12/11/10

12/11/10. A pretty cool birthdate, if you ask me, but methinks it won't belong to our baby. I took Abby out this morning for some girl time and to do a little shopping. She's complained lately that she doesn't have enough long-sleeved shirts, which has led to her wearing the now-near midriff-baring short-sleeved shirts of these recently passed Spring and Summer months, which in turn has me worried that people who see her at school will think we don't have money to buy her clothes! Totally not true -- just no time. :) So off we went, and we were able to replenish her supply with appropriately sized shirts (she's somewhere between a 6x and a 7, if you're wondering, which is something of a pain: At her 6-year well check-up this past week, she was once again in the 95th percentile for height -- and 80th for weight -- so plain old 6s tend to be on the small side yet 7s are a bit big. Oh well: If only that were our biggest problem). She also picked out Christmas presents for Isaac and Logan, so another item checked off our to-do list.

To my point, even after being on my feet for a few hours and stooping to dig through ground-level bins for that perfectly-sized pair of Lightning McQueen pajamas for Logan, nary a contraction. Adam got Taco Bell for lunch, which sent me into labor with Isaac, but no dice for that this time, either. I know, I know: He'll come and soon. But when Adam told me this morning that I looked 'bloated', it was a startling and depressing realization for me to absorb. He was quick to add that I didn't look fat, per se, but it still stung a bit. I'm used to being thin. I like being thin.

As for Logan, I'm not sure what the next day will bring, but I woke up this morning feeling a surprising amount of peace over the whole situation. He absolutely, 100% has mucositis. And he absolutely, 100% is neutropenic and has no white cells to help him get over it. That methotrexate is such a double-edged blade: It's necessary to treat his tumor and it needs to stay in his system for so long in order to be effective, but at the same time, if it sticks around for even a few hours TOO long, it does so much damage. His lower lip, which he picks at incessantly by nature, is split open and swollen. He also has a nasty white patch just inside his lip, which may well be the result of him biting the inside of his cheek the night he came home. He's also complained that his throat hurts. Adam called the on-call doctor, who prescribed some Tylenol with codeine in an attempt to let us keep him at home. We're supposed to give it to him less often than prescribed, take his temperature during the off-times, and as long as he doesn't wind up with a fever and is reasonably comfortable, he can stay home. If he spikes a fever, it's back to CHO. He really doesn't want to go back, so he lied about the pain earlier today when we asked, even though the discomfort was written all over his face in the form of a wrinkled brow, drawn lips and squinted eyes. It really does break me, over and over again.

Anyway, please pray that by some miracle, he'll be able to avoid a fever, recovery will come earlier than expected, and we'll be able to keep him comfortable with the new medication. If that doesn't come to pass, please pray that he'll be released again a few days before Christmas feeling much more himself. He's such a holiday-loving kid that it would crush him to be away when the fun was happening. The earlier recovery is really essential, since he needs white blood cells in order to heal the mucositis sores. So please, please make that a priority.

Thank you for your continued prayers. Love to you all.