Visit from Stu

I'm going to try and keep it simple today - I just have so much packing and planning to do. The kids slept in fairly late...which was especially nice because I was up all night.

As I was getting ready, I asked Elliot to help me find the ipod. Micah started yelling "Mommy, ipod" and he reached up to the counter and grabbed the ipod. Yes, you know you've allowed your child too much access to technology when "ipod" is one of the few words he can pronounce perfectly.

I met my friend Heather for breakfast at the Original Pancake House at 10 (it is one of our favorite restaurants, and we love to order chocolate crepes and strawberry crepes and share them...it has been our tradition for many years now). My father showed up just before we were seated...he was kind enough to drive down and bring me my cell phone!

After brunch with Heather, Maya and I drove up to Levindale. It was an easy ride, and we arrived right around 12:30. Jeremy, Paige, Peyton, Lorin, and Stu (who was in town visiting from California) were already with Mom. We stayed in her room for a few minutes, and then we relocated to the cafe where we had more room to sit and chat. As usual, Lorin brought another delicious smoothie for my mother...and the girls ended up drinking most of it. A resounding hit!

The girls ran around, played with Maya, and had a fantastic time with Uncle Stu. It was Stu's first time meeting Maya...and I would say she did the requisite flirting.

I got a text from Elliot - he had taken Micah down to the Rally to Restore Sanity, and he thought a few of the signs were funny. He said it was unbelievably crowded - more so than almost any other event he had ever attended before on the mall.

Dad showed up while we were in the cafe, and we spent some time together. Jeremy and the girls, Lorin and Stu all left by 3, and my father and I returned Mom to her room. My mom showed me a cute little mug that Sharon and Eddie brought over this morning - thank you! It has a great photo of mom from her birthday party, and it says Happy 65th on it.

Dad left a little while later, and I hung around to do our facial cleaning routine, nurse Maya, and give Mom some time to play with the baby. Maya and I took off on the early side (around 4:30). We got home around 5:30, I fed Maya again, and then Elliot, Micah, Maya and I drove to the Hebrew Home for a quick visit with Della (and a chance for Stu to see Micah and Elliot). We didn't stay very long - we were back home by 7. We watched a little tv, played a few games with Micah, and then bathed the children and put them to bed.

Good news of the day...we now have a new key for our rental house. Tomorrow is going to be a bit crazy...we need to get up to Mom on the early side (Dad is unable to go there tomorrow because he is working) so we can get back in time to take the kids trick or treating. If you are thinking of going to visit Mom, any time is good, but she could especially use a little extra company in the morning (before lunch) and later in the day (we'll probably have to leave by 3). I hate leaving her alone for so long, so I'm hoping she'll have lots of company to keep her occupied.

Mom will be home in six days.

Uh oh...it is 2:30 and Micah is screaming for Mommy. I wonder why he wakes up...bad dreams? Teething pain? Not a good night. Probably because I'm trying to post early, pump early and go to bed early. Let's hope Elliot can get him back to sleep.

Peyton's Birthday Dinner

Another good day! Maya was up nursing early, but Micah stayed in bed until 8:30. We were downstairs waiting for Christin by 8:45. Micah was quite grumpy today...he started crying every time I made a move toward anything that looked remotely like an object I might need to prepare to leave (keys, my purse, shoes, etc.).

I was supposed to meet my father over at the new house so we could take some measurements. Unfortunately, we spent most of the morning searching for the keys to the new house. I am 100% certain about where I put them, and they are no longer there. I'm a creature of habit...I always put things in certain "designated" places. I do that (and refuse to let myself come up with new locations for things because I never remember those new and creative locations). So, important papers go in one spot, keys in another spot, etc. I do have 1 "dumping" ground...if something is "misplaced" it is always in my dumping ground. So, today I searched for the keys in my usual places - where I keep keys, my important papers pile and my dumping ground. Then I searched everywhere else. We took this house apart, and we cannot find the keys anywhere.

Since they are missing, it means one of several things happened. 1) Elliot took them and moved them (or thought he'd take them to the store to make copies and forgot that he stuffed them in something). 2) My father saw them and grabbed them and put them somewhere for "safe keeping" and now doesn't even remember that we ever told him the keys were here. (Definitely a plausible scenario, except my father has only been here once since the keys arrived, and I really don't remember showing him where they were). 3) Micah spotted them, grabbed them and started playing with them (he is obsessed with keys) and put them somewhere...possibly even the diaper pail, his new favorite toy. 4) Perhaps the landlady took them back. I noticed when cleaning that she took the wrong copy of the lease - it is possibly she snagged both my envelope and the keys at the same time. I am fairly certain I checked for the keys since she left (and saw them) but maybe I didn't.

