Still No Power

While the rest of the world and most of Houston has finally gotten their power back, I am sad to report that we still do not have ours! We are still living at my Mom's house, waiting for the lights to come on, for our home to dry out and magically smell better. Don't know when that is happening.

The power situation is slowly getting resolved though. We've had an electrician come out for the last five days to work on our power outage. This includes installing a whole new circuit breaker box, power mast on the roof and rewiring stuff, etc. The box was so fried, he said we were lucky our house didn't burn down. Whew!

(Oh, and by the way, thanks to our awesome neighbors who have helped us in the recovery process of our home. Thanks so much!)

Since it took us a while to pull carpets out, the situation at our house is pretty gross and moldy. And its a wreck since we've had to move everything from the dining room (also used as a play room) into other areas of the house. Dark, totally disorganized and musty from lack of air circulation...ugh!

But it will get better. We are slowly working on things. The electrician is finished, the inspector has approved it, and the power company is coming this week. Hooray! And all in good timing since Emma has been asking, almost daily, if we could go home soon. I feel so bad for her. But I know it will get better. Right?

Back to Dance
Today we took Emma to get a haircut, finally. I've been hesitant to do it since her hair is so thin already, but it has been looking quite stringy lately. Her hair also falls into her eyes a lot, which my Mom swears is the reason why she is always falling down. I don't know about that. Might have more to do with double vision and balance issues, but a haircut couldn't hurt. So we gave her a cute little bob with bangs. See photos:

Above: Harlow and Emmy
Above: "Dance Pals" Amelia, Harlow and Emmy

Emma and I were able to go dance class today and see our friends for the first time in a long while. She did really well, and didn't fall down much until she was playing tag with her ballerina buddies. Tag is such a tough contact sport, isn't it? I was really happy that we were able to go. A little nice normalcy, finally.

Our therapy sessions (PT, OT and Speech) have now been moved to only twice a week, so that helps with getting her back into her old life. We are figuring out a school schedule and will hopefully resume it this week. She is still really fatigued and doesn't have much of an appetite, so that still worries me. The other thing is her sleeping habits, or lack thereof. She takes up to 2 hours to go down at night. Constantly tossing and turning, it's really heartbreaking and a little annoying, truthfully. Especially when I'm lying in bed with her trying to get her to sleep.

Chili's Fights Cancer
I totally forgot to post last night, so I hope you had a chance to participate. I'm such a jerk for not reminding everyone. Doh!

Today, Monday, September 29th, Chili's restaurants nationwide were campaigning to raise funds to fight childhood cancer. Yay! For one day only, today, they were donating 100% of their proceeds to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, the number 1 pediatric cancer hospital in the country, to help find a cure. That is a pretty big deal. When was the last time you heard of a huge national chain of anything contributing 100%?

We had dinner there and I was sad to see that it was really empty. I asked the hostess if they were busy today at all, and she said it was totally dead. I hope other Chili's nationwide were busier than the one I was at. Next year I'm going to invite everyone for a big dinner event to show our support. Doesn't a margarita sound nice?

Rescheduled Dinner
Finally, I hope you all were not too dissappointed at not being able to go to Emma's Benefit Dinner at St. Rose this past Sunday. It was postponed due to Hurricane Ike and power outages. We still do not have a date set as of yet, but it will likely be early November.

It should be a rockin' event. I've heard the auction is not to be missed either. I will update you with more info as it comes. Thanks for hanging in with us.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Hannah singing with a little help from Emma. Brightens my day, hope it does your too.

# 16,265

The reasons why I signed this petition:

Because we are not going down without a fight.
Because 3 1/2 is too young.
Because she's my baby.

Please sign it. Cure Childhood Cancer Petition.

Mr. Clean, Where Are You?

I told Mike about the phrase I coined-- Meat Water--and he was laughing so hard, repeating it all day long. "That is so funny," he said. Yeah, its funnier to hear than to clean up, that's for sure.
We finally made it through the week. The first week of Hurricane Ike's aftermath. It's been a crazy week.

