Back to Fort Worth Tomorrow

We have finally settled into the maintenance routine and Briley is doing pretty good. She takes chemo every night. The chemo needs to be taken on an empty stomach, so we have gotten into a bad habit of setting our alarms and getting up at 1:00 in the morning and giving her the chemo. Whatever works I guess.

She has some nausea with the chemo. Some days are better than others. The last two times that we've tried to eat at a restaurant with Briley, she started getting sick and we had to leave without eating. I don't know if it's the smells or what causes the nausea to come on at the restaurants.

She also got sick and threw up during our Thanksgiving meal at Craig & Briana's house, but she was fine afterwards and finished her meal. At that point, I realized even more how much I hate cancer and the chemo. Even seeing maw maw there not able to cook Thanksgiving lunch for the first time that I can remember because of her cancer and the chemo side effects just makes me sick.

However, we have a lot to be thankful for. We are thankful for the almighty Lord for that we see His works with Briley. We are also thankful for the wonderful support & prayers from family and friends. And we are also thankful for the great doctors, nurses, & child life specialist at Cooks.

Other than my small complaints, Briley is doing very good! Sick season is upon us and she is still not out of the woods yet. Any fever above 101.5 will be an automatic week stay at Cooks. So far, so good. We are keeping her and Bryson as isolated as possible, but still allowing them to do a few activities here and there. Briley goes to dance class once/week. Bryson goes to tumbling once/week. They both go to "Church School" and of course to mass on the weekends. I'm thankful for my job that allows me to stay home with them most days of the week and I'm thankful that Nana is able to keep the kids on my work days. However, I need to dust off the treadmill and lose this weight I've gained from sitting around the house with the kids!

We will go to Fort Worth tomorrow for the pizza party at Richland Resources and then to clinic. Briley will have her port accessed, blood drawn, port flush, and a visit with the doctor. I will update hopefully tomorrow night and let y'all know how things went. Thanks!

Settled into Maintenance!

I'm sorry it's been a while since my last post. There's not a whole lot to report regarding Briley at this time. No news is good news!!! She had a blood draw last Thursday to check counts. Her ANC was 2000! Everything else looked good also! She was still getting sick and vomiting in the mornings last week unless we gave her Zofran as soon as she got out of bed. I didn't think about the nausea meds this morning, but she did fine all day. No nausea!!! I'm hoping that her little body has grown accustomed to the chemo. She has also started playing a lot more in the mornings!

Two Saturdays ago, we ran out of her chemo. It takes a special pharmacy to fill it, and of course, no one is open on the weekend. After a call into Cooks, the doctor said the ER could fill her Rx. One problem, we would have to drive down there to pick it up. Thankfully, we found someone coming from Ft. Worth to Seymour that could pick it up. With a little begging over the phone with Cooks, they were allowed to pick up the chemo and bring it to Seymour. Thank you Eric, Pam, and Rilda!!

Her next appointment is on the 29th. It will just be for count check, port flush, and doctor visit. It is really hard to believe that she will only get chemo at Cooks every 3 months! That day before her appointment, we will visit the offices of the folks that are granting her wish for a pizza & frito pie party! We are looking forward to meeting everyone, although I doubt they'll get much work done with Briley & Bryson running around terrorizing the place! Thank you for your continued support & prayers!

Good counts, not so good side effects

Briley has not been feeling well in the mornings since the start of maintenance. We don't know if it's been from the chemo, steroids, or a combination of both. She's been a little nauseated and constantly wanted to be held. By the afternoons, she seems to do better and she will start playing. Anyway, we left out for Cooks yesterday morning for a scheduled appointment for blood work and doctor's visit. Briley was nauseated when we left and no more than we were about to leave town, she threw up. A quick u-turn back to the house for a clothes change and we were on our way. Bryson came along with us this time and stayed entertained with Thomas-the-Train dvd's.
The clinic visit went very well. Briley's ANC was 4600! This is by far the highest that it's ever been, but part of it is due from the steroids giving it a little boost and maybe another boost from a bug. Come to find out, Briley is sensitive to the home chemo (6mp) so that may be the reason for not feeling good in the mornings. The doctor wants her to have a CBC done in Seymour next Thursday to check counts after the steroids are out of her system and then maybe decrease the amount of daily chemo. Oh-yeah, she gained 3 lbs during the week she was on steroids! I'm glad that's over for a while.
While we were there, I met Josh. He is 19 years old with a rare form of bone cancer that could be terminal. Cooks sent him on "Hunt of a Lifetime". He went elk hunting in Oregon with a fellow that has a hunting show on the Outdoor Channel. Josh was uncertain when he's hunt will air so I told him that I will follow along with his caring bridge page and will be looking forward to watching his hunt. Please say an extra prayer for Josh.
Briley's next appointment will be on the 29th. I'll post more before then. Thanks.