Well I think it’s best to start this blog with some of the best news ever…..normally I save some of that for the end of the blog but not this time…not today!  We learned last week from Belle’s MRI on Thursday that according to the MRI scan that there is NO MORE EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!!!  Oh my gosh so absolutely freaking amazing!  Praise GOD!!  I can’t even begin to tell you how much this news means to us…we have been on cloud 9 since hearing the news.  It is my pleasure to say for the first time in 2 years that the McAllister Family is free of cancer!  If that doesn’t give you goosebumps or just put the biggest smile on your face then I don’t know what will.  What a huge weight to be lifted from our shoulders.  MRI below shows the MRI from the diagnosis and then the one recently taken on 4/6/17.  The marker of the tumor will always be there, similar to scare tissue.

(MRI above at Diagnosis 12/15/15 )

(MRI above 4/6/17)

It has been a very difficult 2 years with many ups and downs….but we can now start move forward and put this journey behind us!  We are so happy to share this amazing news.  When I told Belle the great news she had the most amazing, heartfelt, ecstatic response I could ever imagine.  I was on my knees looking right into her eyes and told her that her cancer was all gone.  She immediately starting crying and hugging me and then asked “Daddy does that mean I don’t have cancer in my head anymore?”….I was able to tell my amazing, strong, courageous 8 year old daughter “Yes baby…your cancer is all gone…it’s no longer there!”  What a GREAT DAY!  It was so amazing to see this response from daughter as she truly understood the magnitude of the news.  My son was equally happy and in tears….geez all of us were in tears of joy to be fair!  I can’t explain fully what the last two year have been like but I can tell you that we are so grateful for everything and the blessing of God to have my family be healed of this horrible disease.  I can’t say what tomorrow will bring but I can tell you we will most certainly enjoy today to its fullest and let tomorrow worry about itself.

The last 3 months have been amazing with many things to celebrate.  As some of you may know Isabelle was granted her wish to go to Disneyworld from Make-a-Wish!  Now to clarify since some see Make-a-wish as an organization that only deals with terminally-ill children…that is not the case….I too thought that was the case which scared the crap out of me when I learned that our family had been selected.  Make-a-wish grants wishes to children that are facing life-threating diseases or genetic issues.  Belle’s wish to go to Disneyworld and meet the princesses was granted and we had the pleasure of going to Disneyworld over spring break.  Additionally our family was selected as the Wish Week Family for Chaparal High School.  Our family was the face and representation for the Make-a-wish program.  There are many other Douglas Country schools that participate in this wonderful program that helps raise money to grant kids wishes.  Let start with telling you how amazing the Chaparral High School wish week was for our family.

I have to give huge props to Chaparral High School, the amazing students, the dedicated facility and one person in particular Kathy Gappinger for making us and Belle specifically….feel so loved and special during a difficult time in our lives.  The week start with an opening ceremony to introduce us to the school which was kept secret leading up the wish week events.  Here is a video from the opening ceremony that introduced our family…it’s a tear jerker just a heads up if you haven’t seen it yet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O_li7KKwgU

