Home is the very best place to be! Allison had an appointment with Dr. Feldman on Thursday instead of waiting till Monday because I was afraid she had thrush. Her labs looked great, white count was slowly coming down, and if she had thrush it was very mild so Dr. said to just keep on with the Nystatin as prescribed and we were given permission to pack up and move home! We were thrilled! Austin’s parents came to help us and we were loaded up and ready to leave before noon on Saturday. We got home around 7:30 that evening and it was so, so awesome to be home! “Someone…” had put a welcome sign and streamers on the door for Alli, along with a gift bag of stuff for her. The dog and cat were delighted to have us back, following us in and out as we brought things in from the trailer.
Allison had an appointment with Dr. Vader in Montrose to get her caught up on everything that has happened since we saw her last. Labs were drawn in Montrose… Labs are always such a chore! We warned the phlobotomists that Alli’s veins are very difficult and we had a couple names of people who are known to be good with that challenge, but some just really want to try anyway instead of calling those whom are known to be successful. It’s not a slam to the others! It’s just that we all have our strong points and some children are exceptionally difficult. For Alli, the anticipation of being poked is worse than the actual stick, so while they looked and felt and squeezed her arm, the anxiety mounted and the fear grew and we repeatedly “hinted” that they would probably only get one chance at poking her and even and Children’s they were resorting to desperate measures (a vein in a hand or foot…”Oh, but those really hurt, we might find something in her arm yet”) on and on… Okay, so that’s all great and everything, but honestly, this is NOT our first rodeo with her! We don’t know how to access a vein ourselves but we can tell you what does NOT work, please believe us! We’ve done this, like, every day for a couple weeks… We bit our tongues finally and pretty soon they called Kizzy, the one whom we had asked for in the beginning. She was a pro…and it went very smoothly. Talk about over-protective parents :-/ Anyway, we are glad that’s over for this week!
Alli is feeling great, running and playing and just in general acting normal – a normal we have never seen in her! The steroids still make her a little moody, but it really has not been bad! They help out her appetite as well. 🙂 She is a little puffy from them, but we are weaning her off of them so hopefully in couple weeks she will be DONE with that medicine! She is gaining weight, getting a little padding on her bones, feeling soft and cuddly again. And we are amazed by her comprehension developement! It seems like it has just exploded in the last couple weeks! She is learning by leaps and bounds. We didn’t realize how she had stalled off. I knew in that last month before transplant that it seemed she was in more of a fog and just couldn’t override the way she felt anymore, and now that fog has lifted and she is going full speed ahead! It’s awesome to watch!
Keep praying for us…we have no idea what may be in the journey ahead for her (and us) but we are taking one day at a time and basking in the blessing of today, so so thankful for what God has done for us. We feel unworthy…so many others in this world pray for the same blessing and it isn’t always as easy for them as it is for us. Why? God loves all… We are thankful that we have been given such a gift, and pray for those who would love to have what we have been granted but, for some reason, have a rougher road to travel.