A Snowy Adventure

Yesterday we got Ashlynn all bundled up to go play in the snow.  She looked like a marshmallow with her puffy snow suit on.  We quickly realized we were lacking a few important pieces for the full snow outfit.  Ashlynn didn't have boots of mittens.  We improvised with some shoes, and a pair of socks as mittens.  Now that I know she loves the snow I will get her some more suitable snow clothing.  I think the whole process of getting ready to play in the snow took longer than the actual playing in the snow.  Poor Garrett got stuck with blowing up both of the tubes.  

Once we got outside Ashlynn loved crawling around in the snow and throwing it up in the air.  She also loved to put her nose into the snow.  It reminded me of how Roxy acted when we first took her out to play in the snow.  (Yes I did just compare my child to my dog).  We tried to sled down the driveway, but that wasn't working so well.  Then Ashlynn decided she would rather visit with the goats instead.  I think we will be spending lots of time out playing in the snow.  Ashlynn has already been asking to go 'outside' this morning.  

Yoga with Madi & Nana

Yesterday Nana offered to watch Ashlynn for a few hours so I could get some things done for work.  Madi Also had spent the night at Nana's.  When Ashlynn and myself got to Nana's Madi had surprised us with blueberry muffins right out of the oven, and she made us some scrambled eggs.  She did a great job cooking for us!  Thanks Madi <3

After breakfast Nana wanted to do some Yoga with Madi and Ashlynn.  Last weekend Nana got her certification to teach Children's Yoga, she was happy to have two kiddos to practice with!  They did Yoga to a song about a goldfish.  Ashlynn thought it was a blast and kept asking for 'More' as soon as the song would end.  I think Nana is happy that she might have a future Yogi in the family.

Chemo Session 3 Round 2 & Hearing Test

On Friday  Ashlynn had another Chemo treatment.  Along with her Chemo she also had a hearing test.  Ashlynn's ENT wanted to evaluate Ashlynn's hearing so they have a baseline.  Chemo went really well this week.  Ashlynn was such a good girl, she was even smiling for pictures while her port was getting access, as well as when she was getting her Chemo.  Ashlynn got to play with all of her favorite nurses this week.  She even got to help Dr. Kim with her exam. I wish all weeks of Chemo could be this easy!

For Ashlynn's hearing test we went into a little room.  Ashlynn sat on my lap with earplugs in.  This allowed the Audiologist to isolate the hearing from the Right and Left ear.  Ashlynn did a great job, she even left the earplugs in for most of the testing.  I was rather impressed with her.  We discovered that she has some hearing loss in her right ear.  This was a big surprise for us, but after al little examination we also found out she has an ear infection in her right ear.  We are hoping the fluid from the ear infection is what is causing the hearing loss.  We will redo the hearing test in about a year.  Since Ashlynn has another ear infection, she will likely have to get tubes.  Her ENT wants to see her again to discuss tubes if she gets another ear infection.  Fingers crossed we won't have to do another surgery.

Playing Kitchen

Nana got Ashlynn this adorable red kitchen for Christmas.  Ashlynn loves to play with it.  When Nana came over this week she brought over an apron and chef hat to go with it.  Ashlynn thought she was something special once she put the hat on!  I wouldn't mind one bit if she grew up to be a chef.  Thanks Nana, and thanks to my Cousin Justin who put the kitchen together on Christmas!

Chemo Session 3 Round 1 & Testing

This week Ashlynn started her 3rd cycle of Chemo.  This cycle is the same as her others.  11 weeks of treatments, starting and ending with a tough treatment, as well as a tough treatment every 3 weeks.  We also needed to get her evaluation from the end of cycle 2 done.  We were planning on doing this all on one day.  Last Friday Ashlynn was admitted to the hospital for a fever, and give 24 hours of antibiotics.  We thought that this illness might delay chemo, but since the doctors didn't find any infections, and her ANC rose her rose very nicely she was allowed to get chemo on Tuesday (from 195 all the way to 2007 in 5 days- the cut off for Chemo is 700).  I was glad she was able to do her Chemo on Tuesday, because 3 trip to Lebanon in 1 week is just too much driving for me.

The plan for the day had to be laid out very carefully because there was so much that needed to be done.  We slept at home, instead of David's House, because Ashlynn has not slept well there our last 2 visits.  This meant we had to leave the house by 5:30 am.  The plan was to put cotton balls in Ashlynn's diaper before we left, and also get her as hydrated as possible so we could start her Chemo earlier in the day.  This was crucial, because if we started Chemo too late she would have to wait until after her CT Scan and MRI were over to start, and then we would have had to spend the night.  It's not the chemo that takes so long on these days, it's the medication she needs to take 4 and 8 hours after Chemo.  This medicine makes the chemo less toxic when it's leaving Ashlynn's body.  With out the medicine the chemo would irritate her bladder and anything it touched on the way out if you get my drift!  The morning got off to a good start.  Around 10:15 we started Chemo, and a little after that Danica and Evi showed up to keep us company.  Around 12 Ashlynn went to Pain Free to get ready for her testing.  Kissing her goodbye after she goes to sleep is always my least favorite part.  While Ash was getting testing we grabbed lunch and Evi took a snooze.  A few hours later Ashlynn was waking up and we rushed back to Pain Free.  She didn't wake up very happy.  It took her awhile to get into a better mood- it wasn't until she was given a Clifford Dog that she really perked up.  She was feeling pretty well, and even ate some lunch.  She played with Evi for awhile too.  Danica and Evi left around 3:30, and then things went down hill from there.  I will spare you the details, but it involved several changes of clothes, the last on the side of Route 89.  We also had one little sickness the next day too.

Good News is- All of Ashlynn's tests are still showing no Cancer!  This good news certainly out weighs all of the bad stuff that happened that day.  She has actually had no cancer in her body since her tumor was removed in July.  Her doctors told us to think of the year of Chemo as an insurance policy.  

Watching Elmo- Melmo as Ashy calls it.

Tickles for Evi!