TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008 05:28 PM, EDT
Ally had a good day. She is still VERY fussy about eating. We are not sure if this is just her adjusting to being home or if it is morphine withdrawal symptoms.
Note: Nurse Teri recently wrote to listener, saying:
Morphine may be hindering Ally's appetite in a big way.
See how much we need a National Nurse!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2008 05:41 PM, EDT
Ally made a short visit to the NH hospital today. They took some blood, changed the caps on her tubies and talked to Grammy a little bit. We found out there is no getting rid of that 4AM morphine (at least for a couple of days). Ally did not need any blood today, but some of her values were low, so they are going to take more on Wednesday when we have to bring her back for radiation simulation. Speaking of radiation, Ally's oncologist mentioned that she thought it would last for about 4 weeks. Ally will NOT be admitted for radiation. This means, 4 weeks of day trips, or finding a place to stay up there. We have not decided what to do yet. We need to keep in mind Ally is in quarantine, so she can't be exposed to dirty hotels or other people (like at David's House).
Ally is still having troubles sleeping at home, and getting her to eat (or at least us figuring out what she wants to eat) has not been fun. We will probably get it under control just when radiation begins...
Sunday, September 28, 2008
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2008 07:53 AM, EDT
Last night was better for sleeping. Ally stayed in her crib until 1:00AM. She went right out when I layed with her on the air mattress. She woke up just enough to take her 4AM morphine (which we are going to ask the NH hospital to change!) and then went back to sleep until her pump went off around 6 this morning. She napped a little until Daddy took her downstairs around 6:30 and Mommy slept for another hour.
Overall Ally is happy. She is not eating nearly as well as she did when she came home from the first transplant and I think she drank about 1.5 ounces of liquid yesterday. She can get easily upset, but almost just as easy we can calm her down. She LOVES to snuggle. There is very little time she in not on a lap or being held in some way.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Encore!!
"We are such spendthrifts with our lives," Newman once told a reporter. "The trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I'm not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out."
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2008 11:56 AM, EDT
Here is a time table of Ally's Night:
6:00 - showing signs of being tired
6:30 - gets a 2nd wind
6:45 - bath for about 1.5 minutes
7:30 - really tired
7:45 - bed time (in her crib) with about 10 minutes of fussing
11:30 - Ally decides sleeping with Mommy and Daddy is WAY better than her stupid crib. This means Mommy and Daddy have to work together (in the dark) to unplug Ally's IV machine, wheel it into our room (around all the bags we still have to unpack) and find a place to plug it back in. Then Ally proceeds to take up as much space in our Queen sized bed as she can.
4:00AM - the alarm goes off for us to give her morphine. Ally takes this opportunity to tell us she wants to eat. (She has a cute word that sounds like nnnyum.) We manage to convince her to sleep for 30 more minutes.
4:30 AM - Daddy carries the heavy IV pole and machine down the stairs. Mommy makes Ally pancakes (microwave). Ally eats 2 bites then snuggles up with Mommy on the couch.
4:45AM - 7:00AM - Ally dozes, asks for pancakes about every 15 minutes or so, then dozes again. I think she did do one stretch of about 45 minutes of sleeping. Around 5:30ish her IV machine beeps that her fluids are done. We spend about 5 minutes, with the lights on flushing her lines and disconnecting her.
7:00AM - Ally is up for the day.
We are planning on putting the air mattress in her room tonight.
We even got to take her for a walk outside this morning!
Friday, September 26, 2008
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 03:11 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy rejoices:
We are home!
We were on the road by 1:15. The rain did prolong our trip a bit, but it wasn't too bad. We were able to miss most of the north bound weekend traffic.
When we got home Ally promptly threw up on the kitchen floor. I was excited that she waited until we were out of the car!
We found out Grammy can bring her to the NH hospital without us! Yeah Super Grammy for being willing to do that!
Ally will be on morphine and IV fluids for a while. Her IV fluids will be run at night and will have potassium because her levels have been low the past few days.
She is busy exploring the house, Daddy is busy taking out the air conditioners so that we can turn the heat on in our 63 degree house. Silly 125 year old house!
