DI Delay - Day 193

It seems to never fail.  Every time I post something a day ahead of Ellie's labs and use some sort of arrangement of words resembling "She should qualify easily as things have been looking good"....she doesn't pass.  We have been into LPCH three times this week checking her blood counts to get this Delayed Intensification phase going and each time were turned away by an ANC value that is just BARELY below the magic 750 level.  I am jinxing things.  She is creeping upward, thankfully, and her monocyte count is up which means it should be very soon.  BUT, tonight ahead of our next lab trip in the morning (on a Saturday, no less), I am going to try some reverse psychology and see if it works.  Here goes - tomorrow morning, we will have a CBC blood panel done to check her red cell, white cell, and platelet counts....and she doesn't have a snowball's chance at passing.  The odds of her qualifying tomorrow resemble those of the Cubs winning the World Series.  You heard it here first.

That oughta do it.

We like to get Ellie dressed up for her trips over to LPCH because it is one of her few chances to get out of the house and let's face it, if there was a cat walk in the Bass center, she would own it.  To show you the resiliency of 2 yr olds, she thinks trips to the Bass center are "meet n' greets".  We are very fortunate that she has struck up quite a relationship with several of the nurses and staff.  One in particular at the front desk of the clinic, Matiana, who she runs and gives a big hug to the minute we open the clinic door.  Labs are fairly short but involve a needle stick into her port which you would think would be unsettling.  Actually we have come across other patients in the rooms we share where port accessing is the worst thing of the day for them....and rightly so.  I don't have fond memories of any sort of doctor's office shots when I was younger.  Most of those kids are a little older than El and so you see the varying degrees of fear that come with age.  In about 15 seconds time, Ellie on gentle command from the nurse raises her arms straight out from her body, lefts her head and raises her chin to wait for the poke.  With me on Monday after the poke, she then let out a little sigh, smiled, and asked for my applause.  I obliged and clapped with thoughts of something like THIS in my head.

The plan if counts are met is to have Day 1 of DI on Monday.  It's also the end of my winter break, so time to go back to work as well.  Sometimes the worst part of what's ahead is the anticipation.  Everything has been so good for the last month but it is impossible to ignore the nagging feeling in the back of your head that things are not nor will they be for some time....quite right.  Complacency can get you into trouble.  We are praying for a smooth transition and hopes that the winter cold bugs stay away.  And I want to say a special prayer tonight for a former student and player's father (Jeff) who was in a very serious biking accident this past weekend and is now hospitalized with spinal cord injuries.  Life changing medical events bring a certain lens to your daily perspective that few truly understand until you are able to look through it for yourself and find your way out of some very tough times.  I think we owe it to ourselves to use it as an opportunity to stand with the entire community in unison, forget our own agendas for some time, and wrap our arms around those who need it most.  Ellie races into the clinic each time and immediately gives out hugs.  I think she gets it.  Jeff - my wife, my son, and my little girl with the strength of 1000 men are thinking of and praying for you tonight.

Lord, look upon me with eyes of mercy,

may your healing hand rest upon me,

may your lifegiving powers flow into every cell of my body

and into the depths of my soul,

cleansing, purifying, restoring me to wholeness

and strength for service in your Kingdom

Amen.