Category: Leukemia

Teeny update

Things have been going pretty well. This last steroid course was a rough one, but it’s ended and Serenity’s gone several months without any fevers or bad illness. She has complained of leg pain quite a bit, but the NP at our last clinic visit printed out her growth charts and said it’s probably growing pains because she has been growing.

She had a CBC this morning to check counts and we are waiting for the results. When the nurse took her temp it was 100, so I’m keeping an eye on it. When it climbs to 101 the clinic generally has us come in to check her counts. I’m glad we had a blood draw today already. Hopefully her ANC will be 500 or more. If that’s the case I don’t think we’ll have to go in even if her temperature does rise.

It would be a bad time for a hospital stay. Phil’s out of town for a week and I’m already a little overwhelmed with him gone.

Tired

Serenity has been very tired lately. We had a clinic visit last week and her labs came back ok, so I don’t know what it is I’m worried about exactly. And worried is too strong a word for it. But I do worry, all the time; I worry when things are normal and I worry more when they’re not.

She’s been sleeping a little bit during the day in the last 2 weeks and that’s unusual. But her counts are good and she looks good, so maybe she is gearing up for a growth spurt or something.

I’m more tired than normal too, but that is part of being a mom I think.

Moving along

Serenity is doing well. I haven’t updated here regularly and I’m feeling guilty about that. There was some drama with our new insurance and getting authorization for her to have Home Health do blood draws at home, and then some more drama with getting them to pay for one of her prescriptions. Both instances involved many phone calls and more than a few tears but everything worked out in the end.

We go back to the clinic next week for her monthly visit. Right now she is on 75% chemo and feeling pretty good. She was very tired yesterday and fell asleep in my arms at lunch, which is unusual for her. Anything unusual makes me worry but today she is running around and acting fine, so hopefully she’s not teetering on the brink of any illness.

Ear infection

Serenity has had a cold for several days now, and a cough that sounds painful. She’s run a low grade fever for several nights, but it’s always gone by morning. And today she started complaining about her ears.

Mommy, why do I talk funny? Am I talking in Spanish?

Last night she was up most of the night crying and generally feeling awful. So this morning I took her to the pediatrician. I was starting to worry she had bronchitis, because a cousin who is also sick has both bronchitis and infection in her eye and ear. Good news! It’s just an ear infection and her lungs are clear. The doctor gave us a prescription for Amoxicillin and said it’s not usual for her fever to only surface at bedtime.