Being home is great!!!!!!!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008 09:14 AM, EDT
ANC = 6110
We found out Ally has to go to DHMC on Monday. With 2 parents who have to go to work that day we are hoping they will let us send her there with Grammy.
Today we are waiting for platelets, a dressing change and a prescription for morphine. (It will take about a week to wean her off it.)
I'll post again when we get home.
[DHMC = the NH hospital]
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
From my INBOX
Hi,
I'm against the $85 BILLION bailout of AIG.
Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a 'We Deserve It' dividend.
To make the math simple, let's assume there are 200,000,000 bona fide U.S. citizens, aged 18+.
Our population is about 301 million counting every man, woman , and child.
So, 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up.
Now, divide 200 million, 18+ adults into $85 billion - that equals $425,000.00 each!
Yes, my plan is to give that $425,000 to every adult as a 'We Deserve It' dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So, let's assume a tax rate of 30%. Everyone would pay $127,500.00 in taxes.
That sends $25.5 billion right back to Uncle Sam! It also means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife would have $595,000.00!
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00?
· Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved
· Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
· Put away money for college – it'll really be there
· Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs
· Buy a new car – create jobs
· Invest in the market – capital drives growth
· Pay for your parent's medical insurance – health care improves
· Enable Deadbeat Parents to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U.S. citizen, 18 and older (including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehmann Brothers and every other company that is cutting back) and of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U.S. citizen!!
As for AIG – liquidate it.
· Sell off its parts.
· Let American General go back to being American General.
· Sell off the real estate.
· Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
We deserve the money and AIG doesn't. Sure it's a crazy idea, but can you imagine the coast-to-coast block party?!
How do you spell Economic Boom? W-e D-e-s-e-r-v-e I-t d-i-v-i-d-e-n-d!
I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion 'We Deserve It' dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington, D.C..
And remember, The plan only really costs $59.5 billion because $25.5 billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008 12:40 PM, EDT
Ally and Daddy had a wonderful night's rest last night.
ANC = 3,690
We found out Monty (our kitty) can come home, we are allowed to have a Christmas Tree and we will not have to go to Boston for a checkup between discharge this Friday and going to DHMC next Wednesday!!!!!!!!
Ally has shown a little interest in eating. She is able to be unhooked for a little bit each day, and they are weaning her off all the things she is hooked up to.
SHE IS COMING HOME ON FRIDAY!!!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 08:23 AM, EDT
Ally had a bloody nose last night...poor Oscar took the brunt of it...bath time for him!
ANC = 2800
Yup, she is the bestest baby ever. The docs are saying Friday is discharge day!
Here is a photo of Ally taken in September 2007.
Mommy looks forward to making pigtails again!
Ally had a bloody nose last night...poor Oscar took the brunt of it...bath time for him!
ANC = 2800
Yup, she is the bestest baby ever. The docs are saying Friday is discharge day!
Here is a photo of Ally taken in September 2007.
Mommy looks forward to making pigtails again!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008 09:29 AM, EDT
Skype is not working well this morning, but from the short conversation I had with Daddy: Ally is in a good mood, still has no interest in eating and I think she had a good night. Last night was the first night they did not kick up her morphine.
ANC = 280!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2008 10:21 AM, EDT
Skype is working better now. Rounds came through. They are talking about going home!!!
Jason mentioned she had a radiation simulation appointment at DHMC on October 1st. They said she should be long home by then. It looks like Friday or Saturday she should be coming home!!!
This is my 2nd post of the morning...so I cut and pasted what I already wrote in green below. Check out the ANC number!
Ally updates ~~ please read from bottom to top
Ally is currently hooked up to: TPN, Morphine, lots of antibiotics throughout the day and IV fluids.
Ally's counts are moving up!!!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2008 01:32 PM, EDT
Here is a bit of math for you all:
Ally's white blood cell counts (which are used to calculate ANC) have been as follows:
Thursday = 0.18
Friday = 0.27
Saturday = 0.52
Her numbers are on their way up. She has to have an ANC of 500 or more for 3 days in a row to get home. (Her white blood cell count is still too low to calculate an ANC.) Also, she has to show she will eat, so she needs to start weaning off the TPN. She needs to start weaning off the morphine, and all of her meds need to be changed to oral. These could all take a while, so even if her ANC reaches the goal, she may be stuck at the hospital for a bit longer. But, there is an end in sight!
