Happy Halloween

I am happy to report that the Barnetts had a very normal and a very happy weekend. We had a weekend at home...the first one in a while...we had to make the best of it, especially considering we are starting back up on Wednesday. More on that later. So what do we do when we have our first weekend home in what? six weeks or something crazy?

• We hung out with our friends. Both Friday night and Saturday night. So nice to see those people we care about. We have not had much time to spend with them lately and I miss them!
  
• We ate meals together, we exercised, watched a little football, even did some cleaning. We did not get to the grocery store though. We are gonna try to make it a full month without going! Haha.
  
• We went to church...as a family! Not Ally, she stayed with Pa.
  
• We spent some time with Jerad's parents on Saturday...I even made homemade soup and bread. Watch out! We also spent time up at Fox Hill with my Dad...a little gin rummy and Ally and Pa made cookies and apple crisp.
  
• We had a wholesome, yummy Sunday night dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Boohers house. One of those meals that cooks all day and tastes like it. Awesome medicine for our souls. Carly even calls them Grandma and Grandpa which is so cute.
  

But most importantly, well maybe, we got to go trick-or-treating. All of us together..and Ally did great. She walked and walked and I kept offering her a ride in the wagon, but she persisted as she always does. It may not sound like a monumental thing, but to us this was so important. Last week, when we were having quite arguably our worst week yet, trick or treat was just a dream. I tried to keep cheering myself up and convincing myself that it would be OK if it didn't happen. All the while, I was silently pulling for it in my head. Please let my girl enjoy trick or treat like every 8 year old should. Oh and please let me be home so I can also see the sheer joy on my little boy's face when he gets to fill his basket full of candy. Halloween is magic to these guys and we have had enough things taken away from us.

So she lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. And it was cold! But she walked almost the whole way, we had to pull her a little bit on the last street. And she was so cute. So so cute with her BFF Madison. They wanted to be Nail Technicians, because that is just what they do all the time. FINGERNAILS!!! Remember? boys, girls, grandpas, aunts, friends?!? With the help of Suzanne, we had a cute little handmade outfit...and also one that is original...I bet you didn't see any nail technicians coming by your house.

Also, sheer coincidence and not really planned, their little brothers both went as Jango Fett from Star Wars. And these boys busted out some Halloween candy. They ran and ran and ran. And when his sisters stopped...Evan kept going. He was gonna get the full two hours in. He would never stop. He would have gone two more hours had we let him. (just like his Daddy, this one) He is so full of energy and he was thrilled to be trick or treating.

And Carly girl, ahhhh, she was a cute little Cinderella. She told everyone she has seen for the last two weeks that she would be Cinderella. Too bad she was scared of every person that came by with a scary mask on. She nearly peed herself in fear quite a few times. She held on for quite a while too...thanks to her Daddy for toting her around and up to all the doors. She always said Trick or Treat, and thank you in her cute little Carly-girl voice.

Even the adults got in to spirit..some of you may recognize Jerad's 80's outfit. He actually had Chewbacca on, but Carly was too scared, so he changed into this...which really only scared me! That's my sister in the kimono!

Pa passed out candy at Melissa's house..proudly wearing his Ally's Army t-shirt.
Once again, we were feeling the loss of Ma not being there. She just loved Halloween.

Jerad's parents passed out candy at our house so that we could both go trick or treatin.

A happy Barnett Family

Ally's great-grandma Ruth! (bamm bamm)

With their buddy Joshua Winger

Ally's tutor (seeing a lot of her these days!) Mrs. Brower.

So what is in store for this week....we went to the clinic on Friday. Her CBC (blood test) indicated that her platelets were too low to start treatment on Monday. Thank goodness, because that would only be a one day delay. I felt she needed a little more. I must share a picture of Ally with her medical team. Her doctor and nurses dressed up like the gang from Scooby Doo. You gotta love their spirit.

So now we are looking at going to the blood lab on Monday morning for another blood test. I am fairly sure that she will be high enough to start, which means they can begin on Tuesday or Wednesday. This will be her fourth and LAST in-patient stay for methotrexate. I believe her dosage will be 25% less than it was previously due to her horrible intolerance and mouth sores. I am still scared to death and anticipating that we will have the long days/nights with fluid and possibly the mouth sores again. As a parent, how do I sign my daughter up for this again? It is so hard. So hard. But we have to keep battling the cancer, and with her being a high risk case, we just can't let down our guard. We have to push through the pain (and worry) and just support her as best we can. But I can also say that it will be with great regret and sorrow that I watch that big bag of yellow fluid drain out of the IV and go into my daughter.

Please say prayers that she tolerates it fine this time around and that we can be done with it forever. Actually, let's just be done with cancer forever too.