After we gave up looking for the keys, we had a lot to do. I decorated a cake for Peyton's birthday, I straightened the house, I played with Micah, I nursed Maya...it was a bit crazy. Christin took Micah outside for a bit to play with bubbles, helped feed him lunch, and then we put him down for an early nap. She took care of Maya while I showered and dressed and got things ready for us to leave.

I heard that Diane and Joey were visiting my mom today. I'm sorry I missed them! It was too hard for us to figure out how to get everyone up to Levindale today early and make it through to dinner, so we just decided to drive up after Micah's nap.

Surprisingly, we made it out the door on time at 2:30. Elliot asked to detour by Red Cross to pick up his new cell phone. I had no idea that the little detour would end up making our trip 1 1/2 hours long! We did not arrive at Levindale until 4:00. I ran upstairs, helped my mom finish getting ready, and we headed out for dinner. We were downstairs loading her into the van around 4:20, and we arrived at the restaurant around 4:50.

We had to wait for a few minutes while they set up the tables, but we did finally get seated. Jen and the girls arrived right on time, and Jeremy arrived a short while later. Dinner was lovely! The kids, of course, ate nothing, and the adults ate way too much. Mom and I shared food...we had gnocchi and eggplant parmesan, and it was very good. Dad also had eggplant, Elliot had a delicious pasta with a tomato, garlic, artichoke, spinach and tomato sauce. Jen had a cheesesteak, and to be honest, I have no idea what my brother ordered. We ordered Micah spaghetti and meatballs...and he wouldn't even look at it. The girls had a little pasta, a little gnocchi, a little spaghetti...but mostly ate bread. Micah drank water, and then was throwing a fit. We ended up just playing some Elmo on DVD for him. I know - terrible habit. We cannot just use Elmo every time he misbehaves...but it was so much easier to keep him entertained than cut the dinner short and leave.

Around 6:15, we decided to serve the cake. Peyton had a huge grin on her face as she blew out her candle. I had made her an Ariel doll cake (with a real Ariel doll), and she was thrilled! Now, if I had only remembered to bring the doll's pants and accompanying play toys that I left in the box at home, that would have been a good thing.

Peyton opened her presents and then it was time to say goodbye. We loaded up the things first (leftover food, diaper bags, etc.) and then we took Mom outside. It was freezing!! It took us a few minutes to get her in the van and lock everything in place (including the children). Jeremy, Jen and the girls said their goodbyes, and Mom, Dad, me, Elliot, Micah and Maya headed back to Levindale. I had Elliot just drop me, Mom and Dad at the front door and head home with the kids. Dad and I took Mom upstairs, got the nurse, and had them give Mom her medications and get her ready for bed.

Dad and I stayed with Mom for another 40 minutes. We took some time to do our "daily routine" - I get a washcloth and take some of Mom's Albolene (a cream cleanser) to rub all over her face and then wipe it off. I then take the cream they gave us at Hopkins and rub it all over her face and head. Since we've been doing this routine, Mom has felt far less itchy and her skin is looking much better. I love our daily routine, and so does she. Every day, she tells me that she cannot wait until I get my hands on her.

Tonight, we talked about how this will be our new nightly routine when we go home. She said she looks forward to creating good happy routines for us to remember. I told her that I already had plenty of good happy memories of her, but that I was looking forward to creating many more.

I was impressed that Mom made it to 7:00 without so much as a yawn. I think she has been going to bed early out of boredom. Dad and I left together, and I drove him home to our house. He said he was tired and did not feel up to driving. I didn't mind at all, and we had a nice chat in the car. We got home to two screaming children!! I went upstairs to help Elliot, and brought Maya downstairs. While my father waited, I changed Maya into her pajamas and started to nurse her.

Dad waited for Elliot to come downstairs after putting Micah to bed, and he asked him a favor then left for the night. He told me he was tired and going home. No surprise, but Dad called a little while later to tell me that I forgot my phone in his car, and he was driving back down to give it to me. I told him not to bother, that I could wait until the morning to get my phone from him. I realized Dad was in the car, and asked him where he was. Much to my surprise, he told me that instead of driving straight home, he detoured to the post office out by the College. I could have strangled him!! He kept insisting that it was "on his way" home (yeah...about 10 minutes further north than he needed to go, and then another 15 minutes home). I was so angry that he did all that extra driving on a night when he told me he was too tired to be driving very far! There was just nothing so urgent at the post office that could not wait until the morning (and I know he told me he had stopped at the post office earlier in the day, too).

