"Crazy Things"

Maintenance has not been bump free - I wouldn't exactly say it's smooth sailing - but it is such a refreshing break from the grind of the first year+ of treatment. Unless she's just had a treatment or is having a crazy reaction to a medicine (like this week), Elena feels SO much better in general. Being in maintenance and having her feel so much better has actually made us realize just how awful she felt most of the first 15ish months. The other great thing about maintenance is that Elena's counts also tend to be up more often and we get to go out and do a little more than we used to - which is fantastic!

Elena loves going out "on trips". Usually these "trips" are to the store. Yesterday, we took a walk to Target to fill one of her prescriptions and pick up a few groceries. Being at the grocery store with a cancer kid often makes for some interesting happenings. Elena got several interesting comments and she was getting a lot of gawks - maybe a combination of her very pale skin and uber short hair? I don't know - we're so used to it, she looks normal to us.

While we were waiting for the prescription, we browsed through the "$1" aisles. There was a little boy - probably somewhere between four and six- who waved and said hi in one aisle. I waved back and we wandered into another aisle. We passed him again a few minutes later and he started trying to say hi to Elena. She was engrossed by a toy elephant and didn't notice. The little boy then asked me, "What's his name?" Now, I know her hair's short, but she had leggings and a big bow on. When was the last time your mom dressed you like that, kid? Oh well - adult men are hardly that observant about clothes and accessories. I guess it was totally lost on a little kid and he was pretty cute and being totally innocent.

"Her name is Elena." I smiled.

Later, we were headed back towards the pharmacy and stopped to look at something. There was a woman with a little girl probably about Lily's age across the aisle from us. We sat there for a minute or two and she went to move on. As she passed us, she slowed down,

"Your daughter's haircut is so cute!" she said, looking at Elena.

I smiled again, "Thanks, " and let her walk on. No use launching in to the whole deal. She was just trying to be nice.

As she got around the corner, Elena looked up at me, "Mom, sometimes people say crazy things about me!"