The third sister

Sloan has fit so nicely into our family, and the girls like to think of her as their little sister.  They really enjoy telling people stories about her as their sister and then revealing at the end that she's actually a cat.  This attachment to her was made even more clear to me when I talked to Eila about Sloan having surgery to be spayed (she went into the hospital on Dec 18 just like Eila).

I explained what the doctor would do to Sloan and how we would have to be gentle with her afterwards while she healed.  Eila told me that she understood how Sloan would feel after getting her tummy cut open and that she would help Sloan continue to walk and get better.  Then Eila asked me who would be with her and Annikka during Sloan's surgery.  I didn't understand so she rephrased her question:  Who will stay with us while you and Daddy are at the hospital with Sloan?

It broke my heart a little to explain to Eila that we would not be with Sloan at the hospital, that it worked differently when pets have surgery.  Eila loves her so completely, so unquestioning.  

From Nov/Dec2015

But now she's home with us recovering; we're giving her all the love she can manage.  And Eila feels even more connected to her now that they have shared experiences.

Another rock wall

Eila just loved rock wall climbing in Michigan, and has been dreaming of going back.  Luckily we learned about a kid-friendly climbing wall with auto-belays in Bend from our friend Garrett and decided to make our weekend adventure even more.  So after spending the day in the snow on the mountain, we spent the evening climbing.

From Nov/Dec2015

Annikka had never tried something this big before, but worked so hard at it that she got a bruise from the harness.



And after several attempts, Eila was able to get pretty high up there.



It was a fun and busy day in Bend.

December skiing

From Nov/Dec2015

For Annikka's birthday this year, we gave her a Mt. Bachelor ski lesson package that included all day instruction (9:30-3) for the three Saturdays in December. It has been quite the commitment; she and Joel ventured over to Bend for the first two lessons, but we all went for this final Saturday before break.

Eila was super excited about the snow, and made snow angels in the parking lot while waiting for everyone else to get ready.

From Nov/Dec2015

We signed Eila up for a morning lesson, and then she went down the "bunny slope" a number of times with Joel after lunch.  It was amazing to see how quickly she became comfortable out there, and by then 5th time down, she looked like a little skier.

From Nov/Dec2015

When Annikka's lessons were done for the day, we got her to show us how much she's improved now too (look for the one in the bright pink pants.




And of course, no day in the snow would be complete without an icicle.
 

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

Wiggly

After the long day at the doctor where Eila couldn't eat because she was sedated for her MRI, we went out for dinner.  While waiting for her spaghetti (one of her favorites), she put down her breadstick saying it made her tooth hurt.  I asked her to show me the tooth, and we discovered that she has her first loose tooth!

From Nov/Dec2015

A pretty exciting end to a very busy day!

Eila's check-in

Today Eila had her post-chemo check up, a series of tests to see that her 6+ months of treatments are complete. This is also a chance to check to see if any negative side effects from chemo are appearing. Today she had an echocardiogram to make sure chemo hasn't damaged her heart, blood work to see that she's recovered from chemo and that here kidney is functioning well, a MRI of her abdomen to check that there's no sign of cancer remaining, and a CT scan of her lungs to also check for cancer.

From Nov/Dec2015

Needless to say, it was a very long day at the hospital but it was mostly good news. Her heart looks healthy; they will continue to monitor it every other year (and hopefully she won't need any more doxorubicin in the future). Her blood work looks good; her blood counts have returned to normal values and her kidney function is strong (no medications needed at this time - yay!). The MRI had no signs of tumor cells in her abdomen, the doctor was even pleased with how much kidney seems to be left (probably still more than 50%).

The only complication came from the CT scan of her lungs. When Eila had a CT scan back in May to get better measurements/pictures of her kidney tumor(s), we also learned that she had a small polyp/nodule on her lungs.  Unfortunately that polyp remains on her lungs, but fortunately it hasn't changed in size.  What does this mean?  We don't really know.  Dr. Thomas was unable to meet with us today, and our substitute doctor thought it was best to get Dr. Thomas's input on it.  He will be back the week after Christmas, so we are just going to enjoy the next week with family and wait to find out what's ahead.

Winter houses

Today after the church Christmas program, we came home to make a Christmas village.

From Nov/Dec2015

Grandma & Grandpa came with the gingerbread pieces, and cousin Emilie came over too. Everyone had fun around the dining room table making houses and eating candies.

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

In the end, we were all very happy with our creations.

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

 

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

And some of us needed a nap.

From Nov/Dec2015

Grace Nativity 2015

Eila was extra excited about the nativity program with year because we had two angels in it.

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

They had two songs, which Annikka helped Eila learn all the words to.

Candlelighters' Christmas

We had a lot of fun today at the Candlelighters' Christmas party.  There was lots of food, crafts, face painting, and gifts. It's a very fun and special group of kids, families, and supporters.

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

From Nov/Dec2015

All the kids got gifts from Santa, but this year Eila (and the other cancer fighter or survivors) also got a special gift from a secret elf.  She was so surprised and excited to get her own little care, and to drive it out into the parking lot (where we were happy to find out that it fit in the Outback!).