Right after I "yelled" at Dad, Mom called me to tell me she was having a good night so far. It was nice to hear from her. A few minutes later, she called back to tell me that the battery on her book had died. Naturally, I told on Dad, too, and Mom was not happy he had done extra driving either. So, I called Dad back to ask him to ask if he had any more batteries at home (ours are all rechargeable, so they just do not last as long). I also made sure he knew I tattled to Mom about his driving escapades...at which point he realized he shouldn't have been doing that driving. So, Dad, no more running stupid errands when you are exhausted!! Now, I've tattled to everyone, and he'll be very unhappy when he reads this :).

Mom just called...I had to race through the house to find a phone that was charged...no such luck. I called her back, and she is doing well - up for the day and getting ready. We'll head there around lunch time, and she has a few visitors planned.

Routines

I'm finding it harder and harder to do this same routine everyday, especially now that radiation is done. It almost feels like the rigidity in my schedule is gone now that radiation is complete, so every day I "play" with the time I need to leave for Baltimore.

Thursday was a tough morning...Micah woke up screaming "Mommy!" around 6:00 am...just as I was starting to fall asleep. I don't know whether he had a nightmare or if he was hurt, but he was loud and scared, and I needed to go upstairs and sit with him. After 30 minutes, I realized he was not going to fall back asleep. I decided to bring him into our room - I was hoping that sitting in the dark and cuddling with us would encourage him to sleep...but no such luck. Instead, he woke the baby up early, and Elliot eventually had to take Micah downstairs for an early breakfast.

Micah had preschool again today, and we ended up sending him with Megan. Elliot had a work function, and I planned a Kidville class with Maya (and our cousins Jodi and Layla, and our friends Ellen and Abigail). Maya and I met Jodi and Layla for an early lunch first at 11:00 to catch up, and I would have had to leave preschool a bit early to make it there on time. Since I was afraid of Micah crying and becoming inconsolable if I tried to sneak out of preschool 15 minutes early and swap with Megan, I decided it would be easier for him if Megan took him instead.

Maya had a great time at Kidville! I think she is a little young still for class to mean anything to her yet, but the singing and the toys made her smile. I think Micah was about 6 months old when I enrolled him in his first class, so perhaps next semester I'll start Maya in a regular class. After class, Ellen had to run to pick up her son, Max, and Jodi and I stopped for a cupcake at Georgetown Cupcakes.

After class, I got in the car and headed to Levindale, but it was almost 2:30 when I finally arrived. My mother was supposed to be in therapy, but when I got there, the therapist informed me she was unable to find my Mom at 2:00 when she went upstairs. I sat with her for a bit and reviewed different equipment options, and then my parents walked through the door. I guess my father took my mother for a walk and the therapist was unable to find them. It was too late for therapy at that poing, so all went upstairs.

Mom continued to sit in her chair for a few more hours. We talked, we looked for her ipod (it went missing again yesterday, and we still can't find it). Mom asked me to flip a glass upside down (my grandmother used to tell us that if you turn a glass upside in your cabinet when you lose something, you'll find it), so I sent Elliot a text to flip one over. Hopefully, the glass will help us find Mom's ipod tomorrow.

I called Jen to wish Peyton a Happy Birthday, but she was sleeping. While I was on the phone, Ben and Carrie (Jen's brother and sister-in-law) came by to visit Mom. It was so great to see them! They stayed and chatted with Mom for about an hour, and we had a great visit. They couldn't have come at a better time...Mom was upstairs, dressed, in her wheelchair and feeling great.

After Ben and Carrie left, we took Mom back to her room and my father headed home. I spent the afternoon trying to deal with getting her blood test results faxed over to Hopkins. Apparently, her platelets have dropped again (down to 62,000 from 110,000), which is a normal side effect of chemotherapy. I spoke to her medical oncologist, Dr. Holdhoff, and he said their goal is to keep her platelets over 50,000, so I believe we just need to watch and wait. She will need to continue getting her blood draws, and they will not be able to start her monthly oral chemotherapy until here counts recover. What concerns me more now is that my mother is also anemic again, and I'm not certain if anyone is monitoring that. It was such a severe issue a few months ago, and I'm concerned again. I gave my father a copy of the blood work, and he will be having my mother's hematologist review the results in the morning. It may be that my mother will need another iron infusion again, too, but I hope not.

