April 2, 2006

Just a quick update tonight. Leah is ready for bed and needs me to lie down by her so she can hold my hair. Leah had a good day today and also a good night of sleep last night. This morning they removed her spinal epidural and then a bit later took out her chest tube that had been draining fluid from her pleural space. This afternoon she had her catheter removed and was even up to use the bathroom once. Her morphine dose has been cut in half and she has not had any oral medicines, either. Leah is still not hungry. Her diet today consisted of 3 guacamole potato chips and 3 french fries. I am sure they would like her to eat a bit, but don't seem very concerned now. However, I am also sure we will be here until she can show us that her bowel is working. Tonight we were moved to our normal unit. There really was no reason we could even dream up to remain in PICU even though the one on one attention there was wonderful. In some ways it is good to be in familiar surroundings, Yet, at the same time it would be nice to think that after surgery we were done and had won the battle we are fighting. This is not the case yet which just goes to show what a horrible disease cancer is. I am dreading the next four rounds of chemo and watching the AFP number hopefully drop. It all seems enough to make me crazy as we focus on this number we have no control of. So, keep praying for her next rounds of chemo to be effective and the AFP to be responsive. We have seen the power of prayer already with the many hurdles we have overcome and the thousands of people who pray for Leah each and every day.