I feel like I blinked and it disappeared.
Even with that crazy disappearing act I tried hard to go out of my way to find ways of doing little acts of service. There were a few times when I'd be trying to help someone and someone would come and do the same for me. People are too fast and too good! I was amazed at how I could find things, when I really took the time to look for them.
I'll be honest, though, by the end of the month I felt like the only "extras" I was doing were things for my family. Which, as I think back, was just as important as helping strangers and friends and family outside my home. It's about being kind to everyone!
And now we're in October! And October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month! That will have to be another post for another day, though.
Today feels like a good time for a Mary update.
Last Wednesday was "Chemo Day" for the Little Miss. She loves to go to the doctor, and asks to go all the time. I'm not sure if it's because she gets to watch a movie on the way, or if it's her popularity once we get there. Back to Wednesday, we had a bit of a rough start to the appointment. Computers down, tech issues, accidents in pants, despite it all we were still there our average 3 hours. As always Dr. T. was thrilled with her progress and how she is looking. However her nose has been running something fierce so she did a viral culture (she has a cold) and put her on antibiotics just to clear out any infection that could be resting in her sinus. She also has had some suspicious spots on her tongue so she put her on something for that too. The week after her "Chemo Day" becomes "Steroid Week." It's about as fun as it sounds. Twice a day she gets a steroid, with pepcid once a day to help her tummy. It makes her extra crabby. We've come to just be ready for it and give her a little leeway when we can. And given the couple of extra meds she was on, in addition to the steroid, she really handled it like a champ.
School
We're about 6ish weeks in and so far she is doing great. We all feel, the teacher + parents, that having her in Kindergarten again really is the best fit for her. I feel so blessed that they put her with the same aide she had last year. The two of them together make an awesome team. Each morning when we pull up to the school Little Miss starts saying her name "Cagaga" (Mrs. Carriaga) then says "bye mom!" She is also starting to write her name! In the past she has shown little interest in writing anything more than circles. But she is stretching and growing and I love it.
Hair
Because, why not? In June her hair started to fall out again. In all honesty I was quite bummed. Not everything fell out but it did thin quite a lot. But it's tarting to come in again! She's got her wispy longish pieces but now has some shorter stuff filling in. This morning I was noticing that it's just about long enough that I can slide a clip into it. I know hair is so trivial considering all that she's been through but I can't help it. I've been thinking about when she (and her sister too) were babies and I would get so excited when their hair was finally long enough for little piggies. I get to experience that all again. It's the silver lining of it all, I feel like.
Other News
She's lost a tooth! Last week it was looking a little scraggly and so the other night we sat her down, and with the help of her brother holding her hand, we pulled it out. This is actually her third tooth she's lost. The first two came out during her hard months of chemo and so they didn't get much attention. All the other stuff was taking over. She looks so adorable, of course, with a hole in her top teeth. I've been trying hard to get a good picture but with the extra grouchiness it's easier said than done.
Have a fabulous week!
