Week at Home

I made it back to hot and humid Florida just in time! It is miserably hot here and I am reminded of why we live in Kansas City instead of Florida! Avery's counts are still at 700 so Daddy's birthday dinner was a little "to go" action. Needless to say we are hanging out low here in the apartment today as it is terrible outside. We had hoped to visit with the Parkers this weekend, but with her counts being low we decided that wasn't such a great idea. So instead we opted for saying goodbye to the purple Tinkerbell Chair as we shipped it home. Not sure what she is going to do without that thing for the next 2 weeks - man she loves it.

Avery's head is starting to turn a little red from the radiation so we've been given a cream to put on 3 times a day. She reaches back from time to time and I think it itches her, but she doesn't complain. She is doing well in therapies and they discovered we need to focus more on her upper body strength, or lack there of. She is still trying really hard and was not happy when the therapist started pushing down on her shoulders for resistance. She turned around and swatted her away, all while yelling at her -- Jeremy says it was hysterical.

I did fine while at home. The worst day was on Monday while I was home alone. Jeremy definitely had the raw end of the deal these last 6 months. It was good to be back at work, even though I don't feel like I accomplished a whole lot. It was helpful to have distractions after work -- so thanks to Nikki, Dan & Jacinda, Michelle and Monica for helping in that area. I did a phone interview with a Health Magazine this week and one of the questions she asked is how we dealt with things once it hit us. You know, I am not sure it has hit us. From day one we haven't had a whole lot of time to sit down and think about the situation in which we find ourselves. There has always been appointments, tests, scans, labs, therapies, Dr's visits, friends visits, laundry, feedings, updates, calls, a baby to take care of and everything else to do. There hasn't been a whole lot of time to sit back and think -- "oh my god this sucks - how are we ever going to get through this?" But I bet we will have that opportunity when we finally get home, course at that point it will seem kinda silly, considering the timing.

The weekend will go by all too fast I know but my light at the end of the tunnel is that this is the last goodbye we will have to say to each other for a long time. She has radiation this week and then on Monday of next week -- after that we drive back to St Jude and finish the week there. The hope is to drive back to Kansas City on Saturday, July 24th. Avery will start her oral chemo while we are in Memphis so cross your fingers there aren't any hiccups in that process.

Jeremy swears he will update the blog once this coming week, but he doesn't appear to enjoy it as much I do, so don't hold your breath. I will attempt to fill in the gaps later on. We need the prayers for her counts to come up as being under 1000 really puts her at a higher risk for getting off course. We are so excited to see everyone at the party....if I've missed anyone, please let me know.

Avery Welcome Home Party
Open House - Christiansen Home
July 31st
2pm - ?


Love,
Jenn