Now that the wrapping paper has settled and most of the toys are put away, I have some time to reflect (and post) on Christmas.
We had a low-key holiday that was just perfect. Dinner at Mike's brother's house on Christmas Eve and then we stayed home on Christmas Day. Some of Mike's family stopped by for a short visit in the morning and then my family came to celebrate for most of the afternoon and into the evening.
We had two great days filled with family, friends and TOYS - lots of em'. Not only for Kaitlyn, but for her Mommy and Daddy too!!! I admit it, I am a big kid at heart and I love opening my presents on Christmas Day. I thought I would be smart and wake up at 6:30am (before Kaitlyn) and have a chance to open my eyes and wake up a bit before her, but this was impossible since she was sleeping in our bed. As soon as I moved just a tad to get up, Kaitlyn said, "Where you goin' Mommy?", like she had been totally awake and just waiting for one of us to move. When I replied that I was just going to the bathroom and that I would be right back, she said, "No, I come too!" And that was it, we were all up for the day...lol... She was so excited to get up and see what Santa had left her and I was excited to see the look on her face! As soon as she walked into the living room, all she said was "Whoa!!!". I think she was in shock. I was so happy that she was in a great mood and that the thoughts of leukemia were pushed to the back of our minds for a few brief hours.
For as soon as everyone was packing up to leave, Kaitlyn looked like she was burning up. So, we took her temp and sure enough, it was at 101 degrees. We should have called the hospital right away and brought her to the ER, but we decided to wait an hour and retake her temp. Both Mike and I were beside ourselves with the thought of spending the rest of the night in the Emergency Room with a possible hospital admission. "Is this really happening?" we thought. "Can't we have one normal day?" "Can't this disease leave us the F*** alone on Christmas Day?" (pardon my French). But, I guess Cancer has a funny way of screwing with your plans and your life. An hour later, we re-took her temp and it was still up there so we started packing the suitcases. I was still in denial and just going through the motions, all the while convincing Mike to wait another hour. Finally, around 8pm, we took her temp for the third time, expecting that this would be the determining factor and we would be making the call to the hospital. But this time, her temp was normal. Mike and I both stared at each other and said, there is no way. So, we re-took it again, and again, it came back normal. "Huh? What the heck was that all about?" Poor Katie was now falling asleep on the couch because she was so exhausted from her fun-filled day. So, we decided to let her go to bed and get some sleep. I re-took her temp again at 10pm and it was still fine.
I have chalked it up as a reminder that there is still a fight to be fought and a war to win. This was cancer's way of sticking out it's tongue at us and saying, "na na na na na, I'm still here." And us saying, "Oh yeah, how could we forget? If even for a few hours, how could we forget?" Especially when we would be heading for our second clinic appointment of the week the following morning.
The following video was a gift that Kaitlyn gave to some of our family members as a reminder of how strong she is and that she WILL win this fight.
We had a low-key holiday that was just perfect. Dinner at Mike's brother's house on Christmas Eve and then we stayed home on Christmas Day. Some of Mike's family stopped by for a short visit in the morning and then my family came to celebrate for most of the afternoon and into the evening.
We had two great days filled with family, friends and TOYS - lots of em'. Not only for Kaitlyn, but for her Mommy and Daddy too!!! I admit it, I am a big kid at heart and I love opening my presents on Christmas Day. I thought I would be smart and wake up at 6:30am (before Kaitlyn) and have a chance to open my eyes and wake up a bit before her, but this was impossible since she was sleeping in our bed. As soon as I moved just a tad to get up, Kaitlyn said, "Where you goin' Mommy?", like she had been totally awake and just waiting for one of us to move. When I replied that I was just going to the bathroom and that I would be right back, she said, "No, I come too!" And that was it, we were all up for the day...lol... She was so excited to get up and see what Santa had left her and I was excited to see the look on her face! As soon as she walked into the living room, all she said was "Whoa!!!". I think she was in shock. I was so happy that she was in a great mood and that the thoughts of leukemia were pushed to the back of our minds for a few brief hours.
For as soon as everyone was packing up to leave, Kaitlyn looked like she was burning up. So, we took her temp and sure enough, it was at 101 degrees. We should have called the hospital right away and brought her to the ER, but we decided to wait an hour and retake her temp. Both Mike and I were beside ourselves with the thought of spending the rest of the night in the Emergency Room with a possible hospital admission. "Is this really happening?" we thought. "Can't we have one normal day?" "Can't this disease leave us the F*** alone on Christmas Day?" (pardon my French). But, I guess Cancer has a funny way of screwing with your plans and your life. An hour later, we re-took her temp and it was still up there so we started packing the suitcases. I was still in denial and just going through the motions, all the while convincing Mike to wait another hour. Finally, around 8pm, we took her temp for the third time, expecting that this would be the determining factor and we would be making the call to the hospital. But this time, her temp was normal. Mike and I both stared at each other and said, there is no way. So, we re-took it again, and again, it came back normal. "Huh? What the heck was that all about?" Poor Katie was now falling asleep on the couch because she was so exhausted from her fun-filled day. So, we decided to let her go to bed and get some sleep. I re-took her temp again at 10pm and it was still fine.
I have chalked it up as a reminder that there is still a fight to be fought and a war to win. This was cancer's way of sticking out it's tongue at us and saying, "na na na na na, I'm still here." And us saying, "Oh yeah, how could we forget? If even for a few hours, how could we forget?" Especially when we would be heading for our second clinic appointment of the week the following morning.
The following video was a gift that Kaitlyn gave to some of our family members as a reminder of how strong she is and that she WILL win this fight.
I am looking forward to the start of a new year with many new blessings and possibilities.
~~ Happy New Year!!!
2 comments:
What an excellent video! Thank you for sharing it. It made me cry. But I am glad to see that you did not have to spend Christmas in the hospital and she is still strong and fighting the fight and winning! Have a wonderful new year!
Beautiful. Here's to a new year and hopefully a cancer free one too.
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