Day Five, Chemo Round 2 :: So Far, So Great

Along with starting her second round of chemo for this course of treatment, Jade has been line dancing, sprinting, and belting out performances like this all week long:

Now, I thought only celebrities on tour came with riders, but apparently Jade also has a list of demands for her hospital stays.  They include (in no particular order):

1. Cherry syrup. This, combined with holding her nose, makes taking most of the "yucky" oral meds bearable.
2. A night-night story and a wake-up story from her growing library.
3. Comfy blankets, pajamas, and pillows from home; hospital-issue linens will not do.
4. A mini-fridge stocked with crangrape juice, orange juice (not from concentrate), and watermelon spears.  
5. Access to Facebook and Facetime. Jade loves to put a face to all of the names of people who are rooting for her.
6. Kidz Bop in heavy rotation.
7. Take me to the bathroom! With fluids running 24 hours, trips to the potty are frequent. (I kid you not, there were 18 such trips during Jade's waking hours yesterday.) Jade would rather conserve her energy for line dancing and running through the halls.
8. Nurses are also asked to count to four. No, eleven... Actually, 100 before administering the eye drops. (A shrewd stalling tactic that Jade has developed in an attempt to avoid the every-three-hours eye drops.)
9. There should be no mention of the overnight diapers that are more or less required while she is on fluids and has chemo in her system. It's a big girl point of pride.

 ... A really small price to pay for her comfort and happiness.

Thanks for checking in and keeping Jade in your prayers.  

Today's Counts:
Hemoglobin: 8.1
Platelets: 200
ANC: 8500 (This is not a typo; this is a result of her receiving the GCSF, neutrophil growth factor, for five consecutive days. The purpose is to encourage any leukemic cells that may be "hiding" to develop and show themselves now so that the chemotherapy can destroy them.)