I spoke with her and Daddy over skype this morning. Ally is all about reading her books, wearing gloves and playing with medical equipment. She was very interactive with me as well....wanting me to smell stinky feet and flowers! Stupid Cold, wish I could be there!
Late Breaking News: ANC = 90
6922
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2008 05:51 PM, EDT
Ally has had a super duper day. She has been active, lots of smiles and playful! She actually interacted with me on the webcam...first time in a couple of weeks! She made me smell her stinky foot over and over, and then Oscar's stinky foot.
Her counts are low still, but we are crossing our fingers they will be going up, up, up! (It is day plus 10...she is a little bit behind where she was at this time during her first transplant, as expected)
I am still sick, but have lots of remedies to try! Hoping to make it o Boston for next weekend...but I already have to take a 1/2 day off work for a dentist appointment on Tuesday, so I am not sure about taking another day off to go to Boston early.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2008 08:05 PM, EDT
Ally is doing better today. Each day she is showing more and more energy. Her actual counts have gone up and down the past few days...the docs say her white blood cells are headed toward her mouth to heal those sores. They must be working because she is no longer making a fuss for her oral meds (they have to be oral...no IV version...Vitamin E and Ursadile...both to help protect her liver).
Ally is taking long naps in the middle of the day (when her visitors come) but otherwise semi-active and in a good mood. She does not care for the physical therapy people though. Oh Well.
She LOVES all the cards and little gifts she is getting in the mail...thanks to every one who is thinking about her!
My sore throat has blossomed into a full fledge cold. I am now hoping to make it there for NEXT weekend....in the past it has taken me about 3 weeks to get rid of these things. GRRRRRR! Anyone know of a SUPER DUPER knock you out medicine for the common cold?
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 03:18 PM, EDT
When we were chatting with the doctors they told us (we sort of already knew) that we would be able to tell when her counts were ready to come up by her behavior and activity level. Based on how she has been so far today...it looks like any day now labs should show counts on their way up! I hope I didn't just jinx her.
On a sad note, I have a sore throat. Nothing too serious, but I will not be allowed to visit Ally until it is 100% gone. It looks like I won't be able to see her at all this weekend :-(
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thankful and Gary September 20, 2008 6:30 CDST
Thankful and Gary
Sitting in a tree
K I S S I N G
First Comes Love
Then com marriage
Then comes joy. . . .
Friday, September 19, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 08:19 PM, EDT
One of the big things I teach in 3rd grade is how to END a story. In 3rd grade we don't just stop writing, we end a story. I need to take my own teaching advice.
Here is how the story ended:
After Ally got platelets and was in a better mood we got a look in her mouth. "It" was gone. Most likely she swallowed it. The End.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2008 06:41 PM, EDT
Ally had a pretty good day today. She did not need any blood products today! The Physical Therapy people stopped by to check on Ally's progress. She was willing to play their games as long as she got to sit 0n Daddy's lap. Otherwise she was vocal about what they wanted her to do. Ally slept well today. This morning she was extremely upset about taking an oral medication. She got so upset she burst a capillary in her eye, so now it looks like she has blood in her eye.
Nothing new coming up. Just waiting around for things to happen and counts to go up, another week or so and that should happen!
Monday, September 15, 2008
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2008 04:40 PM, EDT
A wild and woolly day...
Today is "Day Plus 6". Ally was engraphted on Day Plus 13 last time around....so we are about half way there.
I generally like to tell the good things, gloss over the bad, and leave out the really bad stuff till after it has gone by (like Ally could have lost her kidney during her surgery....which would have compromised the rest of her treatment) But today, in the interest of bringing you along in our journey here comes the gross. If you want to skip to the end that's okay with me. (I will put the gross stuff in a different color, so look for this color again at the bottom for safe reading.)
