MAINTENANCE!....really...

... BIG MILESTONE for Rogan last Thursday!  Her ANC finally recovered and we graduated into MAINTENANCE officially.  She had a 1 week delay because her ANC counts were too low.... due to the harsh chemo from DELAYED INTENSIFICATION.

.... not quite sure if it's physically possible to be more proud of someone. Thursday clinic she received an LP (lumbar puncture) and her IV chemo.  At home she is is on the steroid for the 1st five days of each month, an oral chemo every day and her anti-pneumonia.... a ton of work for Mama... but thus far, relatively easy on Rogan. 

She has a killer art kit from her Auntie in Philly and loves to color and paint.

Here's a roll of shots from the past 2 weeks:

Watching early AM cartoons (coons) and updating her FaceBook status via iPhone. Coco sampling her new-found motor skills on the "horse-camel-mirror-ring-rattle" device.

"sticker face Rogan". She was cracking herself up.  PARENTAL FYI: do not give a 2 year old stickers.

Rogan got a pretty Gerber Daisy from her Dada for Valentine's Day... walked around with it in the snow for 20 minutes... then proceeded to surgically remove each petal. "He loves me... he loves me...."

Clifford The Big Red Dog from her Auntie & Uncle in NYC:

Mom's shoes. "Mama hoos"!

Case was in the kitchen the other day.... and Rogan was making laps between her bedroom and our bedroom... a random item in hand each visit. She went to check on Coco, who was playing peacefully by herself (or so she thought) on our bed.... and unbeknownst to Casey, Rogan was slowly but surely, lovingly burying Coco... one random object at a time.

The Girls. Waiting for Dr. Druzgal at clinic. (she's the woMAN!)

Rogan lost her Great Grandmother, Anne Lutterloh Bynum Crawford, on Sunday. She would have been 96 fabulous years young on March 14th. Respect.

MAINTENANCE!

We're doing the blood count dance at the Crawford house!  Rogan's counts are bouncing back up and we got through DELAYED INTENSIFICATION only needing 1 transfusion of RED BLOOD, last Thursday.  Transfusions were to be expected, and standard operating procedure... but still plenty creepy and a full day affair.  We feel fortunate to have only needed 1 during this aggressive course.  Her PLATELETS dropped as well... she showed some advanced bruising... but never needed to be transfused.  (see the charts on the top right... for the blood count roller coaster).

Nothin' like some O Positive to kick things up a notch:

Even with low RED BLOOD, Rogan has plenty of energy... and it's all hands on deck trying to keep her contained during a 2.5 hour transfusion. She ate brocolli and spagetti... dance to Shark Tales... got a visit from the clinic Poodle (she was more scared than excited) and played with this ball ramp device with Coco... all while getting juiced up through her central line.







Rogan is obsessed with drawing right now. Drawing circles... waiting for blood:



Rogan actually enjoys visits from our home nurse Audrey!...  even blood draws! (on table) I think the "Elmo Visits the Doctor" movie has helped more than we had realized.



She even made it through her last dressing change without a tear... then said thank you Dada (tootoo Dada).

So psyched to have this crap out of our house. This chemo that she's been receiving the past few weeks comes complete with elbow length thick rubber gloves, full hazmat suit... and the below bio-hazard disposal container.
... but it's getting pumped directly into Rogan's blood stream?