down time

So when you are dealing with cancer and you are on this side of it (post treatment), time is measured by tests and exams. We are currently in "down time" and it is the longest down time we have had since Rowan was diagnosed. She is doing SOOO well too. All steps are going "ahead" for her! She doesn't even need to go back for an EUA until after her birthday (August 20th), well eight days after, but maybe we can actually celebrate her second birthday with friends and family instead of in a hospital. Last summer, she received her first cycle of chemotherapy on her first birthday. That was the worst day of my life and I am so happy she probably has no recollection of it. This year will be so different. I will reflect on her birth, her trials, her battle, her awesomeness and party party party! Nothing will be held back or held down this birthday. I am already trying to figure out how to make a Winnie the Pooh cake..there must be a mould somewhere...

Oh and she said, "dinosaur" yesterday...her first 3 syllable word.

Friend Coming today!

A close friend of mine is making the trek down to Florida today for a 5 day stay! I cannot wait to see a familiar face. Moving is really hard and finding/making friends at this age is even harder. She is one of those people I can have a good time with even when we are just watching TV. I love her with all my heart. She was always there to listen to me and hear me cry through all of my daughter's treatments which isn't an easy thing to do, esp. when you single (as she was at the time...since then, she got herself hitched), hip, and really probably could have been doing something better than listening to me. Alicia, I love you!

My last post

I wonder if my friends Dr. read it because they drew her daughter's blood and got the results immediately!!!! She is fine! It was just a fluke first reading which I knew could happen. I love hearing good news :)

Childhood cancer

Sucks. I don't know why there should even be a thing and if I hear one more person tell me, "Well things happen for a reason," I will seriously go off on them. My kid didn't get cancer for a reason! F-you. No kid should have to get cancer...no kid should go through chemo, radiation, enucleations, brain surgery, spinal taps, MRIs, CT scans, blood transfusions, never ending nausea, weekly hospital stays, and all the rest that comes with cancer. We are lucky that off all the cancers my daughter had retinoblastoma that has a 90% survival rate in the US/Great Britain and all other developed countries (30% in most of the world)....

To doctors: When something is wrong with my kid, I usually know it, as do most parents...when something is off, try listening to what a parent has to say. If you order tests, please do so with urgency as parents don't like to wait for results....(well I guess no one does), but seriously...call a parent back that night if the results come in late...schedule tests for early so they might be in by that night.

I had a girlfriend tell me that she became a much better Dr. when she became a mom...Its true though...so try to put yourselves in our shoes.

I am writing this cause I am worried about a friend of mine and her daughter. They have become very dear to me, but are going through a rough time. I just wish I could speed up the clock for them so they have some answers...I am not much of a prayer, but they will be in my thoughts.