From Indiana

We made it safe and sound to my parents house. James and I got to spend a very romantic anniversary at the clinic and in the car. Not really what romantic dreams are made of but at least we were together.
The day at clinic was much longer than we expected (oh that hospital time gets me!). We arrived around 11. We gave Alivia her last dose of hydroxyurea before we left home. So when we got to clinic we got her port access (she did great as always) and went to have lunch while we waited for the results. There was a lot of confusion about when to give the Gleevac, how, and if we could even get it (insurance still hasn't authorized it yet). So we left for lunch not sure what the rest of the clinic visit would look like. Our docs nurse (who is new) Melissa actually tracked us down in the cafeteria and said that they would have us see our doc and check her liver enzymes because they were elevated for the first time last visit (didn't know that) and if they were any higher then there wouldn't be any Gleevac today. She also mentioned that if Alivia didn't take the meds orally they would put in an NG (think thats what its called) tube...meaning a tube that goes up her nose into her stomach. That way I would dissolve the meds in water and put it through the tube. No one (including all the nurses) thinks this is a good idea for Alivia. She is such a picker...if she can de-access her port and that is a needle then she could easily take the tube out. So we called my parents and James' parents and asked for prayer that we could get the meds down without the tube.
We got back from lunch and got her number. The WBC's had gone back up to 83 (from 74 on Wednesday) but her Reds and plateletes stayed pretty stable. So no need for transfusion. We finally saw our doctor. He was one of only 2 docs in clinic and was so swamped and behind. I think he was having a pretty rough day. We talked and he said that we would try over the weekend to give the Gleevac with this cherry flavored syrup (which we had Alivia taste and she liked)...the only problem being that the cherry syrup might make the meds inaffective. They are going to do a bunch of research and talk to a bunch of pharmisists that might have had to give Gleevac to little kids. So if on Monday they find that the cherry syrup isn't good or Alivia won't take it wit the cherry syrup we are getting the tube.
Then we got to wait and wait and wait for the meds to be ready. The 4 Diamonds fund finally authorized payment (cause insurance still hasn't) and then it took forever for the pharmacy to get it ready (cause counting out pills is very hard). By this time Alivia was so tired and ready for a bottle. I really wanted to try to give her the Gleevac before we left clinic so that we wouldn't have to do it later and so that the nurses could help out a bit.
Finally the meds arrived and Joanne and Holly helped us get all ready (pill crusher, cherry syrup, spoon, medicine cup, chemo gloves... the works). I crushed the pill then gave Alivia a spoonful of just the cherry syrup. She gulped it down. then we mixed in the crushed meds and spooned it into her mouth. She made a little face but took it all. We even had to clean the medicine cup with more cherry syrup and she ate that too. I was so excited, thankful and relieved. We got on the road around 4 and were home by about 7. Alivia did great on the car ride..even though she only slept for about the first 1 and 1/2 hours. She is the sweetest.

Please pray that the cherry syrup doesn't make the medicine inaffective.
Pray that the Gleevac does only good things to Alivia
Pray for complete healing WITHOUT a transplant.
Pray for peace for James and I. We have had some people share some horrible, sad, depressing stories about transplant and I know for me it is so discouraging. I need so much to only hear good stories right now. All others just eat at me.