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Ally got her new port today! She did really well, as usual. It is sad to say that she knows the routine now…the good part of that is she knows what to expect, and she’s not as afraid. The doc took his time putting the new port in. He said it works like a charm - fluid ran through it well, and blood was drawn from it very easily. He was also able to take out the PICC line as well. Yeah - no IV hanging out her arm anymore!! - For the first time, Allyson was the demon child as she came out of the anesthesia. Usually, she’s a little cranky and hungry. This time, when I went to the recovery room, I could hear her as I came through the door..she was NOT happy. She was crying and arching her back…this is not an unusual reaction when kids wake up from anesthesia. Let me tell you…she was P.O’d to be there. I picked her up and held her for a while. She was still out of it (because of the meds) and crying because she was all out of sorts. She couldn’t catch her breath very well either. If you know Ally, you also know she is not a fan of alarms either. Her blood pressure alarm kept going off because she was so agitated. That didn’t help matters. Usually, they only let one parent back in recovery, but they let Brad come back too so he could help me. Finally, the nurse said we could go back to her room in the outpatient surgery area so she’d be more comfortable. I was so glad, because that seemed to help calm her down. - Ally was not interested in eating or drinking after surgery. That’s a problem because we couldn’t leave until she did. It took a long time for the meds from the surgery to wear off, so it was a long time before she’d eat anything. As soon as the meds wore off some, she ate and drank a bit. She was still out of sorts somewhat, even after eating, until the nurse said we could go home. She perked up right away and ready to leave!

Benjamin was a good boy today at Tita’s. He blows her kisses every time we leave…that puts a big smile on her face! He at a hamburger for dinner. He says, “Ham-bur-ger.” - He says each syllable very distinctly. I think he was loving his hamburger because he even said, “More, PLEASE.” He was chatting up a storm while he was eating tonight. Every once in a while, I’d hear a recognizable word.

We all went out to swing once dinner was over. Benjamin and Allyson LOVE to swing! Once we were finished, Brad gave Benjamin a bath. Ally pretty much pooped out soon after 7p.m. I think she wore herself out today.

So, this week we have a chemo appt. on Friday. NEXT weekend is her last backpack weekend. (Can we all shout a collective YIPPIE!!!!)

*There are two new movies to check out, so don’t miss ‘em.  There’s also a new pic of the Monkey Man!

We had a good weekend…Saturday, we went looking for a dress outfit for Benjamin to wear for his finalization. Luckily, we found one. We were looking for a blazer, but all the ones we found were wayyy tooo expensive. We ended up buying a very cute dress outfit that has shorts, a dress shirt and a belt. He’ll look adorable in it. I’m going to get his formal picture taken in it. I want to wait until he’s finished cutting these teeth though because he drools alot right now.

Allyson has been on the steroid since Friday. Have I mentioned how much I don’t like when she’s on that?;-)…I told Brad’s mom tonight that she’s either “happy” (NOT) or hungry. I can’t blame her for her mood swings because I know it is the meds working on her, but that doesn’t make them any more fun.

We went out to lunch today. Both kids were soooo good! When we were all finished, Benjamin said, “All done! Get down.” We are amazed by his speech every day. — I know we’re supposed to be working on animals and animal sounds right now, but he doesn’t seem too interested in learning what we want him to learn right now. He’ll repeat just about anything you ask him to say though. - Can I just say he looks absolutely adorable “reading” his books;-). - We went to Sam’s today. Three different times, people stopped me to tell me how cute Benjamin is. Once, it was a foreign couple who didn’t speak much English. They looked at me with huge smiles and said, “Cute.”

Benjamin and Allyson sing in the car together now. Each has his/her own favorite song, but they both sing now matter what. It is cute…Allyson can sing most, if not all of the words to the songs. Benjamin will sing one or two words really loudly. - Speaking of one or two words…Benjamin can say the word “sheep”, but when he says it, it sounds like “sheet” (which actually comes out sounding a little more like sh–… - can’t wait until he says that in public).

A busy week this week…tomorrow we have a few errands to run. Tuesday is the port replacement…Thursday, I am off to a workshop for school (which starts in two weeks…yes, two weeks…so much for summer “vacation”…)…Friday, more chemo.

Allyson went to the doc today for more chemo - an easy one…just a chemo push through her IV. We were in and out fairly quickly.  Once she got home, she was very tired and slept for about two and a half hours.  We’ve started Dex again today.  Just in case you’ve forgotten, this is the steroid that make Allyson have those lovely mood swings.  Thankfully, we only have to give this to her for one week.

It looks like Allyson will be getting her new port on Tuesday. I am thrilled! Hopefully life will return to “normal” (I say that with a smile on my face because we are far from normal) for a while.  We’re waiting for an exact time for the surgery.

Benjamin is a crabby little boy today.  He fussed and cried towards the end of his dinner for almost a half hour.  Nothing would make him happy.  He was drooling…the nose was running…I’m sure his teeth were bothering him.  I gave him a bath, a shot of Motrin and then put him to bed.

No big plans for the weekend.  Tomorrow, I think we are going to look for a special outfit for Benjamin to wear to court for his finalization.  I’ve looked around a bit, but I can’t find any cute dress clothes for little boys.  I still have a few more places to look.

Good news…Allyson does not have an infection.  The nasal culture was negative.  I’m not sure what that means as far as getting her new port.  (What I do know is that we won’t be starting another antibiotic cycle at this point.)  When we go in on Friday, I am sure Dr. Bob will have a plan.

Ally’s therapy sessions went well today.  She loves to play games with Ms. Carolyn.  Ms. Sherry worked her legs hard today…I can’t tell you how many times she went up and down the stairs.  - The summer school session is over, so she won’t have therapy again until school starts.  I am thankful her therapists were able to work her in these past few weeks.  I think she enjoyed going up to school.  Last Thursday, a bunch of the kids were outside playing on the playground.  When we walked by the door, Ally peered through the glass and saw some of her friends.  When they saw her, they all came running…”Hi Ally!  Hi Ally-cat!”  It was cute…they were all excited to see her, and she was just as excited to see them.

Benjamin has a new phrase.  He now says, “Wahb-oo.”  For those of you who can’t translate an 18 month old’s English, he’s saying, “Love you.”  It is cute!   — I can’t remember if I wrote about this or not, but I’m so excited, I’m going to write about it again…He’s finally into books!  He will actually sit down and look at the pictures and turn the pages.  He doesn’t really have any interest in listening to the actual story, but he’ll flip through the book.  He even asks for a book now.

Allyson had therapy today with Ms. Susan.  It went OK…not as well as last week, but it went OK.  Her appetite is not great right now.  We’ve learned that is pretty normal when she has the big backpack weekends.  Her appetite usually takes a few days to come back.  She slept so much yesterday too…she was still a little “off’” this morning.

Trevor, my nephew, came over today for several hours.  Allyson was in the family room watching him play Wii…She fell off the chair and came running to me…(she comes running to us and wants us tokiss what’s hurt - a hand, an arm, etc. - to make it all better)  Well, she came running in for her kiss.  I didn’t know what was hurt, so I kissed her head.  She said, “No, Mommy, my butt.”  - I draw the line at kissing her butt…

Benjamin sounds like he’s a little stuffy right now.  His nose is beginning to run a little as well.  Some people say that is due to teething - he’s getting three teeth right now and two of them are on top.

Tomorrow, more therapy for Allyson.  We should get the results of her nasal culture as well…keep your fingers crossed.