Round 1

We spent our last few days of chemo freedom playing as much as possible.  Though, we are very lucky and Kaelyn's play shouldn't be affected to much by the chemotherapy.

It's amazing to me how many random strangers passing us by know about Kaelyn's situation.  But then I turn around to see Kaelyn behind me and realize it is because she is lifting her shirt to show everyone her awesome battle wounds!  That is a great way to spread the word :)  It has given me a lot of opportunity to share Kaelyn's story, and to come to hear others experiences as well.  And speaking of showing the world her exciting belly, yesterday after Kaelyn had her first treatment, we stopped by Costco before heading home.  Her Grandma Lesli called to check up on her and she took her entire top off while riding in the cart to "show" grandma her bandaid covering her port.  The funniest part is I was observing Costco products and didn't even notice until I heard another customer laughing.  Whoops!  I'm glad that she finds joy in showing off her tummy though.

Before Kaelyn's appointment we had the opportunity to get some family pics (something we wanted to do before Kaelyn loses her hair).  We were lucky enough to have a friend offer to do some.  Family pics can be somewhat nightmare-ish with kids, but in the end I think they worked out thanks to an awesome photographer.  She shared the following pic with us:

Yesterday afternoon we met with Kaelyn's doctor, pediatric oncologist Paul Kelker.  We all like him very much.  He's had a few patient's with Wilm's tumor and is very positive about how things will go.  I have heard multiple times from multiple docs that if they had to pick a cancer for their child it would be Wilm's.  It sounds weird to say that, but it's true! It has such a great prognosis comparatively and we feel so lucky to have fallen into this category.

After getting to know the doctor and his nurse, they accessed her port (SO much better than an IV!) to draw some blood and administer the chemotherapy drugs.  (Before we go to her chemo appointments we apply some numbing cream to her port area so she does not feel any pain.)  They gave her vincristine (commonly used to treat childhood cancers) and dactinomycin (one of the very first chemotherapy drugs ever).  Thankfully the side effects of these drugs in children are mild and somewhat minimal.  The most common side effects with vincristine, the more toxic of the two, are constipation, hair loss, and neuropathy (nerve damage causing loss of sensation and movement, and nerve pain).  Hair loss typically occurs between weeks 2 and 4 of chemo.

A few hours following the administering of the drugs Kaelyn got very sick.  She threw up constantly for about 90 minutes.  While in the doctor's office they had mentioned giving her some Zofran (anti-nausea) but we all forgot with everything else that was going on.  Besides that, nausea isn't a typical side effect of these drugs.  Luckily I had some Zofran of my own on hand from my last pregnancy.  I called a pharmacist and asked about what dosage I could give her, and after our second try we got her to keep the Zofran down and she hasn't thrown up since.  Whew! I am so glad I saved that :) Today she seems to be feeling well and is doing great.

Kaelyn's next chemotherapy treatment is next Friday and I will keep you posted of anything that comes up.  Thanks again for all the prayers, thought, and gifts in Kaelyn's behalf.  We are so blessed to have so many who care.  Thank you all!