Kean's First School Yard Brawl!

Today was one doozy of a day.

We got up with the sun to pick berries and

then get Kean off to his last day of "Extended

School Year".  He went four weeks this summer

and seemed to do okay--

 Until today, that is.

He was fine taking off on the bus.

 But I got a call from his teacher at the end of his three hour session-

telling me some 1st grader had clocked him in the face with his fist.

She said the boy has behavioral problems and that Kean didn't do

anything to provoke, he just happened to be standing in the wrong place

when this kid went off.

Kean came home with a bit of blood on his shorts but other than a rosy

cheek, I can't see anything wrong.  And other than being a little

grumpy (who wouldn't be?), he was fine.

 So, on top of Kean getting hit,

both dogs limping (and Lola moping around all depressed)...

 there is Reese.

The girls had three of their closest friends over

from Siblings Cancer camp- Camp Rainbow Gold all day yesterday.

And while Reese was all smiles most of the time,

 she got kicked in the head while playing a game in the swimming pool Monday night.

 She screamed in pain for quite some time, has had clear fluid

constantly coming out of it-- so we figured she broke her ear drum.

She was still in quite a bit of pain today, so I took her to the doc.

Because, hey, you know that's my favorite thing in the world to do, right?

There's a lot of fluid and gunk. But no big sign of a tear or problem.

We go back in a week after the antibiotics have had a chance to work.

And that was only half of the crazy stuff that happened today.

I swear, never a dull moment around here.

I'm off to bed!

Back In the Saddle Again

Blue skies and bearable weather (actually beautiful weather)

means it is that time of year again.

Time for Kean's Hippotherapy sessions.

 We even have Clark joining us...

to not only lead the horse but more importantly,

help keep Kean in the saddle.

You should have heard our boy giggle non stop

when we started trotting.

Not sure he was laughing with glee at going bumpity bump

or laughing at Clark and I trying to keep up.

 Holland has some big news-- finally, finally (she's been 

excited about this day forever), she got braces.

 Her mouth is a little sore but so far, so good.

 We also had Kean's second session with  the Neuro Psychologist

at St. Luke's.  If you remember (from my past rants), the state

is requiring Kean have a lengthy IQ test to make sure he

is still eligible for therapy services (read still has Down syndrome).

 Dr. Deidrick is one of the good guys.  She thinks this testing

is as ridiculous as I do-- but has slogged through getting 

Kean to cooperate (with lots of breaks).

 And she thinks she has enough for him to pass (or fail)

depending on how you look at it.

Yes, he will qualify for services again.

 And finally, after spending the day at the hospital, I got  to

spend the evening with Miss Reese.

Our church held a Luau for the girls around Reese's age.

 The party featured a yummy dinner, hula lessons,

 a hula performance for the mom's,

 games, the limbo and lots of fun with friends.

It was the perfect way to unwind and relax after such a long day.

Paging Doctor Freud

If you've been around us much, you'll know Byron and I 

half joke that we don't save for college for our girls.

Instead, we save for their counseling bills!

Today was one of those moments that remind us maybe we shouldn't joke.

Reese's fourth grade class had a "Poet in Residence" work

with them for the past few months.

Today, they presented their book of poems to the parents

and each read the poem they had created.

 Some were great.

Some not so.

Reese's shouldn't have surprised me but it did.

She wrote her poem about Kean and of course, his cancer.

Stupid cancer- as much as we try to not let you rule our lives,

somehow you are always there!

Reese's was very sweet.

It was as if she was taking us through a photo album of Kean.

I'm glad she was the one to read it.

I couldn't have gotten through it.

 While all the other kids seemed to write about

friends, animals, TV shows or video games--

here she is writing about her brother.

 I can't help but wonder how much of an

impact this has had on her little personality,

her outlook on life and her future.

The children were all so little when it started.

Kean was 2, Reese was 5, Greer 8...

 and Holland only 10.

So very much has happened in those years...

 I was thinking about this today.  Cancelling Reese's birthday

party with her friends and having a cake and pizza in the play room

at the hospital.  If anything, I guess it will be memorable.

But I still worry.  These girls have sacrificed, lived like hermits and

been ignored at times.  How much have they  internalized of their

parents' stresses about Kean's health, the never ending bills and

the monster sized fears that accompany cancer?

That still haunt our home..

I comfort myself with the knowledge they've seen first hand

a tremendous amount, no make that, a mind-boggling amount of

love and service shown to our family.

They've made friends in our world of cancer-- with nurses, doctors,

other families, Boise State students who put on dance fundraisers,

and of course, with all those involved with Camp Rainbow Gold.

They've had experiences we never expected (Make A Wish, Share Your Heart Ball, Baldapalooza)

and never could replicate.

They have huge hearts, are all three compassionate little souls

who want to reach out and hug any person they meet who has cancer.

Hopefully, all that will far outweigh the bad.

Hopefully, all that will help them overcome seeing several

family friends lose their children to cancer.

Hopefully, this will make them all better members of the human race.

Hopefully, they will someday be able to remember this time with fondness

(and that their parents were just doing their darn best to survive).

Hopefully, they will remember all the bright spots, the kind hearts, 

the incredible opportunities.

And hopefully, they will block out the darkness that

some days creeped into every corner of our lives.

We did try to protect them from those days.

But dang, these kids are smart and pick up on more than we think.

Maybe I think too much

and they'll be just fine.

Road Rash (Ouch)!

Poor Kean.

On our way down to the bus this morning, he crashed and crashed hard.

Bloodied face and bloodied knuckles.

 Any day we get even a skiff of snow, Reese begs to take him down

on a sled.

 Normally, they're both all smiles.

