Last dose of Cytoxan TODAY!!!

Hello all! Emma took her LAST DOSE of Cytoxan this morning!! We are finally done with our eight weeks!! She continues to stay in remission and is doing great! She is starting to look like a totally different child to me. Since she has been on pred since January of 2008 we have gotten so used to seeing her with the "moon face" that it looks strange to me to see her look so skinny! She has probably lost 10-12 pounds since starting the treatment. Her belly is soooo skinny now. She is starting to look like the Emma from last Christmas before she got really sick!! It is amazing how much you get used to the way they look while on the meds and almost forget what they looked like before.

My husband took Emma last Tuesday for her very last blood test (which she did great for). She is apparently an "old pro" at it now. She talks about it like she has been doing it every week for her entire life. Too funny! It seems like an eternity ago that she was crying and screaming while I held her down to get the first weeks blood sample. I am so glad she doesn't have to go anymore for the time being!!!

We are scheduled to go back to her neph for a follow up appointment for him to check her out after finishing the round of Cytoxan. I spoke with his nurse last week and she informed me that Emma's test results were perfectly normal. I was worried there for a minute that her white blood cell count was dropping too low and she said that it had dropped significantly but that it was still in the "normal" range for what they expected while on this medicine. She also told me that all of Emma's other levels that they check for in her blood were perfect! Praise GOD!!!

Emms'a hair has gotten quite thin. You can definately see her scalp but if you pull her hair up into a ponytail you would never be able to tell. I notice that it isn't falling out at such a rapid pace like it was a few weeks ago so that is encouraging!! Since today was her last dose I expect that her hair will begin regrowing very soon! I am curious to see if it comes back crazy curly. Alot of the responses I got my post regarding her hair loss said that peoples hair seem to come back very curly. Interesting!! The only other side effect is the dry skin patches on her face and neck (which are minimal). I just keep her slathered in lotion and it seems to be doing the trick. I also expect that this will go away with time since she didn't experience any issues with dry skin prior to starting this treatment.

I know that I am extremely long winded regarding Emma's journey with this condition and the treatment she has undergone but I hope that it may help someone who's child is newly diagnosed. I know that when Emma was first diagnosed I wanted nothing more than to sit on this website for days and read about other childrens experiences. It really helps to see what works and what doesn't for others!! Maybe Emma's story can be of help to another mother or father who are searching for options for their child.

Again, I have to give glory to GOD for Emma's remission! We have had a rough 2008 and at times I wondered if He was ever going to hear my prayers but I have remained faithful throughout!! Like I have said in previous posts, He doesn't always answer prayers on our time frame but we have to continue to pray because.....He is listening!!!