We visited with Dr. French today. This day always wears me out due to the worry, I think. Getting Maggie's counts always causes some apprehension. Thankfully, Andy was able to come from work and be there while we waited and then received them. The counts looked good as they were almost equivalent to last months. So with this good news, we can now breathe another month.
Maggie continues to amaze us. She had her port accessed today (they stick her with a needle to give her infusions). This is the second time she has not cried when they stick her. We do put a numbing cream on the area, but for the past year, she has cried when being accessed. She has become a big girl right in front of our eyes. She also helped with drawing up her "Maggie juice," as well as pushing it back in. She might just end up working in the medical field someday.
It has been decided that Maggie will get monthly IVIG's, especially during this cold and flu season. Her numbers are still not quite as high as they could be (though they were above the minimally acceptable threshold today), but Dr. French wants to give her extra boosts as it seems that her immune system is still reluctant to fully recover. Since she will be getting IVIG's into the winter, they are going to hold on taking her port out. Depending on what her pulmonary doctor says in November, he will consider stopping her monthly anti-pneumonia drug soon.
Dr. French did take Maggie off of her anti-fungal drug today, so now we are only on antacids. The hope is that Maggie's skin issues will resolve (the blistering and sun sensitivity). If not, it might be that Maggie simply has sensitive skin given that she is a red head with fair skin. She has already freckled, despite not being in a lot of sun, so this has lead him to think maybe it will be her nature. We will see in the future what happens, but we are happy to take one more medicine off of her plate. The last two antacids will continue until after they have done a scope, which will not be until she is ready to get the port out (late winter?).
Finally, we had our last physical therapy appointment today. We discussed today with Nancy that Maggie will continue to strengthen as time goes on (as we get further away from chemo, steroids, etc.) and with that will come the other milestones like stair climbing, jumping, running, etc. We will see Nancy once more when Maggie's shoe inserts come in, but for now, we are finished. We pray now that Maggie will not have anymore setbacks and will continue to develop her motor abilities. We have found that she is so happy walking around and even dancing. We are very happy to watch her and though at times it is frustrating, what a joy to be able to have to chase after her to put her clothes or diaper on her. For once we are experiencing a toddler-like behavior!
We are happy with the wonderful reports and knowing that our little girl continues to be cancer-free. We pray that we get these reports each month. Thank you for your continued prayers for Maggie. It has been so wonderful seeing Maggie happy and acting like a little girl. We are so joyful and hope we continue to experience a "normal" life for the rest of our life.