The past few days Ally has been waking up with blood stains on her pillow...this did not alarm us. Her platelets have been running around 20 and those mouth sores are good ways for blood to escape her body. This morning though....
Ally woke up with LOTS of blood in her mouth. It was very mucusy and every time she cried it would ooze out of her mouth. Then, she cried a lot and opened her mouth wider and we saw "it". "It" was this super gross blob of blood hanging behind her front teeth. "It" was attached. The nurse's best guess was a mouth sore ripped open and the skin was hanging down, coated in mucusy blood. I pretty much freaked out. Platelets were ordered. Ally calmed down and within an hour of the platelets being in (a very quick transfusion) Ally's mouth was no longer oozing blood. She does have MANY mouth sores, which are still painful to her and gross for us to look at.
Ally's courage amazes me. If that was going on with me I would be yelling (well if my mouth could handle it) and forcing people to bring me things and get better TV available. But no, not Ally, Ally will sit there and put that silly star shaped block in the silly star shaped hole as many times as Mommy and Daddy dump the bucket. And she will hand me The Belly Button Book about 12 times a day to read to her and I will, because she deserves it (I no longer have to look at the words to read it.). We are super lucky.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2008 05:01 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy writes...
Ally had a rough night (one of my roughest in the hospital). She was up most of the night, in pain. We had to hit the morphine button for an extra dose many times throughout the night. (This is morphine on top of her regular dose.) We are going to up her constant dose tonight, which will suppress her breathing a bit, so she will probably need oxygen as well.
Today Ally had more energy than yesterday....which was strange based on her night of little sleep, and she is resting comfortably now.
We can tell she is feeling bad because she is fussing when they come in to do her vital signs and give her oral meds. She has always been a star patient for these things in the past.
She still has a fever today.
She is not a fan of Mommy being out of sight, so I am glad I will be here through tomorrow.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2008 08:11 PM, EDT
Evening Update
Ally's fever continued for most of the day. A couple doses of Tylenol did not bring it down, but by bedtime her temp was back to normal. That doesn't mean it won't go back up tonight though. They took blood cultures to see if they could find why she has the fever. It will take a couple days for results to come back, in the meantime they are giving her antibiotics.
Ally had some good spurts of energy today. She wanted her books read to her about 12 times each!
She is on constant morphine right now, which makes her nose itch, so she scratches it, then when she pulls away she hits her very swollen and painful mouth causing her to cry...but we don't want to give her more pain meds (morphine) because then her nose will itch again.....it's a vicious cycle.
Ally is pretty much feeling miserable most of the time, but through it all she is still in a good mood. She will play stinky foot with us, and I even caught 2 or 3 smiles today!!!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2008 10:52 AM, EDT
Prayers and Vibes and Candles please:
Ally continues to sleep. Her anti-puke meds contain benadryl. We are going to start weaning her off....wish us the best! If it's not coming out one end it is the other...the past 2 nights at 3 and 1 AM!
She has been running a fever the past couple days so she will be starting some super strong antibiotics.
She is no longer eating, walking or talking. Once in a while she will have a burst of energy...she was able to open 3 of her 8 cards yesterday before she needed a nap.
Lovely Weekend!
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=ALLYS
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2008 06:22 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy is again in Boston (for the weekend)
Now that I can actually SEE Ally I can see how rough this round of chemo has been for her. Her entire mouth is swollen, making her cheeks puff out and her lips look huge. Daddy says she has been comfortable with the morphine (as she should be, because the dose she is getting this time is 4X the amount she got last round!) but they still need to give her an extra boost at night sometimes. Pretty much since Wednesday she has been sleeping, although today she had short bursts of energy. I am hoping by the end of the weekend to get a smile out of her.
I would like to send out a special thanks to a couple of my fellow teachers for covering my class so I could beat the parent pick up rush at the end of the day and get out of the parking lot and head towards Ally that much sooner! (They did it last Friday too.) THANKS!!! The BIG hug Ally gave me when I showed up was AWESOME!
