Our roller coaster takes a positive turn !

Besides a sore throat and difficulty with swallowing ,a fair weekend was had by all , thanks to andolex mouthspray , bicarb and salt gargle and a team effort by Mom and Dad .and siblings.

Along came Mondays chemo , the 2 nasty bags full but the laspar injection was out of the stock in the pharmacy which dad of course queried as it would throw the programme out . In the end we accepted and returned Tuesday for the bum one .

The rest of week at home was mainly about food,and more food .Our little Chipmunk is not Elvin but Vanya  and you cannot imagine the amount she can consume {photo to follow soon}. It starts as a midnight feast , continues through a 5am breakfast , brunch , lunch , munch and dinner in 24 hour cycles.

Friday sees the successful repeat of the catheter procedure with chemo{this time in her leg as the muscle is nice and big like the bum & cerebral spinal fluid for testing. The one we are hoping to be drastically reduced to get closer to remission but the results were only due out on Monday .

We must add at this stage something we have not mentioned much of lately and that is Prayer , our own , our friends and even strangers . I for one , have never prayed , meditated and spent so much time introspectively in my life before and often wonder if this is a divine message from above , part of Gods greater plan .

It's Monday and although cold out , the sun shines on us today and warms our hearts with a positive spirit .
The blood results are stable , the laspar is quick and not so sore { no. 8 - the last one for a long while , yeah Vanya we made it ! our brave little champ . .}.

We only received  telephonic feedback late today about the bone marrow results when Dr. Stefan called to say - VANYA IS IN REMISSION !! the blasts came down to below 5 % and we need to spend tomorrow day and night in hospital for a 24 hr chemo drip plus another drip to protect the kidneys for this new toxic chemical .

On Wednesday we can come home we hope but have to go daily from Thursday to Sunday for a chemo injection via the catheter { new one too } . This is the second part of the first 64 day phase and part of the protocol being followed . It includes a new chemo pill  called 6mp , once per day with dinner taking us to Day 64  and the steriods will be stopped from Thursday . We remain on the standard risk treatment at this stage .

It's from hereon we believe the hair may start falling out and body could take more strain without steroids as the chemo generally intensifies . For now however we are ever grateful for this achievement and Vanya remains the loving , caring and affectionate child we know - we are looking forward to her turning 7 on Thursday although it will be a quietish one - it's a blessing and on that note bless you all too that are praying us through !