We're Back

We are back from our Christmas break from blogging. It was a great Christmas!! I have pictures from Christmas Eve, but not from Christmas day. We'll have to get Christmas day pictures on here tomorrow. Until then, let's talk about our Christmas Eve party (at least the part I was there for).

We started out watching the Christmas classic "ELF". The party list included Melanie, Kaden, Peggy, LeRoy, Kim, Greg, Charise, Angie, Steve, Chase, Brooke, and Austin.

After the movie, we played some games. Melanie was the official spinner for TWISTER!

My dad brought some presents from Melanie's classes and some relatives. Her classes gave her some great ornaments and a class picture. She loved seeing the pictures of each child! She loves her students and misses them so much! Melanie's cousin Nancy and her family sent some nice cards and treats. Her aunt Arlene also sent a present down. So thoughtful of everyone!

She had some help opening gifts from her nephew Austin! Greg can never resist getting in a picture!

Dinner was delicious! Way better than anything she would have eaten in the hospital. It was fun to finally get to see some nieces and nephews. They were super excited to finally get to see their aunt Melanie as well! Kaden had the privilege of reading the Christmas story from the scriptures this year, and I hear that Santa did make it there that night...

I know Cami and her family and Mike and his family came down over the weekend. I think everyone was able to see Melanie sometime over Christmas. Kim left to go back to Colorado today. Once again, she was such a help while here! She will be missed until she returns sometime next month.


Today, Melanie checked back into the hospital at 8:45 for some more chemo. First thing, they drew some blood to check, and all of her counts were up really good! She received quite a bit of chemo today. They put some in her spine (by way of another lumbar puncture), put some in her central line, gave some through a drip line, and then she took some in a pill form. We'll see how she is feeling in the morning. She was pretty good tonight, just tired.

My mom explain that tomorrow she gets a high dose of a chemo called Methotrexate. They give it to her for 24 hours. This chemo is lethal, so after the 24 hour period, they do something called a rescue. They basically give her some kind of a vitamin that gets the Methotrexate out of her system. They have to test her several times a day, and then once the chemo is out of her system, she can check back out of the hospital. They say it could take 4-5 days, but it varies depending on the individual. Hopefully she will be 4-5 days and no longer! She is now in room 814, which is right next door to the room she was in before.

We will pray for a quick hospital stay, Melanie!!