Where have I been?

There have been no celebrity sightings.  No strange medical phenomenons.  No big tests and no bad numbers.

Life is normal.

Okay, normal is a bit of a stretch.  Between 3 back-to-back chemo courses, 1 lumbar puncture, 8 nurses visits (to administer meds), countless clinic visits, and a whole lotta puke, things have felt surprisingly ordinary.

Oh, right, and then there's the fact that Baby Girl G is going to arrive in the next 3 weeks so we've been trying to prepare (more mentally than anything else).  And, uh, we go back to the hospital next Wednesday for a 3-5 day in-patient stay for a nasty new drug.  Um, err, yeah.... and, surprise, we're moving... in approximately 2 weeks.

So nothing is normal.  Except one thing.  This kid of ours is just as happy, goofy, energetic, zany, and carefree as always.  He is back to sleeping 12 hours a night (I'm lucky to get 4), he is eating brussel sprouts and pizza and smoked salmon, and he is happiest playing outside all day long.

His mommy is a bit stressed.  But he is not. 
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Medical update:

I know I've been slacking on the updates.  I apologize!  Here we go:

Ari has now finished (as I stated above) three out-patient chemo courses.  Most of the drugs have been administered at home, either by a visiting nurse injecting directly into his port or in liquid form squirted into his mouth by his daddy (mommy can't touch chemo because of the soon-to-be born baby).  He had a few infusions (chemo given over a longer period of time) at the clinic and 1 dose of drugs injected intrathecally (in his spinal fluid) during a lumbar puncture.  The spinal fluid removed during that test was negative/healthy/cancer free.  Let's hope that continues forever.

Ari has only experienced mild nausea as a side effect of all of these drugs.  He still enjoys the nurses visits and the clinic appointments, and only complains when they remove the sticker from his chest which protects his accessed port.  Oh, and he freaks out when I make him get dressed every day.  And change his diaper.  Or make him go inside.  But none of that is cancer related.

He is now 1 day into a 10 day off stretch before he is readmitted to the hospital for a high dose of a drug that has some potentially really icky side effects.  If he sails through this phase, we will be home in 3 days.  If he has any bad effects (fevers, etc), we may be stuck there longer.  Compared to our first hospital stay, this should be quick and relatively easy .  (Except I'll be 38 1/2 weeks pregnant.  Please no roommate.  I need a private bathroom!  And please, no baby.  And, because I don't ask for much, please no side effects!!)

Thanks for all of the calls and emails and visits.  If I don't update for a few weeks, don't worry.  In my free time, I'm trying to nap.  Or bathe.  Or watch RHONY.