Zoo Day - We did it!

Our wish came true and we got to spend the most wonderful day at the Cincinnati Zoo today. The weather was perfect and the kids all did awesome. It was perfect. We got a bit of a late start (Jerad worked this morning and we also had to go to the bloodlab) so we arrived at the zoo at 12:30. We closed the park down at 6pm! Ally didn't even want to leave then. She did soo soo well. Jerad and I each pushed a stroller...we rented one of those big ones for her. What a workout that was. But that made Ally able to do it. She never said she was tired or bored or didn't feel well, etc. I am not kidding you....the excitement of the zoo never wears off for our kids. I sometimes thought Evan would explode each time he saw a new animal. And for the first time since April I actually saw my daughter break out into a run.

I distinctly remember going to the Erie Zoo myself when I was young...me, my Mom, my Grandma, and my Aunt Gail. (Melissa wasn't born yet). For me, going to the zoo was the next best thing after Christmas morning. And that is how I felt like our kids were today. Just so happy. I made a little video of the pictures we took today, just so we could remember the fun. There is a few notes on pictures in the show. (PS I am still trying to figure out how to get music into these things, so I had to use what the program provided!)


About 4 o'clock we learned that Ally's counts were high enough to start the third month of chemo. Her ANC was 880 (and needed to be higher than 750) We are due to arrive at Dayton Children's at 10am. She will get this one particular chemo that requires a lot of hydration due to potential damage to the kidneys. So they have to give her fluids, then we have to wait for her to pee, then test it to make sure it is diluted enough, then the chemo drip, then 4 -6 hours of hydration after that. Whew. She is also starting that daily chemo again and will get a dose of that. It is called ARA-C and we will have homecare come out on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. (also next weekend) We are also starting 14 days of oral chemo, a liquid that she swallows at the same time each evening. Tomorrow it is back to reality for the Barnett family. Please say a prayer that this new round of chemo will be killing all the lingering leukemia cells in her body.