LTM on Monday

Dayssi "made counts" on Friday (ANC 900ish) so we are scheduled to start LTM bright and early Monday morning.

The last few days have felt like a bit of a relief. Dayssi hasn't had any chemotherapy in three weeks and she feels so good! We're watching her exposoure obviously but without all of the meds and their potential side effects there is a lot less to worry aobut. It feels like a window on to what it might feel like someday to actually be done with leukemia.

Today we went to the Monterey Aquarium and it was amazing to see Dayssi's energy and to remember how, when we went last spring just weeks before her diagnosis, she had wanted to be carried everywhere. Of course we had no idea why. Karen and Erin, if you are reading this, Dayssi asked this morning several times if we were going to see Grace and Emily. And she asked a couple of times, "Mom, is Andrew the little one or the big one??" We even went to Bubba Gumps. Boy do we miss you guys!

Anyway, we're hoping that LTM will not slow us down too much, and that we should be able to get back to some more regular activities too, like dance class, and swimming class, and pre-school!! Dayssi's teachers have called me off and on to check in (she's been out for almost 10 weeks straight) and just last week Beth, the amazing music teacher, called to let me know that a CD she produced (on which India and I sang!) had been released. We picked it up on Friday and the girls have been listening to it more or less non stop. Both girls are clearly thrilled to hear the familiar songs and the voices of their teachers. It is perfect timing for Dayssi's re-introduction to school.

There is a kind of cool story about the CD. The producer, Beth, who is an incredibly talented musician and teacher, was the head teacher in Dayssi's "young two's" classroom at the time she was diagnosed. Dayssi was only attending school one day a week at that time but one of the songs they sang there each Friday was "Choo Choo Train." I always loved to sing this song -- had never heard it before -- and I used to try to invent harmonies just to entertain myself while singing it in the class. When Dayssi had to have her first procedure in the hospital I spontaneously started singing the Choo Choo Train song to try to calm and distract her (and myself!). I can't remember if I started this with the intial blood draws and her first IV, or the first spinal procedure, which we did on the first day of treatment, without general anesthesia (yuk, that was not fun). Anyway, it turned out to be a great intervention because the song describes a train ride that involves stopping at various people's houses (in class we sang about stopping at each child's house) and I could see Dayssi becoming completely focused on trying to anticipate whose house I was going to sing about next. And I imagined it was a comfort to hear a familiar song from school and to think about all of the people she loves at a time when she was frightened or uncomfortable. So it became a regular part of our procedure routine for me to sing this song while Dayssi was on the operating table, breathing sleepy air or waiting for some IV anesthesia to kick in. She would specifically request it. During the summer, when Dayssi started going back to school, Beth announced that she was making the CD and asked for parents to volunteer if they wanted to participate. I told Beth and Dayssi's other favorite teacher, Neely, that we had adopted the Choo Choo Train song and that I would love to sing it with them on the CD. Beth jumped all over the suggestion, writing lyrics and coming up with an arrangement that incorporated the visualization of journey past the homes of various story book characters on this train. Recording the song with Beth and Neely was, without question, the absolute highlight of my summer for so many reasons. They are fantastic women and it was so much fun to make music with them. We recorded the song about 10 times over two days. And the result is the first track on the CD. I think it sounds great and am so glad to have this memory preserved for us. Maybe I'll see if we can get the song uploaded on here . . .

I sang in a couple of other recording sessions with some of the other teachers and kids from India's class, including India. I think Dayssi came with us into the studio for a few of those but she didn't know any of the songs, so she didn't even try to sing. And I'm not sure if any of those made it onto the CD. It is hard to tell because I believe some of the songs were recorded multiple times with multiple groups. So India's voice might not be on the CD, but her picture ended up on the insert, which is a fun surprise!!

Jim had a big honkin' deadline on Wednesday and we are all enjoying its passing!

Will upate on Monday.