Maya’s favorite part of birthdays is, of course, the cake. She is fairly certain that you don’t actually have a birthday until you blow out a candle…or rather until SHE helps you blow out the candle. I had to dance around a bit tonight since we had other plans and blowing out a candle was not part of those plans (okay by me…I’ll postpone that one this year). Scott and I celebrated with a mass amount of sushi shared with a small amount of family. NOT that Maya and Lincoln couldn’t join us – her labs are actually pretty normal this week – but…she’s 3 and a half and Lincoln is 1 and a half…and we wanted to have a nice adult time. We are so lucky to have found Amy. She hung with our children tonight and we were able to enjoy a wonderful sushi dinner with Bapa Pat, Grandma Sandy, and Bapa Lance, Megs, Gen, Naveen included. We were certainly missing a couple of Maya’s Village but Adam and Grandma Bella were there in spirit. Thank you SO much for hosting our dinner Lance. So generous! (And sneaky..) We had a blast drinking some (some!) saki and eating some (SOME..Okay way too much) sushi at Tomo sushi. T’was a wonderful night.
While we ate sushi, Amy baked some wonderful looking cupcakes for my birthday. She says it was Maya’s idea…I actually don’t doubt it. If I had to guess, her desire was not to ensure another birthday for mommy but to ensure her own intake of delicious vanilla cake stuffed (somehow) with chocolate and whipped cream topped cupcakes. I would like to say we enjoyed but we truly didn’t have any room left…I’m not entirely sure when that room will be available again. Tomorrow is another day. Thank you Amy. And Maya and Lincoln 🙂
Today is Maya’s second day into her 4th dose of chemo for this phase. Yesterday Maya had IV vincristine and the pretty high dose of IV methotrexate. In addition, she had a lumbar puncture with IT (intrathecal) methotrexate. The increase in dosing is dependent on her labs. She needs to make counts to escalate…and she did with flying colors. Days of more play dates, visitors, and minor excursions are feeling more possible. And probable. The fuzz growing on this child’s head is precious. She’s my little baby Albatross. So soft. So sweet. And ever growing. The vincristine will possibly knock down the growth at any given infusion. Vincristine is the chemo that will attack the cells in their “growth cycle”. So there is a chance that she’ll thin out again but not like she did from the Doxo (red devil). She likes her fuzz but has already asked me to shave it once. I told her I loved her just the way she is and we all moved on.
ANC: 1160
Hgb: 11.3
WBC: 3.8
Platelets: 275
She is a wee bit more low key these days but all in all remaining strong and calm.
We continue to feel loved and supported and strong. Scott’s words last post gave me butterflies. He usually always does. My dragon family depends on his stability as he empowers us. Thank you all for your love and please forgive our sporadic silence. We find that when things are feeling more normal and “good” we don’t have as much to say. Strange. Thank you for always being there, during silence and during our vents.
Congratulations to my brother in law, Chris, on making Major in the Air force. I’m proud of all my siblings in many ways but tonight, I’d like to thank you for your service to this country. You have sacrificed more than I know. I hope you’re as proud as we are.
Love is Life. 