After Ally goes to bed tonight I will try to post some new pictures to this website.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2008 05:17 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy writes:
Ally is sleeping, sleeping, sleeping. She has a fever. They took blood cultures to see what is going on. Her mouth sore pain seems to be under control. Although she was up a lot last night, crying in pain. They ended up giving her an extra shot of morphine each time. Once in a while she will sleepily give Daddy the stinky foot. Hopefully this will be as bad as it gets.
I GET TO SEE ALLY TOMORROW!!!!!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 09, 2008 06:43 PM, EDT
STEM CELL TRANSPLANT ~ DAY ZERO
Ally got her transplant today. For any new readers her transplant is simply hanging a bag of blood and getting a transfusion. Except she is getting her own blood full of stem cells.
Her counts are on their way down. She has not reached zero yet, but she will within the next week.
Today Ally SLEPT. She slept for almost the whole day. She slept mostly on Daddy's lap. Daddy is hoping the sleeping continues through the night, and Ally is not ready to wake up at 3:00AM for the day!
She has been reading lots and lots of her books. (She actually only has 5 books down there...space issues, so she is reading those over and over). Ally has been enjoying "Daddy Cuddles" and will hug Daddy at the end of the book. Super Cute!
During transplant 1 a professional photographer took some pics of Ally and signed a release so I can post them here. Look for some black and white ones!
Now Ally just has radiation left and we HOPE that is the end of all treatments for her!
Monday, September 08, 2008
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 08, 2008 06:37 PM, EDT
Ally has had a good day. Her eating is way down, but she is getting nutrition from her TPN.
The docs said she IS getting her stem cells tomorrow (Tuesday).
She slept for about 2 and a half hours this afternoon. When she is awake she is playful and in a good mood. She has enjoyed looking out the window and having her books read to her over and over again!
Note: We got a very sweet card in the mail today from Ally's Mommy, thanking us for all the support and asking us to pass the thanks along. :-)
Sunday, September 07, 2008
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 07, 2008 07:36 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy writes, from home in NH:
It was wonderful to spend the weekend with Ally. She was very cuddly and cute all weekend. Leaving was not wonderful.
Her puking seems to be better under control. Only 2 times today, as opposed to 8 on Friday. Now that chemo is done, we are hoping for less and less.
She has lessened her words and walking. This usually happens in the hospital. But she is keeping it up a bit more than last time. She no longer wants to make animal noises and will only walk somewhere if it is SUPER important that she be there.
Daddy has visitors each day this week and has trained Ally to nap in her crib, allowing him to get to the kitchen and shower in the morning! He is more on top of things than I ever was (but this does not surprise me, he usually is)!
Her ANC is dropping, and approaching zero. We are going to be keeping better track of it this week and for the rest of her stay.
Back to school tomorrow!
Saturday, September 06, 2008
CHEMO IS DONE!!!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2008 07:47 AM, EDT
I forgot to mention the lights were fixed as soon as we told the CA and she flipped a switch on the first day.
Ally is on new puke meds. This med has to be mixed with benadryl to prevent muscle spasms. She gets it every 6 hours, so naps galore today! (They are going to try a 1/2 dose so she is not zonked the whole day.)
We would like to cheer on our friends Matt, Ivy and Bree who are running a half marathon in honor of CHaD today!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 06, 2008 04:10 PM, EDT
Ally has slept most of the day away. She only puked the one time this morning, before she got the new meds! They are going to stick to the full dose, so napping will be her main activity for the next few days.
The medical staff needs to take a careful look at her protocol to figure out which day she gets her stem cells. If it says 3 days after chemo ends it will happen on Tuesday, if it says 3 FULL days it will happen on Wednesday, because 3 full days would be 5:00PM on Tuesday, when the stem cell people leave (silly 9 to 5 jobs).
Ally has been enjoying Teddy Grahams lately. She will roar at them, then bite their heads off. One of her cutest games yet!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2008 06:48 PM, EDT
Ally's Mommy writes from BOSTON:
Mommy is here!
Ally has increased her up-chucking today. The meds she is on work for about an hour and then blaaaaaa all over the place. She has puked 2 times since I got here around 5 and 5-6 times prior to that today. Yuck. Amazingly she is still in a fantastic mood.
a haiku:
Carseat you were clean
Why do you smell like puke now
Carseat woes again
Thursday, September 04, 2008
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 04, 2008 05:58 PM, EDT
From Ally's Mommy who is in NH for work while Ally is in Boston with Daddy...
