Clinic Update

Mollie showing her port, already accessed and taped up

Mollie's LP went smoothly yesterday! It was a long day- we didn't leave the hospital until 3 PM and didn't get home until 5 because we went out for pizza. Mollie was so great- she hardly complained at all (remember, she was fasting all that time) and was sweet as could be when she woke up from the procedure. According to her treatment protocol, this was her last LP (for IT methotrexate). She also got IV vincristine. This starts her last 84-day 'round' of chemo (I feel so ambivalent about this).

Her counts remained high (ANC = 2400); because they have been above 2000 for 3 months in a row, she will now take an increased chemo dose (125%) and go back in two weeks to have counts checked. I will feel much more at ease if we see the counts dipping in two weeks. The steroid dose went up too and we can really tell. It seems like just a few minutes after her first dose her brain was going a mile a minute! She is napping right now, but when she's awake we have to keep her busy or she gets really grumpy.

We saw Zackary in clinic- he had Mollie running around and playing Candyland, a great distraction for her! It was great to see Carrie- now that Zackary is done with treatment, we don't see them as often. Sadly, we also saw another family in clinic that had just found out their son had relapsed with neuroblastoma after 18 months with no evidence of disease. We really feel for them and pray for Gabe's full recovery.

cr- - (rhymes with sap)

We forgot Mollie's appointment today. I thought it was next Monday and didn't bother to double check. I feel awful because it was a spinal tap appointment (her last one!). Medically, it doesn't make any difference when she has the LP, as long as it is this week, but I really do feel terrible for forgetting. Since the office was closed by the time we realized, we have to call first thing in the morning and see if we should bring her in tomorrow or schedule for later this week. Ugh.

We still have a million other things going on (still no official move date Nicola). I'm really stressed about moving, selling our house, etc. We are going to have to move twice: into a rental house until our house sells and then we will purchase a house. This weighs heavily. I have never been stretched so thin in my entire life. I don't know how we are going to make this move happen; I keep hoping the stars will align and things will just fall into place.

The good news is that Mollie and Lucy had a good first official day of summer vacation. They played in the pool, helped me do some painting, made a fort out of a big box we had, and ate pizza for dinner. My dad is here helping with the kids and I am really thankful for a little help!

Update: Mollie will go for her spinal tap on Thursday. Now I just have to remember to NOT give her methotrexate tonight (she it getting IT MTX during her LP on Thurs. so she doesn't get the oral MTX that week).

Fish Sitting

We are taking care of our neighbors' fish while they are at Disneyworld (Jealous!), and Mollie and Lucy are in love. They can't wait to feed Little Tommy every day. You would think they got a puppy or kitten to listen to them talk to him, but he is just a red betta fish. We might consider getting a betta of our own after Little Tommy goes home.

We had a great weekend. My dad arrived and has been helping keep the kids entertained while Matt and I tackle projects around the house. Isabella's family took Mollie strawberry picking with them on Saturday. We are now enjoying the fruits of their labor- a huge basket of strawberries! We have plan to make some fresh strawberry ice cream tomorrow and we have already enjoyed them plain, in salad, and in smoothies.

The girls spent most of the day yesterday playing in our backyard pool (a tiny baby pool on the deck, but they love it!). We think Liam is busy working on a tooth, but he enjoyed sticking his feet in the pool too. Mollie seems to be over her cough/cold and is not complaining of headaches any more.

This will be the first week of summer vacation- we plan to start the library summer reading program, make ice cream, and enjoy the nice weather. Mollie wants to shout hello to Mr. Morgan, her PE teacher. She misses him already!