Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

Well, so, surprise! Jill was sent home Saturday night. No more cough (that was fast) & her ANC is around 300 something (it had hit 600 something, so they knew it was on the upswing, & felt confident it would be back up soon). The Dr. predicts she'll be home at least a week. We're so excited to have her back home!! She is such a little ball of sunshine. Always happy, always excited about everything. Cousin Kevin is staying with us right now (he got off the plane & said, "Operation Holy Crap is UNDERWAY") & she just loves him to PIECES. They've been playing all kinds of games & acting out fairytales & he's been teaching her phrases like, "Get with the program, Oprah" & "tastes like chicken". Her language continues to blow me out of the water!!! Tonight she said, "When Daddy done sainzing my bopper (diaper), I pay wih dis (Kevin)". And I'm so impressed with how she handles discomfort/slight pain & changes in her routine! For instance, when she got stabbed in the hand for an IV placement (for a kidney test) on Friday, she looked at me like, "what just happened????" & said, "See (she) hurt my hand!!!"...her chin quivered a little, but no tears. Tonight, I took the tape off her chest that held the plastic bag over her "dressing" that absolutely cannot get wet (for her bath)...it hurts, I know it does....it's TAPE...worse than a bandaid....way more surface area....sensitive parts of the skin (like her armpit, for instance)....I talked to her about Frosty the Snowman ("and what happens when he loses his hat?" "He tan't talk!" "And how about when he gets hot?" "He met (melt) away! And tids det sad (kids get sad)!") and before she knows it, it's over, & she is being praised up & down the block for being such a strong, big girl. Which she totally IS.

So, to backtrack....while Jill was confined to her room, the Child Life people never forgot her....they always sent special visitors to HER....we had volunteers make hand-painted aprons with her one day, a woman from the Long Beach Symphony come in to play her flute for 30 minutes while Jill danced around the room, our friend, Amy from Sunshine Kids, came to help Jill make Christmas cards, and Pandie/Huxley, Jill's 2 favorite "little" dogs let her pet them & give them treats. Friday was an excellent day for Jill & I. Santa Claus came to visit her in her room (and gave her a really nice gift) and we spent the next 2 hours on the first floor (they finally let her leave her room...with a mask) taking part in a HUGE event called "Santa's Workshop" sponsored by Tucker, the construction company that is building the new wing on the hospital. They had games & crafts, tables loaded up with toys & gifts that Jill could "buy" for every member of her family, then gift wrap with some volunteer help, yummy food, face painting, and caricature sketch artists (hers turned out so adorable!). Staff from Tucker slipped some gift cards for "mommy" in her bag, as well. It was so much fun!! The adoring comments made by so many people there about my baby made me feel so happy & proud to be her Mommy. The IV & kidney test (standard protocol at this stage of the game...and all is well) made me even more proud of her. Lise came that evening & stayed with her while Matt & I had a nice romantic dinner at a cafe right down the street from the hospital...we ran into a co-worker of Matt's at the Long Beach Historical Society building & had a very nice chat with he & his wife before Matt headed back to the hospital to spend the night, & I went off to pick up Anna from Kristi & Ian's. Saturday was a whirlwind day of "is she coming home or not?" while Matt waited to hear what the doctor had to say. Kevie went up to the hospital to move us out while I frantically cleaned for 4 hours straight while Anna played on her own (she's getting so much better at that) & fell asleep on the couch watching Mary Poppins. We went to Mikayla's 8th Birthday Party at Olivia's Tea Room shortly after Jill got home, which brings us to today....Anna's bday party at Ryan Park. Which was awesome. The weather was amazing, but even MORE amazing is the work my friends did to execute my plan of a fun & exciting day for our big girl. Rebecca brought balloons, Ann got food & drinks, Heather made games, Jannah brought more food & carted loads of stuff (including the games to the party), Renee made cupcakes, Sharon played guitar (complete with fun Wizard of Oz lyrics sung to the tune of "Down by the Bay"), Cristina brought a pinata, Sam brought plates, soooooo many people helped set-up & clean-up, Dina videotaped....the list goes on!!!! We could NOT have pulled off such a feat alone. It was so wonderful for Anna. She had a BLAST!!!! We had a blast! Jill stayed home with Kevin (on HIS actual birthday) because so many kids are sick right now (6 of Anna's friends could not come due to illness) & we didn't want to risk Jill catching anything. Anna went to bed tonight with a fever. Let's hope it doesn't spread....but I'm assuming it will. It would be miraculous if GiGi didn't catch it! If she gets a fever, she immediately goes back in. Ugh. Anyway, tomorrow's plan is for Kevin to entertain Jill upstairs (or rather, Jill entertain Kevin) while I contain little sicky downstairs, and Matt comes home as soon as humanly possible from work). I wish Kevin could stay forever. It is so nice to have him here.

Okay, I have to go to bed, but I MUST mention (MENTION? rather SCREAM & SHOUT!!!!!) that the Bone Marrow Drive held at Sts. Joachim & Ann today in St Charles, MO (plan conceived & brilliantly executed by my DAD, with many willing volunteers) inducted a total of:

232 NEW BONE MARROW DONORS

Wow. And that, with an ice storm. Impressive. God Bless All of You!!!! We heard a handful of inspirational stories from today & would love to share more of them on the blog. As you think of them, jot them down & shoot me an email. I am moved by the love sent out to us from so far away & only wish we could've all been there to witness it.

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma Hunn. "May the Dear Lord Bless You!" From Jillian's lips to God's ears. That doesn't taste AT ALL like chicken.