First Day of School 2007
We have been doing well...busy days in preparation for school and trying to capture the last free moments of summer before routine and schedule confines us again:) The week before school started ten of Kate's friends and their moms plus Maggie and her friend Jordan were here for an evening of fun to celebrate the beginning of the girls' senior year. We had lots of delicious Mexican food and desserts.
The girls started school on Wednesday. It's fun that the first day of school still generates excitement even as they have grown older. Of course in keeping with tradition, Mom had to take the first day of school photo:) They were eager to be back with their friends and activity filled schedules. Kate has put in two full days of school. We are thankful that she has had the strength and stamina for a full day of school. Given where we were at this time last year with the reoccurrence of Kate's cancer, we consider it nothing short of a miracle that she was able to begin her senior year with her class. Her body is of course still in major recovery mode, and her fatigue level has been heightened by low counts, plus the heat and humidity which is physically draining. Maggie is an eighth grader this year and enthusiastic about everything in life. She had her first basketball game of the season and scored 3 points!! She's looking forward to ballet starting again next week. I will be substitute teaching this fall. That seems to be the best plan right now, not knowing from one day to the next what Kate's needs may be. Subbing gives me the flexibility of being able to say no to a day of teaching if I have to, and the school is very gracious in understanding those needs and working with my schedule.
Kate's blood work last Friday was ok. Her platelets held steady at 50. Her hemoglobin dropped a little low for Kate. She was not however symptomatic and we repeated labs last Monday and while hemoglobin only rose a tenth of a point, she remained asymptomatic. Her sodium remains a concern. We stopped IV sodium a week ago Monday as she was at 134 and normal is 135. She continued her twice a day salt tablets, but we were disappointed last Friday to see that sodium fell to 129. So we upped the salt tablets to 3x per day and had to repeat labs on Monday again. We were encouraged this Monday's sodium climbed back to 134. However, yesterday, while platelets hung in there in the mid 50's, Kate's sodium yo-yoed once again and fell to 127 and her hemoglobin dropped as well. Thus, we will make a trip to Children's today (Friday, August 31st) for a transfusion of RBC's. We have been playing with her sodium levels all summer. The nurse practitioner said at some point if we can't get this stabilized it might necessitate some renal function tests. Please ask that her kidneys not be an issue. We're doing all the human medical things to regulate the sodium and are not able to maintain results. Please pray that God intervene with the sodium and bring it into stable levels in Kate's body.
Please know of our gratitude for your ongoing interest in our lives and continued prayers as we journey around the curves on this journey. Life is a precious gift. Embrace each new day and be blessed!!
Only by grace,
Elaine
The girls started school on Wednesday. It's fun that the first day of school still generates excitement even as they have grown older. Of course in keeping with tradition, Mom had to take the first day of school photo:) They were eager to be back with their friends and activity filled schedules. Kate has put in two full days of school. We are thankful that she has had the strength and stamina for a full day of school. Given where we were at this time last year with the reoccurrence of Kate's cancer, we consider it nothing short of a miracle that she was able to begin her senior year with her class. Her body is of course still in major recovery mode, and her fatigue level has been heightened by low counts, plus the heat and humidity which is physically draining. Maggie is an eighth grader this year and enthusiastic about everything in life. She had her first basketball game of the season and scored 3 points!! She's looking forward to ballet starting again next week. I will be substitute teaching this fall. That seems to be the best plan right now, not knowing from one day to the next what Kate's needs may be. Subbing gives me the flexibility of being able to say no to a day of teaching if I have to, and the school is very gracious in understanding those needs and working with my schedule.
Kate's blood work last Friday was ok. Her platelets held steady at 50. Her hemoglobin dropped a little low for Kate. She was not however symptomatic and we repeated labs last Monday and while hemoglobin only rose a tenth of a point, she remained asymptomatic. Her sodium remains a concern. We stopped IV sodium a week ago Monday as she was at 134 and normal is 135. She continued her twice a day salt tablets, but we were disappointed last Friday to see that sodium fell to 129. So we upped the salt tablets to 3x per day and had to repeat labs on Monday again. We were encouraged this Monday's sodium climbed back to 134. However, yesterday, while platelets hung in there in the mid 50's, Kate's sodium yo-yoed once again and fell to 127 and her hemoglobin dropped as well. Thus, we will make a trip to Children's today (Friday, August 31st) for a transfusion of RBC's. We have been playing with her sodium levels all summer. The nurse practitioner said at some point if we can't get this stabilized it might necessitate some renal function tests. Please ask that her kidneys not be an issue. We're doing all the human medical things to regulate the sodium and are not able to maintain results. Please pray that God intervene with the sodium and bring it into stable levels in Kate's body.
Please know of our gratitude for your ongoing interest in our lives and continued prayers as we journey around the curves on this journey. Life is a precious gift. Embrace each new day and be blessed!!
Only by grace,
Elaine
posted by Tracy @ 9:42 AM
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