Charlotte is having a tough time right now. And therefore we all are. She is so tired and grumpy. Most importantly she is not eating, anything, voluntarily. We are trying everything we can think of, old favourites, fruits, new sweets and treats but she is just not interested in eating. Our healthy diet has taken a back seat. On someone who only weighed 11.4 kgs at the start of treatment there is not a lot of room for weight loss. Within two weeks Charlotte’s weight is down to 10kg, this is the number that in the past our doctors said they would want to see a feeding tube. There are a couple of factors here; one is that she is having radiation and full anaesthetic every weekday- this makes her very tired, the second is that she is on a chemo drug that knocks out her appetite. Rob and I have resorted to forcing in what Yolanda calls “Magic Juice,” basically a thick green sludge of blended spinach, carrots, and apples. We draw up a 10ml syringe every 15 to 20 minutes and pin her writhing little body down. She cries and puts up a fuss, some ends up squirted on the ceiling, most goes down with much gagging... and we do it again in 15 minutes. Once she has gotten a few of these in she seems to perk up a bit and not fuss so much. We can see the effects of getting food in immediately, the days we get more in the better disposition she has too.
We just found out today that her chemo is going to be cycled- take it for 21 days, off for 7. Today was day two of being off the drug; hopefully we will see her perk up for a few days.
We have two things that we would appreciate your prayers for.
The first is if you would please keep Charlotte in prayer at 8:00 every weekday morning, this is the time that she has her radiation. We are praying that God will heal her through this treatment. Some specifics would be that radiation does its job, succeeds in killing any trace of tumour. That anaesthesia goes well each morning- that we will not have to up her dose should her body become used to the amounts used. (Some days she comes out happier than others, some days we can sneak in her eating a cup of yogurt while she is waking up- before she is protesting.) Also pray that Gods protection will be over her and any side effects will be nonexistent, both short-term and long term. That damage to other areas of her brain will be negligible.
The second is for her appetite. That she will be given the strength to start eating again, without any drugs intervention. That she will not be too tired to eat, and that she will not be so tired from not eating. She needs her strength for her treatments and for that she needs to eat. This would take a huge burden off of Rob and me, not having to chase her down with syringes all day.
Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragements. We appreciate hearing that we are in your prayers- facebook, emails, comments on the blog- these messages are all cherished.