The opening ceremony was so amazing…..the student’s energy and compassion for this program was astounding!   It gives me goosebumps now just thinking about it.  The kids in their student government that arrange all the events did an outstanding job!  There are some amazing and great kids at that school!  The week was filled with tons of things to do that helped raise money for MAW.  They made Belle feel like a celebrity as we made every effort to attend every event possible including a 5k run (well….5k walk for belle and I), Wish Festival with tons of fun stuff for the kids, movie night to watch The Descendants, Dodgeball (yeah those high school baseball players can really throw those dodgeballs), and Skyzone trampoline play area.  We also ate at a multitude of restaurants that gave a portion of their proceeds back to MAW….even though it’s not on our nutritional regiment we still had to support the cause so we ate at Chipotle, Chic-fila, Buffalo Wild Wings and Lil’ Ricci’s pizza thoughout the week! (Here is a video a student made from that week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TJQCOTVtG4)  Let’s just say it was a crazy busy week but it was amazing and something we will never forget!  We felt so loved and so supported by so many that our concerns with cancer just seemed to melt away!  The wish week closed with a Closing Ceremony that had Belle part of the cheerleading routine, feeder schooling into Chaparral had their students come present how much they raised, Isabelle’s class from Wildcat Mountain even came to support her (Thank you Mrs. Messmer and Principal Milley for making that happen)…along with many other mazing speeches and even by Isabelle.  She got up in front of that entire school and spoke on her own….I’m crying now just thinking about it!  Isabelle, Sarah and Michael are so amazing and they give hope to so many others out there!  The school as able to raise $66,000 dollars and grant 9 wishes!  That’s truly astonishing and I couldn’t believe what that school was able to accomplish.  Like I said earlier…..that week at Chaparral was truly life changing and we will never forget that week, the wonderful students and teachers we met or how much they all mean to us!  Here is the closing ceremony video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4RDYhQUqFw.  THANK YOU CHAP FAMILY from the bottom of our hearts for everything!!

After the Chap Wish Week we headed off to Florida over spring break to go hang out with Mickey Mouse and some princesses.  We were so excited to go and have a fun time away from our normal life!  Just to take the time to not worry about life or going to doctor appointments or concerning ourselves with cancer treatments.  Florida was just the ticket we needed….we had an absolute blast!  What a great experience and the weather was wonderful the entire time.  Belle got to meet all of her favorite princesses and Michael got to ride some amazing rollercoaster rides at universal Studios Orlando.  I wish I could say that mom and dad got some time to relax and slow down a little bit but that wasn’t the case.  Disney was balls to the wall the entire time from the moment we woke up to them our head hit the pillow but it was so worth the sacrifice of relaxing on a beach!  And to be fair it was about the kids anyways…the trip was for them to have fun and just be kids!  Mission accomplished for sure.  I think we may have to find a beach to relax on in the very near future. 

That kind of summarizes our last couple months and the amazing news of Belle’s no longer showing any more evidence of disease.  I did ask does that mean she is cancer-free…..apparently that’s a loaded question since no way of truly saying “Cancer-Free”…..but I will certainly take “No evidence of disease” any day!  What a huge success and Belle has been so very strong through the entire process. I hope that all of you reading this share her strong to those who need hope or belief in their life.  Hope that cancer is not always a death sentence, hope that there are great stories of people overcoming cancer, hope that they too can have the same outcome….and obviously the power of belief…belief that God is looking out for us…sometimes the answers of healing and answered and certainly sometimes they are not as God may have a different plan.  I can tell you he has answered our prayers and those who have been praying for us daily that Belle would be healed and free of cancer.  Praise the Lord!  I can’t thank everyone enough for heling us get to where we are today….looking back I wish that I had kept a list of everyone that has been part of the journey….It just means the world to us that we had an army supporting us in so many ways!

What does the future hold for the McAllister Family???  I don’t know obviously but I do know that we will continue to love one another each and every day….we will enjoy the moments and not let them pass us by…I know that we will not go back to the way our lives used to be but to the better lives we have now…celebrating my family every day….and we will continue to do our best at Kicking Cancers Ass!  We will continue all of our nutritional habits and even improving each day in that area as we can always do better….we will continue the essential oils….we will continue the cannabis regiment FOREVER!!  I can’t help but think that there were multiple forces and not just one thing at hand helping get Sarah and Belle to be free of this disease…between the doctors, the chemo, the positive thinking, the essential oils, the cannabis oils, nutritional changes, and God answering our prayers….I think all of those things working together got us to where we are today!  We will continue to work hard and keep cancer at bay to the best of our abilities as this is a life-long fight.  Certainly cancer rear its nasty head and come back BUT we can’t worry ourselves about that…we will just worry about what day gives us and celebrate today!

Matthew 6:25 - 34 - ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸ And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble

I have references this passage a lot over the last 2 years and it will continue to hold true moving forward.  Belle’s next MRI won’t be for another 3 months  and Sarah has her annual scan in Salt Lake City in May so please send you love and prayers for those scans.  I will certainly do a quick blog update after those scans to keep you all informed…until then all of you take care of yourselves and we love you all…..McAllisters out…mic drop!

