On Friday night, Lauren and I went to our first father/daughter dance at her school. The dance was for k - 5th grade. Lauren was very excited to go. I think mostly because her best friend and next door neighbor Madysen was going. Lauren started the night with a slight cough and after a semi-long wait in the chilly night, we finally got inside. Once inside we were immediately spotted by Madysen and her dad. We also saw some of Lauren's other classmates, Trinity and Paige. It's both cute and a little disturbing to listen to girls talk and compliment each others outfits and shoes. Right off the bat, we started dancing. I think Lauren was quite impressed with how well I did the "running man," "roger rabbit" and how I could still "pop." But it was very nice to see Lauren shaking her hip to the music. It was the most active she has been in months. After three dances, we took our formal pictures, she had some cake and she was done for the night. As I posted on my Facebook, it was a typical date for me with "My date wanting me to take her home early." Oh well. It was still a very special night for me.

Low light of the night: Seeing all the other girls dancing, laughing, jumping around, in a congo line, while Lauren stood there watching expressionless.

Highlight of the night, other than dancing with Lauren, was when they made an announcement for all the mothers who were attending the dance and taking pictures, to get out. Mother and son have their own event, apparently its laser tag.

The night of excitement really took a toll on Lauren the next day, she had a slight temperature and her cough was really bad and she was wheezing. We wouldn't have been surprised if we had to take her to the ER. Luckily her temperature came down. She slept most of the day, which proved she wasn't feeling well, but it was nice since she has had insomnia the past couple of weeks. Getting up 4 or 5 times a night to pee or poop. She has been so worried about peeing that she can't stop thinking about it, which of course makes you have to pee. That night we were supposed to start her procarbazine. It's a 50 mg capsule taken for 14 straight days. We decided to go for it. Thankfully, she handled it great.

Other stuff:

- Lauren is going up to CHLA to meet with Dr. Finlay today. Hil wants her breathing/wheezing checked out. Hopefully they will also lower her Decadron (steroid) from 1 mg twice a day to either 1 mg a day or 1.5 a day. The hardest part about this setback, other than the tumor becoming active again, is Lauren's personality. Right now she is just the shell of her old self. The chatterbox is gone and for the most part, her smiles. Most of the time she just sits there staring off into space and doesn't really converse anymore. Were hoping that this is due to the Decadron. For me, her personality change is the biggest threat to my hope. If she could just regain her chatterbox and smiley self I would feel 1,000x better. I/we miss the old Lauren.

- We noticed a lot of fallen hair on her pillow and after her bath the other day. While we actually thought she was cute when she was bald, we just worried about how she'd feel if she lost her hair again.

- She is still having poop issues. Her belly is really big. We're loading her up with stool softeners, Miralax, and fruits & vegetables. There are other ways of clearing her, but I think they are very intrusive.