Thursday, November 24, 2011

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Sorry for so few posts lately.  I find it difficult to blog because trying to stay in the moment uses all my energy and when I blog I find myself whirling with "what-ifs".  While Lisa looks great and is doing remarkably well given our scare a few weeks ago, I feel like I'm holding my breath and am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Docs were able to determine that the radiation seems to have shrunk the tumor in her brain but they would like to see an MRI of her spine in 2 weeks when she does all of her other scans.  Sooooo....it's not so much what the docs have said that makes me uneasy, it's what's not being said and the "looking" and "waiting".

How dreary of a post....this is why I haven't blogged lately!  Switching modes....HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

When I woke this morning I started thinking about what I'm thankful for:
  • a wonderful husband,
  • 4 kids who today are all happy, laughing and not in the hospital,
  • great family and friends
  • food, clothes and a more then 1 roof for over our heads
Today is a day of thanks and no plans.  We are spending it at the lakehouse watching football, eating lots of food, and enjoying our family.

Hope you all have a wonderful turkey day as you count your blessings.

Gobble! Gobble!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Radiation is complete!




After a relatively quick 12 radiation sessions Lisa is home and enjoying the fall weekend without looming treatments next week. The only appointment she has next week is a checkup on Tuesday. She seems to be feeling "fine" and eating plenty. I even suspect a little growth spurt as a few articles of clothing seem to be getting smaller. That could be a result of dads great cooking too. He is the "best cook in the whole wide world" as Lisa so often tells him. (Hey, it's her little world so let's just go with it.)

The folks at the Radiation Oncology department and the Child Life Specialist at UofM are awesome. Lisa left after her last treatment with balloons, a big unicorn pillow pet, shirt, blanket, and more and she was very happy about that. Thank you! She said she wants to go back on Saturday and give them a thank you card for being so nice, but we'll probably just wait until Tuesday to drop that off.

Another shout out to the Klenczar family that passed on a little singing duck to Lisa that they thought she would like. She did love it and very much! I should let you know that that little ducky has been singing and flapping it's wings since it came to stay with us. Thank you! So many wonderful "perfect strangers" make this whole ordeal just a little more bearable.

This weekend marks the open house of the Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. It's a beautiful new building with all kinds of fancy schmancy cutting edge technology but as always it's the people that seem to make it shine. In my opinion, anyone that works at a children's hospital are truly cut from precious cloth. Thank you for what you do. The fact that Lisa is still here with us is in large part to your great care.

Here's a few pictures of Lisa that I hope will brighten your day. Thanks all!