Monday's Nerve Racking Clinic Visit!

Whew! That is all I can say about this morning's clinic visit. Cora had her chemo and she is home and fine. That's the short version, if you want the drama keep reading... She hasn't had much of an appetite and still has a bad cold. We haven't been able to get her to eat or drink much (drastic change from a few weeks ago!). So she ate a little dinner last night and then because her procedure was at 9:00 she couldn't eat or drink anything this morning. She woke up grouchy, got dressed, and begged for OJ. We (Rob is off and luckily went with us) got in the car to go and Cora immeaditely fell asleep, she would wake up then drift back off, and was pretty unresponsive when I tried to talk to her. When we arrived at the clinic this only got worse. Usually she is a little nervous and cries and talks a lot, today she laid on my lap and drifted in and out of sleep. She wouldn't answer questions from the nurses and didn't even complain when they stuck the needle in to access her port. Something just wasn't quite right. We saw Dr. Johnston and he did listened to her and gave the all clear to go ahead with the anesthesia. (Her chemo was injected into her spine today, so she had to be sedated.) He did order some extra blood to be checked for infection and to have her blood sugar checked. They did the procedure and also began giving her some sugar fluid through her port just to be sure she was hydrated. After the procedure she usually wakes right up, but today she slept and slept and slept. Dr. Johnston came back in and said that her blood sugar was low (44) and that he wanted to keep the fluids on and also give her a cortisone shot to boost her adrenal gland (it sometimes needs a jumpstart after being on 30 days of steroids). She slept on. It was time for her to wake up and we shook and kissed and poked and bribed, but she slept on. About 15 minutes later she began to stir. Finally, she slowly woke up and drank some orange juice. She still sounded congested, so Dr. J ordered a breathing treatment which really helped. After that she asked for chicken nuggets and we knew she was fine! In short I think she was a tad bit dehydrated with a cold and really really low blood sugar. So once again great doctors and lots of prayers perked her up. Mama was a nervous wreck, but I have already decided that after 2.5 years of treatments I will have grey hair and 100 times the amount of stress lines for someone my age! We are so thankful that we didn't have to be admitted to the hospital and that she is feeling fine!
She has lost 3 pounds. Her clothes all fit very well again, but her face, neck, and back are still puffy. When I inquired about that today the doctor told me that is probably not swelling any longer, but fat. He said that steroids redistribute the fat in the body and it accumulates in some spots. He said it may take her growing some to lose that. It will go away as she grows. Of course that is definitely secondary to her getting well, but I sorta thought she would quickly go back to looking like her normal self. I guess that is not acutally the case. But she is still precious and we are so proud of what a trooper she is! Her hair is hanging in there. This round of chemo doesn't cause as much hair loss as the next round does, so she may hang onto it a month or so, but things will gradually intensify in Feb., March, and April. But she has LOTS of really cute hats ready and waiting! Thanks again for all of your support and prayers! We met some little girls today at Toys R Us who attend the DeRenne Campus of SCPS. They recognized Cora and said they have been praying for her. That was very cool. She is sorta like a local celebrity!!! Look out, Paula Deen!

Christmas

Cade Garola had a fabulous Christmas! He was surrounded by family, food, and super duper gifts! Santa treated my children extra sweet this year! I mean they had gifts, gifts, gifts! They opened forever! Thanks so much to our little Christmas elves for helping pull off such a great appreciated treat! Cade played batcave, set up Playmobile cowboys and indians with Rob for hours, played explorer/campout in the yard in his new tent, and then went back to the cowboys and indians. He even slept in his bed with his new sleeping bag tonight! Christmas was awesome for him!

Cora enjoyed her gifts as well. Her highlight had to be the pink baby doll and pink stroller that she has been banking on for months! She named the baby "Baby Mallory" and treated her as though she had a beating heart! She also loved her puppies and the stroller that they came in!

