Andrew has made HUGE advancements in his swallowing allowing him to really eat full meals with us. We’ve been able to eliminate all of his daytime g-tube feeds. He still receives a some in a night tube feed to make sure he gets all his water needs (but he mostly gets all his water during the day too), extra fiber and make up for any calories he didn’t get during the day. It’s been greatly reduced though and that’s huge!

Last week, Andrew was getting ready for bed when he handed Steve a part of a tooth that had broken off. Steve discovered it was part of the tooth that has been loose since November. I made a call to his pediatrician and messaged his oncologist managing his blood thinners. Since there didn’t seem to be any blood we decided sleep was more important tonight then a trip to the ER to get checked out. They really couldn’t do much anyhow but help manage blood and that didn’t seem to be an issue. 

The next day (Thursday) we made a blood thinner management plan with his doctor if there was a need for extraction and got him into his dentist for a check-up. Thankfully he was able to sit in the chair and have his mouth open enough to be looked at. (I canceled a cleaning in March because he couldn’t open his mouth enough for that procedure. So this was another huge improvement!) The dentist informed us he had two baby teeth just hanging out and there was an adult tooth pushing through that caused the one to break. He offered to pull the teeth at that time but with his blood thinners we decided to wait until we could manage them as we discussed with his doctor. 

The same day Amelia came home early from school because she had vomited at school. We were told there was strep going around the school so we got her tested immediately and she tested negative and was completely fine as soon as she got home that day, thankfully. 

Andrew also got his first haircut since the surgery on that day. Big day! He wanted a mullet, like a few of his friends…his hair needs to grow a bit more for that. 

On Friday, Andrew was scooting across the front porch step out front and lost his balance, tumbled forward, hit his head on the cement and got a few scratches. Prior to the blood thinners and his tumor I would have given him an ice pack and watched for a concussion, if that honestly. It was a minor fall. This day we called his doctor to discuss the fall and make a plan. Once again we were asked to take him to the ER, for the second time in 3 days. After I had a mini break down because this was just too much this week, Steve took Andrew to the ER. They checked him out and did a CT scan, it was determined he was fine and could come home. So very grateful! Andrew is a tad more careful now to not fall.

The weekend went well as we officially unpacked and moved into our new kitchen! Yay! A few things still need done to complete the kitchen but we’re in it and it feels oh so good after not having a real kitchen for 13 months. If you didn’t know, we moved into a home in December 2022 and started a complete remodel while living in it. It was mostly okay but we are so happy to be on the downhill slide. 

On Monday, Andrew had his two baby teeth pulled out and he waited patiently for the tooth fairy to come that evening. The extraction went well and we’ve had no major issues since. His headaches that were giving him so much grief have also seemed to go away. So maybe they were tooth related too…🤷🏻‍♀️

On Tuesday, Andrew and I visited his classroom for the first time since November! It was only for an hour or so but it was good and it went better the second time, on Thursday. Andrew enjoyed learning the math concepts his class was learning and getting to see some friends. He’s excited to go back next week. The plan is to attend school in morning when he doesn’t have morning appointments for the remainder of the school year - all 5 weeks. Our school has been really great with our whole family throughout this whole ordeal. They have done a great job keeping school as low stress as possible for us, with both kids, which has been a huge blessing. I couldn’t imagine having a more supportive school on our side! Thank you Anser Charter School!! ❤️ 

We also had a few other fun moments in the past few weeks. Andrew & I saw the sturgeon in the MK Nature Center pond. We went to the Boise Flea Market and did some shopping together. We also took a walk to the nature reserve nearby, as a family. Something we had done many times before but not since the tumor diagnosis. It was all a bit different with the wheelchair but it was really great to do something normal together including a few things we have regularly done for many years.