Slight Change to Protocol

Thank you all for your prayers this week as we enter the Delayed Intensification Phase of treatment. Katherine's counts were above 900 which is very good, and we are able to continue with treatment as scheduled. We got some additional schedules this week, and found out that they have changed the standard protocol within the last month, so I'll have to update the chemo schedule calendar with the new changes. This phase was supposed to begin with 21 days straight of steroids- but they have changed that to 7 days on/7 days off/7 days on. Apparently lots of kids were having significant problems with weak bones, so they've shortened the duration and upped the dosage to compensate. Please pray for bone strength for our little girl. I can't imagine Katherine with a bone fracture in the middle of all of this...
Also, I think that we will continue with treatment as scheduled regardless of Katherine's counts from here on out. The only thing that will be adjusted due to low counts are the oral chemo drugs that we administer at home.

Katherine is visibly exhausted today. She has dark rings under her eyes and is not her normal energetic self. I think this is a result of the steroids. Her appetite is not elevated like it has been during previous iterations of steroids, but this will probably change in the next couple of days. We're actually hoping that her appetite increases a bit, since she hasn't been eating all that well lately.

Joshua, on the other hand, eats EVERYTHING. We took him to the high school track on Wednesday evening to watch mommy do some laps around the track. Half way through, I had to remove some large pebbles from his mouth as he decided to eat the sand from the long jump pit....

We thank you for all of your prayers and support.
Dan.

Prayer as we enter tne new phase...

Kateli has been taking Chemo for a little over 4 months now. Tomorrow is the beginning of the third phase of the treatment. God willing, we will begin Delayed Intensification. Our appointment is scheduled for 8:30am. Kateli is scheduled to have a spinal tap, given that her numbers are high enough. She has been such a trooper thus far, and we pray that the treatment will continue to be tolerated so well. Kateli is a HAPPY girl. Her smiles are contagious, her kisses, and her hugs make my heart melt. She is beautiful inside and out. Each time that I look at my little girl, I realize how lucky we are to have her in our life. God gave us a precious baby, a baby girl that is growing so fast before our eyes, who amazes us each step of the way. She's definitely TWO though, no doubt about this fact. She is strong willed, opinionated, and a little stubborn--but somehow, I think that, if we, as parents, set the foundation right, these traits will take her very far in life. She is talking SO much, she speaks both english and "pañol" as she says...I'm not sure if she distinguishes between the two quite yet, but she says things in both languages. Just the other day, we were sitting at lunch with a friend, who asked me what "grape" was in spanish...just for kicks, I turned to Kateli...her response? "uva"...I was taken back. She translated correctly, and immediately!! What a smart cookie--takes after her daddy! :) And how she loves her little brother--she does not fail to ask him each morning "sleep good, mano?" with a look that says "I'm interested and I care" Joshua loves her right back. His eyes light up when he sees her...it's the best feeling to sense how much these two kiddos love each other.

Please pray for our family in the following ways:

• Our appointment tomorrow morning. Pray that the doctor has had his rest so that he can focus completely on our little girl during the procedure.
• Pray that Kateli reacts just as well as she has been to the treatment thus far.
• Pray that we can be better about managing her "hunger" this time around with the steroids. She will begin taking the steroid again tomorrow. She will be taking it for 21 days.
• Pray for rest, especially for yours truly. I seem to be suffering from some insomnia lately and it's taking a toll on me. I'm physically worn out and my patience runs short.

And please just pray for us in whatever other ways the spirit moves you. Just please don't stop praying for our little girl!

Counts Back up

Good news. Kateli's counts were 900, so we resumed Chemo treatment today. She is still battling a cold and has a deep cough from time to time, but other than that she seems to be doing well.

Tonight I got to watch the kids while Marleny had a girls night out. I took the kids out to the park where we had dinner and played on the swings. Katherine was talking up a storm the whole time. On the drive to the park she was interogating her brother, "where is mommy?". That is one of her favorite questions these days. Joshua didn't reply so she just kept asking. She usually asks me that the entire time that Marleny is away, so I was enjoying not being the one on the hot seat for a change.

Joshua is crawling all over the place and really enjoys standing up. Actually, he seems to really enjoy everything. That boy smiles all the time and laughs at everyone. He has the gift of making you feel good about yourself- he smiles when he sees you & laughs at your jokes. It is a blessing to have such an easy going son during this difficult time.

A hiccup in the chemo road, and a trip to the Urgent Care

Well, Wednesday morning Kateli's blood work showed that she is neutropenic again. Her ANC is down to 224, so we are delaying her chemo for the next week and hoping that her numbers rise so that we can continue with the treatment.

She's been a bit under the weather since about Sunday, but it had just been a mild cold--runny nose, and cough. This afternoon, after nap time I loaded up the kids (one in the stroller, the other on my back in the carrier) and the dog and we went for a walk, and a stop to the park in our neighborhood. Kateli seemed to be feeling fine, before we left...but that changed while we were out. About 20 mins into our stay at the park, she said "mami, home" so we packed up and walked home. Kateli wanted to ride the backpack, but the entire trip she acted so tired and sleepy. We got home, and both kids lost it. Joshua was in tears, Kateli was screaming and feeling a little warm. I took her temp, and she had a low grade temp. She also informed me that she hurt in her ear, and would not stop poking at it and screaming. SO, I made a call to the doctor's office to see how we should proceed. I knew for sure, she had to have an ear infection and I wanted to nip in the bud before it got out of hand, especially knowing that her counts were low. So, we made a trip to the Urgent Care clinic. The doctor checked her out and informed us that she doesn't just have infection in ONE ear...both of them are RED!!! My poor baby!! She had not complained one bit, until this afternoon but she must have been in some major pain. We are at home, and praying that she doesn't spike any fevers overnight, or the next few days.

Please pray for her recovery from the ear infections, from the cold and that her numbers rise so that she is not so susceptible to infections.

As always, thank you for keeping up with our progress.