"One strong body"

Good morning,

Today's entry should have the following disclaimer to prevent me from being "caught" by the grammar police - WARNING: author of this blog is typing and writing with eyes being kept open strictly by toothpicks. For all you mothers out there, it won't take long for you to figure out the disclaimer is code for "my newborn is keeping some nasty hours and I'm darn tired". Now onto the past week's news ...

Dane's body continues to show its tenacity. He had his appt on Friday at the Cancer Clinic and his neutrophils were even higher then on May 19. Given both his neutrophils and platelets were above the required levels, he received the same dose of vincristine and an increased dose of methotrexate. He felt fine on Friday after the treatment, however by yesterday he was pretty fatigued and in the evening he was running a temperature of just over 38. This warranted a call to the pediatric oncologist, who indicated he didn't need to come into the ER because his counts were high enough on Friday. He told us to watch him closely over the rest of the weekend and call Monday if his temp is still up. He is a bit feverish again today and has a slight cough so it will be a "low-key" day. We are allowed to give him tylenol because he's not neutropenic and that seems to be helping. Aside from this "hiccup" right now, he has felt very well the past ten days. He went to school every day except Friday and he played both his soccer games this week. He scored a couple of beauty goals and in an upcoming blog we'll be sure to include a photo of him in his "Red Devils" uniform. His next appt is June 9 at the Clinic and assuming his counts are still "ok", he will receive his chemo and have a spinal tap the following day at the Pediatric Day Unit at Children's Hospital. We haven't been there since March so he will have to re-acquaint himself with the nurses and doctors (aka - show them his Dane attitude)!

Ashley is having a busy and sports filled May/June. She is running in Marathon Club several times a week and her ringette team is now sporting an 8-0 record. Earlier this morning they beat a team of girls one division older than her team and she potted two goals. Dirk was on dad duty for this game as Dane, Clare and I stayed home to rest up. Tomorrow marks the start of June and the beginning of what will be a busy month for our sociable grade 3 student.

Little Clare continues to delight the family, however her "charm" doesn't work quite as well with her mom at 3 am! She has been "growth spurting" this week (eating all the time, a bit fussier and very interrupted sleeps). I'm hopeful this spurt is drawing to a close so we can get into some kind of nighttime routine. She was up to a whopping 7 lbs this Wednesday at her pediatrician's appt. Although she is still small, that's a good gain since she was born. Enjoy the latest couple of pictures I've included.

Take care and thanks to all for the continued home cooking and treats for the kids.

Janie and Dirk