Sunday, September 10th
Well, we learned that there is no such thing as "worry-free" when you are facing chemotherapy and cancer, but we can report Claire had the best 2 days home we could have dreamed of. She was all over the house. Almost by the hour she independently raised the bar and kept beating her personal best in neurological advancements. She crawled, climbed and her fine motor control with her left hand improved greatly. It was absolutely amazing therapy, but most fulfilling was just watching her smile and laugh with her friends that so kindly visited. It was what we all needed to experience again. And it was heartwarming to hear Claire repeatedly state, "I get to see Reese-ee ALL DAY LONG!". Although, Claire didn't get the full week-end as planned, as she spiked a fever late Friday night and had to be re-admitted, I can say she was truly happy and had a very special time when she was home and that is what we are choosing to focus on. We will have to wait another day before her blood culture is final to determine if her fever indicates a sign of infection or if it was just a fever, which could affect her Monday night scheduled second round of chemotherapy. Her fever did break late Saturday night (the U of O Ducks football party and win I think assisted, as we ordered pizza and waved our green and yellow pom poms again) and she was back up and going Sunday morning. She successfully achieves huge recovery benchmarks within record time,....she has definitely earned the name "Super Claire". There is a lounge chair next to her hospital bed and she decided to climb back and forth from the chair to the bed Sunday morning. I went to the restroom and came out to see Claire climb down from the chair and stand on the floor completely unaided with her hands in the air, yelling "Look Mom, NO HANDS!". She was smiling from ear to ear. As visitors arrived throughout Sunday, Claire would show them her "No Hands" move again and again. Unbelievable! Everyday is a surprise with Claire, some better than others, but Sunday was another great day for her and again that's what we hold close to our hearts.