Launch the Pig

The tube. Julia's newest contraption to be surgically installed on and in her body is working out decently well. Over the past week, the g-tube hasn't been bothering her nearly as much as the skin around the surgery site heals. She's been getting 20-24oz of formula via the tube each night, adding around 700 calories to her daily intake. During the day we expect her to eat normally. Well, "normally" for her has its own meaning - being a cancer kid, she doesn't enjoy food nearly as much as she used to, so she's allowed to break the eating rules if she wants. This morning for breakfast she had pineapple and saltines.

The blood. At last check, her blood counts had jumped through the roof thanks to the daily injections Julia was getting to stimulate white blood cell growth. The dr wants her off of the drug now to see what her body can hold the counts at without the artificial boost. She gets checked again on Thursday.

The Chemo. She's had her first break from chemo for the last few weeks and we've loved the recuperation time. This coming Monday is a triple dose day. Her blood counts need to be high enough for this batch, so Thursday's blood work will be pretty meaningful. After this upcoming chemo, we have another three week break before a planned five-day hospital stay (that'll be number three of the four long ones).

Schooling. Aside from the medical front, Julia went back to school today! She had a great day and had loads of stories to tell (including one that inspired the title of this blog post). Her school's musical is Thursday and Friday evening this week and she's hoping to be feeling well enough to participate. She'll be dressed in green as one of the frogs for the "Rainbow Connection" number. There's a dress rehearsal on Wednesday, so that may be an indicator of how she feels about it.

The images. Aside from being too rambunctious at times and painfully stepping on Julia's tube, Skippy still likes her quality "sister time".

Finn posed on the couch and then did one of his fancy jump spins.