Things are good, then bad and then good again. It feels more like a rollercoaster than my life 🙂

Yesterday, Kennedy complained of abdominal pain and was vomiting so I took her to the oncologist’s office and they decided to admit her overnight for observation-especially since she had chemo this morning. Last night went well-she ate everything (hotdogs, cheese pizza, etc.) with no problem. This morning she was mad as could be because she could not eat breakfast before her bone marrow aspiration. When we got to day treatment, she just protested that she would not allow us to do any back pokes. We told her she was welcome to tell Dr. Chu but we could not do anything about it. Luckily, she did not need a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) or Methotrexate (chemo meds) in her spinal fluid. This was a relief to all of us. They had some problems getting bone marrow from her left hip because it was crumbly, so they had to also draw from her right which was much softer. This is probably not good news but I’m holding out hope for remission anyway. Next week she will only have to come in for chemo so we can just go to the Dr.’s office. How nice for her not to be poked in the back again. While we were at the hospital they did x-rays of her abdomen but couldn’t find any explanation for her pain-I’m not sure if that is good or bad. After having her procedure, they gave her Morphine-of course that was when they decided to photograph her for the new family brochure. My perfect 4 year old will be immortalized stoned-every mother’s dream 🙂 It did help with pain and she ate a 1/4 lb. hotdog and a large bag of Doritos. I guess that meant she was not feeling sick to her stomach. When it was time to leave she protested loudly that she wanted to stay the night. I was not surprised as she loves keeping the night nurses on their toes with requests for water, bandaids, potty visits, food, etc. She is home this evening and doing well.

Kennedy finished her steroids yesterday so hopefully she will return to her normal self. She has lost 7 lbs. since she has gotten sick but her Dr. thinks it is muscle mass. Of course, it freaks me out and we spent some time with a dietician today. In addition to increasing her exercise (as tolerable) we will be increasing calories. We were worried that she would gain weight, not lose it. She has not begun to lose her hair although we have had a couple of opportunities to talk about it. I have been assured that it won’t be too much longer.

Thank you all for your encouraging e-mails, cards and messages. We all love you very much and do think of you.

Melenie