Day 160.....and Sporting a Ponytail!!!

Yes, folks, you read that correctly! Anna is able to show off that she can now wear a ponytail with her own real hair!!! And here is a fun picture to show you all!!

There it is! Look closely!

So, how is our Anna doing? Anna  has been battling bugs over the last few weeks. She has had a slight cold that just seems to not want to go away. Currently she is dealing with another tummy bug. She will go back to see her doctor next week instead of in two weeks so they can monitor the situation. They don't believe it to be GVHD, but at the same time, they don't want to wait too long to test for it if necessary.  Other than the viruses, Anna is doing quite well. Her energy level is still low but increasing slowly. She has good days and days where she requires long naps. We try not to push her too hard as we know her body is still working very hard to get back to healthy. We are scheduled for a November 13th bone marrow aspirate to find out if there is any remaining cancer cells left. We are hopeful that her numbers will show 0.0000000%!!!!

As you can see, her hair is coming in!

It has seemed so weird as I distribute Anna's meds into her containers and they are still relatively empty. Her med list has decreased significantly. She is currently on her Tacrolimus taper. (This is her immune suppressant drug) She should be completely done with it the middle of January. With the taper she should also be able to slim down on the amount of magnesium she is on as well as some of her other meds. Anna's spirit and attitude are still amazing to me. She appreciates life. She is thankful for little things as she is alive to enjoy them! She is looking forward to the month of November as many exciting things will be happening, including her aspirate, getting to be a bride's maid in a wedding, and the opportunity to be at the birth of her baby sister or brother.

Yesterday, we brought Selah Joy in to our family physician as she had a fever and her face and neck were bright red. Craig wondered if it might be scarlet fever. (I remembered she had been exposed to strep on Sunday so I thought daddy's diagnosis would be correct) The dr. at first thought it was just a virus but then he looked at her throat. After the swab, we waited for the results which popped up fairly fast. Sure enough, daddy was correct! Selah has strep throat and scarlet fever......which is highly contagious. Ugh. We called Anna's oncologist to find out what they may want to do to protect Anna and they agreed with our doc she should be put on antibiotics just to be safe. While were there, I started coughing (as I have been for a week now). Dr. C didn't like the sound of my cough and after listening to my lungs said I have bronchitis. He also said no flying to North Carolina next week! This was a sad thing as I have (nervously) looked forward to a week with just Craig and I relaxing, reading, and then going to a conference that he is speaking at. But I know he is right. I do need to get well and try not to wear myself out before having this baby. This is just another thing on top of the sickness I have been having with pregnancy. I have been keeping food down however my weight has continued to decrease. I lost 3 pounds this last week. The baby is supposed to be gaining 1/2 lb each week now. I still don't mind the numbers lowering, but I don't want it to affect the baby's health in any way. I am on antibiotics now and am hopeful that I will be able to get energy back so that I can get much done before the baby arrives. Baby's heart rate continues to sound perfect! No more arrhythmia! We praise the Lord for this! This evening at dinner, we asked Selah if she was feeling better. Her spirit is back to normal and she was being super silly. She responded with, "yes, the docker (doctor) did it!"

Asleep after her doctor appointment

quarantined in Daddy and Mommy's room

A sweet smile even though she wasn't feeling well