MRI is clear!!!

After waiting all weekend, I called the Dr. today to find out the MRI results. I was so happy to get a call back with good news. They called Summer in a prescription since she is still coughing which will hopefully clear up the spots if they are infection. I don't think she really had any idea about the spots until bedtime tonight. She was complaining about how bad the medicine they gave her tastes and how she is not going to take it again. I told her she was going to take it 4 more times so hopefully the spots would go away. "What spots?" she replied. I didn't go into details and never mentioned the awful "C" word. But, I did tell her it was for her cough when she said she would cough a lot if she had to take it again. LOL

Today she had her 2nd dentist appointment. She did not want to go, but she did great once she got there. Her teeth still look good. They will do x-rays next time to check for in between the teeth cavities. I doubt she will have any though since she is a pretty good brusher.

This afternoon we watched Christmas movies and made some reindeer ornaments at her request. How lucky she was that I had already found some to make in a Christmas craft book!?! Tomorrow we are going to decorate our big tree. She also is going to decorate her new white tree and has said she is going to let Lexie help her. She has come a long way when it comes to Lexie. She used to be jealous, but now she is used to her and even misses her when she is not here. When Lexie came home with Clint tonight, she ran up to her and gave her a hug. It was sweet. I'm not saying she will let Lexie play with everything of hers, but she is doing better.

Well, she wants to go to bed with me so I will sign off. She told me I can blog tomorrow. :) Sweet dreams everyone!

MRI Jitters

Well, my stomach is in a thousand knots this morning. Summer is on the couch watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and complaining of hunger. I really didn't expect it to start this early, but it is almost 9 a.m. We stayed up late last night and I got her to eat around 10:30 so that maybe she wouldn't wake up hungry. Unfortunately, that did not happen. "I can't not eat. I'm going to eat. I have to eat." Yep, that's what she just walked in here and told me. First, she asked me what time her scan was and I told her not for 2 1/2 more hours. This is not going to be a fun day. "If I don't eat, then I'll die. I need to eat right now." Oh my. I don't think I'll be repeating this appointment time for an MRI. I'll just have to insist on earlier next time.

Yesterday, we spent the whole day together which really isn't unusual. I had planned on going for a bike ride, but the tires on my bike were flat. Just my luck (at least lately). So instead, she rode her bike around the garage. She and her daddy raced from one end to the other. Then we headed to the dollar store and post office to fill and send a package to our chemo patient (we are chemo angels). Summer picked a reindeer decoration for the lady. Of course, she just had to have a snowflake globe that had a light up nativity in it for her self. She still has not perfected the art of just giving, but I'm trying to help her. We made some ornaments for a Christmas present, and she had to have two for herself. We made candle/pen holders which luckily she didn't put up a fight about giving away. She really enjoyed doing the crafts and I hope we will do lots more in the weeks ahead. We also watched some Christmas movies and Miley Cyrus's new movie "The Last Song." I don't know if she understood it (the dad dies of cancer), but it hit a little close to home in my book. It was still a good movie though and Summer and I just sang the song at the end of the movie together. I guess it's a good thing we both have some Miley on our Ipods.

Limbo land

It really does feel like we are slipping and sliding right now. Our feet have been knocked out from under us and we are in for some sort of ride. Dr. Gratias called on Saturday to say that her CT scan showed something in the lungs. While they are not certain it is cancer, it is a big possibility. My heart was broken all over again at the thought of more suffering for her. Another surgery. More hospital stays. More chemotherapy. More radiation. Of course that lovely hair she has been growing for the past year, which she wants to be longer than it is, would fall out. When she was 2 it was no big deal, but now at age 4 it might be. She doesn't know. Or if she does, she hasn't said anything. At church yesterday, as we were surrounded by those who love us, there were some tears shed. Memaw, Nanny and myself were tearing up all through the beautiful Thanksgiving music service too. But, she never said anything. She's smart though so I'm sure she knows something is up with somebody. I want to wait until we know for sure though to bring the blow down on her. That doesn't even sound right. I should never have to do that. But, if it is cancer, it will be fight war.

There is hope though. It's like a ray of light shining through the dark clouds. We got copies of the last two CT scans and took them to our neighbor who does Clint's scans. His first impressionwas not cancer. However, he is not familiar with the Rhabdoid tumor that Summer was diagnosed with. Two other doctors, who are familiar with it, told Dr. Gratias that they were concerned so he sent a copy of her CT scans to Chicago. That doctor should be getting it today. Our neighbor said he would not rule out infection and would definitely want a biopsy if it was up to him. So, now I am hoping for a fungus or something. Anything, but cancer!!!

Summer has an MRI of the brain tomorrow. On Wednesday, we should have a clearer picture of what is really going on with her. For now, we wait and pray.

"Slip and slide watch me glide!"

Yesterday, while looking for a thermometer, we found a penguin that should've been in the bathtub. I'm not sure how it ended up in the end table in the living room, but it was crammed into the back of the catch all drawer aka "junk drawer." We must love those around here. LOL So, she transported it to the bathtub for future use which just so happened to be this morning. She also showed off her super slip and slide skills. Ouch!! I remember when I used to slide down the back of the tub and what fun it was. We even soaped it up to get extra speed. Of course, I didn't mention that to her. I can't even imagine it being remotely fun now; more like painful. But, she was having the time of her life, splashing down into the water. She even made up a few different slides which were really all basically the same but with new words.

