Karly's Follow-up

I picked up Karly early from school yet again today for another doctor's appointment.  She has a lot of check-ups, that girl.  Today it was the pediatric gynecologist ... because when your 13-year-old has ovarian cancer, you definitely want a pediatric gynecologist on your team.

So now, 4 years later, it's routine and maintenance, which is nice and wonderfully uneventful.  The doctor has a new nurse, which lead to a funny moment.  She was going over Karly's history with me -- meds, surgical, etc. -- and then stopped with an odd expression.  "It says post-menopausal here ... ?" which made me laugh.  Because, yes, that is right, and yes, highly unusual.

That's what removing an ovary, 5 rounds of chemo and then 33 days of abdominal radiation will do -- it will push a girl who is just entering puberty right on through menopause.

Then the doctor came in, and she checked Karly over and chatted her up.  We had quite a long visit with her, actually -- going over meds and overall health and so on.  We'll continue with the hormone replacement patches that Karly has been on for quite some time, as they seem to be working well for her (no more hot flashes, for one thing).

At one point, the doctor told Karly something to the effect of how she couldn't get over how great Karly looked.  She said, basically, "when you have a patient that is very sick, that's the image that stays in your head for a long time.  And you were a very sick girl - and now you look great!"

How true that is ... and how surreal that we've moved forward so far from that point.  I mean, Karly didn't go to school for a full year; and when she started back up, she was only going for a couple hours at a time, a few days a week -- that's how low her stamina was.

Oh, and another odd thing -- Karly doesn't have reflexes anymore.  You know how the doctor hits your knee with a little mallet to get a response?  None.  It's a side effect from chemo.  But considering the multitude of side effects that can come along with chemo, this one is definitely not an issue!

Also...

I'm super thankful for my wonderful husband who braved the Black Friday sale at Walmart for me tonight.  I fully intended to go -- there was ONE THING I wanted for the little girly-girls.   I realized yesterday I probably wasn't going to be able to go get it, since it weighs over 100 pounds and I'm way too pregnant to lift up more than ... well, I can barely lift the girls these days.

Brian didn't even complain about going in my place, he's awesome!


And you'll have to wait until Christmas to see what the girls get ... but they will be JUMPING for joy ;)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful we're home and together, had a good meal, and I had a good report on the baby at my doctor's visit yesterday.

Definitely preferable to the Thanksgiving four years ago (can you believe that was four years ago!?) when Karly had her tumor removed.

Ruby, the Mischief

One thing about Ruby, she is highly entertaining.  The other night, Brian and I were watching her run around and be her silly self, and Brian said, "We could have a reality show based around Ruby."   Yup, I'd watch that show!

Then Braden chimed in, "We could call it Ruby, the Mischief!"

So, that's how Ruby got her new nickname, and it's very appropriate!

Here's a couple recent new tricks of Ruby's ... there were several others lately that we didn't catch on camera.


Cushions from the couch were dragged through the kitchen, dining room, and into the office ...

This bucket used to have a bunch of little dollhouse furniture in it.  But dumped out & upside down, it makes a great step!  She added a couple magazines for additional height.

and when that didn't work ... it was time to get a chair.

She's also let herself into the garage twice this past week -- once to do a little light sweeping, and the other to just run around.  She was promptly returned to the house, since it's only about 40 degrees and she likes to be barefoot.

Oh, then there was the time this past week where I had the girls in the bathroom ... Ruby finished up and ran off.  I stayed with Lil to help her get dressed -- and by the time I caught up to Ruby (3 minutes later), she had taken an ice cream sandwich out of the freezer, unwrapped it, and was eating it.  Unfortunately, it was only 10:00 in the morning, and she hadn't eaten much the past couple days due to her strep and not feeling well, so I had to be a meanie mom and take it away.

Never a dull moment!

My Poor Little Bird

Ruby had a rough evening yesterday, but she's enjoying her comfy little nest on the couch (with Rar-Rar, of course!)

I took Braden, Lil & Ru to their 6-month dental cleaning today.  Brian asked if I was sure I didn't want him to take time off and go with us -- but really, having Braden along is so helpful.  Braden gets out of the van and goes to the sidewalk, and Lilya will follow him ... and then Ruby will follow, too.  They are so much more compliant when big brother is leading the way.

