Great news! It's the "good" cancer (?)

Aria has been diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia), the most common type of childhood leukemia. It is curable, which is the only reason I have the ability to write. Or breathe.

ALL is called the "good" kind of leukemia because it has a higher survival rate (80% average) than the "bad" kind (that's AML, which is ~50%).

More on that later. Let's talk "Aria!"

She is sleeping in the hospital bed next to me at Loyola Medical Center. It's been 12+ hours since she needed  an oxygen mask. She's also gone more than 24 hours without:

• a fever (which repeatedly hit 105 for several days)
• tachycardia (her heat beat had been in the 160s, even when the fever would wane. Normal is 60 to 80 at normal temps, or up to 110 with a fever.)

Her lymph node is a little less swollen. Her belly a little less distended. Her feet are less swollen, and her face again looks like her own (a Resident entirely lacking in social skills noted, "Oh, she's so much cuter than she was a couple of days ago.")

She is still pale, but not vampire-like. She needs a shampoo something fierce. So do I.

She made a couple of jokes yesterday, an event that was -- in no uncertain terms -- fucking fantastic. Aria is a funny little girl with killer facial expressions, and I had deeply missed her personality this past week.

She's also back to sucking on her fingers and rubbing her soft blanket on the tip of her nose. These behaviors are "her," and they mean she's "back," and right now, that's....enough.

There are 8 prognostic factors that will determine how hard they have to work to cure Aria. We have answers to more than half of those already. They are all big, fat gold stars in her favor. Stay tuned!

Thank You Post of the Day: My cousin Shannon, a pediatric oncology nurse, spent at least 25 hours here this week, allowing me to vent, helping me navigate all the medical information, communicating with relatives and friends, coordinating assistance, and comforting me in exactly the way that I needed. Thank you, Shannon.