Long overdue

Oh my, it's been too long.  I apologize for not keeping up with Maggie's blog the way I did in the past.  It's a good thing though.  It means things are "normal."

So what is new?  Maggie turned 7 in October.  Seven!  It's hard to believe.  She started 1st grade this fall and loves it.  She loves her teacher, school, but of course her favorite thing about school is recess.  She spends all of her time on the monkey bars.  This summer her goal was to cross them.  She is still working on it (we find that her strength and gross motor skills are a bit behind the rest of her peers, but what can you expect when you started walking at 3?)  She is very determined to the point that she came home from school with different pants on from the nurse's office because she fell so many times that she skinned her knees and was completely muddy.

Maggie enjoys to read and write.  She has said that she would like to be an author and illustrator when she grows up.  She wants to work in a library so she can sell her books.  She can be seen in bed or at her table at night writing story after story (when she should be sleeping).

This fall for Maggie's 6 month check-up, rather than driving to Dayton, we transitioned to the children's hospital in Akron.  Dr. French, who will always be my hero, moved to South Carolina and we thought it would be a good time to make the move as well.  Appointments were always a very long day with travel time being up to 6 hours.

We had a very good appointment, receiving good counts and meeting Maggie's new oncologist, Dr. Savelli.  She was warm and optimistic.  Dr. Savelli wants to move Maggie to the survivor clinic.  She believes that the likelihood of Maggie's leukemia coming back is very low.  She wants to focus more on long-term studies and effects.  The survivor clinic consists of Maggie meeting with many different specialists; oncology, physical therapy, psychology, a tutor, cardiology, and others that I am forgetting.  They track the patient and watch for side effects from chemotherapy.

This February will be Maggie's 5 year anniversary off of treatment.  It will be a celebratory time- a big moment in this journey!

We had family pictures taken again this summer by Summer Kellogg.  She does a wonderful job!  If you would like to see how our family has grown, please stop over to her blog. http://summerkphotography.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-b-family.html

I can't thank you enough for continuing to follow along with us in this journey.  Though updates are few, we still are very aware of where we've been and hope never to go back.  I pray daily for Maggie to remain healthy and free from cancer and hope you might too.

Blessings to you as we approach this holiday season!