Sitting in Limbo

Sunday has been kind of slow, no medical developments, but we had the pleasure of several visitors. Thanks, friends.

The major downer today was that Stella has what appears to be a typical cold.  The type that she and every preschooler on God's green earth seem to have about 75% of the time.  Unfortunately, anyone with even as much as a cold is not permitted to visit Jeff's wing of the hospital.  Of course this makes sense.  I would not want to compromise Jeff's health or the health of any of the immuno-compromised residents of his floor.  I would hope that if/when Jeff needs to be more protected from normal little bugs, every other visitor on the floor would be just as cautious and considerate.  

But, if the estimates we received for the duration of chemo back when we thought Jeff had T-ALL end up to be accurate for whatever the ultimate diagnosis turns out to be, over the course of seven plus months of chemo, Stella and Jeff will simply not see much of each other.  We haven't talked about duration with Stella, in part because we don't know much, and are just taking this day by day with her, but the prospect of enduring separation like that is somewhat harrowing.  Thank God for Skype, I guess.

While I'm on the subject of hospital visiting guidelines - you must check in at the nurses' station and be truly healthy in order to see Jeff.  They'll screen you if they suspect you are ill.  And the number of visitors is also limited to two (give or take if the nurse is lenient) per room.  So bring a book or something to do, because you might have to wait a little in the guest lounges before you get to see the Zebra himself.  

The last thing I feel like sharing tonight is that I feel very thankful to be a parent these days.  Those of you who know Stella know her to be one spunky kiddo.  That has not changed.  Her silly spirit is especially endearing these days.  Unprompted, she re-instituted our before-bedtime dance parties which are so fun.  Her newest moves are "penguin spin" and "double roll the dice while hopping on one foot."  Usually her tongue is sticking out for the AMAZING dice rolling move.  

And Lydia, meanwhile, is more or less angelic.  Yes, she urped a huge volume of milk all over me this evening.  Yes she woke me up with a massive poop-explosion this morning, but these mundane baby events are keeping me focused on what matters.  And in the meantime, she is smiling more every day, she nearly rolled over today, and she cuddles.  Oh does she cuddle.

More later.  Love to all of you.