Has The Good News Sunk In Yet?

Rebekah at the snowmobile outing last Saturday. Evan's dad so graciously sent us this picture today. Evan is another cancer survivor kiddo!

Based on the comments, both on the blog and private, you all have apparently noticed we have not been posting. We don't know why exactly. We had planned on a leaving the wonderful notice up for a day or so for impact. Then it became a taste of normal to do "nothing" cancer related. We actually have done a lot cancer related but we think you get the point.

Rebekah is doing absolutely spectacular. She is really coming back. Things are not perfect by any means but we sure would like to think they are getting better. The nausea and throwing up still continues to be a problem. Mommy is not getting much sleep as Rebekah will not go through the night without a problem coming up. We are still doing a lot of laundry with sheets and all.

During the day Rebekah is still showing an interest in eating. She is putting things in her mouth but usually taking them right back out. She sits through most meals with her sister, which is good. They are playing like sisters and even have some bumps and bruises to prove it. When they are in the playroom together there sure to be havoc. We are not sure who is the instigator - they build on each other.

Mommy spent most of the last week trying to get a handle on scheduling things for follow up/ side effect treatments. Tuesday we have a surgery scheduled at the Casey Eye Institute. They will do some work checking Rebekah's vision while she is under an anesthetic (How they do that is completely beyond us?!?!?!?!) and then will try and repair some of the tear ducts as well.

Mommy is also trying to schedule a surgery next week (if possible) to get Rebekah's central line out. It would be really nice to remove that source of possible infection and not have to deal with the traumatic dressing changes. Friday night Rebekah did SO SO SO SO SO well and barely cried at all during her dressing change. In fact she even helped apply the adhesive remover to help get the old dressing off. Daddy was so proud of his little trooper.

The following week, we have an appointment with an ENT, Rebekah back to school, Speech Therapy and evaluations for Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy. That will be a busy week, but hopefully we can start to get back to a routine.

We alluded a bit to "other good news." It was not actually an attempt to cause speculation but it did. NO - we are NOT pregnant - at least we don't think so. We are not quite sure how we feel about being new parents again. Steve (who is in charge of www.HelpRebekah.com)spent a couple of weeks trying to track down a good deal on a freezer for us. None of the appliance stores wanted to "donate" or "help" in any way other than giving their "normal good deals". Daddy spent a lot of time trying to figure out what we could "get by with". We figured we could save some money by buying a manual defrost and picking it up ourselves. Then Kory's Foundation stepped in again and sent the following in an email: "We called the store and paid for the frost-free version for you AND they are going to call you to arrange for delivery..." WOW! We tried to protest but were told that their whole purpose was "to provide the best and do it so the families don't have to worry about things..." PLEASE SAY THANK YOU TO KORY's ALONG WITH US!

And as if that were not enough. The Children's Cancer Association sent an email minutes after we received the one from Kory's telling us that Les Schwab Tires had finally come through and had a set of tires delivered to the local store for our van. WOW again. We had kind of thought the graciousness of so many was going to be over along with the good news last week.

One of Mommy's calls was to get an appointment with a dentist. Josh's mom mentioned that they had found a pediatric dentist that had a lot of background in radiation and chemo, so we got the information from her and called her office to schedule an appointment. We scheduled an apointment in April - the earliest they had available. Ugh! But they put us on the list for cancellations. About 10 minutes after hanging up, they called back and had an appointment available the next day - Thursday. So we took it. We were a bit concerned that her teeth would be in pretty bad shape - knowing that the radiation had caused such bad sores in her mouth and there was so much time where she wouldn't let us brush her teeth or touch her mouth. The good news here was that her teeth looked pretty good, considering all she had been through. There is one molar that the dentist was a little concerned about, but Rebekah wouldn't cooperate to let her look at it. We scheduled another appointment for a couple of weeks, for a cleaning. Hopefully, Rebekah will be better used to the dentist office and cooperate for a good cleaning and exam.

Tonight Grandpa and Grandma brought all the grandparents, us, and Uncle Mark and Aunt TT along with cousins Michael and Jacob together for a congratulatiuons dinner at McMennamins Forest Grove. The service was, well not so good, and it took over an hour and a half from when we got there to get some food. The GREAT thing was how well Rebekah did. She didn't throw any fits and we only had to have "a talking" once and she listened to what daddy asked her to do very well. We don't know too many 4 year olds that could sit through that and she did great. In fact it was amazing that Sarah, Michael and Jacob ALL did great. THANK YOU GRANDPA AND GRANDMA!

While we were out at dinner the people at the table next to us (also having the same service issues) were "introduced" to us as their 20 month old came over behind our table and right to Rebekah. His mommy was a little surprised as she said he does not go to other people, including kids, at all. We found out in talking that he too has autism and it was amazing how much he was drawn to Rebekah. Rebekah was nice with him too and they seemed to have a bit of a sympatico between them. Yes, Rebekah continues to touch peoples lives. We have a very special little girl there. Hopefully we will get to talk to that family again as they live in the next town over.

Better cut this off here so it is not too long; but don't worry we are not giving up. It might not be EVERY day but we will be here updating you all as you are as much a part of our lives as Rebekah is yours.