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I was all prepared for Allyson to have an off day, but in true Allyson form she woke up ready to go at 6:50. Lisa and Benjamin had just left for the day and Allyson sat up in her bed and said ‘Hi Daddy’. I said ‘Hi Ally’ and she replied ‘Daddy I have a snack’ to which I said it was time for breakfast. I made Allyson her polka place and turned on the disney chanel while I got ready. Once I was done I got Allyson ready and we headed downstairs to eat. Allyson wanted yogurt and ate almost a whole cup full. She then decided it was time to go to school, so I packed her bag and we headed out the door by 8:15. Allyson walked right into school and we almost made it to her classroom before she turned around and made a break for it, but I caught her and we headed in. Today like every other day Allyson wanted me to build her some shapes with blocks, it is very cute. She grabs my hand and leads me to blocks and says daddy sit down. Today we made a square and a triangle. On my way out I spoke with Ms Robin and asked her to call me after preschool just to make sure Allyson did ok. Ms Robin called at 12:30 and said Allyson was have a good day, that was a big relief. I worked from home today just in case Allyson had a rough day, but you know Ally

Mommy and Benjamin got home this evening and we all went in the backyard for a swing. We put both Allyson and Benjamin in the bucket swing and they both giggled the whole time, it was very cute. Benjamin had a bad day at Tita’s, it seems that if he did not get his way he threw a fit. Tita said he did that for most of the day, our boy has a little temper some times. Well tomorrow should be just another day….

Sorry we’ve missed a few posts…we’ve been busy…(This is a long one because I’m trying to play catch-up.  Trust me, our last few days have not been uneventful.)

Thursday - Ally had another restless night Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. She lounged around and played a bit Thursday, so we were glad she was feeling better after getting sick so much on Wednesday.

Thursday night…Ally was hooked to her IV backpack.  It was another restless night of sleep, or non-sleep for her.   About midnight, Ally got herself all twisted in the IV tubing.  I was worried it would happen again, so I got into the bed with her.  She tossed around most of the night.

Brad’s stomach was bothering him before he went to bed.  He was up a few times until finally he got sick about three in the morning.   I went to the other bedroom hoping to get at least two hours of rest before I had to get up.  (Remember, Ally had her hospital visit for the spinal tap and chemo admin Friday morning.)  It’s about 4:15 int he morning…I was just about ready to nod off to sleep (the first sleep of the night for me) when I heard a rumble outside.  I thought it was thunder…I’m thinking, “Wow, sounds like we’re going to get a bad storm.”  Well, the rumble got louder and the windows started to shake as well as the house.  EARTHQUAKE!  - no kidding…we had an earthquake.  I jumped out of bed and went right to our bedroom.  I knew Ben was safe in his crib, but I wanted to check on Allyson.  Just as I got to the door, Brad jumped out of bed a bit dazed asked if we were having an earthquake.  It was a long one…maybe 45 seconds.  That doesn’t seem like much, but when the earth is shaking, that’s a long time. — Well, by this time, I was wide awake and figured I might as well stay up…What else could happen, right?  I couldn’t sleep anyway…I was trying to figure out how I was going to keep Ben away from Ally’s backpack and get everyone dressed and out the door by 7:30 (and to St. John’s by 8:30) without Brad’s help.

We made it out the door and to the hospital in time.  I called my sister, and she met me up in the PICU, so I wouldn’t be there by myself and I’d have help carrying out all our medical supplies for the weekend. - Ally did very well during her procedure and treatment.  She actually had an echocardiogram done as well so we wouldn’t have to come back to the hospital next Friday.  Let’s just say, Allyson wanted nothing to do with the ECHO, at least at first.  I had to get up in the bed with her…Kay popped in a Backyardigans DVD…she settled down…the nurse was able to get all the pictures she needed in about 25 minutes.  We left the hospital about 1:00 in the afternoon.

Friday night was a better night.  Brad slept all day and finally got up about 6:00 that evening.  Our neighbors came over with dinner, so that was nice.  - I crashed and crashed hard that night because I was exhausted.

Saturday was a pretty good day.  The nurse came out to draw blood about noon.  Keith and Cheryl came over in the evening.  We had a nice visit.

Sunday morning seemed to be going OK until Ally threw up about 7:00.  We’re fairly certain it was the chemo this time as this particular type of chemo can cause nausea and vomiting.  We gave her anti-nausea medication today because we were worried her tummy was not well.

The nurse came out this afternoon to draw blod again…just in time.  The alarm on one of her pumps went off, stating there was a block of some sort and her dose of the “rescue drug” would not start.  We had no way of knowing how to fix it, so thankfully, Nurse Shelley was in the driveway as it was happening.  As Shelley stated, if she hadn’t been there, she would have had to speed over to the house with police escort to get that dose started…that is how important it is.  Ok, yes she did say she that, but there really wouldn’t be a police escort.   She was just stressing how important it is to get that drug dose on time.

All is well now, right…no, not exactly.   We put the kids in the car to go to Walmart to get sand for the sandbox.  I took Ally to the bathroom and noticed blood in one of her IV lines.  Not good - not life threatening, but not what you want - it could block the line…We had to go home to flush the line and clamp it until her next dose was ready to be delivered.

