Finishing Junior Year

We definitely have a lot a thanks going out to the teachers and administrators at LVA.  They have been so good to work with in helping Matti complete her classes.

No, she is not getting the best grades she has ever had, but she is getting to finish and receive credit.  And considering how much time she has missed, that's a big deal.  She was really worried about it at first.  But the teachers have let her complete assignments on her time and get them in when she can so she can pass the classes. There is currently one glaring exception, who shall remain sin nombre for now.  We are hoping there is still something that can be worked out.

And this week is finals week.  On the plus side, that means half days most of the week.  On the not-plus side, it's finals week.

She had another treatment on Friday.

This weekend, she had a visit from her best friend who moved to Phoenix last summer.  She graduated the week previous, and so she flew up this weekend to spend some time with Matti.  Like last week, with her cousins, the presence of a dear friend provided a great distraction for her the night of and day following the treatment.

In fact, she actually came to the clinic to support Matti.  And I think the extra support helped because there was some difficulty this week with her port not allowing blood return (which is required for the chemo push - as well as making blood samples easier to take).  The line would let saline pushes in, but wouldn't let anything out.

That meant a longer wait, as they pushed some TPA (stands for Temporary Patience Annihilation), to help break up the clotting that prevented the return.  For those who are wondering, it actually stands for Tissue Plasminogen Activator, but I like the first one better.

As we left the clinic, they let Maggie have a do-rag so that Matti & Maggie could match for the weekend (well, not in colors, of course, as you can see, but in style - with a capital S.)

Working backwards, still, to Thursday, it was Matti's final Choir concert of the year.  Of all the things she was concerned about missing out on because of this cancer fight, this was one of the biggest.  She really worked hard to be to school every day last week.

She made sure she had the music down, as well as the dance.  (Dance, you say?  I thought you said this was a choir concert.)  Yeah, I did.  It would more appropriately be called a Production starring the Choirs.

And it was.  Matti had so much fun.  And, naturally, she was wonderful on stage, where she loves to be. So here are a couple of brief snippets from the show.  (Enjoy the high-quality filming technique) You will note that she took the opportunity to wear her wig.

So, yeah, she was tired that night.  Frankly, it is likely that all this activity contributed to the port troubles.  Being properly hydrated, and just worn out.

Next up...a reprieve from treatment for 2 weeks.