You have to wonder what happened to people who had weddings or funerals scheduled and couldn't move them. One of them was my best friend Jess. She had her wedding (finally) scheduled for Sunday the 14th. Too bad it ended up being the day after the Hurricane Ike tore up the town. She already had family fly in internationally and many more on the way. They had to ride out the storm with no power or water right along with the rest of us. Welcome to Texas, folks.

Jess moved the wedding to Friday, and Mike and I had the most wonderful time there. He said it was the happiest I'd been in a really long time. I agreed. It was a beautiful, intimate wedding and a breath of fresh air in my chaotic life. I finally was able to dress up for once. Unfortunately, Mike had gone to four different dry cleaners, all of whom were without power, so my dress was not so fresh that night. Oh well. I figured the alcohol would mask any scent. Ha ha. And it did.

Meat Water: A Hangover Cure Alternative
Needless to say, cleaning a defrosted refrigerator is not easy when you've been drinking the night before. I do not recommend it.

Saturday, Mike and I went back to the house to clean up the refrigerator and remove the boards from the windows of the house. Amazing thing what letting the sun in will do. It almost made the smell go away--but not really. Remember, our house is so old, that the windows are painted shut and only doors open to let air in. Come for a visit, you'll love it--I promise. (Sarcasm.)

We slapped on our bio-hazard suits, latex gloves, and face masks and got to work on the dying food in the fridge. Ok, I seriously wish we had bio-hazard suits but we did don masks and gloves. According to Mike rotting meat does not come off your hands for days. I trust he knows a thing or two about rotting meat. I let him do most of the emptying and I did the clean up. Either way it was pretty gross.

He gagged a few times on beef and pork smells, but I think the shrimp was the all-around stinky winner. For your viewing pleasure:

Bag O' Meat

"I'm going in." Please make sure you give him a hard time regarding the above photo! Come up with your own caption and leave a comment below--there is a "comments" link at the end of this post. (Ha ha.) We need a little levity around here.

Meat Water: On the floor and in the fridge. Yummy!
"Wait, is this still good?"

Guys tarping the house a few days ago. We still have no power...see the power line under the tree? So much fun around here.

By The Way
Even with our hurricane situation so sucky, I've still been thinking a lot about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month--this month, September. It's almost over and I haven't done a darned thing about it. So frustrating.

Next month, I want you all to consider this: Everytime you see a pink ribbon, every day that you hear the words "fight breast cancer," I also would like you to think about the 11 children that lost their fight with cancer that day. Yeah, eleven kids daily.

Then think about how much money didn't go towards research to cure childhood cancers.

I feel bad about it. I read something, a Forbes editorial piece, that said that the reason why the Childhood Cancer issue is underfunded and relatively unknown is because "for one thing, children with life-threatening diseases exhaust their families emotionally and often financially; even after recovery, neither the children nor their parents find it easy to advocate for themselves." It goes on to say "unlike other health care lobbies, they do not have the energy to march in the streets and call for action."

And its true. I wish I could. The author Helen Jonsen put it so perfectly "it often takes one person's passion, born of pain, to raise awareness and start a movement." I really hope I don't have to endure much more pain, real pain if you know what I mean, in order to do something about it.

Where the Real Fun Begins

Nothing like a little hurricane to shake you up a bit, I always say. At least we still have our home, albeit a bit messy, and our health, right?

I hope everyone is safe and sound and recovering from Ike. Thanks to everyone who has text messaged me and offering places to stay with power and such. We are doing ok. We're back at my Mom's house who has power and water now so we can cook, shower and watch DVD movies of the Backyardigans...over and over and over again! Ugh. Somehow I have Internet access--which is why you should secure your wireless networks, FYI.

The weather in Houston is really nice lately. Low humidity with highs in the low 80's/high 70's and at night its about 60 degrees. Yay. I guess its fall here now. This means that without power, its not so bad in the Houston. Power is being restored slowly through out the city. They start off with places that are most important: hospitals, fire and police departments, etc. Then they make their ways to the individual homes, where the quote is still 2-4 weeks in some areas. Our house will likely take weeks as the power line is completely tied around the tree. The lines for gas stations are ridiculous; wrapping around the streets until the pumps are empty, which happens by mid-afternoon.

