Having fun

The weather this weekend has been fantastic. The heat wave we had mid week has cooled down to the mid to upper 80's. Yesterday morning Emily and I went and played a round of miniature golf. We had a really good time. I haven't taken Emily in about a year and she has become good enough that I think we will start keeping score next time. She got a legitimate hole in 1 ! She did really well on the rest of course making most holes in around 3 shots. After golf we made tuna sandwiches for lunch. After lunch I took Haley to the local park and Emily and Tracy had some alone time. Emily got her at-home IV Chemo, and then Tracy deaccessed Emily's port. (That means she took out the needle and tubes attached to her). Then Tracy and Emily went swimming. Emily had been looking forward to swimming for two reasons. One reason is that it's been hot. The other reason is just because she can, they keep telling her in the clinic "One of the advantages of a port is that you can go swimming," and I think Emily just needed to check that out. As she left she told me in a somewhat serious tone,"Daddy this is the freedom of a port, I can go swimming." They were gone swimming for around 3 hours.

One the way home Emily called and requested sloppy joes for dinner. I made her the request. When Emily is in this phase her tummy doesn't feel well so anything we can get her to eat is good. Often she craves the ideas of certain foods but when she actually sits down to eat her request, shes doesn't want it. I thought this would be the case for the sloppy joes, but she actually ate a whole one. After all the activity she had worked up a real appetite.

Today we are going to take it easy. Em and I have talked about going to Santana Row, an out door shopping mall to walk around. They have some nice outdoor seating in the shade and we may go over and hang out there for a while, but for the most part take it easy.

This coming week should be easy as far as Chemo is concerned. All Chemo can be given at home and Emily only has to go to the hospital twice for lab draws. This week is also the last course of Chemo in Phase 2, we are looking at Phase 3, called Intermediate Maintenance coming up. In between phases she is going to have a PET scan again to see if we are still in remission. Intermediate Maintenance is a 9 week phase, while the past two have been 5 week phases. It is possible that during that 9 week time we can go up to Tahoe and we are tentatively planning to spend the 4th of July in Auburn, where Tracy's Mom and Dad live. I was surprised to find out that Truckee Hospital has a cancer center, I called them and if there were an emergency they have all the necessary equipment to treat Emily, so we are hoping to get up there this summer. I used to spend a month every summer in Tahoe so it's a really special place for me, and I have always wanted it to be a special place for my kids.