Well, the chemo has set in. Ally had a very good morning, but as the day progressed she got more tired, more cranky and the puking began. Through it all she has still been sweet and cuddly with Daddy, Grammie and Auntie today. When I skyped them this evening (think video phone over the internet...with the stinkyness of her being able to see me, but me not being able to see her) Ally was okay at first, but then REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wanted a mommy hug, and just being able to see me was not enough. We needed to cut it short so Daddy could calm her down. Probably the toughest moment of the week for me. I am SUPER looking forward to that 3:00 bell tomorrow so I can head down to see my baby! (and my husband...miss him too!)
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! (Ally's Grammie & Grampy)
Oldest President, Ever. . . .
. . . . new light on persistent questions about Mr. Reagan's mental state as President, questions rekindled by the disclosure, in November 1994, that he had Alzheimer's. Nearly 70 when he took office in 1981, Mr. Reagan became the oldest President, and throughout his two terms, a series of well-publicized memory lapses and a casual executive style had provoked uncertainty -- even ridicule -- about his mental competence.Just when the Alzheimer's began can never be known. But while the line between mere forgetfulness and the beginning of Alzheimer's can be fuzzy, a matter of gradation, Mr. Reagan's four main White House doctors say they saw no evidence that he had crossed it as President. They saw and spoke with him daily in the White House, they said, and beyond the natural failings of age never found his memory, reasoning or judgment to be significantly impaired.
Mr. Reagan ''absolutely'' did not ''show any signs of dementia or Alzheimer's,'' said Dr. John E. Hutton Jr., who cared for him from 1984 until the end of his Presidency and remains a close family friend. Extensive mental-status tests did not indicate evidence of Alzheimer's until 1993, more than four years after Mr. Reagan left office, Dr. Hutton said. . . .
Perhaps ~~ but I remember *very clearly* him slipping off onto the Ventura highway during the 1984 debate, and had to be called on it by the moderator. I also remember *very clearly* the look of pain and confusion when he was "brought back." I've since seen it on my patients' faces, as well as my mother's the year before she died. The year she thought, among other things, that her grand children were trying to poison her.
Need I mention that Obama picked a Veep he felt would be ready on Day One to be President. Sarah Palin? Not on day one, maybe *never*. . . .
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2008 04:55 PM, EDT
The Ally News
Ally has had a good day. She is still in good spirits and super cute. The word that Ally is energetic is getting around the ward. Daddy said a social worker stopped by and already knew she was moving around a lot. Grammy and Grampa Moore got to hold Ally a lot today. Her appetite has dropped a bit (as expected) but she is still enjoying her favorite cookie....the grasshopper cookie (chocolate mint). Daddy took pictures of Ally today, I will try to get them up on the site this weekend.
P.S. Apart from missing Ally loads and loads school has been pretty good.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 02, 2008 05:05 PM, EDT
From Ally's Mommy:
Ally has had a super day! She ate lots and lots this morning. Chemo began around 12:30. The side effects have not kicked in yet. She will get chemo for the next 4 days/24 hours a day. She napped okay today, and slept well last night. She is eating this evening too. She has been super cute with the medical staff. They are so happy to see her vocal and MOVING all over the place. The physical therapy people stopped by and said she looked good, and even had some advanced fine motor skills! Yeah!
Daddy just kept saying that she has been really good.
While I was talking to them I could hear Ally in the background screaming like crazy! (In a good way.)
Monday, September 01, 2008
Poll: Obama/Biden Take Eight-Point Lead
Poll: Obama/Biden Take Eight-Point Lead Sept. 1, 2008
(CBS) Democratic nominee Barack Obama's lead over Republican John McCain has grown after the Democratic convention, which 71 percent of Americans say they watched.
Obama and his running mate Joe Biden now lead McCain and Sarah Palin 48 percent to 40 percent, according to the latest CBS News poll. This is the first CBS News poll to include the vice presidential candidates in the horserace question.
