biopsy results

The results were not so hot. So she is back at the hospital today for an MRI to see what's up. The cells from her spinal fluid were 98% cancerous. So she is starting a HUGE dose of chemo today to try to get her in remission so that in 4-6 weeks she can go to boston to get a bone marrow transplant. Pray that she won't get an infection, since her white blood cells will be destroyed by the chemo, and pray also that she won't get liver or kidney damage. Those are the biggest risks right now. Any of those could kill her. They couldn't see any cancer in her marrow, but genetic testing results examine that in more detail, and those results take a while to come back.

June 6th

We just dropped Paige off in what's called Pain-Free, the room where they are doing her biopsy. They put her to sleep with a mask, then gave her an IV, so she didn't have to get poked when she was awake. We won't find out the results for a day or two.

She has developed a lazy eye of sorts, so they are going to do a lumbar puncture (biopsy of spinal column fluid, which also circulates up to the brain, and is totally seperate from her other ah, I don't know how to explain this. But you can have stuff going on in your brain/spinal column, and a biopsy of her marrow wouldn't show it. So they are testing both to make sure they catch anything cancerous going on.)

She weighs 28 lbs, which is 8 lbs more than when she was so sick and gaunt. She was so cooperative and cheerful today, holding out her arm to be blood-pressured, and opening her mouth so the doc could look in with a light. And she bounced/danced/walked down the hallways.

In the car on the way here, we were all pretending to be dinosaurs, and Paige said, "I'm a baby dinasaur." in a growl-y voice. It was quite adorable.

So I don't know what the biopsy will show. Thank you all for praying, and for loving us. Your support has been so helpful. kerri

the weekend

Paige came home from the hospital (a few days ago) with three kinds of antibiotics to take. They smell dreadful, so I can only imagine how they taste. And they do unhappy things to her poor little tummy.

Luke's birthday was Saturday, so Paige was home for that. Luke asked "Mama if the world is upside down, why don't the people feel upside down?" "Because, well, since there, uh, how about you ask daddy that question."

Paige had great fun on Sunday jumping on the trampoline and going for a long walk with the Hansen clan. At the washed out bridge at the golf course, she found little rocks to throw down into the water. "Hiii yaa!" And then she would cover her mouth with her hand and giggle.

So last night Ben went to flush her line, and behold, there was no end cap. So presumedly the whole thing is no longer sterile, so Ben took her up to the hospital today to get the whole thing pulled out. A relief in one way (now, after 6 months, she'll finally be able to take normal baths!) But not good in that she will have to be poked every week by the visiting nurses when they come to draw blood.

The biopsy is in about two weeks, so keep praying!

update

The doc said Paige will be at the hospital for a couple weeks, until her ANC is high enough to safely send her home.

Today a NYU college soccer team passed us in the hallway on the way to the food court. One stopped and talked to Paige, and asked her which was her favorite stuffed animal from the gift store window which we were standing in front of. "The frog." We chatted a little bit, and then he left, only to return a few minutes later (we had moved on to resting on lobby chairs. Paige was sitting on the arm and pretending it was a horse. "Yee haw!" she kept saying.) He produced a bag from behind his back, and after asking me if it was ok for her to play with dolls, he pulled out and gave Paige --the frog! He said it was a Mexican frog, so we named it Eduardo, after our new Mexican friend.

grouchies

Paige went up to the H a couple days ago with a fever. So she'll be there for at least a few more days getting antibiotics.

fuzzy bunny hair

Because Paige went so long between her second-to-last and last rounds of chemo, her hair began to grow back, just a little. It's soft and fuzzy, and is starting to get dark in places. But the last round (which was last week) will kick in at some point here in a few days, and then I think she'll be bald again. But it's fun to get a preview of how cute she'll be while it's growing in!

As soon as her blood counts recover from this last round, they will do a bone marrow biopsy. I expect that will be withing the next three weeks. If the lab people see any cancer cells at all, even just 1%, it means that the chemo was ineffective.

So please pray like mad!

Thursday

Ben stayed with Paige during her two day chemo run. She's back home now (they drove in the blizzard) sans Broviac. Somehow it came out earlier today, and it looks like the cuff stayed inside her when everything else pulled out. She might have surgery in the future to fish it out of her chest. Pray that it won't lead to an infection in the meantime.

Wow. The boringness of my blog amazes me. Sorry folks. I guess I can be thankful that there is no current crisis.

I just heard a sqeak in the kitchen, where Francesca, my cat, had cornered a mouse. The same mouse, I believe, that she had mortally (or so I thought) wounded this morning. It was huddled earlier today in the sleeve of a fleece jacket, and from what I could see, looked bloody. Luke asked me if God could heal it, and then wanted me to pray, so I did. And there you have it, now it's running around my kitchen.