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May 14, 2003 -- Delayed Intensification #1 (Day 28 - ON HOLD) Katie went to the clinic on Tuesday (5/14) to have her counts checked. Her platelets were fine but her ANC was 204--not high enough to continue with the Delayed Intensification on Wednesday. She will return to the clinic on Monday (5/19) to have her counts checked again. If her ANC is over 1000, she will start with day 28 of her schedule on Tuesday (5/20). If her counts are still low, we return to the clinic on Thursday (5/22) to check her ANC and platelets, and hopefully begin with day 28 on Friday (5/23). Katie started to feel a little better by Friday (5/9) and was crawling around. She bounced back quickly and was walking on Saturday. She's been very tired in the afternoons, taking 2-3 hour naps each day. I've been spending that time cleaning up a bit and laying down myself. Her mood swings are starting to lessen, as are her strange food cravings and waking at night. Katie's voice became very hoarse on Thursday and by Sunday (5/18), she had lost her voice. It was very frustrating for her to try to communicate her needs to us. Her voice is slowly coming back now. She had the same side effect (from the Vincristine) during her Induction phase and it lasted for about two months. Her back pain is lessening and we have cut back on her pain meds considerably. Katie says she still isn't feeling well and wanted to know when the cancer was going to go away. I drew some pictures of good blood cells, cancer cells and super hero "Chemo" that munches away the cancer cells to protect the good blood cells. We are having fun drawing super hero "Chemo" stories. She says she can't wait to start taking her medicine again, so "Chemo" can help eat-up all her cancer. John and I were discussing mosquitoes and ticks and what we should do to keep Katie from getting bitten. We didn't know she could hear us. She was also watching "It's a Bugs Life" where a mosquito is drinking a blood droplet. She put the two together, and now she is fearful of going outside and getting bitten. She said "The mosquitoes can't drink my blood! I need to give it to the doctor!!" We are still working on this. Next week is going to be very busy for all of us. Monday (5/19) I have my 29 week OB appointment in the morning, and Katie's lab appointment at the clinic in the afternoon. Hopefully John and I will be going back to the clinic on Tuesday for an all-day chemo treatment, monitoring and instructions on giving Katie daily chemo injections at home. John had a CAT scan on Friday (5/16). It's hard to believe its been a whole year since his lung infection and 18 day hospital stay! He has an appointment with the pulmonary specialist on Thursday (5/22) morning. We may be back to the clinic Thursday afternoon and all-day Friday. Every night at bedtime, when we say our prayers, we ask God to bless our family, friends, all those who have touched our lives and all the other children with cancer. I always ask Katie if she has a special wish. Our prayers usually end with "God bless my banilla and chocolate ice cream." |
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