Plans were in place to replace bags of medication a little after midnight.  We kept our fingers crossed, hoping Ally’s little body would clear the chemo tonight so we could get rid of the darn backpack.  We weren’t hopeful though because the last time she had the backpack, her dose was less than this one and she didn’t clear it until Monday.

Some good news after a long weekend…Nurse Shelley called - Ally cleared the chemo in record time!!!  Shelley came back this evening to unhook everything and take away the backpack!! YIPPIE! - Ok, she tried to show how to take off all the bandages and pull out the needles.  (I pulled out the needles last time, but I didn’t like it.  This time I had to do the whole deal.)  Well, Ally HATES (yes, that is a strong word but the most appropriate one) to have the bandages taken off.  She got really scared and cried while I was trying to do it.  I got most of the bandages off, but I couldn’t finish.  I just couldn’t do it - Ally just gets too upset…Shelley was so nice…she said I didn’t ever have to do it, that they would come out and do it for us.  Thank God!  It was just too hard to do that to her.

Both kids are in bed.  I’m really tired.  Tomorrow is a work day…After the last few days…I hope it will be uneventful.

Allyson had a much better day today, thankfully.  The little girl just needed some food and drink in her system after the day she had yesterday.

Melinda, the IV nurse, came out this evening and hooked Ally up to her backpack.  She gets fluids all night tonight, and we have to be at St. John’s by 8:30.  It didn’t take long for Allyson go crash this evening.  She was out by the time I got downstairs after Benjamin’s bath (around 6:50).  The rest will do her good.

Benjamin got to run around the backyard for a while when he got home from Tita’s.  He LOVES being outside…just like his sister, Allyson.  When we first brought him home, we took him outside, but he wasn’t able to walk yet.  Now, he runs all over the place.  He is very curious about the grass!   We definitely need to get another bucket swing for our swingset now!  Getting new sand for out sandbox is on the agenda this weekend.

Well, Ally woke up bright and early and proceeded to throw up…a total of seven times today.  It was supposed to be “Daddy’s Day” in Allyson’s class at school, so Brad was already going to be at home.  Unfortunately, they didn’t get to go to school today…

Because Ally was so sick, Brad called the doc.  They had her come in for fluids and an anti-nausea drug that could be given through her IV port, thankfully.  Dr. Bob had blood drawn as well to make sure her counts were good.  Since she’s supposed to be getting the backpack tomorrow evening for her chemo treatment and spinal tap on Friday, they wanted to be sure she was OK.  All the numbers were good, so we’re still on for the backpack weekend.  Dr. Bob said as long as there is no fever and she’s not worse, we can still do all we need to do even if she’s throwing up.  Gee, that’s good to know…  I’m glad we can do the treatment so we don’t get off schedule, but still…yuck!  Hopefully she won’t be sick on Friday.  She ate a few spoons of yogurt and had maybe two ounces of milk this evening before she crashed.  She’s a little limp noodle, so she’ll have to stay home from school tomorrow.

Benjamin had a great day at Tita’s.  She said, “Good nap and good eat today.  Always good eat!”  (Remember, she’s Columbian, so that is how she talks in English.)  Yes, the boy loves food.  He was so good this evening.  He just played so well by himself while I sat with Ally on the couch.  Brad was outside mowing the grass.

Hopefully tomorrow will bring us a more chipper Ally Pally.

Here’s an Ally story…If you’ve been following the blog, you’ll get the slight humor of it…

I picked up Allyson after school, and one of the teachers came up to explain why Allyson had tracks of dirt down her jacket and on her pants from the knees down.  There’s a step that leads to a bridge on one of the pieces of playground equipment.  When Ms. Linda looked over, she found Allyson wedged between the ground and the step, scooting herself on her belly.  Mind you, there’s maybe eight inches of space there, so it’s a tight squeeze even for little Ally.  Linda was worried Ally would get stuck, so she told her to crawl out.  I believe the exchange went something like this…

“Ally, come on out of there.”

“No, Ms. Linda, I can’t.” Linda was thinking she was stuck or something.

She reached under again and said, “Ally, you need to come out.”

“No, I can’t!  I can’t!”  By now, Linda thinks she’s really stuck until Allyson explains…”I have to get my sticker!” — Only Allyson would wedge herself under a step to save a sticker!  She is the sticker queen!

Benjamin had a good day at Tita’s.  She said he was a little clingy today.  Not sure why…maybe it has something to do with his teeth.  The one molar did poke through, but just barely.  I imagine there’s a little more pain to endure before it’s completely in.  He was fine when he got home this evening until bath time.  He was a little crabby.

Brad is at the Cardinal baseball game - four rows behind third base!  How lucky!  I keep watching for him in the background.  Of course, he’s the only guy wearing a New Orleans Saints hat. - I’m hoping to get to Cardinals game this year.  I only made it to one last year, and that was with my entire team of seventh graders last May.  - We love to go to the games, and the stadium is so close to Brad’s work.