Love,

Mac, Sarah, Michael and Isabelle! 

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/mcallister-family-medical-fund

Never stop fighting!

(Family that fights together...stays together!)

“Never Stop Fighting”

One year ago our world was rocked….everything got turned upside down yet again!  We as a family had to embrace the fact that Belle had a brain tumor and that we had a long journey ahead of us!  There was so much uncertainty and so many unanswered questions.  After going through the 10 month cancer fight with Sarah and just trying to get her through her cancer battle…..I couldn’t even begin to fathom how the hell we were going to make it through Belle’s cancer battle as well.  I was so mad and angry…..I couldn’t understand for the life of me why the hell we were going through this yet again so quickly after Sarah's diagnosis.  It’s like going 15 rounds with Mike Tyson and then having to fight him again the very next day!  The last two years has been tough to say the least….we have had many low points that have brought us to our breaking point and wanting to just give up but in the same breath we have had some amazing moments of joy and happiness!  Quite an emotional rollercoaster…..ups and downs!  We have learned a lot about ourselves and the strength of our family over the last wo years.  What can I say I guess God build us to last!  I can’t say enough about the resilience of my family….Sarah, Isabelle and Michael have been truly amazing……their strength, fortitude and grit is something to admire.  Isabelle has so much fight in her and her ability to stay happy through all of this has been so great to see!  I know that this has been a tough year for her and she has had to bear the brunt of the cancer fight.  Certainly its hard as a parent to see your child go through this battle but I can’t even being 8 years old and having to go through this….she’s just a kid!  She’s tough as nails but sweet as sugar!  I can’t say enough about Michael as well…..he has had to watch his mom fight breast cancer and his sister fight brain cancer…I’m sure it weighs on him if he is going to get cancer too.  Through all of this he has done well…he even got on honor roll this semester at school and he’s kicking ass in wrestling!  I couldn’t be prouder as a father!  Through all of this we have definitely grown as a family and become closer! 

(Sarah and Belle at her last chemo)

So since the last update a lot has happened and we have good news!  We always cherish the opportunities to celebrate good news when it comes our way.  Isabelle finished her last chemo treatment on 11/23, she was able to finish up the last round of chemo with the vinblastine only.  The carboplatin was too much for her to take for the last round.  Her body just said enough…she did great to get as far as she could until her body said no more.  It was nice to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving without having to worry about chemo.  Finishing chemo is always “bitter sweet” because you no longer have the stress of going through chemo but then you have the concern of what’s next without the chemo keeping cancer at bay.  The oncology teams called a “Leap of Faith”…. trust me its totally the case!  You pray and hope that everything is working correctly and that the body will take over from here and keep killing the cancer.  This is a difficult time to manage emotionally…constantly watching her to make sure nothing else is popping up.  It can easily drive someone crazy!  She has done well since finishing her chemo treatment.  She did have a couple situations arise when we had to get her ANC checked just to make sure she wasn’t neutropenic.  She was dealing with a little bug which did cause for some concern with an elevated temperature but everything is good and well now!  

