Boring

 Acts 24:3   In every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. 

Today was fairly uneventful, and we are so grateful for that! Last night Lehr and I tagged off so that I could be home with the big kids and he could hang with Ruby. The two of them had a guest, played hard, and finally got to bed around 9PM. Lehr even said that she took her evening oral meds without too much fuss.

This morning Ruby showed Lehr how much she does NOT enjoy the oral doses of chemo, Zofran and something else (I think it's an antibiotic right now). Vitals have been good all day.....one change in blood pressure for a minute, but no real cause for concern. Lunch was a milkshake and spoonfuls of peanut butter. (Did I mention that Daddy was in charge?) After a nap, Maddux and I came to the hospital and Lehr and I switched out again.

While Maddux was here, she gave the nurse (one that Lehr and I both like a lot) a thank you card and a bag of candy to share with the others. She also got additional beads for the Beads of Courage that she and I started for Ruby earlier today. Love that girl (even when she frustrates me to no end).

Ruby is definitely showing signs of irritation/outbursts which are likely due to the steroid component of her treatment. She will be fine and playing or eating one moment and then get very snippy and aggressively push you away the next (which is very unlike her). She ate an ok dinner with some variety (banana, squeeze food veggies, mac n cheese, water), and then she and I played until it was oral-chemo time again.

Eating has been a challenge, which we expected since patients often lose their appetite while on chemo. I have stocked up on the pureed veggie squeeze foods to start each meal with, just to make sure she's getting good vitamins. We can usually rely on some yogurt or crackers at each meal, but that's not going to keep her healthy through this, so baby food it is!

The oral meds are a problem..... I HATE how sad/mad she gets when it's time to take them. We seriously have to lie her back and hold her down; not fun! The good news is, tomorrow she has two more doses of the oral chemo and then she's done for this treatment. Oh yeah, and her last bag of chemo for this treatment was hung at 5PM so tonight is the LAST night she will have to sleep hooked up to all of that stuff!! I know she will likely need a line for fluids at some point(s) during the rest of her stay, but it will not be a 24/7 bag and it will only be ONE line instead of the three tubes she has now.

Today I am so grateful...grateful that Ruby's last bag is hanging, grateful that I got to spend almost 24 hours with Eli and Maddux, grateful that Ruby has an amazing dad that takes her out for more walks even though she's hooked up to stuff (and gets her milkshakes), grateful that God is growing me already through this so much that I feel at home in the hospital already (that's me 'swimming'!), grateful that this process, though only 5 days long so far, has not seemed so hard yet, thanks in big part to the many many friends who have jumped in and helped, grateful for the sweet times I've had with Ruby while in the hospital, grateful that we have a God that makes all things good...even cancer and chemo.