Another day of Rituximab

Grandma Virginia came in on Sunday to stay with us for a couple weeks. Haven has been all over her since she got here. I don't think she lets Grandma breathe. Stands by the bedroom door waiting for her patiently to get dressed and come out. :)

She had another big day of Rituximab today. We watched her as she slept through most of it. It completely wipes her out of all energy for the day. It's 7:30 now and she's been asleep for an hour already. Coming in and out. She received some cards today from people and that made her happy after such a long day. Our race team sent her another WalMart card (Princess one) so we're going to let her pick something with that one - they also sent stickers and bracelets! Very cute. Thank you!

I had the doctors check her today for her cough but they said her lungs were clear and she has a little cold so we have to watch that. We asked when or if her immune system is completely shut down yet and they told us she is "moderately" shut down right now. So she still has a bit of an immune system and probably why she wasn't completely sick. I got another count chart today and if you compare to last week you can see how her body is changing. They say she will be completely shut down around the May 8th treatment. We have 3 treatments that week and that will mark the day she is on her own to not get sick.

A few of her counts:

White blood cells last week: 13100 and this week: 5180 (low range is 5500 and high is 15500)
Red blood cells last week: 4.70 and this week: 4.84 -- she's normal here
Lymph number last week: 410 and this week: 370 (low range is 1300 and high is 10100)

There are a million different numbers on here - I don't know what half of them are but the doctors assure us she's ok even tho she's high on some and low on others. There are so many changes between the 3 weeks of counts.

We also had a social worker talk with us today and they gave us a bunch of packets of organizations that Haven qualifies for with her cancer. So I filled them all out today - we can use any assistance we can right now.

1. Believe in Tomorrow National Children's Foundation: they provide a "retreat" house/cabin in the mountains or at a beach and you choose which you want to do. They set you up for a week, you just pay for your gas to get there and food while you're there. They provide a 2 bedroom unit. Great to get the children out and have a vacation during this time.

2. Casey Cares Foundation: They provide tickets for the family to go to the circus, ice shows, and other fun outings for the kids. If the child is not able to go outside or be around crowds they bring the party to you. They pay for and order it to your door - dinner and movies and big surprises for the kids on their birthdays.

3. Matt's Helpers Foundation: Inspired by a boy named Matthew that passed away from Neuroblastoma they help families with children that have life threatening cancer - especially Neuroblastoma. Each quarter they send a huge care package to the child with toys/gift cards to grocery stores & department stores/and other items to make the child smile.

4. Make a Wish Foundation: We've all heard of this one. Where they come in and talk to the child and ask them what their biggest wish is and they fulfill it. I have all the paperwork to sign her up for this. I'll be working on that one tonight. My aunt tried to sign us up but it has to be a parent or doctor.

5. Jeremy Foundation: This offers assistance to the parents and child for lodging, gas to/from hospital, food at the hospital, transfportation, and even air transportation to your hospital.

6. Children's Roads to Recovery: Also an assistance program for meals, gas, lodging, transportation for the parents and child.

Like I said - I filled them all out and hope to hear some good news soon.