Start of Phase 4

Hannah had an appointment on Thursday for an Echocardiogram. The chemo that she is starting this phase has the potential to damage her heart muscle so she will have an Echo every year from now on to keep an eye on it. She did not enjoy having to lie still for over 30 minutes for this procedure. We (including the tech that did it) were very glad to finish!

The hospital had a Fall Festival on Thursday afternoon in the garden on the hospital grounds. There were crafts, games, music, bubbles and toys. Many of the patients staying in the hospital were brought out and you could tell that they had a great time.

This hospital has the most wonderful volunteers. One of the kids' favorites is the Fairy Godmother. She is so sweet and genuinely loves the children.

An anonymous donor donated 100 tickets to the cancer center at the hospital for the Disney on Ice show at Philips Arena. They offered us tickets and we were thrilled! Lauren's cousin, Ava, and my mom were able to come with us. The girls LOVED it! Here is a picture a few minutes before the show started.

Hannah had a hard time during her appointment on Friday. She had to have another lumbar puncture where they put her to sleep and two chemos through IV. She seemed to be afraid of the sedation process (even though she's had it many times now) and kicked and screamed at everything the nurses and doctors tried to do. The nurses said that it is common for kids not to do well after having a break from coming to the hospital. Since we haven't had to go there for the last two weeks, I guess it all felt a little new again for her.

One of the new chemos for this phase is red in color. I don't understand medically how this happens, but the docs say that while Hannah is on it, it will cause her sweat, tears, saliva and urine to be red. Her docs say that kids think this is interesting.

She also started back on steroids, so here we go again with the never satisfied hunger and terrible mood swings. Her personality changes so much while on steroids that it sometimes feels like we are babysitting someone else's child (who is not at all pleasant to be around). Please pray for patience for us for the next few weeks! We leave again today (Sunday) for another appointment in the morning.