Paco the cat

As far as Friday the 13th's go, this one has been pretty good. (I mean, the cancer thing, not so great, but what can you do?)

Eve is now giving herself medicine with the syringe. Natalie and Daniel cheer her on when she does this. Natalie also does a song and dance when Eve poops.

We headed out to Duke around 8:15, arriving a little bit before 9:00. Matt did the advanced registration online which saved some time when we got there. I gave Eve her morning Dum-Dum and then we were pretty much immediately taken back to the exam room. Eve has amazed me by how cooperative she is. You honestly couldn't ask for a better patient. Matt and I have talked about how the situation would be if the two-year-old versions of Nat or Dan were going through Eve's situation...these visions aren't pretty. I'm sure there would be lots of blood involved, mainly from us, as they scratched and pummeled their way onto our laps and away from the doctors.

Eve's ANC was 500. A normal person would be in the 1500-2000 range. Hopefully her counts are on the rise. We just need to be vigilant about keeping her away from cooties, particularly the ones that have arms and legs called siblings. Eve has a standing order for blood work at the pediatrician's office, so we will go on Tuesday to make sure everything is on the upswing.

She has lost about a pound since the beginning of chemo. Not a big deal if you are 150 pounds, but when you are starting out at 26, things are different. Nothing much to do about that right now, except make sure she's eating well (or as well as can be expected). I'd say Dum-Dums account for 10% of her caloric intake. Does grape flavor count as a fruit?

The best part of our visit was hearing Dr. Wechsler say that he had a very hard time trying to feel the largest tumor. Next week, Eve will have an ultrasound to check out her kidneys and these SOBs called Wilms. Even though these tumors grow like weeds (they double in size every 18 days), they also [usually] respond well to chemotherapy.

The three hours we waited in the exam room for the chemo went by surprisingly fast. Eve ate her lunch and happily watched "Doe Wipe" (Snow White). She barely noticed when she got the chemo, and soon after, we were packing up and out the door. Home by 1:30! Friday the 13th, you can kiss it.

3 down, 3 to go.

I've been thinking lately about Paco the cat. We adopted Paco from the SPCA a long time ago. He was so sweet and laid back. The kind of cat that would just lay in your lap and not move too much. Then we found out he had something medically wrong with him...the veterinarian gave him this magical shot of something or another, and all of a sudden Paco was a different animal. He was not sweet anymore, not even remotely nice. The kind of animal who thirsted for fresh blood (he was vampire before vampire was cool). Paco is long gone from our lives, but I find myself having strange thoughts of Eve turning on us when this is all said and done. She's already started shedding like a cat.