School

I decided to try to take Ally into school today for about 45 minutes. Tomorrow she is going into school and one of the nurse practioners from the hospital is doing a presentation to the whole first grade. So I thought today we would get some of the hellos done, and let her see all of her precious school friends. We got there at recess time, right after lunch. We walked out onto the playground and her principal, Mrs. Walk, was the first one to spot her. We love her and they hugged immediately. Then a few friends spotted her. Then they started yelling to other friends. "Ally's here. Ally's back" Several kids just started screaming and running towards her. It was quite touching. They really love her. Next thing I know, they have corralled her under the slide. She has kids under there with her and maybe 20 more kids standing around. I saw three boys from her class run a beeline from one side of the playground to where they were at. I believe she was showing them her bead necklace...I will show that on another post. It was just so cute. Of course, no camera on me to capture the moment. But I think the picture is etched into my brain for a while. They really love her and just treated her like a rock star.

Then we went into her classroom. The kids could not stop hugging her, hanging on her. One little girl, Alannah, was saying how sad she had been looking at Ally's empty desk and chair all this time. Another little girl, Alex, wanted to give Ally her barrettes. Several brought cards to her. Her teacher, Ms LeVesseur, let her sit in front of the class and talk. Again, she showed her bead necklace. They asked her lots of questions. Did it hurt? How did you go to sleep for your surgery? How will her hair come out? Were they nice to you? Can she come back to school? Most of the kids were just bursting with stories about other ailments they had. Raising their hands to say they get allergy shots every week, or my brother had stitches, or I got bit by a dog once, or I broke my arm once. You could just see their minds racing. First grade, a good age.

So we emptied out her desk and she told me her stomach was starting to hurt. I decided to leave quickly. We got about 20 feet down the hall and I saw that she was super wobbly. Her legs were like spaghetti. She really couldn't walk anymore and then she just went down. Right there in the hall. She didn't loss conciousness, but she couldn't go anymore either. I was panicking a little bit and trying to figure out a way to get her out of there. I kept hoping she did not faint again. I was going to try to put her on my back. Luckily, a few minutes later, Mrs Walk saw us sitting there right in the middle of the hall. They have a wheelchair at the school, so we got her into that and got her out to the car. It scared me to death. I just don't know what I am up against anymore. I never know when/if something is going to happen. And I hope that I didn't push her too far.

Tonight we had to watch this DVD that they are showing everybody tomorrow at school. It is called "Why, Charlie Brown. Why?" Ally had just finished her bath and I was drying her hair. It was sad for us. The little girl has leukemia and doesn't want to go on the swings at school. She goes to the nurse, has a fever, and ends up in the hospital. Linus and Charlie Brown go visit her there and they walk away crying for their little friend. She had all the things Ally had...finger pricks, IVs, bone marrows, shots, etc. It carries thru all of the seasons, Fall, Christmas, etc. She loses her hair and someone bullies her. Linus sticks up for her and keeps telling her he wants to push her on the swing again. Finally, the snow melts and spring comes and she starts feeling better and goes back to school. They walk onto the playground and she hops on a swing. Linus gives her a giant push. She tells him that she has a surprise for him and pulls off her hat. All her hair was back. It was a happy ending. I told her that the little boy Linus reminds me exactly of this boy in her class Chris Sopczak. He played on her soccer team too and seems like he cares about her so much. However, through the whole video I was drying Ally's hair and it kept coming out. A lot. The video was upsetting me and the hair loss too. We are just starting this whole process and I am just sad. Hoping I can make it through her presentation at school tomorrow without tears.