Hi Everyone,

      So here we are on day 3 of a five day stint in the hospital. We have learned many new and interesting things. We learned that she misses home and her family and friends immensely!!! She is very home sick. We have learned that fresh flowers are not a good idea on the hemotology\ Oncology floor of any hospital because there tends to be bacteria and mold spores in the dirt that can cause serious problems with Anya and all of the patients in the ward. (Anya's Mom brought a potted plant on accident and the nurses were pretty rough ;D ) We learned that some kids have have latex allergies so only Mylar balloons are allowed on the floor too.

     Anya's new best friend is a really skinny guy named B.Y.O.B (pronounced Bob) [Bring Your Own Bag] Sometimes he rolls around with a scarf(maybe Ascot is the more manly way to pronounce that)((maybe not)) sometimes he descides to accesorize with the Doctors stethascope, or not. He always has his bells and whistles though. We found out that if he travels on the elevator he tends to get the hiccups. We went on an excursion to the Stars cafe on the first floor and as soon as we arrived, the hiccups just would not stop and his whistles went off and we had to leave with our lunches in hand to get the hiccups worked out.

     We have learned that Anya loves craft projects. Some of her friends have brought wonderful little craft projects like a heart shaped jewlery box that she can paint with markers and a pink cat that she can decorate. Also she has a few different journals that have already been put to good use. Anya would like to thank everyone who has been able to come out for a visit or have sent a little gift. It truly does brighten her day and her spirits to see so many friends and recieve all of your emails, cards and well wishes as we begin this journey all together.

      She apologizes for not being able to reply back quite as quickly as she would like. The chemo therapy zaps her strength pretty quickly. We have been working with the nursing staff today to find a good combination of medications to balance the amount of chemicals to kill the cancer cells but also to counter act the side effects of nausea and pain. The side effects are not severe, but annoying. Add on top of that her desire to be home and she comes out a little "Blahhh!!!!" as she describes it.
We have one more full day (Tuesday) here in the hospital, and sometime early Wednesday we should be discharged to go home. From there we have a clinic visit on Friday for a Chemo "Booster" and then she is home for another week. After that, starting on the 17th she will be back in for her next five day "camping trip"...So far so good.