Last Day of Delayed Intensification I

Our week has started off a little yucky. I always know the good can't last too long, and it doesn't. I had just gotten Evan onto the bus, and started to run to the store when I got the call. Ally threw up at school. (another first!) So I ran and got her and she was also really complaining about her ear hurting. Weird. She didn't get sick the rest of the day, so I kinda just figured it was fluke or something. But I do know that the stomach virus is going around. I am actually wondering if it was caused by her not taking her typical nightly medicine for stomach upset which is Prevacid. Our lovely insurance company told us they would no longer cover it, and would only allow generic. But the generic doesn't come in a solutab (dissolvable tablet) until mid-Feb so we were kinda stuck. I finally got her the generic liquid version today (after long days dealing with insurance stuff). I paid $100 for that bottle and she took one taste of it and said no more. So there goes another $100. Grrrrrrrrr......so frustrating to me. Can't they figure out that the poor girl is doing chemotherapy and gags on everything? And, No she can't take a capsule, she is EIGHT. (but I am still working on her doing that)

So today, she was fine so I drove her over to school and she starts fussing about her belly again the minute we get into the parking lot. I just didn't feel like pushing her and we had to go to the hospital for chemo this afternoon, so I brought her back home. I made her sit and read and do math and write a letter to her Great Grandma and her Great Aunt. Then I taught her about spreadsheets (I am an accountant and I was trying to do W-2s today). So some learning, and off to the hospital we went. Thank you Julie for staying with the other kids while we went to CMC.

Today our appointment was at 2:45 and by 3:05 her chemo had come up from pharmacy. Wow it usually takes two hours, so I just had to write that out there for all of my hospital friends to see!! She wasn't even accessed yet. We still ended up staying about two hours after waiting for her blood results to come back and also a thorough examination by Dr Broccoli. (her ear was fine, btw) We discussed the fact that she is done with this phase (delayed intensification) today and moving on to another 8 week course of chemo. He pretty much laughed when I asked if this phase was gonna be easier. Hahahahahahaah....Dr B is just known for laughing at any and all questions. I guess I jumped the gun the other day when I was WISHING it would be easier. I guess the hardest part is this....she gets the chemo every 10 days, but she also has to meet counts every 10 days (That ANC number has to be up to 750, i think). Normally we only meet counts at the end of each month. So this means we could have 2, 3, 4, 7 day delays all through this 8 week course. And it also means we will NEVER know when chemo day is gonna be until the day before when she gets her finger pricked. ..which makes it really really hard to plan for help for the other kiddos. So we are now re-naming this phase to be the "really fly by the seat of your pants" phase. God help us to get through it.

One more thing: her ANC is down to 290. This means we are back in the bubble. No more school until it climbs a little higher. But she is still feeling fairly good.

Last but not least, I wanted to mention an event we have coming up. I really wanted to invite anyone from Ally's Army to attend. On February 20, the NCAA does a Coaches vs. Cancer type event...all across the United States at basketball games to honor those fighting/surviving/and even lost to cancer. The Wright State University women's team has chosen to honor our girl Ally. They will be recognizing her (I think at halftime) and presenting her with a special pink ball. I thought it would be very cool and supportive if she had some friends/family there in the crowd to cheer her on. She is a bit nervous about it. I want to make her some Ally's Army signs and show support, etc. So if you are interested....it is Feb 20 at 3pm at the Nutter Center. The games are not very crowded so I am sure we could all sit together. It is just another way we can show her how proud we are of her strength and for making it through this!!!!

Keeping my fingers crossed and my prayers going that I make it out of here on Friday morning!!