I finally left around 5:30 - a short visit for me today. I made it back just in time for our meeting with the architect. We now have 2 bids from 2 different contractors, and we need to choose. We thought we had already committed to one of the contractors, but our architect decided to solicit a second bid from our original contractor (whose price kept increasing during the planning phase). Both contractors are good, and their bids are competitive. One of them is more likely to function on time, and the other is likely to be a little less money. Both will do good work. I kind of feel obligated to one of the contractors (since we did tell him we planned to go with him and that the job was his), but we have not signed anything with either one of them yet. Either way, one of these contractors will feel screwed, and I think our architect might have handled this situation badly with both of them.

Micah was very funny tonight with our architect. He kept pointing to his shirt and talking, and the architect asked me what Micah ws saying. I listened for a minute and finally realized that Micah was saying "there is boo-boos." Our architect had a shirt on with several snapshots of Renaissance art, and a few of the paintings had exposed women's breasts, and Micah was just simply pointing out that the women on his shirt had "boo-boos." I couldn't stop laughing...Micah sure does love to identify body parts! Here are some pictures of us "hanging out" tonight:

As you can see from the naked doll in the last picture, Micah is still enjoying undressing the doll and putting her diaper in the diaper pail:

Peyton called to talk tonight...and Elliot and I had a chance to sing Happy Birthday to her (and so did Micah). No calls from Mom again...another quiet evening. I hope me teasing her about her 4:00 am calls didn't make her worry about calling me...I miss having the phone ring all night/morning and talking to her. I somehow don't think she would appreciate a 4:00 am call from me right now, though.

Today we will be heading back to Levindale, but probably on the late side again. We will be bringing both kids and the van, because tonight we will be our family celebration of Peyton's birhtday! Elliot and I made her an Ariel cake (okay, tonight Elliot baked the cake and I will be decorating it in the morning), and we'll post pictures of that tomorrow.

Mom will be home in 1 week.

Moving Time

I think the panic over all I have to accomplish in the next nine days is starting to set in...we are moving to our "new" rental house on November 4th, and Mom is coming home on November 5. I'm excited, but have no idea how to pack everything up and get it ready for moving.

Today felt like a lazy day...Maya woke up around 8 and I crawled into bed to nurse her. Micah was still asleep, and I had some time to doze a bit. I guess I must have fallen asleep for a while, because I woke up startled at 9:12...and realized that Megan, the babysitter, must have been trapped outside. I quickly realized that the phone line to the house must not be working again...because I definitely did not hear the phone ring from Megan or my Mother. I quickly sent Elliot downstairs to let Megan in and find a phone.

Turns out, there was nothing wrong with the phone line...just several dead phones. I called my father, worried that I had not heard from my mother since early the night before. He called the nurse's desk to check on her...and all was well. My mom called a bit later to check in, and she sounded great. She told me that she had an appointment at 1 for therapy, and we were wanted at the session.

Dad and I had been given specific assignments by Mom...she wanted chicken salad from Panera and she wanted salad and breadsticks from The Olive Garden. I guess Dad was a bit on the late side arriving with the chicken salad from Panera...my mom had already started to eat her Levindale lunch (hey, it was in front of her and she is taking steroids...the woman will eat ANYTHING the minute you set it in front of her these days!!). Apparently, she polished off her hospital meal...and then ate the chicken salad, too.

Today was Mom's first day without radiation/chemotherapy! Unfortunately, it was kind of a rough day for Mom. I arrived at Levindale just as Mom was beginning her therapy appointment. I had hidden the salad and breadsticks to save for later, but she definitely asked about them when I arrived. We watched Mom do her exercises, I spoke to her occupational therapist about equipment options for the house, and then we watched the physical therapist demonstrate how she has been working with Mom to do the transfers. Mom has been doing most of the work with her right side recently, but still needs a lot of assistance with her right. Her physical therapist demonstrated the transfer...but Mom seemed too tired to help much. They worked on sitting up straight, but Mom couldn't seem to lift her head straight for anything. She kept flopping over...and then out of nowhere, she became nauseated and threw up.

I was pretty surprised...she made it through 6 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation without any nausea, and then suddenly, today, she started to vomit. She threw up a couple times in therapy. She lay down, and they had her do some leg exercises before returning her to the room. She threw up two more times in the room. I started to worry we were dealing with another brain swelling episode, but Mom insisted that she did not have a headache or any other symptoms. We talked to the doctor about getting some Zofran for her...but she threw it up immediately. They gave her some composine, and had to give her the steroids via IV today. I called over to Hopkins, and ended up speaking to a fairly grumpy PA who told me to take her to the hospital.

