On Sunday, I woke up with a tickle in my throat. The kind that usually preceeds a sore throat. I was not going to be able to go to the hospital to visit Kaylee. And Eric was having technical issues with work, so we ended up staying in all morning, instead of going to church, as he worked, and the rest of us kind of just chilled out. Christopher was very anxious to go see Kaylee. Since he's had both of his chicken pox vaccines, he was allowed on the oncology unit, but Sam is not. We had promised he and I would go. But with a sore throat, I didn't want to go anywhere near Kaylee. I'm not messing around with the health of any of those kids. Just in case. And Chris started to get upset, but then Daddy decided to take him. Daddy saves the day! Chris had a good understanding of what was going on with Kaylee. We told him, that she was sick, and needed special blood medicine, so they had to do some surgery, and they were going to give her a "surgery spot" just like his (Mace). Hers is a port-a-cath. I think he wanted to compare surgery spots.
So Sam and I made Monster Mix for Kaylee. Back in the day, when Chris and Kaylee (and Lexi) were all at St. Andrews for preschool, each fall we parent would sign our kid up to bring one ingredient for Monster Mix. I always brought cracklin' oat bran, my personal favorite ingredient, with a cinnamon oaty flavor, perfect for a fall snack mix. Anyway, this year, we made some for ourselves. And Sam got to help me make it.
We made a special peanut-free batch for Kaylee, a bit of Red 40-free batch for Sam, and some regular for the rest of us, who, let's be honest, has been eaten 99% by me.
Sam had a wonderful time making this mix for Kaylee. And Sampling all the red 40 less m&ms. :)
Christopher made a special card for Kaylee. He wrote, You are a Superhero! Because it's very true, and especially sweet because they loved to play superheroes all the time whenever they'd get together, which is Chris's all time favorite pretend game. Then he drew a picture of Kaylee, in glowing yellow, holding Chris's hand, he had on a cape, and Kaylee was outlined in this boxy black thing. When I asked him what it was, he said, it was her Wheelchair, because until she gets all better, she could be a superhero from her chair. I nearly cried. So I sent Chris off with Sam's gift Monster Mix for Kaylee and his card for her with Daddy to go visit her at the hospital, while I stayed at home drinking boatloads of tea.
Mom posted these pictures that she took with her phone. First Kaylee playing foosball one handed (and kicking Mom W.'s butt), then the two of them, Chris and Kaylee playing at the train table together. Turns out Chris was wonderful therapy for Kaylee. She was a little tired, and ready to go back to her room, but when he arrived, he managed to talk her into playing more fooseball and trains for like another half an hour. Her goals for the day were to get up and moving, and go to the bathroom, within 45 minutes of him arriving, she'd crossed both off her list, and done so with gusto!
As you can imagine, he wore her out. They went back to her room, and snuggled up together on her bed. Kaylee asked Grandma to pop in a cartoon, Adventure Time, for them too watch. She wanted Chris to see it, and she was right, he really liked it. He didn't even notice when 10 minutes into the show, she fell asleep. She woke up in some pain, but she's been amazingly resilient. And Chris felt so much better visiting her. Me too. I'm so glad to hear she's doing so well.
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