Bring It!

If you thought Elle was unprepared for this battle with cancer...you don't know Elle. Here she is, ready to kick ass and take names.

No, I'm not exactly sure why she's wearing the cowboy hat.

Kudos to Beth for being able to take a steady photo. I would have been laughing too hard.

All Is Still Well

Elle has been getting her weekly Vincristine treatments this month. Other than that, there hasn't been much to report as far as her cancer goes. There's going to be a meeting with doctors and surgeons from Portland and Boston next week about her case (we thought it was this week) and some decisions will hopefully be made about the next steps for Elle. For now, though, I am almost 100% sure Elle will finish this round of chemo (Doxorubicin and Cisplatin are next...ugh.) before any next step is taken.

So, with very little going on right now, here are a couple of pics. Baseball game pics coming soon!

Here are Elle and Davey with gifts sent by Beth's friend Betsy. Elle has already whacked Davey in the head with that lightsaber. And she loooovees the purse. Thanks, Betsy!

Here is Elle showing us her guitar skills. Beth was playing tunes on her iPod (I won't mention the song, but it's 80s hair rock) and Elle decided to play along. Personally, I think she made the song 800x better.

And here they both are, now playing to the Violent Femmes (much, much better). Of course, "play" is a term used loosely here. But they don't sound all that bad. Sadly, neither of them decided to smash their guitar after their performance. It's showmanship, guys...!

Oh, and to make something clear...Elle still has hair. Not a lot, but its there. And while I WILL shave my head when she goes bald...there's no reason to jump the gun. Trust me, I'm doing this for you as much as it is for me. I have a HUGE melon. Shave it bald and small rocks will start orbiting it...

Back Home

Elle is back home after her latest round of chemo. She handled it pretty well, although this time the cyclophosphamide did make her throw up once or twice. But she powered through it and came home yesterday afternoon.

So while her and her brother were downstairs, The Empire Strikes Back came on television. Now, Davey is into this already. To the point where he wants to be Obi-Wan Kenobi for Halloween. So he's excited to see it. Meanwhile, Elle is crying and yelling "I DON'T WANT THIS!! I DON'T WANT THIS!!"

...five minutes pass...

"Daddy, why does the monster want to eat that guy?"

And with that, Elle was hooked. She wanted to know who everyone was and what they did. Did they live on planets or in their ships? Who is Darth Vader and why is he dressed all in black? Why are they fighting with laser swords? Why does the Empire want to kill them? Did you see the Princess shoot that guy? And did you know that DARF VADER IS LUKE'S DAD??!!

I thought I would get Davey to share my geek love of Star Wars. How thrilled am I to get both kids? Can't even put it into words...

This morning she woke me up with my old VHS set of the first three movies in her hands. "I want to watch these" she said. And so when I left for work Elle and Davey were watching the original film, with Elle firing rapid-fire questions about the movie to Beth. Beth, who isn't as much of a fan of the series, gave me what I hope was a mock glare as I left. (It really was. :) )

Speaking of...I want to take a second here to talk about Beth. She has a very hard job that goes pretty much unseen. She is the one that takes Elle to the hospital every time she has in-patient chemo. She stays in that room with Elle 24-7, barely gets a bite to eat (b/c of a gluten allergy...hospitals don't have a lot of gluten-free food), sleeps on an uncomfortable couch, breathes recycled air that plays hell with her asthma and is physically and mentally exhausted when it is all said and done.

We can mitigate the food issue somewhat by bringing food in from the supermarket, but the rest of it...Beth hunkers down like a champ and just does it. Every. Single. Time. It's awe-inspiring to watch sometimes. She'd never say it herself, but Beth sets the gold-standard for mothers in my book. I'm lucky beyond belief to have her as my wife, and the kids are just as lucky to have her as their mother. I say all the time that Elle is "tough as nails". She gets that from her mom.

Next Round Starts Tomorrow

First off, my apologies for the long time between updates. The simple truth is that not too much has been happening. I still have to upload all the photos from our Fenway outing. But Elle has been healthy and happy the whole time. Her counts are up across the board.

We had a discussion with her primary doctor last week and her progress is very positive. So now they will start to have internal discussions about when surgery should occur. But for now it's another round of chemo and it starts with the VAC. This is the one she tolerates quite well. So hopefully that will continue.

So positive thoughts for Elle and we should have a requisite hospital photo in the next day or two. For now, here's one from her last stay in the beginning of July.