Speaking of the thermometer, she had a slight fever yesterday morning which got up to about 100.5. Her Memaw medicated her with grape-bubblegum flavored Ibuprofen (a mix) which she did not put up a fuss about. Grape absolutely has to be the best flavor invented for medicine. When I was a kid, it was the orange Triaminic and baby aspirin flavors that I liked best. I don't understand the awful cherry kind though. Do some kids actually enjoy it? Her fever went down and only went up to 99.2 later in the day. She mostly laid around all morning watching TV with me and Lexie. Her first pic was "Frosty the Snowman." Lexie got the next few pics with various Barney movies. I am so glad Summer still enjoys him too. He is so wholesome and also educational. Plus, I know all the songs. LOL Later in the day, I chose the movie "Elf" since it is one of my favorite Christmas movies. Summer enjoyed it too. She has not mentioned decorating for Christmas again, so we may actually hold off until after Thanksgiving this year. That is, unless I find the perfect tree while out shopping one day.

The home-preschooling is going good. She usually always likes to work in her workbooks. She even asked to do that first thing this morning, but then decided a bath with the newly found toy would be more fun. She is getting dressed now which she usually always does by herself. Sometimes she will ask me to help her, but she almost always picks out her own clothes. She definitely has a style of her own. She absolutely loves to stand on her toy box and dig through all the clothes in the closet which are usually new or dresses. She always manages to find the ones I hang in the back that are too big or off season. I'm never surprised when I see her walk out of her room in a dress that won't actually fit for a year or two. She wears a 5 or 6, but sometimes will even wear a 7/8. It's my fault though. I love to shop ahead and usually buy all of her clothes on clearance or at consignment sales. I guess that's one reason I don't care if she has too many because they are all so cheap! I've already got swimsuits for next year and gymnastics leotards for a few years to come. And shoes--too many too count!!!!!!!!!

Well, the school bell is ringing. I don't want to be late. :D

Eat and learn

Today's lessons went over pretty well. She didn't want to do her lowercase letter workbook where she traced j's and f's because she said she already knew how to write them. What she didn't realize was that she was also learning to read words by doing the assignment. I only had to threaten to put her into a real 5 day preschool once to get her to stop complaining. Hopefully, I won't do that many more times. I don't like to do it, but sometimes words come out before we really think about them, don't they? I do usually try to stick to whatever I say even if the consequence might be a little more harsh than necessary. I truly believe it is important that kids believe you mean what you say or else they won't respect much you say at all. She loved the Blues Clues workbook, as usual. I think she just really likes the little decoder things that let you know if you got it right, but whatever works for her works for me. She wrote the answers (numbers) correctly without any help or direction from me. I guess it was a good thing they didn't ask for a 7 or 4 because when I did, she tried and thought she could write them (Yay for her believing in herself!), but could not. It is neat to see where she is at and what she knows and still has to learn. She also breezed through a few mazes in her big maze book.

For breakfast, Summer made muffins. She has made them several times this past week and it seems they are breakfast of choice for her at this time. She likes the wild berry flavor. She hasn't eaten turkey and cheese in a while. I think it is funny how we all (at least me and her) go through cycles of what we eat for certain meals and then just stop eating them pretty much altogether. She and I both love to eat regular foods for breakfast - chili, noodles, grilled cheese sandwiches. Her favorite food right now is probably steak and potatoes. She also likes pasta of any sort, but I think her favorite sauce right now is alfredo. Her restaurants of choice are probably Longhorn then Olive Garden. She's definitely got some spoiled taste buds.

Well, she is aching to get to the mall so off we go.

Home school

This morning Summer did her schoolwork without a fuss. She did some scissor sheets and painted by numbers. Yesterday, on the other hand, was not pretty. I'm not sure if I waited too late in the day to start the lesson I planned, but it is possible her brain was too tired at that point (around lunch time). She practiced the lowercase letter "e" for the second time and for some reason she had it stuck in her head that she "can't" do it. Despite me reassuring her that she could if she tried, she protested and refused to follow my directions or the direction of the arrows on the paper. I hope F is a better letter for us. So far, she hasn't put up any resistance to writing A, B, C, D, 1 & 2. With 3 there was a little self-doubt too, but we overcame it without a standoff. I sent her to take a nap yesterday when she refused to try. After about 10 or 15 minutes of laying in bed, she decided she would try, but not wholeheartedly. I'm going to have my hands full if she continues with the self-doubt, or unwillingness to try things she doesn't want or think she can do. Maybe I will be able to maintain the patience necessary to teach her successfully. Lord willing anyway. We have over 10 preschool books to work through together so that she will be prepared for school next year. Usually she loves doing them and I hope that continues in the months ahead. I think the key may be in timing and making sure she is not too tired when we work through them. Despite the frustration that can accompany teaching a young one new things, I am very happy to be the one doing it. I love to see her learning and growing. I love having her with me everyday. And, she loves it too!