Braden has his first 2 little cavities, so I'll take him back in December, but other than that the visit was fairly uneventful.  The dentist wants to pull some of Lil's teeth in the future -- she has SUCH a tiny mouth!   And Braden still needs that palate expander for his upper jaw at some point, but it's nothing urgent.  We'll see how he does with the fillings, and then move on from there.

All 3 kids tolerated having their teeth cleaned, too -- with the most protest from Lilya, but she was fine as soon as it was done.


Then, we brought Braden to school ... and a couple hours later headed to the pediatrician.  This is where I wish we'd had Braden with us still, because on the way out, I had to pick Ruby up from the floor (she was crawling out like a puppy) and carry her, squirming and fighting all the way, out to the van.  Not fun ... especially with this big bump of a belly in the way.


Ruby has scarlet fever.  I suspected as much, that's why we went in.  And I have to say, I'm so thankful we live in a time where antibiotics are readily available!

When I called to schedule her appointment, I was explaining her only symptom was this rash, and it looked like a strep rash ... and the nurse was asking if she had complained of a headache or sore throat.    Ummmm... then I realized that to the nurse, I'm just calling about a 4-year-old -- I forget that a typical 4-year-old would be able to say things like, "Ow, my head hurts!"  So I told the nurse, "She's not very verbal, she has Down syndrome," and we moved on from there.  It just stuck with me, how often I forget.  On paper, she's 4; in real life, she's so much more intricate and complex and entertaining than that!


The exhausting part of this tale is that Ruby & Lilya haven't had school since last Thursday, due to a scheduled half-day last Friday and no kindergarten on Monday or Tuesday because of parent-teacher conferences.  We've had 5 full days of togetherness, and they are BORED with me and this house.  And yet, I had to call her in sick for tomorrow, too -- and tomorrow is a field trip day for her class.  Bummer.

Karly had a birthday

I swear I was in high school just yesterday.

And this week?  Karly turned 17.  How does that happen!?  Can that really be true!?

We went out to eat on Sunday to celebrate and followed dinner with cookie cake and presents.


And yet ... every birthday Karly has reminds us of when she turned 13, and then was diagnosed with cancer shortly afterwards.  And here we are, 4 years later, her battle with cancer a distant nightmare.


Happy Birthday, Karly!  Here's to another year of good health!!

Karly's Report for Health Class

Karly had to do a report for her health class and she chose "Down Syndrome" as her topic!  Her report was last week, and she said it went well.

I had nothing to do with this, except helping her with the pictures -- she put it together at school, with a little help from one of the aides.


Great job, Karly!

New 'dos for Lil & Ru!

We took the little girls for haircuts this morning!  Brian & Braden came along, so the girls were able to get their hair cut at the same time.  Brian stayed with Lil, and I supervised Ruby (i.e. made sure she didn't jump out of the little chair!)


Adorable little punk!

This face = trouble!

Lil was dancing away, it was harder to get her to pose ...

Lovely Lilya

Rubes

This morning, I got the girls ready to go ride the horses.  Ruby bent over to pick up Rar-Rar ... and threw up on him.  So, no horses today, and no school for little Ru.  She's been fine since then.



But here's an adorable Halloween craft that came home from school!

Ruby as a spider!

On Halloween Day

Miss Ru had her Halloween party at school the week before, so she didn't wear a costume on Halloween.

Still -- Adorable!

The duck costume we borrowed from a friend for Lilya was adorable and warm -- but it really wasn't meant for sitting down in (or riding the school bus!)


Meet Lilya the Clown 

Posing together for Mom!

Costumes!

Yeah, I know Halloween is way over, but too bad.  Cute pics!  Must be posted!

I know I already shared that Ruby was Tigger ...


And then Bat-Ruby gave away Braden's costume:

Bat-Braden!

But it was brought to my attention that I never even hinted what Lil's costume was!  Lil actually had two costumes -- this was for Trick-or-Treat and the Halloween party, but I didn't let her wear it to school.  She couldn't even sit down in it! 

I would tell her, "Lilya, you're such a cute duck!" and she'd smile at me and sign "chicken"

Funny girl!!

And this picture because it cracks me up...  

This is Lil's "Cheese!" face !


I tried to get a picture of them together before going Trick-or-Treating (Karly didn't dress up) -- but these were as good as it gets!

Maybe not stellar photographs, but very true to life, and utterly adorable!