What 10 hours of sleep can do

I passed out last night….a complete, face-down, loss of consciousness. I vaguely remember Nathaniel coming in to tell me he was done with his homework and heading to bed, and I know Rachael was already asleep, but after that it was all dark and sleepy. After Rachael’s music performance at school we went for a celebratory ice cream cone and then home to bath and bed. Once Rachael was snuggled down for the night, Peyton begged me to come lay down and rub her tummy because it was hurting. I have no idea if any rubbing actually occurred, I’d like to think that if she was in any real pain I was responsive, but I have a feeling that the second my head hit the pillow I became a complete vegetable. After the brief interlude with Nathaniel at 9:30, my next breath of awareness was at 6 AM this morning. It was the best night of sleep I’ve had in over two weeks and it was the first time I’ve woken up actually wanting to get out of bed in I don’t know how long.

Clinic yesterday was pretty darn good. Counts came back great, her ANC up to 800, Hemoglobin went down to 8.4, and her platelets were…are you ready for this?….300,000!!!! Holy bounce back, batman! She got her Vincristine via port and started her steroids and she’s back on her regular nightly routine of 6MP and Methotrexate as well. We decided to hold off on keeping her on a regular dose of Valtrex/Acyclovir, the anti-viral, to see if her body can hold it’s own. Now that I am aware and know what to look for we can counter attack any viral return early on before it gets it’s rage on in her body. If she should have a second outbreak, we would probably have to stay on the meds for the duration of treatment.

We did get to go to Little Tales in the morning, they made ice cream and played and Peyton didn’t have to share her favorite people too much because we had a really small group. Between kids in the hospital, kids out for random illnesses and life in general, it was a small meeting. Peyton and I got to have lunch with Dana and Kay after Little Tales and before clinic. Peyton has decided that she’s no longer marrying Cody Bertoch, she’s going to marry Dana instead! I told her that she’d probably have to move out of state, but whatever…a Bertoch is a Bertoch, right?

Today I’m heading over to stay with my friend Lori at the hospital as her little one, Baby Leo, has his scans. Leo has Neuroblastoma and we are praying for great test results that show the disease is going away. It’s such a different world from Leukemia, but the anxiety and fears are the same.

Tonight, the kids and I got some tickets to see an advance screening of Chronicles of Narnia and we are excited to go see it! The Pediatric Cancer Foundation had tickets donated and spread them amongst the families.

I got excruciating news today. Kaylie Gunn went home to the Lord yesterday after a long and unbelievably hard battle with Leukemia. She was a beautiful little girl, diagnosed at 9 months old right after Peyton was, and she will continue to be adored and loved by her family and friends. I can’t believe that yet another dear child is gone, it seems too much to take in. Please pray for Kaylie’s family, for her sweet mother and Grandmother who never left her side throughout her fight. We’ll see you soon, dear Kaylie.

f.r.o.G…fully relying on God
-Anissa