| Savannah Rose Mutchie |
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| Jeffrey A. & Anna S. Mutchie |
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| On Friday June 29 we had to take our 10yr old Lisa to the doctor because she was sick (Tonsillitis). On Saturday our baby started getting sick (Vomiting,Drowsy,No Fever that we could detect even with a thermometer) we thought she was getting what Lisa had. Monday afternoon her breathing looked labored so I took her to the doctor's office, when he examined her he told me to get her to the ER that he wanted a chest x-ray. The x-ray showed that her left lung was completely filled with fluid. She stopped breathing while they where putting in the first chest tube so they began breathing for her, they tried for over six hours to get an I.V. started on her with no luck, 10oz of fluid came out of her lung. She was then transported to Valley Childrens Hospital Pediatric ICU and a I.V. was surgically put in to her there, she stayed in the ICU until she was able to breath on her own. They told us that she probably had a bacterial pneumonia and that the x-ray was unclear but there was a mass of something. Two weeks later (July 17th) when the antibiotics had no affect and they still had no clear x-ray to determine what was going on she was taken in for exploratory surgery. When the doctor came out our world was shattered he told us that there was a tumor completely surrounding her lung and that it was malignant they removed 50% of the tumor and her lung started to work again. But we would have to wait for the pathology report to determine the type of cancer. When the pathology report came back things only got worse "she has a very rare and very aggressive form of cancer" they called it a "Rhabdoid Tumor" this is one of the worst forms of cancer she could have gotten. Right now our options are limited to chemotherapy only, because of her age and the location of the tumor, radiation is not an option. She has been stabilized and was given her first round of chemo about three weeks ago and then they let us take her home on Saturday (8/11/01) until yesterday when she needed to be back for the start of her next round of chemotherapy so she will most likely by in the hospital until Monday, as long as she is doing alright we will be able to bring her home again until the next round. We do have to continue to give her I.V.'s at home for about 14hrs a day as a nutritional supplement because she doesn't eat much anymore she had lost 1/3 of her body weight during all of this but we are trying to regain that. Update Monday 08-20-01: We where able to bring her home yesterday until Thursday when she has to go back for another blood transfusion. Savannah has been handling the chemotherapy real well so far. She is staying in real good spirits and has even started to eat some even while she is receiving her chemo treatments. It's quite the effort to get anyone to eat when their stomach is telling them that if you do this I will protest with vengeance. Update Wednesday 09-12-01: In spite of all the tragedy that has affected our nation in the past 24hrs. We are preparing to go back to the hospital today. Last week her blood counts where to low for her to be admitted for treatment, however a chest x-ray was taken to see how her lung was looking and there seems to be a noticeable difference in the size of the tumor. Her weight has come up she is now at 7.83kg / 17.26lbs and has been catching up on the time that she was hospitalized it is hard to get her to stay still long enough to change her bandages and do cap changes on her broviac tube. It is like trying to stop a frieght train, she is on the move, crawling everywhere. Savannah will receive her chemotherapy tonight and for the next five nights, what the pharmacist calls his witches brew, because each patients chemotherapy is made to order. We will keep you updated from time to time on her progress. In the meantime I would like to encourage everyone to go donate blood and say a prayer not only for Savannah but for all of the victims in New York & Washington. Update Saturday 09-15-01: Savannah is handleing the chemotharapy well, not much in the way of side affects of course the doctors give her medicine to prevent any nausea but even at home after she has just finished with a round of chemo she really doesn't seem to get nauseated hardly at all she just tapers off on eating for a day or two then starts picking it back up again. The doctor told us today that she will be schedualed for another CT scan during her next 3 day course which will be in another 2-3 weeks. The way she is going this time it looks like she will most likely get to come home on monday afternoon after she has her blood counts checked again. She is looking a little pale right now so she might have to get another blood transfusion before coming home and I will have to start giving her shots to help boost her white blood cell production, so I had to learn how to give a shot yesterday. Update Wednesday 09-26-01: The shots to help boost her white blood cell production have been going relatively well, she will get upset when she see's the syringe but when it is all over with she is all smiles again. We had quite the night last night, when we went to change her dressings and change the cap on her Broviac tube we noticed that she had been pulling on the tube and had torn it. I called the Hospital to inform them that it was torn but not completely in half and that I was bringing her in to have it repaired. With all of the wiggling & fussing that miss Savannah was doing it took the nurse three tries to get the repair completed. When we finally got her home it was around 10:30-11:00pm. It makes for a long day for dad who gets up for work at 4:30am. Today we get to go back to the hospital for her regular weekly appointment to see how her blood counts are doing and then she should be going into the hospital for her chemotherapy on 10-03-01 and have a CT scan done as well. She did it again, after I left work to take her for her appointment Anja called me