The ladies are home, back from cycle 6.  One more cycle to go!!  This is the week of the cycle that Dallas fights hard to keep her counts up and fever away - we call it the "lock down" week.  She is home but pretty much does not leave her bedroom, can not have visitors (except her teacher) and has to eat all meals prepared at home ( no threat of cross contamination ).
She will have her counts tested 3 times this week and if they dip too low - a trip to Syracuse for blood transfusions will be needed.  Last cycle she ran a fever and had to be admitted for 4 days in Syracuse.  She was a bit disappointed, her goal was to stay out of the hospital due to fevers.  They treated us great up there and took really good of Dallas.  Good people but if we get our way - we will not see them again anytime soon!!

So, one more cycle to go.  I type that sentence and it brings a rush of emotion to me - It has been such a long haul filled with sleepless nights and wandering days.....  To have every waking minute completely consume you with thoughts of cancer and everything that goes with it really takes a toll on you...

Our last cycle is set to end a week and a half before Thanksgiving.  We are going to have a celebration like no other this Thanksgiving!!!  What great timing for this holiday - it will truly be a day of giving thanks!!

The doctors met with Christine last week and started the exit strategy talk - how exciting to hear this!!  We will be doing monthly scans for the Oncology group and also monthly visits for surgery site inspections.  More on all of this later.

Dallas' grandparents from Utah were here for the chemo week - it was really nice to see Margot but I did not get a chance to see Marc.  They were a huge help for Christine this past week, thank you very much for making the trip. 
One positive that came out of this nightmare was that it brought the family closer together in all aspects and really made it clear to all that family really is above and beyond the most important thing out there!! 

Bill I
(dad)