Maintenance, round 1 of 8

Hey! We're in Maintenance!

On August 14th Molly had a lumbar puncture scheduled for methotrexate, and also vincristine into her port. It was pretty routine. I am looking forward to these routine visits! It's going to be good!

It's a good clinic visit! Two thumbs-up!

 At home we gave Molly the steroids (dexamethasone) for 5 days (she tolerated that pretty well, no big fits were thrown), and we also gave her mercaptopurine every night and methotrexate every Thursday night (except the first week, since she got methotrexate into her back at the clinic). Of course we are still giving her the prophylactic antibiotic Septra every Monday and Tuesday. Sometimes I get asked by a family member or friend what treatments Molly is on, and I give them the list, and they are shocked a little at how I am able to keep them all straight. Well, I've gotten quite used to it I guess. That's how. These medications are like our family members now...they are always there and we treat them like we love them, even though sometimes they can be a pain in the rear end!

I love watching this kid sleep! Almost as much as when she's awake!

On September 11th and October 9th Molly had clinic appointments just to go in and have labs drawn and get vincristine into her port. Those also went very very well. The lab results keep coming back great and there's no need for transfusions or anything. At the September visit, the doctor had us test Molly's stool again for C. Diff. It was positive. So we had to do a round of Vancomycin to try to rid her of the problem. I have also been giving Molly certain probiotics that is supposed to help a lot with this antibiotic-caused bacteria in her intestines. We've tested again recently and it has not gone away yet. We do not qualify for the research study that is going on right now for a more potent medicine because Molly's C. Diff. symptoms are relatively mild, so we'll just keep on giving her the probiotics until she's off any antibiotics and hope that we can knock it out then with one of the lesser potent drugs.

In mid-October we participated in the LLS Light the Night cancer walk. One of Molly's awesome great-aunts helped us get a team together and basically did all the work for us! All we had to do was show up! That was a fantastic night, and it wasn't even that cold...We had a ton of fun though.

Our Light the Night team. Molly's Minions.

Big Sis the Purple Monster and Molly the Ladybug (and some random old lady in gym shorts...)

 Every 12 weeks is the start of a new maintenance round. I'll try to update the blog at each new round, unless something big changes, it which case you'll hear from me earlier (pray that doesn't happen...). Life is settling down and we are able to get into regular routines that keep us busy, so updating the blog is now something I have to schedule, rather than just do when I am bored.