God Give Me The Strength!

Well, it's that time of the month again. I should try to come up with a clever name like PMS for the 5 days we deal with Decadron (the steroids), particularly on Saturday, Sunday and Monday when we also have to deal with the Vincristine pain. Eleven months post diagnosis and I have finally realized that the reason Sunday tends to be the worst day is because that is when the Vincristine really kicks in and the pain from that just further ignites the roid rage that starts a few hours after the first dose on Friday and peaks by about Sunday afternoon. It is horrible and I hate that my patience seems to wear thin more easily each month. During these times Catherine becomes very clingy, but also a bit nasty. For the first time, we got a lot of lip. Today Catherine hated everyone, but me. Surprising given that I still discipline her during the roid weekend and Dave can somehow get a few smiles from her. I am always thankful that our schedule managed to work out in such a way that Catherine's monthly chemo treatments are on a Friday so that Dave is here to help during the worst of it. He is so much better at handling her on these days. I wish I were better at it. But, that is how we balance each other out - while I am good at giving her the medicine (and finding very unique ways to give it to her without having to crush or dissolve pills) Dave is great at playing with and distracting her and Alex.
By Thursday she will be back to her old self.
Things have been going well so far in 2007. Catherine's ANC has been very high the past month. And as always, as soon as we start to talk about raising her chemo, her ANC falls right into the range they want it to be in. Very strange, but God must know that I hate crushing and dissolving pills, and I already cut up some - I don't want to start having to cut up another pill.

Catherine's hair is really coming in now - it looks like a pixie cut and is quite elegant. I don't know if I could pull off the look. She absolutely loves her hair and doesn't want to hide it with hats or hoods. Luckily, the winter has been mild enough that I can give in to her on that one. Catherine also started ice skating lessons - her first extra-curricular activity in 11 months. She absolutely loves it and I am glad I was able to find an indoor activity where I don't have to worry too much about germs - the rink is like the Arctic and the kids all have gloves on their hands. Alex is dying to go out on the ice too and he wears his helmet to all her lessons. Good thing as he threw a 10 minute tantrum on the first day banging his head on the ground. We also had our first dentist appointment sincer her diagnosis. I have to admit I was worried - let's face it, she gets her medicine in a fruit roll up every night and she eats a lot of sugary food. Thankfully, Catherine not only looks like Dave, but she got his healthy teeth. Because Catherine's immune system is suppressed, she has to take a 1000 mg (yes 1000) dose of amoxicillin an hour before all her dental appointments (the mouth and gums are a major entry point for infection). Seeing as we were in Guilford that morning, I didn't have time to brush her teeth after giving the medicine in a big serving of chocolate pudding, so not only did they brush the plaque away, but they also cleaned all the dried up chocolate on her mouth.
Otherwise, things are going well in the Vogt home. Daddy Day at school is coming up this week, which Catherine and Dave are very excited about, and Dave's 35th birthday is next week. Drs. Darryl and Elisha are leaving in 2 weeks (nauseous is the only word to describe how I feel about that) and this Wednesday I will finally meet with the child psychologist (thank God she is in Stamford). After that, we will be coming up to her one year anniversary. How time flies and I hope it continues to go as quickly.
Catherine and Alex took some time out of their busy lives to jump in puddles the other day. One of my neighbors tends to get a pretty deep one that Catherine loves and introduced Alex to now that he finally got his own rain boots. Enjoy these lovely shots.