All is well in the Fair household. Life has been moving along at a “normal as can be” kind of pace and that’s been nice. Phoebe is doing so good…her eyes are bright and she is so animated lately, it’s beautiful. It has been almost four weeks since her last chemotherapy and you can really see the difference in how she feels.

Yesterday morning as I shuffled through the kitchen to put the coffee on, I heard Phoebe singing LOUDLY in her bed: “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD ALMIGHTY…EARLY IN THE MORNINGGGG MY SONG SHALL RISE TO THEEEE” and then “I PUT MY HANDS UP IN THE AIR SOMETIMES, SINGIN’ AYYYYY-OH!” I laughed out loud and then peeked in through her door to find her belting out her song while Nathan snored away peacefully right next to her. It was awesome.

Her ANC is down to 4,000 so they were right when they told us that her counts would be down for longer this round. On Tuesday she will begin her next round of chemo so we are praying for her counts to be in a good place by then.

We FINALLY got all set up with Phoebe’s at-home health care. She will have her first at-home physical therapy session tomorrow and this will begin her scheduled therapies 3 times a week. We are still waiting for her speech and occupational therapies to get started, but physical therapy is the priority so that she can begin walking again. She was fitted for her orthotics last week and I am anxious to see her wearing them so that we can get the ball rolling.

Benjamin (10) had an MRI on Tuesday. He has frequent headaches, most likely related to his blood disorder, but with Phoebe’s condition they exhaust all possibilities to make sure we are not overlooking something serious. Phoebe’s cancer is not hereditary, but both Nathan’s sister and my Dad have had (benign) brain tumors removed when they were children, so anything is possible. God help us if that is the case. I am not worried, and actually glad that they would look into it to this degree just to rule things out.

Nathan’s sister and her husband and children are here for a week and we are enjoying our visit with them. We spend our evenings sharing stories from the mission fields where we serve. They serve in Liberia, Africa and although Mexico is a completely different continent and culture, many of our experiences are similar. I thank God often for the family I married into. Nathan’s parents also served in missions in Eastern Europe for 16 years and Nathan lived overseas until he was 10. I love listening to my father in law share stories with my boys about what it was like smuggling Bibles behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. I am thankful for the heritage my children have.

I apologize for going so long between updates…life is taking on a more normal shape and I am often relieved to have nothing to report! 🙂 Phoebe’s next MRI is scheduled for August 13th, three days before she turns 3. So we soldier on, trying to be as normal as possible, and enjoying the small things. The small things are the big things…they really are. Thank you all for praying for our family, some days we just hang in there, other days are full to overflowing with goodness and gratitude.

~ Amey