7/22/07
7:00 AM Central Time: Once again, it's been forever since we have posted, which is mostly because nothing really exciting has been going on (not such a bad thing). The girls went to their summer camp, while Randall and I worked. Last week was especially busy at work for me, so I put in a lot of long hours. I switched to cable for Internet service, and the speed is slightly faster for less than half the price. In fact, we upgraded our TV cable to the HD service and got some more channels that the kids will like, and all of it together (TV and Internet) is the same price as what I was paying for DSL (and still am--need to cancel it). It's still not really fast enough for what I need to do, so I may upgrade the cable speed (still cheaper than DSP though).
We're getting more settled in the house. We got out lots of artwork and figured out where we want it to go--we even hung some. We ordered and received some slipcovers for some of our furniture that has gotten kind of worn over time (or by cats). They look really nice!
Sophie has come down with something, so she's been up most of the last two nights. She's had a fever and has felt nauseated. We're been a little worried, because her immune system is still somewhat suppressed, and the doctor in Lubbock said we only needed to call her if the fever goes on for several days (we used to have to call at the first sign of any fever over 100.5 and get a blood culture immediately). Even though it's nice not to have to drop everything and go, I think there's a part of us that would like to have a doctor see her and start treating her if it's bacterial. But I also don't want to have to go to the peds ER in Lubbock (these things always happen on the weekend!). Randall said last night that he regretted letting her swim in the wading pool at a birthday part she went to on Tuesday--no chlorine, probably lots of germs. He also said he was feeling paranoid that if a virus triggered the leukemia the first time (no one knows for sure, but that's one theory) that this might be a virus that triggers something else.
But she's also milking this situation for all it's worth. We have a rule that she can't sleep in our bed (because then Randall ends up sleeping somewhere else). So, last night, she was in our room at around 4:00 AM, asking to sleep with us (seeing if this illness will help bend the rules). Randall said no and offered her several options (make her a bed on the couch or on the floor in our room, or go back to her own bed). She was quiet for a while, and then she said (literally), "I guess if you won't let me sleep in your bed, you just don't care if I'm up all night long." Well! Randall didn't care for that very much. We eventually got her settled in her own bed. Of course, a half hour later, she yelled out to me that she was going to throw up and needed her bucket (3 feet from her, all the way across the house from me). I asked her if she wanted some Zofran (powerful anti-nausea medicine that she has been reluctant to take for some reason). She thought about it and then said, "Yes, but I really don't think it will work." I haven't heard a peep from her since then.
Elisabeth has been a great big sister through all of this. She's being very tolerant (mostly) of Sophie's whininess, and several times when Sophie clearly doesn't feel well says really comforting things to her. We've been pulling toys out of the garage that they haven't played with in a while, so they've really been enjoying that and playing nicely together.