The beginning of The Maintenance Phase of Therapy
August 25
Olive got through the final stretch of her aggressive phase of therapy! We had to wait to start her “maintenance phase” because her counts did not recover fast but at least in our hearts we knew, at this point, the hardest part for our girl was over. Instead of weekly aggressive treatments Olive will transition to Monthly and start a complex pill regiment at home. Just the thought of her only needing her port accessed once a month expands my breath 3 times what I have been able to breath for the past 8 months. The idea of her slowly regaining her strength, counts, and HAIR are all comforting us as we embark on the next chapter.
Olive missed her first week of first grade just to allow her immune system to recover a little more before she was reintroduced into the world. I am so excited at the thought for her to run around the playground, sit for story time and just laugh with her friends again! With all these exciting thoughts I am also feeling the next phase of intense stress. We have been able to protect and shelter our girl from the world of germs as best we could now we are sending her back into a not so controlled environment.
Sept 2nd was Olives first day back at school. With the smile of an angel and not a single hair on her head Olive threw on her hat and backpack and was out the door as soon as she could. Her teacher Mrs. Quinn along with her classmates welcomed Olive with pure excitement and open arms. I grabbed my seat in the back of the classroom, holding my breath, to be on germ watch and see how I could create a safe environment for a daughter and aid with the transition in any way I could. Luckily my mom,Mimi, and Adam’s mom, Grandmom, were ready to take turns again during different times of the month to support Olive. My mom came out first and took overly strict orders from me on what she needed to look for, ask, assist,and clean in the classrooms on her days with Olive, SORRY MOM! This was way more stressful than i ever anticipated. Both our girls will become professional hand washers by the end of this phase. After about 10 days of school my mom helped me realize Olive was ready to be set free without stockers watching her every move. Everyday we would walk Olive to school and send her off…Love you…Don’t forget to wash your hands…over and over and over again. Sorry Ollie I was even annoying myself but it was the only thing I could do to try and keep you well when you went to school.
Grandmom and Pop Pop came out mid month to continue the support picking Olive up from school and helping set the structure after school we needed to help get our girl back into a strong routine. Olive was loving ever minute of it! Learning, Laughing and just loving life as a “normal” kid again! Sept 20th was her 6th birthday. We celebrated by having 12 girls from her classroom come over for a princess party with a surprise Elsa visit! I picked the Girls up from school and as walked them all home. Within minutes of arriving there was a flurry of girls cloths and giggles as they all got dressed up as quickly as they could. Immediately rushing the back yard where the frozen sound track played they all belted into singing and acting as if they each were the main character in the film. IT was the sweetest site and sound and we could not have asked for a better outcome for that day. Life did not feel normal but it was off to an amazing start to move towards that as a goal.