A Fun Weekend and a Return

*Photo by David McFadzean

This weekend we went to Uncle Toby's wedding in ATL, and we are so excited that the kids have an Aunt Janine now!  Ava was thrilled with her dress for the wedding and had a great time.

The week preceding the wedding was a little bit stressful, as all five of us passed around a cold.  We were especially worried about Ava - mostly her immune system fighting off the cold, but also we were concerned that she wouldn't be able to attend the wedding, which our Drs actually scheduled chemo around!  She ended up feeling bad for two days before the wedding and was then fine on the day of, so it was a great time for her.  Since she missed our summer trips to see family, it was nice for her to get to see some of those people.  Ava, Bo, and Lily had a blast dancing and talking to our friends and new family members!  I am writing about all of this, because it kindof felt normal - it was an event for our family and it felt really good to all be together and in community to celebrate.

We drove home from ATL on Sunday, did laundry and packed, and sent Holly, Ava, and Big Bo on their way to Memphis the next day.  They arrived yesterday evening at Tri Delta, exhausted and disoriented.  I can't imagine what it feels like to be back in that space...though I will find out on Thursday.

Today and the rest of the week are filled with various appointments: labs today, psychology and school and other things on the next days, and some gaps throughout.

We are all anxious about surgery on Friday and Ava is experiencing the most anxiety.  The trauma of all this medical stuff is revealing itself in this form.  Normalizing her fears helps some, but we would also appreciate prayers on this subject.

There are a lot of unknowns regarding surgery and when Holly, Ava, and Big Bo will be returning home.  We know they'll be removing what is left of Beatrice, but there might some other parts which are effected by the tumor.  We don't know how long recovery will be, if they'll do a round of chemo while they're there, and how long they'll be in Memphis this time.

We will keep you all - our support community - updated as we know more.  Thank you for everything.

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