What did mommy get for Christmas??? Well, Mommy got lots of wonderful things, but the most memorable was the HUGE dose of reality that I got! I have been so proud and blessed by how well Cora has done to date, and not even thought about any other possiblity at this point! Cora felt great on Christmas Eve! She played all day and stayed up late. Then after going to bed, she woke up all night long complaining of her left leg hurting. There was nothing visibly wrong with the leg. It could be sore muscles, sore injection sites, blood clot, a number of things. So I was super nervous, but just sorta rocked her back to sleep each time. She woke up early and was excited about Santa despite the lack of sleep. After the first few gifts, she slowed down, got quiet, and just sorta sat on my lap. To make a long story short...she isn't feeling well at all. She ran a low grade fever all day. We called the doctor when it hit 101 thinking we'd have to take her in. Because her counts are normal now he said we don't have to be as cautious, because she should have some fighters in her blood. His advice was to watch her and give Tylenol. The Tylenol helped with the fever, but she had very little appetite. By dinner, she asked for like 4 different things and then wouldn't eat any of them. I needed her to take her chemo pill, so I went to our staple "cheese grits." She took the pill, finished the grits and all was well until bedtime. I took her temp at bedtime and it was back to 99.5 so I told her I was going to give her more Tylenol. Well, she is OVER medicine already! At the very sight of the Tylenol, the grits all came up! So now she is sleeping and I am crazy! I don't know if she is sick to her stomach because of the chemo or because of a virus or something! It is such a worrisome stressful thing, so I am following the orders of the doctor and Rob's dad (who is in Savannah right now) and waiting it out. I am fighting the urge to rush her to the hospital right now. The clinic will be opened tomorrow, so you can bet I will be calling at 7:59 am! I now know that things will not always be easy, she will not always feel great, and I have to just accept not knowing why something hurts or what is hurting. So please pray for her to fever to be under control until 8 am when we can get to a doctor without having to be admitted to the hospital.

I really think Cade had it absolutely right today when he and Cora were playing outside in the tent. His comment was, "With Cora, there is always drama!" Amen, Cade! Anyway, our highlights were definitely seeing Rob's family, seeing our kids love the "magic" of Christmas, and the new minivan that is coming soon from my parents! Our families really are so great! I never dreamed 5+ years ago that a minivan would excite me! I hope you all had a drama-free, Christmas filled with joy and fun! Merry Christmas!

Clinic Visit 12/22/08

We went to clinic yesterday and it was a pretty routine visit. (Crazy that this this becoming routine!) Cora threw a total temper tantrum in the weigh, measure, temperature room. I mean freaking out! Refusal to get on the scale and hitting mommy repeatedly when I tried to make her. Pretty embarassing, but as soon as we went to the other room, she chilled out a little. Then they checked her counts. EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL! Her ANC was 2472 which is good. Anything above 1500 is good. Then we waited and waited as Abuelo gave the doctors the third degree (we took him with us!) He was asking them where they went to med school and how many years experience and all sorts of stuff! Anyway, then they put her to sleep and gave her a shot of methotrexate in her spine, two shots of aspiraginaise (I know that's spelled wrong) in her legs, and started vincristine through her port before she woke up. Then she woke up and had to lie still for 1/2 hour while they finished the vincristine. Then we signed out and packed up and came home. Actually we stopped for sandwiches first (we coaxed her out of chicken nuggets and talked her into turkey and cheese). So pretty routine! She is still really feeling good, but has a lot of steroid puff still! Who cares, she feels good. She is even sleeping normal again. ALL NIGHT LONG! HOORAY! Things are going well, but please keep the prayers coming!

How Cora Got Her Groove Back

So although she still has the steroid bloat going on, Cora is feeling so much better! She's even taken to dancing to a snappy tune from our favorite Christmas Movie, The Year Without A Santa Claus She's even singing along!

Risk Factor!

Woo Hoo! Once again, our prayers have been answered! Cora falls into the low risk catagory and is still in remission! We are meeting with Dr. Whittle tomorrow to discuss the consolidation phase that she begins on Monday!

Garola Elves

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Blood Drives

JT Turner Construction Company is hosting a blood drive on December 19th from 8 am-7 pm at their office on Victory Drive.

The Frank G. Murray Community Center on Whitmarsh Island will be hosting a drive on December 20th from 1 pm to 6 pm.

Both drives are in honor of Cora. Thanks to these two businesses! Visit the following link for drive details:

http://www.calendarwiz.com/calendars/calendar.php?nolog=1&crd=bloodalliance&jsenabled=1