She had her full body and brain MRI on December 15th which she handled very well.  She was in that MRI machine for an hour and a half….that’s along time to lay in that machine.  But she’s so strong and did great….certainly lorazepam and the movie “Life of Pets” helped but even with that it can be hard to go through those scans awake so way to go Belle!  We did have to wait to get the results until the 16th but Sarah and I have learned this process very well.  If they let us go or there is no neuro-oncologist on the phone with the MRI radiologist tech, then most often things are looking good.  For those of you that have not had the pleasure (haha joking of course) of having sit in one of these rooms with your child, it’s so stressful just waiting and hoping that there is nothing popping up on the MRI that would cause for concern.  I don’t think I will ever get used to watching my loved ones go through these scans…but I muster all my strength and do my best to support Belle.  Her strength helps me so much….funny that she’s the one actually helping me!  I know it’s not easy on Sarah either sitting in the reception area waiting for us to come out.  I think there has been some emotional damage done from the first MRI when we learned that Belle had the tumor….it’s kind of messed us up to be honest!  So I’m sure you want the news from the MRI….drumroll please….(I hope some of you reading this are really doing the drumroll)....Things look great!  The enhancement reduction looks even better than the last MRI, the oncologist cannot say with 100% accuracy if the enhancement is residual fluid or activity of the tumor but everything is pointing in the right direction.  I don’t know what to say….I’m completely overjoyed with happiness for Belle.  She’s not completely out the woods yet because we do have MRI’s every 3 months just to keep an eye on things but we will chalk this up as a huge victory!  We will celebrate this day and Belle…what a rockstar she is!  I would say her treatment has been a success.  I still struggle to let my guard down…even in this moment, I’m still cautiously optimistic…I hope that I can begin to let that go over time.   I don’t think that me being on a constant alert will ever go away 100% but I have come to understand that this is my “new normal”…my new reality if you may!   

(Image above 12/17/15) 

 (Image above 12/15/16)

I used to wish all the time that this had never happened to us and part of me still feels that way!  I remember our life before cancer entered like bull in a china cabinet…..just causing havoc and turmoil at every chance.  But now I realize that this happened to us for some crazy reason….I know that God didn't give Sarah and Belle cancer so that we would appreciate life more and to purposefully change our path but things just happen sometimes.  Life is hard…it has challenges and difficulties….but there are also so many beautiful things to cherish and appreciate it!  I can say whole heartedly that these last two years have helped me just live better and appreciate each and every day more.  I can’t say enough about how much I love my wife and my children!

Isabelle has had such a great support system over the past year from all the friends and family that have helped us navigate this battle as well many people at her school.  I want to really thank those special teachers and administrative staff that made this last year as easy as possible and allowed her to have normal life at school.  She loves going to school and seeing her friends!  It has been very reassuring knowing that she is in such good hands when she is at school.  The school held some wonderful events for her prior to her last chemo treatment.  The school posted words of encouragement on their electronic display board, the principal Mrs. Milley brought her up during a school-wide celebration to congratulate Belle on getting through this difficult year and her wonderful teacher Mrs. Messmer threw her an amazing celebration party!  We are just so fortunate to have some many people helping us along the way!  I guess it’s pretty darn easy to love Belle so I totally get it!

(Isabelle at her party)

(Group huge from her classmates)

(Belle with her teacher Mrs. Messmer)

Other than that we are still forging ahead….we know that the fight is never completely over!  We will stick with eating well, using cannabis oil and essential oils routinely!  The McAllisters will continue to fight and do our best to keep kicking cancers ass!  We will celebrate this Christmas for so many reasons....most importantly Jesus and the precious time with our loved ones.  I encourage each of you to do the very same...time is the most precious gift...so celebrate it with those you love and care for!  This is a special Christmas having come so far in a year!  I truly hope and pray that 2017 is a great year filled with joy and happiness...I think we are due! 

Merry Christmas to everyone!  Thank you so much for all the support and love over the last year....keep those prayers coming and supporting my family....it means the world to us!

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/mcallister-family-medical-fund

Love the McAllisters

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall no perish but have eternal life"

Keep on fighting the good fight!

Keep on fighting the good fight!

It’s been about 3 months since the last update….people often ask how things are going and how Belle is doing.  That’s always a loaded question because physically she is doing really well and she is a normal 7 year old.  Seriously you would never think this child has a brain tumor that has the potential to threaten her life!  It has the potential to be that serious.  This is the same child that laughs and plays all the time.  She dances when her favorite song comes on the television during a Disney show…..she starts singing when a good song comes on the radio.  Even last week at her “Fun Run” at school she ran/walked 5 miles….she’s amazing!  So in that regard she’s doing great!  It’s always difficult to say how things are going inside of her….you know…how the tumor is responding to the chemo and cannabis oils? It’s always a hard question to answer because the scans only come every 3 months….so there is a bit of waiting game!  A game that overwhelms your thoughts constantly and ability to maintain normalcy in life.  To be honest…it’s always on my mind…CANCER!!!  It’s my new normal…but we are adjusting to this new way of life…slowly but surely!

