MCKINLEY'S CORNER
The month of October has been full of emotions. McKinley is doing great and we had a wonderful Halloween. However the month started off a little differently. While I was returning home from a work trip, McKinley fell and broke her collarbone. This sent me into a spiral. For those of you that don't know, McKinley broke her arm three weeks prior to being diagnosed with leukemia. So I can't help but associate a broken bone bone with her diagnosis (even though there is no proof that there is a correlation between the two). We spent the following two days at ACH to follow up with an Ortho & to get blood work to make sure all was ok. It was. {DEEP sigh of relief}. They assured me all is fine & just to keep an eye on anything out of the ordinary (fatigue, fussiness, bruising, etc). Well that next Friday I found a lymph node in her neck. Again I know that I'm on high alert because I am now a "cancer mom"but this lymph node was just different and had me very worried. I ended up calling the on-call doctor twice throughout the weekend and on Sunday when she was just a mess of tired and fussy I ended up taking her into the ER. My mind "went there" & I thought the cancer was back. I found myself on my knees in my kitchen right before we left for the ER. Praise God all blood work came back perfect & it was "just" a swollen lymph node. It's hard. This reality is hard. Our life is forever changed & I'm not sure I'll ever see a bruise, a swollen lymph node, a tired McKinley & not freak out. Thankfully, I have her sweet spirit, her strength & her courage to pull me through it all.
We had a wonderful Halloween which was so deserving as she was in the hospital last year for this holiday. She had an absolute blast! Thank you for all your continued thoughts & prayers.
xoxox,
Karen