This will be quick as I have we have to get on the road first thing in the morning to head back to the hospital – AKA I need to get to bed.

Today went well.  Allistaire got labs drawn and then we went for her dressing change, which thanks to the magic spinning light toy the Child Life Specialist gave us, Allistaire did not cry for even one moment and now we have a lovely fresh new dressing to take us through until next Monday.  Then we were off to our clinic visit.  This is where things slowed down – way down.  We sat in a windowless room with one unfortunate orange wall for an hour waiting for the doctor.  Finally, at 3:15 (2 hours past nap time) the doctor came in and examined Allistaire.  She said she looks great and her lungs sound great.  She does appear to have a bit of fluid backed up in her ears due to being a little stuffed up but no ear infection so far.  Please do pray about this.  Last spring, Allistaire had ear infection after ear infection which meant lots of rounds of antibiotics.  We were scheduled for a transfusion of platelets at 4pm because her platelet level had dropped to 8 (they transfuse once you hit 10), so we mad a quick dash to pick up some food for my lunch and returned for platelets – back in the same ugly room.  Because Allistaire has a cold, she is in isolation.  So then we sat in for the next 2 hours while Allistaire got her platelets.  Apparently I was quite a bit off in my estimation of how long this would take.  Allistaire was so very tired and very cranky but I had her strapped in her stroller waiting for her eyes to close.  At last, after fighting it for way too long, Allistaire fell asleep a little after 5pm.  When we are finished up the nurse was a bit concerned because Allistaire’s heart rate was up (156) and her temperature was 37.4.  This is the temp where they start checking it every 30 minutes.  Praise the Lord, when we got home I checked her temperature right away and it was 36.9.  The rest of the evening Allistaire’s cheeks felt cool to the touch.  I was so prepped in my mind to have to just turn around and head back to the hospital and begin another stay.  I thank the Lord for one more night at home.

Allistaire’s hematocrit (red blood) count was down to 21.3 so she is scheduled at 9:30am tomorrow to get this transfusion which will take 3-4 hours.  I’m quite thankful it is working out to have these transfusions split over two days even though it means two days back to back at the hospital.  Assuming she stay’s fever free, we’ll have Wednesday off and then be back on Thursday for another CBC and clinic visit.  Last bit of good news is that Allstaire’s ANC dropped all the way to 108 (from 1100 on Saturday!).  We near the bottom folks!

I’m very sad to end with incredibly sad news.  I wrote just over a week ago about a young lady who is really struggling in her fight against her cancer (this is in the post “Slice of Pie”).  Her mother, Janet, gave me permission to share her name.  I saw Janet today as I was headed out and I asked her about the PET scan.  Her eyes welled with tears and she said that Sara is not going to make it – that it is a matter of days or weeks.  The tumors have grown.  Lots of Sara’s friends are flying in from around the country to say goodbye.  “I want them to come to say hello, not goodbye,” her mom said.  They are not going to take her home to Butte, Montana, this is where she wants to be because she knows the doctors and nurses.  When I listened to Janet I could only barely cry, I think I am in shock, that the worst has really come.  Please pray for Sara, her mom Janet, her brother Josh, her friend Mattison and the many others who know and love her and whose lives have been impacted by her life and whose lives will certainly be impacted by her death.  I continue to pray for the peace of God which surpasses understanding.