Infection is clear

Ally was down a little bit today. More tired than normal, not wanting to get dressed, etc. I still struggle a lot with deciding if I should be doing more with her, or just letting her rest. After yesterday...a long day spent doing things all day...I come to think maybe I should be doing a little more with her. It could be that her counts are "bottoming out" today. In fact, she was supposed to get a blood draw tomorrow because they think she is going to need a platelet infusion. Platelets are cells in your blood that help your blood clot. If your platelets are low, and you even get a tiny little poke (like from a shot or a spinal) you could end up bleeding a lot. Anyway, I called the doctor to set up the test and they told me not to worry about it, they would just do it Friday when we are at the hospital. So I proceeded to ask if they had heard anything about her infection and if the latest blood cultures had "grown" anything. The nurse told me that the cultures were negative. The infection is cleared! Thank god. Here I was worrying myself to death that she was going to need her port taken out, and they didn't even call to tell me about the negative result! Ah well, I am just so happy that it is gone. One less thing to worry about.

Ally's new home instructor for school stopped by this afternoon to meet Ally and also to read to her. Mrs. Brower is a friend and neighbor of ours who just recently retired from being a teacher. She is so wonderful and I am so happy that she is helping us. She applied to be a Beavercreek Schools employee just so that she could help our Ally. I truly believe that God was looking out for us when he sent her our way. She sat on the couch with Ally for almost an hour, reading her a Junie B Jones book and just talking to her about life. She even managed to get a few smiles out of her and our quiet girl even spoke!

We did drag Ally up to Dad's pool tonight again for an impromptu Synergy pool party. (Synergy is our family business where Jerad and I both work...although me, very limited) She was crying and didn't want to go, but we managed it. I know it is not much fun for her to sit in a chair and watch everyone in the pool. Even if she could swim, I don't think she would want to. I do believe the highlight for her was judging the cannonball competition off the diving board, which Kopilchak won. (sorry Todd) And who knew that Suzanne Duplain could do a back flip off the board? Impressive. The highlight for me was having some swimming races. (I swam competitively my whole life, but they didn't know that). I loved beating the boys. heehee To be fair though, we had a relay race competition. Me-Lexi touched the wall after the winners: Todd Duplain and Kopil. So congrats to those boys, but watch out next time! We are so lucky that our work friends are just like family to us. I love to go into work on Tuesdays (and I did go today) and see all of the orange Ally's Army bracelets that come and go from our office. All these big construction guys wearing orange bracelets to support our little girl. Wow.

I am having a feeling that tonight is going to be bad. Her stomach continues to bother her and she has already woken up several times. She is barely eating anything these days. (I can't even get her to eat candy!) McDonalds is about the only thing she will eat. The research nurse that we deal with actually said McD's is one of the better things for her, especially if we get her a milkshake. High protein, high fat, high calories...all good for her situation. Please pray that these bothersome side effects go away and that we can have our old Ally back. Maybe another prayer that she will actually eat something and gain some energy from it. Until later......I am off to do an antibiotic infusion. Only a few more days of this.