August 28, 2006

Leah the school girl with sister Chloe

Leah has survived and enjoyed her first week of school. I thought she might be nervous/scared her first day, but she told me later that she was just excited. She seems to be getting along fine and has a lot to report at home as well about what goes on during the day. Considering the fact that she has gone from no schedule--or a very loose one during the summer- for bedtime and getting up, she is doing a good job of waking up in the morning, getting dressed, eating breakfast and getting out the door so Mom is not late to school. Chloe is also doing a great job of adusting back to full-time daycare. There have not been any tears yet when we drop her off, either. Both girls are very excited to see the other one by the end of the day--for a few minutes. They love playing at home together and have plenty of time to still get a few good fights in during the evening hours. While I cannot say that I was excited to get back to school, I have appreciated how wonderful it has felt to be back in a routine (even if it is busy) and work at something I enjoy. I will admit that both Chris and I still check blogsites each and every day and cancer is still a very real part of our daily lives. We have heard from others that it will take time for this to stop being so all-consuming. We pray we reach that point and that Leah is healed and that our lives can move forward-and while we will never have the lives we once did, that we can find some positives from this experience and ways to help others.

Other highlights of the past week include Denver Days. (This probably does not rank up there for Chris or myself but it does for the girls). We were able to watch the parade on Saturday, walk down to the midway that evening and attend Praise in the Park on Sunday. On Friday night we missed the fireworks which was a bummer to the girls. We ended up having a family movie night and watched Arthur's Missing Pal. Leah and Chloe laid out blankets and pillows and requested popcorn with M&Ms (I think Roshaun turned Leah onto this). We turned out the lights and all watched the movie together. Somehow this movie kept the girls on the edge of their seats because they were just sure Pal was going to have something bad happen to him. I think I dozed off somewhere in the middle.

Our next Iowa City appointment is on September 29. This seems so far away right now. It is the longest we have gone without a trip there and while that should seem great, it is also a bit worrisome. Iowa City is a safety net of sorts and while they are watching and monitoring things daily or weekly it feels a lot more comfortable and a lot more like we are in charge of what is going on than when we have 5 weeks in between visits. However, it is plenty of time for everyone to keep praying for a very low AFP and good, clear scan results. Dr. Rahdi has mentioned that if this CT is clear we will talk about removing Leah's port after that visit. We continue to rely on everyone's prayers and are so grateful that so many people continue to remember Leah each and every day.