We then had a dilemma...should we take Mom to the hospital or not? I knew that if we were dealing with a brain swelling issue, the hospital was the best place for Mom. But, if it turned out to be bad chicken salad (or the fact that she over-ate at lunch), then we would likely get to the hospital and be released. Unfortunately, we were told that we would lose the bed at Levindale if we could not be back before midnight. With only a few days of rehab left (and after everything we went through with the transfer/evaluation time), I knew that if we lost the bed at Levindale, Mom would not be able to complete her therapy. Without another 3 day hospital stay, insurance might not approve another visit back to rehab...and with only a few days left, there would not be enough time for Mom to go to a new place or wait for a new bed at Levindale and get anything useful out of rehab. I was quite torn about what to do. At this point, it was after 4:00 pm, and Mom was feeling better. We decided to wait and see if she threw up again before going to the hospital.

Mom thought it could just be from over-eating...apparently, she kept saying she was full, and Dad wanted her to eat the chicken salad he had just picked up for her. Mom's intention was for Dad to pick up a big container of chicken salad for it to sit in the fridge and be available for her to eat over the course of several meals if she did not like the food on the tray. I guess my father did not understand this, and in his head, he was focusing on the fact that he brought her lunch for today and the nurses want her to eat 75% of her lunch before they'll give her insulin...but all he heard was that she should eat 75% of her lunch. I guess it did not occur to him that she is not REQUIRED to eat 75% of her lunch at all, she just will not get her insulin if she doesn't eat, and that 75% means 75% of her food tray, not 75% of everything that is presented to her!

By 6:00, Mom was feeling much better and decided to eat some dinner. Her nurse from Hopkins, Ron, finally called back (he apparently was at an appointment and missed the earlier page). We gave him an update, and he said that he thought we made the right decision. He suggested that we ask the doctor to give Mom a bag of IV fluid just to be safe. We requested it...but my guess is that they did not administer it. After talking to Ron, we decided to leave because Mom seemed fine again (and we were fairly certain she was sick from either the chicken salad or simply over-eating). We asked the staff, Mom, and her aide to call us if she got sick again, and we spoke to the floor doctor and indicated we would probably want to move her to the hospital if she got sick again.

I made it home around 7:30. We had already canceled our appointment with the architect, so my evening had freed up a bit. Micah and Elliot had gone to a Red Cross work event for Elliot, and were well-fed. Micah was rolling around on the floor when I walked in and excited to see me. We had a nice evening, and Micah was just being so cute.

Tonight, we had our mover come by to survey everything and start planning with us. He is great...and he is probably thrilled to have met me 12 years ago. In that time, he moved both of my grandmothers...twice, me seven times, and I have recommended him to a slew of friends. Dad called to check on Mom around 8 and all was well. Micah went to bed easily at 8:30 after the mover left. Maya was a bit more challenging...she was nursing and napping, but just did not want to go to her crib. We tried putting her in the swing...she woke up. We put her in the crib...she woke up. I nursed her again...and she woke up. It was after 10 again before she finally was in her crib and asleep for the night. In the middle of our bedtime struggle with Maya, Mom called me at 9:30 to tell me she was feeling well, and she called Dad around 10:30. So...I think we can blame the chicken salad (although I think Mom is blaming Dad for forcing her to over-eat).

I'm not even sure where to begin with moving this time. Everything is such a mess, and I cannot figure out how to get it all ready. I need to be sure not to move the mess - the last thing we need is boxes of crap all over the place in a new house. Some of the things will be quite easy to move, but other things...

Our current plan is to bring over some basic things on November 3rd at night...a pack 'n play, some toys for the kids, and maybe some of the food stuff. On Thursday, November 4th, I think I'll send the kids (or at least Micah and Megan) over there mid-morning to play, have lunch, and take a nap. We'll spend the rest of the day moving. I'm hoping we can make the move fairly easily, without disrupting Micah's schedule too much. On Friday, November 5th, we'll just drive up to Levindale and bring Mom home.

Wish us luck!

Ringing the Bell!

It was a beautiful day today, especially at 2:15 pm as the sound of bells and chimes and alarms and phones and horns rang out all over to help Mom celebrate the end of her radiation jouirney. We received posts on Facebook, emails, texts and calls of support all day long, and my mother spent most of the day grinning from ear to ear. One of my favorite texts today was this one (thanks, Emily):

Maya woke up early to nurse, but Micah slept until 8:30. We got Micah dressed and ready, and Elliot took him to preschool while I stayed behind to get organized for the day. I also made arrangements for us to move next week...but I'll panic about that another day.

