The Christmas season has taken over. We have been busy shopping, baking, wrapping and everything else that goes along with Christmas. I took a run to Woodbury, today, to meet a college friend, who lives in Wisconsin. I asked her to use her talents to make something for Tom. She was nice enough to meet me halfway, although she had some Vikings gear to get and said it was hard to come by in Wisconsin! :) Yes, she is one of the few Vikings' fans that is from Wisconsin. Thanks Jane! She is also a teacher and she told me she had a tree decorated, in her classroom, purple and on top, her Viking horns! Awesome! Hopefully, the Vikes will win the next couple of games and continue on to the playoffs.
Anyways, getting back on the Christmas train, we waited until last weekend to get our Christmas tree. Late for us. The weekend we were planning to go, I had called Tom and told him we were going to go. He said, "What? You can't wait a week for me to get home? I thought that was a FAMILY activity." This from the boy who's always complained about going to get our tree. It is our tradition to go and cut a tree down. He has never liked how long it takes me to find the "perfect" tree. We also force him to do the other activities they typically have like the sleigh ride and the place we go usually has a blacksmith working and a spot where you can throw axes at tree stumps. That's always been a highlight for Kevin. Tom liked it the first time when he was quite a bit younger. Not so much anymore. Since we went so late, they were not doing these activities. As a matter of fact, it was also raining, so this year was the quickest search ever. We did take some time to throw a few snowballs and take a couple of pictures. Of course, since it was raining, the pics were a bit blurry. But, memories made nonetheless. It is nice to have Tom back at home for a while.
Well, the week after Aly's MRI, we were supposed to have an appointment with the endocrine doctor. That was two days after the big snow storm. The appointment was to be in Minnetonka, so Aly and I left an hour before the appointment. We live about 3 miles from Hwy 94 and just that short drive took us 15 minutes! It was another 30 minutes to get to Maple Grove. During that drive, there was a sign saying it would be 50 minutes to Hwy 55 which is still about 15 minutes from our final destination. So, at Maple Grove we called it and turned and headed back home. Aly was on time for school and I headed, back to Maple Grove, for work. So, we missed that appointment and January was the next available appointment! We did get lab results. Everything was normal. All hormone levels were good and she is still on track.
Other than that, things continue to be the same. She still has a couple of jaw locks a day. We are going to try the Botox again, a stronger dose, in January. She will also be starting physical therapy to try to help with her dexterity problems. We have signed up to be part of a clinical trial to see how yoga helps recent cancer patients. Even though Aly is a year from treatments, she still qualified for the progam. She is looking forward to that, and I hope she will be meeting other kids she can talk to.
We have met a nice lady, Michelle, whom we found lives nearby. Social media is really helpful sometimes. I had put on the Rally for Aly Facebook page that Aly was being teased about her hair. Michelle got in touch with me, via a friend and she happens to work for a salon that works with people who have hair issues due to illness/treatments. She came and put in some extensions in Aly's hair. On the sides where it is very thin. They are identical, in color, to her hair. It has helped a lot. A couple have come out, but they make her hair look thicker on the sides. Michelle told us the salon she works for has been trying, for years, to get their information into the children's hospitals. The hospitals are under the impression that the salon is trying to drum up more business. They may be, to a point, but she also has very helpful information. I told Aly's cancer doctor about her and she gave me a person to put Michelle in contact with. I hope she will be able to help others. This kind of information would be so helpful. We have struggled to find information on things such as this. It was very helpful to find Michelle and greater that she was close by.
We continue along the path of our new normal. Aly continues to have a couple of appointments every month, but is doing good considering it all. She is a shining star. A strong girl. A mature girl.
We want to wish you all a very merry Christmas and peace, joy and good health in the coming new year!
No comments:
Post a Comment