our life consists of pick ups and drop offs as of late.  i seem to be always driving here and driving there, picking up here and picking up there …

arielle is settling into high school.  she’s gone to one dance already and plans to go to another – homecoming is coming up in a few weeks. she’s getting into the swing of her classes and staying on top of her honors classes.  she has tried out for the choir and is now involved in three.  the hours for practices are before and after school depending on the director’s availability so she sometimes have to be up by 5a to be in school by 7a and sometimes home after 6p.  they are long days and i wonder if she’s overdoing it, but she has taken the initiative to participate and is driven to fulfill the commitments.  however, i have told her that her health and what we need to do to keep her healthy is more important than any of the commitments she has made and will definitely have to come first.  she makes faces at me at times when i have to remind her to take her calcium pills and that it’s time to go to bed.  she sometimes tries to bargain with me to stay up a little longer so she can finish her homework, but for the most part, listens to what i have to say.

on a medical note, her last scans showed that arielle remains “clean.”  the area in her chest that caused such concern is still there, but since we did the biopsy, we know that it is just the thymus.  she is scheduled for a doctor visit in november, just before thanksgiving.  mid-october marks the one year anniversary of her last chemotherapy and the doctor visits are becoming less frequent with every month that she stays “clean”.    since we had the port removed,  arielle was able to join her tae kwon do classes again and, just recently, put her braces back on.  she’s not too happy about the braces, but every normal teenage activity that goes on is another marker for me to see that she is better and helps me breathe a little easier.

because we had the surgeries done in the beginning of summer, we had only a few follow up doctor visits to attend to.  arielle and erynn took summer school at loyola high school – arielle took intro to geometry and erynn took pre-algebra and study skills.  they, however, missed the last week of school so that we could go on vacation with the family.  we had a lovely time with the cousins in clear lake, ca.  we had some memorable moments watching “toy story 3″ with the bugs in their first ever drive-in movie and the little cousins with their comments about clear lake.  to top it all off, the kids finally learned to ride bikes and they’ve been riding ever since.  we’ve been spending some time together riding our bikes on the bike paths in venice, santa monica, manhattan beach, and redondo beach.  they can’t seem to get enough of biking and it’s fun to ride bikes together.

arielle went to camp with her new choir this past week.  i am told that she had a nice time bonding and getting to know everyone in the choir.  she came back last night and is really tired but excited to start school and to sing in the choir.  she doesn’t even mind the 7am practices 3 times a week.  they already have a concert scheduled, i am told, on friday, aug 27th at their school.

arielle had a clinic visit this morning and a scheduled pet/ct scan this afternoon … just before school starts next week.  the visit went smoothly and the doctor said that since we did the biopsy in may, if the area lights up again, we know it’s the thymus and isn’t anything to worry about.  we had a little trouble with the iv and had to redo it before she could continue with the pet scan, but once it was in, she was able to relax and just sleep.  she isn’t scheduled to see the doctor again until november and another pet scan is not scheduled again until next year.

arielle had a late snack at 11:30p last night since she’s not supposed to eat after midnight because of surgery this morning.  we’ve been here (at the hospital) since 7:30a this morning and they’ve just wheeled her into surgery.  it is a fairly simple procedure (i think) and since arielle’s port is right under her skin, not difficult.  the doctor said the procedure itself should take 10-15 minutes.  but with the anesthesia and all the preparations for surgery, it should take about 1/2 hour.  i can’t help feeling anxious, but the anesthesiologist said they would come get me as soon as she wakes up … just have to keep busy, i guess.

update: 10:53a … it’s all done.  surgery went well and uneventful.  :)  she’s in and out of sleep in recovery right now.  she can go home, i was told, in about an hour, depending on when she wakes up.

arielle did beautifully in dc.  tina and shannon watched over her so very carefully (thanks tina and shannon for watching my baby!!!!) and her classmates watched over her as well (thanks guys!  i’m truly touched).  her hardest day was the first and the time change was a challenge.  she is tired and slept (almost) all day on saturday.  she’s still feeling the effects of the trip and often falls asleep when she’s just sitting around.  but she is definitely doing well and her energy is slowly coming back.

arielle is scheduled to go into surgery on friday, june 18th.  her portacath is the biggest reminder we have of her illness and now she is scheduled to have it removed.  she’s not looking forward to getting iv’s instead of accessing her port, but it’s removal is our biggest sign that she is indeed getting better and on her way to recovery.  it is an outpatient surgery and i am expecting her to come home the same day, assuming there are no complications.

