The Long Week and a New Year

Julia had her planned, week-long stay in the hospital last week. Everything went fine: no major side effects, didn't get too bored, and made it home during Friday night's bad weather without much of a problem.

Amanda stayed with Julia the whole time at the hospital this past week. I was there most of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and I tried to squeeze in some work in between. Julia was fortunate to have some visitors. Several of Amanda's friends stopped in to see the ladies and on Wednesday, I brought Grandpa Dayton and Finn along. Julia's 1st grade teacher stopped in to visit for a few hours too, which was really special for Julia. And even when a person was separated by a few dozen miles or a few thousand, you can find a way to say "hi." Julia had a nice chat with her friend Jane on the phone and Skyped with Aunt Ember. Ember got the grand tour when we carried the laptop from the play room, down the halls, and back to Julia's room.

When Finn visited Julia in hospital, they got to hang out in style: lunch in Julia's bed while watching TV.


Julia's hair is definitely falling out now. From the start, she's been excited about the prospect of being hairless. And if she decides that bald isn't for her, she can choose one of the many, many hats she's acquired as gifts. The face she's making while pulling out hair was posed. She really thought it was funny to pull tufts of hair out and she's kept a very good attitude about it.


Monday is a busy day. We have a followup radiation appointment (just talking to the doctor) in St. Paul and then Julia's standard weekly chemo in Minneapolis along with an appointment with the psychologist (standard cancer patient stuff with an emphasis on, "You can swallow pills!"). Then, if Julia's feeling up to it, she has rehearsal for her school's musical and her first dance class. And if she's not feeling up to it, eh, maybe next time.

New Years didn't mean a lot, just the start to another year. We do have some idea of how this one is going to start, I just sure hope it ends better than this one did.