Day 328

      Well it was confirmed by the doctors today...Katie has chicken pox.  We are a bit frustrated because we called the hospital on Saturday morning and the doctor on call acted like it was no big deal - and even yesterday when I called it clinic they acted like it is was only kind of a big deal - now today, the team of doctors got together and decided it is a dig deal.  (Our regular doctor is out of the country right now).  Today they cancelled her spinal tap (that she was getting tomorrow) and postponed it for a month.  They rescheduled us to come in on Friday instead of tomorrow - at which time, she will get her "regular" dose of chemo for the month and her IV antibiotics.  The bummer is that because of this delay, Katie will now be on steroids at Disneyland.  "Roid Rage" and Disneyland will not go together very well!  I had it all planned out very carefully (months in advance) just so Katie would get her treatments and steroids in advance of Fall Break and prior to our California trip/Disneyland.  But, I couldn't have planned for chicken pox!!!
     That isn't the worst of it though, that is just bad timing, the worst part is and I quote (our nurse), "Katie is not a normal kid - because she is going through chemo she doesn't have the immune system of a normal kid."  Now that Katie has been "exposed" she is susceptible to getting chicken pox again or getting shingles.  So the doctors have decided put her on a medication twice a day for the next year and few months until Katie is through with her treatments (Jan 2014).  The medication is to try and help prevent any additional outbreaks of chicken pox or shingles - it isn't a guarantee, just a way to help try and prevent outbreaks.  Scott and I understand the need for this, but it is very upsetting.  We hate the thought of adding another medication to her long list (and mix) of medications.  It is worrisome to think about the lasting effects of taking so many medications.   - Plus Katie always has a rash now, some days worse than others, now I am going to worry all the time if it is just a rash  - or shingles - or chicken pox coming back.  And yes, I know, worrying won't help anything, but it is hard not to worry!
     On the "glad" thought for the day... Scott's aunt gave us a puppy on Sunday.  It just happened to be the kind of puppy we had talked about wanting - she is a Morky - a mix of Maltese and Yorkie.  She is a tiny ball of fluff - she is white with a little bit of apricot color to her.  Conner has insisted her name is "Peaches" and he will not let us name her anything else.  So, yesterday we gave up trying to come up with another name.  Peaches it is.  She has already brought much joy into our home - a type of joy that has been missing since our dog Cozy passed away about 10 months ago.  I wasn't really ready for another dog - if I had my way, we wouldn't have ever gotten another one (it was too hard loosing Cozy) - but Scott felt the kids needed a dog.  And she is a sweet little thing - we are all in love with her already - I am probably the most attached!
      Dieter F. Uchtdorf said: "Patience—the ability to put our desires on hold for a time—is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter...Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect."

    "Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

("Continue in Patience," Ensign, May 2010, 57)