Patience in the Journey . . . . .Moving Forward

Anna was more than ready to go back to school on the first day (this past Monday).  She seems to have adjusted well to interacting with her friends and other people with her mouth banded shut. She began taking Methotrexate again last Sunday, and she had her first post-surgery Remicade infusion this past Friday.  One little hitch in the journey has been her labwork, showing some slight abnormalities.  Although it's not at a point where it's a major concern, we have been brainstorming this morning on how to add more iron to Anna's food intake.  Her doctor's suggestion has been to use iron-fortified baby cereal, and we may, indeed try that.  For today, she started adding spinach into some of the foods she purees together.  Anna's thought is, "Let's wait until Tuesday" before we go out and purchase more iron-rich foods.  (We do have some of those "green" juices at home, which she began drinking today.)  Tuesday is the day we head back to the Lancaster Cleft Palate Clinic, where we will get an idea of when the bands can come off.

In the meantime, Anna has been longing for some foods.  She asked for goulash the other night.  She pureed (and then strained) her share, but when I put the dish on the table for the rest of us, she sighed and said, "Oh, that looks SO good."  She's been enjoying milkshakes and ice cream and frozen yogurt, but tonight she was hungry for brownies. We got creative---knowing we had to cook the batter a little bit, because of the eggs.  So she baked the brownies for 10 minutes, then put some of it in the juicer and added milk and an Atkins liquid protein drink until it was liquefied enough to drink.  She was more than satisfied with the end result!

She began making a list on her little white board of foods that she really misses eating: chocolate chip cookies, muffins, bread, pasta, salad, brownies, pop tarts, real mashed potatoes (instead of liquefying them with more milk), a Subway meatball sub, and licking peanut butter and ice cream off the spoon!  She can't lick envelopes, either, since her tongue is trapped behind her teeth---she got her brother to help lick the envelopes of the thank you notes she was writing.

This, too, shall pass.  It's only for a little while.  We continue to be surrounded and uplifted by the prayers of so many.  Each day brings progress.  The Lord continues to go before us, guiding us, directing us, and helping us to stay positive and not wallow, and to inspire us (especially Anna) with creativity despite her current limitations.