Wrapping up June

Sorry for the lag in posts; we've been settling in at home, getting reacclimated to a different kind of schedule. Friday morning we had a meeting and evaluation with the visiting nurse who will be helping us at home with James' central line, blood work, and general check-ins on his status. After reviewing his treatment plan, she said to me, "You and I will become good friends." I'll take all the friends I can get in this!

Speaking of good friends, we need to thank from the bottom of our family's collective heart, ALL of the people at Fairpoint, Hall School (James' school), DBC and Lollipop Lane day care. We could never have imagined such an outpouring of support! We are deeply touched....more than all the words on this blog can even begin to say.

Friday was also Jack's 3rd birthday. Those Terrible Twos turned into the Tres Tempermental Threes. Poor little guy has been juggled around quite a bit the past few weeks, so it's all very understandable, but I can see we've got to dig our feet in a bit deeper with him now, as he digs his in deeper. He does still catch me off guard each time he asks James "Do you feel better?" or "Are you happy now?" with a big genuinely interested smile on his face. And I think he surprises James with it too, since it has for the most part made James smile.

The weekend was relatively quiet. It started with a few special deliveries on Friday from work, a buddy of J's from school & from our Turner family. Saturday involved a brief trip to Toys R Us to satisfy James' ever increasing Lego obsession, and Sunday was a quiet day spent mostly at home. Don had a break from all the action at home, and got out of town for the day with the boys. As his cousin reminded him today..."Hey Don, there's this new thing out now...it's called SPF...you might want to check it out." Love the vest, Susie Q.

James has had a break from the physical and occupational therapy since we've been home, and has yet to complain about it. He certainly seems more relaxed at home and willing to walk a bit more on his own, but we know...and he knows...the therapy will make its way back into our schedules.

So, sure enough, just when we get used to this pace, there's a little hill ahead of us. Today we took a trip back to the hospital for a day surgery visit. This shorter stay was for the insertion of the catheter port that will be used for IV chemotherapy and blood tests, a spinal tap to check the spinal fluid for any tumor "crumbs" (as we've started to call them for James' understanding), and the removal of the stitches on the back of his head from the initial surgery.

Surgery went well for James; he was asleep before even getting wheeled into the O.R....but my first trip into the operating room certainly left an impression. People keep asking how I'm doing, and for the most part my reply has been "OK." But there are moments...like standing in that white, bright room, with our little boy lying on that table, albeit peacefully asleep, that finally hit my heart, that even now 10 hours later...I'm not so okay. It's strange how it's creeping up on me little by little, each step of the way, as yet one more doctor talks to us about "risks," or as worry about J's flushed cheeks, and wonder if the moodiness he's exhibiting really is just because of the steroids. My mantra seems to have become "one step at a time" in more than one sense.

On that note, we've got June wrapped up. So far, we're doing pretty well considering. We'll take July one day at a time as well. With our love and thanks again - Jenn