Haircut!

Max has been asking to get his haircut for days now. I have cut the bangs a couple of times, but it is so thick and I have been afraid to really mess it up. Plus, he tends to wiggle when I do it. Yesterday, I was going totally stir crazy. I am tired of being stuck at home. I miss going places. I miss the aquarium, the museum, playgroup, Miss Ellen's class. I finally decided to take him to the hair cut place. We went after lunch, when I hoped it would be quiet (it was) and Max was great. He sat fairly still for her, and even let her use the clippers, though when she went to clean up his neck and under his ears, he announced he was all done, and got out of the chair. I am just happy to see his face again. I had forgotten what shape it was. Then, we got some sushi (an avocado roll) and headed home. It was a nice outing for everyone. Well, maybe not for Lauren. I think she was pretty bored. :)

A couple of pictures

I promised that I would post some pictures of Max. He looks really good, despite the great need for a hair cut (I finally trimmed the bangs, but I am no professional) and a shave. He isn't a huge fan of getting his picture taken right now, though.

He was given a couple of bears when he was in the hospital. One was a handmade bear made from a Didymos baby wrap. The other was a Build a Bear dressed as Buzz Lightyear. He dressed Didy Bear up as Buzz. The outfit almost fits.

I wanted to go play in the snow, Max wanted to go swim in the kiddie pool. This is the resulting outfit. We obviously didn't go swimming. I don't think we got playing in the pool either.

Winter Fun!

We finally have snow and Max's platelet count is plenty high enough for him to participate in winter activities! We have been taking advantage of this to the best of our ability. Max loves sledding on the snowbank at the top of our driveway by the garage (way away from the road). He also has enjoyed snowshoeing around the yard. After days of being too cold to do much, it finally warmed up and we tried to go skating, but the ice pond had melted. We are going to try again this weekend. Max can't wait to get out on the skates that a neighbor lent him. (They also lent him the snowshoes and some skis.)

I can not begin to express the joy I feel watching him play like a normal 3 year old. I have almost stopped worrying about every tiny fall. I am not sure if I will ever be able to return to the completely relaxed mother that I was, but I am a lot better. We went to the park the day that it was too warm to ski, and I was able to talk with another parent while Max ran round the park, playing on the slides and swings. I didn't let him climb some of the scarier things, partially because it was snowy and his clothing was bulky and harder to manuver in, but other than that, I just let him have fun. I can still feel the panic in the back of my mind, but it is much less prevalent.

CBC 02/22/2007

I want to write these down really quickly while I can, though Max would really rather play blocks. :)

WBC: 4.8
HCT: 32
HGB: 11.3
PLT: 124
ANC: 1920

Yay!

A Late Update

Max went to MGH for a routine checkup a little over a week ago. The appointment went very well, but we took Lauren in that day as well to see her GI doctor (who said she will probably always be thin but as long as she continues to grow we don't have to go back - yay!) and balancing the two children all day was exhausting and I basically crashed when i got home. Then, I left for a much needed two day vacation to visit my brother, without the kids. So, I got behind on my posting. I have some great pictures to post, but things have been busy, so I am just going to post the CBC results and a few comments.

WBC: 4.9
HCT: 30.9
HGB: 11.4
PLT: 114
ANC: 1080

Dr. Ebb is really pleased. He was happy to see the white count continuing to rise and didn't seem concerned that his ANC and HCT were down a bit. He said that his platelet count is high enough for him to go sledding or skating (with a helmet, of course). Now that it is finally cold enough for their to be ice on the pond and it snowed, we will be taking advantage of that. Max has been sledding on the little pile of snow outside of our house, and a neighbor gave us skates that fit him. If the weather cooperates, I might try him out on the skates tomorrow. He really wants to give it a try.

Sharing Experiences

I met the mother of a boy who was diagnosed with aplastic anemia. One of the doctor's at MGH gave me her email and I finally managed to email her a couple of weeks ago. They live a couple of towns over. Her son was diagnosed in the summer of 2003 and has done very well. He is off at college now and is the picture of health. It is great to hear things like that. She is running the Boston Marathon as part of a team raising money for Mass General CancerCare for Children. She is training hard. If anyone is interested in supporting her, here is the link to her webpage: https://www.firstgiving.com/gaylec

It was really nice to talk to someone who has gone through much of the same things that we went through. I can't explain why, but it helps to talk to others who have gone through the same emotional experiences.

Max goes in to MGH on Wednesday for the monthly antibiotics, CBC and checkup. This is our first scheduled appointment since all this started. It is so nice to be at this point.

Settling In

It seems so strange to me that I rarely have anything to post these days. Sometimes, I have thoughts that I consider writing down, but the kids keep me hopping and often it just doesn't happen. Life is starting to feel normal again.

We visited Papa and Grandma Lyd last weekend. We last visited them over Thanksgiving, when Max's numbers had been at their lowest. When we stopped at a rest area, we didn't let Max go in, but instead had him use the potty we brought with us. We worried constantly. This trip was so different. Max was able to go into the rest area (it was almost empty) which was a good thing because it was sub zero outsite. He had a great time looking at the maps and things in the visitor area. We opted not to go out to lunch, but we ran around in the snow and I didn't worry about him falling. He had more energy, though I can see that he needs to get out more. He and I are both out of shape. But, these days he gets out of breath rather than runs out of energy. It was a lovely visit.

We are starting to have friends over again. It has been so nice for both me and the kids. Max's social skills need a bit of polishing, but it is hard to tell how much of that is related to not seeing people and how much is just him being three. He is definitely enjoying seenig people, though. So is Lauren. For that matter, so am I. It is nice to talk to other adults who are not in the medical profession again. The one who really needs more socialization is Cisco, who behaves terribly when company comes to visit. I have been crating him, but am starting to work with him when people come over.

The only things that Max still can't do is go to the grocery store, mall, etc, and return to school. He keeps asking about school, and for some reason has started asking if the doctor said it was okay for him to go to the grocery store. I am not sure why this has come up all of a sudden. Perhaps he over heard something? I don't really miss grocery shopping without a 3 year old, though I do miss the ability to do whenever I need to.

It snowed today for the first time this winter. (Well, we have had a dusting here and there.) The kids are outside playing. I am going to go join them. If the snow stays, maybe we can go sledding. I didn't think we would be able to do that this winter, but he can. We are happy.