Little Hero

Last time we were at the hospital, we picked up a flyer for a Heroes Forever event. Heroes Forever plans events for kids with cancer and their families. Today we got to bring our little hero to Pirate's Cove water park. The surprise of the event was that we also got a free ride on the nearby park train, and that turned out to be the biggest highlight. Pirate's Cove had some great slides, fountains, and pools of various sizes. We would have enjoyed it more had a storm not been brewing, but it still felt like a special treat. There ought to be some perks to having to go through all of this.

Tomorrow is a day when Anya will surely need all her hero strength. She has another eye exam and she will be receiving her first consolidation treatment. This will be either laser or cryotherapy directly on the tumors in her eyes. We know that her eyes will hurt afterward, but we don't know how much or for how long. With our change in doctors, we had to reschedule this appointment and had to take an appointment later in the day. Usually we go early in the morning because Anya can't eat for 8 hours before the procedure. Tomorrow, we (or I should say Will because you know me in the morning) will be waking Anya up before 6:00 so that she can eat some breakfast before starting a long day without any food. We have already been talking about the special breakfast she will get - so far it sounds like it will start with olives and capers. The positive side of having an afternoon appointment is that Anya will still go to ballet class and swim class. I hope the activity will keep her mind off of food, and thankfully she can still drink clear liquids up until two hours before the procedure.

The other part of our day tomorrow is an eye exam for Reese. This is to continue to monitor her eyes for tumors. This time she will be seen in the office and won't be under anesthesia. Squirmy-almost-eleven-month-old Reese is not going to be very pleased with this exam, but I am relieved that only one of my kids has to go under tomorrow.