Let the good times roll

We had another good day today. I am not sure how long this is going to last, so I am going to take it while I can! Her home health nurse came this morning and gave her another round of chemo. I think these are just small pulses of chemo...slow and steady. The nurse told me that she should be feeling pretty cruddy by Friday, as it takes about 7 days for this chemo to cause the blood level drops. That is what normally causes a lot of the problems for her. So I have that to look forward to for this weekend! Getting a little nervous already. In the meantime, I am just making the best of everything. We really have to capitalize on the good days when they come around.

The nurse today actually de-accessed her port...I know that doesn't seem like a word, but that is what they call it. So Ally was free and clear of any tubing, etc and was able to go swimming. And swimming is what we did. A little bit, anyway. I was a bit nervous about taking my two year old and Ally to the pool by myself. They are both very needy. My Dad was nice enough to take the afternoon off to help me! And my sister went with me too. Ally didn't do much swimming...never under the water or anything crazy. But she did sit in the hot tub and also floated around on the raft for a long time with her Pa giving her some sort of Chinese water torture.

We also had a very special family come to our house tonight. The Hahm family, primarily their 10 year old Alexis, with help from her little sis Olivia, made Ally a beautiful quilt. She had started working on it in the winter, and was going to donate it to Children's Medical Center. When they found out about Ally, they switched gears and made it just for her. It even has her name quilted into it. I was in tears over the whole thing and amazed that a 10 year old could do such a beautiful job. Missy was Ally's VBS teacher when Ally was three! Other than that, we really don't know them. Here it comes again, my favorite word, humbled. Just so thankful for kind and generous people in the world like the Hahms.

Speaking of quilts, Ally received another one last week. A dear friend of mine, who I used to work with at Iams, Chris Suchomel...well her mother Sandra made a special quilt for Ally too! With her name on it, soccer balls, crafts...all of the things that Ally loves. We took it with us to the hospital last Friday and it keeps her warm almost everyday. Again, someone who has never even met Ally, spending their precious time making something to keep her comfortable.

Finally, Ally's Aunt Amanda and Uncle Mike were in town from Florida. We haven't seen them since Christmas. They must have been shocked at the change in our little girl. In typical Ally/card shark fashion, she challenged them to a game of Uno. I think Amanda may be the first person on record to have actually won against Ally.

These days I am most grateful for my daughter's smiles, for no stomach aches, and for getting to sleep all night again. I am also grateful to all of you for helping us through this. We could NEVER do this without the support of all of our friends and family. Every single day someone does something nice for us. I could write a book about it. Well, I guess I kinda am. Thanks for thinking of us. We are grateful.