Good news. . .sort of

Lauren had her first set of scans off chemo today (3 weeks since her last dose). It was a very long day, starting with her first appointment at 8:30 and getting home ~4pm. She had her CXR first (clear-no cancer) followed by an abdominal ultrasound (showed a questionable area/?mass where her old kidney used to be), then up to the Heme/Onc clinic for a lab draw, some vomiting, and then some play time. I'm not quite sure if she made her self sick because she is sick after every clinic visit (because of the chemo she receives there). She was completely fine before the clinic and after the clinic both times, but she managed to throw up with both visits today. Then back down to Radiology for some contrast (added to apple juice, for her to drink over the period of an hour) and then a CT scan of her abdomen. The results are good for now. . .no tumor, just a lymph node that may or may not have cancer in it. . .time will tell. We need to watch it with another US in 4 weeks and hope it doesn't grow or spread elsewhere. Then back up to chemo to get her port de-accessed, drop off her urine sample I had been carrying around, get her lab results, and make a new appt. I can't wait to see what the node does, hopefully no growth over this month. It is a very nerve racking experience, and I am sure it doesn't get any easier with subsequent scans.

Wishing Time

Lauren got to make her wish last week, and we are just waiting to get it finalized. Looks like we will be heading to Disney World after Thanksgiving for a week of much needed fun! The kids are SUPER excited. . .and we are too;)

Brady and Lauren making a wish with their special coins at the wishing pond outside

Lauren using her key to open the wishing room door

Following the lighted path to the wishing wizard

Placing her wish for the wizard

Her wish granters. .2 volunteers who made the night special and help to make her wish come true! Nicole and Jan got her yummy cheese pizza and chocolate cupcakes, along with some little presents (including a make-a-wish barbie, the big pink puppy on the table, a make-a-wish car for Brady, a little stuffed toy for Courtney and a few more things).

Yay! Lauren's ANC and white blood cell counts stayed up enough to go to preschool again this week. Her platelet count dropped a little to 129K. She still is a little tired and falls asleep usually daily at random times.

Courtney is all but crawling. She is so cute and such a wonderful baby. You hardly know when she is around. She loves to mimic sounds now and ONLY wants big girl food (which can be a challenge with 3 teeth. . .one of her front teeth finally came out).

Who knew kindergarten would entail so much homework. Brady can handle a small sheet for homework, but this month he has the equivalent of about 30 sheets worth and 20 minutes of 'reading' a day. It's a challenge to get everything in, between all the usual stuff + some extras.

My ankle has been sore this week. It is now week 2 out of my walking cast + physical therapy= pain and more swelling! They iced my ankle today after PT which made it feel SO much better and have cut back the exercises to only 1 x/day, but also changed them up. We'll see how long it takes to heal and feel 100%. . .