Another day gone by...

...and a hard one at that. Hard for me (Marleny). I've been really calm and put together the last few days, but this afternoon was hard for me. Katherine had a good day, which is what counts! As I wrote in this morning's update, she woke up happy and asking to watch tv. I don't know how many times Shrek has played today, but I'm sure it's been too many!! :) In any case, the day was really uneventful (which in this situation is a GOOD thing!!). Katherine and I spent a good part of the morning and early afternoon together. Dan took our little guy to the pediatrician for his 6 month check up. Joshua is doing well and growing beautifully. He was not to happy to get 4 pokes on his little legs though; and was not feeling great this evening while they were here at the hospital visiting. Let's just hope the little guy is not catching any of what mommy and daddy have; rather he is just having the post-vaccination discomfort that is common. I knew he was not feeling very well, when I went to him from the car and he didn't smile when he saw me. He was a bit cranky and just not having too much fun.

I learned this morning, while Dan was at the pediatrician with Joshua, that the medication that's been administered to Katherine the last two days was a heavy steroid; which does help to kill the leukemia cells, but is not considered one of the chemotherapy drugs. The doctor peeked in this morning to tell me that he had written the orders for Kateli's first chemo drug to be given today. I had a really hard time when the nurse came in to administer the medication. It was so evident; she was wearing a gown, a mask and some heavy duty gloves. She verified Katherine's ID bracelet and then began administering the drug into her port IV. As she sat there doing this, and I listened to Katherine cry and call out in fear/pain, I broke into tears. Here was this nurse, wearing these heavy duty gloves, so as not to get her bare hands on this drug, and she was injecting into my 2 year old's blood stream. If she wasn't wanting to touch it, what was it doing in our little girls fragile body? Yes, that was hard. And then tonight, as I wind down and think about the day, I realize that the end purpose of the drug is to make our baby well again.

I was feeling worn down earlier today, and wanting to just go home. Wanting to go back to the days when my life was about waking up in the morning and having both kids in bed with us playing and watching Veggie Tales together. The days that would start with Katherine coming down from her room in the morning, and hearing her ask for her brother's "mano" (hand). She loves to hold his hand, smile at him and say "dias mano" (good morning, brother). This afternoon, when Joshua came, I realized that not much has changed. It doesn't happen in the morning, these days, but as soon as she sees him she wants to just hold his little hand in hers. How sweet is that? My babies as so dear to my heart. I don't know how I could get through a day without seeing them interact and love on each other. I miss Joshua a lot during the day, and I know that he misses us too; but he is in great caring and loving hands with Grandma Sue.

So, the doctor came in to talk to us this afternoon about Katherine's bloodwork and her need to get a blood transfusion. He communicated that it was not urgent to do it today, but that she will more than likely need one in the next two weeks. Apparently, once a kids hemoglobin starts to go down it continues down that slippery slope; this is because the Leukemia cells are overcrowding all of those red blood cells. 'Transfusion' just makes us both nervous, so we've asked about the option of having a person that we know donate blood for Kateli. The doctor has advised how we can go about getting this accomplished but is not sure how soon the donation can be processed and be ready for Katherine.

Specific prayers:

* For Joshua, that his discomfort would stem from the vaccines and not a cold that he's caught from either of us. Please pray that he would feel better and be back to his smiley self tomorrow. I really miss my little giggle monster.

* For the directed donor request that we have made. A dear friend of ours has offered to be a donor and will be going tomorrow morning to the blood institute. Please pray that everything will go smoothly, that she is able to donate and that the donation is processed quickly so that it can be on hand for when Kateli needs it.

* Continued strength for Dan and I.

* Continued strength for our little girl Katherine.

I did manage to get the camera out today and get some shots. Here are some...