Holding Steady

I had a lovely day today with my girls. Mike brought them early and stayed at the hospital for the day while the 3 women of the house went to a tea party thrown by the Martha Stewart of N. Texas. Amazing lady, amazing hostess, and amazing party. 16 girls were giggling and screaming and mommies were giggling just from watching them. Filled my heart up with a warmth that will last many days.
Sadly, after the fun it was time for some errands but at least we were together and out of the hospital. Did some grocery shopping where the girls almost fell over from the stuff I said was ok. Like donuts, and Pop Tarts, and Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. I never buy that stuff. Well, we do get Pop Tarts whenever we're on vacation but that is pretty much it. But this time I needed something my husband could prepare (i.e. - open) or that the girls could get for themselves. So breakfast, lunch, and dinner (at least he can grill the dinner meat) are taken care of for the week. The 3 of us drive home ready to put the groceries away and spend some time in the pool before we have to head back to the hospital. As I am pulling up in the driveway I realize I left my house key in the hospital room!!!!!! So I put all the frozen and refrigerator stuff in a cooler from the garage and left it there while we drove back so my husband could then just take the girls home for the night and rescue the groceries. Oh well, at least it was an adventure. We will try again tomorrow as the girls are taking me out to see Toy Story 3 for my birthday (they came up with that all by themselves - go figure!). My husband will spend Father's Day being the awesome father that he is.
Tomas is just hanging out, schmoozing with the nurses and RT people. His ANC was up a little today, but his WBC and RBC and Hgb were down a little today. All in all he is just rolling along. His Dr. said she likes to see the monocyte count between 20-30% and then knows a rebound is coming. His have been dancing between 3-6% so we still have a good couple of days of this at least. The care coordinator came in today to discuss Monday's transport, which brings me to my next point.
I have stayed, with Tomas and for other surgeries of my own, in 10 different hospitals. This one blows them all out of the water. It is like a hotel. I think the campus is only 5 years old, but it is more than that. Someone spent a lot of time thinking about what families need while they are here. The layout and design are just right and the ENTIRE staff is friendly if not downright super nice. They only began admitting oncology patients 3 months ago and there are only 6 kids on the floor now. Only 2 babies and both are in rooms right outside the nurses station. It makes such a huge difference in how well I cope, and I am so grateful he can stay here.
Funny story that highlights how much I need a vacation (or at the very least a blue martini!). Last week my friend said she had just finished her CAT testing and was so relieved. I said, "Oh my God, what's wrong?"
She looked at me a little confused and them smiled and said, "No, C. A. T. test - California Achievement Test". It is a standardized test homeschool moms can use to gage their child's school year. I tell you I may need help by the time this is all over!