Day 8 - Cycle 3

Wednesday, November 13th

It's been exactly 3 months since the day our world was turned upside down. In some ways it seems like just yesterday, and in other ways it seems like years ago. In the past 3 months, Avery has undergone brain surgery, received 3 cycles of high-dose chemotherapy, and spent 44 nights(including tonight) in the hospital. She has battled through more stress, pain, and fear than most of us will ever endure in a lifetime. Throughout it all though, she has remained strong, courageous, and brave.

Last night was a very restless night for Avery. She tossed and turned and cried out most of the night. She woke up at 6am vomiting. As soon as we got her cleaned up, she went back to sleep and slept past 10am. Her blood counts and magnesium levels were very low, and her ANC had dropped to 230. Her methotrexate level was .13. This meant we would have to spend another night waiting to clear, and that she would have to get an IV placed to receive her blood transfusion. They have added back an oral magnesium supplement(pill form this time), and we are hoping that her stomach will handle it better. This is in addition to the phosphorous and potassium she is already receiving.

The majority of the day she felt terrible and spent sleeping. She did have a good 20 minutes or so where she painted and gave us some smiles. She had a good visit with Buddy as well.

She battled with nausea and diarrhea again during the afternoon. Her blood transfusion ran from around 3:30 to 6:30 pm. They rechecked her levels at 7:30 pm, and everything looked better so no additional transfusion was needed. She also received her Day 8 Vincristine(chemo).

She was wiped out from the day and fell asleep at 7. She woke up around 8pm vomiting again and had spiked a 100.5 temperature. The drew blood cultures, gave Tylenol, and started the antibiotics back. We will learn tomorrow what this means in terms of our chances of going home, but it is not looking promising right now. We would obviously love to spend a couple of days at home, but we want Avery to be where she needs to be, and right now that might just be the hospital.

Please continue to pray for:

- No more vomiting or diarrhea

- No more fever

- Be able to get her electrolytes back in balance and keep them there

- Rest