Sunday, July 8, 2012

Day 100!!!

So, as most of you know, today is Day 100! (Or yesterday was, by the time you read this...) YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!

Okay, for those of you who just crawled out from underneath a rock, Day 100 means that Sarah's transplant is considered a success. We still have to be careful, we will always have to be careful, but she made it 100 post-transplant with no signs of GVHD, and  no rejection! This is big news! WAY less meds, more normalcy for my baby!

We decided to celebrate by accepting an invitation from our dear family friend, Lupe, or as Sarah calls her, "The King Taco Lady", since she happens to own the place. She did have some slight issues with the fact that Lupe owns it, but it's called KING Taco; she wanted to know why it wasn't called Princess Taco, but I digress...

We went down around two o'clock, when it was not supposed to be busy (it was) and there were not supposed to be too many people (there were). So basically, today was a lesson in letting my Mommy guard down a little bit. A kid coughed in the booth next to us, once, and I had to fight the urge to put a mask on Sarah. Hard. But Lupe offered Mommy a beer, so we were able to get through that without too much incident! :)

Lupe had two Hello Kitty stuffed toys and a gorgeous bouquet of pink roses and purple chrysanthemums waiting at the table, and Sarah kept sniffing them, over and over.We had a pleasant meal, Sarah savored every morsel, closing her eyes and making yummy-noises, even. But of course, Mommy remembered everything but the cell phone and the camera, so all we have are a few grainy snapshots from Ama's ancient cell phone:
Actually, that's not too bad...Anywho, we had a pleasant meal, then went home, and Miss Boots, who had been talking my ear off at 4 am this morning and refused to go back to bed, fell asleep in the car and was grumpy afterward. My cousin Jenee came to bring flowers and balloons and purchase a trailer from my mom, and Sarah talked her ear off about her swing and her playhouse and her pink sand. Afterward, we decided to go to Ferrel's for ice cream.

MISTAKE! By the time we got there, there was a line down the block (I know that I am given to hyperbole, but this time, I swear, I am not exaggerating!), so we drove right on by, made a U-ey, and headed straight to our nearest Baskin Robbins!

Sarah was content enough with this, (having never been to Ferrel's and therefore not knowing the awesome yummy goodness that she was missing out on, but since all she ever orders is vanilla, I didn't feel too badly) and there was only one other customer ahead of us, so we decided to just eat there. The one other person in the shop proceeds to stare at my daughter, then at me while I clean off the table and chair with a Clorox wipe, then back at my daughter. She catches me staring at her, and looks away. I chalk it up to ignorance. Then a man enters, does the same damn thing! An older woman with her granddaughter, BOTH OF THEM, while my daughter happily eats her ice cream cone, oblivious.



My happy girl with her ice cream cone...there are some of the staring culprits in the background...get em! lol


I swear, what the hell is wrong with people? Children, I understand. They are curious, and small differences are confusing for them. Their intent for the most part is not to be rude. But grown ass people? And not just a second or two, I mean seriously staring at her like the flavors are tattooed to her effing forehead! Why? Are they trying to cure her cancer with their Jedi Powers? WTF???

Seriously, I would respect it more if they would just come out and ask. At least that would show that the hamster was running on the wheel somewhere in their heads. But for grown ass people to straight up stare at my daughter like she's some foreign creature just because she's bald? I mean, I'm no expert, but there are only a handful of things that cause baldness in children. ALL OF THEM ARE ILLNESSES!!!!

Believe me, the ghetto wanted to come out of the girl sooooooo badly, but I thought about my daughter, happily eating her ice cream cone, and they just aren't worth it. We spend twenty-four hours a day together. She takes her cues from me, as all girls do from their mothers (or maternal-type figures) for how to react, and having battled cancer and been afraid for most of her short little life, she trusts me even more to model for her appropriate behavior. Should I be scared, Momma? Should I be angry? Is this worrisome, or is this funny? Ill children spend most of their time out of their element, they rely on their caregivers even more than regular children for emotional cues. If I would have gotten all ghetto and gotten us kicked out of the Baskin Robbins, I not only would have sent the wrong messages to my daughter (A. That's how you react to adverse situations, and B. There is something wrong with you, or I wouldn't have to defend you. No one else's parent has to get irate in the ice cream store.) but I also, more importantly, would have ruined a very important day in her history. In our history. Because I chose to keep my cool, my daughter got to happily eat her ice cream cone in the Baskin Robbins, and I got to see the smile and not the worry on her face. These people may not have the class not to stare, but I have the class not to react.

Today was a good day. Before bed, we went over the details of the day as usual (well, I did, because she said she was too tired to talk! lol) and when I got to the detail about the gorgeous flowers that Lupe had waiting for her at the table, she said that this was her favorite part, because she has had to stay away from flowers until now. She kept smelling them over and over, a bouquet of gorgeous pink roses, just for her. The last thing Sarah said to me tonight was that she had a great time today. I am so glad, and so, so grateful to all of the wonderful people who made it possible. Here's to the beginning of more good days, for all of us.

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