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.

Saturday

Paige went on a green marker rampage today at Grandpa H's house. It's on her legs, feet, hands, and face. She was suppossed to go to the hospital Friday to begin chemo, but her ANC dropped back down to around 100. So we're waiting at home until it goes up again. She keeps complaining of her "Ow, tummy." We're not sure if the pain is from all the antibiotics or the chemo.

Thursday

Paige came home yesterday! Her counts zipped up to over 600, so Laura B. who had been in the hospital with her for two days delivered her to us. It was my dad's birthday, so Mom, Dad Paige and I went out to dinner together. Paige was great, and had fun dipping her bread into marinara sauce like the big people. She melted down at the end, and we had to wisk her away from the other patrons, but overall, she was great.

Luke is very sick with a cough and runny nose, so he and Ben are over at Ben's dad's house till the kids can be together again.

Something for prayer: I have been looking into alternative treatments to complement Paige's chemo, and have run things by my naturopath (sp?) and the oncologists. But I have been doing some online research, and I'm interested in looking at the nutritional component. Please pray that God will help me find just the right thing for Paige, and that He'll help me feel at peace, and not like Paige's health is in my hands. (Which it's not, but it could feel that way if we end up doing a labor intensive diet, like gluten-free.) God is a smart guy, and I know that he can direct me, and keep me peaceful, so please pray for us, and pray that the oncologists will be open-minded to untraditional nutrition ideas. Anything is better than the dreadful hospital food, which consists of lots of white bread and fried food!