Christmas

Paige had three Christmases - one with Grandpa and Grandma M, one with the whole Maxwell clan (sans Keith's family) and one with all the Hansens in Connecticut.

Blah blah medical stuff: she's started her second round of chemo a few days ago, and was sick some from it, which she wasn't her first round. But she tolerates doctors and nurses a lot better, and doesn't automatically scream and wail when anyone with a stethoscope (sp?) appears in her doorway.

She is still eating well, and now that she is feeling so much better, she runs around and climbs, and it's a challenge to keep her from tangling up her IV cords. Poor Lukey had to go up do Dartmouth today to get vaccinations (I, not a fan of vaccinations, had only let him get a few up till now) - so after today's shots, he can't see Paige for three weeks, in case something he gets from the shots would make her sick, like the chickenpox. Just the other day he said, "If I not see Paigey for a long long time, I would cry." :(

Learning more about the transplant and it's after effects has left us feeling pretty down. In essence, a year of isolation for our family and my mom. No one can come to our house, and Paige can't go to anyone's house, and Ben Mom and I will have to avoid any crowded places. At that time, with her immune system pretty much destroyed, and Luke's marrow not yet functioning in her at full capacity, Paige could die from something as simple as pink eye. So we feel a little daunted. Yesterday, however, Paige's oncologist mentioned another option; go the chemo route (50% success rate) and if it isn't working, change gears, and go for the bone marrow transplant. (sucess rate about 75%)

Please pray that God will show us what to do, as it is a difficult decision to make.

Today's surgery

We got up at 3:50 this morning to take Paige up to Dartmouth to have the picc line taken out of her arm. They replaced it with a Broviac, which is a semi-permanent IV line that goes in through her chest, and using ultrasound, the doctors thread it up through a vein near her heart. Because of this, the doctors don't have to jab her every time they want to draw blood (a daily occurance when she is living at the hospital to do chemo.) She recovered splendidly, and by lunchtime we were home, and Paige was playing, walking around, and eating blueberries.

In order for her to stay with us for Christmas, she has to maintain a temperature below 100.5, which she's been doing so far, so pray that she won't get a fever!

Paige is home!!

Paige came home last night, after 5 weeks in the hospital. She was very excited to see Francesca, (our lovely cat, which, sadly, she is not allowed to touch because of her compromised immune system) and Luke, who's name she said for the first time today. Every day she astounds us with new words, and she has started putting them together. It is very helpful to be able to communicate with her. And it's so nice to be all together again!

No More IV Pole!!!

Today Paige was unhooked from her constant companion of the past five weeks, her IV pole. She still has a semi-permanent line going in through the crook of her elbow, which they threaded up inside her vein ending near her heart. But for now that just means that she has three inches of thin plastic tubing coming out at her elbow.

She is also walking a lot more, and today went on a long walk with Grandma. This time, instead of being pushed in her stroller, she walked, pushing a baby doll carriage for support. Kind of like a walker, only much cuter. She comes home tomorrow, due to having no fever, and having rising blood counts. Luke keeps asking if she's his baby brother, or baby sister. He's going to love having her to play with.

Paige's Diagnosis

Four weeks and one day ago, our daughter Paige (21 months old) was diagnosed with AML Leukemia. She has since begun her chemotherapy, and completed her first 10 day course last week. She begins her second course in one or two weeks. The protocol for this kind of Leukemia is to give the patient a bone marrow transplant after the second round of chemo, so we are planning on having that happen in February, at the Dana Farber Institute in Boston. Luke, her 3 1/2 year old brother, is going to be the donor.