So we had our most recent scan yesterday which always brings stress and anxiety leading up to the scan and waiting to hear the results…..they call it “scanxiety”…let me explain scanxiety to those of you who have not had the pleasure to experience this situation.  The stress and concerns usually starts about 7-10 days out from the scan.  Begins with some anticipation as you want to hear the results to see if things are working but then you start to worry what if they aren’t….DO I REALLY WANT TO KNOW THE RESULTS!?!?!  You bounce back and forth between these thoughts continuously leading up to the scan.  You find yourself sometimes in a daze and just not completely present in the moment.  These feelings and concerns overwhelm you at times which leads to being irritable, frustrated, pissy and just not a pleasure to be around sometimes.  You try and control it and not snap at people or things taking place around you but sometimes it just boils over.  I think as we endure more scans I have gotten better at controlling these emotional responses…..I’m human and not perfect.  Honestly…..it’s very scary and hard to go through…that’s probably the easiest way to describe it!  So if I’m ever an ass to anyone as scans near please forgive me and understand it’s not intentional….it’s just the scanxiety and it’s wonderful contribution on our lives!  I know were not alone as these scans approach and there are many of you out there praying and thinking of us during these difficult times….so thank you so much for helping us pull through this!!  It means the world to our family.

SO TO THE RESULTS…….GREAT NEWS PEOPLE!!!  The tumor is still stable (no new growth) and even appears to be smaller (in my professional) opinion….most importantly along with the tumor being stable is that the enhancement of the tumor is much less….things are working…the oncologist is very happy with the results and likes the progression of things.  He explained that we have 3 more cycles to go and then we are done with chemo…the last 3 cycles can also be the most difficult as the ANC (immune system) counts just don’t bounce back as quickly as they would like which causes chemo to be postponed until they do. So we will just have to see how this next 3 months goes….I can tell you that Belle continues to amaze the staff at Children’s on how well she is doing and that week after week she just continues to fight and do well…her counts continue to bounce back!  She certainly has her times when she isn’t feeling well after chemo but that’s to be expected.  God’s hand is at work here so please keep praying….don’t stop please…..KEEP THOSE PRAYERS COMING!

The rest of the family is doing well and hanging tough as can be.  Michael and Isabelle are back in school and enjoying be back with their friends.  Michael is now in middle school and transitioning nicely everything considered.  Michael has also be through a lot having to see his mom and sister go through cancer, I’m sure it has been difficult on him as well.  He is strong kid and has had a great attitude through all of this.  Isabelle goes to school as much as possible other than the big chemo days, she even goes to school on the days when she only has her small chemo.  The only days she misses is on the big chemo days when she is just too tired to go and comes home to rest like today! I'm so proud of her and her strength!  Having things as normal as possible is important.

I did want to let everyone know that the CBD oils appear to be working, it’s hard to ever say with absolute certainty but I truly believe that it is having a positive effect on her treatment.  The donations that we have received are going a long way in paying for these treatments along with her medical bills.  The cannabis oil isn’t cheap and it cost us about $900 a month to cover those costs so rest assured that those donations that we received at the beginning of her diagnosis is helping us tremendously.  We will continue these CBD oils well after her treatment to ensure that we are keeping her cancer free.  I just want to thank everyone again for all those donations….Sarah and I greatly appreciate it!  More than words can ever express!  It allows us to just focus on Belle and get her well!

Moving forward we will continue the fight and hope that the remaining chemo treatments go well and the tumor continues to go away.  We know that our journey is not over but we are making our way through this process.  Way to go Belle!  We are so blessed that Belle is doing well and that things are going in the right direction…..there are no guarantees when battling cancer!  It’s important to celebrate the successes big and small when they come along.  Praise the Lord!

