I write tonight from pink, fuchsia, blue and green. From corduroy pillows of pink, unicorn pillow-pets and poka-dots. From mounds of kitties, doggies, bears and owls. I am sleeping in Madelyn's room tonight. She is sleeping in my bed with Daddy. Peter slept here last night.
Madelyn has been absolutely fantastic the last couple of weeks! She is feeling good, acting like herself, having fun, growing and thriving. As a four, almost five, year old should be. No more temper tantrums or overt anxiety. She's had a wonderful week of sleep overs with Grandma and Grandpa, fun days with Ashley, learning mornings with Tina at San Juan Montessori and exercise mornings with Amy at Physical Therapy. Sophia and Madelyn have been engaged, amusing and entertaining each other. I thought hearing your child laugh was the best thing in the world. Well, actually, the best thing is to hear your children laughing together - without you.
Madelyn has had an increase in bad dreams lately. They are waking her up and, therefore, waking us up as well. She is also scared of the dark and sleeps with the lights on. I have decided to not try and effect how she copes. If she wants to be with us because she has bad dreams, so be it. If she wants all the lights on while she sleeps, so be it. It won't last forever and it gives her some control in her life where she has so little.
Last night she woke up from a bad dream and had to go potty. She wanted me to come with her so we held hands down the hall and she climbed on the toilet. She immediately started to fiercely cry that it was hurting.
First thing this morning I called the Hem/Onc clinic at Children's Hospital suspecting a bladder infection. Luckily, they said we could do the testing here in Anacortes with our pediatrician. Dr. Jeanne Olmstead and her nurse Patsy are so wonderful. They said to just come in right away and they would work us in. As soon as we walked in the door, their MA ushered us to the back so we did not have to sit in the waiting room. Pasty read Madelyn a book as I walked back to the front and checked in. (As you can imagine, the waiting room at a doctors office is GERM Central so they got us away from exposure). We are still waiting to hear the results of the UTI test, but Dr. Olmstead spoke with our ARNP at Children's and they decide to put Madelyn on some precautionary antibiotics until the test results come back.
And get this! Fabulous. The antibiotics came in gel caps. Not a major thing for most people, but for us... WoooHooo! No cutting the tablets and shoving them into gel caps. Doesn't sound like a big deal, I know, but some of those pills don't cut so well and it can be a big pain in the you-know-what-end. It was cute though... I had the nurse, the MA and the pharmacist double check that I indeed wanted pills and not liquid. "Yes, she likes to swallow it with gel caps". I am just as proud of it as she is.
Lastly, I want you all to know how astounding Madelyn is. She was whammed by chemo on Wednesday, but I swear you would never know it. She had two days of some nausea and a little pain, but she was happy and her inexhaustible energy for life continued. I swear that is not just a Mom statement! Ask Ashley, she knows. Ashley, Peter and I watch her everyday and are amazed by her. She still wants to run, play horses, eat ice cream, read books, ride bikes, look through telescopes, take baths, have dance parties in our living room, laugh, paint, draw, have Daddy play Tickle Monster and put on Dora tatoos.
We leave for Seattle on Thursday this week. Madelyn's appointments are on Friday. I will update more this weekend...
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