Zoe's Ornament!! (Better photo)

This is more like the real color!

Zoe's Ornament!!

I am so excited about this!!

Zoe's Ornament. This a collaboration between McTailor's Alterations & Boutique and Adventures in Childbirth. They sell for $20 and $5 from each sale will go to help Zoe and her family with their courageous fight.
These are embroidered and are a little over 58000 stitches each. They take a little over 2 hours each to make. Ribbon roses may vary. I can only make so many of these, but will make as many as is humanly possible.
I will have these at McTailor's Alterations & Boutique in Myrtle Beach, SC...Nicole will have these at The Natural Baby in Watkinsville, GA. Of course we can ship them as well.

We are also hoping to put these in Full Bloom and you can order them from me at any time. The picture makes them look lavender and pink but they are actually grey and pink, grey because it is the awareness color for brain tumors and pink because it is Zoe's signature color. Here is a picture of the actual colors.

Please let me know if you would like to order one of these ornaments. The earlier you order, the more likely you are to get one before Christmas!! Thank you everyone for your support and thank you to McTailor's Alterations and Boutique and Adventures in Childbirth for this wonderful gift!!

Love,

Andie

Sunday, September 27, 2009: A Little Further Along the Road

It was rough to try and get over last night's little trip to Altanta. Now my schedule is just as off as Zoe's!! Hopefully we'll both be back on schedule soon!

We started Zoe on her probiotic today. Hopefully her poor little tummy will start to calm down now. She also got her supplements and some alkaline water. Brooke (my neighbor) sent me some information about a study that is being conduction at Cedar-Sinai in LA involving Dendritic Cells. Tonya is looking into it further for me. I also looked into purchasing full spectrum lighting for the house and will probably do that in the next several days.

The family went to Outback tonight and Zoe got ot go with us. She did really well. I watched my nephew, Sean (8) and Ethan (7) play with her and prayed that I will still have my little Zoe when she is that age. I have faith that I will.

Sessions for Zoe

Starting today all sessions booked for October will be special sessions for Zoe. 50% of the sitting fee and photograph purchases will be put into a special account to help us pay for her treatment. Contact me today to book your session!!

Check out the website at www.andiefreemanphotography.com

Our facebook page is www.facebook.com/andiefreemanphotography

Email: andie@andiefreemanphotography.com
Phone: (706)296-7753

Don't forget that bracelets, awareness ribbons, and many other items that people are donating will be available in the coming weeks to help Zoe fight this disease.

Thanks!
Andie

September 26, 2009: The First Steps on the Road to Recovery

Today we started getting everything together for Zoe. I went to the Natural Baby in Watkinsville and purchased several organic items for her. We switched from Pampers to chlorine-free organic diapers. We also bought a food steamer/processor that is BPA free. We switched her bowls from plastic to stainless steel. Even though they were BPA free plastic, I'm not taking any chances. We also purchased a stainless steel sippy cup. Along with all of that we got her organic cotton sheets, in pink of course. It wasn't a cheap little trip but I think it was well worth it.

We also went to Earth Fare and purchased all natural and organic hair products for me and soaps and lotions for Sean. This way, I won't transfer toxins to her by breastfeeding. Also, we won't transfer them to her by touching her. I also purchased a probiotic to help replenish what was killed by the antibiotics she needed after surgery.

We are continuing to give her the FuCoyDon and Eternity although we have had to back off a bit because she is having such runny diapers. Hopefully the probiotics will help to clear that up in the next few days. I'm also trying to get her back on some solids to try and help with that.

Dad came and installed a water filter on our pump that will filter chlorine and flouride out of our water. That way, when she bathes, she will not be exposed to those chemicals. We have also started giving her alkaline water to help alkaline her cells and starve out the cancer. We tested my breast milk and it has a pH of 6.5 which is alkaline so we are doing well there.

Tonya and I are researching many alternative therapies that may work for Zoe. One in Houston, Texas. It is performed in a place called the Burzynski Clinic. They have had some great success (so we think so far anyway). We are also looking into a nutritional doctor in Utah. We found her through a little girl in Ohio that had DIPG just like Zoe. This little girl went through 33 days of chemotherapy and radiation and then they decided to stop treatment. She went to see this nutritional doctor and the tumor shrank from 5 cm to .4 cm in 2 years. She is 4 years out from diagnosis and she is cancer free, a normal 9 year old.

We are also looking into vibrational retunement in Bristol, England, and Ruta-6, a homeopathic treatment from India.

Tonight around 10, Zoe started to vomit and she vomited about 6 or 7 times within the course of 45 minutes. The neurologist has us bring her back to Scottish Rite. They did a CT scan and some x-rays to ensure that her shunt was draining correctly. Fortunately, it was and we got to come back home.