Emma is doing well. Still tired, but that might have something to do with the fact that we are totally displaced and our schedules are more screwy than ever. Some nights she won't sleep until 11pm, constantly asking for her own bed. She still may be feeling the effects of radiation too, as doctors say it will take about a month for appetite and energy to come back. Hannah just passes out anywhere you put her, so she's not so bad. Both are bored to tears though.

Meat-Water: Not For The Faint of Heart
I took them out yesterday for a drive, hoping to find a Blockbuster open near my Mom's house. It wasn't. I should've known, but I just couldn't take listening to Backyardigans again. So we drove over to our house to see what was going on.

The house is still boarded up. No one was there. Mike had a crew come out to tarp up the roof and remove the tree from the top of the house, so at least we were protected from rain. I walked up and put the key in the lock. I could already smell the horrors lurking inside behind the closed door. A wall of moist, putrid air hit me as I pushed the door open. Ugh!

Even through the dark it was evident what a wreck the interior was. Carpets soaked with water, roof debris on the floors, refrigerator completely defrosted, plus the general mess we left behind in our haste. Pages of dry books on the shelves in the other room began to warp from the humidity in the air. A stale, musty smell circa 1946 filled the entire house.

If you are experiencing the aftermath with me, if you still have no power, then I probably don’t have to describe what a defrosted refrigerator is like. A few days before the ice melted, I put down a few towels; an attempt to control the imminent mess. Now, streams of defrosted, pinkish-brown meat water stained the towels and the white kitchen tiles. I didn’t even open the fridge door. I’m afraid of what will happen when I do. I am SO not looking forward to cleaning up.

Ike, Ike Baby

(Thanks to Jesse and Vanilla Ice for that title.)

We survived the storm. Now we have to survive the aftermath.

Hurricane Ike caused lots of damage in town. We live about an hour away from Galveston, so we were not in the evacuation zone. But we should've left. Had I known we would be without power for 2-4 weeks (WEEKS, for pete's sake!) as predicted by our energy company, we would've been long gone to Austin.

We decided to stay in town; our previous attempt at escaping hurricane Rita 3 years ago was too frustrating. It took us about 10 hours to get to Austin, normally a 2 1/2 hour trip. So we decided to hunker down in Houston. We spent all of Friday preparing for the storm, boarding up windows and packing to head to my Mom's house in the Heights, not too far away.

Now we are stuck with no power, no water, no Internet access. Right now the kids, Mom and I are at my brother's apartment in West Houston. One of the only places in town with power. I think the whole of Houston is here too. No parking. They have air conditioning, power, some food, but more importantly, cartoons. But there is still no water. I can't remember ever feeling this grimy before. We will likely not stay here for too long, though.

Garden UH-Oaks
Our neighborhood is known for its beautiful oak trees, one of which we got to witness up close. A tree fell on our house. We have a hole in our ceiling, the roof is trashed and there is water in the dining room. Fantastic! Our luck is just dandy, huh?

But the kids are good. Emma is doing fine and Hannah is grumpy as usual. My parents live in a new townhome complex nearby with no trees, thankfully. Hurricane Ike started kicking up winds at about 6pm Friday evening. We were glued to the television watching this enormous storm make a bee-line for our city. Man, was it huge! We lost power about 8:30pm or so. We used flashlights and lit candles for the outage, but Hannah and Emma made a game and kept blowing them out while singing the "happy birthday" song--it was kind of funny.

They didn't sleep well during the storm. Winds were whipping the back of the house which was where the kid's room was. It sounded like a freight train running over howling wolves. Emma kept tossing and turning in the heat and waking up in the middle of the night, as did Hannah. She was asking for some warm milk to soothe her back to sleep. Problem was, there was no power, hence no microwave, and only a stove that was electric. Unfortunately, cold milk did not do the trick.

The next day, it was still storming. Hurricane Ike came in overnight and made landfall on Galveston Island at about 1am or so. My Dad had this awesome emergency radio/flashlight with a mini TV that works on batteries and crank power. We were able to tune into the TV stations all night long, in black and white of course. It didn't stop raining until about 9am the next morning. The wind did not subside until that afternoon. Reports have it that 2.1 million customers are without power. That would be the entire population of Houston, really. The city is sold out of generators or otherwise price gouging in parking lots.

