Perspective

As Ruby returned home, it hit me how long she's been at this already. It hit me how far we've come, and how distant those two month-long stays seem now. It hit me how normal this new life of hospital visits and clinic visits have come to feel. But it also hit me how smooth the ride has been.

Yes, Ruby has leukemia. Yes, our family is rarely under the same roof at the same time. Yes, Ruby had a severe reaction to a medicine, and had a crazy high fever a few weeks ago. Yes, Ruby has all but lost this fall's school and therapy attendance, possibly plateauing her progress. But the whole ordeal has still not been nearly as scary or hard as it could be. And because Ruby has somewhat sailed through her treatments so far, it's been easy to take the process for granted. It's been easy to forget that sometimes things don't go as planned. It's been easy to forget that sometimes bodies don't always respond to the medicine. It's sometimes easy to forget to celebrate all of the good news we've gotten along the way. Trying to recognize and dote on every good thing in our lives every day....

Update: Ruby is HOME! She came home this afternoon with great blood counts and a big ole smile. We are not planning to return to the hospital until after the holidays; round FIVE for her starts the first week in January. Until then, she will have twice/week visits from the home nurse to take blood; based on those results she may have to return to the clinic for blood or platelet transfusion(s) at some point. Prayers for kids who wash hands when they come home each day and no fevers throughout our home stay this time, please!