Itinerary

I guess we call it many things (day surgery, LP-ITC, spinal tap), but anyway, here's what we did on Friday:

6:45 AM - Wake Sleeping Beauty with a kiss. Dress in warm, comfy clothes, and apply numbing cream to port site for pain-free access. Cover cream with Glad Press 'n Seal (really!) to keep it off of warm, comfy clothes.

7:45 AM - Arrive at clinic, take vitals, and wait.

8:03 AM - Access port, draw blood for counts, and wait. Thankful for a fully-charged Kindle and a very patient patient.

8:47 AM - Get counts back (ANC 940), get Vincristine push, and visit with Dr. Harrod (Dr. Neff was covering the hospital this week, so no goofy note to write on Georgia's back. And no monkey walk.) (Ask him about it.)

9:30 AM - Check out of clinic and take super cool, super secret underground tunnel to hospital. Daddy is a reckless wheelchair "driver" and nearly runs Mommy over. Twice.

9:37 AM - Arrive at PANDA (surgery) unit, greeted by cheers of "Georgia! Georgia!" from our friends, the most awesome PANDA nurses.

Fellow South Austin girl, Ms. Laura

Some of the usual suspects, including Ms. Anne and Ms. Carla (in front).
We love that every time Ms. Carla checks Georgia's pulse ox levels,
she says, "100 percent. Can't get no better than that!"

9:42 AM - Get to pre-op room, take vitals, and wait.

10:17 AM - Put on hospital-issued get-up, plus Miss Matched socks (Georgia's trademark), and wait.

10:30 AM - Visit with various nurses and doctors who will play a part in the procedure. Find out we are #6 in a line of 6 patients, and #1 has just gone in. Oh, and wait.

12:00 PM - Have I mentioned that Georgia has been fasting since 8 pm the night before? And if Georgia fasts, Mommy and Daddy fast, too. Lots of stomach growling. And waiting.

12:50 PM - Time to go! Walk Georgia back to Procedure Room 1 and stay with her until she goes to sleep. Having done this a few (or 22) times, she can tell us right when she's about to drift off. It usually goes something like this, "OK. I'm going to sleeeeep nooooowww..." Another quick kiss, and we're off to the waiting room.


1:20 PM - Dr. Harrod comes to tell us everything went very well. Prayers of gratitude.

1:50 PM - Georgia's awake, out of recovery, and having her second popsicle.


2:30 PM - Check out of hospital and go visit the coolest kinetic sculpture you'd ever want to see.

2:41 PM - Celebrate another successful day surgery with the traditional yogurt of champions - pumpkin with cookie dough bites.

Tonight: Tell all Friends of Georgia how much their prayers and well-wishes mean on days like Friday, and how much we SO appreciate them continuing to keep our special girl on their minds.

Six

Tomorrow, Georgia starts her 6th cycle of maintenance with her 23rd spinal tap. She's also staring down the last six months of her treatment protocol! Depending on how day surgery goes, we're going to try and mark the occasion by participating in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Light the Night Walk on Saturday. We're so thankful for Georgia's success in treatment and for the wonderful care she's received, we couldn't think of a better, more beautiful way to spend the evening than with a sky full of lighted balloons and a determined army of survivors and caregivers, walking for a cure for all blood cancers. The event fundraising goal is $650,000, and our friends on Team Pink would love your support! And we'd love your prayers and well wishes for Georgia tomorrow. Thanks, y'all, and have a great weekend!

Pedal Power

Who's that with the white bow peeking out of the third pedicab down? Right under the FIGHT banner? Your hero, and mine - Georgia! Thanks to Garrett's KidStrong, we were again lucky enough to ride with other patients at the head of the LIVESTRONG Challenge 5K yesterday, and it was a blast! The weather was perfect, and the atmosphere so inspiring, as always. One change from last year is that we had our very own Peachy Keen running for Georgia - go Daddy!

Pre-run love notes

Our fearless driver, Don - thank you!

Georgia and Ivy chose a pink pedicab - go figure

Finally, a downhill!

Post-run celebration - way to go Daddy!

Thanks to everyone for such a fun morning, and thanks to LIVESTRONG for leading the global fight against cancer. See you next year!

LiveSTRONG!

We believe in life. Your life.
We believe in living every minute of it
with every ounce of your being.
And that you must not let cancer take control of it.
Unity is strength.
Knowledge is power.
Attitude is everything.
This is LIVESTRONG.

Good luck to Daddy T in the LIVESTRONG Challenge 5K tomorrow - Georgia and Ivy will be waiting with hugs and kisses at the finish line!

By Land and By Sea

Georgia's story is being told far and wide - on the ground, in the air, and on the open waters! First, our sweet Dianna took Georgia with her to Chicago to run the Chicago Marathon this weekend! A HUGE congrats for finishing the race and a big thank you to her for honoring Georgia and for sharing this sweet note:

So my iPod died at mile 19 ... I panicked ... 7 miles and no tunes to keep me going and help me zone out. I looked at my bracelet ... and it came to me, "just keep swimming." I repeated it for 7 miles out loud and never stopped running. I owe that to your girl!

Dianna and Will - Go TEAM!

Next, my awesome co-worker, Edie, took Georgia with her on a cruise to Alaska! She even accessorized one of the King Crabs they catch up there with a Georgia bracelet - I think the orange really goes with his pinchers, don't you?

Edie and the catch of the day

It's so wonderful to know that even after nearly two years, y'all are still thinking of Georgia and following her journey. As we've said many times, the prayers, good thoughts, and healing vibrations have made a huge impact in her recovery and in our hearts. We have so much love and gratitude for all of you!

Making The Grade

Georgia had a quick appointment this morning, just to check counts and see if being off of her antibiotic for two weeks improved her ankle problems. In a word: No. But her counts were perfect, and she's feeling great, albeit still with the swelling and the limping. So now, we'll slowly dial back the pain medicine over the next two weeks and see how that goes (feels). If she can make it that long, we'll be back in for her next day surgery and IV meds on the 21st and can re-evaluate yet again. Dr. Neff also ordered a couple of extra tests on her blood from this morning, so we'll see if those tell us anything. Just keep swimming ...

In other news, Georgia got her first ever report card today, and it was covered in one letter: A!!! Eight of them!!! It just goes to show that even in a new school, in a new system, and with a bunch of hard medicines swimming around in her body, our girl is going to learn and excel and love every minute of it - no matter what! I believe this calls for a - you know it - celebration!

If you could actually read the report card,
you'd see 96-99 in every class - woohoo!

The Name of This Post Is Secret

We've told you before about Georgia's favorite book series, The Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch. Well, yesterday, she got to meet the very mysterious and very secretive author himself and had all five of her books signed! A very BIG day for our book-loving girl and aspiring creative writer. We gave him a card for her blog, so maybe he'll leave her a secret comment? You never know ...

His true identity must never be revealed!

Now quick - close this up! This blog will self-destruct in 10 seconds!!!

So Much to Celebrate!

Today is LIVESTRONG Day! Wear yellow for the 28 million cancer survivors worldwide, and help share the global message that we will WIN this battle! Happy Anniversary to Lance and thank you to the Lance Armstrong Foundation and LIVESTRONG for everything you do.

We look forward to celebrating Georgia's 15th diagnosis anniversary - and her 25th, 35th, 45th...

Also, yesterday was Ivy's 8th birthday! Happy Birthday to the best little sister and the best little horsewoman we know!