End of Summer Break

Summer has gone by in a blur. Lots of Farmer's Markets to go to, although I didn't go. But there was bread to make and bake, tortillas, pretzels, and sometimes something else. By the end of the season, I figured out I could mix up 12 loaves of bread at a time by hand. Definitely saved some time with all the mixing! :-).

This past Sunday, Momma, James and I went to Atlanta for James to get his g-tube out early Monday morning. He was actually Dr. Parker's first surgery for the day. When Dr. P came to tell us James was in recovery, he also said that he'd had to make a bigger cut than usual, because of the gastric-colic fistula he'd had in March 2007. James, he said, would need a stronger antibiotic, but could take it at home. I asked if it would cause diarrhea and he said it would. Dr. P then told us that he could also admit James for an overnight and give him IV antibiotics that wouldn't cause diarrhea. We opted for an overnight. James was a huge apple juice fiend while we were there. On Monday alone, he drank 20 or so 4oz. boxes of apple juice!
I slept with him in the hospital bed, so Momma could rest for the trip home on Tuesday. I seriously think that the nurses and tech turned on ALL the lights everytime they came in. But what surprised me most, was the tech waking me up to ask if I minded changing James' diaper.  When he had his ileostomy take-down in June, the nurses and techs would change his cloth diapers without waking us up. And this time, I didn't bring enough diapers since I thought we wouldn't be there that long and he was in pull-ups. He's doing fine now, but has a small diaper rash.

I've been working on my math. With all of James' stuff in the last couple years, we've all fallen behind. I'm 'racing' through my current math book to finish it by my goal of Thanksgiving. I'm enjoying algebra, but sometimes I struggle with algebraic sentences.

I was reading through some old posts on this blog and noticed a post where I said my least favorite task was meal planning. I don't think it was intentional, but I've been doing all the meal planning lately and actually enjoying it. Momma even let me make the shopping list and do the shopping at Dekalb International Farmer's Market on Tuesday. It worked out well that we met a online friend of Momma's on Sunday at the Market and I was able to get prices for my list and work out how much I could get with the money I had. I did end up $1.58 over my budget because I'd forgotten about tax for the bag of rice. Oh well, something to remember for next time :*).


We also enjoyed visits with several families this summer. One family came a couple times... they have two little ones. Zeke is almost 3, but his speech is so much clearer than James'. James loved to play with Zeke and he doted on Lily Beth, their little girl. I think everyone loved having them visit. Becca and Carrie thought it was fun to take Zeke outside and run races up and down the driveway. He's a pretty good runner and kept up to them most of the time.


In October, we took a day trip up to North Georgia to see Nona and Poppa and pick up apples. Momma, Katie, James and I sang most of the way up and Daddy, Owen and Becca worked on math. Carrie decided to read a book!







I also got my hair cut late October. Katie wanted her hair cut and I wanted to get mine cut to send to Locks of Love again... So we cut each others' hair. I didn't realize how much mine would curl after we cut it. We thought it would end up shoulder length.  Apparently not.

For my 17th birthday, I was able to do something I've been thinking about since I was 15. Turns out that I could have done it when I was 16, but... I wasn't sure how it all worked and didn't want to call and ask. Momma had to make a trip to Macon and since Katie didn't have to go, she was able to keep everyone else and I was able to donate blood. I was a bit nervous that my hemoglobin would be too low to donate since it has to be 12.5 or higher, but it was fine. I was excited to be able to do it and it went quicker than I thought it would. I did learn that it's a good idea to take some sort of snack because water isn't quite enough. I'm hoping that it will work out so I can donate again in the beginning of December... Anyone want to join me? :*). 

Hoping everyone enjoyed their summers too.

♥, Hannah

An update on James and what we've been doing

James sitting in a Little Tikes car Tuesday night! He thought it was so fun to drive, but he couldn't understand why, when he turn the steering wheel that the wheels didn't turn that way too!

James' Beads of Courage. Each bead represents part of James' journey with leukemia. Hospital stays, surgeries, pokes, lines, chemo, etc... He also has a Purple Heart which signifies the end of treatment.

Wednesday afternoon, the clowns stopped by. James was starting to get fussy since he wanted to eat. The clowns kept him amused for 45+ minutes and by then, it was time to head to the OR.

This is James yesterday evening... he had been having breakthrough pain earlier and was tired. It didn't prevent him from watching Superman though! I do believe that when James is finally discharged I will have memorized the Superman episodes!

I'm hoping that James will be discharged this Tuesday. But nothing is definite yet and it all depends on James. He get out of bed and went for a ride in a wheelchair down to the library here. But we headed back shortly, since he was getting tired and hurting. James and I snuggled up and slept the rest of the afternoon away. Now he's back to watching Superman all snuggled in his soft green blanket the Child Life Specialist brought by this morning!

♥ Hannah ♥

In Memoriam: Pierce

When 'J' was transferred to Georgia from Minnesota, we met a dad who always wore a joker hat. He was staying with his little boy who was in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit). Pierce had the same leukemia 'J' did and Pierce and 'J' had another bond, you see, both of them have Down syndrome. We've been following their journey since 2007. Pierce was scheduled to finish chemo this spring, but several weeks from finishing Pierce relapsed and had a BMT (bone marrow transplant). He did great through transplant and was doing awesome at home. A couple weeks ago, Pierce's mom posted that Pierce had relapsed again and there really wasn't anything they could do, it was just a matter of time. When 'J', Momma and I were in Atlanta in Monday, we saw Pierce and his dad. They had decided to stop Pierce's chemo since he was getting terrible mouth sores that Friday. Momma talked with Mr. Bill for awhile and I took 'J' back to triage. When we got to our room, Momma said Mr. Bill didn't think Pierce would make it to Christmas. Last night, I was checking my email and saw there was an update on Pierce. I opened it and saw that Pierce had passed away in his sleep that morning. There was another update this afternoon, Pierce's little brother, who is 3-4 years old, is taking Pierce's death hard. Please keep them in your prayers in the upcoming weeks.

Here is Pierce's website if you want to read it. Pierce Ruck