After a day of being unable to cook, get cool, or use water, my Mom took the kids over to my Aunt's house who also lives nearby. Her neighbor's tree fell onto their yard, knocking out their power lines as well. Fortunately, they do have a gas stove and water, so they were able to cook some food up for the kids. Mike and I were at our house assessing the damage and went back to pick up Emma and Hannah a few hours later.

When we got back to my Aunt's house, I was amazed by how huge their tree was. It just missed my Aunt's house by about 2 feet and took down a wooden telephone pole as well. I asked Emma what she thought about the storm to which she replied "it is such a mess." Yes. It really is.

Our Tree, In the Middle of Our House
(Thank you Madness)
Getting to our house doesn't take that long from my Mom's. We exited the freeway and decided to take a peek at the neighborhood to see what Ike did. Ashland street has about five different streets running perpendicular to it. We usually take a right anywhere and buzz through to our side of the neighborhood. Only this time it didn't happen. Every single street had a giant pine tree blocking the road and making it impassible. There were fallen branches, trees, leaves and debris everywhere. It was so sad. I felt this terrible anxiety attack coming on, just knowing that my house would be destroyed when we got there.

And it was, sort of. At first we were so relieved to see that the big tree in front didn't crush the house. Whew! As Mike predicted, it did break and fall over, just nearly missing the girls' room. We sat in the driveway relieved, wind and rain still falling on the car. Then I looked above our roofline and noticed that a new tree was there when it wasn't before. We walked to the back of the house using the neighbor's driveway as ours was blocked. Sure enough...tree on the house. Ugh. I don't feel like talking about it right now, sorry.

Toilets Don't Work Without Water
This is something you totally take for granted until you have NO water. The bathroom thing sucks. We filled our tub up at our house with water before we left, but when we got there it had drained out. Great. So we are at mom's with her bathtub full and taking buckets of water to flush the toilets. You really haven't lived it up until you can say you've flushed your toilet with bucket water. Ha ha!

Mike and I came back from our house Saturday morning and brought back some rations: mac and cheese, bacon, hot dogs and a camping stove fueled by a propane tank--yay! This is how we are cooking our meals and heating water for instant coffee. Poor Mike is totally going through Starbucks withdrawls. Mike makes fun of me and says its the closest I will ever come to camping. I have dubbed it "urban camping." Emma and Hannah spent the afternoon fighting, coloring and making a general mess.

The kids were so miserable being in the heat and humidity. We opened all of the windows up at my Mom's but open doors worked better to let more breeze in. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes started coming in. Then night started to fall. They were crying hysterically. Hannah is afraid of the dark, Emma wanted to play video games or watch TV. And they were cranky since they couldn't nap very well in the heat.

After a candlelit dinner of rice and any meat that was defrosted in the ever-melting freezer, we finally made the decision to bail to my brother's house for the kids' sake. Driving on the freeway was FREAKY. No lights on the major highways and the streets were pitch black. There is a city curfew on the Houston streets for the entire week. No one is allowed to be outdoors after 7pm until 6am. I swear, it was a scene out of a movie. Just eerie.

I Don't Want to Wait in Vain
(Thanks Bob Marley.)
We are pretty much stir crazy around here. Not much for any of us to do but wait until the power and water come back on. Maybe we can get to some kind of normalcy then. Well, then again, maybe not.

For those of you not in Houston, some photos for you:

No gas.

Before the storm.

Mike with the sexy headgear flashlight

Coalminer's Daughter

Neighbor's house
Well said.
On 34th and Shepherd.
Water on Alba and 34th.
Neighbor #2
Neighbor #3
Roof of a pawn shop on Ella. Literally. Ha ha.
Aztec Rentals on 34th.

The bayou near TC Jester and 18th.

"Urban Camping" or how to cook bacon with no microwave.
No Starbucks equals desperate measures.
Hannah's hair curls when steamy outside.
Its cooler without clothes.
Feed me!
God telling me its going to be okay through smiling hot dogs. Ha ha.
How do you like the tree on my house?