September 25, 2009: The End of the Beginning

Since speaking with Dr. Claire yesterday, I am feeling much better. The rest of the family is feeling much better as well. We feel that we can defeat this awful disease together. Right now the plan is just to monitor Zoe and see how she does. Tomorrow starts a whole lot of reasearch for me into natural alternatives.

Zoe was discharged from the hospital today and we got to come home. It was such a welcome return. Family was all around. When I put her down for a nap in her own crib, she went to sleep immediately. She knew that she was home.

We are going to continue the FuCoyDon and add Eternity to the mix. Dad has already placed a whole house water filter in our house (although he is having diffinculties that will have to be fixed tomorrow) and I am on the hunt for the safest products possible. Here's to a long life with my precious daughter.

September 24, 2009: The Beginning

Today, I decided to begin a journal. It will be a journal of my miracle baby. It will be a journal of miraculous healing that cannot be explained by modern medicine. This will be a journal of Zoe's winning fight with cancer.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009, started like any other day in my life. It was sunny, finally, for the first time in a week. Zoe had an appointment with her pediatrician. I was concerned with her protruding fontanelle and wanted him to check it out. We were all convinced that nothing was wrong with out perfect baby. We couldn't have been more mistaken. Maybe we just didn't want to admit that something could be wrong with her. Zoe's pediatrician immediately sent her to Athens Regional for a CT scan, thinking that she had hydrocephalus, a condition where CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) is not draining properly from the brain. We were so concerned. We were given the information on treatment and it scared us.

BADLY!!

Little did we know what the CT scan would show. Zoe's pediatrician called me on the hospital phone and told me that Zoe has some type of tumor in her brain-stem. I was floored. How could my baby have a tumor? What if it was cancer? The diagnosis was that it probably was. No one should ever have to hear that their precious and perfect baby girl most likely has cancer.

We were just dumbfounded.

Thus started a journey for us. Zoe's pediatrician got in touch with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and it was arranged for Zoe to be transported to Scottish Rite. I have never done anything more difficult than I did that night. I held my screaming baby tightly in my arms while they tried to start an IV for the third time. But, as they say, third time was the charm. I had no idea how hard things would get over the next few days.

We arrived at Scottish Rite that night exhausted and clueless as to what to expect. I spent a lot of time crying and holding my sweet girl, singing her favorite song, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." I kept running things through my mind. Why us after everything else we had been through? Why her? Why such a perfect little child? What had I done wrong? Was I being punished? All questions that could be asked but never answered.

I wondered every second if I was going to have to bury my precious little baby. I don't know how I could possible live without my heart.

The next day, Wednesday, September 23, 2009 started early. Doctors came and went. They measured her head and looked her over. Finally, we started to hear about what was going to happen next. They were pretty sure that they would have to place a shunt in Zoe's brain to drain the excess spinal fluid into her abdomen. She would keep it for life. Without it, the outlook was grim.

However, they weren't certain that Zoe really did have a tumor and would need an MRI to determine if it was. They were hoping for some type of inflammation or infection based upon the lack of neurological symptoms and Zoe's young age.

So at 10:30 AM that morning, the surgery went forward for the placement of the shunt. It was quick and Zoe was back in my arms after about 2 hours. The difference in her fontanelle amazed us all when we saw it. We kept asking ourselves how we couldn't have noticed sooner. But when you see gradual change every day, it just doesn't seem to register as quickly.

Zoe did fine after surgery and the MRI went forward this morning. Because they needed her to be absolutely still, Zoe was sedated. She had a rough time waking up from the sedation. It was something that had us all holding our breath. I was so scared when they called the doctor in to check her right after she came out. The relief was palpable when she started to stretch those little arms and open those bright blue eyes. The first thing she did was jerk the oxygen tube out of her nose and stick it in her mouth. :-)

We waited impatiently for the results. So in hopes that it wasn't cancer. But it is. Zoe has a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma. A tumor has infiltrated her entire brain stem. It was like hearing the news all over for the first time. Except this time it wasn't a probably, it was certain. I was devastated. I just leaned into Sean and sobbed. I kept trying to figure out what I had done wrong. I had tried to do everything so right. I take my supplements. I had breastfed and am still breastfeeding. I only give her organic solids. I use all natural baby products. I even just spent $300 on an organic cotton mattress for her. But the bottom line was, I didn't do anything to cause this. It was just something that happened.

Zoe doesn't fit the bill at all with this cancer. She is so young. Quite possible the youngest ever. She has no neurological symptoms, and had it not been for the hydrocephalus no one would have known. Even the tumor doesn't act the same way with the MRI contrast dye as other tumors like this.

Her oncologist, Dr. Claire as she likes to be called, did give us hope. There are reports of these tumors that just disappear. We are determined that will happen with Zoe's. Or at least it will not grow.

We had already begun to give Zoe FuCoyDon, a seaweed supplement that contains polysaccharides to help break down cancerous cells and build the immune system, when we heard the news. Now we are on the warpath to stop this cancer naturally!! And Dr. Claire is right there behind us!