Rosalie is tolerating the chemotherapy quite well. She had a bad afternoon yesterday – she looked pretty miserable. But we gave her some medication on top of the prescribed anti-nausea med which calmed her down. The nurses never like to make blanket generalizations, but it you really twist their arms, they’ll tell you that the babies tend to do better with the chemo than the older kids. They just don’t have that added level of anxiety that comes with age.

This first round of chemo brings with it the unknown. I just keep wondering how she will react. We do know that on days 7-10 she will be at the greatest risk for being neutropenic. This means that her neutrophil (a type of white blood cell that fights bacterial infections) count will take a dip, making her susceptible to disease. That’s one of the reasons why it is SO important for Mark and me to remain healthy this year.

She begins full-time physical therapy tomorrow. Full-time to a 21-month old means three hours a day. When I told Maryetta, she noted, “That’s like having a full-time job!” It’s kind of cute to think of Rosalie going off to work each day.

She’s already been working about a half hour a day with the physical, occupational, and speech therapists – so at least they won’t be total strangers to her.

We’ll keep you updated on her progress.

XOXO,
The Reibels