By 12:30, we had the kids dressed, fed, and ready to go. We let Megan go early today, and the four of us drove up to Hopkins to meet the family. We all arrived around the same time...Jen and the girls, Jeremy, my parents, and us. We went downstairs to the waiting area, and things were running on time. My mom looked lovely in her purple jump suit and her beautiful new hat from Donna. A few minutes later, we headed to the waiting area in back and took it over. The waiting area sits directly across from the room where my mother receives radiation.

Mark, the radiation tech, came out to get Mom and bring her into the room right on time at 1:45. All of us went back into the room to watch the set up. Jeremy snapped a few photos, the kids watched Mom get on the table and have her mask snapped down, and we got to see them position her in place. We went back to the lounge for the next few minutes while they turned on the machines.

During radiation, Micah, Paige and Peyton ran around and played together. They were very sweet together, but Peyton showed Micah how to work the water dispenser...and that is all he wanted to do after that.

Right around 2, Mom's radiation was finished, and we were able to go back into the room as they took her off the table, returned her to the wheelchair, and wheeled her out to us. We brought her over to the bell, and got her ready to stand and ring the bell.

The bell is a long cylindrical tube that hangs from a hook. Instead of a chain, it has a mallet that you use to strike the bell. Mom kept saying it was more like a gong than a fire bell. To the right of the bell was a plaque with a beautiful poem about striking the bell:

"Your day has come to strike the bell!

Your silent heart has much to tell

and much to toll this proud new day

treatment done, you're on your way.

Dad wanted to be the one to stand next to her and support her stand. Mom stood tall holding on to Dad, reached for the mallet, joked with Dad as she pretended to strike him by "mistake" and then she let it rip...she rang the bell again and again and again!

She was cheering, we were cheering...even Micah let out a loud "YAY!" for his Grammy. It was a wonderful moment, and we were all so proud to be there. Here are two different videos of our experience:

We had quite the audience...Mark and Debbie (the radiation techs), the entire family, Donna, Chanel, and even Dr. Kleinberg stopped by to watch! A few of our visitors showed up as Mom had just finished ringing the bell...so she grabbed the mallet and did it again.

A few minutes later, we wrapped it up and headed out.

Peyton cried and cried because she wanted to go with Grammy. She was inconsolable...she did NOT want to leave Grammy. We promised her they would be together on Friday night to celebrate her birthday. Elliot, Micah, Maya, Dad and I headed back to Levindale with Mom for a bit.

When we arrived, we all sat together in the front waiting area before Mom decided to head back to bed. Dad left for home around 4, and we stayed a bit longer. Micah sat in Grammy's room watching his Elmo DVD, and Maya hung out snuggled in bed with her Grammy. I continued reading Mom all of your emails, posts, notes on Facebook and texts. I spent a few minutes cleaning Mom's face with her cleanser and using the cream for her face and head to help the itching, then used a Qtip to help remove some of the dry skin from her ears. While we were wrapping up our routine, the speech therapist arrived for a session with Mom.

Mom was looking a bit tired, so we decided to leave at 4:45. We headed home (and stopped to buy a lottery ticket, too, since it seemed like such a lucky day). Another uneventful night at home, and another difficult night putting Maya to sleep. She crashed at 8, I put her in her crib at 9, she woke up again at 10:15 or so, and it took another hour before Elliot could get her back in bed. She just wants to be snuggled and hates to be put back down again!

Much to my surprise, my mother has not been calling tonight. I hope that means she has been sleeping soundly. Usually she calls around 8 or 8:30, again at 10 when they wake her for her pills, and then often sometime between 4 and 6 am, and usually again around 8 or 8:30 before she heads to therapy. So far, the phone has been silent...I hope that means she has been sound asleep and having a good night.

For Whom The Bell Tolls...It Tolls for Mom

It is so hard for me to focus on today while I'm busy thinking about Mom's last day of radiation. I'm excited and anxious and cannot believe we have made it so far. I've got 3 thoughts to share with you, a run-down of our day, and a favor, so here goes. If you read nothing else, please read my favor at the end of this post.

