And back to the hospital again...

(post by Grant & Tammy)
It has been confirmed that we will be going back to the hospital this Thursday morning to start the third round of chemo. The doctors did not think that Natalie's body was going to respond so quickly. They said this usually does not happen. Again, they are amazed that her counts went up so much since Sunday. They convinced us that with leukemia, it is best to hit it hard when it's down. Since Natalie's body is recovered from the second round, they want to start the next round.

We are a little sad to go back to the hospital earlier than expected. Well, at least Natalie is okay with it. She has become quite a superstar with her loyal posse of nurses, doctors, nutritionists, social workers, teachers, and child life specialists. What seven year old wouldn't want to go back to a place where there is a long waiting list of nurses fighting to attend to her? She has nurses who bring her candy, blow kisses at her, and tell her that they will miss her until their shift starts again next week.

We are a little scared of this next round too because it will be higher dosages of the chemo in shorter periods of time. Instead of IV given over 4 hours, it will be IV given over an hour. She will need eye drops every 2 hours to protect her eyes because the chemo is secreted there when given in high dosages. She is going to really dislike that.

We ask for prayers that this round goes as well as the last round. We also ask for prayers that her body does not incur any damage from the chemo, but gets stronger and healthier than before. She has 2 more rounds after this third round.