Speed Round 3/1-3/2/2013

I have been trying to remember things to record for Ainsley and our family to look back on in the future. Also, I hope the information can be helpful for others that may be facing similar challenges. But in reality, there's just no way to record it all. There is also no way to express our gratitude for the kindness, prayers, and well-wishes extended to our family. Mandy, Sara, and Amerest: thank you for thinking of all the things we would need before we even knew what they were and for arranging the army of help that we have been so spoiled to have on Team Ainsley.  To try to catch up, yesterday went pretty well. Ainsley did not want to have her dressing site changed but she was tough and handled it well. She does not want to eat much. The Kile family brought her some Nerf dart guns to play with and she and her sisters have had hours of fun. It's amazing how she lights up when her sisters arrive to visit. Part of her Chemotherapy is a heavy dose of steroids, which leads to some very strong emotions. Spicy just got spicier, sweeter just got sweeter, and we are waiting for not hungry to turn in to hungrier. Ainsley has definitely learned how to drive an IV pole. NASCAR and Danica Patrick beware, this girl can drive the IV pole, which I am certain will translate into mad driving skills in the future. She has learned how to change her own urine measuring basin in the toilet, because she doesn't want us to do it for her. She is starting to see life through a face mask as she is now officially Neutropenic (not enough white blood cells to fight infection). This also means that any visitors will need to be sniffle, fever, cough-free for at least 48 hours. 75% of the battle is hand washing, so wash and sanitize those hands!

Curly brown hair and brown eyes have been Ainsley since she was born. One of the first things you notice about her is her hair. She looks at her baby pictures, before it grew long, and asks "why was I a boy when I was a baby?" This has gone on for over a year. We have a girl doll that has no hair and she tells us it looks weird. We have started trying to find pictures of women without hair and talk about how beautiful they are. She is definitely going to need to adjust to losing her hair and we'll have to find lots of ways to help her feel girly when her hair starts falling out, which should be some time over the next few weeks to months.