Thursday, March 17th

Happy St. Paddy's Day Everyone!  We were pretty sedate here over other years of teaching and dancing the jig.  Sam was here for the last 4 days and it was a lot of movies and video games.  Michellie lost her energy on Tuesday when she had trouble sleeping, so instead of a trip to Sydney to see a movie, we settled for the Skip-Bo card games.  Tuesday night Sam and Michellie made pork chops and mashed potatoes for supper, with Blue Jello for dessert.  The sauce was awesome with green peppers and hoisine sauce with soy sauce.  Anyway, it was nice to be treated by them.  They made breakfast one morning too, and scrambled eggs and bacon were on the menu that day.

Overall Michellie has been feeling ok, but she is started to have some of the recurring side effects of some of the chemo like she did after round 3.  The rash that presented then has returned with a vengeance all over, with an itch to boot!  She has had a headache for several days, and her head is hurting where the hair follicles are beginning to open up again.  She feels more lethargic again, and even a little blue (and that's not the jello talking).  Some of this is the ramping up to all the tests on Tuesday.  She is very apprehensive that they will find something, and that they will want to go forward with the radiation.  So much to worry about for a 15 year old. 

On the bright side today, Michellie was recommended for a special trip with a group called the Sunshine Kids (http://www.sunshinekids.org/).  They choose 4 cancer patients from only 4 hospitals in Canada to join many other kids from the states for a trip of great fun.  The trip Michellie is recommended for is to Washington D.C. with a tour of the White House, several war monuments, the Smithsonian, a CSI lab to learn about being a crime scene detective, and a trip to 6 Flags Amusement Park.  The whole trip is covered, and there are no parents allowed on the trip.  We are just sifting through details to see if it is possible for Michellie.  The trip would be May 2 to 8th.  We are all a little nervous having lived in isolation for so many months and away from any germs possible.  However, Michellie is excited about meeting other kids her age and having people to share her experience with.  If you have a chance to look at their site, there are some great photos from last years trip. 

Tonight Michellie is working on changing in her knitted hats for a spring look, and she is playing with scarves.  I just received some dyes to do some scarves for a dance teacher friend of mine, so perhaps we can play with some new ideas for Michellie as well.  Anyone with experience in this area, please let us know what you like the best for spring and summer weather.