Catch Up

I haven't had a chance to post the pics of Mother's Day and Brooklynn's first dance recital with all that has gone on over the past few weeks.

We celebrated Mother's Day at the Farr's house. Brooklynn was very excited to give Gram the bird that she picked out all by herself. Yes, Nick took her to Trade Route (one of our favorite stores) and Brooklynn insisted that Gram MUST have this green bird. I didn't see it beforehand which left me a little nervous about the gift, but after seeing it opened up I think B did a pretty good job.

We also got Granny a few pictures that were taken at church this spring. It's been awhile since we've had B's photos made.


Last Saturday, June 2nd, was B's first dance recital. Nick and I were so excited but also pretty nervous at what she might do on that big stage at the Peace Center. We have never even taken her to dance class because Mom took her every Thursday. Once Mom got sick Aunt Kaley took her for the remaining three weeks, so Nick and I have no clue what she has been doing in dance class since last fall. Needless to say she looked pretty cute thanks to Aunt Laura getting her hair up in that required bun!
B actually surprised us and danced her little heart out. Unfortunately I couldn't record it, but I am working on purchasing the DVD so Mom can see her performance.
B was pretty proud of herself afterwards. Mostly because she got a medal and Gram and Poopa rewarded her with the much anticipated Minnie Mouse umbrella. She was doubly rewarded when it rained the next two days and she was able to show her new umbrella off at school to all her friends. Ahh, the little things!

Update from Home!

Mom left the hospital today and is feeling a little better. This afternoon when I went to the house she was sitting up in the living room drinking a milkshake! Talk about an improvement. Hopefully over the remainder of weekend she can continue to eat and get enough fluids to be strong enough for chemo on Monday. She will go to the Cancer Center on Monday and they will evaluate her and go from there. We definitely want chemo to happen on that day, so that we can continue to try and fight the cancer, which is very aggressive.

Aunt Shay and Mike came into town on Friday night and just in time. They have helped to lift everyone's spirits. Mike, always the good storyteller, has kept everyone laughing. I can already tell after one day that having Aunt Shay around has motivated Mom to get up and do the things she needs to do instead of staying in the bed. I'm not sure anyone could have this effect on her other than Aunt Shay. I'm very happy that she is going to be here all week long. It's good for Dad as well to have her around. I don't know that she knows how much we appreciate her being here.

We are still working on getting the at home treatment and supplies for Mom. We ran into a roadblock, also known as the weekend. It seems the people we need to talk to get things done are only Monday - Friday. Hopefully all the things the case manager discussed with us last week (hospital bed, supplies, etc.) will happen this week.

As for now we are just taking things one day at a time and encouraging Mom to keep eating and drinking in order to keep her strength up.

Update from the Hospital #2

This morning Dad and I met with the doctor. He said that Mom doesn't have an infection and that they are going to stop the antibiotic. He also said that today is the day to see how Mom does without any ivs. They have been pumping her with fluids since she got here, so he wants to see if she can consume enough on her own. The doctor mentioned that she needs to get up and walk around today and sit up in the chair so that he can see if she is ready to be at home. The PT people came early this morning and walked her up and down the hall. Afterwards, they determined that she is too weak to walk without a walker and also without someone helping her along. So they have ordered at home PT care several times a week. Mom is going to love that (not really).

Today is definitely the best I have seen Mom is the past two weeks. It's good to see her sitting up and taking part in conversations. She is still in a little pain and weak but definitely an improvement over where we have been.

Update from the Hospital #1

Mom had a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment Wednesday morning. She was still sick and extremely dehydrated from the chemo once we got her to the Cancer Center. The nurses gave her several ivs and did some blood work only to discover that her already high while blood cell count had skyrocketed indicating an infection somewhere. They administered antibiotics and decided to admit her to try and stabilize her.

Mom has done much better since yesterday afternoon and they are continuing to give her ivs as we wait for the results that tell us what type or if any infection she may have. She will be in the hospital until at least Saturday. She may be released Saturday depending on how well she is doing.

