Happy Hollow

We went to Happy Hollow in San Jose with our friends the Scotts. Happy Hollow is a low-key park/"amusement park" and zoo. We all had a good time; Emily especially enjoyed the puppet show. It was also hard for Emily. Because of her leg pain she had to be in a wheelchair. After an hour and a half she wanted to go home so we did. The NP we saw on Friday said that this period is some of the worst Emily will feel through chemo, so to me that she even went out today is amazing. No hospital tomorrow; this is the longest break she has had.

The picture is of Emily eating pizza during the puppet show today. She is eating a lot because she is on a mega dose of Prednisone, which is one of the main important drugs. We start a 10-day taper from it on Wednesday which will be good, I think.

There is something that Tracy and I have noticed about Packard and wanted to share so you all get the idea of how into care these people are. We have a phone number that we can call 24/7 and we get patched through to the on-call oncology fellow or NP. When we do, we identify ourselves, but as soon as we say, "Hi this is Chris/Tracy Pepper," they say, "Oh, hi! How is Emily? She's had an upset stomach; how is that going?" I'm not exaggerating. Or we call in with an issue, and the next day we will pass an NP or an MD in the hall at the hospital and they will initiate conversation with, "How's Emily's tummy?" or "I heard she was sick last night." Even the surgeon who placed her chest tube 4 weeks ago remembers Emily's name, knows who I am, and gives me the supportive "Hang in there, Dad" look at me to this day. So we know by the way they act and speak to us that they talk about Emily, daily, in detail. They are amazing people.