Hello,

I can not believe how big the girls are getting.  Chantel is two years old now.  We are going to have a little belated birthday party for her this weekend.  Sharmi is growing like a weed.  I am buying her 5T and 6T clothes now.  She is only 4 & 1/2.  They say it is normal for kids to shoot up after they get off chemo.  She is definatly no exception.

Sharmi’s is overall doing well, but she is still suffering from the side effects of what her poor body has been through.  She is suffering pretty badly from a yeast infection right now.  Doctors don’t really take this seriously, but she is really uncomfortable so I am going to try to get her to a doctor tomorrow and demand Fluconazole for her.  I have read too much about a correlation between yeast and leukemia.  I don’t want to mess with it any longer.  I am going to be a self prescribing demanding mother.   

Other than that, everyone is healthy.  Last week however, I experienced the great discomfort/pain of a UTI.  I have a new found respect for those awful things.  Thank goodness for antibiotics.  I was up being mom the next day.  I did however, appreciate the help of my parents.  I didn’t stay in bed all day (I probably should have), but I was able to do my daily life & chores with less exhaustion.

Sharmi’s last hospital visit was challengingagain for her IV’s.  The first attempt, the tech dug and dug and dug for Sharmi’s vein and she never found it.  Poor sweet Sharmi.  Even though she was really hurting she was so polite.  She kept saying, “PLEASE stop, that hurts! PLEASE stop!  PLEASE don’t do that anymore… PLEASE… PLEASE.!”  Sharmi was incredibly polite while the tech was trying, but when she was done and didn’t get it, Sharmi lost it!  She cried and yelled, “I won’t let you do that again.  I am going home….”   I seriously considered walking out the door and telling them I would be back in a month.  I finally calmed Sharmi down and we had another tech do it and she found the vein immediately and the blood was drawn.  Her labs looked good they said she looked great.  The only other physical complaint Sharmi has is that she is itching, all over, all of the time.  The doctor said that is due to her nervous system recovering and rebuilding after all of the drugs.  It makes her ultra sensitive, as if she wasn’t already.  Tonight when I was putting Sharmi to bed she had her footie pj’s off, except for her arms due to the itching, she said, “I am an itching machine!”  That she was!  Poor girl. 

At the last doctors visit, I pulled up to the valet to unload the stuff and the girls and I hear Sharmi on her play phone, “Hello, yeah we are at the hospital.  Uh huh.  Yes.  No. No, I don’t have cancer anymore.   Uh, huh.  No, I don’t have cancer anymore…  I have got to go.  Bye.”  I couldn’t help but laugh, smile and thank God that she didn’t have cancer anymore. 

The bright spot of our day today is that we started gymnastics again.  The old owners have taken over the business again, so we were excited to return.  Sharmi has graduated to the big kid class, and I have started Chantel in the mom and tot class.  It was a very nice time and I hope it will keep the girls active during the winter months. 

Well, I think I am going to go to bed.  I hope all is well with you and your families.

Cheris