We are currently in the process of working towards getting an at home nurse. She will not be there to assist but rather to teach us how to better care for Mom. They also provide the tools necessary to do so such as hospital beds etc. We were very encouraged after speaking with the case manager today. She also provided so many useful resources for us. What a blessing she will be and already is!

Thanks for all the calls, texts, emails, gifts and visits. Mom is sleeping well right now after a full morning. I'll update as we know more.

Update on Mom

Just thought I would take a few minutes to update everyone on Mom. She started her first round of chemo yesterday. She is no longer part of the clinical trial which would have meant chemo five days a week. Instead she will only have chemo on Mondays. She did pretty well yesterday afternoon but it made her sick overnight. She will have two more rounds of chemo and then they will reassess to determine the next step.

Many of you have asked about what Mom wants to eat. She is mostly only eating watermelon and cantaloupe and drinking smoothies and milkshakes. Occasionally she will ask for other things. The meal train has been such a blessing. A big thanks to the people who have already brought meals, Karen Farr, Sarah Joy Smith, Tracy LeGrand, Nancy Dover, Carolyn Brewer, and Kayla and Justin Bell. It has been great for Dad to have meals every night and good for him to get some visitors. I know that we are all concerned about Mom and her health, but Dad really has a big job as her primary caretaker and boy has he stepped up to the plate. I just want to make sure that he is also taken care of even though I can picture him rolling his eyes as I type this sentence. A big shout out as well to the best neighbor in the world, Mary Long, who is always showing up at the door with goodies. Mom ate up the watermelon and cantaloupe Mary brought that was cut into neat little scoops. I don't know why, but a scoop of watermelon must be better than a slice. She ate a bowl last night and one this morning. I need to find one of those scoops!

I've added a few weekend days to the meal train simply because at this point Mom doesn't need to be left alone and Dad needs to eat. Blake and I really do appreciate the generoisty of everyone during this difficult time. All of the food, emails, calls, and texts surely let us know that we are not alone.

Flowers

I love hydrangeas, and the bushes in our yard are really looking good this year!

I love being able to have flowers straight from the yard that look like this!

Mutt's to the Rescue!

This has been such a crazy week. Why, you may ask?! It was the last week of school, of course. All you teachers out there can sympathize with that I'm sure.

Friday afternoon was Brooklynn's dress rehearsal for her first dance recital. Getting off from work, picking her up, trying to get her dressed according to the ridiculous guidelines, her hair up in a bun again according to guidelines, and to the Peace Center was a nightmare. I don't even want to go into the details of that ordeal. Needless to say we made it on time by the skin of our teeth and I had an hour of sitting in the lobby of the Peace Center to calm my nerves. I'm pretty sure that if I weren't almost 23 weeks pregnant that a stiff drink would have been in order after yesterday afternoon. I settled for Mutt's bbq for dinner instead.
Of course once we got to Mutt's the line was out the door and well on its way to wrapping around the porch. I quickly told Nick that I just didn't have the energy to fight that crowd, so we turned to leave. Brooklynn had other ideas. She plopped her behind down on that floor and started screaming. She surely wanted some Mutts. What in the world?! Who knew she liked that place so much?! Well I had less energy for fighting her tantrum, so in line we waited as the lady in front of us said, "We know who rules that roost!" I thought to myself that if she had just spent her afternoon running from Greer to Five Forks to Greenville and then had to wake up her three year old from a nap (always a mistake) only to try and dress her and do her hair as she screams. (I must insert here that I was almost in tears at this point too!) All this while running out of time and gas and trying to find somewhere to park in the pouring down rain. I can continue with all the madness, but I will stop. Ummmm lady . . . YOU would give in too!

As we waited and waited I soon realized why Brooklynn was so set on Mutt's.

Here she is holding her ice cream up in triumph!
Seriously though, who can complain about an exhausting afternoon when there is a sweet face like this to tuck in every night!?! Love her!