November!

Aly has made it through 2 full days of school without any issues!  YEAH!  I've made it through 2 full days of work without any issues!  YEAH!  It is good to be back in the swing of things.  I hope it continues!  I figured out today that I missed 447 unpaid hours of work during this battle.  I'm not sure how many Kevin has missed, but I was a bit shocked by my total!  I am happy I am back at work and helping contribute to the financials once again.  Definitely helpful!
Aly had a clinic visit on Tuesday.  Her blood counts were good.  They surprised us by taking out her stomach feeding tube during the visit.  There is a little balloon type thing that holds it in place and all they do is deflate the balloon and pull it out!  I had no idea that they just pull it out and let it heal.  The inside heals very quickly.  The outside I'm not sure about.  She's got a hole about the size of a pencil eraser, which I guess will gradually close.  No stitches, no nothing.  Weird!  I posted on Facebook that I have 2 kinds of formula Neocate Jr. Powder and Peptamen Jr. liquid to get rid of.  It is expensive stuff.  I'd love to find someone to give it too.  I have 4 cases of the powder and just about 3 cases of the liquid.  Aly could not tolerate the liquid and we had just ordered the powder right before she started eating well on her own.  Please let me know if you need it or know someone who could use it.  Otherwise I will donate to a food shelf.
On the 17th she will have an MRI and spinal tap to make sure there are no signs of the cancer returning.  Please say your prayers that they will be all clear!  That would be the best birthday present EVER for me!  If they are clear they will also be removing the IV port from her chest the following week.
The doctor also said that Aly's dry eye issue should be temporary, a side affect of the radiation.  She said it usually lasts a couple of weeks.  I hope so!
Please continue praying for all kids who are fighting this disease especially our local St. Michael kids, Luke and Maddy.  As I found out, by reading another mom's blog, September was pediatric cancer awareness month.  I had no idea, did you?  As she said, we've seen plenty of pink in October for breast cancer...we need to do more for the kids!