Happy 2nd B-Day Alex!

I can't believe it, but Alex is already 2! Time goes by so quickly - I only hope the next 2 years of our lives go as fast. We had a 4 day celebration - his real birthday, cupcakes for him at school, a little kiddie party, and then the family function. I don't think he quite got that everything was for him, but he seemed to enjoy himself. As is par for the course whenever there is a birthday celebration, Catherine was on steroids. Friday marked Day 29 of Long Term Maintenance. We got a dose of Vincristine at the office and started our monthly 5 day pulse of steroids. Luckily Catherine didn't get the jaw pain, but she is very tired and the rage is pretty bad this month. As a result, I kept her home from school today.
On Friday we saw Dr. MJ for the first time in months. She is very good at thoroughly explaining everything to me. Turns out that on LTM, Catherine's counts don't effect her scheduled doses of Vincristine and steroids as neither are myelosuppressants (meaning they don't lower her counts). Only the 6-MP and methotrexate are held when her ANC is below 500 and those doses do not need to be made up. That is currently not a problem as Catherine's ANC was 5100 on Friday. They expect them to be high again this week given that she will be finishing the steroids. Steroids aside, their goal is to keep her ANC between 500 and 1500 during LTM. That seems to be the way to gauge the amount of chemo she gets. If her counts are above 1500 for 4 straight weeks, then they will raise the dose of 6-MP she gets. I can't believe we may actually be headed in that direction given all the delays we had in the past. But as usual, I've been told that this is normal and happens all the time. Next week is Halloween, I'll be sure to post some pictures of Jasmine and Fireman Alex!

Some new pix

Thought you might like to see some pictures of Catherine and Alex hiking in Wilton

Things Going Smoothly

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a couple of weeks, but take that as a good sign. Catherine has been doing great and things almost seem to feel like they did before her diagnosis - school, playdates, running around the block on her scooter, and eating 3 normal meals a day. I told the doctors, "if she had a full head of hair on her head, you would never know she's sick." Dr. Joe's response was that's the way it should be. Speaking of hair, it has been growing in. It seems a bit darker which looks beautiful against her blue eyes. Her eyebrows and eyelashes had thinned out a lot, but now they are also back, darker and thicker than before. I actually think she looks more beautiful now than she did before her diagnosis.
The weekly finger sticks have been going well also. She doesn't let out the high pitched scream she had in the past, thank God. Our new rule though is that she can't pick out a prize until we are leaving the office because now that we are bringing Alex with us, it isn't fair that she get to play with a new toy while we wait to see the doctor and he doesn't (no they don't give him one and I totally understand why). Bringing Alex has been quite an adventure. They play great together until the doctor comes in. Then they turn into whiny kids who fight with each other and vie for my attention. I don't think Dr. Elisha will ever have children after dealing with my two for two straight weeks.
Last week we got the okay to take Catherine off the antibiotic Bactrim and put her on Dapsone. The Dapsone won't affect her bone marrow like the Bactrim did which we can already see as her ANC went from 1000 last week to 2100 this week.
After today's appointment, we decided to go on an adventure (I am certainly not going to drive 50 miles to get a finger stick test and then come straight home!) First, we tried to find the beach. Annette, the lab technician, gave me directions, but of course I must have made a wrong turn. We did find the Guilford Marina, so we got out and looked at the boats and some old men fishing off the rocks. Then we got some pizza, and from there headed over to a Bishops Orchids (a local farm/store) and went pumpkin picking. The kids also ran through a hay maze and picked out some Halloween decorations. All in all it was a fun day, and Catherine declared that this will be the "best Halloween ever".
Next week we are scheduled for Vincristine and a 5 day steroid pulse. Hard to believe that means we are almost one month into Maintenance!