Avery's Journey

Avery wasn't admitted on Friday like we had hoped. The plus is that we got a few more days at home to play instead of being locked in a hospital room all weekend. As a result of being denied admit on Friday, we were able to head over to Daddy's office and say hello to all of our Ryan family. Jeremy was of course MIA and they had to call him to get him back to the office. (he was on his way to bring us lunch at the hospital only we weren't there!) It was great to see everyone and Avery had a blast hanging out at daddy's desk.

Saturday we had a playdate with our BF Harper and Miss Daisy. It's been a while since we had seen him so it was great he was able to come play. Harper is only 6 months older than Avery and for once it finally feels like maybe she is catching up in size. We dwindled down to 10.0 kilos again over the last 2 weeks and that has been really disappointing, but we'll keep working at it. She won't be eating much over the next 2 weeks, but after that the gloves are off! She also hasn't been as interested in taking a bottle which means our go to calories are no longer as easily taken. So much for old people milk. In case anyone needs any Ensure Plus -- we have lots.

We'll try again tomorrow to get admitted for this last round of chemo. It's not surprising we didn't make counts last week - she had been hospitalized with some crazy bug the week before and then had surgery on Wednesday. The body doesn't do a lot of rebuilding when it's fighting infections and trauma. She was at 480 anc on Friday so we suspect tomorrow will bring us the 500anc that we are looking for. This week will go by considerably slower since we will spend the whole week in patient. Time seems to go quicker when part of the the 5 days is the weekend. But like the last 14 months -- we will survive this and it could be worse.

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring and a change of scenery. I planted bulbs 2 falls ago that I haven't seen yet. This spring will be filled with discovery as our 2 year old starts to experience the outside world. I can't wait to show her the tulips growing and the pear trees flowering. But most importantly I can't wait to put her in her new swimsuit and plop her in a pool! Jeremy and I have been contemplating taking her to the Great Wolf Lodge so we can get her swimming now. She just loves the water in the tub so we think she will love the pool.

Jeremy and I are doing well. Going back to work has been a good distraction for me. Although my schedule changes all the time due to appointments, rehab and hospital stays...it's nice for me to have some control over something. As most of you are aware, I am a planner and not having control just about kills me. When I am at work I feel at least somewhat in control. Jeremy's work hasn't picked up quite yet due to the ever changing KC weather. Hopefully we are on the downhill slide into spring so the Ryan guys can get their stuff done!

I don't have any further details into our NY trip. At this point I am waiting to hear back from the Dr's at Memorial Sloan Kettering. Once we do, we can get some dates in place for her surgery in Memphis and a start date for the clinical trial. We are excited for this trial and really hope it will be the nail in the coffin so to speak of this awful monster.