December 30, 2021

 Well, our Christmas plan went out the window last week. Rory and I were trying so hard to keep Aurelia healthy and out of the hospital so we could be together as a family, but COVID had other plans.

Wednesday the 22nd was the last day of school for Eston and I was going to pick him up and bring him back to the beach on Thursday. On Wednesday at 5pm (school day ends at 5:20 here) we received an email from school explaining that a student in Eston’s class was positive and he would need to quarantine at home. Since he is vaccinated, he could take a test and then be with the family (or so we thought). I went to Girona thinking I would be there for 48 hours or so. Eston did test negative, but others in his class were positive, so the quarantine was extended to January 1st and Aurelia’s medical team told us he really shouldn’t be with her. Major bummer.

We spent Christmas morning on FaceTime—Eston opening gifts while quarantined in his bedroom, me sitting in my bedroom, and Rory and Aurelia down at the beach. Thankfully Eston continued to test negative, so he can now be with me in the house and we can go for walks and bike rides and such and this weekend we will test again and then we can go down to the beach until he returns to school on the 9th. 

It’s a bit of a bummer, but COVID is going crazy here and many of our friends spent Christmas quarantined from family and some are quite ill, so I am thankful Aurelia was not exposed as her immune system is so weak right now.

The good news is we reached the end of the delayed intensification phase! Yay! We are so proud of Aurelia for making it through (many have to stop early) and she is starting to feel a lot better. Rory has been getting her out for exercise each day and her energy levels are improving.

She has a couple weeks of chemo starting next week, so the goal now is to do our best to avoid any chemo holds (when she can’t have chemo due to numbers being too low or too high). I know chemo holds are part of the process, but we do our best to avoid them with lots of healthy food and keeping things as clean as possible around the house to avoid infection of any kind. She will hopefully be able to return to Girona sometime in mid-to-late January. 





Comments

  1. A teacher friend from Colorado!December 30, 2021 at 11:47 AM

    Thank you for these updates. I'm so sad Christmas wasn't what it should be for your family. Aurelia is a rock star! Completing "The Red Devil" is quite an accomplishmen! She is an inspiration to us all. Happy New Year!

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