Some Improvement, A Milestone

Rebekah is actually eating a little bit. She ate a few bites of cheerios and apple jacks this morning, a little cheese, some veggie crackers and a couple little ravioli this afternoon, some cheese and a bite of apple this evening. It was only a few bites here and a few bites there, but she was requesting it and she was eating the bites. It is improvement!

In addition, she continues to want water in a syringe and she wants to make sure it is cold. It may be a slow way to get fluids in, but she is taking that by mouth. We want to encourage oral intake in whatever manner we can get. She wants most of her medications in her mouth, too. And she wants to do it. Give her the syringe and she will take care of it. She is actually doing a really good job of getting it all down (and not making a mess).

As far as medications, she is getting some Benadryl to help her breathe (especially while she’s trying to sleep) and occasionally some Morphine. She is complaining periodically that her mouth hurts. She also continues to get her antibiotics through her central line at 2am, 8am, 2pm and 8pm. Those will continue until Sunday – just in time to go back into the hospital. No rest for Mommy.

We are always encouraged by the hits on Rebekah’s Page. Today, we hit a new milestone: 25,000 visitors since May 1st. That is exciting! Please keep checking in on us, praying for us, commenting and supporting us through this process. It is always an encouragement.

Her temperature continues to be a little higher than her normal, but has been staying below "fever". Thanks for the prayers.

With her counts up, she seems to be healing at least some and feeling a bit better. She has times that she is all smiles and playing and enjoying herself. She has been sleeping more than normal, however, so I think she still is not feeling great. As her treatments continue, each round of chemo will knock her down more quickly and she’ll stay down longer. That means that she may not have as many good days between treatments. We seem to be seeing some of that.

We delight in seeing little improvements – like eating and drinking from a syringe and seeing smiles on her face. It is a cycle - chemo knocks her down and the shots help to bring her counts back up and help her feel better and then it is time for the next round of chemo. Each week brings us closer to the "End of Treatment" – that is the end of chemo (we hope) – in February.