One Year Down

 

Taleah hit her one year mark since diagnosis on the day we left Brian Head. I felt a wave of emotions and talked to Taleah about it. Honestly, I don't think she remembers much of that day. She said she can't really remember riding in the ambulance and I am hoping she already forgot the pain, stress and anxiety she felt that day. It has been a crazy ride and one LONG year of ups and downs. The picture below shows the day in the ambulance, embracing the bald and her cute hair now. What a year!

 

 

 

 

We were due for a blood draw on Sept 4. The week before made me nervous because she was complaining of a headache, acting whiny and asking me to hold her. After all, I was "watching her". I figured something wasn't quite right with her labs. I decided (after debate back and forth.. in my head) to take her to 400 E to have her blood drawn. Nurse Jeanette had a busy day and I asked her literally the night before. The floor was very accommodating and helped us a ton. I had no one to watch Slade so he came along. I was a little nervous for that part because Taleah usually requires my full attention at these visits. She was excited for nurse Jason, but he was in a meeting so we had nurse Justin (whom she had never met). Let's just say the anxiety set in... wow. She was SCREAMING and almost throwing up. I tried to talk to her and calm her down but she wouldn't listen. We finally got her port accessed and then she realized she was fine. The red juice (her blood) came out great and I was so relieved. The port was working. YAY! We waited around for the results... even though Jason said he thought her counts were fine. Mike and Mallory kept the kids busy and they had a great time. I am pretty sure my kids didn't want to leave. Results...

ANC 2000

Hct 35

PLts 137,000

WBW 3.3

 

So Jason was right. She was great. I was just paranoid the same thing would happen and it would be on a holiday weekend.

 

 

She couldn't wait to perform at the DHHS game. I can't even explain how excited she was. Last year (right after diagnosis) she performed on the field.. well she stood there with her steroid, mad face. She kept saying that this year she was going to dance and smile.

I was so proud of her. She danced, smiled and loved every minute. I got a little emotional and reflected on the last year. She is one tough girl. Love her little personality.

 

Now we can rest easy and hope to have an uneventful weekend. Thank you for her prayers. Oh and she did pray for her counts to be good and no rain so she could dance at the game. A girl with prioritites. <3

Weekend Break- 2nd cycle of maintenance

It was kind of nice to not worry about her port (well of course I was still worrying about the next time we would use it). PCMC called and told me to put her back on her full strength chemo pills. I was a little nervous because I thought they usually tapered back on, but they know best so that is what we did. I then started to get nervous because I didn't know if it would tank her counts and we would run into the same problem as before. They said to "watch her". Great.... one more thing to stress about and second guess myself.

In the meantime, we decided to head to Brian head for the weekend. We invited some friends along. We had some adventures along the way but made it and had a great time.

 

 yes, that is Taleah throwing a tantrum

 

 It was so nice to go and feel sort of normal. They had a great time playing outside and forgetting about the cancer world. It was a much needed break (not much of a break for mommy but still fun).

 

On our way home, we told Taleah that Trevy and Kate were coming to STG for Sunday dinner. She was so excited to see them and said she got to give the first hug.

 

Oh the joys of the cancer world. Constant stress, learning and patience. Still haven't mastered it. Hopefully getting there.