When it Rains it Pours

Sarah has been home with us since last Thursday (6 days). She is doing great and has enough energy to move around and play some with her brothers and sisters. She doesn't walk very well, more of a shuffle/hobble. She takes a small amount of Tylenol w/codeine for muscle and joint pain (it makes a huge difference). Hair is going fast, but some is hanging in there.

We visited the doctor's today to have her blood counts checked and discuss the next steps in her therapy. She did have some chemo treatment in her spine today (read spinal tap). The good news..., Her blood counts looked good. The bad news..., Since her blood counts look good she is ready for more chemotherapy. She goes back to thehospital for the chemo next Wednesday (6/18). Thankfully, she will spend this next week at home with her family. We are so excited about having her home (and in good spirits) with very little meds until next Wednesday (now that is a gift)!!

Sarah has to go through one and maybe two "blocks" of chemotherapy before she begins the bone marrow transplant phase. The doctor's tell us this is normal and expected and that things are still moving along in a positive way. The one block of chemotherapy we know she needs will be for 6 straight days. Sarah has to be in the hospital for observation the entire 6 days. The hospital stay is required since the drugs will be an entirely new set and she may respond badly. Something else new..., we will be giving Sarah daily injections of a growth factor at home starting on the sixth day to boost her blood cell recovery. The block ends 3 weeks later with a bone marrow biopsy to check her status and blood cell counts.

If the doctor's are pleased with her response to the first block, then we can move into the bone marrow transplant (BMT) phase. We're not looking forward to the BMT, but we do want to go into and out of the BMT phase as soon as possible.

So, it looks like another several weeks of uncertainty and "going with the flow". Did I mention that Susan is due to deliver baby #9 in 5 weeks? We better wrap up the naming process pretty quick.
-Song of Solomon 2:10-12

The upper right image is Sarah at the hospital today waiting to see the doctor.
The upper left image is Sarah resting after her spinal chemo treatment today.