Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007

We went in today for a clinic appointment as well as an audiogram. Hannah's counts were acceptable, her white blood count and neutrophil count went way down, which I had expected since we stopped the shots to keep them lifted. They both went down by more than 50%, while her red blood cell counts continued to go up. All counts are good enough to get chemo next week, even if they are still not in the normal range. Once they start on Monday, we will continue through, no matter how low her counts go (to a point I guess.) It's almost surreal to think that we will be starting her FINAL round of chemo next week. I hope we never have to do chemo again, that is my holiday wish.

Clinic was kind of fun for Hannah today. We brought in a huge box of crafty items from Oriental Trading. This was from Hannah's Cans for Cancer funds. She had the best time shopping for all of the goodies online. We knew they needed craft items, so we brought in several of Hannah's favorites. So many of you have had a hand in this, THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Next was Tod! We had him hidden in my bag under the blanket when we first arrived, trying to keep it low key. It was obvious that that was not to be for very long. Jan, Faye and Rob got him first, then all the nurses came in to see him, then lots of our friends at clinic including Kaitlyn and her mom Carolyn. He wasn't hidden after about 2 minutes. Hannah loved showing him around, although at one point it became a bit overwhelming for her. Not only is she still tired physically, but she is also tired emotionally and things that would not normally bother an eight year old bother her. I believe this is still a side effect from the surgery (posterior fossa syndrome), but it could be a combination of the surgery, the radiation and the chemo. I don't know if it will go away or change at all. We are used to it, but I know it surprises others (why is she crying?). She usually gets over it quickly if she is distracted.

Then we headed to get her audiogram. Her hearing is at jeopardy from some of the chemo drugs, so she has to continue to get her hearing tested. Her hearing declined again today, although only significantly at the highest frequency. Her hearing in the normal frequency is still within normal hearing range. It can still go down, but has less of a chance to do so without the damaging chemo drugs. Again, Tod was a big hit, except with one lady who said "you know that is not allowed here, but I won't make a big deal about it." We were on our way out anyway.

I forgot to take my camera today to clinic so I have no pictures to post, unfortunately. We'll try to get some more Tod pictures on here soon, I know Kaitlyn wants to see them!

xoxo Kim