Day 179

     Katie seems to be doing fine right now.  Her daddy is painting her toenails and fingernails at this moment.  She is a sweet ray of sunshine and we love her very much.  Katie's eyelashes are falling out.  She has lost almost all of her bottom lashes and some on the top - the whole top middle section of lashes on her left eye has fallen out - it is eyelashes then a gap and then eyelashes.  Strange.  The doctor said eyelashes tend to fall out more easily on little chemo patients than on adults.  It doesn't matter, it is just part of the process, just thought I would comment on it. 
     I don't want to speak to soon, but I think we have avoided a hospital stay during this phase.  We are glad and grateful!  Thank you for all of your prayers for sweet Katie - your prayers have helped!  We have been greatly blessed. 
     I met a mom at the clinic last Thursday while we were in the waiting room, her daughter is the same age as Katie, and has the same diagnosis of ALL.  Her daughter was diagnosed four months before Katie, so they are a little bit ahead of us in this process.  This was my first time to meet a mom who is currently going through the same things we are - it was nice to be able to talk with her for a few minutes.  Her daughter still had her port in, which made me start to wonder...so when Dr. Dana came into our room, I asked her again when she thought we would be getting Katie's port out, and she said August/September.  She had miscalculated when she told us June.  Bummer!!!  It is not a tragedy, but it is a let down.  I was so excited for her to get the port out in time for summer vacation.  We have planned a vacation to California with several of my brothers and my sister and their families in July.  Getting Katie's port out in June would have been perfect.  With a port in, Katie is allowed to swim in our private pool, but she can not swim in a public pool, or the ocean.  So, now the dilemma.  Do we go to California in July or don't we?  I want my children to spend time with their cousins, and I want to spend time with my family, but to have Katie just sit there, and watch, while her brothers and cousins are getting wet and swimming all day, would be hard - for her and us.  It is a bummer...but like I said, not a tragedy.  We will figure something out one way or the other - and like my sister said, Katie is giving up one vacation of swimming, so she can have the rest of her life to swim.  (Which is true, but try explaining that to a two/three year old).  All is good though, and we are blessed.  Katie is doing well.
     President Thomas S. Monson, in speaking about facing challenges with courage, said: "Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently.

     "Said the American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson: 'Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course you decide on, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Peace has its victories, but it takes brave men and women to win them.'

     "There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!

     "Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.

     "Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.” (Ensign, "Living the Abundant Life, Jan., 2012).