Day +66

You've probably noticed that since coming home, we have slowed down on our posts. Please don't hold that against us! We appreciate all of you following Rachel's progress! We will try to post at least once a week to give you an update. I'm sure you understand how nice it has been for all of us to be home...together...under one roof again.

Rachel is on day 66 since her bone marrow transplant on November 4th. Her progress is gradual--but we're moving in the right direction. She is still not eating enough on her own to be off of her IV nutrition. But once in awhile she surprises us and asks for a tuna sandwich or a piece of bacon! Fatigue is still a battle, but she gets stronger every day!

She actually got to attend her first hope kids event yesterday. "HopeKids provides ongoing events & activities and a powerful, unique support community for children with cancer and other life-threatening medical conditions. We surround these remarkable children and their families with the message that hope can be a powerful medicine." Our local chapter is headed up by C.R. and Amy Oldham, two of the most amazing people around! Yesterday's event was a movie up at Jordan's Commons. They reserve the whole theater for "hope kids" and their families once a month. We got to see Disney's "Tangled." It was fun for Rachel to get out of the house for awhile.

We appreciate all of your continued support for Rachel. We hope she feels well enough to start working on her school work soon. We've pretty much taken the 2nd term off for transplant. She's planning on "catching up" in the next few months. Even though she won't get to attend school with her friends, she's planning on completing her junior year working with our district tutor.

Have a great week!

--Marie