First of all, thank you Mom and Dad, who have been staying with my sister until all hours at the hospital while Dru is recovering (and helping them with the mundane chores around the house, so they can focus on Peyton)...and thank you for keeping me in the loop during the weekdays when I am holding down the fort here on Long Island.

Well, today was a real emotional roller coaster. Kristin woke up with a scratchy throat and opted to stay home with Dru (who is also still sick). At 10 am she was in touch with the hospital, and was told some pretty scary news. Peyton, who had sounded congested since last night, went for a chest x-ray. They found fluid in her lungs, and Peyton was having a lot of difficulty with breathing. She was placed on oxygen and given some more medication. This news of fluid in the lungs was very concerning as Peyton doesn't have the ability to fight off any kind of infection right now (since the chemo destroys her white cells in an effort to get rid of the leukemia), so pneumonia at this point can be life-threatening. Anyway, the doctors also did an ultrasound of the liver. Peyton has had a yellow skin tone, due to elevated bilirubin levels, so they were concerned that she may have a mass in the liver. Anyway, at 3 pm I received the update. Peyton responded well to the medication to clear out her lungs and is, once again, breathing on her own without oxygen. And the liver ultrasound showed that there is no mass. As the chemo kills the leukemia cells, the liver holds these cells in an effort to try to get rid of them from the body. This is what has been resulting in her elevated bilirubin and skin tone. So, it was a scary day, but little Peyton continues to fight.

Anyway, here are some pictures of Peyton from this week.