to tell me that she broke her broviac tube again, this time though she broke it completely and blood was coming out so Anja had to clamp it off until I could get her to the hospital. Her blood work came back and she is doing real well right now on her blood counts, actually the best she has been so far. The doctors are very impressed with her progress! Update Thursday 10-04-01: Today has been the best day we have had in a long time. We met with the doctor to review Savannah's latest CT scan from yesterday and compare it to the last CT done on 23 July. It's truely amazing, "IT'S WORKING" the tumor has shrunk by over 50%. You don't know how releived & happy that makes us feel to hear those words. Today was also a hard day, It as the first time I can remember Savannah crying when we had to leave to come home. Naturally I had to turn around and go back to give her some more hugs & kisses and to tell her we would be back to see her tomarrow. When she settled down I walked to where she couldn't see me and waited to see if she was going to start crying again, not this time , she was already playing with her toys and having some fun again. She should be coming home again on Saturday, we always look forwrd to her coming home. I would also like to ask everyone who reads this to keep Mr. David Watts in your prayers as well, Dave is the President & CEO for Granite Construction Inc. (my employer) David Watts as well as many other poeple have taken an interest in Savannah's condition and now he has just been told that he has cancer, a Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This is a very treatable form of cancer but it is still cancer and as such it is still a one on one battle against the beast. Dave my family & I want you to know that your in our thoughts and prayers as you begin your fight to survive. You will not be alone in this, God is with you every step of the way and so are many others who will be praying for your survival. Update Thursday 10-11-01: Yesterday I had to take Savannah to her weekly appointment so her blood counts could be checked, they were all normal except her hemoglobins so she received another blood transfusion. The doctor has started her on the GCSF shots again to boost white cell production, our home care provider has been switched by the insurance company I beleive it had something to do who is contracted and who is not. I havn't been very impressed with the new company yet but I will give them a chance. I was contacted today by a little girl's mother and father (Mr. & Mrs. Bomar) in Oregon, their daughter Kate is about 5 months old and was just diagnosed in September with the same type off cancer as Savannah the only differance is that it is her right lung that is affected. Please keep little Kate in your prayers as well, this is a very hard thing to go through and I hope and pray that they will have the love and support like we have received and may god provide them with the strength (and a miricle) to prevail in their fight to save Kate as well. My Uncle Bernie is also fighting cancer and he is having a hard time right now. Uncle Bernie I think of you and Aunt Sue often, I know you have been through a lot, it would drain anyone to the core and yet you still stand strong. You are both truely admired and loved I thank you for being a part of my family. Love Jeffrey A special prayer for Uncle Bernie: May God bless and protect you in your time of need. Let him watch over you and guide you through those days that try you most, let him ease your pain and comfort your soul. Amen Update Sunday 10-14-01: Savannah is back in the hospital as of Friday afternoon because she was vomiting and running a temp. of 103.4 her White Blood Counts and ANC's have also bottomed out, lower than we have seen them go so far but they are trying to come back up, the doctors have told us she will probably have to stay for a couple of days.They are running some cultures to see what is going on and we should know something when those cultures come back. Update Wednesday 10-17-01: The cultures have come back and Savannah has a bacterial infection called PSEUDOMONA. they are giving her anti-biotics and she is doing better the fever is gone, but it is a nasty little bug that is very resistent to most anti-biotics and it is really playing havoc with her blood counts. Since 10-11-01 Savannah has had to have another transfusion because her platelets where to low and she is leaning more towards needing another because her red blood cells are low again. As of today her whites are starting to come back up she was down to .5 two days ago and today she is up to .8 normal is in the range of 6.0-17.5 and her ANC's were at 40 and it should be 1500+ but it is normal for them to drop after having chemotherapy just not quite so low, that is why she receives GCSF shots to boost the white cell production. Overall she is doing great and the doctor said there is no need to replace her broviac tube until her blood counts come back up or until Savannah pulls on it to much and breaks it again, we'll wait. No need for any extra surgeries if she doesn't need them. Update Sunday 10-28-01: We have gotten past the pseudomona and continue on with the same broviac tube (It is still in one piece). Savannah was able to come home Friday 10-19-01 until Wednesday when she had to be back for her regularly scheduled chemotherapy, all has gone well with that and she came home again Friday evening after they finished with her chemotherapy it was a nice surprise for us because they usually keep her overnight afterwards. Other than that everything has been going well all of the kids are looking forward to Halloween. Update Thursday 11-08-01: Savannah keeps doing well her weight is inching up just a little and we did notice that her platelets were on the down slide (she started getting bruises from everything she was bumping into), so yesterday Savannah was given a transfusion of platelets and she took a nice long nap on my chest while the platelets were being infused, (she hasn't done that for some time) I really enjoyed it, she is