Hello Friends,
It's been a tough month for Lauren. She had the flu over Christmas and after a month we are still dealing with the aftermath. She had fevers that got her a few trips to the ER around Christmas then she improved and after another week more fevers that landed her back in the ER. I think our ER visit count is up to 8 in the last month. Each time she has a fever the protocol in the ER is to access her port, draw blood to check for a bacterial infection, and administer IV antibiotics and fluids. The whole process is never less than 4 hours and it seems to always happen at night or on the weekend. She has had a few port accesses in the ER that have been pretty traumatizing. She is such a brave girl though and amazes me with her strength. Thankfully, her numbers have been just high enough so she didn't need to be admitted. She is feeling much better this week - eating more and less tired but we are going on week # 3 of oral chemo hold. She takes nightly oral chemo and if counts are too low and her immune system is still suppressed the nightly oral chemo is stopped until her blood work numbers get to a certain level. She is not there yet. I am hopeful by next week she will be able to resume her oral chemo.
Lauren is going to start IVIg. This is a blood product taken from the blood plasma of donors (I am SO THANKFUL for these strangers who donate blood, it is truly lifesaving). It will give her antibodies that her body is not making on its own so she has a better chance of fighting infections. Hopefully this will make her less susceptible to catching every little germ that comes her way. There can be side effects to this transfusion but I pray they are minimal and that this therapy will help her. I am staying positive and hoping that next months update will be better:)
Thank you all for taking the time to read this
and for your support on our journey through
childhood leukemia.
xoxo,
Shawna
.
McKinley is doing really great. She's loving school, LOVING dance & enjoying being off chemo meds. It really is amazing how much she's grown, how much she's developed & how much more personality she has since she's stopped chemo. All things are looking great which is wonderful news. We've been very busy with advocating & promoting childhood cancer awareness month & attending a lot of events. We did have one scare at this months appointment but all was confirmed negative with an ultrasound. Myself, a few other "cancer moms" & McKinleys oncologist were all concerned about a vein by where her port was placed especially since she had a clot in the past. But all was confirmed ok with a quick ultrasound (Thank God). I'm not sure I'll ever be able to take a deep breath but I do try too. We are praying for a Halloween at home this year (last year we spent 8 days in the hospital fighting a nasty virus over Halloween). And although the nurses & staff came by her hospital room to trick or treat, I'm actually looking forward to sweating & fighting bugs on Halloween night this year. It's the little things 😉 Thank You as always for keeping McKinley in your thoughts & prayers.
xoxox,
Karen
LAUREN'S CORNER