We are very relieved that she has been responding so well to the treatment. It is hard to believe that at the start of August she had so much Cancer in her bones that she couldn’t walk, or produce her own blood cells. Regardless of how well she is responding she will still run the entire 2.5 year treatment, in case her body begins to re-generate the bad cells again, or if there happens to be 1 or 2 cells hiding out some where. Whatever it takes to make sure this goes away and stays away!
At clinic day__9/8 her ANC count [bacteria and virus fighting white cells] were not high enough to begin the second course of chemo… so she got an additional week off; which was fine… don’t get me wrong, we are terribly anxious to get these 2.5 years of treatment behind us. At clinic this Monday, 9/15, her ANC was high enough and we were able to start her second course, CONSOLIDATION. This course is focused on the central nervous system, where she will be receiving weekly spinal taps to test and treat the spinal fluid… continue to receive the IV chemo each Monday via her central line, and receive 1 other chemo drug orally, at home each day. Below is a sequence of her from this Monday, post opp… again they put her under with anesthesia via her central line [we call it her Toobies] and administer the spinal tap. She also got a dressing change. She woke slightly groggy, had a quick cry, showed everyone her Toobies, ate a Numuna… and felt better.
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…now that Rogan can stand again and get outside a bit, Mama and auntie Tam Tam have been playing dress up. Here she is in Roxy
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I have been forcing the premature transition from A-mo [Elmo] to Surf’s Up and big kid movies. With Rogan’s new hair-doo, I’ve noticed a striking resemblance between her and the baby penguins.
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Rogan is just now starting to walk again… her legs are small and weak from having gone so long without use… and she’s put on 10+ lbs… so she is very cautious. It started with her pushing her stroller, and we were able to get her to take a few solo steps [but I had to tempt her with food]
She loves A-mo and Cookie and taking them for walks with Auntie.
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The city is replacing all the gas and water lines in our neighborhood, so they are trenching 20’ holes and piling up gravel everywhere. Our street looks like downtown Beirut… but there are plenty of tractors for Rogan’s enjoyment.
One worker made the grave mistake of honking for her and now she is hooked. She calls them bee beets and is obsessed with just sitting in her stroller and staring at them go to work. She asks for them at 7 AM… and had a complete meltdown when we came home late one night and I wouldn’t take her to say good night to them. I lost that battle and was forced to tour Norfolk Avenue in the pitch black through maze of open man-holes and 20’ excavation sites. But we said good night to all 3 and that was all she needed. I will ask our doctor tomorrow if OCD is a common side effect of the treatment.
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Here is Rogan in her stroller, singing a Little Mermaid song, playing hide n seek and doing “Beetle face”. I don’t now how “Beetle face” happened, but she can now do a Crab, Cat, Cow, Owl, Snake, Fish… and we are working on Peacock and Monkey.
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Rogan’s immune system is still down…but not in the extra red zone….so we have been able to get out a bit [still keeping her away from other people, especially kids and dogs] This is her first skateboard session at the Park City park. I bought her first lacrosse stick last night and we are shopping for snow skis for her today!
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