Low Key Days

A moment to breath between things.

Charlotte is hanging in there. She's definately starting to show signs of chemo side effects. Less energy, dark splotches under the eyes, etc... You wouldn't have known it by looking at the pics Deb took of her last night, though! As soon as they get all uploaded and to us, we'll share a few or you can go to Facebook and see them on my, Rachel's, or Deb Mead Harper's site.

Aunt Phyllis is back home and Granny and Gramps got here safe and sound yesterday.

Next week starts the next level o' crap. CJ finishes Accutane and starts on a new, far more toxic, drug. We have to mix it into applesauce or something but we have to wear double gloves and masks, prepare it in a room far away from food, have no air movement, click our heels three times and say, "Peace in our time" over and over again.

Rachel took CJ into the clinic this morning and it seemed to go well enough. Qdoba and Costco were also on the agenda. They saw her "other boyfriend" Cole at Qdoba which was a nice bonus.

Enjoying it while we can. The sequestering begins soon. Yesterday, she was saying something from the back of the car that I couldn't understand and she wouldn't say it louder even though I asked her three times. Finally I turned off the air and radio and heard her say, "Daddy, I don't like being alone." Where she got that or from where it came, I have no idea but I tried to reassure her several times that someone will always be with her. Could be time to have her sit down with Dr. Matt. Maybe it's the chemo talking. Not sure.

Don't forget the Bazaar tomorrow at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Ashland 10am-2pm.

Enjoy the heat!

Update:

If I were to describe the last few days with Charlotte in two words, I would say "low key". The good news is she seems to be weathering the current chemo regimen fairly well. No nausea, no vomiting, we FINALLY had a poop today (hooray for poop) but she's definitely been more tired and more likely to want to just "chill out". And that's OK!

We had a photo shoot last night with Deb Harper. She's a romp n' roll mom who also takes fabulous pictures. Some posts ago, we announced that she is doing "Pictures for Charlotte" where she will do a photo shoot with your family, edit the pictures, and give them to you on a CD in exchange for a donation in Charlotte's name. She has already booked 16 families (!!!) and last night it was our turn to mug for the camera. She has posted some of the pics on Facebook (they are awesome!!).

On a photography note, a Star Wars enthusiast group called the 501st Legion is going to be taking pictures (in costume, of course) at the next Rompy's Summer Concert Series. For a suggested donation of $5, you can get your picture taken with Darth Vader, storm troopers, or a whole host of characters from the Star Wars Brigade. Big thanks to Jim Woods, RMC soccer coach and RNR customer, for organizing this on Charlotte's behalf.

On a more clinical note:
Yesterday's and today's clinic visits both went pretty well. It was a busy day in the fishbowl but they still got us out of there by 11. We saw Reese and her mom the last two days. Sherry and I got to commisserate (sp?) a bit about the draining treatment regimens. Draining on our kids as well as us. We are advocating for some "adult life" services in addition to the fabulous child life services available at the hospital. I mean, why can't we get a little Tiki Bar put in the clinic? While our kids are getting their infusions, we can get ours...

But I digress...

After the hospital, we went to Qdoba for lunch and had a very chance meeting with Charlotte's friend Cole. He goes to Charlotte's preschool and they just happened to be getting lunch at the same time. They seemed to have a good time seeing one another and talking a bit. From there, it was a few more errands and now we are home. I'm quite exhausted and need a nap (or more caffeine?) and Charlotte seems to be keeping herself busy.

We found out that the Accutane will stop tonight. No chemo over the weekend and then on Monday she will need to go in for blood draws and THEN (assuming her counts are good) she will get the two meds (one oral and one IV) so it could be a L-O-N-G clinic day on Monday. At least they warned us this time.

Roger is working a MARATHON day at RNR with 4 classes in the AM, a birthday party, and THEN Kid's Night Out till 8:30. What a blast! I'm sure he will come home tired. My turn for the marathon day tomorrow.

Big reminder about the Home Based Business Bazaar at St. Ann's church from 10 AM-2 PM tomorrow. Big thanks to Jackie Plank for organizing this and all the vendors for putting it together. This is a great time to start your Christmas shopping or find the perfect birthday gifts for everyone on your list.

Gotta go seek out some mid-afternoon caffeine.

Update:

Ok, so if you didn't notice, Roger and I posted separate but similar journal entries only minutes apart. Yes, our strange synchronized brains work like that somehow...enjoy the weekend!

Rachel