Things That Were Good About Today

- Mollie & Lucy chipping in to help clean up
- having some potential buyers look at our house
- making progress on the bathroom (downstairs bathroom now)
- Mollie and Daisy dressing up in old wedding dresses and veils (thanks Jen/Uncle Robert/Sam)
- barbecuing with our whole family +my dad +Sam (delicious!)
- Lucy dining al fresco (au naturel)
- chasing fireflies

Tomorrow (June 6) is National Cancer Survivors' Day. I think we'll have cupcakes to celebrate.

Just Keep Swimming

Mollie had her last day of steroids yesterday and is doing just fine. The increased dose made the effects of the steroids a little stronger this time, but as long as we kept her busy and full of sandwiches from Panera, she was happy. It helped a lot to have my dad here and my brother in law, Uncle Sam. We went to Greenjackets game to see fireworks and ended up leaving early because it rained so much and Mollie was getting grouchy. On Sunday, we had a nice barbecue with our friends at Clarks Hill reservoir. It poured for a little while, but we did get to enjoy a little sun and spending time together.

This week it is just chipping away at the chore list. Mollie got a little play time with Isabella and Nadira today, but she is still feeling the effects of the steroids so she mostly wanted to stay close to me. Hopefully tomorrow she'll feel back to her normal self and I'm hoping the weather will cooperate.

We signed up for the library's summer reading program and family story time at the library. Mollie is quite the reader these days and reads every sign we see on the road. It is quite the challenge to get in enough quiet reading time with Liam in the mix. I might have to institute a few minutes of DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) each day for Mollie and Lucy.

Clinic Update

Mollie showing her port, already accessed and taped up

Mollie's LP went smoothly yesterday! It was a long day- we didn't leave the hospital until 3 PM and didn't get home until 5 because we went out for pizza. Mollie was so great- she hardly complained at all (remember, she was fasting all that time) and was sweet as could be when she woke up from the procedure. According to her treatment protocol, this was her last LP (for IT methotrexate). She also got IV vincristine. This starts her last 84-day 'round' of chemo (I feel so ambivalent about this).

Her counts remained high (ANC = 2400); because they have been above 2000 for 3 months in a row, she will now take an increased chemo dose (125%) and go back in two weeks to have counts checked. I will feel much more at ease if we see the counts dipping in two weeks. The steroid dose went up too and we can really tell. It seems like just a few minutes after her first dose her brain was going a mile a minute! She is napping right now, but when she's awake we have to keep her busy or she gets really grumpy.

We saw Zackary in clinic- he had Mollie running around and playing Candyland, a great distraction for her! It was great to see Carrie- now that Zackary is done with treatment, we don't see them as often. Sadly, we also saw another family in clinic that had just found out their son had relapsed with neuroblastoma after 18 months with no evidence of disease. We really feel for them and pray for Gabe's full recovery.

cr- - (rhymes with sap)

We forgot Mollie's appointment today. I thought it was next Monday and didn't bother to double check. I feel awful because it was a spinal tap appointment (her last one!). Medically, it doesn't make any difference when she has the LP, as long as it is this week, but I really do feel terrible for forgetting. Since the office was closed by the time we realized, we have to call first thing in the morning and see if we should bring her in tomorrow or schedule for later this week. Ugh.

We still have a million other things going on (still no official move date Nicola). I'm really stressed about moving, selling our house, etc. We are going to have to move twice: into a rental house until our house sells and then we will purchase a house. This weighs heavily. I have never been stretched so thin in my entire life. I don't know how we are going to make this move happen; I keep hoping the stars will align and things will just fall into place.

The good news is that Mollie and Lucy had a good first official day of summer vacation. They played in the pool, helped me do some painting, made a fort out of a big box we had, and ate pizza for dinner. My dad is here helping with the kids and I am really thankful for a little help!

Update: Mollie will go for her spinal tap on Thursday. Now I just have to remember to NOT give her methotrexate tonight (she it getting IT MTX during her LP on Thurs. so she doesn't get the oral MTX that week).

Fish Sitting

We are taking care of our neighbors' fish while they are at Disneyworld (Jealous!), and Mollie and Lucy are in love. They can't wait to feed Little Tommy every day. You would think they got a puppy or kitten to listen to them talk to him, but he is just a red betta fish. We might consider getting a betta of our own after Little Tommy goes home.

We had a great weekend. My dad arrived and has been helping keep the kids entertained while Matt and I tackle projects around the house. Isabella's family took Mollie strawberry picking with them on Saturday. We are now enjoying the fruits of their labor- a huge basket of strawberries! We have plan to make some fresh strawberry ice cream tomorrow and we have already enjoyed them plain, in salad, and in smoothies.

The girls spent most of the day yesterday playing in our backyard pool (a tiny baby pool on the deck, but they love it!). We think Liam is busy working on a tooth, but he enjoyed sticking his feet in the pool too. Mollie seems to be over her cough/cold and is not complaining of headaches any more.

This will be the first week of summer vacation- we plan to start the library summer reading program, make ice cream, and enjoy the nice weather. Mollie wants to shout hello to Mr. Morgan, her PE teacher. She misses him already!

School's Out

Waiting for the bus on the last day of school

It is so hard for me to believe this school year over! I can remember how nervous I felt in the weeks leading up to Mollie's first day of kindergarten. There are so many people who have made this year special- Mr. B the bus driver, Mrs. Swenson and Mrs. Partridge, Mollie's teachers, Michelle for running Girl Scouts, plus the school nurse, secretary, and the parents in Mollie's class.

My sweet little pre-schooler has turned into a toothless, shoe-tying, adding and subtracting reader who is ready for first grade! Watch out world!

We are really going to miss Stevens Creek; it will be hard for any other school to measure up.

Cancer Club

Our bathroom is done and I am trying to get our last 2 projects finished: house painting and yard work. Any volunteers? I am having all sorts of mixed emotions right now. I miss my husband when he stays up in Charlotte. I really don't want to move, but it is time to stop prolonging the inevitable and just get on with it now.

Yesterday I met with 3 other cancer moms and their kids at a local park (not clinic!) to hang out. This was not a formal support group (we don't have one here), just a meeting of friends. It was so nice to be among kindred spirits for the whole afternoon. Even though we all come from different backgrounds and have different families and lifestyles, we are all in the same club. They get it. We don't have to explain to each other.

Our conversations drifted from how much fast food we eat while in the hospital to long term fears to sillybands. It helps to know that other moms have days where they just. can't. do. anything. Except cry. They also wonder why this happened to their child, are interested in environmental explanations (drinking water, air, organic foods), and wish that they had more help & more money.

School is winding down, my dad is coming to help out for a few weeks, and hopefully we will make some forward progress in the next few months. We really need the real estate fairies to help us out!!