(This was from last week).

Today?  Not so much.

 She got going a little too fast and wiped out.

I'm not sure who cried harder-- Reese felt so horrible for hurting Kean.

Come to think of it, this may be his first ever natural "ouchie" -(one

not given to him at a hospital).

Oh, he cried and cried and stopped crying and bleeding

moments before the bus came.

I sent him to school  but get this, they called and had us

come get him.

I guess you can't have a kid at school with an "open wound"--

their description.  And since there is no way on earth he'd keep

a bandage on, he earned a day off of school.

Road Trip

Clearly we are not as young as we used to be.

Get this.  We got up at 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, drove

down to Salt Lake for Mark and Nicole Moomey's wedding,

hit their reception that night and then drove home.

We are paying for it today.

But, I must say, it was totally worth it.

Mark is like a big brother to the girls-- part of the family-- and he

also worked for Byron for many years.  We love this guy (and his bride).

We started (after driving) our morning with a family brunch.

Kean ate us all under the table.

He sure has his appetite back and has "made friends" with food again.

 Here is Mark and Nicole as they walked out of the temple--

shortly after being married.

It was a lovely, lovely ceremony.

 What made it even better (for me) is I ran into this guy-

he's a few years younger but grew up with me in Vegas.

Nathan Henderson's wife is the sister of the Bride's mother.

Small world, eh?

 We had a grand time at the reception that evening.

Kean was pretty good (thankfully he got a 2 hour nap)

and was totally into the dancing part of the reception.

 It was so worth driving with the kids in the car back and forth.

They were wonderful and we all loved being there for these two 

we hold so dear.

 Every one is in bed as I write this-- and I'll be there in a few

but we did have enough energy to play a rousing game

of newspaper "snow ball" fights.  Reese made snow balls

out of newspaper, set up boxes and divided us into teams:
Grandma and Byron vs. Lonni and Reese.

 We had to see who could get the most snowballs into the

other team's box.

I'll save you from having to tune in to ESPN-- ha, ha.

Reese and I smoked the others-- 10 to 4.

Whoo hooo!

The Third Boob Is History

Ah, Kean is one brave boy.  Either that, or he is completely numb 

and checks out each time we are in the hospital.

 He breezed through today's surgery.

Probably, because we had Grammy along for moral support.

 He had to wait (fasting) for hours before they came for him.

They let me dress up in what looked like a garbage man suit,

go back in to the operating room and hold him until he got

enough gas and was out.

 His surgeon said all went well and he came out of the anesthesia

with no problems (just an extra dose of grouchiness).

Oh and did I mention he was hungry and thirsty--

4 pieces of bacon were the appetizer.

 I thought you'd like to see what his ol' port looks like.

The purple part with the rubber insert is what caused the bump in his chest.

Then, the tube (it is cut short) threaded up his chest and connected

up near the right side of his collar bone to the main artery

that leaves the heart.

Much of his Chemo was administered through

this little device.

It will make a great show and tell some day.

Finally, a memory I'll want to hold on to forever is this:

as we were leaving this morning Reese got up early to smother Kean

with goodbye kisses.

She told him when he comes home tonight, he won't have his port anymore,

he won't have cancer anymore but...

he will still have Down syndrome.

It was hilarious.

That girl.

Fini, The End, Amen!

See that syringe in my hand?

It is Kean's very last Chemo treatment.

His last.

Oh my gosh, it is over (this hard part, anyway).

I don't know when it will sink in.

You'd think after 1,157 days it would sink in--

but it may take a few.

 The sunrise and sky was glorious this morning.

There were rays shooting down- as if  Heaven was

smiling and sending congratulations.  I wish my camera did

a better job.  It was beautiful.

 And trust me you are gonna want to watch this.

Kean wasn't feeling well this morning so we had him

out on his swing on the porch.  Byron and the girls decided

to put on a little "end of cancer treatment" show--

until near disaster hit.

Reese is fine, a bit sore but fine.

We then changed the song to:  "last day of cancer treatment,

last day of cancer treatment.  First day of broken arm, oh

here we go"!

We dodged the bullet on that one.  

Finally, this evening, my good friend, Fabiana

came over with her camera,  Motorcycle Jeff

came over with his Harley and we had a photo shoot

to commemorate Kean's last day of cancer treatment.

 Other than him taking off his leather jacket and shoes

during the photo shoot and throwing the sign

my friend Cindy Maliwauki made for the photo session,

he did surprisingly well.

Hopefully, we will have pictures to show you TOMORROW!

I can't wait.  They are so fun!

 And guess who got to go on a cycle ride--

Kean was sure in his happy place tonight.

I don't think he quite understands why we were

all making such a big deal out of him taking his medicine.

So Not Dullsville

I don't think we know how to have dull moments around here.

The past few days, we've had the cousins in town from Texas.

So it's been lots of games...

 and giggles crammed into a short amount of time.

 The older girls all got up and went to the temple

early Friday... and did swimming and sliding 

in the afternoon.

Kean has kept us on our toes.

As usual.

He's been on heavy antibiotics for that sore throat

but still won't eat.

And he's got a lovely rash on his face that has kept me worrying.

 Tonight we finally figured out that it looks like he has Thrush in his mouth--

a side effect from the antibiotics.  So now he's on another

new drug to clear up the problem from the old drug.

Can't wait for our home pharmacy to be closed

or at least pared way down!!!

Oh and just to keep things interesting, I got stung by a yellow jacket

on Thursday.  Tonight, Saturday night, the swelling, redness

and heat in my arm is finally settling down.

I guess I can't double for Quasimodo anymore.

As I said, we don't do dull.