Back to Chemotherapy

Well yesterday Caitlin started her eight months of maintenance chemo. We are still unsure of what the spots are from the last MRI scan, but the doctors decided to continue with chemotherapy and then have another scan done on July 10th, to determine if the spots are changing, growing, or (hopefully) gone. I must of gotten a little confused since I thought this chemo was given in the clinic over one hour, instead we had to stay over night for Caitlin to receive it. Thank goodness, we usually pack an overnight bag just in case, so we were kind of prepared. Everything went pretty good, and she was done with all her medicines by 3 in the morning. So I was hoping that we would be released pretty early this morning. But it seems like they like to drag the feet about discharging us. Its not bad there, but I would just rather spend the least amount of time there as possible. Caitlin seems to being doing really well, except that she has been a little sleepy lately, we are thinking that the radiation treatments are catching up with her. Otherwise our family is doing pretty well, just trying to enjoy the warm weather, well if it would stop raining. Sorry no new pictures I am really bad at taking them.

Good news, but still ?????

Dr. Lemons called me today to let me know the results of the lumbar puncture. Thank goodness, the l.p. was clear, but they are still unsure of what the spot is that the techs saw in the MRI. So they are going to have Dr. Hazard and Dr. Brockmeyer look at the MRI scans again and see what they think. I should receive another phone call by Wednesday with more information on what is the plan or what they believe the spot is. So good news but still a little worried about what the spot is. On another note, poor Caitlin was called a little boy twice at Walmart on Friday, and one lady thought I actually gave my child her hair cut. It does look a little different since her hair is starting to grow back on top, but the back isn't growing in yet. I am not really sure why not, maybe because of the radiation. I am hoping it is not permanent. Fingers Crossed!

Not good news, not sure what kind of news!

Yesterday Caitlin had an MRI and an audiogram at Primary Children's, which was interesting (ha ha ha) Unfortunately many things went wrong, first I had the time wrong so we had to wait for a whole hour in the waiting room, and they had messed up the scheduling. Caitlin was suppose to be under sedation for both the MRI and the audiogram but they can only give her the medicine once. Anyway since the MRI took so long, and then it took a little while for the audiologist to come, that Caitlin was awake before they were halfway done. From what they did get, they say that her hearing is still good, meaning that the chemotherapy hasn't affected her hearing. After that we went to see Dr. Lemons to talk about the results from the MRI. Where the tumor was before shows no new or re-growth, so that was good news. But they did find plaque-like lesions on her spine at the base of her neck, which right now we are unsure of what that really is. So on Friday we are heading back down to Primary's to get a lumbar puncture done to see if that gives us a clue to what the growth is. Jake and I were kind of heart broken, we had hoped that we were at the end of this awful journey and that we were just going to have to finish up the maintenance chemo. Now we might just have to go back and do some of it all over again. Before yesterday I felt like a broken vase pieced back together with just one more piece to put back in to complete it. Now I feel like that piece instead of fitting in perfectly caused the whole thing to break apart again. I am okay, I am just feeling a little defeated right now.

Still not much happening!

I feel like I would be boring people to death if I wrote something everyday, since there really isn't very much going on in our lives right now. Caitlin has been doing really good, and is enjoy the break from chemotherapy. Since her counts are good, we even went to Gymnastics class last Friday, a class set up by the Up to 3 program to help kids learn how to walk. Caitlin liked it, I think. Mom was exhausted by the end of it. She seems to be doing pretty well, she wants to walk everywhere but she still needs you to hold her hands. Allie is doing really well in school, and has been learning to read. She only has 7 days left. We decided since soon Caitlin will be starting chemotherapy again and her counts will probably go down again, we purchased a little slide and waterwheel play table for our back yard. Then she can at least play outside, since we wont be able to go the park soon. On another note, since Caitlin is not home bound we went to our new ward yesterday. They were so nice and most of them already knew who we were. Anyway I guess that's all for now.

Not Much Going on

Well sorry it has been so long since I have updated, but unfortunately and thankfully not much is going on right now. Unfortunately because I am usually pretty bored. Thankfully because Caitlin is doing so well, that we have a nice break from Primary Children's. She has another hearing test and MRI scan on the 26Th of this month, and then maintenance chemotherapy after that, if the scans look good. I don't know if being a stay at home Mom is a right fit for me, I love my girls but sometimes they are also a bit much and I think I have watched enough Hannah Montana and Suite life of Zack and Cody to last me a lifetime. I also miss my friends from work. Maybe if I had a bun in the oven, then at least I would feel more productive. No that is not a confession, more wishful thinking! I just feel like after cleaning the house, and taking care of the girls, I have nothing to do. I know I need to find a hobby. I just feel bad when Jake leaves for work everyday, I wish I could help take some of the financial load off his shoulders. I am so proud of him, instead of coming home when he is offered no works, he stays and works hard to earn money for our family, which we definitely need. Also I am pretty sure Jake would freak out if we would have another girl, (he is the only boy in his family) truthfully I don't know if I could handle another drama queen either. Another reason I am still being a stay at home Mom, is that we were approved for Medicaid which is a blessing come true, unless you have been through this, you have no idea how expensive going through chemotherapy and radiation is. Our insurance is pretty good, but it does not cover everything. Anyway I am not quite sure if any of this makes sense. I have kind of had a lot on my mind lately, just trying to decide what our plans are for the future.