It's Caring Bridge official! Lucia is done with treatment!

As she left her monthly clinic visit Tuesday (counts were all good), she was cheered by the doctors, nurses, and staff who have supported her throughout this journey. She got to ring the bell at the end of the hall, which signifies the official end of treatment.

And Friday she had surgery to get her port out - which means no more trips to the hospital if she gets a fever or other normal childhood bug. We know Omicron is everywhere right now and probably headed our way before long, but are so glad we managed to avoid it while the port was still in. The surgery was quick and she is recovering well - though she was a little grumpy and drunk from the "silly juice" when she came home (demanding to know why there was two of every character on the screen in Encanto :)), she's completely fine now other than a little soreness around the incision. 

We are continuing to celebrate these milestones in small and big ways. We had our biggest snow yet in Asheville this past weekend (around 10") and we only had a half day of in-person school last week. Lucia had a blast sledding with our neighbors. Eli turned 10 and we celebrated with a small sleepover, extra Minecraft time with friends, and a great day of skiing at Cataloochee. We had an amazing trip up north for winter break and are looking forward to Lucia's wish trip to Disney World (officially on the books for spring break) and a family trip to Portugal this summer. 
 
If you want to celebrate with us, consider buying some Girl Scout Cookies (Lucia is a big fan of the new Adventurefuls) or joining Chris and me on the Make-A-Wish Trailblaze Challenge. We will be hiking 28.3 miles on June 4th to help bring hope and joy to other kids who are deep in the throes of medical challenges. Even though Lucia's Make-A-Wish trip ended up being postponed until after her treatment due to COVID-19, it was such a blessing to have something fun on the books during the time when life was filled with medical treatments and stress - and we want to make sure other families have that same opportunity! Please consider either sponsoring us or - even better - joining the hike with us on Team Magic Bunny Poop (click on our team website to read the story behind the name)!

Since I'm guessing y'all don't want detailed posts about our next family health journey - Eli's braces :) - we will say goodbye and more importantly - thank you! It has meant so much to know our amazing community of friends and family had our back in so many ways throughout Lucia's treatment - whether it was to send encouraging words or a meal at the hospital during the difficult early days or to celebrate alongside us as things improved. Hope to see each of you while we are all living life to our fullest out in the real world soon!