Water damaged sign.

Fish With Umbrellas

We are looking down the barrel at hurricane Ike, poised to make landfall on Friday afternoon. So I've been trying to tune into the news all day long, but Emma won't let me.



Em: Mommeeee!!!! (whine) I want to watch Wubzy, pleasseeee!!! Why do you have to watch the news?!



Me: Well, babe, we have to see if the storm is coming. See, its really big (I point to the TV). It might be coming to the beach.



Em: The beach? But what about the fish? Fish don't have umbrellas.

Start of Something Good

As I see it, I have a captive audience, so this month in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, I will be filling my blog posts with stuff about Childhood Cancer :) But I promise to try not to be so annoying.

Did you know that September 13th (Saturday) marks the first day ever for National Childhood Cancer Awareness day in the United States? Yeah, I didn't know until recently either.

I took this off of another brain tumor mom's blog: "Our Pastor today informed me of something today during his sermon that I never really paid attention to before...over $300 million dollars has been spent to make the Olympics possible this year. Imagine how many children's lives could be saved if the world decided to put that mega amount of money (or even a part of this sum) into researching Pediatric Cancer. Just a thought..."

Not So (Cancer) Aware
Oh yeah, here's the other part of my story. So I find myself on the 14th floor of TCH in their Cancer Center to visit Dr. Su last Thursday. It was our final clinic visit since radiation was over.

Like I mentioned before (here), Texas Children's Hospital was recently recognized by US News and World Report as being the number 3 hospital in the NATION in treating Pediatric Cancer. (Yay!) So imagine my surprise when I'm looking for a gold ribbon to wear in honor of September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and find nothing there.

No signs, no posters, no pamphlets, no ribbons. Nothing. How sad does that make you? Here I am at the #3 Kids Cancer Center in the country, in the whole U.S. of A and not a single thing mentioned about Childhood Cancer Awareness Month! Did they forget the kids?

I was expecting a giant fishbowl full of gold ribbons on the reception desk and I had plans on taking some home and giving them out to my folks and sister and wearing them so we can spread the word, right? No. Worse yet I asked around with staff and no one knew. I asked the reception desk girl, the phlebotomist, even the Oncologist himself and he was the only one that remembered "something in an email, maybe." Sad, sad.

I am telling you this because the Pediatric Cancer issues are not well known. Because there is lack of awareness, there is also lack of funding and we are that much further away from the cure. Cancer in kids is very different than cancer in adults. Did you know that most of the treatments and chemotherapies done on kids is really geared towards adults but downsized for their little bodies? They take the same treatment for a 65 year old man and downsize it for a 22 month old baby. That's crazy!

In Your Face
Let me ask you, do you know when Breast Cancer Awareness Month is? Do you know what color the ribbons are? What is the name of the foundation that sponsors the Race for the Cure for breast cancer? Likely you know the answers to at least some of these questions, right? Everywhere you look in the month of October, pink is everywhere. Because of this, the the field of breast cancer research has made great strides in the last 10 years alone. By the way, its the Susan G. Komen Foundation...like you didn't know.

That's my dream for childhood cancers. Spread the word, get the cure. And so immediately after leaving the hospital that day, I called Candlelighters, a cancer advocacy group here in Houston. I asked the lady if in fact September was Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, to which she replied enthusiastically, yes. Then I asked her besides the Fun Walk what else they did to spread awareness for the month.

"Well," she said, "we send out newsletters and gold ribbon pins to the families." Silence.

"So...you send out newsletters and ribbons to spread cancer awareness to the families of the kids who already have cancer?" I asked. Huh? That made perfect sense to me.

I think I may have a big job on my hands. Are you in?

Health Update

So I Tivo-ed the Stand Up to Cancer show. I hope you caught it. I cried all the way through the damned thing while folding laundry. In case you missed it, here is the full show. Fast forward to 51:50 for the childhood cancer stuff.



How is Emma Doing?
I get this question a lot so in case you are wondering I'll give you the specifics on her health so far. She's doing so awesome! This kid is really remarkable.

