Let's Make Lemonade!

First off, Melanie received a great card today from Nancy Bodrero (Eric's mother). She thought it was so funny! Here is what it said:

Hang in there...

Sometimes life hands you lemons, but then you can make lemonade.

Of course, sometimes life pulls down your pants, runs a power sander across your naked butt, then pours lemon juice on your raw, abraded buttocks.

In that case, a cool citrus drink wouldn't really help but, darn it...you've got to hang in there anyway!

She was showing the card to all who entered her room. Thank you for making her day and bringing a laugh, Nancy! There were several great things about today. Melanie is no longer having the "moo juice". She is able to eat all on her own. She even had a little bit of a "I Crave Edward, cool mint truffle". Too bad she has never read the books or seen the movie. She is also able to take most of her medicine orally, instead of through her central line. She is so happy about this! Some more good new: They can not detect any leukemic blasts in her blood or spinal fluid! We will have to wait three more weeks to check the bone marrow, but so far she is doing great with the chemo. She has to have a lumbar puncture every Friday (no fun) for the next three weeks. On Dec. 11, they will do a bone marrow biopsy. If there are not blasts detected, she will be in remission, and then she can start the transplant process. Did you get all that?

It was great to sit and spend some time with her today! She let me take some pictures, and I told her I was going to post them.

Melanie introduced me to the game "Farkle". We had fun playing it on her bed. She is wearing the hat, because she is waiting to get her hair cut again. Today was the first day that her hair was starting to come out. Every time she ran her hand through the back of her hair, she came away with a bunch in her fingers. She really just wants to shave it all off, or at least go for a really short cut. She looked great in the new hat!

This was her nurse today. His name is Ben, and unfortunately, he is happily married. He was a lot of fun and has a great sense of humor!

This is one of the PA's named Steve. He said something today that really had Melanie laughing! She mentioned that she was wearing the hat, because she was waiting for her nice haircut. He very slowly put his hands together and asked her in a concerned voice, "You do know that it is all going to fall out don't you?" Melanie should have played along and acted devastated. We were laughing at him all afternoon!

This is how Melanie looks whenever she leaves her room. She has to put on the yellow shield, the mask (which makes her so hot), and towing Shithead (name for her IV cart). We went for a walk, and she was able to do 5 passes today, which is the most she has done so far! Today was a great day! Thank you for all your comments. She loves reading them. It gets a bit emotional for her, but she feels all of your love and concern. Thank you, Thank you!!