After perusing through our blog, we noticed that we haven't posted any pictures of Maggie in some time, so be prepared for the last month in review. I have posted about 6 entries, so make sure you take a look.
Maggie has really changed in her looks since October. Her face has shown the extra pounds that the TPN has added. Today we went to the clinic and Maggie is at her all-time high, 25 lbs. 7 ounces. Hurray! Her counts also looked very good and Dr. French was very pleased with what he saw and has heard (appears that others are talking about Maggie in the clinic).
When Dr. French walked in the room, the first words out of his mouth were "Who is this?" We haven't seen him in over a month and within that time Maggie has added almost 2 pounds to her weight and her hair continues to grow!
During the visit, Dr. French determined and without any hesitation stated that Maggie's spots on her head are eczema. With that final analysis, we are going to stop worrying and talking about "the spots." Maggie's cold continues to persists (as both of ours do at times as well) with a runny/snotty nose and a cough. She was unfortunate enough to get another H1N1 shot, but received a present afterwards which was nice, but not as nice as the second sucker offered to her. She is quite the sucker lover these days.
Maggie's leg continues to heal. She is again using it, though every now and again a bit gingerly. It appears it was probably a bruise to the bone, though she does still talk about her "boo-boo." Maggie's new favorite thing is to "write." We have found that we can take her to church and have her write (color) and it keeps her pretty quiet. Though yesterday during church she grew frustrated because she was writing with a white crayon and couldn't see it. She asked for "help," but wouldn't accept a new crayon, so instead she started screaming. Ah, not what you want to happen at church, and even better to have the minister make mention of her crying in his sermon. We have been very blessed to have been able to go to church the last 2 weeks and hope we might be able to continue to as Maggie is doing so well.
We are plugging along and having good labs keeps our hopes up. As I tell people, it gives me one more week where I can breathe and relax. Though I won't lie and tell you each Monday I hold my breath praying that Maggie's counts will come back good. There have been many children that have been hit with illness, relapse, bad news, and even death in the last couple of weeks that it continues to shake us up and reminds us of the reality of this horrible disease. Please continue to pray for those children who are battling this disease and those families who have lost their children.
But, we will walk this week knowing that Maggie is still on track and we will celebrate Christmas with the hope that they talked about in the Bible. Hope for a Messiah and hope that Maggie is completely healed of this disease.
Maggie has renewed her interest in the potty. She tells us she has to go many times throughout the day, only to have false-alarms. One evening, Andy got tired of taking her up and down the stairs that he brought it to her instead.
Maggie's reaction to opening her Christmas present from Heather (and family) is priceless. Christmas presents are going to be so much fun to open this year. As we were shopping at the toy store, Maggie would point to toys and say "mine," while pointing to her chest.
This is Maggie's walker that she walks with. She is using it to hold her up as she opens her gift.
She was very excited to open up her doll, though this picture definitely doesn't show it.