Right after the surgery at the end of June, she had a mild case of Posterior Fossa Syndrome, which meant she had problems with speech and motor skills like walking, feeding herself, and general balance and coordination. It was very difficult for her to form comprehensible words. She also had blisters and sores on her cheeks from an allergy to the plastic surgical tape they used on her face. (FYI, they have "paper tape" too. If your kid ever has to undergo procedures and has very sensitive skin, please ask for the paper tape.)

Eyes
Another effect of the surgery was a 4th Nerve Palsy in her left eye, which is a misalignment, or a drift, in her eye. This is more prevalent when she is fatigued. It looks a lot like "lazy eye," and gives her double vision which she compensates for with a head tilt. So when you see her, she will sometimes hold her head to the side. Either that or she's shy; she was never shy before but since her surgery, she has had an obvious hesitation to speak and be her old, outgoing self. Mike and I think the shyness came from embarrassment from her lack of being able to function normally right out of surgery. She is slowly coming out of her shell again.

These days Emma is functioning like a normal 3 1/2 year old. If you didn't know her before, you'd never know what she'd been through. Her balance is really good, albeit a little wobbly at times when she's tired. Her strength is still there, but there is still a bit of ataxia but she has good fine motor control.

PT/OT/Speech
Physical Therapy is working on her overall balance and coordination; she now loves to climb the rock wall and yells "batter up" while playing Nerf softball. Occupational Therapy is working on upper body strength and fine motor skills including writing, painting and tying shoes. We have an awesome group of PT and OT therapists. The daily requests for Ms. Stephanie, Andrea, Ashley and Lindsey are just outrageous and demanding. "I want to see Ms. Stephanie NOW, Mommy."

Her speech is awesome! Our Speech Therapist, Hazel, is really amazed at how far she's progressed. We are still waiting on the English accent to come from Emmy though. Apparently, she is more articulate than most kids her age (and too smart for her own good, if you ask me). Hazel is working on her speed with fun songs and games, so to Em, it feels like more play than work.

Exhausted
So far everything has improved. She has tolerated radiation therapy extremely well. There has been no nausea, no skin problems. Emma has experienced loss of appetite, hair loss in the irradiated areas (the entire bottom half of the back of her head from ear to ear), and fatigue. She really wasn't too tired until about the end of the 4th week, I would say. Now you can see her batteries get run down quickly. Fortunately for me, this results in shorter visits to the park and naps during midday or late afternoon. Naps are good. Lately she has been complaining of "I'm still tired" vs. the "I'm not tired" chant that toddlers love to sing.

I think she's got super powers, specifically that of regeneration. Ha ha. Her hair is already growing back and Dr. Paulino is a bit stumped. Her hair started falling out immediately, like on day three, I swear. And then whole chunks about the third week. But according to Dr. Paulino, its not supposed to grow back at all until weeks after radiation has ended. She's a like gecko with a cut off tail, I tell you.

I must say, the eye issue is the only thing we have seen only slight improvements in. Stephanie from Physical Therapy referred us to a "Vision Therapist" who could help with Emma's eye. We are going to see them pretty soon. I haven't really heard of Vision Therapy, but from what I read it can be helpful for 4th Nerve Palsy. If anyone has had any experience with Vision Therapy or knows more about it, please tell me. Please leave a comment at the end of this post. If you have questions regarding Emma, please feel free to comment on this blog or email me here.

Watch This

Like I was saying before, September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month. Please show your support for kids like Emma and watch some TV tonight.

Stand Up to Cancer is a crazy television event on all three major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS), airing Friday, September 5th (tonight) at 7 pm CST. Star-studded with celebrities and musicians, it should be a pretty cool show. You really won't be able to escape it, so you might as well watch, learn something and enjoy.

Cheese and Platelets

Like I was saying in my previous post, Emma finished her last day of radiation on Thursday. After the treatment, my folks and I drove down to the Hermann Park train near the zoo. Our route to the hospital brings us by the park and we see the train in motion when we come home from therapy. She gets so excited and I always get requests to "go ride the train."

