Feeling Good

It was a good week for Ida - she was in good spirits and generally happy. We just hope it's going to continue like that.
Tomorrow she'll get some chemo (vincristine) and go on cortisone again (she had a week break with that). Apparently this vincristine does not effect her blood values but she may have bone pain or constipation from it. Nothing serious this week though. Her blood values (levels of hemoglobin, white blood cells etc.) are good, so hopefully Ida is going to keep on feeling like she did.
She is incredibally cute. Here she is checking some tunes on the iPod...

What's else? My mother is here for a visit, and Ida likes playing with her. Thanks for all the people back home who sent gifts and regards for Ida.

Her favorite movie lately is Kung Fu Panda (recommended!) and today she got a little panda toy and was very exited.

In the coming week Ida would eat cortisone again, and in the weeks after that - some new drugs she did not take before. The cortisone has some side effects; Ida got very hungry at times, had some problems sleeping but nothing too bad.

I don't want to sound too optimistic as there is still a long way to go. We do feel the worse is behind us but you never know... This treatment is far from being risk-free... In the hospital we meet other parents and it's always strange when they ask 'how is Ida'. We don't want to sound as if it's all good because their child might be much worse. On the other hand we don't want to bring up the bad stuff so they won't feel sorry for us.

For real - I don't think anyone should feel sorry for me, I have the most beautiful little girl in the world, she is sick now but that does not change a thing. Here we are together.

No Excuses

Ida had treatments for more than 3 months now, and it's becoming a part of life.
She eats. Not much, beside when having cortisone on the menu... (in the last few days she's eating like crazy). She tries to be happy, even though it's obvious it's hard on her and she misses a lot of a healthy child life.
Beside the physical stuff, she is kind of bored doing the same things every day and not seeing other people. Today she was in the hospital the whole day, got to play with a friend (Melea, 6 months older than Ida, ALL) and had a great time. She cried when she had to go home. Hopefully she'll be well enough to visit the daycare with Camilla for a few hours later this week.

We spoil her. As we should (I'm actually very happy to see her eating chocolate).
Ida is a very clever girl and she knows exactly what's going on. So she makes most of the decision around the house right now... She wants to do everything by herself. She loves water and animals, she talks a little bit, and understands everything (Swedish + Hebrew) and as you see is very cute.

The only thing that still worries is the (lack of) walking. Ida recognize the existence of walking but does not really go there... In the hospital we're being told that a drug Ida is getting (vincristine) may cause bone pains. She is getting this drug every Monday this month.

(It's actually a pretty brutal part of the treatment)

Mentally Ida is way pass walking and beside crawling (forward and backwards) she is getting around in a variety of ways. She tries to walk on her knees (slow), gliding on an object she wants to transport, crawling on 3 with one hand holding something (uncomfortable). Preferably mama or papa carries her.

But she has to take her medicine. The feeding tube went out a couple of weeks ago and Ida needs to eat her medicine. We dissolve the pills in water inside a syringe and Ida drinks it. She does not appreciate it very much and often resist, but she knows she has to. In the hospital she is a star and tries to assist the nurses as much as she can...

It's not easy but it could be worse. In the first weeks in the hospital we saw all the playing kids in the corridors while Ida could not leave the bed, speak or eat. It's the opposite now with children who just start the treatment.

I promise to update the blog more often. It's nice to know people out there care about Ida and missed reading about her. Those of you who speaks Swedish (or wants to look at the pics) should check out Camilla's blog.