7.26.11

AYNSLEY:
First of all, wow, thank you so much for the incredible, overwhelming outpouring of love and birthday wishes. My inbox is jammed-it's yet another reminder of how many people are following the blog and constantly lending their positive energy to our family. And we all feel it every day.

All of those prayers and blessings and thoughts continue to pay off. Today we went for a follow up visit with Mom's neurosurgeon, Dr. L, who I really like. He chatted for a few minutes about Mom's incision and what the next steps for are for intrathecal chemotherapy (we need to discuss with Dr. C, which hopefully will happen on Thursday at Mom's next systemic chemo appointment) and then he just sort of looked at Mom, shook his head and said, "you're such a fighter." We all agreed, but that stuck with me. For a neurosurgeon to be impressed...pretty amazing. I'm convinced that Mom is alive today mostly by sheer force of will. Yes, we've gotten plenty lucky, too, which I realize, but her determination to keep living and enjoying her life are what makes these days so wonderful.

Today was no exception. She slept really well last night and was able to sleep in a little bit in the morning, though it's always noisy at the Kline. We had breakfast, then immediately Mom had her weekly shower/bath. This is also when Mom gets weighed and her weight is holding steady: the same for 3 weeks now. The woman who helps is so lovely and we had a little bit of a laugh when I told Mom that I now weigh more than both her and her wheelchair combined and the woman said, "it's okay, honey, you can always loose it. Plus, maybe someday you'll have a baby and need to gain that weight!" Mom and I both giggled and I said "Oh, I AM expecting a baby! That's why I'm gaining the weight!" But she's not the first of Mom's helpers to tell me they thought I was just putting on a few pounds after getting married.

After her shower, Mom did more physical therapy. It was the first time I'd seen her walk without any assistance at all, just strolling down the hallway. Awesome. She walked right into the gym where she rode the bike and did various other stretches and exercises. After Dr. L this afternoon, we went home (!!!) and Mom decided she wanted to go upstairs to her closet to go through some clothes. So, she climbed the two flights of stairs and sat in her closet with me while we looked for some specific items that she wanted. Then back down the stairs to sit at the dining room table for a lovely immediate family birthday dinner. It was awesome. She works so hard every day.

Tomorrow the services for the blind are coming back to help her with more mobility. I'm hoping she has more opportunity to rest in the afternoon tomorrow to allow her to rest up before chemo on Thursday.