Week 3

Fascinating...right?

Week 3 can be classified as “difficult”. Our Monday 8/18 clinic day was a relative breeze, with no surgery or transfusions….no surgery scheduled for this coming Monday 8/25 [due to her good 7 day benchmark] but we are expecting transfusions…potentially both red blood and platelets. These are not painful…just time consuming and any time in the hospital is not fun.



All the meds have officially set in and are manifesting their expected “side-effects”….the steroid in particular…which she receives twice a day. She’s not yet “Chucky”…but let’s put it nicely; if she is not eating, watching Elmo [A-mo] or going on a walk [Wok!]….she is NOT HAPPY. As mentioned earlier, the steroid has also made her appetite spike off the charts….big carbs in particular. I was not there to witness it, but it is claimed that she ate an entire Pizza during one feeding. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on who is on bathroom duty, she still enjoys her veggies and fruits...particularly frozen peas in a cup…which she can be seen above, sharing with Big Bird [who by the way, Sesame Street mgmt needs to re-staff whomever does his voice…because it is creeping me out] She feels 10 lbs heavier, has a bit of a double chin…and towards the end of the day her belly begins to look unnatural.



…still no walking. It has now been 42+ days…and we are getting anxious. Our doctors assure us that she will be cruising soon, but it is still very difficult to accept…and it obviously has her frustrated. We did get her to stand a bit in the beginning of the week at her new stove…making, you guessed it: Pizza. [FYI, please don’t say that word in her prescence…because she will demand it, regardless of the time of day.]

On the brighter side, she is virtually 100% potty trained on both fronts. A slight case of “thrush”…which is believed to have made things slightly painful down South, is to thank.

She is holding on to her hair so far…so hopefully that means that all the chemo is too busy killing the Cancer to be bothered with the hair.

Move over Mom & Dad, Elmo is now sleeping w/ us too. [fortunately we were just gifted a king size bed! Thank you!]

Special thank you to our Norfolk Avenue neighbors for the nightly meals…that is a terrific program and is so much appreciated.

...and a huge thank you our friends and family for all the fun gifts. Some days, it is tough to get just 1 laugh or smile out of her. Above is a rare smile captured upon the arrival of her new kitchen set.

...and the BIGGEST thanks to her Mom, Casey...for so gracefully dealing with:

_her "roid induced" demands

_"roid induced" fits of whining and crying 

_midnight trips to the bathroom [seemingly every 10 minutes]

_midnight trips to the fridge [seemingly every 10 minutes too]

_and just plain clinging like glue to Mama

You lead by example.  I LOVE YOU.