usually always on the go. Yesterday before I got home from work she was playing in her room and found the baby powder, I don't think I need to say any more. Savannah will be home again until next Wednesday 11-14-01 when she has to check in for chemo again (another 5-day stay) until then its back to playing for my little one. In the past two days we had to go for parent teacher conferences at school and I'm happy to say that all of the kids are doing very well in their classes, they all had very good grades. Update Wednesday 11-14-01: I can't believe it's already been four months since we started all of this and Savannah is doing so well. Looking at her you can't even tell that she is sick unless you look under shirt or compare pictures from before her hair thinned out. Savannah is by far the happiest child I can remember seeing at the hospital except when we have to go home and she is still awake, but that only lasts about 2 minutes then someone from the nursing staff or a volunteer is right there to play with her. Savannah honestly has a lot of friends at Valley Childrens Hospital and I can't thank them all enough they really take good care of her. Update Wednesday 11-21-01: Savannah's chemo went well and she was released on sunday evening after her broviac tube was repaired again. She has no choice now it is really starting to get short so in 2 weeks when she is on the high side for her blood counts the doctors want to replace the tube and put a slightly larger one in the hopes that a bigger one will last longer Savannah seems to enjoy playing with it whenever she can get her little hands on it. The larger broviac will have a thicker wall to it so it shouldn't break as easily from Savannah's playing with it. We did go in for her weekly appointment today and right now her blood counts are very good but they will be starting to slide from having her chemo the one that is the lowest right now is her hemoglobin so I am kind of expecting her to need another transfusion next week. We'll see, Anja and the kids also put up the Christmas decorations today and Savannah's eyes lit right up and there was this little squeek of excitement from her as they lit the tree lights it was wonderful to see. We would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving and Holiday Season we wish you could all be here. Update Saturday 12-01-01: Savannah has been pretty restless the last couple of nights and today her stomach was a bit unsettled I really think she wanted to eat but just couldn't hold it down she got real fussy when we started eating so we offered her some solid food and she seemed to enjoy it but then it came up. I hope she will sleep more peacefully tonight. Wednesday she is supposed to go in for her chemotherapy again and this time they are going to do another CT scan and replace her broviac tube. I have to call the hospital Monday morning to find out what they had called about on Friday. I beleive they want to move up her appointment time so she can have the CT done early. Savannah is supposed to be in for 3 days this time but it could wind up being a little longer depending on the broviac replacement, because it is a surgical procedure they may keep her in longer. I hope not, Saturday is going to be her 1st birthday and we were hoping to make a to-do of it at home but if we have to we'll celebrate at the hospital with the staff and the other children. I'm so very proud of her, she is trully a little fighter here. I don't think I could do as well as she is if it where me, she is a strong little girl and I love her with all my heart. Update Wednesday 12-05-01: Today has not been a good day, Savannah had her CT done this morning and it wasn't good. The tumor has grown significantly, I havn't seen the pictures yet I can only relay what the doctor has told me. It was real hard telling Anja the news of the setback, she is so worried about Savannah. Dr. Pamela Lamers would like to switch the chemo regime after this course of treatment. Savannah has done real well with the Carboplatin and VP16 that she believes that it was the Cytoxin that became ineffective so we continue on with this course, change the next course and pray that she will have better results. I've had an uneasy feeling all this week because Savannah hadn't been sleeping the same at night, she seemed restless, would lay on her stomach with her knees tucked up under her and would cry out at times Dr. Lamers and I think she was probably having some pain. It has really been a hard day emotionally. Update Thursday 12-06-01: Savannaah's tumor is almost back to its original size, it is now in the top of her lung, he bottom of her lung, inside her lung, on the top of her diaphram, and it looks like it is closer to her heart. The Doctors are going to consult with the surgeon tomarrow and will scan the rest of her body to see if the cancer has gotten into any other parts of her body. Dr Palmer told us this evening that with the extent of the growth it may be to risky for Savannah to survive a major surgery. They are going to change her chemotherapy and bring her back in just as soon as her blood counts will allow another course of chemo. We are all very scared, if they cannot get the tumor to shrink we may lose her. I will write more as soon as we have more information for now please pray your hearts out for our little angel she really needs it. |
| Born: December 8, 2000 Age at diagnosis: 7 months Diagnosis: Rhabdoid Tumor (Rhabdomyosarcoma) |
| My Sister & Brother's: |
| Lisa- 11yrs old Jimmy- 9yrs old Tyler- 5yrs old |
| Savannah's fight to survive: |
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| Picture page updated 02-05-02 |
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| Final Update: 04-17-02 |
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| Someone very special Arrived 12/08/00 Vanished 04/17/02 Always to be remembered Never to be forgotten No one will ever take your place Angel of mine Help find a cure for cancer Author: Deanna Wright Thank you Deanna |
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