Things Going Smoothly

Today we are on Day 11 of 42 in Delayed Intensification. So far so good I guess. The steroids haven't been as tough as they were in the first month. Granted, the mood swings are more severe (probably because she has more energy to have mood swings than she did in Month 1), but I have yet to get up in the middle of the night to cook. That may change as her appetite has finally kicked in. Today I was woken up at 6:15 a.m. to make spaghetti and meatballs - from scratch. I'm fascinated by this choice because she hasn't enjoyed marinara sauce since the chemo started. Maybe she is as in to the Barefoot Contessa as I am (that's the recipe I have been using - love it!) She is also starting to wear down more easily - which we expected. The other day she had her friend Olivia over and within an hour she asked me to call Olivia's Mommy because she was tired. As a matter of fact, Catherine is napping as I write this (so is Alex so a rare moment to myself!!) and she will likely be in bed by about 6 p.m. Dr. Darryl told me on Monday that each week, she will get progressively worse as it relates to fatigue and her counts during this phase. Right now her counts are abnormally high from the steroids, but eventually, all the other stuff she is getting will win the war of the counts and drive them all down.
As for Catherine's treatments, we are now on a Monday schedule because of the past delays. We did have an appointment last Friday to get her very last PEG-Asparaginase shot (alleluia!) Aunt Lauren came with us for the visit, and save for one tantrum over a Scooby Doo movie, she did great (Aunt Lauren and Catherine that is). I think Catherine wanted to show her what a big girl she is. It was such a good visit that I finally mustered up the energy to drive into the village of Guilford rather than go straight home when we were done. What an adorable town. When it's not 100 degrees outside I'll actually walk around for more than five minutes.
This past Monday, the visit lasted much longer than I anticipated. She was very moody and clingy and had a few 'roid rages. Her little friend in the office also had 'roid rages so it was quite funny to see both girls eventually calm down and play with each other. On the plus side, a volunteer reflexologist was in the office and I got an awesome hand massage that just relaxed every muscle in my body (at least for the five minutes it lasted).