“Blatant Plagiarizing, Straight Ahead!”

Week 1 of DI #2

Well, it rained in Georgia today. Not enough rain to slake the thirst of the plants and lawns and trees, or even enough to make a dent in the dry, dead grass seed (the result of vacation-neglect) burning up in our backyard. Enough, however, to bring the humidity to 150 percent, fog up my sunglasses and leave my hair looking like a bad Gilda Radner impression. Enough, also, to leave a puddle at the end of the outdoor slide of the Burger King play-land today. (You can pretty much tell where I’m going with this, can’t you?)

First Kendrie cried because her behind was wet and I didn’t have the forethought (stupid Mom!) to pack an extra set of underwear and shorts in the car. Never mind that she’s been potty trained for over two years and I haven’t carried spare underwear in, like, forever. Then she was angry I wasn’t able to dry her entire rear with a napkin, and then further annoyed by my suggestion she just run around butt-naked while I dried the shorts under the hand dryer in the bathroom. (I’ll admit, it wasn’t a good suggestion, considering we were at a public restaurant, but this was after I accidentally dumped her entire frozen Coke in my lap and wasn’t too happy about my OWN wet-butt problems by then!) So, the laughing-happy-children scenario I had envisioned rapidly dissolved and we gave up and went home to have hot dogs for dinner.

Although she started DI #2 on Monday, which means we are currently on day three of Steroid-Week (sort of like Homecoming Week, only without the floats or parades or proms or dancing or fancy clothes or good times or fun) I haven’t noticed any difference in her appetite or personality, so I’m going on the assumption that she just honestly, truly doesn’t like walking around with a wet rear. We go back to Atlanta tomorrow for her PEG shots (two “big” shots in her thighs that she has NO idea are coming…………. Ugggh, tomorrow’s going to be ugly!) and then we finish out the steroids on Sunday, hopefully before the side effects become too bad. Lord knows I better get to the commissary soon, "just in case".

I was trying to think of something wise and profound to put in the journal entry today and stumbled across the following wonderful list from a fellow CK mom named Mikie. I was laughing, smiling and nodding my head all at the same time so I asked Mikie for permission to put it on Kendrie’s site. You can read more about her daughter Emily by going to their web site, too.

It’s a really, really good list and I think you’ll enjoy it. As soon as I figure out the new software that came with my new camera and I get the photos from vacation downloaded (uploaded?) I’ll update the site and photo album here. Until then, I’ll just cruise around Caring Bridge looking for more pages to plagiarize!

“So, I thought I would share some of the things that I have learned since we started on this journey. It started out as the Top Ten. However, I couldn’t limit myself so I chose 46. Why 46 you ask? Well, since that is how many weeks of treatment Emily has left, it sounded like a good number.

Top Ten (ok, maybe more than ten) Things That I Have Learned Since August 16, 2002:

1. Bald really can be beautiful.

2. Only approximately 3,000 children per year will be diagnosed with leukemia.

3. 3,000 children is TOO many.

4. It is possible to form lasting bonds with people that you have only met through Caringbridge sites.

5. Neutrophils are the infection fighting members of our blood.

6. Having a slumber party in a hospital bed can be pretty fun with my Emily.

7. Leukemia can strike babies who were breast fed, immunized, healthy, and whose family loves them more than anything else.

8. Statistics don’t mean a whole lot when it is your child that gets sick.

9. There are two main cell types involved in childhood leukemia: myelogenous and lymphoblastic. Although one type has a better cure rate at this time, there is no “good type” of leukemia as long as children still die from it.

10. Enough medical terms to get me a guest spot on ER.

11. I am truly blessed to have my family every single crazy one of them.

12. I could not have gotten through this most recent phase of life without my faith and my family.

13. God is awesome!

14. For those who seek Him, He will answer. It may be in the colors of a sunset or the words spoken in an encounter with a stranger.

15. Life really is pretty good.

16. If it isn’t, most people would prefer that you lie about it.

17. We are lucky to live in a country where medical care is available and very effective.

18. Children who get ALL in some other countries have small chance of survival.

19. No matter how hard you try, memorial services for three-year-olds are, at best, gut wrenching.

20. I am still honored to have known Maya and Morgan for a short time in their lives no matter how painful it was to say goodbye.

21. St. Jude is a place of hope, love and miracles.

22. There are angels who walk this earth and a great many of them work at St. Jude.

23. My blessings far, far outweigh my trials.

24. The hospital part of St. Jude is actually very small (around 70 beds) but the complex is pretty big.

25. St. Jude is in need of a margarita machine for the parents of inpatients.

26. Evan looks pretty handsome in his baseball uniform.

27. It is possible for me to get sick of eating delivery pizza and fast food burgers and fries.

28. Zofran is a pretty great medical break though but it costs a gazillion dollars a pill. Someone is getting rich off our kids’ nausea.

29. Some of the most courageous people I know, can’t even say courageous much less know what it means.

30. Heck, some of them aren’t even potty trained.

31. Just because someone else’s problems aren’t life threatening doesn’t mean that they are not problems.

32. I could practice a bit more empathy before I become a bitter old hag.

33. It takes approximately 40 minutes to get to the hospital from my house in rush hour traffic.

34. I can cut that in half at 4 am with a child running a fever.

35. There are more good people in this world than bad and a lot of them have shown us great acts of kindness.

36. Danny Thomas must have earned himself a primo spot in Heaven. He lived the original ‘Purpose Driven Life’.

37. It can take approximately half an hour to crush and dissolve medicines, wrestle a two-year-old down and force them to take them.

38. It takes 10 seconds for that two-year-old to vomit them back up.

39. Some people I thought I could count on, I can’t. And, some I never would have dreamed would be there for me, are.

40. Shaun Micheel, Loren Roberts and the entire Memphis Grizzlies organization are sports figures that care and are worth supporting.

41. I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay all of the kindness that has been given to me.

42. Steroid induced rages are worse than PMS.

43. Some negatives are really positives: negative MRD, negative CNS.

44. Doing the ‘Remission Dance’ is more fun than doing the ‘Dennis Quaid Dance’ especially if Dennis isn’t there in person.

45. Cancer Sucks.

46. But Emily is tougher! And she is worth it all!”

See? Didn’t I tell you it was a great list?? Be sure to go to Emily’s site and sign in the guestbook, letting Mikie know you enjoyed it, too. In the meantime, have a great week!

Love, Kristie
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KENDRIE'S PERSPECTIVE:

WORST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY:

Taking that nasty Decadron twice! My mom thinks she is so sneaky by crushing it up and putting it in applesauce ... like I'm a little baby who is not going to notice a trick like that???? I told her tonight it is even worse than the "Yofran" but she made me take it anyway. And I'm still a little annoyed that she didn't have any dry underwear in the glove box. I might need to put out some feelers or applications for a new nurturing Mother character, if this keeps up.

BEST PART ABOUT HAVING CANCER TODAY:

Even though I told my mom I wanted another frozen Coke after she so rudely spilled mine, I didn't really so I didn't drink it. And I didn't eat the second order of Chicken Strips I asked for. Probably any other time that would have made her mad but I'm starting to catch on that during Steroid-Week she cuts me a little more slack than normal. Hmmmm, wonder what I can get her to do for me tomorrow???