Finished!!!

Linda completed her final cancer treatments (radiation)! All went well toward the end with a bad sunburn as the worst side effect. She was also pretty tired but seems to regaining energy now. In addition, Ava had a cold a couple weeks ago and she shared that with Mom. But, now all is well, 11 months after we began this crazy, twisting journey. I'm going to try to recap the journey on a future post (in my spare time!).

Linda has done amazingly well through her treatments and has no evidence of cancer which is great news. She will continue to have follow-up checkups every few months. In addition, she will continue to get her bone strengthener every 6 months for another couple years. There continues to be good data on its role in preventing recurrance. At this point, she will continue her "treatment" by eating well and exercising, as these are also helpful for cancer survivors.

Ava is doing great other than her second cold a couple weeks ago. She shows no signs of her prematurity (other than being behind on her development for her true age, but she is tracking at or above her "adjusted age"). She can roll over when she wants to (so much for tummy time) and is sitting mostly unassisted. I think crawling will be in her future sometime over coming months.

Ava's personality continues to be social, and she enjoys seeing friends and meeting new people. Even in the lobby of the medical offices, she would smile and engage with strangers. She is fun to take places and we have even ventured out to nice restaurants with her in tow (but ready to move fast once she gets tired or cranky!).
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Ava has many angels in her life but some of the most special are those who have shared their breast milk with her. One of these moms, Shelly, is providing for her own twins, while helping Ava out immensely as her main milk provider! Ava's Angel Shelly is shown below.

Coming up is a road trip to Boise and Montana to see Linda's family and my family. The long days on the road should prove to be quite the adventure but it will be worth it!

Overall, given all the obstacles and twists and turns over the past year, we feel extremely blessed to be where we are, and to have so many wonderful friends and family supporting us.
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Rob.

Happy 9 Month Birthday Cricket!

Cricket is 9 Month's old today! She is doing wonderful and watched big bro' Austin's 8th Grade "Promotion" ceremony tonight. She'll go about 10 hours between her night-time feedings (although doesn't sleep this whole time). But, it is nice to get more sleep than we were previously! Ava went swimming in our friend's pool last week. She really loves the water and likes to kick and try to swim! We also had out first overnight at our friend's house near Seaside and Ava did pretty well with that - was a bit fussy at night but overall it went okay! We're going to Boise then Montana in another month, so that will be exciting!

Linda is doing quite well on the last leg of her journey. She has 8 more radiation appointments. Just this week, and next week. She is still tired from time to time, and has what looks like a good sunburn from the radiation (along with the itchy sensation), but is otherwise doing great. She gets her last Zometa (bone strengthener) infusion tomorrow until 6 months from now. She may get her infusion port out in another couple months!

It is nice to be into summer!

Rob.