| June 13, 2004 Sunday
The last few days have been better than last week for Paige. By late Thursday evening she was having horrible pain in her right leg, below her ears due to enlarged lymph nodes also the numerous skull tumors were causing her a lot of pain. During the night Thursday she was receiving 6.5mg an hour of morphine plus the boluses which were topping her off some hours at 12mg. With this amount of morphine she was comfortable, but very sedated. Andy spoke with Dr. Akl Friday and we took her in for radiation to the skull, orbits and right knee. We can definitely tell that the radiation has helped and we were able to decrease her morphine back to 3mg continuous per hour. She's been pretty tired the last 2 days. Overall the appetite and oral fluid intake is poor, but she will sometimes surprise us like Friday night when she ate a small plate of general chicken and rice and then drank an entire can of pop - Diet Dr. Pepper by her request. At this point we'll get her any food or drink she requests :) On Saturday we stayed around the house and then went out to dinner with friends while Nana, Pop-pop and Grandma stayed here with Paige. Even though we felt guilty leaving her, it gave the grandparents time with her and gave us some much-needed time out with friends. It's amazing how a few good laughs can lift your spirits. They were having a carnival downtown so we strolled through and listened to the band and even rode the ferris wheel. What a nice time it was. This afternoon we went to Grandma's house for a cook out and some pool time. Nana and Pop-pop and Uncle Ron, Aunt Chris in the girls were also there. Her little friend Kennedy also visited. We were hoping that Paige would let us take her in the pool since she's always been such a water puppy, as her Daddy calls her. But, she really didn't want much to do with it. She sat porch swing and watched everyone in between napping. She enjoyed seeing cousin Ashley and our dog Levi swimming along with everyone else. Even though Paige didn't geel like getting in the water, it was so good for her to be outside. Thanks for taking the time to check on Paige. We're so grateful for all of the support you continue to give. Love, Andy, Sandi & Paige |