Sunday update

It's been another week of ups and downs.  Kera started out the week well and decided to go back to school on Monday.  It was difficult to be back there the first day, but I think that my going to her class on Friday and talking to the kids helped a lot.  I went to meet her for lunch so she would feel more comfortable.  The next day she decided to go back and I encouraged her to try to take the bus home.  The day seemed to go pretty well, other than one of the boys from her class last year yelling out "Kera has puffy cheeks" at recess.  That boy gave her some problems at school last year, and even scribbled out her face in a picture of her on her yearbook.  So I'm not a big fan of that kid.  She didn't seem too upset about it though, not that she told me anyway.
 I think it's been rough for her this week because I think she thought after the treatments were done everything would suddenly go back to normal, and she would feel all better, but that's not the case.  I can only do my best to try to make her feel as good as she can, and I am hoping that the  cold she got mid week will be the only hang up for the next little while, and she can get to feeling better soon and have an easier time with everything. We went to the pediatrician on Tuesday because her ears had been bothering her for a few days.  He said there wasn't an infection yet, but there was fluid behind her ears and gave her an antibiotic to help dry them out so she could her and feel better.
Wednesday morning Kera woke up with a runny nose and a bad sore throat.  She also felt nauseated again, and her legs were really stiff and sore.  She said it was hard to walk on them.  Of course that sent me into mini panic mode and I called the oncologist to give him the report.  He said it could just be that she was getting a bug, and that the leg pain could be related to that, especially since she had a sore throat and congestion. So I gave her Advil and later that day her legs were feeling better.  The next day her cold got worse so she stayed home from school again.  She didn't want to go back Friday either, and I decided Thursday night that I wasn't going to push her to go to school if she didn't want to.
Kera's friends from Kaysville invited her down to their house for a late night on Friday, and I wasn't sure if she would be up to it with the cold, but she really wanted to go, and I made her rest most of the day so she could feel up to going.  I ended up letting her spend the night there, and it was her first sleepover, other than with cousins.  Her two best friends Samantha and Gracie are so wonderful to her.  They have the best time together, and since we've only lived in this area for a year, she hasn't had the chance to make any close friends here yet. Friends yes, just not the kind that she can have sleepovers with and be herself with. I love that she can still keep in close contact with them and that we live close enough where she can have get togethers with them.  The girls stayed up until 1 a.m. talking and giggling.  Even though it was a real late night, I was so glad she went and had the chance to get her mind off of her sickness and have fun with friends again.  I want to give her as many happy moments as I can.
Saturday I picked her up and we ran a few errands.  One of them being to the pet store to look at some dogs.  I think we are finally coming around to the idea of getting a dog, and the kids are all so excited about the possibility.  We just have to decide if it will be in inside dog or an outside dog.  Dave wants an outside dog only, but I'm not sure.  I was also told by the lady at the humane society that we should really consider getting an older dog, and that puppies are a lot of work to train and they will tear up furniture, shoes, etc.  I don't know if I have the time or energy to train a new puppy, so I tend to agree with her.  Maybe a dog who's 2-5 years old would be best? If anyone has dog advice for me, I'm open to hearing it. :)
The primary kids sang with the Young Women in sacrament meeting today.  They sang "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and I really wanted Kera to be a part of it.  She didn't really want to go to church since she still has her cold and wasn't feeling well this morning, but I convinced her to come just for the first hour, then we would take her home.
Dave and I also had our trek fireside tonight.  We went on a pioneer trek in June, and we were asked to be a ma and pa there.  We watched the video that they made of us at trek, which was fun to watch.  We talked with our trek family afterwards.  There were 3 boys that weren't there, which made me a little sad.  I was hoping to see all of the kids we had in our family at trek tonight.  One of them we see often because he's in our ward every other week.   Hopefully the other two boys we'll get the chance to see again soon.
Michael has his birthday this week on Friday, and he is so excited!!  He's gonna be 5. :)
Here's hoping this week goes well, with more ups than downs!!