So my parents and I decided that we would take a celebratory spin around the park in honor of her completion of radiation therapy. It was a perfect September day in Houston yesterday--no humidity if you can believe it and great temperature. See for yourself:

"All aboard!"

A little cheese with your sugar.

Love the shades.

Afternoon Blues
We headed home from the train to take a rest. I don't know why. I mean I might as well have stayed at the hospital because 2 hours later, we were back. So really with drive time we were home for less than an hour. This time it was off to Texas Children's Hospital again to meet up with our Oncologist, Dr. Jack Su. This would be the last time we would meet with him on a weekly basis as our radiation therapy has ended. Em has a fondness for Dr. Su; she's always cuddling with him.

"You're done with radiation, Emma. Yay!" (He's waving her hand around in a cheer.)

Dr. Su informed us that Em's platelet count was a bit low, but nothing to be concerned about. Her weight loss was at an even point, meaning she had lost a total of three pounds over the course of six weeks...not too bad. Everything else was A-ok.

The part we would have issues with is getting our sweet Emma back to being sweet. Where do you draw the discipline line when your kid is sick? Its hard, let me tell you that. Here you are wanting to take her to special places and buying her things because secretly in the back of your head you think she might not ever be able to go there. But then you hold back because "no, she's going to make it; I'm crazy for even thinking that way." We've never been one to spoil the kids but everyone is super nice to her more than usual and she is flexing that toddler muscle a bit too much. I'm going to have to figure things out. Dr. Su tells us that kids, even toddlers, understand manipulation more than we think and to be firm with her. This part is not going to be fun. Anyone have any good discipline techniques for me?

Benefit Dinner for Emma

If I haven't thanked you all enough, thank you. When our friends and neighbors heard what was going on with Emma in June, they really rallied to help us out. Dinner drops and visits have been awesome. And coming this month are fundraisers in Emma's name. Thank you. I wanted to put it on my blog so all that are interested can attend. Everyone has worked so hard on this and it would be nice to have a great turn out.


Benefit Dinner & Auction at St. Rose of Lima--Sunday, September 28th.
(An excerpt from the Garden Oaks Gazette:)
Neighbors from Garden Oak and the Heights are coming together to pitch in and help the family. A benefit dinner, auction and raffle will be held at St. Rose of Lima on September 28 at 4:00 p.m. Come for a night of delicious Italian fare, catered by Lomonte’s Italian Restaurant. Drinks are generously being provided by Community Coffee. There will be a wine/beer booth, dessert table and music provided by Dune TX. In addition t-shirts to promote safety in our neighborhood will be available for purchase. All proceeds will benefit the Maltbie family to help defray medical expenses.

Please join us for an uplifting and fun evening to help out a special little girl. We need help securing donations for our Silent Auction. Think big and feel free to work in teams with your neighbors! Get your block to purchase and donate 12 restaurant gift cards that can be called “A Year of Dates.” Do you or someone you know own a vacation home? A weekend at the lake or beach is a fantastic item to donate. In addition to auction and raffle items we need volunteers. Call Amber Berend at 832-338-0171 or email her at amber.berend@yahoo.com to volunteer. Everyone please lend a hand to make this event a success. Remember, it's for a brave little girl and her wonderful family!

Pre-sale tickets are on sale now. See the flier inserted in the Gazette for more details (click here for flier) or contact Amy Shaughnessy at ames975@comcast.net to purchase tickets. If you are unable to join us, please consider making a donation toward this worthy cause. Your generosity is greatly appreciated and makes Garden Oaks such wonderful place to call home.

End of a Journey

Today was the last day of Emma's radiation treatment! Six weeks have gone by so fast! I feel like I have lost a piece of me and yet gained something more. This journey changes you for sure--you are never the same.

It's not over yet. We still have to continue with her therapy appointments three times a week; I have cut them back a bit because she is too tired. The big party will be after October 21st when we have our 6 week MRI to see if the tumor is gone. If the cancer is gone. That's my Mom's birthday; she says it will be the best present to hear that her granddaughter is cancer-free. Keep rooting for Emma, please.

