Counts were good today!
ANC was 4300 (that’s better than its been since the LAST time she was on steroids)
HBG was 8.8 (that wasn’t so hot, but not horrible)
Plts were 250K+(that’s rocking!)
She only got a finger poke since her red blood count stayed steady and she won’t need blood. Because we are now in maintenance, so much of the schedule is administered at home now. Yesterday was her last steroid pill for at 3 more weeks, but today was her weekly dose of Methotrexate….once every 12 weeks she gets it via spinal tap, otherwise she takes it orally once a week…..5 pills of it! So, tonight was fun…5 pills of Methotrexate, 1 pill of 6MP, and her Lactulose (stool softener). Because of the steroids, she’s been grumpy, irritable, hungry (but really unable to eat as much as she’d like because of boo boo tummy) and thirsty. The unquenchable thirst is a new development, but apparently the mass amounts of chemo have activated a latent camel gene. These days she’s been going through a 2 liter bottle of gatorade a day, she’s constantly complaining she’s still thirsty and for a child who refuses to give up her pull-ups, I might as well be lining her pants with dollar bills! Tonight she started complaining that her back hurts, hopefully this is just a one time thing, but I hear a lot of parents saying that their kids on maintenance have a constant complaint of body aches and pains.
Tomorrow is our “Celebration of Life” with the Powell family and the Children’s Dream Fund. This is where we have a little party, hosted by Chick-Fil-A, in our case, and they present the girls with the fulfillment of their wish. This means that for the next 10 days I get to listen to the “Is it time for us to go to Disney World” chorus from my kids…..and Pete. Fox 13 news is planning to be there for the celebration part to do a little bit on Adelaine and Peyton and the friendship of our families that led us to ask for our trip to be together. I can’t say enough how much their friendship and the relationships we’ve built with the other amazing families we’ve met along the way have helped us get through all of this. We are so thankful that we live in an area that has so many fantastic pediatric cancer resources, it has been invaluable to us as a family to feel encouraged and supported and to build this network of friends.
Nathaniel and Rachael both enjoyed their first day of chess camp. It’s something that I think really appeals to both of their brilliant, planning, scheming little minds!
Please keep Peyton in prayers as her body works to adjust to all the medications and their various side effects. It’s so hard to watch the constant yo-yo of both physical and emotional effects on her. She’s an amazing little fighter and we are counting the days to the end of treatment….only 24 more months to go!
f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
—Anissa
on Jul 16th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Dear Anissa,
I can't wait to hear about your trip to Disney and GKTW!! We hope to be going there in October. Every night Joshua will say: "I wish I go to Disney World" in which we reply that we will go SOON (but to him soon is NOW).
I can't even imagine what Peyton's little body is going through with all those drugs. I'll be praying that things get stabalized and she feels better. She is such a trooper (as well as the rest of the family for being along for the ride).
Thanks for sharing your families journey with us. One of the highlights of my day to go to your site and check in on Peyton and the rest of your precious family.
Keep looking up and F.R.O.G.!!!!
YOU ARE LOVED.
Julie
on Jul 17th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
You need to tell us when to watch Ch13……. What time and day will it air? Penny