THOUGHT #1: It is funny - I mentioned helping Mom take off her acrylic thumb nail this weekend, but I didn't really explain much about that. Many of you may be aware that my Mom nearly lost the top of her thumb when she was 3 years old. She got it caught in a door, and it was badly injured. They managed to reattach it, but the nail bed was permanently damaged. Her whole life, my mother's thumb nail was never...normal. She also bit her nails, so all of her nails were fairly short. I clearly remember her thumb, and always found it fascinating. I know it used to bother my mother...I think she was never fully comfortable with her hands because of her thumb. During the winter, it used to crack and hurt her...I always remember her putting Desitin on it and keeping it covered with a bandaid. Maybe 15 years ago (I am fairly certain I was in college or law school), Mom decided to try and get acrylic nails...and see if there was anything that could be done with her thumb. My mother discovered a woman named Lan, who uses acrylic to build a nail for my mother. Ever since my mother met Lan, she has had a "real" thumb nail...unless you know what to look for, you'd never know that there is anything different about my mother's thumb. It has been many years since I saw my mother's thumb exposed like it has been since Sunday.

THOUGHT #2: I've also been thinking a lot about changes. On Sunday, my Mom and I tried to work on crocheting. It was hard to watch my mother frustrated...and unable to crochet. It was a huge change for us. She still knows how to crochet, but she really does not yet seem able to use her left hand enough to make it possible. I bought her a great contraption for holding the yarn...but my mother just isn't able to see her left arm or make it move on command, at least not yet. I was frustrated for her - we just need to work on her lifting her left arm on command and I think she'll be able to crochet again. We're going to work on that skill and see what we can do.

THOUGHT #3: With only one more day left of radiation, I've been thinking about bells...the significance of bells, and their impact. Bells have so many different meanings...some people love the line from the old Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life, that every time a bell rings, an angel earns his/her wings. Others think of bells as a call to action, or a warning or an alert. It is finally time for Mom to ring that bell, signifying the end of her radiation and chemotherapy. For us, a bell will now mean a victory...a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. My mother has made it through the past 2 months of surgery, recovery, radiation and chemotherapy. We'll meet at the hospital - all of us. Mom, Dad, Me, Elliot, Micah, Maya, Jeremy, Jen, Paige and Peyton will all be there to support Mom. We'll wait with her, hope things run on time, and at the end of her appointment, we'll watch as she proudly rings that fire bell! I'm so proud of all she has been through to reach this point...a day we were not certain we'd actually get to see.

THE RUN-DOWN: So, a run-down of our day today before I ask a favor from all of you.

Mom was busy calling all night last night...4:00 am, 6:30, again around 8:30...she was up and felt like chatting. She pointed out that I'm usually awake and I told her to call any time, so she does. It makes me laugh...and it reminds me of the times in college when I didn't hesitate to pick up the phone and call HER at 3:00 am because I wanted to talk.

Maya was up around 8:15 to nurse and snuggle, but we did not get up and going until Megan arrived at 9. We had to hurry and get ready and out the door because Micah had class at 10 and Maya had her 4 month doctor's appointment! I cannot believe that Maya is 4 months old already. She weighed in today at 12 pounds, exactly, and she was 24 inches long. She was in the 25th percentile for height and weight, and is doing great. She showed off her skills, she got 3 vaccinations (2 shots and an oral vaccine), screamed and cried until I nursed her, and then crashed from exhaustion into a deep sleep in the car.

I decided not to disturb her sleep, so I dropped Elliot off at home, and Maya and I continued up to Levindale a bit early. We arrived at Levindale around 12:15, and we had 45 minutes to hang out with Mom before Chanel, the transport driver, arrived. We've got a great photo of Dad, Mom & Chanel arriving at Hopkins from the transport to show off. Chanel has been wonderful for us - she shaves nearly 2 hours off of Mom's waiting time by sitting with us and driving Mom back. Chanel was in GREAT spirits today...she told us all about moving into her new house and how she surprised her children. It sounds like she had an amazing weekend, and I wish there was more we could do for her to repay her for her assistance with Mom.

We arrived at Hopkins early (stopped to take a photo with Chanel - our "photo of the day"). Radiation was on time, and we were in and out quickly. We had to go upstairs to see the doctor, but we were out the door and headed back by 2:45. Chanel waited again, and we were back at Levindale nice and early. We are expecting Chanel to join us for our last day tomorrow, too. I hope we have the chance to see her again one day.

I decided to head back to Levindale with my parents...mostly because Dad and I were hoping for a surprise visitor for Mom. Right around 4:00, she arrived! Donna, my mom's nurse from Hopkins, stopped by to visit. It was WONDERFUL to see her, and she looked amazing. She brought a beautiful new hat (and some scarves) for Mom, too, and she is looking forward to wearing it. My Mom is developing quite the hat collection. My grandfather, who was a millinery (he owned a hat store), would be so proud! We had a wonderful visit and chat with Donna. My Dad left first, then Donna, and Maya and I left by 5:15. Donna...my one mistake? I forgot to take a picture of you with Mom. So, you'll have to visit again for that photo opportunity.

