Life has been great lately. Just great. I say that because when one has brain cancer, the great days seem to be few and far between. I have felt "normal" and have been getting back into my "normal routine": going to the Y to work out, taking Zachary to preschool (he loves his preschool!), preparing lunches for both my boys, making dinners, cleaning the house. All stuff that may sound mundane to most, but to me is a special blessing because it is a sign of normalcy. Don't take life for granted, folks! Even the mundane stuff can be a treasure and a lot of people wish for nothing more than to have a normal, uneventful life!
So my recent visit with my neuro-oncologist at UVA went well. I don't say great because he is (and I believe that he would agree) more conservative than my doctors at Johns Hopkins. And that's fine. He wants to study the pathology slides himself and said that he wouldn't call it a downgrade. Just yet. I personally believe that God is healing me and that my brain tumor really has been downgraded from a grade 2/3 oligoastrocytoma to a grade 2 oligodendroglioma. That's a lot to be thankful for and thankful I am.
After our visit with my neuro-oncologist at UVA, Zev and I took Zachary to the Charlottesville Fire Department. And what a visit we received!!! Firefighter Lance gave us an AMAZING tour of the fire house. Monday happened to be their engine check day (what luck!) so we got to see the ladder truck in its full glory! Zachary and I even got to go inside the cab that carries people up and down! The firefighters even brought out their robot, who gave Zachary a wave hello.
Most recently, we have been just hanging around at home, playing with Hannah, our sweet next door neighbor and her mama, Katie; going to preschool and most recently, yesterday, going up in the airplane of one of Zev's colleagues! We all got to go up and see the beauty of fall and Zachary absolutely loved it! So much that when I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said a pilot (and not a firefighter!!)
I do have to mention some cute things that Zachary did for me when I first came home from the hospital and couldn't lift much (including him)!! As I couldn't lift him, I told him tha he needed to be the man of the house when daddy was at work. Zev helped with this by asking Zachary to look after me when he was at work and then at the end of the day, asking Zachary if he had looked after me ok. So on one occasion, Zachary picked up a wilted flower that was on the garden bed and presented it to me. Well, I just made a big deal out of this because it was a pink flower, but more importantly, the gesture came from his heart. He has been getting into his puzzles lately and I recently bought his some Melissa and Doug "Constuction" puzzles with 48 pieces! It was aimed at 4+ but Zachary tackled it and now regularly asks to play with it. I love this alternative to TV. Speaking of TV, we have started to let him watch a little more TV. It's a treat now, if he's been a good boy and eaten all of his meal :-) He loves Wild Kratts.
We also recently celebrated Halloween in our neighborhood. The plan was for all the Yorks to go as a little German family. One member forgot to search for his costume. I won't mention who :-) Zachary looks adorable in his little lederhosen!!
Oh, we also went up in an airplane that belo ha to one of Zev's colleagues on Veterans Day and Zachary and I went to a local model train show!
Enjoy the pics and THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PRAYERS!! Please keep praying for my tumor to be completely healed!!
Love Fiona xo
And I couldn't resist but include this adorable "blast from the past" picture of Zachary and sweet Cameron, daughter of my friend Julie. She and her family are now stationed in England! How fun.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
