Monday Autumn and I drove to Santa Barbara for a long day of chemo. This appointment was part of the regular schedule, nothing unexpected, but a bit too long of a day to spend in the hospital. During this type of chemo, Etoposide and Cyclophosphamide, Autumn needs to be hydrated for about 3 hours prior to the administration of chemo and then about 6 hours afterwards. This type of chemo can cause serious damage to the lining of the stomach wall and needs to be flushed to prevent too much harm. Really? Doesn’t it seem likely that one would just use less chemo? There are so many intricate rules for each type of drug and so many side effects besides the obvious…not fun! Autumn seems to react with really watery eyes during this session, but she never really complains, she just keeps drying her eyes. Amazing what a little one will endure, just amazing.

One of the drugs is a red color, much like to color of blood. Autumn was pleased to find out that that same red color made her pee red too! I love what kids find entertaining; it makes life so much more enjoyable.

Speaking of kids, Sage made me laugh this morning. She was a bit jealous this morning (completely understandable since Autumn is getting the lion’s share of attention these days) and claimed that Autumn just loves going to the hospital because she gets all of these gifts! Again…really?? Out of the mouth of babes!

The treatment schedule is quite varied and offers all sorts of unique chemo regiments. Each week is seemingly different from the next. The only similarity is the continuity between the three sessions (we are currently in the second round). Next week and the week after we have short sessions…finally! There are a few of those tucked in between the endless days there at Cottage…for that I am thankful!

Have a wonderful week everyone, thanks for reading and keeping Autumn and her sisters in your thoughts!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Autumn was able to see some friends and just seemed to be back to her old self! We have a long day tomorrow, perhaps 11 hours or so of chemo. We should be back by nightfall in our own cozy beds. She seems to know what is coming, but certainly doesn't anticipate the future as an adult. The freedom to live each day at it's fullest seems to be a gift given only to the youngest of our species. The adults have all but forgotten it's beauty and significance, but there may be hope at last! :)

Hooray!!

Autumn did so very well today! Her labs came back higher than we expected. No need for a blood transfusion this week. :)

Here she is...in all her glory!

Hello everyone!

Autumn has had a wonderful week, we could not be more thankful! We have been keeping her home as much as possible, with as little exposure to outside germs as we can manage with two other girls both in school.

Autumn and I will go to SB tomorrow for a regular blood count check which will hopefully result in a one hour stay with nothing to report. Next week she will continue with her chemo treatments. For the next 6 weeks or so, she will need to have chemo only one day a week, and most of those stays are quite short (2 hours) with one being all day (9 hours or so). It seems more manageable for the time being!

I hope life is treating you all well!

Autumn and family

We just had a few days of feeling pretty overwhelmed! Friday night Autumn had a fever that continuously elevated until it reached a critical level of 101.5. At that point, she had to be hospitalized for fear that it can only get worse and that a pathogen may be causing the rise in temperature. By Saturday morning, with the help of 2 types of antibiotics and continuous saline her temperature was back in a normal range. She was so incredibly tired and just not herself Friday evening. It was such a pleasure to see her yesterday morning, she was back to her little Autumn-self!! Hooray!

She continued to progress throughout the day yesterday, she was happy, had energy, received yet another hemoglobin transfusion and was on the road to recovery.

Today she is considered stable and we should be on our way home in about 2 hours. That is the best news of all and she is more than ready to go! Sage and Lindsey came to stay with us yesterday. They spent all morning playing doctor with Autumn and her sweet little bunny, Fluffy! The kids love to eat here, not something you hear everyday! There is a pool across the street that we try to visit each time we are here and soon Autumn can join us!

Greetings!

Little Autumn had a fever last night, the magic number to be concerned with is 100.4, she was close, but never crossed the 100 mark. It is scary though, and it makes many positive thoughts fall by the wayside. In a moment everything can change, I know that, but she does so well most of the time that it can be so easy to take that for granted.

We will be heading to SB in a few moments to have her blood drawn and figure out if we can do anything to reduce her fever. At the moment she is sleeping, sweet girl!