May 4, 2006

I am posting early today since Leah has many, many things planned out for the remainder of our evening.

We have had some fun and busy days. I managed to work on Tuesday afternoon and all day yesterday but am off now til Tuesday since we have chemo. tomorrow. Nearly each day we have managed to see Baby Drea. Leah and Chloe both enjoy her, but it is Leah who really likes taking care of the baby. Grandma Karen was over yesterday while I worked to watch both girls and did some playing with them. Today we took Chloe to daycare while Chris and I took Leah to have her blood work done and port reaccessed. It always seems that just about when I think we are finally getting used to all this and feeling more normal, then we are back for more hospital stuff. I will say that the blood draw is no longer quite as traumatic for us because we know what to expect, but I don't think the port access will ever be a non-event. And, the fact that we have nurses who know us and care about Leah is wonderful. However, we would just like to come back and visit someday without all this other poking and prodding they have to do. After the un-fun stuff, we ate at Olive Garden and then shopped at Target and Old Navy. Leah wanted to hit Barnes and Noble, too, but we were already late for her medicine and Drea was coming over. Leah has told Chris that she "can buy whatever she wants." She just says this as a matter of fact but it is not going over very well. Leah does a great job of shopping, though. Not much escapes her and it is rather entertaining to watch.

Tonight we are going to Grandma Kathy's, packing, making cinnamon rolls and doing one last dose of antibiotic and having a bath. We have to be at the clinic in Iowa City by 7:45 tomorrow. Considering we used to have to do that more often when this all started, we should not complain because this is the first time we have had an early hospital morning since her surgery at the end of March. Leah's incision is looking great and the last scab has fallen off. She feels well-her hemoglobin is 9.6, her platelets are 345,000 (quite a recovery from 12,000 just 10 days ago). I am just guessing, but I do think they will draw her AFP tomorrow. This almost makes me sick to my stomach to think about. Any increase means there is live cancer growing somewhere. It is easy to ignore this number and the focus on it while we are home because Leah looks good, feels good, and acts just like normal. As the days to Iowa City approach it is harder to block this out. In some ways something like AFP is good because it is very definitive if you are looking at whether treatment is effective, but in some ways happy oblivion would be OK, too.

Please pray for a dramatically lower AFP (we still have a long way to go til it is normal), for her chemotherapy to be effective, and for the cancer cells not to become resistant. I know that Leah is already on many church prayer lists-please continue to pray for her at church, at home, in prayer groups...we will certainly take every prayer we can get.