We are back from Cooks!

Briley had a 1:45 appointment at Cooks today to start Interim Maintenance I phase of treatment. All was going well this morning before we left until Briley over heard us talking about going to Ft. Worth. She's smart and has it figured out that trips to Ft. Worth are no fun. She whined a good bit about not wanting her port accessed. I don't blame her, especially at her age and not completely understanding the reasoning for it. We arrived in Ft. Worth a little early, so we first stopped by the Ronald McDonald House to drop off 4 grocery sacks full of can tabs that many folks have been collecting for the house. This was the 3rd time we have dropped off that many tabs! The folks there were very appreciative of them and it will go to good use! Then it was off to the clinic. Everything went as planned. Her counts look great! She did cry during port access and then discontinuing it. There is a little playroom in the clinic where the kids play before and during chemo infusion. Briley met a new little friend there that also has leukemia and she is in the D.I. phase of treatment right now. That is Briley's next phase and the one we have been dreading the most, but after talking to the mom of this child, we feel much relieved that the treatment hasn't been to bad for her daughter. She said the only thing that really worried her is when her daughter's tears and urine turned red, but that was normal side effect from a certain chemo. After treatment, we walked over to the hospital to see Lianna and Gracie. They are doing very well and their hair is quickly growing back! It started getting late and we decided to come back home before Briley started experiencing nausea, which has been a non factor at this point. I really wish there was something more we could do for the cancer kids and other seriously ill kids at Cooks. But I've got to remind myself that we are fighting our own battle right now and that God will show us a way when He is ready. Having to go through this with Briley and becoming friends with other parents and hearing their stories has touched us in ways we would have never thought possible pre-cancer. Cancer is ugly, especially when it affects kids. Thank you for your prayers and please say an extra one for all the kids with cancer.