Saturday, August 18, 2012

Another Round of Chemo Update

Charlotte finished another round of chemo Friday. Her immune system is still extremely low. Her red blood cells are low, and the doctors told Sean that she would probably need a blood transfusion next week. From what we were told, eventually they know Charlotte will start having allergic reactions to blood products. They said it won't be a major deal, they will simple pre-dose her with Benadryl before transfusions once this occurs.


All things considering, things are going well. The worst part is her belly aches in the evening. Usually, a warm beanbag laid on her tummy helps. It's amazing how quickly she is losing her hair. It started Tuesday. Thankfully, I had made an appointment with photographer and we took photos Wednesday. Afterwards, she had her hair cut into a short bob by my mom. Mom warned me that we will have to shave it when it starts to get patchy. I expect it will be sometime next week at the rate it's going. Charlotte brushed her hair behind her ear yesterday and held out a small clump of hair to me - "my hair is like a Truffula tree". (Charlotte has been watching the Lorax movie a lot this week)

Dandellion fluff for hair, three weeks exactly from diagnosis.
Naomi starts 7th grade Monday. I took her in for a manicure and a much-begged for an eyebrow wax (I told her she would have to wait until Jr. High). Thankfully, she didn't scream. By the way she timidly asked the beautician if it would hurt, you would think she hadn't been incessantly bugging me all summer to get her brows shaped. I took Naomi to her open house Thursday evening, and her teachers seem very nice. She will be taking Drama; Art; something called CTE, which seems to be Home Ec; and creative writing. Her creative writing teacher is also her English teacher. 6 of her teachers are guys, and she is a little curious how that will be, as she has only had women teachers.

Thanks again for all the love and concern coming our way. We wouldn't be able to do this half as well as we are without everyone supporting us. I expect there won't be any signifiant news until the end of the month, when they review Charly's second bone marrow test and tell us the next stage in her treatment.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Hats

Online hat shopping with Charly this evening. Considering how fast her hair is coming out, we ordered a couple so she can decide if she will enjoy wearing hats, or if she will decide bald is beautiful.
Trying out one of Naomi's old hats, this one fits.
Naomi hat
Trying on some of Mom's fun hats.
I think it's too small. NO MOM! It fits!
Mom found this last year. "It's nice and soft, and my ears are warm!"

Seventh Grader

At 7th Grade open house with Naomi. Picture quality is due to a stinkin 12 y.o. Trying to shove my camera phone away. Sigh. My little girl is all grown up.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Charlotte's Haircut

Hair started falling out yesterday, so we are at Grandma's to get a short haircut.
Snip, snip
All done. It kept coming out as we trimmed.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Professor Charlotte explains cancer

After coming home from work, I decided to convince Charlotte to join me in the front yard on top of a picnic blanket with some coloring books. It took unveiling a can of Pringles, but she finally agreed to go outside - something she hasn't done for weeks.

Mady, Cooper, and Lily joined us as we colored, and Charlotte decided to explain her cancer to the McDaniels.

Professor Charlotte: "First there is the platelets. They are like Spiderman. They shoot webs to heal cuts. I don't have a lot of platelets, so they gave me some in a tube into my body. Then there are White Blood Cells. They are like PacMans, eating germs in your body. My White Blood Cells are being couch potatoes. Then there is Red Blood Cells, they carry oxygen so you have energy. I had to get some of that put in me too."

Cooper: "Can I have some of your Pringles?"

Charlotte: "No! Mom says I can't share food anymore!"