Day 25, Chemo Round 2 :: My Hero

 Aside from the face-to-face time with Spiderman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, today was a quiet day on 4 East. Jade's ANC, absolute neutrophil count, took a slight dip (down to 39 from 44), but that type of fluctuation is not out of the ordinary. During the first round, when her ANC began to recover it was all uphill (at 50 on Sunday, then 80, 120, and 280. Home!) I really hoped for the same trend this go round... but we may be looking at a later discharge day than Wednesday.

While we continued the wait for an ANC of 250, we enjoyed a Superhero Celebration hosted by the Hope for Henry Foundation.  It was really amazing to see Jade and so many of the other caped crusaders, I mean, children (toddlers thru teens) on the floor in their masked or painted faces just having a great time. All of these kids are so brave... and so much stronger than I've ever had to be.  So, it was appropriate for me to finally see Jade outfitted today as I've imaged her for the last three months -- as my hero. I am so thankful for organizations like Hope for Henry whose work is to make sure that kids with cancer and other serious illnesses don't miss out on some of the best things about being a kid (their words). A few months ago, I didn't really appreciate just how important laughter, surprise, and whimsy are to the recovery process, but I know it well now!  The Child Life Specialists, Art Therapists, Music Therapists, and volunteers here are great, but the reality is that sometimes it takes a knock-your-socks-off experience for these kids (and their families) to put aside the worry and just be a kid.

Super Jade enjoyed herself -- running from one place to another, following Spiderman, grabbing the artists' markers and pencils, knocking over the toy display.  Jade seemed to be really taken with Spiderman; she gave him about 20 high-fives over the course of an hour.  She slightly approved of Batman (Spidey had to let him know that the high-five was the way to her heart).  She didn't quite know what to make of Wonder Woman; she actually "asked" her to not be in the picture... It sounded something like this: Noooo!

What really amazed her was the caricature drawing. Though a little restless during the sketch, afterwards she just kept pointing to the picture that Mr. Peter created while saying, "Jade. Jade." Super Jade flew back to her hospital room with a portrait, snapshots, comic book, t-shirt, and superhero toys in tow.  Sleep quickly followed... and now, beckons me.

www.hopeforhenry.org