A long time

It sure has been a while since I have posted anything... it isn't that I don't have anything to say. It is the opposite. Words flood my mind, trying to process what comes next for our family.

I have a few partial posts that I started, but couldn't finish for one reason or another. So, I will recap what has been going on, and where we go from here.

I will start with Legoland:

When we woke up on Friday morning, Alex didn't really want to wake up. We turned on the TV to watch the final Space Shuttle launch, and tried to impress on the kids about what a marvelous and somewhat sad event this was. Alex asked if he could be an astronaut, and for the first time, I realized that era is over. I ⇔told him he may still be able to fly into space, but just not o a Shuttle. But I digress... the point is, that we expect that he will recover from this secondary cancer, and grow up to do great things.

We managed to get all of us dressed, and ' out the door to breakfast, but it wasn't quick. Alex was dragging. We took his temperature, and it was slightly elevated (99.0). We encouraged lots of water, and watched as he perked up after eating.

Hoping that his elevated temperature was a fluke, we walked across the street to LegoLand. After a bit of confusion over our free tickets, we rented a double stroller for the kids, and headed into the park. Alex only walked for a few minutes, and then sat down. We watched helplessly while he faded in the short four hours we were there. We tried everything to get his temperature down...we didn't want this to happen again. In our hearts, I think we knew what was happening. We went to an air conditioned restaurant, and made him down a huge glass of ice water. Unfortunately, his fever was stubborn and we agonizingly accepted defeat. We carried the kids back to the hotel in the hot and humid San Diego sun.

Silently, we gathered a few things, and hit the road to the hospital. The traffic was awful, and when we arrived, we hoped for a quick turn around. That wasn't in the cards. With an ANC of only 100, we hung our heads, an made a plan. Eric took Tessa back with him to the hotel to check out. I headed upstairs with Alex to the Oncology ward. I instantly hated the room. There was a mural of a mom, sitting on the beach with her kids. It screamed to me..."ha ha look what we can do, while you are stuck here". And we were stuck, from Friday night until Monday morning. The Ronald McDonald house didn't have room for us, but they were able to get us a room at a nearby Holiday Inn for a VERY reasonable rate. I stayed in the hospital with Alex, while Eric and Tessa moved in to the hotel.

Alex really wanted a special Lego set, so he asked me to go back to Legoland, and acquire the prize. My cousin Michele, and her kiddos joined Tessa and me while Eric entertained Alex. We met up with my Aunt Louise, and cousin Trevor at the park, and had an enjoyable day. I admit, that I felt guilty about being there without Alex...but I was glad Tessa could have some fun with her cousins too.

My battery is running low, so I will post more after it is charged back up... I promise to get you all caught up soon.