we are going out of town tomorrow and taking a mini vacation before her surgery on friday.  we won’t see many of you again until school begins in the fall.  i can never say thank you enough to all of you for all the love and support.  we hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing summer!

it was not so long ago that we were all so scared for her, but here is she is, one year later.  she is graduating from 8th grade tomorrow and is getting ready to go to washington dc next week.  i can’t believe that she has spent nine years in st. anastasia and high school is around the corner.

it has been a difficult year full of challenges.  just in the past year, she has had to endure more than many and has smiled and persevered through it all with grace and beauty.  i’m getting sentimental just thinking about it.  we are all so very proud of what she has accomplished.  her future looks bright and she is really excited to begin another chapter.

hmm … but first, maybe i can convince her to have a normal summer and behave like a normal teenager for a change … responsibilities can wait a few months.

on the bright side, arielle made it through the night without pain medication and she can dress herself without my help.  yay!  she’s definitely doing better, but woke up this morning with an allergy attack of sneezes and coughs followed by an “ouch” after each. (sigh)

arielle is feeling better.  the doctor said it takes a couple of weeks for the lungs to heal, but she is well on her way to healing.  i’ve reduced her pain medication quite a bit from yesterday and she is still doing really well.  she isn’t walking as fast as she was yesterday and she is a little more hunched over from the pain and discomfort, but she said it is manageable and really “not too bad.”

now we have to focus on other things … like finishing up reports and homework and , of course, getting ready for graduation and isabelle’s kindergarten culmination.

thanks all for all the wonderful comments.  we are really happy.

she won’t be able to go to school for a week.  actually, doctor’s orders says that she is to stay home until the 27th, but  the nurse said it was probably okay to go to school to take graduation pictures on the 26th, as long as it was just for pictures.

we have one more piece of good news today … while i was downstairs getting her pain medication, the doctor came in to tell arielle the results of the biopsy.  i was surprised she came today because i didn’t think we would get the results until monday or tuesday of next week.  the results came in negative!

she is doing well.  so well, in fact, that the doctor said she could come home tonight if she wanted to.  she’s still in a lot of pain so i thought it best she stay in the hospital for the night, just in case.  she rates her pain at a 3 out of 10 with the medication, but knowing arielle, it probably is closer to 6 or 7.  her sense of humor is intact (sarcasm and all) and is talking quite a bit when she’s awake.  she was able keep down some jello, applesauce and some crackers so far.  she was a little dizzy earlier, but seems to be much better now.

thank you all again for the prayers and good wishes.  she’s still has some recovery to do, but the worst is over and it looks like she’s made it through this one.

jonah woke up this morning, put on his uniform and groggily said “huh?” when i told him he wasn’t going to school today.  then he said, “oh, i forgot,” took off his clothes, put his pajamas back on and went back to bed.  they all woke up an hour later, laughing and smiling as we ate breakfast together.  even dad was able to eat with us since today is a furlough day at court.  we took our time this morning and finally made it out of the house for lunch, the bookstore, and color me mine at the bridge in the afternoon.

it was back to reality when we got home because they had to do their homework, but not completely since we had a visit from a cousin who just started his summer break from college.  there was more laughing and lots of noise during dinner.  it was difficult to concentrate on homework, but eventually it got done and jonah and isabelle went off to bed.  i had to reminded them that i was going to the hospital with arielle and we’d be back in a few days.  isabelle said, “i’ll miss you.”  i reminded them that i always had my phone and they could call me anytime.  we also had skype so we can talk in the evenings after they came home from school.

erynn said “today was fun and i don’t feel so sad anymore.  i’ve been feeling really sad lately.  thanks mom.”  arielle got a little quiet after i told her to start packing for the hospital, but her spirits are good.  they both had a late night snack before bed (the last two pieces of apple pie) since arielle isn’t allowed to eat anything after midnight and then went off to their room together, hugging and saying their “i love yous.”

arielle’s surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  we are required to check in at 7a and the doctor said the it should take about 3 hours, including the alloted time of 1 1/2 hour for the actual surgery.  i’ll post something when i get some information from the doctor.

thank you all for your love and support.  i don’t know what we would do without all of you holding us up.