Julia had an appointment with her oncologist, Dr. Stern, today. She had to get her weekly labs taken. All her counts are great (ANC 3200). Julia had her exam and Dr. Stern mentioned that her right lung sounded unrestricted and no longer “crackled”. We won’t know for sure if the tumor is shrinking until scans or x-rays are once again completed, but this is a great sign. Julia will most likely have an x-ray completed the week of August 22. Also, Dr. Stern mentioned that Julia should be able to have her port placed on August 29 with chemo (Round 3) happening the days that follow.
This past weekend we saw more physical signs of chemo. Julia’s hair started to thin out on Thursday morning. On Friday, Julia went to camp and when she came home, she had lost much of her hair. By Sunday morning, it was gone. Only a few strands remain and practically overnight all the color has left them.
On Friday, perhaps on cue, Julia started to sing the magical song from Tangled; closing her eyes, as if she was on stage, and stroking her hair…… Flower, gleam and glow Let your power shine Make the clock reverse Bring back what once was mine Sunday after her bath, Julia looked in the mirror and started to cry. Since her little bit of hair was wet, she could see what little hair remained. We needed to remind her how her hair grew back the last time. Julia cried a bit, but then said she would just need to get her hats ready. She looked in the mirror later that evening and noticed the drastic change in color. “I look like Rapunzel “– she stated it with confidence and giggled with delight – “my little hair is blonde”.
Monday begins the second series of chemo. We will be at the outpatient clinic for 5 days with Julia getting her daily treatments. We are planning to go to Hershey Park this weekend and play for a bit. Time for some fun before the chemo starts its work again next week.