I did want to share a passage that I read the other day that my friend Jamie posted on FB…it really touched home!

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need and thank Him for all He has done.”  Philippians 4:6

Thank you again to everyone….for the continued prayers, the times when you check in us and see how things are going….for the love that you share for our family!  We couldn’t do it without all of you out there!

Before I go I did want to show the progression of her images to show everyone how things are progressing.  Focus on the white circle object in the middle of her brain...that is tumor!

December 2015 (At Diagnosis)

June 2016 MRI (6 Months into Chemo)

September 2016 MRI (9 Months into Chemo)

So as you can see from the progression of the scans things are improving and heading in the right direction.

Thank you again for reading the blog and following along with Belle's journey....keep those prayers coming for Belle as we still have a journey ahead of us!

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/mcallister-family-medical-fund

Mac, Sarah, Michael and our Belle

Isabelle's Second MRI Results!!

MRI Update 6/25/16

It’s been awhile since we have provided any updates on Belle simply because we have just been staying the course and have not had much new information to share.  Since our last Blog update we have had the opportunity to finally take our first family vacation in more than 2 years.  We did have a couple snafu’s in process of going on vacation but nothing that the McAllisters couldn’t handle.  We were so fortunate to travel to Watercolor, Florida….absolute paradise by the way.  The plan was to leave early morning on Monday May 16^th and stay for 10 days.  Sunday before planning to leave Belle woke up with what appeared to be pinkeye so we headed over to urgent care to get some drops to take of the eye infection.  When we arrived they took her temperature and informed me that she had a temp of 102.3…..oh great!!  I had no idea…I simply thought she had a local infection but there was much more going on.  She was coming off her last chemo of her 5^th cycle and normally there are no complications but of course we weren’t that lucky!  We rushed over to Children’s Hospital south to figure out what was going on and see what her counts were at.  In the game of chemo….a temp over 101 and a ANC count lower than 500 typically means a guaranteed stay in the hospital for 2 day…..so needless to say that is the direction I thought things were going.  We got her counts back after they accessed her port and they were at 480.  Of course Sarah and started wondering if this vacation was going to happen at all….She was not very happy!!  First thing first…get Belle better!  We spent about 8 hours at Children’s where they gave her antibiotics and an immune booster shot (similar to Neulasta).  They said we need to see her in the morning and check her counts….sorry to say but you cannot go on that airplane in the morning!  We did get a little lucky that they didn’t admit her to the hospital for a mandatory 2 days of antibiotics and other medications.  Yeah that sucked to hear….I told Sarah that “no matter what Michael, her and my mother will be on that plane tomorrow to Florida, you guys deserve this trip!!!”….Belle and I will be there as soon as we can get down there!  Well off to Florida they went and Isabelle and I headed to Children’s hospital Monday morning to see where her count were at…..great news they jumped to 980.  They said we are getting you on a plane to Florida no matter what it takes.  The staff at Children’s Hospital is truly amazing!  Belle got one more round of IV antibiotics and another immune booster shot!  I told Belle that we would be heading to Florida the next morning 1 day later than planned.  Everything ended up working out other than the additional cost by United Airlines to change flights so that was disappointing.  In hindsight…things happen for a reason and God is watching over us!  Had we gone to Florida and her infection/temperature presented itself down there……well that would been a lot more difficult to deal with given our location and having to deal with staff and facilities that we are not familiar with.  I’m sure she would have been in great hands in Florida had that situation had taken place but it was nice to be here at home and working to get her well here in Colorado.

Florida was so much fun….beach, pools, great food, and relaxation…..we had 10 days to just enjoy life and not constantly think about fighting cancer!!  I miss the days before we started this journey with Sarah and now Belle….days when our biggest concerns were petty in comparison.  I wish and pray that those days come back again for us when we do not have to consistently concern ourselves with cancer.  It’s very draining emotionally and physically….all we can do is do our best to navigate each day…appreciate the time that we have with another and not miss the good moments that life gives us!  There is certainly something to be learned and appreciated as we go through these challenging times….

