The tooth fairy
Another roadtrip out on the island today--top down, with less screaming from me. I got my hair cut yesterday so my bangs no longer blow into my eyes. And after all this rain, the sunshine felt pretty good. Sahara, if you were in the Beetle's backseat you would've seen (and smelled) goats, chickens, three horses, two brown cows, and an invisible but very stinky pig farm.
We visited a winery, had a flight and a glass, then hit some farm stands for sweet corn (the perfect dinner), peaches, nectarines, and big bunches of colorful flowers. I felt like a bride riding back home. The nectarines were so sweet--I still have juice running down my chin.
A couple of updates to note: first, we've added a line to the address for Sahara's fund. It's on the right if you're interested. And second, someone brought up a protocol issue in the comments that is not correct. You do not have to comment anonymously. However, I will remove address and phone number information left in the comments, especially from kids. It's just not a safe thing to do. If you truly need to reach Sahara or her family, leave me a message with your email address and I will get it to them.
Sahara has many friends, teachers, and supporters leaving encouraging messages here and it would be silly to make them anonymous. Just use good judgment, everyone.
Oh, if that remake ever happens (see below) I wanna be Rizzo. And Amy? Frenchy for sure.
Not a bad way to spend a Sunday...alternately reading and napping, chatting with various folks who were so excited to see us in the paper today, and enjoying the fact that Sahara felt pretty darned good this afternoon and evening.
The day did manage to provide a bit of excitement. The jaw tooth that's been loose for weeks finally decided that this was the day it had to be extricated. As she's done with every tooth before, out of the blue, she says, "I need to pull this tooth."
Five minutes later it's out and she's handing me the bloody evidence. I thought it would be a good idea to tell the nurse, in case we had an issue with bleeding. We were told it could be a problem if she got any cuts, so I'm always on the lookout.
Anyway, I found our nurse, Ponamma(pronounced "Panama"), a sweet lady from India. Told her what had happened, and I could tell it freaked her out a little. She said she'd be right there, and took off like a shot. I went back in the room with Sahara, and about two seconds later she came running in with alcohol pads and other assorted "nurse stuff." She was looking at S in a weird way, checking her port, etc. Then we looked at each other - she had misunderstood!
When I'd said, "she pulled out a tooth," she thought I had said, "she pulled out a TUBE!" No wonder she was running around like crazy. LOLOL. We all had a good laugh over it.
Sometimes things just get lost in translation. There are people from all over the world working here, and the accents can be hard to understand at times. Ponamma said she'd never had a patient lose a tooth on her shift before. She also told Sahara that she couldn't eat anything except broth and jello until tomorrow. As if. (In her defense, I know she was trying to prevent unnecessary bleeding, but it had completely stopped within 15 minutes. No clotting problems at all.)
Sahara had been starving right before she pulled the tooth. She wanted her soft tacos (which consist of a soft tortilla, sour cream and cheese) and she wanted them NOW. At the risk of being found out and chastised, I made them for her anyway. Cut 'em up in little pieces and she ate every bite. She didn't have any problems at all, either. It's a good thing, too - they probably have very special ways of punishing parents who break the rules.
The nurses on the floor were so excited to see the article in the Missourian online. One of them printed it and put it on their break room wall. She's become one of their favorites. Gee, that's a surprise. You all know how shy and demure she is. HA!
Isn't the photo in the article just perfect? It totally captured Sahara and Shannon picking at each other. She felt so bad, but she still managed to make it a really cute shot. I'm just happy you can't see the dark circles under my eyes and the fact that I am having a hair emergency. Shery Varney - I will be calling you SOON. :)
We think Matt Sanders did a great job with the article. Her tumor is not a neuroblastoma (it's a glioblastoma), but that is an honest mistake. A couple of months ago I certainly wouldn't have known the difference. But aside from that, he really managed to capture her story and paint a really good picture of what is happening here. Kudos, Matt. We really appreciate your hard work!!! She enjoyed being interviewed on the phone!
We were talking about "Grease" again this afternoon. The idea posted about having a big showing/party at the theater in Cape sounds like so much fun!!! I think we should try to do that once we get back home for good in November!!! (By the way, Sahara thinks there should be a new version of the movie with Rick S. as Danny and his wife Barbara as Sandy. Perfectly adorable, don't you think???
The nurses will be coming in a few minutes to hook up tonight's chemo. I hope she manages to make it through without getting too sick. They've changed the way they are giving her the anti-nausea meds, and today was much better. We'd been using the "puke pills" with fair results, but they have been putting liquid Zofran in her IV today. Seems to work better for this situation.
And so far (knock on wood) no mouth sores with this round of chemo. That is such a relief.
I hope all of you have a great Labor Day holiday! It makes me realize that I can't wait until we're sitting on our patio again, with Shannon cooking on the grill. I don't care if it's snowing when we finally get home in November...I want to fill the neighborhood with the heavenly aroma of grilled burgers and steaks! To all a good night!