The Results are In

We got Ashley's test results yesterday. And the results are....NORMAL. Ashley has no other heath issues, no other diseases and her liver disease is stable. YIPEE! What's even better, one of the three masses in her liver is smaller. And the best news of all, Ashley doesn't have to go back to Shands Hospital until August! When I told Ashley she busted out laughing, she was so excited. I swear if that girl could do a back flip she would have done one but instead she was dancing the jig. NO MORE DOCTORS, TESTS, NEEDLES, ETC. FOR 5 MONTHS! Doing the happy dance in the Johansen House!

Speaking of dance, Joey and I are working on our budget for next year. We want Ashley to stay in the dance company; it has been so good for her. However, we were thinking, "Hey maybe Ashley would like to learn to play tennis." Ashley's so laid back, when we asked her what she wanted, she said, "I'd like to stay in company but if I can't stay in company then I want to take Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, and Ballet." She paused for a minute and then said, "and Tennis too." Joey and I just looked at each other and smiled. So whatever we decide for next year, Ashley will be okay with our decision. God, I love that girl!

Comments

Living through Dance

In just about six weeks Ashley will dance, not just any dance; she will be competing in a big regional dance competition by dancing her very first solo. It's completely amazing, seeing Ashley dance, watching her live through dance. When Ashley was born almost 11 1/2 years ago, I never ever thought, we never thought Ashley would live to dance much else do her first solo. I can't believe I am crying as I type this. I didn't think I would get emotional. It's just amazing! When I put her in dance at age 3, I did it because I knew I needed to stop sheltering her. She needed to be around other children. She needed to feel normal despite what is trying to zap the life out of her; despite her disease. Honestly I never thought Ashley would be a good dancer or even a great dancer, I just knew dancing was safe; it was the one activity the doctors felt didn't put Ashley's life at risk. Little did I know how much dancing did and still d...

ALF vs COTA - Loosing Sleep

What would keep a person up past 3:30 am? Decisions... As most of you know we have been using ALF (American Liver Foundation) for Ashley's Liver Transplant Fund. However, in the past year, we have found that ALF is not offering us what we need among a few other reasons which I will not blog about. When we opened Ashley's account with ALF we did so quickly after the death of my dad during Christmas 2006 and New Year 2007, we did not have time to research the best fundraising organizations. There are so many organizations out there from ALF , COTA , NTAF . But because of my dad's untimely death and because his dying wish was that friends, family, etc. donate to Ashley to help defray our medical costs, the first organization that came to mind was the American Liver Foundation. After all, Ashley does have a liver disease. Now, both my husband and I are wondering if we should have used COTA. We have also thought and inquired about opening up a local trust fund for Ashley. Howeve...

Ashley's Sick

One thing about having a child with a chronic illness is that normal illnesses just love to hang around longer. Ashley came home from school on Wednesday complaining of a headache, I took her temp and it was 101. She had no other symptoms just a fever, so of course we knew she needed to go to the doctor. However, I tried not to panic and decided to just watch her for 24 hours. On Thursday, her temperature just hovered around 99.5; Ashley's normal is around 97. She did fine most of Thursday but started complaining of a sore throat by late that evening. We woke up Friday with her planning to go back to school and me back to work but not before we went to the doctors just to make sure she didn't have strep throat. Dr. Lacy, Ashley's pediatrician, examined Ashley and didn't see anything in her throat but they did a strep test anyway; it was negative. Yesterday, Ashley's temp was normal all day, it ranged from 97.3 to 98.6. We thought maybe she was over her cold....

Love For Ashley

Search This Blog