Simple Gifts," as we begin each time with that beautiful song. This Friday, there was a special Simple Gifts celebration in Georgia's honor, and we want to thank Jacqui for shooting the videos, Magnus for making the beautiful flags for Primary II, and all of our other friends for wearing purple and sending Georgia their love! Special thanks to Joe and Claire (Directors/Angels), Catherine and Melvin (Georgia's teachers), and Toni and Lisa (Ivy's teachers). One of the biggest comforts in this whole experience is just being part of this community, this family, and feeling the love and support that surround both of our girls every day. We love all of you!

Ivy and Ava welcomed everyone

Magnus made flags for Primary II

Ivy led the "Sunrise" song

Upper El accentuates the positive

Grandparents Romy and Ratty get into the act

Cousins Owen and Evelyn don their purple, too!

Sorry, Daddy. Your purple Vikings jersey will have to wait until next season. : )

A message from Upper El

We have to post the longer video on YouTube, so we'll post the link once we get it loaded. And if you want to learn more about Parkside Community School, or Montessori education in general, click here.

Have You Heard?

Our dear Parkside community has planned a celebration in Georgia's honor, and we want to spread the love to all of you, too! So, wherever you are, wear some purple tomorrow and send your picture to georgiabracelets@gmail.com - we'll post it here! And speaking of purple, that's Will's Team in Training color, too, so if you haven't donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society yet, how about doing it on Georgia Day!

Gimme a "Z"

Z for ZERO! We got the call from Dr. Neff this morning - Georgia is in Remission! Let's say that again - Georgia is in Remission! The percentage of leukemia cells in her bone marrow is down to ZERO, and the Minimal Residual Disease test was negative, which is exactly what we wanted. So those bad cells have hit the road, Jack, and now we'll spend the next five-plus months making sure they don't come back no more, no more, no more, no more.

This is a huge first step on a long journey, and the hardest part is yet to come. But with Georgia's amazing strength and incredible grace, she's going to get there, and we hope you'll continue to walk along with her. Thanks again, everyone, and much love to all of you.