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Yes, it’s been a while…We have been very busy people these last few weeks. Allyson is back in school full-time, and I am back to work full-time as a new school year has started. Ally has been doing very well. She’s jumped right back into her routine and is enjoying being back with her friends.

Tomorrow is a BIG day in the history of our family. Benjamin’s adoption finalization is tomorrow afternoon at 1:30. He will become a member of our family in every sense of the word after the court hearing tomorrow. He also becomes a citizen of the United States of America! (We want him to continue to learn about his Korean heritage as he grows up though. We feel it is important for him to know that part of his life as well.) We are so excited that this day has finally come. We are all going to spend the day together to celebrate as a family!

Here’s to Benjamin Ferrol Seung Yoon Verdigets!!

It’s all good!!!  Ally’s tests came back clean which means we have officially moved to the maintenance phase of her treatment.  Thank GOD!  What a relief!!! I waited all day for that phone call, literally all day.  We didn’t hear from the doc until 4:30-ish.  I was distracted all day waiting for the news.  Needless to say (but I’m going to anyway), we are thrilled!!  We feel such a sense of relief right now, you can’t even imagine.

Benjamin and Allyson really love each other.  It is so cute to see how excited they are to see each other first thing in the morning, and when I pick them up in the afternoon.  Benjamin follows her around, watching everything she does.  Allyson takes care of him - checks his “ouchie” everyday (a little scratch on his face)…carrying his drink outside for him…making sure he has a book when he’s in the car…requesting his favorite song on the CD…making sure he has his woobies to sleep with at night.

It is a good night in the Verdigets’ household.

It’s over…Ally’s last backpack weekend is over!!!!! In true Ally form, she cleared the chemo in record time, so we were able to unhook her from the rescue drug and fluids this evening. She is such an amazing little girl…she really is. At four years old, I marvel at her strength and the way she takes everything that has happened to her with such grace. She reminds me of my mom…

She’s worn out though. Tonight, once she got unhooked and de-accessed, we bathed her. After her bath, she climbed right into her bed. I crawled up next to her; she snuggled right in and fell asleep. I was sitting there watching her sleep thinking, you know, there’s nothing like snuggling up next to your mommy. A mom is someone that always makes things better…makes you feel safe and comfortable. All I could think about was how amazing it is that I can do that for her…

We wait for the results from Ally’s procedures…Dr. Bob said we’d probably hear tomorrow afternoon. I can’t imagine we’ll hear anything but good news. She’s done so well with her treatment…we’ve been so vigilant with her medications…we’ve tried so hard to keep her healthy…we’ll hear good news, I just know it.

The neighbors brought over their new puppies yesterday.  Mac, one of the puppies, absolutely LOVED Benjamin.  It was so cute.  Mac just went crazy when he saw Benjamin, and he kept giving him little puppy kisses.  Mac’s tail just wagged and wagged when Benjamin would come up to him and pet him.  Ben did such a good job of being gentle.

Before I put this post to rest, I must say this…Go USA!! I’m a huge Olympics junkie, and I just watched the men’s US swim team win the gold medal.  They were not expected to win at all.  Too cool!

Well, today was not uneventful…

We got to the hospital for Ally’s procedures today without a problem.  We were in the PICU not even five minutes when we noticed Allyson’s shirt was wet, right around her port site.  I called for the nurse.  When we lifted her shirt, we saw the needle had slipped out of her port and had infiltrated her portsite, causing it to swell.  (Mind you, it was still a little swollen for her surgery ten days ago.) - Now we know why she had such a horrible night of sleep last night.  She kept messing with her port site…she’s NEVER done that.  She tossed and turned and sat up all night until she passed out at 3:30 a.m. The needle must have been bothering her and we didn’t know it. - So, now we had a problem…Both needles had to be removed from her port so new ones could be put in.  (Yeah, easier than it sounds…) Allyson also had to reach a certain hydration level in order to receive the chemo we were there to get after her procedures.  Because of the infiltration, we didn’t know if she’d be ready…this would mean we’d have to sit there until she was fully hydrated.

We got another needle in, but only one.  We decided to have them get the other one in when she was fully sedated and out.  - The procedure went well…time for chemo.  We found out Ally was hydrated enough, JUST enough, to go ahead and get the chemo.  During her procedure, they put two new needles in (yes, yet another new needle) - one and a half inch needles!  They had to put big needles in because she was so swollen.  They had to be sure the needles would stay in because they were sending us home with a bag of chemo for the next 24 hours.  Can I just say how nervous that makes us feel…we are so paranoid the needle will come out and leak all over the place.  She’s already had a bad chemo burn on her foot…

All of this doesn’t sound too bad, but it was so nerve-wracking for Brad and I.  We could only hope for her last backpack weekend and this HUGE procedure day to go smoothly.  Nothing was going right…everything was accomplished, but it wasn’t without stress.

Now for the results…we won’t know until Saturday at the earliest.  It all depends on what “batch” her samples were in when they were sent.  The results could be here Saturday or Monday.

Ally slept for two hours after her procedure and the huge chemo infusion.  We had to wait until she woke up and and ate and drank something before we could leave.  We left the hospital about 4:00 in the afternoon.

We’re home now.  Ally is getting her chemo infusion.  After that is finished, we’re back to fluids and the “rescue” drug on Sunday morning.  We hope Ally clears the chemo by Sunday night so we can get rid of this darn backpack.

We’ll keep you posted…

Ally has had a very busy week so far.  Monday, she and I went to Camp Rainbow and the Cancer Center.  Allyson wasn’t too sure about it all at first, but she had a great time!  (It turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, so all but one of the activities was inside.)  When we first walked into the center, there were lots of people mulling about.  She didn’t want to stay there, so we went out to the second floor lobby where they had a “circus” tent set up.  She had a ball.  (Be sure to check the pics and movies this Sunday.)  Once she was used to everything, she was able to paint, glue, color…make a sailboat (her most prized possession right now)…make and “ocean” out of a water bottle…play in the water outside - she loved to squirt people, but she did NOT like to get squirted.

Tuesday - Thursday this week, Allyson went to school.  Pre-school hasn’t start, so she just went to daycare.  She was a little overwhelmed Tuesday…everyone was so glad to see her back.  Yesterday was a much better day.  I’m glad she was able to go this week and get used to going back.  My school year starts on Monday, so she’ll be back to daycare full time.  Her school starts a week later.

Oh!  Friends of Kids with Cancer called and offered us tickets to the Wiggles Tuesday night.  All four of us went.  Brad and I were hoping Allyson would like it and wouldn’t be too overwhelmed by the noise.  We thought she MAY like it because she knows the music.  She was excited to go.  The four of us made our way to our section, but Allyson would not even go into the arena.  I took Benjamin to our seats and sat there for a bit.  We were hoping Ally might decide to come in once the show started.  - Benjamin loved it!  He was smiling, clapping and looking all around and following what was happening on the stage.  Ally and Brad did not come in.  He couldn’t get her to even go in the doorway.  We had to leave.  - We tried, and I’m glad we did.  You know…it is a sensory thing with her.  There’s nothing we can really do to fix it.  It is common for kids with Down syndrome to have this same issue.  Dr. Rob suggested we get earphones to help block out some of the noise.  It is worth a shot.  - We’re not going to give up…someday she’ll figure it out.

Tonight starts our last backpack weekend.  Tomorrow Ally gets her last bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap in this round of therapy.  Keep your fingers crossed that both come back clean.