Since we have been seriously behind on the updates, I will try to cover what we may have missed the last several weeks. Our last post was just after Audrey's 5th cycle. This one didn't make her too sick and fortunately she felt better after about 5 days. We were really holding our breath that her levels would be strong enough to actually do a couple of things for Christmas, and thank the Lord, they were up and all the family was healthy! Audrey had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas. We were so excited that the timing of her chemo actually allowed us all to enjoy a more "normal" Christmas with family. With her 6th cycle starting the day after Christmas and mommy going back to work the day after that, we were hoping the days would go by nice and slow.

Getting excited for Christmas

Christmas Morning

Audrey's 6th cycle was a one-day but included the nasty med that makes her the sickest. They gave her an additional nausea med this time, but I can't say I really noticed any difference. It took her about 11 days until she didn't need her nausea meds to keep food down. We hate when she gets this med and we will have to deal with it once more on cycle 8. Audrey has continued to avoid any complications with treatment. We are returning today to check her platelet count to make sure she doesn't need any given. Her energy really hasn't been affected and even when she doesn't feel good she is a pretty happy girl. We are trying so hard not to get sick so that we don't pass anything on to her. This has been pretty scary as I have returned to work and it seems that many people around me are sick. I consider everyday that goes by without Audrey catching something a success!

The 7th cycle is scheduled for next week. Audrey will also get an echocardiogram to continue monitoring her heart. (Another potential side effect of using that icky med!) Her 7th cycle will be 3 days again but the first day is much shorter than normal. It is definitely getting harder to entertain her for 8 hours sitting in the hospital so a 4-5 hour day should be a little more smooth. Galen has been taking Audrey to her appointments as he is now on leave to take care of her while I am at work. They are both loving their daddy-daughter time for sure. This past Wednesday he inquired about what the end of treatment would look like. Audrey should get her 7th cycle this next week with three weeks to recover before the 8th. The 8th cycle is another one-day but again with the icky med and then they will give her another three weeks before re-scans. If the scans look good and she has bounced back, they will remove her line. Then we will begin follow-ups with rescans every 3 months. Lord willing by the end of February we will be done visiting the hospital so frequently. We are so excited for Audrey to be healthy again. Since we had to cancel our beach trip in August as it was the day after her diagnosis, we are especially looking forward to getting Audrey to the coast again. We can't wait until she can have playdates again and actually spend some time with someone her own size! We could probably go on and on about all we are looking forward to after treatment.

We will try to post again much sooner next time. Your continued thoughts and prayers for Audrey's smooth recovery are greatly appreciated! Hopefully we can return home today without needing a transfusion. Audrey is reeeeally looking forward to seeing the Hawks win today!

Shannon & Galen