2nd Month of Maintenance Chemo

Ok, so I have been harassed enough by my family and friends about my Non-existant posts. Honestly, its not intentional. It's that time of year again, "Cottage Time". We have basically been living at the cottage since Memorial Weekend, traveling back and forth for games and my work, and I have had technical difficulties with my laptop and Blackberry....still working on getting these resolved, but I should be up and running at the cottage by the end of the week.

So with that said, here's a quick update. Bella looks beautiful! Her hair is really starting to come in and her head is currently similar to "brushed velvet", we just pet her all day long. She loves being around her cousins all day, especially "Emma and Joe Joe". Today was her first day in the lake as it took her awhile to get re-aquainted with the water and sand. She is so there now.

She had her second month of "maintenace treatment" last Thursday. I was so amazed by her demeanor and tolerance. As you may recall, we had her broviach port removed last month so that she would be able to enjoy the water and sand this summer as well as have regular baths. This results in Bella having to be poked twice in the arm for a blood draw and her regular schedule monthly chemo treatment. She did not like it, but she only cried for a second and it was over. The nurses are amazing and they got in the first time and she has absolutely no bruising. Her counts were great except for her ANC (reminder, ANC stands for "Absolute Nutrifil Count" which controls her immunity system) which was in the low 300's. So they are holding off her 6mp (oral chemo) for a week and we will return back to clinic next week for another blood draw to see if her counts have improved so that we can restart her chemo back up again. Am I concerened? Absolutley NOT! We believe with all our hearts, soul and mind that Bella is healed, we are just going through the motions. She started her monthly 5 days of steroids on Thursday and has been handling it much better than in the past. I think being at the cottage with her 9 cousins, aunts, uncles and grand parents really keeps her distracted.

I'd like to give a big shout out to all you Dad's out there, especially my heavenly Father, earthly Dad and my amazing and handsome husband.

Will be uploading pics this week! Wait till you see Bella's suit, compliments of her Grandma Linda.

Looking forward to getting my lap top back so that I can catch up on all of you. I miss my blogging buddies.

Much love, Susie