LAUREN & MCKINLEY'S JOURNEYS
Hello Friends,
Things have improved since my last update. We ended up spending 3 days in the hospital the weekend after Thanksgiving for Lauren's fever. Luckily, her numbers came up pretty fast so we were relieved we didn't have to spend too many days in the hospital. Lauren started her last phase of treatment before maintenance. This phase is called Interim Maintenance II and will take us through to the end of January. She has IV chemo every 10 days with an additional type of chemo every 4 weeks. Plus 2 lumbar punctures. This chemo that she is on is escalating so if she is tolerating the treatment well and her counts aren't dropping too low they bump up her dose each time. Luckily, she is tolerating it well so far with minimal side effects - other than the fact that she doesn't have much of an appetite.
We have gone to a few Christmas parties to see Santa and things are slowly starting to feel "normal" again. I never thought I would be able to say that and am so thankful for how far we have come since Lauren's leukemia diagnosis back in March. This year has been the most difficult year I have ever had. But I have learned so much and have grown a lot as well. I am so proud of my little fighter who has been through more than anyone should ever ever have to go through. I have also learned to trust my mom instincts because most of the time they are right. Thank you to everyone who has been on this journey with us. I hope everyone has a happy and most of all HEALTHY New Year!!
xoxo,
Shawna