So we all got up today very excited, exhausted and relieved that this part of our journey is coming to an end. I was in good spirits all day long. Emma was feeling a bit tired.

We got a few gifts together for the other kids in our "family" who are being treated with radiation at Methodist. I spoke to all of the kids and the moms (and dads) and told them we are praying for them. There is a new kid who came in the day before, named Kevin. He's about 4 maybe, and is being treated for cancer in the kidneys. His mom brought him in on a stroller and the poor guy was crying--screaming--the entire time there. He was so scared. But he only has 7 treatments (I think), so that's not too bad. "It will go by fast," I told his mom, "be strong for him."

Belle of the Bell

There is a gold bell at the front desk mounted to the wall called the "Bell of Hope." Tradition has it that you ring it three times to signal the end of your treatment. Emma saw the bell in action last week. Mr. Schuck was being treated for prostate cancer and rang the bell while Em and I watched from the pediatric waiting room. He and his wife were such a nice couple. Like us, they were one of the first ones there in the morning and would greet Emma every day. On their last day, they brought Em a little stuffed puppy and told her how touched they were by her courage. His name is Barkers.

Since then she would ask every day "Mommy, can I ring the bell today?" Not yet, I would say, but pretty soon you can. She was counting down the days. Grandma even got her a new outfit and braided her hair so she felt pretty. Both my parents were there so it was a big deal. I took photos of course.

I spoke to Peggy yesterday about the bell ringing. I requested that she ring the bell before the treatment rather than after as she would be either asleep or too groggy to stand on her own after radiotherapy. Peggy said she could ring it twice if she was awake enough.

The Bell of Hope

This day the entire staff came out to watch her and celebrate the end of her treatment. They even lowered the bell for her so she could reach it. Peggy asked her to ring it three times, and she did, and then kept going. It was really sweet. She rang it about 20 times then turned and gave me her proud little smirk right after. There was excitement and cheering from everyone. I was so happy and proud that she did so well through the treatment.

Her proud little smirk.

Em and Papa (my Dad).

Dr. (Papa) Fromberg and Peggy led her back to get her last treatment. Someone asked her who she wanted to hold her while getting her anesthesia, and she chose Grandma. She was a perfect little soldier and it was a piece of cake.

It was the usual drill, but this time we said our goodbyes to the staff who were like family to us. They will be missed, but we hope not to see them again on those terms, if you know what I mean. Nurse Peggy Villareal is good people. Just about the most understanding, patient and compassionate person I know. Having held back all emotion for the whole six weeks, I was surprised at how hard it was to say goodbye to her. I hugged Peggy and cried. I thanked her for making it easy for us. "Maybe a little, honey, but it's never easy," she said. "But you did good." And with that we were done. We will see them again in one month for a follow up which I'm sure Emmy will be so happy to do.

The awesome Radiation Oncology therapists and anesthesiologists at the Methodist.

Walking back to the treatment room with Dr. Fromberg and Nurse Peggy.

Prepping on the treatment table with a smile.

Anesthesiologist in the making.Helping with the Propofol.
Drowsy...drowsy...out!

Waiting to wake up in the PACU. Note: sleeping with her tongue out. Ha ha!

Mike getting his blood pressure tested. Its high due to stress.

Sleeping it off in the stroller in the Methodist Hospital lobby.

Groggy yet awake, its time to throw "coims" in the fountain with Daddy.

The windup and the pitch.

Daddy and Em. Tossing in another.
Sweet Emma and Daddy's hairy arm.
Thinking about jumping in.
But I'll just pop bubbles instead.

Well, as you can see, everything went well on our last day, as evidenced by the photos. After she woke up a bit, we loaded her up in the stroller and let her sleep it off in the lobby while we listened to the smooth sounds of the piano. After she woke up, we did our regular coins-in-the-fountain gig. I wished for Emma to be cancer-free, and for the other kids too. Mike and Em started pelting me with pennies while I took photos as they thought it would be funny. So nice of him, huh? When we finished a roll of 50 pennies, Mike took off to work and my parents and I decided to celebrate end of radiation by taking a train ride at the Hermann Park mini-railroad. She loved it so much. I'll put that in my next post to break it up a little.