Long Day!

Monday, December 5, 2011 10:07 PM, EST

written by Heather Dalik

Today was a super, very, unbelievably long day.  We went to clinic in the morning, just for blood counts.  Between the parking garage, broken elevators, and a toddler who thought we should stay and play, we were gone 2.5 hours.  We got home just in time for lunch and nap.  I had to wake Cora up to go back to clinic for our appointment (another three hours) with Sama, our fellow from the first night at Hopkins.  She has been following us since July and wanted to see us a few more times.  Seriously exhausting and inconvenient, but I did it for her.  She is a student after all, and I am a natural born teacher. 

Cora's cyclosporin levels are 101.  Last week they were 50 so we changed the brand of medication.  Nancy seemed relieved to tell me she thought the new medication was working.  Tomorrow, Cora will have a routine ekg and echo to make sure the chemo didn't damage her heart.  The last time she had this done they used a light sedation, which she had a reaction to.  It happened to be an hour after the earthquake and I was at home with the terrified kids.  We were told nothing would go wrong and Jeff could handle the testing.  BUT, there is a 1% chance of a reaction.  Yeah, Cora fell into that 1%.  When Jeff called me, I pictured my baby clawing her eyes out, screaming, thrashing around.  It was horrible and she won't be sedated tomorrow. 

You might remember my request for help finding lion ornaments.  Thank you so much to everyone who sent us lions.  I think we have every lion ornament out there.  I received the most amazing painted lion ball ornament from my friend Jody from Off the Wall Painting.  She paints murals, stools, bow holders and things like that.  She knows how much I love things handmade so she painted us a lion.  Naturally, I love it.  Then, another talented artist and I worked together on a clay lion.  She created another amazing ornament for Cora's tree.  One thing lead to another and she is offering the ornaments to you, Cora's fans.  The best part is she has agreed to donate $7 of each ornament sale to The Believe in Tomorrow Children's House, where we stayed after Cora's bone marrow transplant (often referred to the transition house).  Each year when you hang the ornament on your tree it will remind you of Cora's courage.  Here is where you can get them -
http://www.etsy.com/listing/87733225/be-corageous-lion-ornament-fundraiser

Please pray for an uneventful test tomorrow, positive results, and a happy afternoon.

Be CORAgeous!