I wish I could give you all an update on Colin but at this point I haven’t heard anything.

Joel’s day was very busy. Unfortunately he woke up early, I was hoping that he would sleep in as he had to fast. He was looking for food first thing in the morning and all I could do was stall him.

Ophthalmology called and wanted Joel to come down; after a very lengthy exam we were told his vision is great. As for the eye that is tracking funny, give it time and hopefully it will correct itself. If it doesn’t then they will put a patch over the good eye. Finally, if that doesn’t work they would look at surgery but that is at least 6 months away. They told us that is why he is tilting his head to one side, to compensate for his eye.

After ophthalmology we raced upstairs to change his jammies and get him to day surgery. They put Joel under so they could do his Lumbar Puncture and remove his staples. I must say the back of his head looks fabulous. I had some misinformation: I was told it would take a few hours to process his lumbar puncture, but in reality it could take up to 5 days! So once again we hurry up and wait.

Once Joel was awake he was very hungry and can you guess what he was asking for??? A donut. Actually a donut, hot dog with ketchup and mustard and a chocolate milk. He was not very impressed when the nurses suggested clear fluids. We compromised and went with a chocolate yogurt popsicle. Within an hour he was wolfing down his timbits and hot dog!

Yet again we have been moved to a new room we are still on 5th floor east but now we are in rm 5. I have also been told that it won’t be too long before we are transferred to Oncology. Rehab came to see us and they are going to set up a 2 week tentative schedule so we know when speech, physio and occupational therapy are coming to see us.

I am amazed at how many emotions I can experience in one day. There is sadness, loneliness, joy, peace, concern, compassion, fatigue…it can be exhausting going from one emotion to the next. I often think through the day about what I will tell you all about our day. It is funny because at one point I am thinking we are having a really hard day then things change a bit and we are having a good day and then again it could change to concern. I am learning to bloom where I am planted. Right now I am planted in this hospital; with Joel, daily we meet other parents and children, most going through the toughest time in their lives. When we think about planting a plant often we look at the plant and see what it needs: water, shade, sunlight, etc. Then we plant it deliberately where it will thrive. I don’t believe that Joel and I just randomly by chance ended up here. We can choose to go through this experience keeping to ourselves and feel sorry for ourselves or we can say okay God what will you have us learn from this experience.

Here I thought I would be consumed with what is going on with Joel, and of course I am, but I am also impacted by all the other children we have met here and their families. Blooming where I am planted means looking beyond my own circumstances and giving a listening ear, a comforting word or a hug to another worried Mommy. I am still amazed that this is my life. I keep wondering when we will wake up and realize it was all a dream. How about you, are you blooming where you’ve been planted?