Just breathe...

That's what I had to keep reminding myself to do at the hospital, today!  It's not a good feeling when your child's room is "reserved for anaphylactic medications"!  

Hard on the nerves to read the sign, but good to know a well-trained staff is ready to reverse reactions, since it's such a prevalent problem.  Loving nanny Nicole encourages Caleb to eat a snack. 

Armed with multiple Epi-pens and monitoring closely for reactions, Caleb's medical team was prepared to combat a potentially life-threatening allergy from this type of chemo. Our nurse told us to all watch for itching, hives, a cough, swollen lips, etc.  Of course, the first time Caleb scratched his leg, I almost had a panic attack! :-)  He didn't know about possible reactions, so he wasn't doing it to give me a hard time either... although I'm sure he would've loved to do that since he's fairly ornery on his steroids right now.  :-)

Emotions were running high throughout the process.  All you can do in a situation like that is hope for the absolute best and be prepared for the worst.  Oh, and just breathe!  Praying helped a lot, and I believe that's the reason we didn't  have to go to "Plan B".  I hugged Courage the Lion just as much as Caleb did today. :-)

Few smiles this week from our typically enthusiastic boy.

There is still a risk of anaphylactic shock for two more weeks, but an Epi-pen won't leave his side.  We feel confident this is NOT going to happen.  

It's been a tough week.  Even steroids haven't helped much with appetite, as Cal has been nauseous & has had a tough time keeping food down.  I take back what I said.  It would be my HONOR to make him fish and pancakes, with an extra helping of syrup on the side!  :)

Thanks for all of your words of encouragement this week.  As God promises & my mom often reminds me, "This too, shall pass."