The eight-point lead for the Democratic ticket is up from Obama’s three-point lead before the convention. But there are still a significant number of voters who have yet to firmly make up their minds.
Before the Democratic convention, McCain enjoyed a 12-point advantage with independent voters, but now Obama leads among this group 43 percent to 37 percent. Obama's lead among women has also grown to 14 points (50 percent to 36 percent), and the Democrat maintained the lead he had before the convention among voters who supported Senator Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.
he poll shows an increase in the number of Obama voters who are enthusiastic about him. Sixty-seven percent of Obama voters say they enthusiastically support him, which is up from 48 percent who said so before the convention.
About a quarter of McCain’s backers are enthusiastic about him--unchanged from before the Democratic convention. Sixty-three percent of registered voters say Obama understands their needs and problems, while just 41 percent say that about McCain. And after the Democratic convention, 58 percent of voters say Obama is "tough enough," which is up from 48 percent in early August.
Link for rest? Click title. . . .
Catch up (phone line's been more than "iffy")
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 01, 2008 10:56 AM, EDT
Ally's Mom writes, from Boston:
We are all settled into our new room at Boston Children's Hospital.
On this ward there are these cool lights in the ceiling that change color. There are 8 programs. Ours seems to be stuck on one program, and they will not turn off! They are not super bright, but as night comes along they will seem brighter. Hmmmmm. I hope this can be fixed, as cool as they are, I think no lights would be better than lights on all the time.
Today they drew blood from Ally, did an EKG, and we are scheduled to go get some X-Rays later. Chemo will begin tomorrow.
The best part of being here (other than NO traffic on the way in) is the view. We can see a street and a little food court! Ally is going to LOVE being able to see things out the window! Also, good for day, not so much for night, we are behind a pretty busy nurses' station. Lots to look at on both sides of the room.
We were here for 29 days for Transplant 1, lets hope for a couple days less this time!
Mommy is not looking forward to driving home tonight and missing Ally and Daddy until Friday...at which point she will be pushing her students out of the way in order to get to her car and get back to Boston! (Just Kidding...in case some students (or my boss) are reading!)
PS: on another attempt at TV for Ally, we found out she is scared of Elmo!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 31, 2008 07:23 AM, EDT
Ally's Mom relates...
Excellent weekend so far! Ally has been in a super mood and Friday night into Saturday morning Ally slept from 8PM to 5:30AM in her crib!!! She did a similar sleep last night.
Yesterday we took a long walk to the park. There was no one there so we got to take Ally down the slide a couple of times (we did have to make sure she didn't touch anything...other kids are full of germs!) and while she was out of the stroller she walked and walked and walked all over the place!
She ate like a champ yesterday...mostly waffles with syrup, but some other things too (breakfast potatoes and bacon with dinner....yum, love breakfast for dinner).
Today will be mostly laundry and packing. We are waiting until tomorrow morning to leave (we are hoping for a low traffic flow with the holiday).
We expect that tomorrow will run something like this:
~arrive on 6West at 9:30AM
~blood draw
~wait for blood results (usually an hour - two hours)
~hook Ally up to fluids, antibiotics and hopfully chemo.
For this round of chemo she gets 2 drugs for 24 hours for 4 days. She also gets another drug for 15 minutes a day for 3 days. Then she has 3 rest days, then gets her second round of stem cells and MANY days of injections again!
Still no word about radiation...but as I look through her protocol it seems she will get it for about 30 minutes a day for up to 3 weeks. Because she is so little she has to be "put under" for each session. It should start about a month after transplant.
After radiation she will take a med (similar to vitamin A) for 2 weeks, be off for 2 weeks, back on for 2 weeks and so forth for 6 months. And she will be monitored closely (not sure what that looks like yet...how many times will we have to go to the NH hospital???) (Plus we can't forget about the antibiotic she needs to get every 2 weeks through her central line, up at the hospital)....so much to remember. But that stuff is over a month away....
Time to start the laundry...depending on how things go tomorrow I will either blog tomorrow or Tuesday. Enjoy your holiday weekend!
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