Friday, July 10, 2009

Results Are Good

The lab results from Natalie's blood draw yesterday look good. Natalie's blood and bone marrow are doing what they are suppose to do. Her hemoglobin is at 12.5. Platelets and ANC are stable at around the same numbers as last time. We tried not to bombard her poor doctor with too many questions yesterday as we've done in the past, but we did ask again when we could be around crowds. The answer is still the same that it is in Natalie's best interst that she does not get sick, and it's worth it to wait. At this point, if she does get sick, she would have to go into the emergency room and they would treat it really seriously. We definitey don't want that. Also, with the swine flu virus still going strong, it's probably best to play it safe with the kids.

So, we continue to collect creative ideas for the kids to have fun this Summer without exposing them to too many germs or the sun. Tonight, we took an idea that one of our friends gave us, and we are taking the kids out to a drive-in movie. We are going to watch "Ice Age". Both kids are bathed, in their pjs, have their snacks and blankets ready for the 8:50 show.

Tomorrow, we are going to stay a night at Embassy Suites in town so that the kids can swim in the in-door pool and feel somewhat like they are on vacation. At least it is something different for them to look forward to.

We've had good days and bad days dealing with the transition. Sometimes we do feel so overwhelmed thinking about getting Natalie and Sean ready to go back to school. It's hard to shake the fear of her getting sick from being at school with other kids. There have been days that the kids are so bored at home that they start getting on each other's nerves and my nerves. But, when we all remember how hard it was to be apart from each other so many months, we are super grateful for the time together. We wouldn't trade that for anything.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Update on Us

Sorry it's been so long since our last update. We've been busy as always with the kids.

We have some great pictures of Natalie that we will try to upload to the blog site when and if we get some down time.

This weekend was a pretty fun weekend for us. We were able to have a normal 4th of July despite trying to stay away from crowds. We started the day with going to the Pleasant Hill parade, and found a nice spot in a shaded corner to camp out with our folding chairs to see the parade. It was nice to see some friends there as well. Natalie was so excited to see two friends in the parade.

That evening we went over to hang out with our friends, the Hopkins. They went out of their way to make sure their house was sanitized and both of their kids were well before we came over for a BBQ. Natalie and Sean both got to play with kids their age and it was so relaxing. The great thing is that the Hopkins live just a couple of streets away from the College Park fireworks so we got great seats in their courtyard watching the show. It was actually one of the best shows we've seen. Sean and Natalie both loved it. The funny thing is that Sean did not even know what fireworks was before that night. When we asked him if he wanted to see fireworks, he asked, "What are fireworks?" I guess that neither the 4th of July we had in Lake Tahoe or the Martinez fireworks show we've seen in the past left a lasting impression on him. He was really into this one!

Tomorrow is Natalie's monthly blood draw and appointment at UCSF. I know we should be more relaxed with these appointments by now, but it's hard to not be nervous. We are sending this message out to ask all of you to please pray for the appointment and results to go well. We'll keep you posted on how it goes.