Friday, September 21, 2007

Month 2 - Delayed Intensification

This Thursday was the beginning of Kate's second month of delayed intensification. We arrived at 8am for blood counts and found that they were good enough to proceed with chemo. This was a good thing since my Mom was here and we had already geared up for the long day.

Kate did very well with the lumbar puncture and intrathecal chemotherapy this time. She actually told me that she was tired and fell asleep BEFORE they even gave her the "sleepy" medicine. After the procedure, she was grumpy until she saw the oreos that I had brought. As you can see in this picture, she was all smiles after that.


Kate received Vincristine and Cytarabine through her port, followed by a longer infusion of Cytoxan. This drug can be toxic to the kidneys and bladder so after the infusion she had to receive several more hours of IV fluid. That poor girl must have gone to the bathroom a dozen times!


In total, we were at the hospital for about 8 1/2 hours but the time actually passed pretty quickly. Kate watched Curious George, worked on some homework that her teacher had sent home, did a few crafts and took a little snooze, too. She was most pleased by Daddy's visit complete with her favorite turkey and cheese roll-ups.

The child life specialist, Christy, had a fun activity planned at the end of the day. She had the kids create their own feeling tree. She asked them what colors they associated with being happy, sad and mad. Kate then did a leaf rubbing with red for mad, blue for happy and green for sad. Christy asked them to tell her something that gave them each emotion. It was a pretty neat exercise and Kate seemed to really get into it. She also is still drawing Vincas and we've tacked these latest works of art on our bulletin board at home.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kate,

I smile when I eat oreos, too...yum, yum, yum!!!

I've started to train for the Austin 1/2 Marathon with Team in Training (just like your Mom) and I've told everyone on my team about you! They all think you have such a great attitude! We have a Team Hero named Andrew who is going through the same type of treatment as you are. I run every Saturday with his mother...she's my new friend! She has been asking about you and knows that I am running to honor you and the wonderful job you are doing with your treatment.

I love you, Kate...wish I could give you hugs!

Love,
Anne

Tanya said...

Kate, I love your new looks. You are so cute! And you have the most beautiful smile, ever. You are such a strong girl that I know great things are in the future for you.

Kari said...

Glad to hear the day went quickly and so well. Kate looks like such a trooper! You guys hang in there ... we're thinking of you and praying that all continues to go well.

Anonymous said...

Kate,
We love you very much! We think of you everyday. It is so fun to look at the blog and see how you are doing. The only thing I hate is that I am not there to give you tons of hugs and kisses

Shauna

Craig said...

Child life specialists are cool!

Moss & Fern Cottage said...

You look so great Kate. Rarely do we see you without a smile. Stay strong... we are all so proud of you !

Anonymous said...

Kate ~ your new "do" is fabulous! I love the way you rock it :) I continue to think/pray for you (Hansens)...your strength and enthusiasm are truly amazing!
Love, Anne-Ross