december...really?!

this past tuesday was a first.

camryn had her normal, routine, monthly clinic appointment tuesday morning.  i knew that her doctors would want to be thorough as this was her appointment before school starts.  plus, cam's rash had flared up a bit at the end of july so we had been in touch with her nurse practitioner to make sure nothing got too out of whack.  i was a bit nervous as i knew that maybe just maybe they would put camryn back on meds and we just didn't want that.  honestly, at this point we are further down the road post-transplant than we have ever been so we are in uncharted waters for us, and it feels awesome so the last thing i wanted to hear was we were taking steps backwards.

cam was in an okay mood...she just is so over all of this and quite frankly i don't blame her at all.  she's done.  but, like she always does she was great at clinic.  we saw lots of familiar faces and they all commented about how tall camryn is getting, how long her hair is, and basically how big she is.  it's funny sometimes when i think about it as these people have literally watched her grow since she was 2.  they have seen her many faces (short hair, no hair, curly hair, puffy cheeks, weight gain meds...you get the idea), but they always seem to see her and compliment how well she is doing and i cherish it.

we made our way to our room and began to wait...the lab upstairs was open, or at least we thought so, we'd decided to wait until after we saw the doctors and then get labs.  we waited, cam had her doll with her and she was doing her best to be patient.  berkley came in to say hi and we chatted a bit, she was pleased with how well cam was doing and happy to hear that some of her symptoms had stopped and it looked like cam had a little virus in july.  she said that a med student would be in to see us and then dr. moore...i smiled, i also love med students.  they are so tentative and new...many students have passed through our door to see camryn and i knew that she probably won't not be too cooperative.  a nice student walked in tried his best to engage camryn, and she was not having any of it...he tried and tried.  there was a knock on the door and berkley came in and said dr.moore changed his mind and she would be seeing camryn.  poor med student...i felt bad, but i knew camryn's case is unique a relapse transplant and dr.moore probably didn't want to have us tell our story for the millionth time.

berkley chatted some more and pretty soon dr.moore came in.  camryn LOVES dr.moore, i know i've said it before but quite honestly i have never seen her respond to someone like him.  he holds an incredible place in her heart, and i cherish him.  camryn and dr.moore went through their regular routine and smiled, laughed, and chatted...it was precious.  he checked her out, talked to me for a few minutes and then said...

"how would you like to come see me before christmas?  how about december?"

a smile broke across mine and camryn's face...december?!  that's 4 months away.  we have never gone 4 months without at trip to the doctor.  never.  camryn was so excited, she was thrilled that no more medicine and no more blood draws for 4 months!

this moment was a first and it meant so much.

camryn is well.  she is well and we can live for 4 months without trips to ucla and without the constant life revolving around cancer.  she is living the life she should be...

and we are grateful.