Homeward Bound

I hope! Summer is getting platelets as I type. They were only 19,000 this morning so I guess I'm glad we didn't go home yesterday because then she wouldn't be getting these platelets she needs. Her white blood count is up to .8. Still pretty low, but it is rising. Maybe we will be off the shots come Monday. The Dr. gave us the clear to book a quick trip to Florida so I did that yesterday. Now we just need the ANC to get up to a safe level and we will be in good shape. I am sure we will go to the clinic first of next week for another check so we can be sure she doesn't need any platelets or blood before we leave. Woo-hoo! I can't believe we are actually getting to go. I am probably more excited than Summer, but I'm sure she will love it. We are staying at Splash which has an indoor water park for kids so that is perfect since chemo patients should not be sun worshippers. Does anyone have a fast forward button because I am ready to leave? I'm sure it will be here before we know it anyway. I hope Summer is feeling more like her playful self by then. After the chemo is out of her system for a few weeks, she is usually back to normal. I just love that word. Normal. LOL Here are some pics from the past month. I hope you will enjoy them.


Barney being artistic in the clinic this week

Playing dress up






















Acting silly while helping Mommy make popcorn







I just love these sunglasses!
They will have to be packed for the beach!!!

Summer enjoyed the fair at the mall...

....especially the swings.

But, her favorite was something similar to the tilt a whirl. She loved going around and around and around.

Making thank you cards for her angels.

One of my old Jazzercise friends made her a cupcake hat.

Wearing her Curious George mask we made at the Discovery Museum.

Playing with her cousins is always fun for her!

Sick and tired

That's how Summer and I both feel, but in different ways. Today and yesterday, she has mostly been just laying around with a few spurts of playing mixed in. It is so hard to see her like this. She looks sad, sickly. And, yet I love her all the more. Such a sweet little girl having to go through such a crappy thing like cancer. So many kids are, but she is mine. And, she is with me everyday and it is hard.

I love to see a smile on her face. Today, two puppies came by just after she had laid down for a nap. I told the lady to bring them in and woke her up. One of the dogs was actually small enough to get in bed with her and it did. It licked her and she petted it. And, SHE SMILED. I was so glad I woke her up to see them because she needs smiles these days.

Then a little later her cousins showed up. More smiles. Such priceless moments.

Then she got tired and wanted to just be cuddled. More precious moments.

I am so lucky to have my little girl even though we are both sick and tired of all this mess! We will get through this and have lots of happy days again. For now we are just leaning on each other, family, friends, and mostly Him.



P.S. May have a fever now. The first since last night. So, no sign of going home tomorrow.

Results and a Fever

The CT scan came back negative - NO SIGN OF DISEASE! PRAISE THE LORD!!!

So, we keep on keeping on with her scheduled treatments. Only 4 cycles to go....

Summer was running a fever this morning when she came to my bed. I didn't take it right away because it was 5:00 a.m. and I wanted some more sleep. I got up around 7:00 and took it. It was only 98.6 F under her arm. That didn't seem right so I retook it in her mouth - 100.7. Then I changed thermometers and it was 101.1 orally and 99.1 under her arm. I went ahead and made the call since I knew she had a fever. We got the wrong people on the phone and they tried to tell me to take her to the ER. I told her there was no way I was taking my kid with no immunity to the emergency room which is full of germs. She called me back realizing she had gotten our call in error and was paging the doctor (I guess oncology kids should be directed to a different answering service than "normal" kids). We came into the clinic rather than the hospital which is where we still are. They may not admit her. Right now they are just observing to see if her fever comes up since her Tylenol is wearing off. She might get an IV antibiotic here and then go home and come back for another tomorrow. That is fine with me because the last place I wanna go is the hospital. We have only been out about 48 hours now so I'm not missing it yet. LOL We will also be returning there next week for more chemo. So, HOME sounds like the perfect place to me right now. Just waiting to see if that is where we are actually headed.....

Summer wore her Barney costume today. She wanted to wear her Barney slippers and I made the mistake of telling her she would have to wear her costume too if she wanted to wear them. Of course what 3 year old is going to say no to that? Definitely not mine. :) Barney and I are watching Super Why now in the "sick" waiting room where we are avoiding the germs. It felt weird coming in this room since we have never been here before and it is kind of scary to be in the sick waiting room when she has no immunity. But, I was told it is clean in here. ;p I still wish I had my Lysol with me, but it is in the car in our suitcase.

Today we are 2 & 6....eyelashes that is. I really can't believe they are still hanging on. She also still has hair around her hairline....fine blonde hairs. For the most part, her head is smooth as a baby's butt....one without diaper rash. :) Clint and I both love to rub it. Sometimes he teases Summer that he wants a lollipop....her head that is. I haven't seen him lick it in a while though.

Summer and I had a good time singing a little bit ago. I started off singing her "You Are So Beautiful" and then "You Are My Sunshine." Then she wanted to sing "Because He Lives." We sang it over and over and over. I'm not sure why, but she really likes that song and so do I. She is into music like me, but I just hope she gets a better singing voice than I have. If not, she will just have to stick to singing in the car like I do. She loves to dance to music too....just like me. The other day she kept telling me to cut the radio up and she was dancing in her carseat. It was unusual because we were listening to "my" music. Usually she wants "her" music on when we are in the car. But, she was happy with the beat of the music on the radio so we stuck with that. I hope she gets my dancing ability as opposed to her Daddys. He's about as smooth as sandpaper....at least when it comes to moving those hips to a beat. He did dance with Summer a little yesterday, but it made him dizzy. At least he tried. I know they both enjoyed it, as did I enjoy seeing the smiles on their faces!!


