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It was a shot day today.  Allyson got up this morning and had breakfast.  It took her a while to eat.  She’d lay down her head periodically between bites.  I kept asking her if she wanted to go to sleep, but she kept telling me no.  Finally, when she was finished, she told me she was tired and wanted to take a nap - this was at 8:30 this morning.  She really didn’t end up sleeping, but she did rest in her bed for over an hour.

It’s always fun to orchestrate putting on her “magic cream”.  We have to put cream on her leg where they give her the shot to numb the nerves.  Supposedly, the nerves are numbed down to the muscle so the shot is less painful.  -  Well, she knows exactly why the tape and magic cream are put on her leg, so she pushed my hands away.   It’s always a trick to keep from making a huge mess with the cream and get the tape on the right spot.  She doesn’t kick her legs though, thankfully…it’s just difficult to conquer her fast hands sometimes.  - When I put the tape on this morning, she said, “Hurry, Mommy, hurry!  Cover it up!”  She likes to cover up the tape, the IV lines, or whatever else is taped to her or hanging from her.  I think she feels safe or at least more so when she has all that “protected”.

She did fine.  She got anxious of course, but she didn’t cry…She crashed on the way home and rested on the couch most of the afternoon, but no nap.  By the end of the evening, she had bags under her eyes once again.  She went to bed fairly early.

Benjamin had a great day.  He was so cute when Brad came home this evening.  As soon as he heard Brad come through the door, Benjamin ran toward him and gave him a big hug.  Both Brad and I thought we heard him say, “I love you.”  If he didn’t, whatever came out of his mouth surely sounded like that.

There she blows!  No, not Allyson, the wind…the wind was so fierce last night, we woke up this morning to find our mailbox blown off its post and the playhouse that sits on our back patio in the backyard.  Nothing but the mailbox was damaged, thankfully.

Allyson’s energy level is definitely not what it usually is.  We were able to get her to take a nap both yesterday and today.  Naps do wonders for her.  - I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Dex, the steroid she’s now taking, is an evil drug.  That darn drug makes her hungry, constantly, and the smallest little thing can set her on her way to a major meltdown.  Brad and I wish we could say we’re almost finished with the Dex, but we are not quite half way there yet.

Benjamin had a good day until he bit the dust right into our stairs.  He was on his way upstairs to take a nap when he tripped over his own feet and fell into the stairs.  Blood gushed for a bit, but he was ok.  After a while, he was more angry that we had to hold him to get the bleeding to stop.  He then played in his bed for over a hour.  I knew he’d thrown overthing out of his bed (blankets and his “woobie”) when I heard him say, “Uh-Oh!” and then page his daddy.  He likes to cuddle with blankets and such in his bed.  He throws them out sometimes when he’s not in the mood to sleep.  - Well, no nap makes for a cranky Benjamin.  Man, was he cranky!   Once he got ready for bed this evening though, he went down well and fell asleep.

Tomorrow Ally goes in for more treatment.  I dread taking her in.  She was so upset on Friday.  I’m hoping she won’t be as upset because she won’t have to be accessed.  The chemo is given via injection (not much fun either).  Thankfully, she get the last of these shots on Wednesday, we think.

Whomever said, “No rest for the weary!” knew exactly what they were talking about…We hold strong though (much of our strength comes right from Ally- she’s an amazing little girl) and continue to bring Allyson through her journey to wellness.

The day started off well.  Allyson got up and was ready to eat, of course.  Benjamin woke up, got dressed, and went right to Tita’s.

We lucked out and got a parking spot right in front of the Cancer Center today, thankfully.  It was pouring down rain this morning! - Allyson was out of sorts today for this visit.  She was more upset than she has been in quite some time.  She wanted to sit on daddy’s lap to get accessed and to get her shot.  Well, all I can say is thank goodness she wanted to sit with him because she got so upset, she tinkled all over Brad!  Luckily, one of the nurses was able to find some scrubs for Brad to wear!  - Ally was so anxious about her treatment today.  I’m not sure why she was so upset today because they didn’t have to do anything different to her than they normally do.  All I can think of is that she has been there so much this week, she’s sick of it.  She also knows the meds don’t make her feel well.

The steroid has really stimulated her appetite.  She wants to eat all the time!  Spaghetti is the food of choice right now, or rather b-sghetti as she calls it.  She wants spaghetti all of the time!

Monkey man had a great day today.  He’s really been having so much fun after dinner these last few nights.  He loves to run around and rough-house - such a boy!  I’m afraid we are going to have a climber on our hands.  He can just about get himself up on the kitchen chairs.  He hikes up that, well, I was about to say little leg, but there’s nothing little about his legs…He hikes up those chunky legs and pulls with all his might…Ah, not quite, just yet, but I am sure it is only a matter of days.  Once he can get up on the couch and chairs, it’s all over…we’re in trouble!

Allyson was up for about two hours last night/early morning. She was restless…flopping around, sitting up, turning over…She woke up again at 6a.m. and had to go potty. She crawled back in bed and slept until 8:30. When she woke up, she was hungry, so she had spaghetti for breakfast (of course, what else does one have for breakfast!). When we went upstairs to change clothes, she crawled up in her bed and told me she wanted to take a nap. She slept until about 11:30. - I’m telling you, that shot she’s been getting wears her body out!

Well, we are off tomorrow to get yet another shot as well as two other doses of chemo. Hopefully we’ll get enough Zofran (the anti-nausea medication) in her so she doesn’t get sick.

Benjamin was so cute when I picked him up from Tita’s today. He could see me through the glass door coming up the walk. He got a big smile on his face and ran for the gate. Tita opened the gate and he ran to the door saying, “Mommy!” That made my day! - I swear he’s having a growth spurt. He’s eating and eating and eating!

Well, things are going ok for Allyson.  She’s had much chemo since this past Friday.  She’s also been taking the steroid that makes her have tremendous mood swings.  - The chemo makes her tired and the meds do make her moody.  When we go to the doc’s office, she takes the shot like a champ though.  They are surprised she doesn’t cry.  I’m not…she’s awesome!

It is difficult to see some of the side-effects of all this come back though.  She had a great couple of weeks, mostly because she was pretty much medication free.  She was the good ‘ole Ally.  Now, she’s getting tired again, and the meds are hard for her to take and do crazy things to her body.  One side-effect of one of the chemo meds she’s getting dulls muscle reflexes and strength.  She’s feeling the urge to potty, but sometimes just barely makes it.  I hate to see this happen again.  She gets upset when she doesn’t make it…

I had a panic moment the other day when I was watching her.  I thought for a brief moment, “What if all this doesn’t work?  What are we going to do?”  I felt the panic…it is amazing how easy it is to let yourself go there if you allow it to happen…I had to stop thinking that way…there is no reason for me to think it won’t work.  She’s been responding well so far.