Happy Four Month Birthday Ava!

Our little Cricket turned four months on Friday! She is doing well and weighed in (on Wednesday) at...

Ten Pounds Four Ounces!!

We have taken her off fortifier she was on (it was added to her milk to help he gain weight and get additional nutrients). We're hoping she'll continue to do well off this fortifier! Ava's personality is developing further. She continues to be a social gal like her Mom and went downtown for lunch with Mommy and friend Susan on her birthday. We even ventured out for a glass of wine with Ava in tow tonight. Of course, I was sweating that she'd start screaming for food but she didn't and was a little Angel. She continues to have a "fussy" time at night for an hour or so and doesn't seem to sleep for more than a couple hours at a time, but she is doing so well we are very lucky. We are still very careful to ensure she does not catch a cold since her lungs are still fragile after being on oxygen as a baby. The doctors have recommended we do not have her around children under 12 or anyone who is or may be sick. It is tough to not spend time with friends/family with small children but hopefully we can make it thru the rest of the winter without any colds! In the meantime, we wash and sanitize!

Linda update: Linda and I are following up with her doctors to determine the plan and had several phone calls and appointments over the past week. We are checking on a few more things but it looks likely Linda will be on two type of additional chemo plus a bone strengthener/medication. These medications (Xeloda, Zometa, Navelbine) should help treat any remaining cancer, then she will have radiation. The doctors and us are feeling optimistic that taking this aggressive approach is the right way to go. We want to everything we can NOW to take care of the cancer and prevent recurrence (managing cancer after recurrence is much more difficult). Linda is also back on her walking regimen and on a low fat diet. These have been shown to have as much of an impact as anything else for her type of cancer.

We had a nice visit from my cousin Sue today. Sue is a breast cancer survivor and doing quite well - she just finished a trip to Europe with her daughter (who was looking into attending OSU's MECOP program so in town today). We have so many people supporting us - it is wonderful.

Blogging: This whole blogging thing is new to me but along the way it has been nice meeting new people and connecting with other blogs. Ava's cousin Mason has a blog which I continue to follow. We were very happy to hear Mason's surgery went very well. He continues with ups and downs after graduating from the NICU. I'm looking forward to the day when my Cousin Christi and I can watch our kids play together at our family reunions!

Linda and I were very saddened to see a fellow blogger Emily that we had traded comments with (who was also pregnant with cancer) passed away a couple weeks ago after a courageous battle with her cancer: soft tissue sarcoma. Emily openly shared her ups and downs through her blog and shared encouragement with us from time to time through comments on our blog. Linda and I will sincerely miss her. If you have some time to visit her blog, it is impactful to read.

Rob.