A Three Bucket Day

Another chemo day over with. Kelly decided she liked doing labs and chemo on the same day. Her chemo is count dependent, so they don't give it to her unless her blood counts are at certain levels. That means she has to have labs done before chemo. We have always gone to the clinic the day before chemo for labs. Yesterday, we went to the clinic early for labs, then we went out to breakfast while we waited for the results to come back. Then we went back, and by that time, the clinic was really crowded - it was quite a busy day there. We had to wait to get back into a room. Hopefully this will get better when they open the new infusion center later this month. But once they got her back there, they got her chemo going pretty quickly (thanks for that, Lori!) We actually ended up leaving at about the same time as usual. The only bad thing was, since we started chemo later than usual, Kelly didn't get the little seeds taped on her pressure points. We realized what a difference it makes. In the photo, Kelly has a bucket on her head (this was after she had her ativan, the anti nausea drug that makes her a bit silly.) The bucket didn't stay on her head, since it's real purpose is for when the kids get sick. She went through a couple of them yesterday at the clinic, and another when we got home. (We have them in almost every room of our house and the car. Other cancer families will understand this!) Next time, we have to make sure she gets the seeds!

Kelly is so wobbly when by the time she gets done with her chemo, we use a wheelchair to get her to the car. Yesterday, she didn't want any help getting herself to the car. (She really likes the ramp into the parking garage!) Thanks for bringing us lunch, Linda! That is greatly appreciated and so is your company.


Thanks again to everyone who has helped with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life by donating or joining our team. I also appreciate the photos I have been getting of other kids fighting cancer and those who have fought and are now angels. Hopefully our team will make an impact on everyone there on how many kids are affected by this disease.
TEAM KELLY website: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/kellylaude


There is one more photo I meant to post from our week in the mountains. One of the things I appreciated most about our trip was our girls spending time with each other without the normal things that usually keep them apart like school, activities, and different friends. This photo shows the three of them just appreciating each other's company.

Kelly's next MRI is a week from tomorrow, April 9th. We are praying for another clear scan. It is still nerve wracking to me as we get close to MRIs as we know this nasty tumor can recur at any time. We are trying to think positive though! Thanks for everyone who remembers Kelly in their prayers. It really is helping and we appreciate it so much. Thanks also to all of you for the prayers for Kasey and Katherine also.