Emotional Week

This past week has been hard. Sobbing in parking lots and ugly crying in the bathroom kind of hard. Extremely emotional, and I am not sure why. Most of the time this process feels possible. But every once in a while, it seems overwhelmingly unbearable. This week was that kind of week. I suspect that it had something to do with all of the birthdays. As a parent, you naturally have a lot of mixed emotions when it's your child's birthday. Multiply that by three, then add in cancer. Yeah, it was an emotional week to say the least. 

But, I can now say that the moment is past. And that is why I am able to blog again. Everything felt emotionally and mentally exhausting. So, if you emailed, texted or called me, thank you. I have every intention of responding, but just have not been able to just yet.

Ok, enough with the pity party. That is definitely over. Let's get to the facts about what has happened since my last post.

Last Monday, Ellie had to go into the ER for another fever. It was a most likely due to the cold that she got from Eva and Nora, but we always err on the side of caution. It was a little troubling, as the ER doctor wanted to definitely rule out an infection (pneumonia), but after many tests and a chest x-ray, it was determined that she just has rhino virus (common cold).

We live in constant worry of fevers. While Ellie is going through chemotherapy, no fever is taken lightly. The smallest, yet wrong infection, could have seriously terrible consequences for Ellie. So yes, it may seem ridiculous worry excessively about a fever, but this is a part of our new normal. Even that....nothing about this process is normal.

The next day, Ellie returned to the hospital for her regularly scheduled treatment. Due to her high counts, she was able to continue with her chemotherapy. She was strong enough to receive both drugs, Methotrexate and Vincristine, so they were administered via her port. The visit was relatively short at just 3 hours. 

Getting her prize with her coin that she earned after receiving treatment.

I forget exactly what Ellie was doing at this moment, but it was something funny.
Also, this is a frequent view of mine. Looking down and seeing Ellie tagging along.

I will say this, even though this past week was hard, it ended on a good note. Eva, Nora and Ellie's birthday party was this past Saturday, so I will post about that soon. Yesterday was spent together as a family, but there's enough information there for another post too. I'll leave you with these pictures of birthday present fun!

Finally, today is Eva's birthday, and we are enjoying celebrating her!

Opening gifts this morning from her sisters.