Merry Christmas and happy new year blog peeps!
Another month has marched on!
Unfortunately (or fortunately from Laurens perspective?) The heart team now recommends Lauren take a break from school. So online school is once again the order of the day! Yes, she can still go do other things, they specifically said she could go to the grocery store, or to youth group on Sundays, which she loves. They deem it safer than school simply because school meets five days a week and lasts so many hours (Too many! Lauren would say). As long as she tries to avoid crowds, washes her hands, and uses her mask, she should be acceptably safer. Whether or not the other kids mask (and we all know human nature!) is far less relevant. The forecast is that by spring, cold and flu season should be less, she’ll be stronger, have higher white counts and less meds.
We went to the park yesterday with her new basketball she got for Christmas! random Ohio weather cooperates just enough sometimes! I do suck at horse. We met a couple nice kids who live nearby and played a nice game of two on two until Lauren quickly tired. They say it takes a year for your strength to return.
Lauren had a routine heart catheterization test today, that had to be cancelled when Lauren had pneumonia over Thanksgiving. So a bit of trepidation about last visit. Nice uneventful day this time, IV went in real smooth. Casey was such a nice RN for us. We are always well taken care of at CCHMC. White counts look stronger, liver enzymes and blood pressure good, biopsy results tomorrow! We are home now resting. Her appetite is good and weight steady and rising.
After the last blog, we were contacted by the Do Right Motorcycle club of Delphos! Very nice, gentle group of guys. They invited us into their clubhouse and spent over an hour with us getting to know Lauren and her story, discussing her hobbies, likes and dislikes, and telling us all about how they have organized motorcycle runs for charitable causes. They read the COTA blogs regularly and found Lauren, and they say they can help! We are thinking of organizing something around May, when Lauren should have stamina, the weather should be more amenable, and just in time for her one year transplant anniversary! Look for forthcoming info on this blog, and there will be flyers distributed to local businesses and locales. Thanks so much for your time and experience guys!
Lauren is particularly looking forward to New year’s Eve, simply for the thrill of staying up to midnight! I will have to make sure I have my coffee that day!
