What a difference one day of chemo makes compared to four days. While Kennedy is weak and tires quickly, she enjoys playing games again and is back to driving her Bubba crazy! Her numbers are falling (Tuesday her ANC was 180 and we want it over 1500) but she is happy to have a two week break from the 6mp (oral meds). She has new bruises despite not falling or playing rough so I’m sure platelets will be in order for Tuesday. A week ago they were below normal (140) but still respectable (127) but by Tuesday they had fallen to 76. With more chemo and these new bruises they are at least 1/2 that if not worse. We’re just taking it easy this holiday weekend. We had plans to attend the Molalla Buckeroo but Daddy and Bubba may have to go this year and take lots of pictures. Kennedy and Mommy will rent movies and have a make-up party. Phooey on sitting in the sun watching the horses, bull riders and clowns. Who wants to do that anyway! 🙁 We’ll just enjoy these 2 weeks for what we have and not worry about the 4 day a week schedule in the future! After all, the Lord says that we should be content and I will find contentment with all the blessings I do have.
Since getting her new jogging stroller, Kennedy has insisted on going for a walk out to the bridge every night. Yesterday, Kylee and Cody were here so we went all the way to the top of the pasture. While the view is incredible, my legs are killing me! She was all giggles and enjoyed seeing the hawks fly over the very long hay and diving into it. Yes, it was a good day and worth the soreness this morning. Tonight we went over and fed Colton’s baby goats carrots. “WhiteTail” got his head stuck through the fence and we had to get Jerry to nudge it back through. Kennedy was very amused by all of this and inisted if he hadn’t been trying to hog the carrots from his sister, he never would have gotten stuck in the first place. She told me she would like to have goats to follow her around too. I told her she would just have to enjoy these for now, Meow was enough pet for all of us. She was a very tuckered little girl and crashed on the couch after Austin read “Monster Musical Chairs” twice.
Her fungal infection is almost cleared up so she is feeling better. I asked the Dr. about treating with Probiotics to counter the effects but she said that with the high doses of chemo that Kennedy gets, the probiotics would be wiped out before they could do any good. It would just be a losing battle-something we don’t need.
We have already heard back from some families planning to attend the Spaghetti feed. We can’t wait to see you. While Kennedy does have OHP for the next few months there is no guarantee after that and we’re finding that some of her prescriptions are not covered. Just a vicious cycle. Now we just kick ourselves for not getting health insurance before this. It is just so expensive and with the high deductibles it seemed like it was pointless. Boy, were we wrong. Now we can’t get even the worst coverage for our family. It just seems so very wrong. Keith found out this week about a driving job with a very large local company that he currently contracts with but when he asked about health insurance, he was told there is a one year wait on pre-existing conditions. One year and she’ll be in maintenance and we’ll possibly be bankrupt. I was never a big advocate for vast social services but universal health care gets better looking everyday. Sorry, my rant for the day but it is a big worry for me and this is my place to rant 🙂
On a good note, I did find a great group of families on-line whose children are fighting/or have fought ALL. It is very encouraging to know that things get better and that there are other families making it through. I was thrilled to find one family we met in day treatment on Tuesday. Our husbands are both dumptruck drivers and actually contract with the same company so they have been on some of the same jobs. What a small world it really is!
I’m going to take a wonderful idea from another child’s site (Thanks Mark!) and ask that you also pray for the following families that are in our prayers.
Please pray for 12 year old Warren Mattox who is fighting Burkitt’s Lymphoma. He is having a difficult time with side effects from chemo and could use prayer. Also, please pray for his family during these months of treatment.
Also, pray for 3 year old Maggie. While we do not know the family well, we have been following her progress. She will be transferring to Doernbecher for a bone marrow transplant. She also has Leukemia but has a very rare form, MML which is both ALL and AML. She will be leaving on Tuesday to get ready for her transplant.
We love you all and look forward to seeing you at the Spaghetti Feed!!
Mel
