Next Steps

We got word from Boston that Sammy's first post operative MRI (well other than the one she had while in surgery) has been scheduled for April 29th. It will be a full day in Boston; her MRI will take place in the morning and then we will meet with her team of oncologists at the Jimmy Fund Clinic. I'm sure the MRI will be an ordeal for Sammy as she will have to be sedated and that means she will have an IV put in, but she is a brave little girl and I know she will do okay with it. We have been struggling with how much to tell her about what will happen when we go to Boston because she is the type of kid that thinks about things too much and gets stressed. On the other hand we want her to trust that there will be no surprises and that if we tell her something, it is the truth. So we made the decision to go ahead and just tell her that when we go to Boston this time, she will have a "shot" and that she will have pictures taken (our way of describing her MRI). We minimize it as much as we can and don't talk about it a lot or at length, but we feel it is important that she know what is going to happen. She will be doing this for some time, so I guess the sooner she gets used to the idea the better. So far, she is doing just fine with it and we are talking a lot more about the fun stuff we will do in Boston (as we plan on taking the kids to the aquarium as well) rather than the medical stuff.

In terms of Sammy's progress she is still doing amazingly well. She goes to physical therapy once a week and has settled in well to her new preschool. We have also been able to get to the park a few times, and the way she runs and climbs amazes me! I can't believe that only a few short months ago she could barely walk! She is such an amazing little girl.

Zach and I are doing well and trying to keep a positive attitude. It has been a bit of a challenge for both of us to accept our new reality. Although nothing in life is ever certain, I think most of us live with a false sense of security that our life will continue on a fairly predictable course. Obviously in reality nothing is predictable, but I think we all fool ourselves into thinking that it is. Well, this situation is not allowing us to fool ourselves into any false sense of security and we are now on a path to accepting that. You would have thought that when Zach's mother suddenly passed away in a car accident three years ago it would have occured to us that nothing is set in stone, but apparently the reality of our fragility did not sink in. We both like the movie the Matrix and I often joke with Zach that I wish I could take the "blue pill" (or what ever color the pill is that lets you live obliviously in the Matrix without knowing it is the Matrix), but alas that is not possible, and really I don't think I would really want to take the blue pill, because the lessons we have been learning through this experience are truly life altering.

Please keep Sammy in your thoughts and prayers this month as her first MRI approaches. She will need the strength to face her fears with the actual procedure and we will need the strength to get through the experience as well. I will let you all know the results.

Thank you!