Radio Silence

March 24, 2008

I haven't updated in a week. Have you noticed?

Besides the usual foot dragging that comes with leaving spring break behind and plunging back into the semester, we faced last week with Easter rushing at us at full speed and a pair of out-of-town soccer matches scheduled for Saturday. Did I mention we expected company for the weekend? Oh, and I got behind on midterm grading by actually taking a "Break," instead of laboring, so I had essays and reports to read every day.

Of course, we had to take time every day (I mean that literally) to stop in the Brazos Valley Animal Shelter. Erin has saved her shekels and now can afford to purchase her very own dog. (Asking whether we need a fourth dog is like asking whether I need another hole in my head.) Of course, we could forbid it, or even delay it until Luke has moved on to doggie heaven. However, that cunning child o'mine has used uncanny reasoning and negotiation skills to back us into a corner. Everything else she has listed that she might do with her hard-earned money does not fall into the category of Make Your Parents Jump Up and Down with Excitement and Anticipation. A new dog seems "the lesser of two weevils" so to speak.

So far, the Gods seem to be with us (Walter and I) on dragging the process out. Erin has very specific criteria for her dog-to-be: it must be mostly a non-barker (so it doesn't stir up the existing pack), it must be cute and lap-dog sized, and it must demonstrate that it will attach to her (not to her leg with its teeth). We have hit two out of three several times, but so far we haven't adopted. We'll try again this afternoon.

Erin also had counts done last Thursday (a little lackluster, in my opinion):

HGB: 11.4

WBC 3.1

ANC 1.8

PLT 262

BUN 29 (5-26), I wonder what Dr. Russell will have to say about this (it's no higher, but it's also no lower than last time)

Creatinine .9 (.5-1.5)

AST 33 (0-40)

ALT 20 (0-55), I threw these in because its pretty rare for Erin to have these liver function numbers bot in the normal range. That's a good thing.

I view all the busy-ness as particularly helpful last week. It gave me very little time to contemplate the ramifications of the fact that Erin was asking me for Tylenol for back pain almost every day, some times several times a day, and often first thing in the morning before she had done anything more strenuous than dragging herself out of bed and into the kitchen. She also had serial headaches. At times I hoped she would develop a fever or some other symptoms that would put her aches and pains in the context of some easily identifiable childhood illness (other than neuroblastoma), but nothing materialized. I was left continuously wanting to press her belly to feel for tumors bulging against her spine and searching her face for the telltale signs of raccoon eyes (both very real impulses for neuroblastoma parents)

Finally, on Thursday, when we went for blood labs, my anxiety had reached a level where I affably agreed to hang around the doctor's office for a couple of hours so that Dr. Parr could palpate Erin thoroughly. He could not feel a thing. After a long discussion of possibilities and in the absence of any other evidence, we think that Erin is just growing and putting a lot of strain on her back (which, because of the surgery to remove what we cheerfully refer to at our house as the atypical spindle cell neoplasm to distinguish it from other tumors Erin has grown, is missing quite a lot of muscle tissue necessary for back support. . .if you have no clue about what I am talking about, you might want to review entries from late summer and fall of 2004). She has an appointment with a physical therapist tomorrow to get an assessment and, hopefully, a program to help ease the pain and give her more strength, stability, and flexibility.

The pain didn't stop after Thursday, but I did re-group and start thinking about it differently (much less panick-y). We had a relaxing day of Friday with Erin's buddy Jesse over for some romping around and fresh hair cuts for both me and Erin. We checked the status of the blue bird boxes, and now have four hatched babies in each of two boxes, and eggs in waiting in six others. We also spent the evening eating and laughing with my sister Elisabeth and her daughter Annabelle. We were sure glad they made it down for (a much warmer) Easter this year.

Well, I've been holding back they news I should have led with, but if you have read this far, you deserve a reward. Erin scored her first goal in a real game. She scored the only goal her team made all day. She acted like she did that sort of thing all the time. Sydney dribbled the ball past her defender up the right side line and flicked a short pass to Megan at the edge of the 18-yard box. Megan got her head up (like we taught her) and spotted Erin standing near the 6-yard box and managed to get the ball right to Erin's feet. Erin took the pass with her outside foot, controlled it, and plugged it right past the keeper's weak side. Wow! A Kodak moment. It took the edge off the pain (and the pair of close losses: 0-1 and 1-2), leaving us ready to meet the hope of Easter head on.

Easter brought a lovely worship service, beginning with an Easter lily procession manned by the children of the church. Erin, Nico, and Adam, along with their compadres chimed their bells for some very special music. I have to say it was the most complex piece they had ever attempted, and they pulled it off well. Very inspiring. And it's always so cute to see their little furrowed brows, total concentration or their faces, and their lips moving in sync, counting out the beats of each measure.


We adjourned to a lovely restaurant for an Easter buffet (who had time to cook, much less shop?). Erin's church service art work, displayed above, provided a suitable centerpiece for our table. We even got Willie to look at the camera, almost, for the family snapshots when we got back home.


I ended the weekend with my own Easter miracle. My soccer team (the Soccer Mom's Club) recorded our first non-loss, a 4-4 tie against the team from St. Mary's. I suspect they were not at their best having celebrated the day, no doubt, in much grander style than us.