Apple Season

That beautiful time of year when the leaves start to change and our family starts thinking of our annual trip to Apple Hill, which is a little outside of our travel range this year.  This year we visited a different orchard of sorts, the "Apple" Store. Yes, today Bill bought a Mac! I'm a little nervous to say the least...Bill and I both keep looking for the right click on the mouse, but I think we'll get comfortable and learn to love the new member of our family. It does seem like a huge step, we have to relearn everything we've been taught for the past 12+ years!!! Anyways, this purchase was not completely expected, last week I was bugging Bill about how frustrated I was getting with our computer that kept freezing and lagging in basic commands and then low and behold as of Sunday the darn thing wouldn't even turn on. Bill was convinced I had sabotaged it. When we finally agreed to buy the Mac (with much pushing from me and persuasion from our neighbor) I said under my breath, "It really didn't take as many cups of water as I thought to fry the hard drive!" Bill just glared at me with a smirk on his face. And so here we are, somewhere between not knowing how to do more than type and having such great pictures to share. We'll get there.

A quick synopsis as to Olivia and her condition. She is doing remarkably well. She has this week off from treatments YEAAAA!!!! We don't even have to do the daily 7 pill crush! It's amazing what you can find that's worth celebrating. It comes at a good time too, Livi has really been upset with having to take all the meds all the time. I think of how much I hated having to take my pill every night, she has morning and evening regimens to follow! YUCK! Her counts fell very low, as to be expected, with her white blood cells barely recognizable, so we were isolated last week, which turned up back firing. It was like living in a hotzone. I had strep and Aaron had a 24 hr bug of vomit and fevers! Miraculously, Livi escaped unscathed! What a fighter! Today, I noticed a big drop in her energy level so I drew her blood, took it in and then went over to the hospital for a blood 

transfusion. Her hemoglobin had fallen to 7.8 (normal, I believe, is around 15). All of this was to be expected. The good news is we were able to catch it right away, they don't do

 transfusions until below 8, and now I know that her other levels have started to climb which means she is on track to continue with the end of this phase's chemo for next week! This was a huge relief. My dad's coming down to help with next week's treatment because it is 4 days in a row with the first day being 8+ hours in the office. If she was to be delayed...ugh! (WOW! Look what I just did! I actually figured out how to get a picture off my camera and into my Mac! Where's my diploma?!) Anyways, as you can tell the kids had a blast! (NOT!) Who could blame them. From the time we left home until we returned was 6 1/2 hours! Aaron did really well considering the less than roomy conditions that were provided. At least we had a private room, about 1/3 the size of a normal hospital room, but it had a bed and a T.V. so we survived. Olivia 

was great also. She cried a couple of times wanting to go home but who could blame her. We were able to visit with her PICU nurse Lisa. Just seeing her made me cry! All in all it was a good day, and if nothing else Livi got a good boost and we got some cute pictures! 

As I get more time I'll update on all the excitement to fill in the gaps. My journaling has been sadly on hold due to the computer issues but we're now back on track!

Livi was able to enjoy a phone call to Papa. I love it when my dad makes her laugh!