Looking forward

Nine months ago on Monday Anna was first diagnosed with brain cancer.  Nine months.  That's a long time.

But as of Monday, we can officially say that Anna is done with her treatment.  All of her blood counts were on the rise naturally (instead of as a result of a transfusion), although they are all still very low in comparison to a normally healthy seven year old.

We are very, very thankful to be able to be done with treatment, to be allowed to finally move on to the next chapter in our lives.  However, as Anna's nurse practitioner told me yesterday, we are left with a lot of layers to Anna's overall health and recovery.  Still, we are looking forward to seeing what the next few months hold for Anna in terms of her strength and rehab, when she is allowed to simply get stronger.

At this point, we can also breathe a sigh of relief in regards to treatment.  Although Anna experienced a lot of set-backs, especially in the spring, we know that things could have been worse.  Here are just a few of the things we are thankful did not happen.

*Anna never had any of her blood cultures come back positive when she had neutropenic fevers; that would have necessitated a longer hospitlization as well as the possibility of having her port replaced.

*Anna never had pneumonia.

*The dosage of Anna's chemotherapy was never lowered because of her body's inability to tolerate the drugs.

*Anna's scheduled chemo treatments were never postponed due to low white blood counts.

*Anna did not need a shunt placed for the duration of her treatment.

*Anna never experienced blood in her urine due to the cyclophosphamide, which would have meant she experienced bladder damage.

*Anna did not need to return to the PICU for any reason.

*Anna never had a reaction when receiving a blood product transfusion.

I'm sure this list could go on, but I am also glad that we did not know all of the things that could have gone wrong.  Living in ignorance is sometimes easier.

Anna was discharged Saturday evening.  By that point she had been fever free since Thursday night, her white counts were on the rise, and her blood cultures had come back negative.  The assumption is that she was working through a virus and that triggered the fever, possibly because of bacteria in the mucus.  She was still working through the virus when she came home, but seems to be more like herself today.  Because of Anna's inability to swallow effectively and her adrenal insufficiency, having a cold is much more unpleasant for her than it is for most people.

Our Halloween was celebrated in spurts.  As a testament to our life these days, we didn't get any pictures of Kate and Ethan in their costumes.  Oops.

Ethan and Kate came to the hospital in their costumes in the afternoon, but by that point most of the hospital celebrations were done.  In fact, the unit was extremely quiet while we were all there.

Matt stuck around to hang out with Anna for awhile so I could take Kate and Ethan to Culver's for dinner and then out trick-or-treating.  It was so cold.  We don't often go to many houses, but by the end Ethan was saying "My hands are cold.  Mommy, I'm cold!"

Saturday Matt spent at home with the younger ones while Anna and I did our (hopefully) last day of waiting, and waiting, and waiting.  She was definitely on the mend by that point, but still needed a platelet transfusion as well as one final check of the blood cultures before she was discharged.  Although there was no celebration from the nurses upon discharge, Anna and I did our own happy dance on the way out.  No more chemo and no more neutropenia and no more transfusions.  Anna's perspective was that she would come back for visits, but not for any more slumber parties.

Surprisingly, the time change has happened in our home without too much difficulty.  I usually dread the time changes because it seems to take our kids (and me) several days to adjust.  I guess living in a state of perpetual tiredness has its benefits; the kids have, for the most part, slept until 6 or later each morning.  We'll take whatever positive side effects from this experience we can get!

Time for prayers - just a few, but they are big ones

Thanksgiving
Please give thanks that Anna's treatments are done!
Please thank God for all of the people who have worked with or helped our family to get through the last nine months.

Requests
Please pray that Anna's body heals from her treatment in a miraculous way.
Please pray that Anna's treatments were 100% effective.
Please pray for all of the people who are continuing to work with and help our family through this next chapter.