Round 4, bring it on!

We had such a great week home with Kade before this 4th round of chemo started yesterday. Kade's counts were up and she was feeling great and so happy to be home. We even took her to church last week! It was nice to all be there together as a whole family. I took her to the park and she got to play outside with her siblings lots. It was normal life again and we were all so happy, especially Kade. She started walking again! Just a few steps on her own but were thrilled! I think we were more excited this time around than the first. She hasn't walked in nearly 3 months! She was so proud of herself. She's also been talking up a storm. Mostly babbling, but she is starting to repeat some real words and animal sounds. Is so nice to see her motor skills and cognitive skills improving leaps and bounds. I'm so proud of her.

We are now on Round 4, in the "consolidation phase"(2nd phase). She's getting two different types of chemo over two days rather than 4 over three days. That's 6 different chemo's so far! This phase is different because one of the chemo's (thiotepa) comes out through your skin. So she has to get 4 baths daily, as well as changing her dressing on her Hickman line as well as changing linens 4 times daily. If we don't take these precautions the chemo sits on her skin and can cause blistering and burns. Pretty intense! Kade hates the baths but luckily they're pretty quick. The other chemo makes her a bit nauseous but nothing like the first phase. She's actually been handling it really well so far. The thing I absolutely hate the most about chemo is the steroids (dexamethesone) they give her because it gives her "roid rage" she doesn't sleep well and is so restless, irritable and inconsolable. She probably feels like she's jumping out of her skin because that is how she acts. She hits herself in the head and then right when I think she is calming down again she sits up and pushes me away screaming. Luckily this time around I asked if we could forgo the steroids for day 2 because she is crazy on them and they said yes! Thank goodness. Last night she screamed for about 2 hours rather than the 5 that she has in the past. She fell asleep around 11:30, WAY better than the usual 3:00 or 4:00 am she did the last few rounds.

She will be getting her stem cells back on Tuesday which should help her counts recover since one of the chemo's have a delayed response with her counts going down. This means potentially we could land ourselves in the hospital for fevers again but even longer this time. :( but we also have 4 weeks in between rather than 3. Also the stem cells should counter act, helping her counts recover so hopefully it's not as long of a stay if we need to come in for fevers again when she has  no immune system (neutropenia).

We are also in isolation because Kade has a runny nose. This part isn't fun because we can't go for walks around the floor and are confined to our room, plus the nurses and docs have to suit up every time they come in.

I'm so happy that things are looking up for my little sweetheart and that this round isn't as rough as the previous have been. She's coming back to us and we are loving her silly little personality. She has these nurses wrapped around her little finger. They think she is about the cutest little thing ever. To be honest as much as I hate being in the hospital so much, I do feel like it's my safe place. Everyone here gets it and they're awesome. There isn't judgement or stares. Kade is treated just like any other kid. I know people don't really mean to judge when they see her but that they just don't know what to do or say.  Its uncomfortable for both sides, the pity looks and people being afraid to say anything about her NG tube or scars on her head. I was the same way before. But going through this, one thing I've learned is to just to speak up and talk to people going through a hard time whether it be the death of a loved one, sickness, or anything similar. I like when strangers ask question about Kade and acknowledge the elephant in the room by asking what she's going through or how I'm doing, rather than getting strange looks. I'd rather just tell them her story and what an incredible little girl she is, than have them feel bad for her. I've had little tastes of this over the past week as we've gone out to public places like shopping and to the park. People are always kind and respectful but I guess I realized I don't want people to be afraid to talk to me or even look at me because of what we're going through. :)

There is so much to be grateful for. We're looking forward to all of my family coming up to visit this next weekend and to have my little sister, Jadeyn come home from her mission and get to finally meet Kade! She had a brain tumor before her mission that was benign but she had it removed and so her and Kade have a little connection. Can't wait! Lots of good things to look forward to and remember that we are so blessed.

 Here's some pics from the past week. I posted some of these on Facebook as well but for anyone that missed them or anyone else interested...

Our view from the hospital room... Mt. Rainier!

And the space needle on the other side... Awesome!