July 8, 2021

 Last night one of our doctors came in and told me they were moving up Aurelia’s lumbar sample and though he was unsure of the exact time, he was trying to get us scheduled for the morning. Aurelia and I were slightly surprised when the hospital orderly showed up at 8am…we were both asleep! I threw on some clothes and they put her on a gurney and took us downstairs to the operating rooms.

I was allowed to accompany Aurelia and her medical team to the operating room and when they opened the doors they had Elton John blasting from every television in the large room. She was so excited that they remembered her love for Elton John! Kids can choose music or something to watch (last week she requested an Everest documentary) and something tells me Aurelia’s requests are a bit different than most. 

The hospital has an app that informs us when she is done and in recovery so I’m just in the waiting room.

Rory is currently at a meeting for parents about hygiene protocol once kids are out of the hospital. If all goes well Aurelia may be released for outpatient for the month of August. We would remain in Barcelona and she would go to the hospital four times a week for her chemo and then come back to the apartment. However, there are a lot of things to be done to prep for this and we need to learn all of the protocol.

Aurelia’s food has been a big area of focus for us. We have always eaten very healthy as a family and most of the food is nothing new for Aurelia, but this situation has definitely kicked it up a notch. I shop for ingredients and prepare all of her food based on a few nutrition cookbooks for cancer patients. We want to do all we can to help her body fight this and nutrition is so important. Aurelia is quite the foodie and has always loved food, so she is game to try anything and knows how important healthy food is right now.

We will know the results of this sample later today or tomorrow morning. The doctors are optimistic and Aurelia is positive and confident. 

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