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Well, last night was not the most restful for Allyson.  She woke up around 3:00 and flipped and flopped for the next few hours.  In a word, she was gunky…

We got up and got ready for school.  I sat with her before we left to give her a breathing treatment.   She felt warm, so I checked her temperature.  She had a fever of 101.  That meant a call to the doctor.  Of course I knew he’d want to see her - with a fever, cough, and congestion, there was no doubt.  The verdict - the left ear is red, probably heading for an infection.  She does sound gunky, but she seems to be “moving air” through her lungs pretty well.  That combined with the fever meant we had to postpone the treatment and procedure for tomorrow and begin antibiotics.  The spinal tap is scheduled for Monday now, and the IV nurse will come by Easter Sunday night to begin fluids.  - Let us all hope her fever breaks…we need to check by in with Dr. Rob on Saturday morning.

Benjamin was in a great mood when he got home today.  He played, ate dinner, and played some more.  He’s got a little temper, I’ll tell you.  When he gets frustrated or doesn’t get his way, he turns on the tears in an instant.  - It looks like another tooth is breaking through his gum on the bottom.  He’s going to have a mouth full of teeth soon.

Allyson is in bed right now.  She’s very restless.  I hope she settles soon and gets some good sleep.

Another good day.  Allyson stayed at school until 4:00.  Yeah!

Allyson is gunky today, but she always sounds this way when she’s got some congestion.  She coughs every once in a while, and when she does, it sounds terrible.  Nurse Caren called today because they thought she sounded yucky.  I called Dr. Rob’s office (he was out today) to find out if they wanted to see her.  If she’s got gunk in her lungs, they might not put her out to do her procedure Friday.  The verdict from Dr. Bob - wait until tomorrow to see how she sounds.  If she still sounds gunky, we might have to bring her in to have one of the docs listen to her lungs.

Benjamin’s cough actually sounds better, thankfully.  Hopefully he’s on the mend.

I’m starting to feel like my chest is getting a little tight.  I hope I’m not getting sick.

Allyson had a good day. She went to school and stayed for lunch. She ate about half her lunch, and then asked for her mommy. I picked her up right after lunch…she was glad to see me. - She’s a gunky again today, and still has a cough (sounds horrible) now and again.

Bridget, a friend from work came by with dinner and a few gifts for the kids. She brought Allyson a couple of adorable hats and some pretend food in a basket - a huge hit! Allyson loved it!

Benjamin had a good day at Tita’s. He came home and played…wasn’t so sure of Bridget though at first. He was fine after a while.

It has been raining all day. There’s standing water in various places in our yard. Allyson still asked to go outside. I asked her if she saw the rain and she said, “Oh, yes. Can I go outside?” The kid LOVES to be outside.

Oh, Ally has graduated to 48 piece puzzles. We have several 24 piece puzzles that she puts together on her own. She wanted to put together the “fairy princess” one, the 48 piece puzzle. I thought it would be too hard, but she did a great job (with minimal assistance I might add)! I was impressed! By the time there were about six pieces left, she was “done”.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Well, Allyson started her second week back to school.  This morning when she was getting ready, I told her she was going to school.  She told me, “No, mommy, no school today.”  When I asked her why, she replied, “Mommy, I go tomorrow.”  She was actually happy to go to school today and see her friends and her teachers.  Brad said she was a little upset when he left, but she was fine. - Tomorrow, Allyson goes back to daycare after pre-school; she’ll stay for lunch, and I’ll go get her by 1:00.  Wednesday and Thursday, she’ll stay through nap and I’ll pick her up by 4:00.  Friday, of course, is a treatment/procedure day, so no school.

We kept Benjamin home from Tita’s today because he’s had a cough and runny nose.  Yesterday, he had a low-grade fever too.  When I called this morning, the docs office wanted to see him to check his ears.  -  We hadn’t seen Dr. Jan in almost two months, imagine that!  It was good to see her.  Benjamin checked out a-okay, thankfully.  She’s amazed at his progress and at how many words he says now.  We’re back to breathing treatments when he needs them.  He’s so good with them…he just sits there with the little dragon mask on until the treatment is over.

Allyson had a good afternoon.  She’s starting to get “gunky”too…we’re keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn’t develop into something worse.  She’s got a bit of a cough starting too.  Last night, she tossed and turned for most of the night.  I sooooo hope this doesn’t turn into a terrible cold.

Spring break?  Oh yeah, mine started today…

Today was a play day. We stayed home and played all day. This afternoon, Brian and Lacy (the Dr.’s Kolo as we like to call them;-), our friends from D.C., came over for a while. It was nice to chat with them, as we missed them in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Benjamin and Allyson were really good while we talked in the kitchen. - Benjamin was chasing Allyson around the family room and into Brad’s office. She’d laugh and laugh, and he’d just run and chase her. It was very cute.

Allyson’s appetite is still a little strange. She doesn’t eat at necessarily normal times, and what she asks for is sometimes a bit odd. Hey, at least she’s eating. She’s got quite the “cancer belly” going on right now - the belly is the first thing to greet you when she comes around the corner. I don’t really know if there’s anything we can do about it though because of all the drugs she’s on.

Benjamin still has his cough. We’re guessing he’s got another cold. You’d never know it though because he runs around the house like he’s fine. He’s a little crabby still. Who knows if it’s his teeth, a cold, or what. He’s is Mr. Repeat…he won’t say mommy or Ally on demand, but he’ll say almost everything else. I’m sure he’s just being a stinker. We’re trying to get him to say Gramps or Grrr before next weekend because Gramps will be in town next Saturday for a week.

My spring break starts tomorrow. Allyson goes to school again this week. We’re going to transition her to all day (school and daycare) before the end of the week so she’s ready when I go back to work. She’s a good girl…she’ll be fine.

The end of the week is another big chemo treatment. The nurse comes out to hydrate her with an IV over night on Thursday…St. John’s for a spinal tap and chemo in her spine…IV backpack for chemo and fluids for the weekend.