"Wait and see" ...

Hello everyone,

It's Monday morning and I figured I'd write a quick update while the house is relatively quiet (Ashley is at school and Dane is watching his morning TV). Since my last entry on Wednesday, Dane has been "plagued" by what the doctors think was the stomach flu. He started throwing up Thursday evening and did so off & on until Saturday afternoon. Fortunately he didn't have any temperature, so no need to head back to the hospital - that is a relief. The oncology staff told us to give him anti-nausea medication and that seemed to help a fair bit. Although his appetite isn't huge, he has been eating solid food since Saturday evening and keeping it down.

Although I don't have a recent picture to post at this time, he is looking much more like the regular Dane. The puffy, steroid-induced cheeks are gone for the time being and every week portions of the ten pounds he gained are disappearing. We have to coax him to eat now - a vast difference from his "roid rage" month.

Dane had a ton of energy yesterday and in fact at times was just downright annoying. He was bouncing around and pestering everyone in sight. He and Ashley enjoyed the fresh air for a good half hour Sunday afternoon and then at 7:30 last night, Dirk and I bartered with the kids - a 15 minute family walk in exchange for a few games of cards so they could proceed to kick my butt! His mood and health seem good this morning and he will be shipped off to school this afternoon assuming no more stomach issues.

We are in "wait and see" mode today as tomorrow he gets blood drawn in the morning to determine if he's ready to start the next month of the Intensive Consolidation. We are trying to prepare ourselves for either result, but it sure makes planning difficult. If he's good to go, he'll be hospitalized until Wednesday sometime and given fluids along with his chemo. I'm preparing myself for another night of basically no sleep if this happens, because he'll likely be up every two hours going to the bathroom. As I said a month ago, it's my preparation for the baby and many sleepless nights. If he's not ready, he'll be on hold until next Tuesday when another blood sample will be drawn and his platelets and neutrophyls checked. Although I'm not optimistic he'll be ready tomorrow, I am hopeful he is so we can keep "flying" through this phase. Week long delays now just add to the amount of time he is in the more intense phase before long-term maintenance can begin. So please keep your fingers crossed for good blood counts ...

Ashley is doing quite well these days, she's demonstrated great flexibility and she and Dane have definitely resumed their regular sibling relationship. She is quite preoccupied with her baby sister and hugs & kisses my stomach every chance she gets. I have to admit I'll be glad when the baby is born and she can smother her in person! Her ringette season came to an end yesterday when her team was eliminated from the playoffs. They were real troopers and gave it their all, but unfortunately were in a division that was just too tough for them. She is skipping soccer this year and instead is playing 3x3 spring ringette with many of the girls from her team. This will be good activity for her in May and June.

I've recovered from whatever was plaguing me last week and the cramps have subsided. I'm just about done seven months of my pregnancy so we are officially in the "home stretch". If anyone out there can do anything about this nasty weather I'd really appreciate it - we are still waiting for the nice spring temps so we can get out walking more.

Take care and I'll post an update later this week once we find out the blood results.

Thank you - Janie and Dirk