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Sunday, April 1

Today is April Fool's Day, but no one felt much like playing practical jokes. Julia is still fighting off this cough/cold. I think she has now passed it along to her mom and dad.

Tuesday, April 3

Julia seems to be feeling a lot better. She finally went to sleep without a cough pill tonight, and slept well.

Wednesday, April 4

We got the results back from Julia's blood tests on Saturday. CK 98, LDH 209, AST 26, ALT 21, Aldolase 5.2, von Willibrand's Factor 141, White blood cells 4.5, Hematocrit 38.7, and Platelets 381. These are all still in normal range. It's especially encouraging to see the LDH, AST, and ALT on the way down. Dr. A.W. says that these tests confirm that we are good to go to Methotrexate orally starting tomorrow.

Thursday, April 5

The switchover to oral MTX went off without a hitch! Julia is now taking 7 2.5mg tablets of MTX every Thrusday morning. She did not have any digestive distress because of this, and she did not have any undue tiredness, either.

Saturday, April 7

Julia spent most of today hanging out with a couple of her classmates working on a math project. They have to make and sell something for a profit, and the proceeds are given to her school's primary charity, the children of Haiti. Julia's group is making a selection of crafts project; some of them are really cute and clever! Julia was elected the accountant for the group, so she has to track all the expenses and (eventually) profits.

Tonight was our church's annual Seder Supper. As always, this celebration is very special to us. If you're not familiar with it, the Seder is a meal that is shared by Jewish families to remember the story of their flight from Egypt, normally celebrated on the Jewish passover. This year, the night of the Passover and our Seder are actually on the same date (this is not always the case), meaning that Seders all over the world, both Jewish and Christian, are celebrated on the same day.

Monday, April 9

Julia had a dentist visit today, a follow-up from last month when the dentist was not available to take a look. No problems found, and she confirmed that Julia will not need to see an orthodontist until all her baby teeth are gone and her adult teeth are in.

Thursday, April 12

Julia had her dose of oral Methotrexate again today, and I'm happy to report no side effects - no stomach distress at all, no tiredness.

We all went to church tonight to celebrate Holy Thursday, the first event of the Easter Triduum. This is significant to Julia because this is when the holy oils are brought in and placed in the church. Julia always gives us a knowing look when they bring in "her" oil of the sacrament of the sick.

Friday, April 13

Tonight, we all went to church for Good Friday. This is the most solemn day of the church year. It is also supposed to be a day of fasting, but Julia is not allowed to literally fast. She did have just a very light breakfast and lunch, and a simple dinner, no meat, no dessert, and no snacks.

Julia did not have school today because it is a holiday at her (Catholic) school.

Saturday, April 14

The solemnity of Good Friday always leads to the joy of the Easter Vigil. Tonight's mass starts late (7:30 PM, because it can't start until after sunset) and runs for two and a half hours. But it goes by so fast! Even Julia said it didn't seem even as long as a regular Sunday mass (usually about an hour). It is full of chants and incense and ceremony. This is also the mass where adults and children can be baptised and confirmed as they are welcomed into the church. We know one of the adults that was confirmed, which made it even more special for us.

Sunday, April 15

We got up this morning and exchanged some Easter presents with each other - nothing big, just some nice, thoughtful gifts. And we went off the Church once again. Julia was singing in the Children's choir, and had 2 solos. I must say, her singing voice has improved dramatically in the months since she started in the choir - now, her solos sould as good or better than most of the other we heard. We were very proud of her!

Her rash also looked very good today. Her face looked as good as new, no rash really visible, except her eyelids and only if you knew what to look for. It looks more like eye shadow than rash! Her knees and elbows, which were the worst, are looking better and better. This is very encouraging.

Julia and I spent some time outside this afternoon - it was a gloriously beautiful day. Julia rode her bike up and down the street, and I shot some baskets in the driveway.

Tuesday, April 17

Julia is on school vacation all this week. We don't really have much planned for activites, but we are being a lot more lenient about her bedtime. She is spending more time outdoors, and she has been given a stern warning about using sunscreen without fail if she goes out. She put sunscreen on herself every morning, but we know it's not nearly enough to protect her properly. She needs more is she's going to be outside, especially during the middle of the day.

Saturday, April 21

A kind of furious day cleaning and running errands, but we also went to see the movie SpyKids.

Sunday, April 22

After church and choir practice, Julia and I spent most of the day cleaning up her Mom's car. Julia was quite the helper! She ran the hose for me while we washed it, and did a nice job with a cleaning cloth helping me to polish. Especially the alloy wheels! I wish I'd thought to take some photos, the car came out very nice. She used to "help" when she was younger, but it wasn't really much help, though I certainly appreciated being with her. She really did help this time and saved me time!

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we both had extra-thick layers of sunscreen on, plus Julia wore a cap. She got no sun visible on her skin at all.

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