Tomorrow is a day of maybe.
Peyton has a clinic appointment in the morning and the first thing they will do is check and see what her blood counts are to find if she's able to start her next cycle of chemo. She's been chemo free for a week and a half, so her counts may have gone up, but we really have no idea.
If she does not make counts, then we have an easy week and we keep checking to see what her blood counts are. If she does make counts, she will have her methotrexate medication which is one that they administer via spinal tap. It's never fun, but hopefully she'll her pain medication will keep her sedated enough to get her through with the least amount of discomfort. It's so hard to continually put her through these procedures and watch her have to suffer the fear and pain of treatment, but she's a strong little girl and I know that when we're all done with this, she'll be a healthy and happy little girl again. I can't wait for that day.
She's going to wear her Cinderella constume tomorrow because they're having a Halloween party at the clinic. She just told me that she's going to wear her crown and be "soooo beautiful". She just has no idea how beautiful she is to us every day. Her hair is starting to regrow and it's looking a little thicker and where it didn't fall out it's gotten a lot longer. She looks like the sweetest little peach with her halo of fuzz. She's lost all the weight she gained with the steroids and although the steroid phase was a nightmare, I'm glad for that buffer of extra pounds she had to loose. To think that if she didn't have it, she'd only weight about 16 pounds right now. She's was holding around 28-29 at last weigh-in. She's starting to get a little bit of an appetite back, and she's all about rotisserie chicken right now….pretty funny the things she starts to crave. No other kind of chicken will do! But I will feed her anything that she's willing to eat.
Her foot is all healed up now, we finished up the antibiotics for her cellulitis and that's one experience behind us.
Peter's on vacation this week and we have lots of projects we are hoping to get completed. We have a grocery list of to do's. The last two vacations that Peter has taken ended up in my stroke and Peyton's leukemia diagnosis, so I know that i am sort of holding my breath through this week, hoping there's no bad news of any sort. Rather gloomy thought, but I can't help it.
On the upside, I'm learning to knit! I have lots of downtime at the clinic, hospital and at home when Peyton just wants me to sit or lay with her and so I picked up some yarn and a book and went to work. Can't say I could clothe the family with my creations, but the craft is improving every day.
Rachael had gymnastics on Saturday and she was just glowing from happiness when she came out. She said "Mommy, I loooove gymnastics, I'm going to be good at this." And it's wonderful to see her enthusiasm and for her to have a physical outlet to work out all that Rachael energy. She is a cutie in her little leotard and is the tallest child in her class of 7 kids.
Nathaniel started basketball last week while I was on hospital duty, but I'll get to be there this week and he's excited to show off his new sport. He says he's not any good, but we had a long talk about giving himself time to learn the game and to practice. He's very hard on himself and gets frustrated quickly, so we're working on teaching him patience with himself and to just enjoy sports for the experience. Heaven knows he's not getting any special athletic skills from me.
I forgot to post that report card came out and my kids rocked the reports!! Rachael had nothing but Satisfactory scores down the board, which is the highest she could get. Nathaniel got A's in everything but P.E….and afer that whole basketball thing I just posted I want you to know that I gave him a hard time about that. Not because he got a B in PE, but because he got it for not taking his uniform to school. He's so smart and he's got a lot of enthusiasm for the things they're learning this year. I'm very proud of both my kids and the hard work they've done to earn their grades and thankful for the teachers we have who nurture their young minds.
I hope everyone's week is wonderful and filled with joy!
I love a salutation that my new friend Stacey puts on her emails and I'm stealing it for my post.
F.R.O.G.
Fully Relying On God
—-Anissa
on Oct 30th, 2006 at 12:12 pm
Hello Anissa,
I found Payton's website the other day and I just wanted to let you know your whole family is in my prayers. I am a nurse and I work with adults that have different kinds of cancer. I know how trying it can be emotional and physical. I watch families go through it everyday. But I have to tell you when i see Payton it just makes my day because she seems so up beat and you wouldn't even know there was something wrong except for her hair is gone. I pray her counts are good today so she can receive her treatment event though it is hard on all of you. I would like to let you know my family and I are here for all of you. Maybe Nathaniel can come over and play with Dante one day. I am glad that Nathaniel and Racheal are remaining in good spirits and doing well in school. I like your new salutation that you found i really like that..
F.R.O.G,
Christina Thomas