Saint Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is upon us, and I have been busy finding green outfits for both of the kids. It's a dress down day at St. Paul's, in honor of Saint Patrick, and Joshua has elected to wear a camouflage shirt that effectively combines the worst shades of green anyone could ever want to wear. Ugh. He is, of course, just thrilled. I 'm learning to roll with his quirky decisions. There are only so many fashion catastrophes I can prevent. Katie will wear her favorite froggy sweater to and from the hospital but will have to take it off in time for her procedures. We have discovered that buttonup shirts work really well; she can be dressed while receiving care, as the iv hooked into her port can simply sneak out between the buttons of a dress shirt. Unfortunately, her bottonup shirts are not green, so I chose green socks for her in honor of the occasion. (On a related note, Katie opened her shirt for Shannon in the infusion bay on Thursday when we traveled to Burlington for blood; we appear to be making progress in the bid for Katie's acceptance of the port!)

The funny but gross story we have to tell you today features a green food known to many as one of Katie's favorites. She has always loved peas. She was eating peas for a snack this afternoon when she came suddenly popped into the kitchen, nauseated and nervous. I didn't know that she had eaten peas, so it was a terrible surprise when bright green vomit emerged in great quanitities. It was a scene out of the Exorcist. What a way to begin Saint Patrick's Day!

It strikes me that Katie may find some of these stories humiliating years from now. That is one of the reasons we began writing the blog. We wanted to keep in touch with all of you, but we also wanted to keep a record, for Katie, of all that she has endured. We want her to know herself as a survivor. We're planning to print this journal for her and to bind it, to give her something to read when she is ready to ask questions about this experience. It occurs to me that she might not enjoy the picture of the infection on her leg...Only my husband would post such an awful picture...