Swinging into Summer

When Abigail and I got home from chemo that day (June 11th), Daddy had surprised us by putting up the swing! 

It was a big hit!

Abigail Starts Chemo

Tuesday, June 4th was the big day. Abigail and I got up early and got to the hospital at 6am. Today would be her surgery to place her port, followed by her first dose of chemo that afternoon. If all went well, we'd go home the next day. 

We've totally got this, right?

The IV part was, of course, no fun. Man, I do not miss those! Now that she has a port, it's all easy breezy! 

Passing time waiting for the surgery - we first did our chemo consultation with Dr. Kaylani, her oncologist. 

This was the day we met Becky, the child life specialist, who showed Abigail on this doll what her port would look like. Yay for no more pokes! 

Gabe, the chemo duck! 

It's still a little scary, though....

The surgery went great and took about an hour from what I remember. And it's crazy how quickly she was back up and at 'em. Guess I'm just used to brain surgery....?

It's hard to tell, but the power port was inserted under the skin on the right side of her chest.

Gabe went to surgery with her :)

Cookies never tasted so good! 

That afternoon, Daddy brought everyone for a visit! 

Daddy always makes us feel silly!

French toast and chocolate milk for breakfast on Wednesday morning!

Abigail has become a great helper at administering her own meds through her port - and it all started with practice on the doll.

And just like that, port placement and week 1 of chemo were in the books! And Abigail got a wagon ride out to the hospital exit!

Week 2

Tuesday is Abigail's official chemo day, so week 2 was on June 11th. This was a first "normal" week. We start at the clinic where Brenda hooks up Abigail's port. They gave us prescription numbing cream, which I apply at home about 30 minutes before the appointment and cover with press and seal plastic wrap.

Playing on the old motorcycle in the waiting room. Sadly, that toy is no longer with us. It was retired not too long after this picture.

With the "magic cream" (as we call it) in place, hooking up the port doesn't hurt at all! This first week, Abigail freaked out a bit because, hey, it's scary to have someone come at your chest with a huge needle, so Lorenzo had to hold her down, but she instantly realized there was no pain and calmed down. Each week has gotten progressively better and within a month, she didn't even flinch as it was hooked up. Brenda's also exceptionally good at it, which doesn't hurt. 

They draw a blood sample through her port at the clinic, then we visit with Dr. Kaylani about how she's doing before heading across the street to the hospital for the administration of the chemo. Before we leave, Abigail gets to pick a prize for doing a good job with her port! 

And waiting at the hospital are more toys, courtesy of the Ronald McDonald House. 

We have to wait for the results of her labs before starting chemo to make sure she passed her white blood cells counts. Once we have those results, she gets 30 minutes or so of fluids through her port, then her first chemo agent - carboplatin - which takes an hour. Then another flush of fluids for about 30 minutes, then the second chemo agent - vincristine - which takes 5 - 10 minutes. Another 30 minutes of fluids and we're ready to take out the port! All told, it's about 6 hours. 

Abigail got to go to the play room for the first time during week 2!

And we always take the long way out of the building so we can stop and see the fish!

All Else June

Our random June stuff mostly involves Seth getting into things and cows.

We went with some friends from church to a "cattle drive" in downtown Amarillo. The kids had fun playing beforehand, which was good cause there weren't many cows and once it started, it was over pretty quickly!

Halle got one of the free prizes!

Seth's favorite toy is the pink car - he loves getting pushed around the house! 

More of his kitchen explorations:

Halle's fort building skills have not waned.... 

And look who can pull up and stand???

"Good job, buddy!" from his cheering section :)

That face. Gets me every time!

Seth's second favorite toy at 9 months - the princess castle mirror. Andrew is thrilled. And for once is willing to invest in some new toys....

Remember when Abigail had hair? I forget - fast forward three months and I'm totally used to the bald.

Helping Mommy with the dishes!

My Uncle Gene stayed one night at our house in early June, as he was passing back through to Utah. The girls adored him! It was a quick, but fun, visit! This is him pulling away as the girls wave and cry:

In June we finally filled our kindness jar (I can't remember exactly how many months it took), which meant we got to go to dinner at a buffet! No China Star nastiness this time - we opted for Golden Corral. Not as yummy as I remember, but to the kids, it was heaven!

So many yummy things to eat!

I love it when the girls all get along :)

And that one time when our friends the Howe's took Eve and Halle along to a library event in Canyon and stopped for treats on the way back! I think this was already after Abigail had started chemo and was a particularly rough week for us, so Eve and Halle extra loved getting out of the house with friends!

Can you tell the Howe's are our only friends?  :)  We also went to Dunkin' Donuts together!

Summer means everyone can go to library singing time with Miss Maggie! 

And Abigail's in a phase where she likes to use the car to make a podium and gives primary talks from it. It's adorable!