You know your day is going to be sketchy when you wake up (the first time) in a pool of urine that doesn’t belong to you. I give regards to Rachael for starting my day off with a bang. Poor kid crawled into bed with me sometime during the night, left her mark and was promptly banished forever. The second time I woke up was about 15 minutes before the kids are supposed to be at school, sitting at their desks, ready for the day. With a minimal amount of fuss the kids got to school within 10 minutes of the bell, not too bad. We had 7 tardies on their report cards for last semester, we were only out-tardied by a mom who has triplet third graders, so I think she has the better excuse.
Peyton has pretty much stopped eating in the last month, and she’s dropped a lot of the steroid weight she’d put on. I had thought she’d keep it on longer, but with her appetite gone she’s thinning quickly. However, she still has those sparkly eyes.
Monday I took Peyton to the clinic with no expectations of actually starting her treatment. I went so far as to disregard numbing cream and diet protocols, we just showed up, did her finger poke and left. Her ANC was at 400, with 750 being the minimum for starting Interim Maintenance. We got a week’s vacation with an appointment on both Tuesday and Wednesday of next week to start back up. She gets a spinal on Tuesday and double leg shots on Wednesday. The good times just keep on rolling.
Peyton’s hair is starting to grow back in. She rubs her head and tells me that she loves her hair fuzzy.
Yesterday was a quality day time. The morning was spent with Peyton, taking a long walk with her and the dog…that was a lesson in leash/stroller management. She’s such a tiny adult sometimes, especially when she says things like “It’s lovely weather for a walk” and “Mommy, can you push me less bumpy please?” Our dog is a walking dog. She’s a back yard dog, so yesterday was a struggle in reigning in her excitement at being out of the house. If I could get the dog to walk in a straight line I could just hook up the stroller and let her take Peyton for her walks. In fact, I made the mistake of looping the leash handle around the stroller handle…..and then she saw something, perhaps a squirrel, could have been a floating leaf. She took off running and only by the grace of a quick grab did I keep the entire stroller from becoming airborne.
Grandma gave us some beautiful crocheted pot holders, and Peyton has found a wonderful use for her favorite.
About noon, Grandma came and swept Peyton away and I went to school and took Rachael out for the day. She’s been having some serious attitude and behavior issues lately, and while they’re frustrating, they’re also somewhat understandable. I know that part of it being 5 and the middle child and pushing boundaries…but part of it is just needing some extra love and attention. She needs to be the center of attention that her sister always seems to be. When we walk into the classroom in the morning, Rachael will make sure to hold Peyton’s hand and announce that Peyton’s there because all the kids get excited and run over and go a little ga-ga over her. And Rachael basks in the semi-glory of the attention. She and I had a girl’s day out, we went for lunch, we walked the mall and just spent time together with no interruptions. It was wonderful for me to have my little girl just light up and say that it was the best day ever. It is so important to make specialized time that is devoted to just to the older children. So much of their life has been disrupted and gets changed because of something going on with Peyton. She doesn’t feel good, she has clinic, and she’s in a bad mood, whatever…..they have to cope with more upheaval than they should. I’m planning a day with Nathaniel as well, probably Friday if got to take his spelling test today….which is first thing in the morning…remember, we were late today…see, it all comes full circle doesn’t it?
Today we are low key, lounging around the house, watching Dora, playing Candy Land and drinking strawberry smoothies.
Update on Adelaine:
Adelaine went back into the hospital on Friday with an ear infection and fever. Any time a cancer gets a fever it’s a three day stay while they run a culture on their blood to see if there’s any bacteria. We’ve been blessed so far that nothing’s ever grown when we had to, but poor Adelaine wasn’t so lucky this time. She has a bacterial infection that has spread to her blood. These are so dangerous in kids who have no immune system to fight it off and can be fatal if not caught in time. Thank God that they caught it quickly enough to treat it successfully with IV antibiotics and she will be sent home with a full two week cycle of oral antibiotics. They are unsure why these bacterial infections happen, it can be that the ear infection brought it on, or it’s possible that bacteria can get into the port. There are frightening kinds of bacteria that are stick and attach to the port and require surgery to remove the port and implant a new one. This is not the type that Adelaine has, it’s going to be handled with antibiotics and she should be going home some time today.
Next to relapse, blood infection is the next scariest threat that’s been pounded into my head. We work to be safe for Peyton, but so many of these things are out of our control, most of them are out of our control, and it’s frightening. Please keep Adelaine in prayers as her body heals and works to get these bacteria gone from her system.
f.ro.G…fully relying on God
—-Anissa