So overall Florida was great and the time we got to spend with each other will always be memorable!

We have not had any setbacks since her minor hospitalization leading up to Florida.  She had her big chemo session for 7^th chemo cycle yesterday 6/24/16…..Michael’s 11^th birthday!  Happy birthday big guy!  We also had her first MRI since March….I can tell you that going into these MRI’s whether it’s with Sarah or Isabelle…its very nerve racking…hard to explain because you have emotions of optimism and concern all at once!  We had her MRI first before chemo….the MRI takes about 45 minutes or so…and then up to chemo for about 4-5 hours….yesterday was a long day!  We got the MRI results back and they informed us that the tumor has not grown but it has not shrunk….what does that mean some of you may ask?  Sarah and I were very much looking to see it shrink as anyone would.  We were disappointed to say the least….I think when you see this tumor in the MRI images and your hope and wish is to see it start to go away…in our mind that means positive progress.  Well I guess in the world of fighting cancer…shrinkage/stabilization are one in the same!  The oncologist would have liked to see some shrinkage but was happy to see that it was still stable and no growth was taking place.  I was even walking down the infusion area hallway and one of the main nurses came up to me and said congrats!!  I was a little confused at the time because my mind was still stuck on this concept that we need to see shrinkage to support that things are working.  Honestly I would have to say that Sarah and I struggled yesterday with the MRI results…we wanted to see shrinkage…so much wanted to see that the tumor was starting to go away!!  It took some time and reflection for us to realize that stabilizing the tumor and no new growth is a blessing and that we should be grateful that it’s not growing!  So after some tears and frustration yesterday…..we determined that yesterday was a GREAT day and stabilizing the tumor is great new  We will continue to fight for Belle and she will continue to fight as well!  We will take what the Lord grants us and pray that he gives us the strength to get through each day!  I pray that he will bare our burdens and comfort us when we need him the most!  The nest MRI will be in 3 months…..no changes to her chemo regiment at this time!  No need to take more aggressive steps!

Sarah and I have discussed making some changes to our nutritional dietary habits as a family since those brain tumors just love glucose.  So our next step is to approach Children’s Hospital next week to see if they can provide us with nutritional support for a more Ketogenic diet for ALL of us not just Belle.  This is a team effort and we can’t expect just Belle to make these sacrifices!  We are also planning on modifying her CBD/THC oil regiment…from further research it has come to my attention that other people/children fighting cancer and eliminated cancer with the aid of cannabis oils were taking 5-6 times more than Belle is currently taking…..so needless to say we aren’t giving her enough!  As it is with chemo and other medications they say “hit it hard and hit it fast” so I think we need to take the same approach with this alternative options that we are using in addition to the chemo.  If anyone has any insight to dosing regiments that would be great….we are certainly in uncharted territory here!  We are going to push it to the max over the next 3 months both in our dietary habits and oils to see if we can get that shrinkage that Sarah and I are so desperately wanting!

Other than that I will be taking Michael and his buddies to the Rockies game to celebrate his birthday…no need to let cancer stand in our way of celebrating his special day or enjoying LIFE!  Belle is doing great….truly she is doing so well……physically and mentally she is completely “normal”….well as normal as any other little 7 year old princess can be! HaHa

Until next time…thank you to everyone out there continuing to support and pray for us…those that are always keeping us positive and staying the course!  We appreciate each and every one of you!

GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/mcallister-family-medical-fund

God Bless,

Mac and Family

Keep Fighting the Good Fight!

“McAllister Girls” are still kicking cancers ass!

