A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Katie is at Fletcher Allen today getting her last Lumbar Puncture with Methotrexate. At today's appointment her doctors finally gave us a firm end date. Baring any more unforeseen occurrences, Katie's last dose of chemotherapy will be on June 8th 2010.

47 Days To Go!!!

An Over Due Update

Katie has fully recovered from her sprained ankle. Once again she is actively running and playing. During her recovery she was still able to have some fun. She celebrated Easter with not one, but two outdoor easter egg hunts. One with her friends and immediate family and the other with her extended family. Although she was a little sore at the end of the day, she was happy. Since that day, she hasn't favored that leg again.

She did, unfortunately, run into a little trouble with thrush again. This time, I'm sure that it was caused by her inhaler. We were issued the inhaler with specific instructions to rinse thoroughly after every use because the steroid in the inhaler could encourage the growth of thrush in her mouth. One morning, in our rush to get to school on time, I helped her use the inhaler and then we forgot all about rinsing. The next morning she had a white growth forming on the tip of her tongue. Luckily we still had some medication left over from the previous case of thrush so we started having her rinse and spit the medication twice a day immediately. The thrush never got any worse and two days later it was gone. We caught it quick.

This past week Katie has been dealing with a case of the croup again. It was keeping her up at night and she was coughing so much that she was having trouble taking a breath. However, we managed to get it under control by putting two humidifiers into her small room, rubbing her chest with Vics Vapor Rub and closing the door as she slept. In the morning, the inside of her windows were covered with condensation, but she slept well and that is all that matters. We continued to use both humidifiers until last night when her coughing seemed to be under control. She slept with just one humidifier running and the Vics last night and she still slept fine. She might be getting over this round of croup.

Things have happened on our farm since the last time we updated the blog too. One of our pigs, Charlotte, had finally grown big enough for the slaughter house and was sent to the butcher. The kids said their tearful goodbyes as we loaded her up, but they were smiling again shortly after when it was time to feed the newest addition to the farm. We acquired a new calf. He is a Jersey/Holstein mix and we named him Mocha. He is only three weeks old and has to be bottle fed by hand. Katie thinks he is absolutely adorable.