Kelly's

I am so excited to tell you all, that Maddie's birthday party was a huge success and I was able to participate in the entire evening without my oxygen! Woo! Hoo! The girls started out with swimming, then dinner, dancing and on to the spa party. Aunt Robyn did everyones hair, Aunt Jamie and Aunt Jenn painted nails and toe nails and I did make-up. They looked so beautiful when they were all done! We had the most spectacular cupcakes that Aunt Jamie made that were rings, nail polish, mascara bottles, q-tips and high heel shoes. She did an excellent job and the girls thought it was great! They then watched Girls Just Wanna have Fun and moved on to Truth or Dare! They had to run around the house in the dark, eat dog food, wake up Aunt Jamie by tickling her nose and finally ended up in the pool at 1:00am. Finally at 2:00am they were all tucked in and all the adults crashed. I'm not sure how late they stayed up whispering and giggling. Everyone was up at 7:00am and Grammy had cinnamon rolls made. One more dip in the pool and by 10:30am everyone was gone. Phew! I made it! I spent most of the day in my Mom's chair with my oxygen and completely exhausted, but filled with joy that I made it through the night! She will be officially 10 years old on Saturday and I am so thankful for those 10 years. When something grips a hold of your life you begin the look through different eyes. I watched her all evening and just soaked in her sweet smile and thanked the Lord for giving me a chance to be her Mom. She kept kissing me all evening and telling me how happy she was that I was there. My eyes spill with tears as I sit here and write this. I am thinking that two weeks ago I was in the hospital fighting to breathe and have been so sick since I have been home. But, the Lord has come through as He always does and given me the healing and strength to be there for my little girl. I was not able to shop for one thing for this party. My Mom took care of all the food and decorations, Jamie took her shopping for the gift bags, invitations and made all the cupcakes and Robyn took her shopping for snacks and fun things for the party, bought her gifts from me and Ian and spent alot of time on hair last night. I am so grateful for each part that they played to pull this party off. I just had to show up.
As far as my progress goes. I will have chemo on Tuesday. I had this week off, which was also a blessing. It worked out perfect for her birthday week to not be so sick. But, I am back on for the next three weeks in a row. I then see the surgeon on Thursday to evaluate if I can have the tube taken out of my lung. It is not draining any fluid and I am doing pretty well without my oxygen. I gain strength little by little each day and feel like I have turned a corner. I will let you know as the week unfolds as to what happens next with my appointments.
I know this was a long one tonight, but was so excited to share my joy!