Wednesday, May 2, 2007

We had a very nice, but busy weekend together. Colby had a horse show this weekend, so Saturday was spent preparing for the show, and Sunday was spent at the show. Colby was great and really had a fun day. Hannah was a bit disappointed at first, but then we came up with the idea that she could have a lemonade stand at the show and she was all for it. She has been asking us every day since she got home if she could put up a lemonade stand at our house, which is on a busy road! These are pictures of Hannah and Colby at the show, Hannah wearing her sister's ribbons.

Hannah really is showing no signs of waning energy yet. We are still attending school half days. We tried this week to go a full day of school, but it was too much for her. Today she met her oncologist, and she had her baseline vitals and bloodwork done. He said she is very strong, and still present with balance issues on left side weakness, but that it will continue to improve with therapy and time. She is starting her chemotherapy next Wednesday, May 9th. We will be in the hospital for 5 days of Cisplatin, one of the best drugs to fight the cancer, but also one of the most damaging to her body. We will come home on Monday, May 14th, as long as everything goes well. Hannah also had a baseline audiogram today, which showed her hearing in the normal ranges is very good, she does have some drop off at the very high frequency. This has yet to be compared against her baseline in Boston, prior to the radiation. All is good at this point.

The doctors had originally told us that after Hannah started chemo, she would be unable to attend school at all for the next 9 months. They said she simply would not feel well, and the risk of infection would be too great. Today, however they said if she is up to it, and her blood levels are good, she can attend for short periods of time. This will be more for the social benefit than to actually get any real learning in, but we feel it's important for her to maintain contact with her friends and teachers at the school. She will have a tutor that will work with her at home to keep her up to speed with her class.

So, until next week we will enjoy these last couple days of treatment free life. None of us want this to start, but we know that we have to start to get closer to the finish line and our goal of a cancer free life for Hannah.

xoxo Kim