No Owies.

I had been preparing Lily for days for our appointment at the hospital to have her owie checked. I couldn't, in good conscience promise no owies- but I can always promise ice cream. We had just talked about how the doctor would take off her bandage and just look at her leg and that she might want to take some of the "black strings" off. 'I don't want her to cut my leg off.' I promise she will NOT cut your leg off. I also had to promise that her leg would not fall off. She finally was distracted and I went upstairs to shower. As I am finishing getting ready- Lily yells to me that she is going to get dressed. The dressing process in my house is very extensive and I am allowed very little input- with any of the girls. With Kiera, I make sure that all necessary parts are covered, with Bella- the fact that she puts clothes on at all is an accomplishment and Miss Lily is good about never matching anything. Bella took a cue from Lily and also gets dressed- in a blue and purple flowered shirt with a pink and white skirt. Both legs are jammed into the one leg hole of the bloomer part of the skirt causing a bit of a peek a boo effect with the undies- but hey at least she's got something on. Lily has longs pants on and her prized "No Owie" shirt that my cousin made her. It has 'Lily' on the back as well as 3- her favorite number. I ask her if she has pants on to hide her owie and she gives me a smirk. I know we can pull the leg up, and as long as she is comfy- we can go about our business.

I think I may have mentioned before the nightmare of parking at Tripler. Yesterday I knew I would have to go to both sides of the hospital and it really didn't matter where I parked. Sometimes when one side is overflowing, the other side is fine- it just all depends. I drive by the oceanside lot- it looks pretty packed. I try the parking garage- nothin- all right I'll valet- nope they're full too. Okey dokey- back to oceanside. I "luck" out- a lady is pulling out- 2 rows from the bottom of the mountain. I can no longer say that I have not worked out in months. I am very glad I brought the stoller, I can just see Lily managing to hobble the walker half way up the hill only to roll back down. We finally make it into the surgical clinic and I'm handed the standard packet of papers every yahoo has to fill out...do you have any pain today?...might you be pregnant?....I wonder if I put extreme answers for everything if anyone will notice. I just manage to maneuver the stroller into the corner where the "play area" is- as the nurse calls our name-the cancer kids always get speedy treatment. The nice soldier with the broken leg looks less than amused as he has to hoist the leg back so we can wiggle back by.

Everyone loves Lily's shirt. We meet with Dr. E who would really like to remove some stitches so that the scarring isn't as bad on Lily's leg- but Lily will have no part of it. Considering Lily's immune system will be so compromised- she says leaving the stitches in for another week isn't a big deal- she doesn't want the wound to fall apart during chemo. Nice. No wonder Lily thinks her leg is going to fall off. Meanwhile Lily is doing a fabulous Rainman impression rocking back and forth humming some tune. The decision is made, while Lily is admitted, she'll stop by and give Lily a sedative so she won't freak out about some of the stitches being taken out and we'll repeat the process the following treatment. Lily gets her Dora sticker and we are off to Oncology for the ECHO.

We hang out in the Onc waiting room, coloring until the doctor is ready for us. I realize the markers are smelly markers and point this out to Lily. Big mistake. I now have every color jammed up my nose under the directive "SMELL!" I am feverishly trying to wipe the rainbow of fruit flavors off my nose and hers as Dr. Somethin or other comes in and asks " have we met before, you're very familiar?" Yeah we're regulars, you've seen us around- what gave it away- the blueberry scent emanating from my face? I have also noticed, as we walk down the halls, everyone stops and says hi to Lily. Not just hi- but Hi Lily. I know she's memorable and all- especially back in the fro days- but I'm beginning to worry that she's very seriously ill or something the way everyone is lovin on her. People that I know we have not met are huggin her. We make it to the Ultrsound room and I have to take Lily's shirt off so he can look at her heart...The No Owie shirt...the one with LILY on the back. See what lack of sleep does to a mommy.