It was a good day, and I came home in time for a homemade pizza dinner with the family. Micah again went to bed easily, but Maya struggled. She first fell asleep around 8:30, but woke up again at 9:30...it took us another hour or so to get her to fall back asleep and stay asleep. I'm finding this new pattern frustrating, but we'll keep trying something new and see if we can get her to bed earlier.

THE FAVOR: Now, for our favor....

So many of you have been there with us through thick and thin, and I've been trying to think of ways for everyone to "be there" for this major accomplishment. Of course, I'll be recording it, and I'll post the video online, but I was trying to think of other ways for everyone to "hear" Mom ringing that bell when it happens. So I thought I would ask everyone to help us ring that bell by setting an alarm or a bell to ring at 2:15 pm on Tuesday, October 26 (which is about the time we expect Mom to be ringing that bell). Set your alarm clock, or the timer on your oven, or your cell phone, or your watch, or your appointment reminders on Outlook...whatever works for you, but let's get things chiming all over the place at 2:15 pm so you can ALL "hear" Mom ringing that bell today! And at 2:15, each and every one of you can take a second to think about Mom and listen for that bell. I can't WAIT!!

Last day of radiation. Ten more days until Mom comes home!

Brunch

Today was quite an adventure...family brunch at Levindale and another shaved head! The kids slept in a bit this morning. We have been working on brushing teeth with Micah. This week, we started using a new motorized toothbrush...we were hoping the spinning would do a better job of cleaning his teeth, but Micah prefers to watch the brush spin than keep it in his mouth. Oh well...we'll get there.

We decided to skip Micah's swim class so that we could be at Levindale by 12 for the brunch. Brunch was lovely...eggs, waffles, potatoes, muffins, bagels, juice, and cake. They insisted on serving us, so all we had to do was sit down and enjoy. Micah, Paige and Peyton loved running around and playing together, and Mom had a great time surrounded by all of her family. Jeremy, Jen and the girls stayed until almost 2, and we got some great video of Mom with the girls.

After lunch, we went back upstairs. Mom sat with us in the lounge area for a while. Elliot ran to the store to pick up some nail polish remover for Mom (she needed to remove the acrylic from her thumb nail). We sat, talked, watched the kids play, and soaked Mom's nail. I read Mom the blog and your messages, and we had a great afternoon. While Mom and I were talking, Elliot decided to get his hair cut, too. In fact, Elliot went bald in solidarity with Mom! We have a lovely photo with the 3 "baldies" in the family...Mom, Elliot, and Maya!

Mom was back in her room by 4 and Dad left. I took some time to grease up her head and face again. Since she shaved her head, we've done a daily routine of cleaning and greasing her head and face. Her head has been far less itchy since we started our routine. Hopefully, once radiation is finished, her skin can finish healing. Mom has also been working on video messages for us. The other day, she recorded a message for Maya. Today, she recorded a message for Jeremy. She hopes to make at least one for each of us, but has not yet figured out what she wants to say. She wants to make sure that each of us has something from her to watch over and over again...and lots of video so the grandchildren can "get to know her" even when she is gone. So far, her messages have been beautiful. At some point, I'll have to figure out how to tie together all the different video we have of her into something special.

We left around 4:45 to bring the kids home. A quiet evening in...dinner, playtime, baths, and bed. Micah can be so finicky sometimes! He gets angry when he does not get what he wants, but he truly lacks the ability to fully communicate everything he wants to us. We spent far too much time playing "guess what Micah wants." Micah was easy to put to sleep, but Maya was a bigger challenge. I got her dressed and ready for bed around 8:15, and she was out cold by 8:30. I took her upstairs and put her in the pack 'n play...but she woke up. I nursed her to sleep again, but once again, she woke up screaming when I tried to put her down. We spent the next several hours trying to get Maya to sleep. She seemed to want to sleep on me, nestled close, and anything less than that was unacceptable. Eventually, she fell asleep on Daddy, and he was able to take her upstairs and put her into her crib. She has been sleeping soundly ever since. I think Maya is in need of her own bedroom and a new bedtime routine that involves a dark room and a glider. Hopefully, we can give her that when we move into the house. In the meantime, I hope her bedtime becomes easier!

Two more days of radiation. Eleven more days until Mom comes home.