Too Soon

I guess we spoke too soon on Thursday night. Friday was the worst so far. She had terrible headaches from the lumbar puncture. The nausea kicked up a notch and she couldn't keep anything down. She is very fatigued. They only allowed Rod to bring her home once all of that stabilized (at least it stabilized). They came home about 8:00pm. We will be able to keep her home as long as she doesn't develop a fever or begin to vomit and other yucky stuff we will spare you the details of. If any of these happen it is right back to the hospital. We want to keep her home so we are forcing the fluids and watching her temperature closely. She is a sick little girl right now. This is the first we have seen her without any good moments in a day. The plus side is she does not speak. How many times have we wished for our kids to be silent????? Silence means "Yes" and a grunt means "No". That's the most we get from her. Oh, yeah we forgot about "Aaaaahhhh" it means there is something she wants and we have to guess until we get silence. Of course she did tell Vicki in the night "I need to go potty" and this morning she told her "I'm hungry". So, we know she hasn't lost the ability to speak. Whew!! That was not a side effect they mentioned.

First Round of Induction Chemo

This week has been stressful watching for signs of side effects to the chemo. There have been a few bumps in the road but thankfully it has gone better than we anticipated. She has done fantastic other than begging to go home every day and not wanting to take any more pills. Last night was the first Rod spent away from the hospital. When he got there from work Grace and I were both in the bed crying. Grace was having chest pains and I couldn't take my baby crying. After the pain medication took affect both of us were better. Rod decided he was more worried about me than Grace and took me home, it was nice to spend time with him. My sister Victoria stayed the night with Grace. I'm so glad she could come and help us.

We received a gigantic stuffed bear in the mail 2 days ago. It takes up 1/2 of Gracie's bed. She is going to be so excited when she comes home. There was no note so whoever you are, thanks. The generosity of all those around us continues to make me burst into spontaneous tears (of joy and gratitude).

Grace is scheduled to have a lumbar puncture again tomorrow morning and her 5th round of Chemo for the week. Then if all goes well, and her tests come back ok, Gracie may be able to come home tomorrow (July 4th).

We really want her to be home this weekend because we have definitely had our fill of Disney Movies and the Disney Channel. I (Melissa) think my brain is even mushier than before(if that's possible)!!!

Hopefully, we'll have her home for 10-15 days--as long as she doesn't catch a virus or something, then back to the hospital for her next round.

We hope this finds you well--Have a great 4th of July!!