Leukemia - How is Jemma? - Day 204

Can you see how many olives she has in her bowl of Cheerios? Apparently this tastes good. Olives, and bratwurst are her two favorite things to eat.

Jemma has been doing a lot of sleeping. She doesn't even have energy to play. She doesn't want to do puzzles, read stories, dance, go outside or any activities.  Occasionally she will color and sew. She does want to sleep and eat.

On Friday her bottom opened up again. This caused her a lot of pain going to the bathroom, but after four days of cleansing with olive oil on toilet paper, shallow baths for her bottom and cream it is mostly healed.

Last night was a sleepless night for my husband and I as we were worried about Jemma. For much of the day on Sunday she complained of a stomach ache. She has had several lately due to the amount of food she has been consuming. Normally they come and go throughout the day in accordance with eating and bowel movements, but yesterday the stomach ache seemed more constant. I wasn't sure if it was due to the two bratwurst and hamburger she ate on Saturday, or due to a bacteria infection. Luckily it is looking like the stomach ache was due to food.

We spent the day in the hospital today for her third round of Phase 2A chemotherapy. Her white blood cell counts are now steadily dropping. This goal of the therapy comes with the challenge of her being again very susceptible to infection. We expect her immune system to remain very low for the next several weeks.

I'm happy that today her steroid dose was reduced from 7 mg per day down to 3 mg per day. Over the next nine days it will gradually be reduced to 0. Her attitude has been decent, but she hasn't smiled nearly as much as normal. I'm optimistic that this reduction will lead to a happier, more active little girl.