late, but not forgotten!!

So this is about five days later than I thought it would be, I am sorry!! I know that because I waited so long I will forget some of the things I wanted to talk about last weekend!!

Charli was a great trooper last Friday when she had her scans. I know that I always worry about how she will do in these situations, and she always exceeds any expectations I had...I should learn by now! If I could write gthe story how I would have wanted her day to go, I probably would have planned on at least one or two melt downs...but she had none!

We got to Omaha a little before 8:30 for her 9:00 scans. Of course at 9:15 we were still playing in the waiting room! Shortly after 9:20 she got to go back! Luckily for all of us the waiting room wasn't full for most of the time so we didn't have to worry about her noise or space!! When we checked in we were told that only one of us would be able to go back. Chad, being the great husband he is said that I could go. Which, I felt bad about because he had worked with Charli the night before on how she would need to lay still and be a big girl, etc. He explained to her that mommy and daddy would be right there holding her hands, etc - and she totally understood, so I knew he felt like he was letting her down by not being in there. But they both did well at separation!

We got into the room and lucky for us they had a TV in the corner, and NOGGIN has pretty good cartoons on at 9:30! We got to watch Wonder Pets during her ultrasound!! They took just under 100 pictures. She had to lay on her back, side, and tummy for these. After she was done she had the radiologist take a quick look and he decided he wanted another view of something so we had about 15 minutes of more pictures, for a total of around 120 maybe?? At that time I was told he didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but that he hadn't made the official report or finalized the entire scan. We headed up to the oncology department where everyone welcomed her with big smiles and ooh's and ahh's about how big and cute she is!

Charli had a great time in the clinic. It made me sad. I was sad because I realized this was the first and only time she has been in that room and actually felt good...either from sedation or treatment. And, I felt guilty because I knew that deep down all of those parents were thinking "get your healthy kid out of here" because two years ago I remember kind of feeling the same way! Not that I was ever jealous of those who had healthy kids...just jealous FOR Charli!! So, I understood. Either way, she had a great time with the toys and other kids!! We saw her doctor who thought she looked great, and it was a just a great experience overall!! We headed down to eat dinner before heading out! Charli's big prize for doing such a great job was nothing other than a RING POP! After eating dinner she got to enjoy it! We then went to the baby store to stock up on some things we need for baby#2. As another prize she got to pick a new dora movie for the car, which she watched the entire way home, not napping!! So, she was up from 6:30 - 8:30 that day!!

happiness is...a ring pop!!

posing for pictures while waiting for the 2nd ultrasound to start!

she looks excited and happy for not eating!

she was so brave!! she couldn't see the TV when she laid like this, and she was still a champion!

this picture was "for grandma" so they could see how brave she was being!

thank God for "Wonder Pet, Wonder Pets, we're on our way..."

one of her new things, resting her head on her hands for pictures!

cute duo!

high-five dude! Charli had a friend over to play one night last week!

Where is Charli?! Her daddy covered her in cards one night before bed! Why did he think to do that?!!

When mom is gone they tend to do things their very own unique way!! It makes total sense to eat an icepop with gloves on!

We were cautiously optimistic as we waited for the official results. I was hoping to get a call yet Friday, but we didn't. Which, we totally understand. The further we get away from treatment the less of a "priority" it is, so to speak. That is not to say we feel like we are not #1 when we are there, because we are. We just know from being on the other side of things that the kids who are in active treatment need to take TOP priority at that time. Anyway...it made for a little bit longer of a weekend with that on our minds, even though we knew it was okay!

Monday, however, I started to get a little nervous. I found out about a friend who has a little girl with the same story as Charli, same age, etc who had scans last week too. Well....her scans at the 2-year mark did note a spot on the lung. I think we tend to get in a comfort zone where we have been perfect for so long we feel that we are out of the woods, so that reality check was a huge downer for me. That night I also watched a special on St. Jude where a girl who had NB had great scans for 7 years, and then had a relapse. Ahhh, like I said I have talked myself into the fact that we are DONE with this, and at the same time in the back of my mind I know it can all change in a second.

HOWEVER, Tuesday morning I got the call apologizing for taking so long to call and giving us the OFFICIAL report of Charli's scans!!!!

So now we go about our lives for the next six months and do it all again!!!!

Thanks for checking in on us! We are expecting to get a snow storm tonight, but hope to make it to Lindsay tomorrow to have Amanda's baby shower!! Hope it all works out with NO problems!!! Have a GREAT week everyone!!