September 30

Hello all

Well, lots of news!! Caitlyn's blood counts dropped again this week on Thursday down to 19 therefore she had another platelet transfusion on Friday night in Owen Sound. We are going to do her blood work again the first of this week to check how her counts are but Sick kids is hoping to start chemo this week. We have an appointment this Thursday there with the hopes. They are saying that they are going to have to decrease her dose as her bone marrow is not keeping up.

She also had a rather exciting day yesterday in Toronto at the Blue Jays game. She was on the field for the 7th inning stretch. All 2 minutes of it, but it was exciting to be right on the field. We had a bus load of people as well as 3 car loads go. About 60 people in total go and support us!!! What a great group of friends and family!!

She is still enjoying school and will finally be starting on the disability school bus tomorrow. We have been driving her to and from school daily while they organized it but as of tomorrow morning they will be picking her up and dropping her off.

Well we will update you more after our appointment at Sick kids on Thursday!!

Until then.....

The Cobeans

Platelets took a dive!!

Hello all

Well all is going well with school and Caitlyn is really enjoying it. She has been able to go to school daily until this week. This week her blood counts have took a dive. Her platelets, which helps with clotting, have been decreasing since last week and Monday's count was only 20. (The normal count is 250-400 and chemo can not be given unless the count is above 100 and Sick kids orders a platelet transfusion for 20 or under.) Therefore today we were in Owen Sound hospital for the afternoon for a platelet transfusion. Now we are lucky as this is a first and she has already had 4 rounds of chemo.

Her next round of chemo was scheduled for next Thurs (the 27th) but it looks like it will be postponed until her platelets are up above 100.

Well, we left the hospital after her transfusion and only made it to the other side of the city before her eyes started to swell and she developed a rash. So back to the hospital we went for Benadryl and they kept us for another 2 hours to make sure she was going to be alright. This is not uncommon for a reaction to happen. They do know though that the next time she needs a transfusion that they will give her Benadryl before the transfusion.

Anyways she has been to school for a couple of hours Monday and Tuesday and I think I will keep her home tomorrow to recoup and then back to the grindstone.

Till next time.

Rona

Back to School

Well today marked the first day of high school for Caitlyn. She is currently only taking Math and Geography. She is taking a course in learning strategy which is where she can get extra help to complete any work she may miss with being away from school periodically. Then she has a spare period to help with her fatigue.

Yesterday, we purchased a motorized chair for her to enable her to get around the school easier. With this she is able to get herself around the school without having to have an educational assistant to help her to and from classes. The original plan was that she would walk with the assistance of the EA until she was tired then she would have a wheelchair for the EA to push her in. Well, now she will be able to get around without their help and not be fatigued.

Overall though, she is feeling great. Her walking has improved, and her speech has really improved. She is improving daily.

Caitlyn's other good news is that she will be attending a Blue Jay's game on September 29 where the Ontario Brain Tumour Association is part of and they have asked for some of the Brainchild (an organization of parents of children with Brain tumours) children to help with the seventh inning stretch. Cailtyn has been asked to help with this and is pretty excited.

Well, there is our update for now and will keep you posted with her progress.

The Cobeans