Violet Brielle Spataro

Just 7 days following Violet's last chemotherapy treatment her blood tests showed that her ANC had dropped from 904 to only 96. This was a drastic drop, especially knowing that she hadn't reached her lowest point in the month yet which is commonly day 14. We knew that we just had to continue what we were doing in keeping Violet isolated and maintaining as much of a germ free environment as possible. As I was feeding Violet her dinner 1 week later she started to cry out of nowhere. Josh and I looked at each other very concerned because we could tell something wasn't right from her sudden cry. I felt her forehead and she felt hot to me. When I had put her in her highchair to eat she had felt fine. So, I asked Josh to feel her and he thought she felt ok to him. He took her out of her highchair and brought her to the couch with him to calm her. Then, as I was cleaning up after Violet's dinner he said to me, "Actually, Shenay, she does feel hot." Immediately, I...

On Thursday of last week my mom and I took Violet to the hospital for her labs (blood tests) and chemotherapy infusion. It was a difficult start to the day when the nurse went to access Violet's port. She began to cry before the nurse even started since she knew what was going to happen. My singing and her favorite toy couldn't distract her at all this time. Violet was upset and focused on what was happening to her. It was tough for all of us. Usually, Violet recovers quickly from the port accessing and is fine while we wait for her lab results, but on this day she was just not having it. She cried and fussed for the next couple of hours. It broke our hearts. It is very rare for Violet to cry or fuss for more than a few minutes because she is just such a happy and content little girl. We were called in to see her doctor and so we had to stop in the first room to get her vitals. Violet cried for each step: blood pressure, temperature, weight and height. She usually does not ...

Happy baby = happy mama. Last Thursday, Violet had her blood work done to see if her counts had started to finally come back up. Due to a mix up with her appointment, we did not have to stay to speak to the doctor after her labs. They let us know that they would just call us with her results. We were able to leave right away, so this meant she did not have to keep the line in her port-a-cath. That made all the difference in the world! They accessed her port, drew the blood, and then de-accessed right away. Violet didn't cry and that made me so happy. After hours had passed and no call from the hospital, I called them (this is usually how it goes). I was put in touch with a nurse who let me know that all of Violet's counts had started to come back up. I was so relieved to hear this. Her ANC was at almost zero the week before and it had now reached the 700 range. This took Violet out of the severe category to the moderate category for deficiency (normal is 1800). I was also tol...