War wounds

Charlotte has been doing pretty well.  She didn't have much of an appetite over the week.  But she has been making up for it here and there.  Last night she did really well with some roasted chicken (with 'jam', aka cranberry sauce) and mashed potatoes and gravy.  I've also been trying my best to get pediasure into her when I can.  She maintained her weight over the week, so I take that as a good sign.

She was also throwing up when she would wake up in the morning.  We will keep up with her two doses of odansatron (anti nausea med) for the week I think, as that seems to help.  We haven't had any puke episodes the last two mornings.

She got a blood transfusion when we were in Friday.  That makes number 14.  6 Platelet transfusions so far, and 8 red blood cells.  Thank you to everyone out there who has ever donated blood in their lifetime!  She also got a lumbar puncture, which was number 10.  I believe she will just get one every 3 months in maintenance, so only 8 more to go!

This is the last weekend of the Cytarabine, or ARAC.  Which is the one that we have to drive in for Saturday/Sunday/Monday.  This is the chemo drug that really seems to effect Charlotte's appetite.  I think overall though, she has fared better then most kids with eating and chemo side effects, so we aren't complaining, just have to get through this week.

When we are in clinic for chemo, she gets 'accessed', which is what they call it when they put the IV into her port.  Then the lines can be used to administer fluids, chemo, or to draw blood.  When we are doing the 4 days of ARAC, she stays accessed, so she comes home with her IV in, or 'butterfly' as we call it.  Amazingly, it doesn't seem to bother her.  Here are some pictures.

close up - you can see why we call it the butterfly.

her lumbar puncture bandage