Category: Earlier Chapters

This little firecracker is 8 years old today!! She just gets more wonderful as time goes by. I feel so incredibly privileged to be her mother! Before she could even talk, this little pixie showed me that it’s possible to smile every day, no matter what. And she’s still doing it! Her unsinkable spirit has…

First day of school today for us. After having a lot of troubles with his teachers and schools over the past two years, Aidan was really dreading going back today. But he ended up having such a GREAT day!! He loves his new teacher and had a good impression of the new principal too, and…

Today was Brooke’s first day back to school! She’s been out for almost 2 years! She is so excited to be back in school and had a great first day! Brooke completed Kindergarten in Long Beach, but relapsed on the 3rd day of 1st grade in Sep, 2013, and her doctors have kept her out…

Home sweet hospital room. We are back at CHOC for a little unexpected visit. Brooke got admitted on Tuesday when she showed up for a clinic visit with a fever. All her blood counts were quite low and they discovered she has an ear & sinus infection, plus she was having a lot of pain…

Maintenance is underway! The first couple weeks include daily cranial radiation treatments, which were scary at first, but easy peasy now. 3 more to go and we can add that to the list of things we don’t have to worry about anymore! Transitioning back to “normal” life and outpatient treatment involves some challenges for each…

56 weeks down, 0 to go!!!!!! We made it to Maintenance!! And what an auspicious day to end on. Happy New Year y’all. This is gonna be a good one!!

Shout out to my awesome mom and greatest supporter, Robin Ballou!  I can’t even imagine how I would have gotten through this crazy year without her. In June she left her job, retiring at least 6 months earlier than she had planned, left her home, her husband, her son, her friends, and her garden, and came…

Brooke’s final inpatient chemo (HD Methotrexate) is in process! 12 more hours and she’ll be done!!! We should get released this weekend. And the rest of her chemo for this phase and for Maintenance can all be given outpatient. After this we’ll only have to go to the hospital if she gets fevers or other…

Oof. Yesterday was one of the most challenging days of our 5.5 year history with leukemia, and as usual Brooke moved through it with grace and strength and light. She was admitted back to CHOC on Tuesday with the intention of starting her final cycle of treatment before Maintenance, but upon arrival, during a routine…

To all my beautiful friends: I know I have been very difficult to get ahold of in the past few months (or the past year!) and that I owe phone calls and visits to many of you. I’ve missed milestone birthdays, wedding celebrations, baby showers, graduations, and other special events. I hope you all know…