September 2002

September 29, 2002

Not much new news to report. Erin's blood count was on the margin for starting round 4 on Friday, so Dr. Russell gave us a free pass this weekend to enjoy ourselves. We will begin the next round tomorrow morning as outpatient treatment in clinic (No Hospital Admission after all! Hurray!). We should be done and on our way home by Wednesday afternoon.

This afternoon Erin is at children's choir at the church for the second week in a row, and Davis's soccer team bounced back from a loss last Sunday to win 5-1. The whole family is feeling pretty good today.

See you when we get back!

September 25, 2002

Walter, Erin, and I drove to Houston this morning, but Erin's ANC (which is her white blood count times the percentage of granulocytes in her blood) wasn't quite high enough to start the fourth round of chemo. This wasn't a huge surprise to the doctor. You may remember we started the last round a day late because of our check in delays, and we were attempting to start this round a day early, so we could do it in clinic. Anyway, her blood wasn't quite ready.

We'll have her blood tested here on Friday morning and either go back to Houston and do Round 4 in the hospital over the weekend, or we will wait until Monday to start.

September 24, 2002

Erin begins Round 4 of 5 of her chemotherapy tomorrow (September 25) at Texas Children's Clinical Care. As far as we know, she will not be admitted to the hospital. We are planning on staying at the Ronald McDonald House on Wednesday and Thursday nights. She will receive the chemo during the day at clinic. Since we are not staying in the hospital, we won't be able to receive the e-greetings that many of you send through the Texas Children's Hospital web site (a small price to pay!)

Erin's doctor tells us we will be scheduling all the tests that follow chemo and her surgery some time during this round. We will let you all know these important tentative dates as soon as we know something.

We have finally set up a (very rudimentary) web site. You will need to book mark this address because it is not easy to remember.

http://users3.ev1.net/~erinbuenger

Right now the only thing that is on it is an archive of the previous status reports. I will add more information as we go along (now that I have the hang of it). E-mail me if there are particular things that will make the site more useful or informative.

God bless you all.

Erin Helping Mom Celebrate her 42nd Birthday (added 4/29/08).

September 19, 2002

Erin's blood counts returned to good levels yesterday, and she has resumed her normal activities, like school and play. Chemo Round 4 in Houston next week (tentatively W, TH, F).

September 16, 2002

Some of you have e-mailed wondering what was going on with Erin over the last week. She has been feeling very well (side effects limited to low blood counts again!). She went to school on Thursday and Friday and had a great time with her friends at school. Nico came over on Saturday.

Three cheers for Dr. Russell (Erin's Houston doctor) who said that we didn't have to go back to Houston until the next round of chemo! Add another three cheers because she approved orders for Erin to get her G-CSF drug (to build up her white blood cells) through her central line, instead of getting a shot every day! Add a final three cheers for Dr. Russell who told us we could take round four of chemo at the clinic at Texas Children's rather than having to be admitted into the hospital. That means we go in for a few hours each day for the chemo, but can stay in a hotel or at the Ronald McDonald House the rest of the time. Round four is scheduled to last 3 days and will probably be Wed., Thurs., and Fri. next week if she meets the blood count criteria. Let's hear it for Dr. Russell!

Erin's counts are headed down for now, so we will be avoiding crowds for the next few days. That means no school, no trips to the mall, etc. She is not restricted from short visits if you are healthy and willing to wash your hands a lot. Please call first.

Thanks for your many acts of kindness and support. We couldn't do it without you.

September 10, 2002

I have good news and not-so-good news to report. The good news is that Erin is having another very good round of chemo. We will start the fifth and last day of this third round this morning at 8:00. She has tolerated this round as well as she did the last and has not had any side effects so far. She is eating and sleeping well and going like a dynamo in between. Yesterday she told a doctor who asked how she was feeling, that she was "feeling too well to stay in the hospital." Unfortunately. . .

The not-so-good news is that we have to stay another 24 hours to hydrate after we finish this morning. The drugs she is taking this time are very hard on her kidneys and they want to flush out her system very well before they discharge her.

Anyway, despite the disappointing news that our stay is extended once again, we are doing well. We had a rip roaring good game of hide and seek on the hospital floor last night (Erin even mastered hiding her IV pole successfully). We also got to go to the playground one day when it finally stopped raining. September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. We went to a party on the third floor of the hospital on Sunday where art work by pediatric cancer patients was on display.

September 6, 2002

After a very hectic and frustrating day yesterday, we are settled and progressing today. We waited from 9:00 yesterday morning until after 6:00 in the evening to get into our room (Room 933 Texas Children's Hospital. 832-826-0933 rings right into the room, although if I am on the computer you
will get a busy signal.) Chemo #3 started at 8:00 this morning (delaying our return by at least a day).

Erin's Central Line where she receives all of her chemo and blood work pulled a little loose last night. The doctors will probably replace it, so that might delay us another day. The earliest we will be home is very later Tuesday night.

If you want to sent an e-greeting you can go to:

http://www.texaschildrenshospital.org/allabout/Volunteer/eCards/eCards.asp

Keep your fingers crossed and your prayers going that this round goes as well as the last one did.