8/30/06
8:58 PM This is my second attempt at a post (the previous one crashed), so I'll be quick to make sure I say what needs to be said. We're all doing well. Sophie returned to Countryside today for the first time. She went late after her morning antibiotic and we picked her up early this afternoon to get her medicated. She reluctantly went to Countryside for a visit yesterday afternoon, but quickly fell right in among her friends and teachers. Today on the way home she said, "it's not as much fun when you're by yourself." I take that to mean that she had a good time with her friends today. Every day she grows more and more comfortable with the PICC line. Overall, I think she's recovering from the trauma of last week. Yesterday she allowed me to take off the Scooby Doo band-aid over the site of her chest catheter, and she replaced it with a Barbie band-aid all by herself. She also let nurse Amy take a look at the dressing on her arm, and she lost two of the EKG (?) leads from the surgery, one getting dressed and one in the bathtub.
One exciting thing that happened yesterday was that after dinner we were all in the yard playing and getting some fresh air. Sophie and Elisabeth were chasing bubbles that we were blowing and unfortunately Elisabeth stepped into a fire ant mound (she was wearing flip-flops). That put an end to our fun, but she recovered pretty quickly and seems no worse for the wear today. I got bit trying to get some of the ants off her feet, but nothing major. There was an article in the Dunn paper just yesterday about a gentleman from our community who nearly died from an allergic reaction to fire ant bites/stings.
Susan has been getting supportive gifts and phone calls from the folks at work. We got two gift baskets from Southern Season today--the girls practically devoured the contents of their basket this afternoon. It's nice to know that her co-workers are thinking of us. I worry that this "down time" that Susan had planned has not been as restful as she had hoped, between Nannie's death and Sophie's hospitalization. Our lives are not our own, not even our "down time," I guess.