Top of the Rollercoaster
You know that feeling when you are slowly getting jerked up the track of a roller coaster? With each jerk forward your grip gets tighter and tighter and knuckles white from the building anticipation of whats to come. Well that is how we have felt towards the end of Olive’s last cycle and the beginning of this one.
June 20th was the kick off of our last aggressive cycle. It consists of almost everything Olive endured the first couple months of treatment…Lots of intrathecal (chemo into her spine) treatments where she gets put to sleep for, but does not like at all, high dose steroids which makes her very emotional, have wild cravings, and insomnia. She is good about voicing what she is feeling most of the time but I can also see her struggling with these erratic feelings. The month was quite a trip on steroids for 7 days on and then 7 days off. When she was off they were still in her system for about 3-5 days so just when she was feeling like herself another blast of steroids came. She dealt with the highs and lows as best she could. We are all glad that that is behind us for now. Along with that came the weekly Friday chemo days which have continued to be dreadful because of the port access and being put to sleep. With a chat and Olive digging deep for her game face we have continued to truck along.
From June 20th until about July 27th we have been able to do some really fun things and looking back there was a handful of true highlights that we are so greatful for. Olive got through the first month of this 2 month cycle well. Then finishing 2 weekends of IV chemo being given at home by momma. We have 2 weeks left and Olive’s counts dropped. She was appearing really tired by Monday so Tuesday we brought her in and as we expected she needed a blood transfusion. I left Adam and Olive at her hospital and went off to work at mine. When I arrived home Olive and daddy were snuggled on the couch taking a nap. Olive could not be enticed at all by dinner, pizza and asparagus one of her favorites, so it was off to bed. With her bags packed (just in case) we held our breath and went to bed. At 5am sharp, Olive woke us up. Our girl was a little hot tamale, with a temp of 102 and being neutropenic, we were off to the hospital after a call to the doc. We had a wonderful fever free stretch which we are all grateful for. Now we just have to put on our creative caps and make the best of our situation.
We arrived at 6 am and luckily I grabbed the activity box just before we left the house. Goldie Blox and the Spinning Machine!! (Thanks Ralph!) I recommend this to all parents of little girls! It helps to take you away from the stereotype “girly games” and intrigues little ladies to think outside the box and get their little minds spinning in every fun way. Day 1 of the 9th hospital admission, not including the treatment and infusion days. ahhhhhh …2014 you have been relentless but we are still gonna fight back and have as much fun as we can along the way.
The past couple months has been a handful of really fun moments that Adam and I will journal about the peaks. We must remember them when we fall into these valleys.
Fun stories to come!!! Thanks everyone for checking in and always keeping our Olive in your hearts and prayers.
