HAVING FUN AND WORKING HARD

I think our family had the best Halloween ever. Amanda wanted to be a superhero (which I thought was so cute and appropriate), but we couldn't find a costume that fit in time. Being a cat of some kind is always a favorite for her. She skipped around the neighborhood faster than we could keep up and she was surrounded by friends and family. It was so great to have her so happy!!!


Clinic was postponed this week because she didn't make counts - barely. We are all eager to have her return to school, so this is frustrating. But we need her well enough to be able to start her final treatment round. We took advantage of meeting with the psychologist. He thinks she's doing really well despite sleep problems and a whole lot of mood swings. As he put it, she's just "decompressing" from all the changes and is a very dramatic child on top of it. She really has done amazingly well. Getting poked with needles and missing school have been the worst part for her. She complains a lot when she's in pain or sick, but moves on and forgets about it when she feels better. That encourages me that she won't be too traumatized when this is all said and done. In the mean time, she is adjusting to less video game time and more homework time. Her teacher is meeting with her and assigning projects to get her up to speed with the class.

I returned to work this week. If ever there was a time to quit and stay home, it is right now. And yet, if ever there was a time to work, it's right now. I only mention work because I've had a lot of questions about my impending lay-off. I appreciate the concern. I've worked for the State of Utah for 12 years as a social worker, most of which part time in disability services. As of January, DSPD (the division I work for) is privatizing all of it's services. I am actually excited to leave and set up my own company. The struggle is that I carry the health insurance. It's not a great time to transition insurance coverage because we've been told that we have the absolute best coverage for her type of cancer. Fortunately we have other insurance options, it's just not as ideal as what we've been used to and it adds to an already long list of challenges. I am amazed at how well the timing of everything is working out for us. Sometimes so well that I have to remind myself that God gave us these challenges, but he is giving us a way to get through it. I know in a few years this transition will better our lives. Just getting there is the hard part. So if the blogging gets sparse, things are likely just fine. We're just frantically finishing our basement, getting a company put together, and still attending a lot of medical and school appointments.