Sorry for the time gap on the blog postings…..it has been about a month or so since my last post!  I took some time off from blogging!  But I felt it was time to get back at it and let everyone know how Isabelle and Sarah are doing.  Isabelle is doing great and managing her chemo with flying colors!  That little brave girl of mine very rarely ever complains…..she’s such a trooper!  The worst part of her chemo sessions is that she is scared of the needle and accessing her “power port”….which I totally understand…who wants needle stuck in their chest every week???  Ummm no one! Yet she musters all her strength and courage and still goes in there almost every Friday with a good attitude and smile on her face!  I can tell you that she is as normal as any other 7 year old which a true blessing and praise the Lord!  She only has a small residual issue from the surgery….mostly balance issues when she is trying to stand on one foot or walk on a line toe-to-heal.  They said that can take a long time to resolve and may never completely come back to normal but she’s perfect in my eyes!  Her next MRI is June 24^th and I’m very optimistic for the results.  I truly believe that the CBD/THC oil along with the chemo is doing their job to kill the cancer.  She is acclimating to the regiment of taking the oils morning, afternoon, and night!  We are pushing them to the most that she can tolerate and not seeing any side-effects….everything is very encouraging! 

Life is starting to feel somewhat normal….I guess as normal as things can be given our last year!  I think Sarah and I consistently have cancer on the brain but it seems to be getting more manageable and we just learn to acclimate!  It’s a little difficult to explain the emotional and mental strain that cancer brings into your life and trying to find some sense of normalcy afterwards.  I don’t think life will ever be the same again as It was before Sarah was diagnosed with her breast cancer and then learning of Isabelle’s diagnosis.  I wouldn’t wish it on anyone!  I think we just do our best to take one day at a time and be grateful for each day that we are healthy and well!  We smile more and more each day……and cry when life gets pushes us to our limits!  Life certainly has its up’s and downs!

Update on Sarah: we went to the University of Utah recently for Sarah to get her full body MRI.  Good news is that everything came back clear and she is cancer free…now this full body MRI technology is not 100% as its can’t see everything to smallest cell but it’s the best we have and they gave us good news so we will take what we can get.  We had the chance to meet a great doctor by the name of Dr. Joshua Schiffman and he was truly amazing doctor.  I can’t say enough about his compassion and drive to eliminate cancer.  He is pretty freaking awesome!!  Here some tidbits from our 2 hour conversation with Dr. Schiffman.  He is currently doing research on elephants and their TP53 genes…..what is a TP53 gene some of you may ask?  The TP53 is the cancer suppressor gene that helps correct mutated cell growth….essentially it helps ensure that we don’t get cancer!  So 99.9% of humans have 2 fully functioning TP53 genes but sometimes the genes still get the coding incorrect and then the cancer begins to grow….so here is the interesting part and how he thinks elephants are the answer to all of our cancers problems!!  Elephants are very large and live to be in there 70’s or 80’s yet they very rarely if ever ever ever get cancer….which doesn’t follow logic given how large they are and how long they live that given the number of times cells are replicated that at some point there should be a mutation and cancer SHOULD develop but it doesn’t…..the answer you ask!?!?  Elephants have 40 TP53 cancer suppressor genes….how cool is that!!  His plan which is in full effect…….he is working with a geneticist in Israel to utilize the elephant TP53 gene along with nanotechnology to eliminate cancer! BOOM……Honestly it just give me goosebumps to think about this stuff and that people are working so hard to ride the human race of cancer concerns!  I’m so encouraged by this effort with the elephant research, the Sean Parker Institute, Biden’s” Moonshot” initiative to eliminate cancer…..its all good stuff!  I’m banking on the elephants…..go to the basis of the problem and correct the TP53 issue!  Either way meeting with Dr. Schiffman was great and he gives me a lot of hope as he believes that the first human trials will be in 2-3 years! 

If you want to learn more about Dr. Schiffman and his research and to possible donate to his efforts please check out these articles (spread the word as I’m sure we all know someone dealing with cancer in one way or another):

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/elephants-rarely-develop-cancer-could-hint-at-future-breakthroughs/

http://healthcare.utah.edu/huntsmancancerinstitute/research/labs/schiffman/

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/13/science/why-elephants-get-less-cancer.html?_r=0

Other than that we are just forging ahead and staying the course!  Life is good and we are looking forward to the day that all of the McAllister’s are cancer-free!  We will keep fighting the good fight and kicking cancer’s ass!  Until next time folks….keep praying for us and keep Belle in your thoughts and prayers!

God Bless,

Mac