long time no updates...

So, we've had A LOT going on, but I want to start with a few things non-Sudbury.

First, tomorrow (Sunday the 24th) on Nickelodeon at 6:00 (mountain time) there is going to be a special on childhood cancer. I really, really hope everyone who reads this will watch.

Second, my sister started a blog to help support research for childhood cancer. She makes the cutest crocheted headbands and hats and she is going to sell them and donate a portion of the money to CureSearch. I hope you all will go to her blog just to check it out, and buy a headband or two if you like, or just donate if you can. The address is www.crochetforcancer.blogspot.com. It's just in the beginning stages, so check it out now and again in a few more days!

Now, on to Sudbury-ness. I am hoping to do better at updating because I'm no good at keeping a journal and I really wish I did, so I'm hoping this will be more like that for me.

We've had a busy couple of months. December is always busy, of course, but we did have a great Christmas. We moved into our new house, and we got a dog. Those were the two major events of December along with Kaidan's birthday and our 10th wedding anniversary. Well...we had the dog and the house all of 4 weeks and he chewed through a pipe in our bathroom when we weren't home and flooded our house! So, our house is torn apart and we are now in the process of replacing and remodeling most of our upstairs and our garage. (That is a very un-dramatic way for me to put it all. There is a whole lot of nonsense associated with all of this:)

So, the flood started January for us. Since then we have lost our bird, Chewy. He is (or was?)a beautiful sun conure. He loved to sit on our shoulders and did it so often that you could easily forget that he was there and that's exactly what happened. Nate walked outside with the bird on his shoulder and something scared him so he flew up to a tree. We were unable to get him down and to make a long story short he ended up flying South and we haven't seen him since. Bummer.

As far as the family, we are all healthy and doing well. I changed the girls' schools after we moved and it proved to be a much more difficult transition than we planned for. So for now we are trying some homeschooling to finish out this year and hopefully I can figure something out for next year that will work better for them.

Kaidan is doing okay, not great, but it could be worse. She is struggling so much with stomach issues that it really has started interfering with her normal daily routines. She had some scans done this week and they all came back normal, so I'm not sure where we go from here. Her blood counts on Tuesday were good, but her white blood count and ANC are very low. This surprised me because she's been off chemo for so long and they are lower than they have been since last July. Along with this she seems to be more tired than usual and has been running a low grade fever off and on for a week or so. I am more than worried, to say the least. Her next scheduled appointment is February 9th.

I'll keep you posted on Kaidan and everything else Sudbury. Please try to watch that Nickelodeon special and definitely go to the new blog. www.crochetforcancer.blogspot.com (If you've got a website, we'd love you to put a link to Crochet for Cancer)

Thanks!!

check-up time...

Kaidan had her oncology check-up today. It is a strange and new emotion for me to feel such anxiety about getting her labs done. I didn't fully realize how stressful it would be as each appointment gets closer.

Everything looked great! Her blood counts are good. They are in the normal range, but still on the low-normal end. That should just keep getting better and better. She has managed to gain a little weight, even with the stomach issues, so that is awesome. We are going to have her seen by a pediatric gastro intestinal doctor just to check things out. Hopefully we can figure out what it is that is causing her so much grief. We are also going to be watching her blood sugar levels to see if that is possibly what is causing a bit of blurriness in her eyesight. Other than that she is in great shape. It's so nice to see her growing and doing things that all the other kids can do. She is regaining her strength nicely.

The rest of us are doing well too. We are recovering from the holidays and getting back into a new school routine. We bought a house in December and we are settling in. The girls just started the new school today and I know they will do well. I'm struggling because it's such a different experience than school they have gone to for so long....so, so different. (Mrs. Westover or Mrs. Winkleman, if you are reading this, please email me.)

Other than that there isn't much new going on. Kaidan's next appointment is in February so I'll update again closer to then unless something new comes up.

Happy New Year!