Released!

We finished our first hospital chapter today.  It was a late night and a long morning.  Last night at the hospital, we got a roommate: a little girl (not much older than Anna) who had epilepsy.  The mom and I exchanged our "war stories" right when we were put together, and both of us felt bad for the other.  After hearing this little girl's story, Madi said to me, "Mom, we are so lucky.  It could be so much worse."  I balked internally, not sure that it really could be much worse; but she's right.  I know she's right.  We have both walked around the hospital together these last few days and I have seen the loads that others have to carry, and they are heavy.  So we decided to get our little roommate a stuffed animal- the same one that a friend gave Madi when she was in the ICU.  She was really excited about it and it helped us forget our own problems for a few minutes. Sharing a room is more stressful (for both parties), so we were ready to go this morning.

I knew it was about time to leave when Madi said to me yesterday, "now that I'm feeling better, this kind of feels like we are staying in a hotel!" :)  We just had to push a button and someone would come and cater to our every need.  We are missing our one on one time together, but the overwhelming welcome home by all her siblings helped everything feel happy and normal again.  Anna squealed with delight when Madi came in and begged her to play "Rosie" (ring around the rosie), which Madi sadly had to decline saying, "I would probably fall over, Anna! :)"  William ran around AND told Madi what she missed (at the same time).  Becca and Max, who had made cards and gifts for her while while she was in the hospital, told her about Max finishing his Meccanoid (he's been working on it for 4 months!), and about church and school and MCAS.  Madi was smiling the whole day, though still felt really tired.

Madi continues to heal well.  The bandages are off and we are waiting for a week post-op when we can wash her hair.  The swelling in her eye seems to be more or less gone and the discoloration is also fading.  We are still waiting on path reports, which will tell us what kind of cancer she has, what grade it is, and if there is a genetic component there. These results will dictate our treatment plan. So even though the waiting is brutal,  the more information we have, the better chance we have of going in with guns blazing with the kind of therapy we do.  We likely won't have any answers until Thursday or Friday.  I am enjoying the brief respite we have been given.

Apologies if this is somewhat incoherent.  I am trying to use the hours of insomnia tonight to my advantage. More later...