Good appt!

 I posted this to instagram (you can follow me there for more frequent pics) but wanted to post it here too. Watts had two appointments yesterday and both went great! His labs showed NO sign of relapse, his lymphocytes are recovering, his team agreed that he could stop his prophylactic antibiotic (after 2+ years of continual use and endless intestinal issues), and his port removal surgery has been scheduled for next week. What a day! We are so thankful and so relieved. Every appointment feels a bit like walking to the edge of a cliff and wondering if we are going to be jumping off again. What sweet relief when the doctors tell us that all is well!

Today we rejoice in Watts' good news, all while aching for those who didn't or won't be receiving good news about their boys and their girls. Lord, be with them.

Kitchen Reno

At the end of May, Watts finished his two year chemo treatment protocol. In the beginning of June, before we even had time to catch our breath from the last two years, we gutted our kitchen, thanks to a bad leak under our dishwasher that had caused significant water damage. Apparently the leak had been there for some time but it had been missed during the inspection at the time we purchased our home. We only noticed it when the kitchen floor started to get soft and squishy in a certain area.

And so for the last three months, we have been camping in our home and working during any free time to replace everything in the kitchen: new drywall, new floor plan, new lighting, new-to-us cabinets, new electrical, new plumbing, etc. Some of it we were planning on doing, other things were discoveries that we found as we ripped out 75 year old walls (i.e. a drainage pipe in the ceiling with a fist-size hole in it). Michael has done about 80% of it himself with the help and support of friends and family...and youtube video tutorials. 

This past weekend, we were able to get back into the kitchen and set up our table and move the fridge back in. We are still without a sink, counters, range, or dishwasher, but we're hoping that will be done in the next two weeks. We are so very thrilled and thankful to have the bulk of the reno behind us.

The timing of the renovation was less than ideal, as it came on the heels of a very exhausting season of life, but it has been yet another opportunity for us to see the Lord provide for us and sustain us. [And He provided for us so abundantly.] It also has felt redemptive in a way, to be tearing something down and then to rebuild it and make it beautiful again.

So that brings us to today.

Yesterday, the kids and I started preschool/pre-k at home. There are many reasons why we decided to not start Piper in kindergarten this year. Michael and I are hoping and praying that this year is a year of restoring some normalcy and healthy rhythm to our home and one full of play. We've had two years of much disruptions and chaos at times, even during the months of maintenance (thanks to those awful steroids). There will be time enough for school schedules and busyness, but not this year. This year is going to be a redemptive year for us, Lord-willing. And in a new kitchen no less!

Watts' update.

Watts is a wild, cancer-free, three old one. Praise the Lord. He keeps us on our toes every second, and loves nothing more than to wrestle with Michael and charge at him at full-speed. We are currently working on Watts coming when called, not being too rough with Piper, and potty training (he's had a total regression over the summer). So, basically he's like an adorable, unruly, highly-verbal puppy dog. And we all are crazy about him.

His monthly appts. have gone well. He has shown no sign of relapse (other than the one test that was in error) and he appears healthy and "normal". His labs have not recovered as quickly as I would have hoped but they have held steady enough that his team wants him to have surgery to remove his port on October 2nd. This will be yet another milestone on this cancer journey. His height and weight have not changed, but we expect that soon he will start to grow and catch up to normal rate of growth.

About a month ago, Watts started to get his appetite back. After TWO YEARS of not wanting to eat and of us feeding him almost every single bite of food (literally), he has started actually saying that he is hungry and has begun to self-feed again. Not coincidentally, around the same time his appetite returned, his face broke out in a rash. This is actual a good thing and a visible sign that the 6-MP, one of his maintenance chemos, is getting flushed out of his body. Hence the return of his appetite. Praise hands emoji!

Thank you for your continued reading of the blog and for your prayers...even when updates are few and far between!