Força Aurelia

Yesterday Aurelia went in for her bone marrow sample. They put her under general anesthesia and take a sample in her back or hip area. Aurelia is not a huge fan of general anesthesia and told me the doctors should just use a numbing cream and then “she could take the pain.” I told her she was welcome to chat with her doctors, but in the end she agreed that being asleep might be for the best. The whole process only takes 20-30 minutes so she was done quickly and in recovery. One parent is allowed in the room with her until she falls asleep and then we have to wait in recovery for her. Here she is coming out of the OR and into recovery: She felt absolutely fine, so we were allowed to leave after an hour or so. Aurelia was thrilled to go to Federal and sit in the private area and have some lunch: She felt well enough to do a bit of schoolwork (she even had a video lesson with her class at the hospital) and rested at home for the afternoon. The results of the bone marrow have come back and...

 Aurelia and I went down to Barcelona yesterday for a chemo treatment. This particular treatment requires an overnight stay and Rory is away for two weeks, so I spent Thursday organizing all logistics for Eston and Laia (our dog). Thank you to all the friends who have been helping me, especially when Rory is gone! Aurelia and I left Girona at 6am on Friday hoping that her numbers would be high enough for treatment. Her bloods were done by 8am and by 11:30 they told us she was high enough to have treatment and spend the night. Aurelia was really relieved as she has been on a chemo hold for nearly two weeks and she was over it. They began her chemo treatment once we were upstairs in our room for the night. Aurelia was bored so she walked laps around the room with the medicine pole thing. After treatment her favorite physio came in and they did a solid physio session. Aurelia was a bit tired after that so we watched a movie and just relaxed. Sleeping in the hospital is never super res...

 We returned to our home in Girona almost two weeks ago. Eston and I went a day early and spent the day washing every couch cushion, pillow, blanket, surface, wall, etc. We set up the air purifiers and went to the market for fresh food and restocked the house and had everything ready for her return. It was emotional when Aurelia came home as she left on June 23 for a pediatrician appointment and didn’t return. She was thrilled to be in her room with her books and art supplies, sleep in her own bed…and just be. It’s been a busy two weeks. Aurelia still has appointments in Barcelona 2-3x a week right now, so we have had early mornings (it’s about 1 hour and 20 mins to the hospital in Barcelona). We are on a chemo hold right now, so we come down to the hospital every few days for her blood analysis and hope her numbers are high enough to continue chemotherapy. For the past week she has not been high enough, so we have to wait. I am at the hospital with her now and she just had her blo...