************UPDATE***********************

The nurse just came and took her temp. - 101 F. So, we are being admitted....

No results yet

We will not get the results from the scan until tomorrow afternoon. We are supposed to call sometime to get them. So when is it actually afternoon anyways? 12:01? :p

Looks like we are not gonna make the beach either. She goes back on Thursday for counts. The doctor said we could delay chemo a few days, but we will just wait until a better window opens up. We do have several other things we can do here this weekend so no big deal. (still trying to convince myself of that one :) )

Other than that, we are down to 3 & 7 eyelashes. She is still eating pretty good. Just trying to find something to do that is not too hot and not too germy. She still has no white counts. We are still giving the shots until they go up. I wish I could say that was getting easier, but it is not. Meds are taken pretty well though....with only a few "nows" in the mix. Lucky Summer only has to take them once a day.

I am hoping to take Summer to a friends to see her kittens sometime this week. There is also a farm which has been offered up for us to visit so we may do that too. There is also the park. I wonder if it is okay to take her into public water playground type places with her counts being so low. They probably use a lot of bleach in those things so maybe the germs are all dead. Man, I would've never imagined myself having to think about this type of thing on a constant basis. But, I have to. Better to be safe than sorry and end up back in the hospital!

Will try to post results as soon as I get them tomorrow.

Free at last!

Summer was released from the hospital before noon today! That was awesome because we got to go visit with family at my aunt's pool. It was nice. Summer missed a family cookout yesterday. My mom stayed at the hospital with her. Her platelets were low yesterday morning so they gave her some of those while I was gone. Today, all was good though. Her ANC was ZERO so that is not great, but that is normal. I am hoping it starts going up quickly or else our trip to the beach is nothing but a pipe dream.

Summer made her daddy a card this morning before he got to the hospital. She wanted it to be a heart so I drew one on the yellow construction paper she picked out. She cut it out. Then she decorated it with stickers and told me what to write. It turned out really cute and I know her daddy was surprised when he saw it.

She has been eating like a horse today. I can't even remember all she has eaten, but here is a partial list: toast with strawberry jam, chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookie, 5 vanilla wafers, 1/2 can black olives, half a hot dog, cantaloupe, grapes, spaghetti, chicken noodle broth, lemon yogurt. Ok, I'm stopping there. As you can see, she definitely has her appetite back.

I am hoping for no more fever. She has a CT scan in the morning then an appointment in the clinic for a count check. I wish we could wait until Tuesday for the counts because I am really wanting to make a quick trip to the beach this week. I am afraid they won't be up enough tomorrow, but maybe they would by Tuesday. If we go tomorrow, her next appt. will be Thursday for another count check. By then it is really too late for the beach. I may just wait until Tuesday, but not sure yet. We'll see how the scan goes tomorrow. I am hoping everything is clear because otherwise that means the chemo is not working and that will change her whole treatment plan. I'm sure it will be clear though because I BELIEVE IT!!! She is beating this ugly disease. I just know it!

In our room....

at the hospital. Yep, yesterday she started running her usual fever since her counts are bottomed out (101.5 at its highest). So last night around 9:30 we arrived at our home away from home. They started her on an antibiotic a few hours later and then gave her blood since her hemoglobin was below 7.

She is doing pretty good today. My cousin is in from Iowa, and she came by to visit. Summer mentioned that she wanted some Fudge Rounds and Krystals so my cousin went out to fetch them for her. It was nice to see her and her hubby. We do love visitors when we are here!!!

Hopefully, we will be out Sunday or Monday. Then we are going to try to head to the beach before her next chemo cycle. WOO-HOO!!!!! Summer has actually been asking to go to the beach so I am sure there is sand castle building in our future. We'll just have to make sure to do it early in the morning because she is not one to stay out in the hot weather. She's not a sun lover like her mommy......yet. :)

Awake and eating

Summer seems to snapped out of her sleepy land. She is still not as active as usual, but she is on her way I hope. Yesterday, at her appointment, her ANC was 100....almost bottomed out. Her platelets were still good at 210,000 and her hemoglobin was above 9 which is good too. Her white count was .3 (I think) which is normal when her counts drop.

She is eating spaghetti and chicken noodle broth today. She also had a powdered doughnut and half of a mini ice cream sandwich. Last night at my mom's house she ate a hot dog weenie. So, things are looking better in the eating department. As a matter of fact, she just told me she was hungry again. :) The funny thing is she only eats a little of whatever and then says she is full or her belly hurts. Oh well, I will take whatever I can get into her. She had lost 3 pounds as of yesterday, down to 29.2.

She is such a lovely girl. Well mannered and loving. She always says things like, "Mommy, I love you so much." Plus she is just a Mommy's girl right now and I am loving that.

She is beckoning me to help her pee and then fix her something to eat. I do love babying my little girl......